Life's Simple Pleasures

DATELINE: 06.05.09 PARIS, FRANCE

Coming home from interviewing for yet another babysitting job this evening I saw a scene that made me laugh out loud.  

It's a lovely evening.  Not too warm, not too cool.  The clouds have broken and the sun is shining through.  The late day sunlight is casting long shadows on the shoppers, strollers, and cafe patrons.  

I am walking up my hill feeling good, having landed yet another babysitting job, and enjoying the mild parisian evening.  I crossed the street near my favorite boulangerie, full of pastries I cannot afford. I looked up the hill, at the final two blocks to climb to my street, and saw a small boy no more than 4 years old.  He was standing at the outer edge of the sidewalk, not quite hidden behind a parked car.  He had his pants around his ankles and his shirt hiked up above his chest, and a HUGE grin on his face.  He stood proudly for all to see, peeing into the street, grinning from ear to ear as his mother and siblings hurried down from the next block up to hide our little naked friend from passers-by.  He however was clearly too thrilled with himself to worry about what the neighbors might think.  He too was enjoying the simple pleasures of life: the mild summer evening and the simple thrills of public nudity and urination.

Aahh, the simple pleasures in life. 

However borderline inappropriate this might be, I wish I'd gotten my camera out of my bag in time because the whole scene was hysterical.  

Cinco de Mayo!!!!!!!!!! (subtitle: HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATRICK!!)

DATELINE: 05.05.09 PARIS, FRANCE

By a show of hands, how many of you think Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day?

A week or two ago I decided that on May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, I would rally everyone I know to go out and have a little Mexican evening to celebrate what I thought was the holiday of Mexican Independence.  I told everyone that as an American I am culturally obligated to celebrate other culture's holidays without actually knowing what they are about.  (think about it. It's true). 

So as of this afternoon, I had 6 people on board.  Though, I still had to resolve the question of WHERE were we going to go.  I researched Mexican restaurants, thinking they would be holding some form of celebration and we could all go and have a drink. I learned that it is not permitted in restaurants in France to only have a drink.  Eating is required.  So the Mexican restaurants went out the window.  And the troops began dropping like flies.  

Alex, my new Mexican doctor friend whom I'd met at Naomi & Juan's party was by this point at my apartment.  (I can see all your little heads filling with ideas... sorry to burst your bubble but Alex is a lady, not a hunky man. Sorry, peeps)  We decided on just going to any bar (not necessarily Mexican).  One by one, we lost the rest of the party and Alex and I decided to just pick a bar near my apt rather than traipse out to Republique as planned. 

Here is the best part.  I thought, as I mentioned, that Cinco de Mayo is the holiday of Mexican Independence.  I asked Alex about this. I am wrong.  She couldn't tell me what the holiday actually was though.  While at my place her father happens to call. She asks him.  Alex's dad informed us that, in fact, Cinco de Mayo celebrates a battle between Mexico and France, in which France *lost*.  He told us that battle never existed.  At least not as far as the French are concerned.

Did I mention that her father is French and her mother Mexican? 

I am still cracking up that we, an American and a Franco-Mexican woman, were headed out to find a bar in Paris in which to toast specifically Mexican perseverance over France.  

All together just *way* too perfect. (If you understand French nationalism, you will see how funny that is)

Salud! To Mexico!!!!

Poop Goes In the Potty

DATELINE: 21.04.09 PARIS, FRANCE

"Poop goes in the potty.

Puh-poop goes in the potty.

yeah.

Poop goes in the potty.

It doesn't go on your friends.

It doesn't go under the table.

yeah.

Poop goes in the potty.

Puh-poop goes in the potty.

..."

Oh!  Well thank god we cleared that up! I was beginning to think the proper place for poop was in college lectures, newspapers, and congressional debates.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what is stuck in my head after tonight's session of babysitting. It's a hip-hop style song on a CD of contemporary children's songs.

So much for the songs of yore, that we all remember so fondly.  They have been replaced by such gems as, "Poop Goes in the Potty."

