mots et expressions...

translation: words and expressions

i have found someone to aid me in the french language. it is thrilling and scary at the same time. i pulled out one of my french books and this was in the first chapter (minus the necessary accents over many of the mots):

mots et expressions:
l'accouchement- (m.) (child)birth, delivery
chomer- to be unemployed; (here) to be idle
le controleur aerien/la controleuse acrienne- air traffic controller
craindre- to fear
l'ecran- screen
enceinte- pregnant
l'equipe- (f) team
etre de garde- to be on call
la grossesse- pregnancy
s'occuper (de)- to take care (of)
la sage-femme- midwife
le vol- flight

for reasons, some of which i have no direct answer for, most of these words are quite fitting for this moment in my life. as for all of the pregnant speak, that has nothing to do with me, except that i have 3 lovely friends who are pregnant and will have babies within the next month and a half. i have a feeling that "la grossesse" is one of those words where the french hit the nail on the head. then again, of this i cannot be certain.

a little piece of france

Pan aux Raisins

Many moons ago, I lived in France.
I love France.
I cannot speak the language.
I adore it more and more everyday.

Whenever I found myself wandering the streets of France in the morning, I was likely to stop at a Patisserie to buy a Pan aux Raisins. I had not eaten once since I lived there, until this past weekend. For this reason, I would like to thank my friend who called the other morning to get me out of bed and to introduce me to a fine little bakery known as Rustica.

I only bought the one little goody sitting above, but she bought a little sample pack that I got to take a few nibbles of. Based off of this initial encounter, I would say with 99% certainty that nothing that they make is bad. But just to be sure, I am now dedicating more time to looking further into this. I'm going to do it merely to tell others what not to order there. It will be one little way to give back to the community.

I will go back to France again someday soon. Perhaps to live awhile. Perhaps to buy more Pan aux Raisins. But, until that day, Rustica will be the place I run to when I need a little piece of France. It's a wonderful place to be.

coffee, dark chocolate and red wine...

...you would think with such a gorgeous title that only good things would follow.

nope.

these are the things i was told to avoid.

some of my very favorite things.

what else is there in life, i ask?
(with a tearful eye* and a dramatic sigh)

. . .

i guess that's when i need to refer back to the photos from the weekend:

the celebration of a dear friend's birthday by sending his chinese lantern into the sky

{happy birthday today, dear friend!}

the almost rainforest-like quality of the hike up to maiden rock

the singing and the games until 5 a.m.

and to add to all of this, the celebration of my mum,
one of the coolest people ever.
we celebrated her day of birth with bruschetta and fresh berry pie, and more games of course.

there was coffee and booze on the side, but the with these photos, you'd never have known. maybe i won't miss them as much as think? who am i kidding. i can't completely cut them out. that's just silly. everything in moderation, right?



and really, when it comes right down to it, i realize that there are far worse fates than this.

far worse.

i am grateful for what i have and despite what my head tells me on my hard days, i live quite an enchanted life.

Driven to tears:

This man in this truck saved a turtle's life.

It may seem like a small thing, but after braking and finally seeing the fully grown old turtle teeter to the side of the road I had to let out a little cry.

Turtle has clearly lived a long life and was unaware that his habitat was in the midst of a bustling intersection. He just had some place he had to be, and thanks to this truck driver, he got there.

more on this later...

looking forward to this...

roughing it at the cabin.

i.e. making coffee outside the cozy cabin, so as not to wake the sleeping folk inside.

and to add to the rugged roughin-it outdoor experience, some 1%, which is actually less tough than the black coffee i drink at home. hmmm.

little surprises on hikes in the woods.

more roughing it.

i am prepared.

looking at the sailboats rather than sailing on them. aren't they beautiful when you can get a shot of them standing on solid ground?

hanging out on cliffs with friends.

it is bound to be a marvelous weekend.

and when i come back, i'm sure i'll have some new musings to share...

half way point:

So far, I've gotten to see some lovely things today...

Everything from rusty drain covers, to a behind the scene glimpse at Robert Rauschenberg's upcoming show at the Weisman, to a plant WITH the blood of a man running through the course of it's veins!!!!!!!!!! So happy to finally see it! Well, the petunia looks like any other petunia really. But just to reiterate, it does have human DNA in it, and furthermore it has to be destroyed at the end of the exhibit. Those two things make it all the more punk rock, and you just can't say that about many petunias.

I also got to have a studio visit and lunch with a wonderful friend. He always has some great work brewing and when he doesn't have work up on exhibit, I'm always happy to be able to catch up on the latest and greatest in his studio (tiny little stolen sneak peak in the top photo above his awesome red chair with a gnarly scar.)

And I have to say that even the view of my car being put back down after it was 3/4 of the way on the tow truck was quite lovely. I didn't really need that $20 that I used to pay off the kind tow truck driver man anyway.

Yes, quite a lovely day so far...