Language alert, NSFW

This is BY FAR the funniest video I have seen since the first time I ever discovered You Tube. Ames sensibles, s'abstenir !! Lots of language, but this woman is smart, hilarious and full of intelligent insight. She also gets in more fantastically repeatable one-liners in under 5 minutes than many comedy films do in 90 minutes. I love her and I can't stop watching this. Enjoy.
(Note: if you haven't been following the Eddie Long debacle, this might not be as funny to you... so Google Bishop Long and then come back and watch it. It's worth it.)

Viva l'italia !

I’m having one of the best vacations I’ve had in ages, which is funny because when this trip started last week, I thought it would be the worst. On the night train from Dijon to Rome, one of the other women in my compartment stole all the cash from my purse while I was sleeping. So much for women's solidarity. Then when I got to filthy, noisy, overcrowded, polluted and touristy Rome, it rained for almost 3 solid days. And, I was burning up with fever and suffering from what felt like the stomach flu, except nothing was coming out. Neat. Not.
The tribulations continued from Rome to Puglia. After the rotten first three days, I thought I deserved a first-class ticket for the train down to see Amory & Jim. So, I splurged, thinking I would have a 4-hour ride in the comfort of a modern, well-equipped train. This was true for almost the entire first hour of the journey. Then, the conductor came by and explained that we would all have to get off the train and onto a bus, because the tracks were washed out. (!!!???) The bus would take us to Foggia, where we would get back on another train. Of course, there’s no distinction between first and second class on a bus, and it was impossible to sleep with all the Italians jabbering away on their cell phones, not to mention the unbelievably overwhelming and unpleasant odour of stale cigarette smoke emanating from the couple sitting right in front of me that made it seem as though I had just licked several ashtrays myself. Then the second train seemed to be from about 50 years ago, so not exactly cushy travelling comfort, even in “1st class”. I am preparing another photo essay entitled “Italy: first or third world?” but that’s for another blog entry…
Luckily, things improved vastly as soon as Jim & Amory came to pick me up, right on time as usual (but the train was over an hour late!).
The weather has been nearly perfect, the food fantastic, the wine divine and the company splendid. We have spent time biking, chatting, eating and drinking. Amory has made several delicious meals at home, we were invited to a charming birthday party one evening, we ordered in pizza another time, and we had a fabulous evening out where somehow I managed to finish off everyone else’s pasta except Jim’s. I have overindulged in various kinds of cornetti filled with either vanilla cream or chocolate cream. Although I could almost fit into my skinny jeans before leaving Cormatin, I think that several weeks of major hiking will be required now before a true fit becomes a reality. La dolce vita !

Tis the season

Spring seems to be just around the corner… the temperatures have leaped into the double-digits (in Celsius, of course!), new-born lambs with spring-loaded legs are bouncing around like pop-up toys in the fields that are also full of countless new calves who kick up their heels.
The sun is getting up earlier and going to bed later.
There’s an entirely different feel to the air.
My backyard is full of birds serenading me to let me know they are back for good, no longer just passing through to warmer climes. Even the semi-wild cats have fresh good-hearted mischief and more love in them.
There’s only one thing I can say about it all, or rather, I’ll let Louis do the talking for me…
For some reason, the site is not letting me put the video in here, so please click on the "Tis the season" title now.

