Two more posts have been added to my European Memoir blog. They encompass two trips. One to the chateaus of the Loire Valley and the other a day trip to Rouen and Honfleur in the Normandy region. These trips were largely uneventful story-wise and they are largerly about the places visited. This is probably because I spent much of them running around on my own. There are a few interesting people stories coming up in posts of the October travel break.
Much more coming soon.
I was contacted last week about a post I had written for Metroblogging Montreal by Cecilia Jamasmie, an editor for Orato, an online journal "True stories from REAL people." She was wondering if they could repost one of the posts I had written about the Dawson shootings in their journal. I checked it out and Ed's article had already been posted. I procrastinated over the weekend and gave her a response early this evening (Tuesday). And it was up in a couple hours.
Rereading the post I'm kinda surprised that I had written it. Not for content, but that I managed to convey what I had on my mind fairly well. I had wondered if I may have written it telling people to act instead of suggesting. Rereading posts and realizing that they did say what I wanted to has happened before on this blog also. And seeing something that I had written on something that resembles a newspaper was also a bit odd. As I've said before, I was good in math and science in school, not english and writing. It was the subject that kept me out of 'honors' class. So whenever these recent recognitions by other bloggers or newspapers comes along, it's quite a pleasant surprise.
I'd also like to take a second and thank all of you readers. I enjoy writing this stuff and it's a bonus to see that you like some of it too. And thanks also to those of you who have linked to this blog. I keep coming across blogs that reference back here that I had not known about. I'm flattered and I apologize for not linking back. To tell the truth, I've been bad at creating the links back when I find them. Then I have trouble finding them again. Feel free to drop me a line. I'm interested in reading more of what you have written.
Also regarding their reprinting, I don't know if I agree with the title they chose. I didn't really talk about guns or fear in the article. It was meant to bring the focus back on what we could do in a positive way. I could have spruced up the original title "A Concerned Parent" to be more newspaper worthy. As it was, I kinda questioned whether "parent" should be in the title since "community" was the major subject. I'll ask if they can change it. And they reprinted my juvenile bio that I created for Metroblogging. I was trying to be funny and now I look like I have no credibility. I guess it's just another kick in the pants to grow up. You're not a teenage goof off anymore. So nothing more than dry serious monotone recollections from here on out.
A photo of the inner court of the Chateau de Versailles taken in 1991.
The first time I lived in Versailles, I was fortunate enough to live near the gardens and the chateau. Our walk to school with a minor detour took us through the gardens and out the front gate of the chateau. In the photo, we came out of a passageway on the left and walked diagonally toward the camera. It feels surreal to have experienced a place like that on a daily basis.
I've been scanning slides and negatives like mad. Currently I'm scanning pictures from our October travel break through northern Europe and I'll get back to Paris and Versailles photos after that. At this rate I will have enough pictures scanned to post one on Flickr every day for a few years. As my wife jokes, that's my Japanese side coming out. I take a lot of photos when we travel, or at least I try.
Our car now has 225,000 km (140,000 miles) on it. And over the summer we had quite a few repairs done on it. We are hoping to stretch it until next summer, but in the possibility that it doesn't make it, we have been casually researching what new cars are available and what meets our needs. So we have been checking out all the other cars on the road and making mental notes.
Well, the other day a kinda cute thing happened. I got home and my wife says "Hey, I saw this one car that looked pretty nice. It's called a 'Tucksen'." I was kinda surprised that I hadn't heard of it before since I had already looked at pretty much every car in our price range available in Quebec. She continued "Yeah, it's a Hyundai I think." Then I figured it out. It was the Hyundai Tucson.
I still kid her about it, but it's true that Too-san is an odd way to pronounce Tuc son. So now it has become another pet name that I have given various vehicles and car lines. Here are some others:
Jag you are
Merk eh deeze (I just like pronouncing it different)
Innie (as in belly button)
Sexless
Fix Or Repair Daily
Doo doo scooper
Horde Extorter
Sneeze on Entrails
I also say life is more exciting everytime I see a Montana and pronounce Pacifica with a Catalan lisp. Yes, I can get pretty dorky sometimes.
Do you have any others?
Wow! What a bomb! I was starting to think shows like Survivor and the Amazing Race were falling into a pattern with the same personality types and the same interpersonal conflicts, but last night's revelation on Survivor: Cook Islands was a first. This is where I am supposed to tell those who haven't seen it of a spoiler alert.
The first hint of something odd was when after the immunity/reward challenge had been completed, Billy had an exchange with a couple women on the Raro tribe.
Candice: "I feel really feel bad for you guys."
Billy: "I'm next."
Candice: well "We love you."
A slightly stunned and earnest Billy replied "I love you too."
OK, that was weird. Everyone seemed to go on with what they were doing. For the Aito tribe, that was preparing to vote of Billy having just thrown the immunity challenge.
So we get to tribal council and Jeff is working the Ozzy vs. Billy angle when Billy has his revelation.
