hey jud

Gimme a Blog Boost Please

I cycle through my regulars and, without fail, one connects with something I'm currently doing or thinking about - like a post of Eminem lyrics the day kids in the computer lab were looking for that exact song, or a while ago when I clipped a photo of a spiral patterned shirt and discovered others simultaneously thinking about spirals. This past week links to 1880 online census information gave me a research topic to suggest for computer class, and to reminders about W3C standards and validation (I've got a long way to go yet on my own site) that will help start kids in web design class off on the right foot.

Now instead of the femme boost from Jamba, I'm getting an idea boost from the blogs of others and being amazed by the constant relevancy of those connections.

Fortunate to be visiting Paris again, we spent a perfect Sunday as do the French, taking to the markets for shopping and to the parks for walking. First stop was the immense Bastille market, covering the entire center strip of the boulevard Richard Lenoir for at least three blocks, and filling our eyes with spectacles of food far beyond the imagination of any clerk at Johnny's Foodmaster. Every possible color and type of vegetable, at the peak of ripeness, was piled artistically or lavishly displayed in overflowing baskets. Huge cauldrons of my beloved choucroute teased me with their warmth and incredible aroma. People jostled along everywhere, on roller skates, with dogs, pushing strollers and pulling shopping carts, while a ragtag-looking but adept-sounding band played with unique gusto. Our next stop at the market at Place D'Aligre had the same bounty of food but a somewhat more lax attention to how it was all displayed. Around one whole side was a sort of flea market with used clothing, bolts of fabric and a few potential finds among lots of someone else's household junk. I suspect Keith Haring might have enjoyed a delivery job here, for every truck I spotted was skillfully and completely covered with graffiti. Down a nearby side street, Le Baron Rouge served bread, wine and fresh oysters to a crowd that spilled out onto the street yet creatively found space to enjoy their food, elevating tailgating into a completely French realm. After marketing, we walked and walked, along the Viaduc des Arts nearly to the Bois de Vincennes, and then cutting back to the Parc de Bercy and Bercy Village. When a light rain began to fall, we ended our marathon walk with a clean, high speed, futuristic ride on the Meteor line. In about fifteen minutes we were back in the Marais at the end of a perfect Paris Sunday.

Paris I just can't get enough of you. It's the bustle of people everywhere, the wordiness and high spirit used for every exchange. It's the attention to the visual message in every window display, every bouquet of flowers, every piece of fruit or vegetable in the market stalls. It's the compactness of life made easy by the incredible mix of shops, restaurants and markets in every neighborhood. Pick up what you need for that night on the way home or walk a block or two to a restaurant. Inspired by some miraculous parking sights, it's given me new devotion to squeezing my car into even the tiniest parking space. Back home this morning when the barista handed me my latte, I barely stopped the 'merci' before saying thank you instead. I'm back, but only just to figure out how and when I can go again.

It's barely Thanksgiving but today we had the first snowfall of the year. The early morning scene with gaslights still on gives everything a fairyland look. Kids walking to school gleefully stoop to make snowballs and throw them at street signs and other kids. Even as a grownup I feel the same joy at the first sticky snow. The trees get a thick coating of white to hide leftover leaves and the boots that seemed so clunky a few weeks ago now serve their purpose. Out my window I see the snow steadily falling, continuing the magic. Come February I'll be cursing, but right now it puts me in awe of the beauty it brings. Time to put the scooter away though.

Moment of fame comes to discoverer of Google cooking. Fortune to follow?