Howdy y’all!

I LOVE Paris. I really do. It makes me happy just to be here. Just walking the streets, looking at the architecture, watching people, experiencing the traffic, absorbing the way the city is organized. It is all marvelous to me. I can’t stop smiling.

Getting everyone over their colds has slowed us down a good bit, but I think we’re finally there! Luckily, we’ve been to Paris a gazillion times, so we don’t feel he pressure to get out and see everything. We’ve done most of the touristy stuff that we’re interested in doing. Now, it is just going to the places that we like and doing what we want to do. Fortunately, one of our favorite things to do is prattling about the house. I

I’ve been reading! Real honest-to-god books. Paper. Weight. Print.

I’ve sat in a cafe sipping coffee or wine or both and read. Read. A real god damn book! On a sidewalk. In the sun. Now that is living.

And, the weather’s been perfect! Sunny and cool. Never over 85 F. Couldn’t ask for better.

And, we’ve funded another Blue Origin rocket launch with all our amazon purchases, but thank goodness because delivery.

Enough of this! Let’s get on to some pictures of our limited excursions around Paris:

It’s me, reading in a cafe in Paris!
The view of the inner courtyard from our living room window
The exterior of our Haussmannien building with our favorite cafe
A Haussmannien building around the corner with our favorite bakery
A Haussmannien building near our apartment

I’ve got pictures from several other excursions, but this is going to be tedious to post and look at — trying to mix Apple tech with any other type always is. I’m taking photos with my hPhone (too old to be an iPhone) and then trying to move them over to my Kindle Fire. Talk about an exercise in near futility. Luckily, the keyboard and new Kindle Fire 10 makes posting and everything else, at least, workable.

READING!

Here’s an annotated list of things I’m reading both on the Interwebs and in real solid books!

Books:

  • The Brain and the Inner World by Mark Sohms and Oliver Turnbull. It’s a little dated and the incessant attempts at reconciling modern neuropsychology findings with Freud is annoying — Why bother?
  • Hun Sen’s Cambodia by Sebastian Strangio. I haven’t started it yet, but it is a history of Cambodia from the fall of the Khmer Rouge until now. It is not a favorable look at the leadership and behavior of Hun Sen, though, I know that. I’ll start it next week.
  • A History of Cambodia by David Chandler. I finished most of it last year. I want to finish it up before we return. We’ll see.
  • Angkor and the Khmer Civilization by Michael Coe and Damian Evans. I started it just before we left and am finishing it up now. Utterly fascinating. The pre-historic, very early history, the rise and fall of Angkor, the struggle with the Thai and Viets, the arrival of the French. All of it just fascinating.
  • Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker. You know, I’m finding it a bit underwhelming. It is mostly just going over his impression, informed as it is, of the Enlightenment. I’ll stick the introduction to the Enlightenment part out and if it doesn’t get better in the applications section, I’ll ditch it. Life is too short.

If you’ve read any of these, I’d love to discuss them with you in the comments, especially if you can get me to hang on to the Pinker book. I want to like, honest, I do.

The Blogroll

It has been good to have time to peruse the other blogs in my life. Here are some posts that I’ve particularly enjoyed:

  • Wounded Knee? Wounded Something. The fight for the right to keep and bear arms and slaughter whoever you want with them goes on in our uniquely modern medium of the meme. Here is a particularly apt take down of the disingenuous argumentation that you so frequently run into. (Just Remember to Misremember (AKA Bury My Meme At Wounded Knee)!)
  • Through the Eyes of Cartoonists. Initially, I read this post because I thought, Louvre, Cartoonist, Paris, sounds like we might have a morning’s outing. Turns out it is in Brussels, but the results of the assignment, use the Louvre’s collection inspiration for a graphic novel turns out to be one helluva interesting project. Unfortunately, it just whets the appetite. (Visiting the Louvre through the Eyes of Outstanding Cartoonists)
  • Cueballed? The struggle is real. The heat waves have reached the blogosphere and there is no one size fits all solution. Would having less hair actually help? I don’t know, but we’re about to find out. (Q#181: TO SHAVE OR NOT TO SHAVE (MY HEAD, AS A WOMAN, WHILE JOB SEARCHING), THAT IS THE QUESTION…)
  • The Kitchen Sink Travel used to be easier, but less comfortable. My father-in-law used to say he’d only come visit us in our wild international excursions if he could bring his recliner. I think someone took him up on it! Talk about taking everything and the kitchen sink! (Too much stuff)
  • But It Happened to YOU! In a tale that is all too familiar — and the reason I am not allowed to have money or plan trips — we find out what happens when routines are not respected. Where is the credit card, again? (It Could Happen to Anyone)

After having missed so many weeks, there are so many posts that could’ve gone here, but you gotta stop somewhere. Let’s carry on by letting us know what you’ve been reading on the blogs.

Friends of Ye Olde Blogge

  • BROKEN SHARDS OF POTTERY. At the risk of going all Job on our asses, BobCabKings has had one of the more inspired blogging ideas for a regular post, Scrapings of the Day, in which he lists several articles and things he’s come across on the Interwebs. Kinda like overs for the doggie bag . (Of Cabbages and Kings).
  • OUR ONLY HOPE! All of the punditing pundits are sure that the Dems are in for a shellacking come November, and, seriously, when have they ever been wrong? Recent polling suggests that the abortion mishigas may be pushing voters the Dems’ way. Look out. It ain’t over til everyone sings. (Mock Paper Scissors)
  • ONE GOOD TURN. Given that there is no satisfying some people, and few of us are very good at turning the other cheek, when do the Christians start eating their young? Inquiring minds want to know. (Homeless on the High Desert)
  • IF THERE’S ONLY ONE thing you read on the Interwebs, make sure it is Burr’s recap of everything worth reading. (Fair and Unbalanced)
  • CHILLING, but not in a good way. Threats of violence and just mean spirited harassment can change the world, unfortunately, Librarians are being driven from their fortresses of silence and leaning by full grown-ass adults making horrifying threats against them. Who can really blame them? (Scottie’s Playtime)
  • NO SOUP FOR YOU! It’s only funny when it’s the punchline of a sitcom joke. It’s not so funny when you’re waiting to make a purchase and everyone around is trying to figure out what the fuss is about. Mike’s Blog Roundup is being curated by Tengrain. (Crooks and Liars)
  • WHAT’S A LITTLE FASCISM BETWEEN FRIENDS? There is perspective and then there’s perspective. True, we may have had slavery and rampant disease and injury, but we also had democratic norms and institutions. What do we have when those norms and institutions are gone? (Infidel 753)
huzzah!
Jack

Image Attribution

“Reading in a cafe” by CalicoJack is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.