My intentions of napping on the train to Paris have been thwarted by the screaming baby in the row just in front of me and to my left… shouldn’t there be an age and/or height limit to get into the first-class cars, like on carnival rides? Here is where I would actually be for a “separate but equal” policy – families travelling with screaming, boisterous children could all go in one car, and business and child-free travellers can be in another car, just like there used to be smoking and non-smoking compartments… I purposely chose my travel dates so as to avoid the school holidays, a time when trains in France are any childless person’s worst nightmare… but I am being punished for my organization by someone too young to be affected by the winter break. I take some solace in the fact that I can see on the faces of everyone else around me that they are also totally irritated. The sign that reads “Voiture silencieuse” on the door seems to mock us. We are travel martyrs but at least we have more comfortable seats than in 2nd class…
So, since I can’t sleep, I thought I’d take advantage of the plug at my seat to follow up on my return to the blog.
In the same vein as that first note of the year, herewith some more reasons why I would never want to move back to Paris or any big city for that matter. This morning I took the photos that follow during a 15-minute walk back to my house from dropping my car off at the garage to have some work done on it while I’m in Paris. Can you imagine getting this scenery during a 15-minute walk in Paris? or anywhere else for that matter? Can you feel the love?
A love which grows as the train whizzes through the rest of Burgundy, which appears to be entirely snowbound and bitterly cold.
Enjoy.

Back on the blog

Now that I’m single again, I should have more time to update the blog (although we can all cross our fingers that more work will be coming in soon to prevent me from having too much free time on my hands, and of course, that Prince Charming will arrive in the not-too distant future too… ;)

People often ask me if I miss Paris now that I live out in the boonies. This question bewilders me, as it seems so OBVIOUS to me how much better life is out here in the country and what could I possibly miss about the stress/noise/pollution/dog-poop on the sidewalks/overcrowded and smelly subway/constant aggression from your fellow Parisian/no smiles/not nearly enough trees or space or sunshine, etc etc etc.
In my mind, what sums up the perfection of where I reside is something quite simple.
It is this:
I see blue herons every day.

Ever since I was a little girl in Texas, blue herons have been one of my favorite birds. I think they are strikingly beautiful, so graceful, and then that unusual color…
We used to get so excited on the exceptional occasion that we would spot one on Lake Livingston or Lake Conroe.

Now I see them all the time. Literally every day. Sometimes in groups of 5 or 6, usually just one on its own. Yet I am never blasé in their presence. I saw one swoop down and nail a fish last week, a first, and I almost shouted out loud with joy.
I always know that the best way to ensure that I get really, really close to one before it flies off is to forget to take my camera on a walk. Somehow, they sense this.
I never take them for granted.
I also see countless crows, starlings, goldfinches, thrushes, buzzards, kestrels, robins, white egrets, ducks, geese, cormorants, coots, etc. and the occasional couple of swans. But it’s the blue herons that get me every time. Their beauty moves me, in much the same way as the southern Burgundy landscapes.

Yes, sometimes I wish I could eat sushi every week, or just walk downstairs to pick out some of my favorite cheeses and maybe a new pair of shoes, or not have to worry about driving home after a late night at a fabulous restaurant… but those times are rare, while here, blue herons are not.

Happy Holidays

It's turning out to be another fabulous fall and winter here in Cormatin. After a stellar visit to Austin with a delicious Thanksgiving and an unforgettable 40th birthday, I've returned to stunning sunsets, a bit of snow, and plenty of Christmas spirit.

Life is good.


Happy Holidays everyone!








Surprise pre-birthday bash here in France
Blessed by the presence of so many friends and family at my party, including my cousins Karen, Shauna, and Susan



Emmanuelle's wedding













Amazing cloud formations upon my return home











First Christmas tree in Cormatin!

Wish I had found this earlier...

Even though the shameful WBush era is now going into the garbage can -- good riddance! this older video is still a great laugh.

A very telling Sarah Palin clip

No comment necessary for this one. She digs her own grave by herself...

Clearing things up for the election

This brilliant piece highlighting the hypocrisy of the McCain/Palin campaign was written by Tom Minor. Folks on the fence might want to give it some deep thought.

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."

* Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.


* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, and you're a maverick.



* Graduate from Harvard law School and be President of the Law Review, and you are unstable.

* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.


* If you spend 3 years as a community organizer, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.


* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.



* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

* If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.


* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

* If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DUI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.


OK, much clearer now.

