Laon Cathédrale Rose Window

French Cartoon I

Ho la la! these men who follow me in the street I never do not know how Embarassing it is.

Is it the same when you are turned down abruptly?

Nice Prada Lingerie

I think that the laciness make me feel and look ultrafeminine.

Lingerie has absolutely no point

unless it increases your self-esteem and makes you feel good.

Bean Throwing as a Mischief

Maybe I should not tell this, but perhaps the police judiciary is no longer actively interested in the case.

 

When I was a teenager, I would visit an aunt and cousin who lived in an apartment in Paris.  One night, we were bored.  We looked out across the street.  On the ground (RC) floor was a strip-tease club, and we watched, fascinated, by the comings and goings of people.  While occasionally a dancer would appear in costume, we were most struck by the enormous man who served as the doorman or bouncer.  He clearly looked rough: not someone to be trifled with.  We nicknamed him M. Gorilla, not having learned the niceties of political correct speech.  The whole idea of this type of club was novel: I had never encountered anything like this in the provinces!

 

Earlier, we had discovered that some beans had turned bad and would have to be discarded.  However, we tossed one out the window in the direction of the bouncer.  After a few failures, we managed to plonk the guy on his shoulder.  He gave an air of injured dignity, and went inside.  He came out, and looked overhead.  Maybe it was an accident, or?

 

We tossed another bean on the sidewalk, and he came out and scanned the apartments above.  Although we were careful to assure that he was not looking, we soon figured that if we didn't toss directly, but instrad threw them against the facade of the building of the strip-tease club, the man would think that they were coming directly overhead.  Soon, he and two of the dancers were looking for the bean-thrower.

 

We amused ourselves in harassing the big guy for much of the evening, but stopped when the police came and lingered.  The next day our Turkish pizza guy from downstairs told us that he thought that we were the culprits, and that he enjoyed the spectacle. 

Clearing the Clutter from My Mind

I really believe that our minds are like closets, with lots of good things within, but also a lot of clutter.  Does discovering the clutter make it less messy, or does it lead to more clutter?  This is something for psycho-analysts and deconstructionist critics to ponder, but mostly to pontificate on!  Anyway, a trip into the mind can be a trip sometime, and here are some of the questions that I have found:

 

1.  What happens if we become bored with the beatific vision?

2.  Do you get a higher place in heaven if you have an orderly sock drawer?

3.  What happens when we reach the end of the internet?

4.  Does the Pope wear boxers or briefs?

5.  Why do we drive on the right of the road, and the British on the left?

6.  If geese is the plural of goose, then why isn't meese the plural of moose?

7.  What I have experienced of adult life suggests that it is unplanned; does anyone really know what is going on?

8.  Why are sports figures, actors, and models expected to comment on issues or things in general, and people express surprise (or pleasure) when they say something strange?

9.  Why do some people sprinkle salt in their beer?

10.  If the speed of light is 30,000,000 meters/second, what is the speed of smell?

11.  Why are men content with fewer shoes than they really need?

12.  What if Elvis really wasn't dead?

13.  Does heaven have a dress code?

14.  If I were to travel backwards at the speed of light, would that affect the size of my butt?

15.  Is there a rule that governmental functionaires must be sour?

16.  In what circle of Hell will the person who developed artificial turf be assigned?

17.  Do hunters of foxes actually eat the fox?

18.  Would I make a good meter maid?

19.  Will I ever see the green flash at sunset?

20.  Why is it forbidden to kiss on trains?

21.  Can one eat Coquilles St.-Jacques during Lent?

22.  How old may a Twinkie be and still be edible?

23.  I heard that gentlement prefer blonds, but do blonds prefer gentlemen?

24.  How is a barrel of monkeys fun?

25.  Is the story about the little boys peeping suitable for the internet?

26.  Why do pirates say nonsense as "Shiver me timbers"?

27.  Is there a rule that politicians must lie sincerely?

On the Politics of Being Topfree or Going Topless

I suppose this to be a topic that might be of interest. 

As I mentioned earlier, my boyfriend is American; and we visit each other in our localities, his in Texas and mine in Picardie.  The customs are different in those places, and it occasionally leads to misunderstandings.

Anyway, he lives in the country; and while he works at his university position, I roam around the surroundings.  It happened one day that I saw an inviting pond, and being a warm day, I dressed for a swim.  In my French manner -- wearing the bottom only!  I had no idea this was outré!

Anyway, two elders on a fish trip happened along, and I came back on land, dressed in my jacket, and conversed.  They seemed friendly, and stayed for a time chatting.  It was a most pleasant time, and they were patient with my imperfect English pronunciation.  Indeed, I had made two new Texan friends!  And they were.

As they were about to leave, one said to me, "Miss Frannie, the girls in these parts usually wear a top also."

Then it dawned on me: oh-oh!  I goofed!

I asked Tom a general question about women and swimwear, and he confirmed the gentleman's statement.  And I turned a shade of red all over!

It's interesting: I felt no shame until I was made aware that I had transgressed a cultural norm.  And, since my guy was American, I tended to go comme un Américain in the future.

I asked my curé about this in the Confessional, and he was totally sympathetic: no sin.

It is funny: even the language that is used regarding wearing only the bottom of the swimsuit,: topless versus topfree is fraught with meaning:  Topless has the implication of something not there: a bad thing that should be corrected.  Topfree suggests a desirable state: one is not encumbered with a nonessential.  Sometimes the burdens of culture do encumber us, but it does not mean that we should always resist them.

I should add that my new friends did not tell on me.  Texans know how to be gentlemen, you must know!