AliThinks

A Bevy of Bees

This afternoon I saw the most incredible thing.  I was walking back to my place after having rented a DVD.  Lost in my own thoughts, I wasn't paying attention to anything.  There was no traffic.  Then I heard this noise, and thought it sounded like bees.

It was bees.  Thousands of them.  Flying in chaotic rhythm in the middle of the street. 

I stopped to watch them, hoping they wouldn't all of a sudden take the shape of an F-16 and divebomb me.  They didn't.  They just continued their air dancing. 

It was fascinating.  I looked at the sidewalk, and could see the shadows of the bees closest to me.  I stared harder.  And I realized I could see the shadow of the bees' movement in the air.  It was like looking through rippling water.  I can't think of any other way to describe it. 

I moved on up the street and turned to watch the bees some more.  I have no idea where they came from or what they were doing there.  It was really cool. 

Congratulations, Poland!

At first I wasn't going to mention this, but HEY, it's a milestone.  About an hour ago, a visitor from Poland (via Daisy) got me to the 50,000 pageload mark.  He or she stayed for over a minute, too! 

50,000. 

You people rock. 

Things You Need At Work

In which I recount the end of my day at school.

The Painter, Part 2

Thank you for all of the interesting, insightful (and entertaining!) commentary on The Painter. 

Allan took that photo.  I'd been about to take one of her, a closer view, and she apologized and got out of the way, thinking I wanted to snap one of the oeuvres behind her. 

This, in addition to the frustrated faces she was making, made her much more approachable than the other painters we'd seen.

Well, Smother Me With Peanut Butter And Call Me Crunchy!

You're Georgia!
For you, life is just peachy. You've been growing a lot lately and have really invested yourself in some major companies. You prefer Coke over Pepsi, CNN over other stations, and always fly Delta. This brand loyalty seems to be pulling away from your deepest roots, but that's part of growing. You are utterly terrified of fire. Just an old sweet song keeps you on others' minds.
Take the State Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

Maybe I really am a southern belle!  But I don't like CNN, nor do I fly Delta. 

The Painter

Please comment on this photo.  I'll give you my version of the story later.  I want to know what YOU think. 

Jumbly Mumbly

I'm just not in the mood to try and write coherent paragraphs, so here comes a list of things that have recently pinballed through my brain:

-- A big HEY! and Thanks for visiting! to the folks who stopped by after Amber blogged it forward.  Some of you left comments.  I did read them, but I have been a little preoccupied these past couple of weeks, if you hadn't noticed.  Also thanks to the folks who visited/commented after Mike linked to me.  And of course, thanks to Mike and Amber for pimping promoting my blog!  It's always great to know that "new" people are reading, and I do hope you come back. 

Note To Self

Get real: you ought to know that coming home for a 2-hour lunch on the pretext that you'll "get some work done" is just a sophism. 

You know you'll just get sucked into your computer.  Every. Damn. Time. 

We're In The Home Stretch Now

Time to go back to work after the best spring break, ever.  Today I only have 3 hours of class, so I'll ease back into things.  I'm counting the weeks until the end of school -- and the end of my teaching career.  Classes end about the 20th of June.  I've got this week, then next week I'm off to England for a field trip, so that will be work, but not like teaching.  Just an intense week with my better 8th graders.  Then it's back to the classroom until the end of the school year. 

So by my calculation, I've got 7 teaching weeks left.  Wish me luck, peoples. 

"Ne Pleurez Pas, Madame."

That's what the garbage man sanitation engineer said to me as I walked back toward the entrance to Montparnasse train station. 

"Don't cry, Madame.  Life's too short to spend time crying." 

I smiled through the tears, and it felt like they pooled in my dimples. 

Cat Blog Friday

Some total kitten cuteness for you today.  This is one of a litter of three that my former cat Java had at the end of February.  I'm really tempted to adopt it, that's how cute it is. 

Small Town Photo Of The Day

I took this picture of a carrelet (a small private fishing hut) in a town on the estuary of the Gironde River.  Allan and I ate lunch on the tiny harbor here, and then drove a few kilometers to another small town on the estuary.  We walked around there for a couple of hours, enjoying the warm sunshine and tiny streets. 