Because we all need a good laugh out loud during these trying times

And this video is just the key to some big belly laughs!!
Thanks to Gene for sharing.
Enjoy!

The Vet Who Did Not Vet

Here's hoping that all this creativity channelled into these videos also gets channelled to the voting booths...

Words of wisdom

from 1798, bringing back to mind the quote that I have probably uttered the most in my life: those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
Thanks to CWB for sharing this gem.

A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt... -- Thomas Jefferson

Talk To Your Parents About John McCain

You know these kinds of discussions can sometimes be difficult between parents and children... but this video could help!

Serious arguments for voting Republican

How quickly we forget...

Every election year both political parties in the US start playing fast and loose with the facts. And unfortunately, it seems that most US media outlets are not willing to call them out on their exaggerating and lying.
So, don't forget that you can always turn to www.factcheck.org for a non-partisan run-down on what is the TRUTH. Or, just the facts, presented in an unbiased, straightforward manner.
Why don't our politicians keep in mind the advice the Thompson Twins gave us in the 1980s?

Putting things in perspective...

with humour... some of the first election coverage I've seen that didn't turn my stomach. Thanks for sharing, Dan!

Politics and eat your veggies

So my esteem has risen for Paris Hilton (well, actually, previously I had no esteem whatsoever for her, so on a scale of 1 to 10 she's gone from sub-zero to about a 4) after her snappy comeback to John McCain's pathetic attack ad comparing her to Obama (jealousmuch?) and I think her video is worth watching for a good laugh (although I'm against her plug for tanning! doesn't she know about skin cancer risk???)
I was impressed with her sense of humour and delivery, although disappointed that the folks at funny or die only came up with an overly simplistic energy policy when they could have taken this opportunity to make a truly intelligent point.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

But I'll get off my soapbox and get to more important matters: food.



Featuring a recipe from my garden.

Well, kind of… this zucchini (or courgette for my UK friends) is from my garden (my first ‑ I’m so proud!) but the recipe was inspired by a few I found on the internet, to which I added my own personal touch. I actually came up with this recipe prior to having my very own courgette/ zucchini plant so I had some time to perfect it before my garden began giving birth to such beautiful babies.

What you’ll need:
Round zucchini or hefty long ones (for a main course to feed two people, I usually make 4 of the round or 2 of the long)
Feta (when in stock, I buy the reduced fat version as there is no detectable difference in taste, especially for this recipe)
Already cooked lentils
Pine nuts (optional)
Olive oil
Various curry spices (besides a pre-mixed curry powder, I also throw in some garlic, cumin and ginger, as well as salt and pepper)

Now, I despise following recipes to a T and for a dish like this, don’t think that exact measurements are important. It’s the taste that’s important! So these are just my general guidelines and then you can play with it and make your adjustments as suits your mood or personal preferences. For example, the first time I made this, I wasn’t chez moi so I didn’t have access to much in the way of spice. Instead of going the pseudo-Indian route, I had to go the pseudo-Provençal/ Mediterranean route, using “herbes de Provence” and mixing in some parmesan with the feta to give it a bigger bang. It was also very good, but right now I’m on a curry groove.

Preheat the oven to around 180°C. Cut the tops off the round zucchini or halve the long ones lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh to around a quarter of an inch from the skin (finally a use for that melon baller I bought years ago and never touched!!). Drizzle a little olive oil on the zucchini shells. Salt, pepper. Stick them in the oven for around 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a pan and cook the flesh until its tender. I add some curry to this while it’s cooking. I then mix a package of feta (there’s a standard size here in France but I couldn’t tell you how many grams or ounces it is…) with a package of pre-cooked lentils (the vacuum packed ones sold in the veggie section of most French grocery stores) in a separate bowl. I spice this up to taste. If I have the time, I do things properly and let the zucchini flesh cool before incorporating it into the lentil/feta mix. Have I mentioned that you should be toasting the pine nuts about now too? When they’re done, mix them in with the feta/lentils/zucchini flesh. Scoop this unfortunately rather unattractive-looking mixture into the zucchini shells and put it back in the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes with a sprinkle of pine nuts on top. Serve straight to the table. I find that the end result – a very easy, tasty, low-fat and extremely healthy (as well as filling!) meal ‑ goes equally well with white or red or rosé.
Bon appétit !