Billy: "I'm playing the game. That is what I came here to do. My prize isn't even... the million dollars. My prize was... that I... I fell...I...I...fell in love in this game. Love at first sight. Her name is Candice. And in between..." (girls bust out laughing)
Jeff: (stunned look and gesturing) "Candice... from the Raro tribe"
Billy: "Yeah. After the last challenge we sorta mouthed the words 'I love you' to one another. So that was my prize. My prize was her." (Jeff is now holding back laughter)
Jeff: "I don't think I've never heard anything that surprised me more than what you just said. And I want to be respectful because I don't know what happened. But what would she base feeling the same way you feel... on?"
Billy: "I think it's just ya know love at first sight. I think it's just a..a..a..a rapport thing."
Jeff: "So you're absolutely sincere right now."
Billy: "I'm dead serious."
Definitely one for a "Best of Survivor" special. Now I want for the season to be over to see Candice's reaction when Billy proposes.
This is another shot that I took in Chicago this past summer. I'm not a big fan of Tiffany, but his work was some of the more interesting objects to take picture of during my 30-minute mad dash to take as many pics as possible. I've already posted other pics from that photo-quickie here, here, and here.
Some of you may have wandered over to my photostream on Flickr. Over there, I go by the moniker "The Irish Samurai". You may have wondered where that came from, so I thought I would explain.
It was a nickname I came up with for myself back in high school. My sister and I were having fun sending in personal ads to The Reader, a weekly newspaper in Chicago. Like most people we were sending in vague <25 word submissions on 3x5 index cards (this was before internet) that were anywhere from slightly philosophical to random thoughts. The Irish Samurai was one of the pseudonyms underwhich I sent some of my submissions. Seeing as how many people come up with pseudonyms for Flickr accounts (David the Pretender, Leonzerider) I thought I would resurrect that name.
Basically the name comes from my two lines of ancestry that are most prominent. I'm a redheaded kid with a Japanese last name. Since I am also a quarter Irish, the name seemed to fit. I look vaguely Irish and all the ID's in my wallet say I'm Japanese. So that's it. That's the story. Plain and simple. No illusions of being military nobility in County Kerry.
A shot I took early this summer of the Victoria Jubilee Bridge which connects Montreal to the South Shore (and vice versa). I was struck at how such an orderly and fairly simple structure could look so chaotic at certain angles.
There are some people you come across in life who make you believe in the human spirit. Jerry, our mechanic, is one of those people.
For over thirty years our family has been taking our cars for Jerry to repair and maintain. It was back when my father worked at the Zenith plant on the west side of Chicago. The Grand Service Center was within walking distance so he began taking our cars there to be worked on during the work day. And although my father's workplace changed over the years, we continued to take our cars there. Even though it was out of the way with no convenient access to expressways or public transportation. There was reason for that.
We had the pleasure/misfortune of needing to return to Grand Service during our last trip to Chicago. The car started making horrible noises less than half way to Chitown and we desperately needed to patch it up for the return trip. We needed it done right and as cost efficient as possible, so we took it to Jerry.
So who is Jerry? He's a Vietnam Vet who now runs his own car repair shop with his wife handling the front office. He gives you the straight story about your car. Complete with examples of other times he's seen that or a similar problem. Sometimes they were last week, sometimes years ago. He always gives you back the parts he replaces so he can show you why they needed to be replaced. He walks you through what he has done to determine what the problem is. He showed us how bad the fuel filter was. He drained it and showed us that since you could not blow through it, the filter was finished. He genuinely wants for you to have a correctly running vehicle. Heck, he would even give you stuff for free if his wife as not watching out so that they make what little profit they make. It is the kind of service you would easily pay double if he would accept it. And he's always looking out to get you the best parts for the price. If he relocated to a more convenient location or to a better neighborhood, he could easily make much more money.
But that's it. He's a fixture in the neighborhood. He could never leave. Even though the character of the neighborhood has not changed for the better, he is still there to look out for all his old customers and their now grown up kids. He checks on the elderly and watches out for them. He knows all the local policemen which can be a rarity in the city nowadays.
Jerry is a talkative fellow. No trip to his shop was a short one. He always had a story to tell. And at times it was the same story. We made three trips to his shop and he told us the same story twice. It's not fair to call them stories because they are recollections. He told us how he had convinced an old customer of his who is now elderly that the grocery store was giving away free food. In reality, him and his wife were getting items two for one and giving the second one to her. She's on a fixed income and barely uses her utilities. No TV, only radio with the heat down to 50 degrees in winter. But that is just an example of so many stories he has told us over the years. There is always the latest car story, the latest neighborhood news, or just reminicing about how it was to fix cars in the old days.
It makes you feel good to know that good-hearted people like that are out there and hope that you can someday be the same.
I have written a post over a Metroblogging Montreal with even more of my thoughts on the recent shooting at Dawson College.
This is one of the best aspects of blogging. Sharing eyewitness accounts and thoughts on tramatic events such as this.
This is some artwork that someone had done in a knothole along a major Montreal street. I pass by it when I walk to the local commercial strip during my lunch hour. The photo may be deceptive. It is about two feet tall. I thought it was a pretty clever idea.