Tomorrow he and I are going to Paris until Sunday, when he'll fly back to the States and I'll come back here.  Our time together has flown too fast.  Way too fast.

Do check back on Sunday evening for an update on our travels and other thoughts that might meander through my brain. 

Real Life Interrupts

These past 10 days with Allan have been wonderful.  But he is not staying here forever, and in less than a week I'll be back in front of the hormonal teenagers from hell.  I need to file taxes, pay my electric bill, and start getting serious about my job search. 

That's right.  My job search.  Part of me is scared shitless, like, what if I don't find anything?  Part of me thinks it'll be a piece of cake.  I mean really, who wouldn't want to hire me? 

Yesterday I managed to get the business card of the manager of the Martell tourist center.  Today I'm going to sign up with Monster France.  It's a start. 

And Did He Mention The Aroma?

Allan has recounted a bit about our afternoon in Cognac, so I'll let you read his blog entry.  Here are a couple of photos I took with his D70.  These displays were in the eaux-de-vie part of the tour, where we learned about blending. 

Glory Hallelujah!

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

15% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Midwestern

5% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Interesting that this Pittsburgh girl speaks 5% more Dixie than Yankee.  What's up with that?  Maybe I'm a southern belle after all! 

Thanks to Sue at Lulu Reflections for the link to this cool quiz! 

Vacation Word Of The Day

A video post about one of my favorite French customs.

Blog It Forward

Amber de la BamberBoo was kind enough to list me in her Blog It Forward list.  Thanks so much, Amber!  She got the idea from Buzz.

First on my BIF list is New Wave Gurly.  My soul sistah whom I've never met, NWG is an expert in pop culture and trivia.  We're the same age, and she knows about 5 times as much as I do about that kind of stuff.  We both had a thing for Duran Duran when we were 12 (although I'm not sure she ever got over it).  And she has the best laugh, not that you hear it on her blog, but I just had to mention it.  That time I spoke to NWG on the phone, we spent the entire time laughing, it seems.

Then there's Mike, who's notoriously nice.  Mike was the first person to pimp my blog a year ago, when it was just a little spot in AOHell.  He was also the one who recommended Typepad when I was ready for a change.  Mike even sent me his leftover  Halloween candy, can you believe that?   See how nice he is?  Not surprising: his entire family is kind -- I've seen first-hand proof, because Mike's brother is sitting on my futon, just 10 feet away. 

And finally, PostHip Chick.  She's a young English teacher (sounds familiar, dunnit?) who actually CHOSE to teach (that's where the similarities end).  Her experiences in the classroom don't make my jaw drop, but they do reassure me.  Teaching is difficult, no matter where you are.  But it's not just a teaching blog, let me tell you.  I'll finish up by saying that in an interesting internets coincidence, I found out about PostHip via her husband, who I know from RP.  She is also linked on a blog that I link to, too, What Up, Mz. Smlph?.  I found that blog -- a bonus BIF, and another young English teacher, this time in the southeastern US -- via the Typepad Recently Updated list.  Pretty cool, huh?

The one thing that my Blog It Forward choices have in common is Radio Paradise.  This is the best radio station on the internet, but it is also a community.  I met New Wave Gurly there.  I met Allan, Mike's brother, there.  I met PostHip Chick's husband there.  Finding Radio Paradise a couple of years ago changed my life.  Sounds deep, and it probably is.  Places like that are what the internet should be about.  Places like that, and places like weblogs, where people share their lives and thoughts. 

I didn't mean to get so deep, and even this is a shallow kind of deep.  Perhaps I've not consumed enough coffee this morning, or maybe it's my pinkeye causing bleariness and general confusion.  Whatever.  You people rock, that's all I'm trying to say. 

 

Sumatra Blog Friday

Me so horny...

Small Town Photos Of The Day

Last night we went to one of the local cafés for a drink.  When I say local, I mean local: both of them sit on a square, which is about a 15-second walk from my front door. 

I took some pictures with Allan's Nikon D70, and here they are:

A fairly local rosé wine.

In the middle of the square sits this fountain.  I think the moss stalactites are cool. 

Go look inside Allan's mind for some more photos and commentary. 

Inquiring Minds Want To Know...

...where I got that t-shirt.  Well, Allan gave it to me.  He gave me this one, too. 

Think geek, people, think geek.