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:
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.
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Categories: Whaz Up!
The Psy of Life 
I haven’t cut my hair or shaved in fifty years, most of which have been spent (((On A Desert))). Though salvage-logging after forest fires (fightin’ fires!) and a volcano (no fightin’ that but what a sight to see!), framing houses in hundred degree So California, flagging helicopters in Texas, Arizona and Mexico. Little bit religious about it ~ it grows (which for those in the know is a literary reference though it was in the movie, not the book). LOL ~ it grows. Got a lot of it, braided tight down my back; beard looks a bit bigger than the one in your blog-photo. Is a little bit receded up front, but too much. No way am I going to cut it for a little hot weather. Just Not Gonna’ Happen
Thanks Jack …
(Did I mention I’ve got a lot of it?)
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See my beard?
Ain’t it weird?
Don’t be scared.
Is just my beard.
— George Carlin
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Reblogged this on cabbagesandkings524 and commented:
Calico Jack reports from Paris (He loves Paris in the Summer.)
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Thanks for the shout out. It’s also nice to see our Chatty friend mentioned.
It’s been several years since I read (skimming through parts of already familiar material) Pinker. I don’t recall being excited, although some in the group were. Part, I think, of Pinker’s appeal is his optimism and faith in the high probability, if not inevitability of Progress, very much in the Enlightenment mode. I tend to be more of a pessimist while trying to maintain enough hopefulness to avoid falling down the Negative Bias drain hole.
Cafes where they let you sit and read sound delightful.
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I was made for the cafe life.
I think I expect too much from Pinker after Angels of Our Better Nature. It is hard to be hopeful in times like these. I hope that the Dems hold their Congressional majority and, inshallah, even expand their senate majority.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Me too on the hopes for the Dems.
If I ever get to Paris, I’ll have to try that cafe thing.
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One of the most pleasant ways to pass an afternoon.
We’ve got to live in our apartment for a year before we sell it to establish that it is our primary residence for tax reasons. That should be in 2025 or so. You’re more than welcome to come visit then.
Huzzah!
Jack
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If things here go the wrong way, Paris may be even more attractive in 2025.
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Howdy Bob!
In many ways, we came through in 2018 and 2019, so we may be able to eek out a win in 2022, to. Between the 6 January Committee hearings and abortion, we may be able to do it.
Did you see Cipollone talking about the 21 December meeting? That was nuts, and, then, Meadows swinging from, “Well, the electoral college voted, we’re done,” to “Meh, we’ll look for Constitutional loopholes…”
As much as I liked the testimony, why didn’t anyone on the committee ask him why he didn’t come out in December with it?
Huzzah!
Jack
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I didn’t watch, just listened. That meeting in December was not just key evidence of Seditious Conspiracy, but the clearest demonstration yet that the “Crazies” really didn’t care what the voters actually said and their determination to keep Trump in power by any means necessary.
I suspect that Cipollone was asked that question and that his answer is important. The committee didn’t show it yesterday, probably because they were focused on what happened.
They also named the names of the House members who met with Trump and others before 1/6 and were in on the plan for Trump to go to the Capital with the crowd and the “troops”. I can’t doubt that those people had assigned roles in the plan for that event, actions they would take when Trump showed up. When he didn’t, they didn’t know what to do and allowed themselves to be evacuated. They are clearly members of the S.C.
If Trump is ever to be brought to trial, one of the hurdles is how to find 12 jurors who have not already made up their minds.
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Howdy Bob!
I suspect that you’re right about House members having tasks to do when or if Trump arrived in the chambers, especially with the mob at his back. I can’t remember if there was any truth to the notion that Cawthorn had smuggled guns into the chamber in his wheelchair. I know that several of the Big Lie caucus claim to have been armed that day.
The secret service’s refusal to take him to the capitol is probably the key decision that saved our democracy. Had Trump been amongst the insurrectionists, they would’ve been even more “unstoppable.”
I keep checking 538 to see if there is any big movement in their election model, Biden’s approval rating, or the generic Congressional poll. So far, there has only been movement on the Congressional generic poll, which is significant, but it would be comforting to see that the Dems have more than a 12 in 100 chance of the Dems holding onto the House. Polling lags the events of the day, so maybe it will rebound. Biden is hurt by inflation, which is outside of his control, but every president is hurt by high inflation.
At least we have favorable issue to run on.
Huzzah!
Jack
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One of the rules in our politics is that if you want to attack a President, pick something over which he (so far) has little or no actual control, and complain that he is not doing something about it.
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Unfortunately, one that works all too well. I’ve never liked it, even when it was a president that I didn’t like.
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Presidents do seem always to be doing too much, too little, or both, depending mainly on party affiliation or faction of party.
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Like Jesus said, “There’s no pleasing some people.”
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Especially when they belong to a different party. 🙂
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