Is this something that parents these days are having difficulty teaching, so much that a producer of children's music felt it would be good to record a song about it?  I just can't shake the vision of, say, Jay-Z potty-training his kid, standing before him in the bathroom bustin' out with: "Poop goes in the Potty! Yeah, poop goes in the potty! Boy-eeeeee".  Or better yet, a 40+, balding accountant.  

SNL are you listening??  This skit just writes itself.

Back to my research paper....

Don't forget kids: It doesn't go on your friends. Puh-poop goes in the potty!  yeah!

A little poem

DATELINE: 16.04.09 PARIS, FRANCE

This is a little poem.

I will call it:

What I Will Be Eating for the Next Week

Beans & Rice

Beans & rice & corn

Beans & rice & corn, add more tomato

Beans & rice in a tortilla

Beans & rice with cheese

Beans & rice and salad

Rice & rice & beans

Let's get zesty

Beans & rice, add chili paste

Beans, beans, beans, and beans.

And rice.

Spam, spam, spam, and spam.

Hold the spam, please.

I hate the IRS

DATELINE: 15.04.09 PARIS, FRANCE

I say this every year and I mean it sincerely every year: I hate the IRS.

Our tax system is backwards as far as I can tell, and the IRS seems more concerned with ensuring that we on the bottom of the pigpile are coloring inside the lines rather than making sure the big pigs on the top aren't laundering money. 

This year in particular, what has inspired my disdain is the taxation of unemployment benefits.

Am I the only one who thought that a portion of all the taxes that I have paid in previous years was paying into a pool of money from which, by paying in, I am entitled to draw should my job be lost due to, say, outsourcing to a satellite company in Colombia being incorporated as a separate entity to take advantage of corporate tax loopholes? 

But I digress.

So can we see please, with a show of hands, how many of us believed that the way this works is: over your years of slaving away for the man (maybe you are lucky enough to not be a corporate slave) you paid your taxes like good boys and girls, a portion of which was your contribution to the big happy pool of money known as the Social Security system, and that during that time your employer, or various employers, were also throwing in a portion of money to that big happy pool in your name. Then, should you get handed a pink slip you are entitled to draw from that system in the form of Unemployment Assistance (or benefits), which will be payments amounting to about 60% of what your paychecks had been under your salary.

How many of you are just barely getting by on your current salary and would need to do some careful budgeting in order to make all ends meet and pay all bills on only 60% of that? Come on now, am I the only one among you with the monkey of credit card debt on my back?

Ok, now - think about how much harder it would be if taxes were taken out of your unemployment benefits, meaning that roughly 1/3 of that 60% were then taken back by the Fed as taxation on your benefits payments - money which they are disbursing to you which you had previously deposited through payment of your taxes taken from your paychecks when you did have a job.

OK, now how many of you knew that Unemployment Assistance benefits are not only considered fully taxable income but are also expected to be *repaid* - not unlike a loan with a really shitty interest rate?

Is anyone else bothered by this? Does anyone else think that this really screws the little guy (ie me)??

I expect that while many of you may be unsurprised by this info, you may not have really known this unless you yourself have been through it, or been privy to the outraged rants of someone who has... =D

Come on now, doesn't this seem just a little bit backwards? It was bad enough when I just felt like the tax code was unfairly weighted on the lower classes, and that my tax dollars were being used to fund wars I don't support and the arrogant, destructive missions of a malicious president. But I dutifully continued to pay my taxes because I thought that when I was down and out, the system into which I had paid would otherwise not be there for me.

I'm beginning to really understand why people drop off the radar and stop paying their taxes.

Since I'm already "playing dead" here, maybe it's worth it to just "get lost" in France...  Is France's taxation system any better?  Beuler? Beuler? Anyone?

Somethin' strange... in the neighborhood....

DATELINE: 14.04.09 PARIS, FRANCE

For the last week or two one of the streets I take on my route home has been roped off. Not entirely blocked off, but there has been that red and white striped "no parking zone" tape strung the length of it on both sides. The cars that were parked there when it was put up were roped in. Every so often a few traffic cones would appear blocking some parking spots.

