Frog Blog

things have been busy and i've been sick and i'm not sure what the future of this blog is but once i get a chance i'll sit down and get some shit done.

i get this hunger for france. i'm definitely glad i'm back home with B and my family and friends. i don't even mind all this rain we've gotten lately and now that i've kicked this sinus infection, i'm feeling like a humanoid again.

but in terms of france, well, mostly i miss the lifestyle. it may sound small, but i miss buying fresh bread every day. it's not like it's impossible to buy bread here but it isn't the same. it's waaay more expensive and the bread mindset here is completely different. here it's more like a treat or a course-- like, let's have a dinner party and be sure to serve fancy cheese and bread as the first course. breaking bread in france is like drinking water-- something you do to live. in france a day without bread is like a day without food. i loved it. i ate bread with every meal. it tasted good, it was cheap, it was part of the culture.

god, we're devoid of culture here. it's too gogogogogogo. one rigid hour for lunch, no breaks, finishing your coke at dinner as you're putting on your coat, always in a hurry.

but this is nothing new. these sentiments have been shared before, in this blog and in others. many days the goods outweigh the bads for living in america; other days, not. other days, i crave a simple demi baguette.

i always have these lovely blog ideas in my head midweek when i can't get to a computer to write them down. boo hoo. i've been eating loads of french food at a lovely local bistro near where i work. a gal from work even treated me to lunch today. it's a very authentic place and the croque monsieurs are to die for. it's the only thing i ever order because i get these hankerings for them. if i go there for dinner, i get duck confit. joy!

a close friend of mine is in the navy reserves and just got called up to duty. she leaves for training on monday and in about a week or so she'll head for baghdad. good lord i'm sad for her to leave. she'll be gone for 15 months. if anyone can hack it in baghdad, it's her, but still, it's sad to think of her in any kind of peril for this stupid, pointless war. i can't wait for elections 2008 to get rid of bush!

as a native of this city, i'm pretty used to the rain. we've had so much of it that i hardly notice anymore. although during the one sunny day we had this week-- first one, literally, in more than a month-- i felt great. it was the first time i've been out for a walk in so long. i soaked it in. it almost made it worse-- it's back to cold and raining again. ugh. i'm getting so sick of reading and hibernating. i got my hair cut-- that helped-- and i am reading a decent book: "perfume" by patrick suskind. it's fascinating and it's always nice to read about one of my passions.

speaking of which-- i broke down and ordered a gad of mariage freres tea from the only place i've found in america that imports it: the cultured cup in dallas. i can't wait! it's sinfully overpriced here (compared to france) but it's sincerely the BEST TEA I HAVE EVER HAD and i'm eager to try different flavors.