Important article from Time magazine

Given all the hub-bub about offshore drilling and insane gas prices, I think it's important to keep things in perspective, and it seems to me that this article from June does a good job of laying out some key facts. I have added emphasis to parts I consider especially interesting. For some reason, I couldn't reproduce the article as is to Blogger (although Time provides the service for numerous other blog sites...) so I just copied and pasted it in, which I hope is not violating any copyright rules (if it is, I hope my friend Siva will correct me gently on it. ;)

By the way, have you all registered to vote?


"Will More Drilling Mean Cheaper Gas?"
Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2008 By BRYAN WALSH

On Wednesday morning President George W. Bush urged Congress to overturn a 26-year ban on offshore oil drilling in the U.S. and open a part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to petroleum exploration. Flanked by the secretaries of Energy and the Interior, Bush also proposed streamlining the construction process for new oil refineries, and explained that these moves would "take pressure off gas prices over time by expanding the amount of American-made oil and gasoline." Coming a day after Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain made a similar appeal to enhance domestic oil exploration, Bush was sending an unsubtle election-year message to the American public: I care about the economic toll of $4-a-gallon gas, and Democrats in Congress, who have opposed such an expansion, don't.

But there's a flaw in that logic: even if tomorrow we opened up every square mile of the outer continental shelf to offshore rigs, even if we drilled the entire state of Alaska and pulled new refineries out of thin air, the impact on gas prices would be minimal and delayed at best. A 2004 study by the government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) found that drilling in ANWR would trim the price of gas by 3.5 cents a gallon by 2027. (If oil prices continue to skyrocket, the savings would be greater, but not by much.) Opening up offshore areas to oil exploration — currently all coastal areas save a section of the Gulf of Mexico are off-limits, thanks to a congressional ban enacted in 1982 and supplemented by an executive order from the first President Bush — might cut the price of gas by 3 to 4 cents a gallon at most, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. And the relief at the pump, such as it is, wouldn't be immediate — it would take several years, at least, for the oil to begin to flow, which is time enough for increased demand from China, India and the rest of the world to outpace those relatively meager savings. "Right now the price of oil is set on the global market," says Kevin Lindemer, executive managing director of the energy markets group for the research firm Global Insight. President Bush's move "would not have an impact."

The reason is simple: the U.S. has an estimated 3% of global petroleum reserves but consumes 24% of the world's oil. Offshore territories and public lands like ANWR that don't allow drilling may contain up to 75 billion barrels of oil, according to the EIA. That may sound like a lot, but it's not enough to make a significant difference in a world where global oil demand is expected to rise 30% by 2030, to nearly 120 million barrels a day. At best, greatly expanding domestic drilling might eventually lower the proportion of oil the U.S. imports — currently about 60% of its total supply — but petroleum is a global commodity, and the world market would soak up any additional American production. "This is a drop in the bucket," says Gernot Wagner, an economist with the Environmental Defense Fund.

Still, with Americans hurting at the pump, it may be difficult for environmentalists and other opponents of increased domestic drilling to resist the push for more oil, whatever the cost. As recently as his 2000 presidential run, McCain had been against offshore drilling, but he changed that position Tuesday, arguing that individual states should decide for themselves. (He remains against drilling ANWR, however, pointing out that "we called it a 'refuge' for a reason.' ") The Republican Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist — considered a possible vice-presidential candidate — also flip-flopped, backing McCain's position. Though Democratic Senator Barack Obama and most of his party are against the proposed expansion, McCain and his supporters may have the public on their side: a recent Gallup poll found that 57% of Americans believe we should open up new territories to drilling. "It could help in the long term," says Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University. Still, he acknowledges that even expanded drilling is unlikely to bring prices down much.