I wondered about it half-heartedly on several occasions. Misa and I wondered about it together on our way home from the Tahiti 80 Concert.

Today I found out what it's there for.

Today on my way home I stumbled upon a film in the making. It is a scene involving a car with 4 passengers driving down the street. They were rehearsing it and blocking the shoot at about 8:30 so my guess is they wanted to shoot at night.

I chatted briefly with an older woman who was also watching the action. I had actually passed by she and her husband walking their dog a few blocks back. We were unable to determine if the shoot was for a film or a TV show or a commercial, but she did tell me that regarding the actors in the car, she had seen them before on TV -at least, for the two who were seated in the front seats. If I understood her correctly she was saying she had seen them in TV broadcasts of films. A man and a woman.

I later asked one of the police officers standing blocking the other end of the street what was happening. She told me they were shooting a film but wouldn't tell me what the name of the film was or anything else. It's likely she didn't know. I wasn't bold enough to ask the crew themselves.

The video of it and the photos are fantastically exciting <>, so hold on to your hats, kids!
=)

a plus!

Hungover blogging

DATELINE: 12.04.09 PARIS, FRANCE

Wow, so... um, drunk blogging. I'm surprised that entry was at all intelligible. Whew. The Misa and I were quite the pair last night. Misa conked out in her bed so soon after we got home that I had to poke her to make sure she was still alive. I didn't think I was so drunk - though I definitely was unable to keep in a straight line on the walk home. But I woke up on several occasions this morning feeling very much the misery of a hangover. It's been a long time since I've drank that much beer (I passed on the wine because I started with the beer and opted for consistency).

So the party was the housewarming for Naomi & Juan's new place. They are in the midst of total overhaul renovations and decided to have the party while there is nothing in the house to worry about - no carpets to worry about spills, no furniture to get damaged, nothing on the walls that could accidently get broken. In fact they had recently completed the demolition stage of the renovation, so really there was nothing to worry about. I think this was SUCH a smart idea. Brilliant actually. And it created such a great atmosphere for the party. All the quarks just added to a very positive, all are welcome vibe. The place is going to be so beautiful when they are done - it is a really nice space. And it is not a long walk from where I live - which Misa and I really appreciated.

We had a *very* good time.

There was a lot of salsa dancing.

The toilet doesn't yet have a door.  So there was just this screen and the toilet is on the other side.  We always went with a buddy so that someone could function as the door.  Je suis la porte.

I really have to say, they are an amazing group of people - Naomi, Juan, and their friends/family. I really feel lucky to be part of their circle.

Misa arrived in Paris from Lyon on Friday afternoon.  We met up at the Eiffel Tower after I was done teaching and walked from there to my house.  We went out that night to a music club called l'Alhambra, in the area of République.  We went to see Tahiti 80.  The show was so good and so much fun!  Again, I was kicking myself because much like the Saul Williams show (from which there are only crummy videos up on YouTube), they didn't really check our bags, didn't seem to have any problems with people recording the show, and we were right upfront.  OK. Lesson learned.  When I go to see Phoenix next month I am bringing my camera. 

So yesterday Misa and I went wandering around the Montmarte area, which is really near my house, just to the left and behind the Sacre Coeur.  It is such a great neighborhood!  It is, of course, touristy.  It's famous, so that's unavoidable.  But a lot of cute little streets, and cute little shops.  We had coffee. We stopped for ice cream. We sat in an adorable little park behind the Sacre Coeur to eat it. I will definitely spend more time there.  I am a bit embarrassed that I have been living here in this apt for nearly two months and I hadn't yet discovered what is right next door. Also in Montmarte is the Dali museum.  We didn't go to it but I will very soon.  

Misa just left to return to Lyon.  I am sad she had to go so soon but excited to go visit her in Lyon at the beginning of June!!  Yay!!

Watching the world go by with the ever necessary morning-after cup of coffee.

Pour tout le monde de Paris... A plus!!