Though offshore drilling conjures up fears of catastrophic spills, the petroleum industry rightly argues that safety measures have improved considerably in recent years. A 2003 report by the National Research Council found that only 1% of the oil that polluted U.S. waters came from petroleum operations, like the offshore drilling platforms that run in the Gulf of Mexico — which also weathered Hurricane Katrina without massive spills. If it can be done in an environmentally friendly fashion — and with oil companies themselves footing the bill — opening up some new territory to drilling might be worth it. The reality is that our economy will run on petroleum for the foreseeable future, and that while investing in alternatives is the only way to secure truly low-cost energy over the long term, we'll still need oil for decades more. But any attempt to increase supply must be coupled with even heavier investment in energy efficiency and other methods to decrease oil demand — an approach that, to his credit, McCain has said will be a key part of his energy policy (although in the Senate he has skipped or voted against every fuel efficiency bill since 1990, according to the League of Conservation Voters). In any case, Bush's plan is unlikely to be realized — the Democratic-controlled Congress remains against it, and Bush can't open up the new territory on his own.

Even as Democrats and Republicans squabble over a relatively small amount of petroleum, we're missing out on the opportunity to truly break our addiction to crude. This week the Senate again failed to renew the tax credit for renewable energies like solar and wind; the credit, which expires at the end of the year, is key to the healthy growth of low-carbon alternatives. Without it, "the industry will simply stop," says Santiago Seage, CEO of the Spanish company Abengoa Solar. With energy demand skyrocketing, we'll need more oil, and alternatives like solar, and demand-side measures like toughened auto fuel efficiency standards or tax incentives for Americans to purchase less wasteful cars. We'll have to include action on global warming, like the recently defeated Warner-Lieberman carbon cap and trade bill. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that under the bill, U.S. petroleum consumption would have dropped by nearly half by 2030 — savings far in excess of the amount of oil we could ever pull from Alaska or the coasts. "We can't drill our way out of this and we can't conserve our way out either," says Bullock. "We need both." Fair enough. But the sad truth is that neither drilling nor conservation will have an immediate effect on rising gas prices, even if they do have an immediate impact on the presidential race.

A very warm house

Well, it seems like a year since I posted anything here but it’s actually only been a month and a half… a month and a half explained by preparations for my Bastille day weekend housewarming party. On Saturday July 12, around 40 adults and 5 children joined me in my backyard for locally produced crémant (the champagne of Burgundy), cold cuts, salads and barbecued duck breast (this is France after all!) and various types of sausages, washed down with some local red wine. The last party-goers left around 5 am, with lots of people returning Sunday and Monday to eat leftovers that seemed to go on for days and days. I think it is safe to say that everyone had a good time. Reminiscent of my Champ de Mars picnics, folks had come from all over (besides the locals and the Parisians, some friends came from Alsace and others from Haute Savoie). It was wonderful, but 5 days later I’m still worn out from both the preparations and festivities…

We were incredibly lucky with the weather, as storms had been forecast all weekend long. Saturday was partly cloudy and not as hot as usual, and the rain held off until 1:32 am, at which point the crowd was small enough to fit on my covered terrace. The sun came back in its southern Burgundy splendour on Monday and hasn’t left us since.

Many thanks to all who came and those who gave of their muscle and time to help before and after with prep and clean-up, and the generous souls who brought lovely gifts!! My house and I are much the better for it!! Special mention for my boyfriend Jan, who not only was a tremendous help and fabulous co-host, but who also remained energetic and cheerful throughout the stress leading up to (and during) the big day.

There will be a separate photo album to follow once I gather all the pics together.

Rat rides Cat rides Dog

Corny, but charming and true...