At the Computer with Mommy

Yes, he knows what the computer is for: watching dogs on youtube. It started back in November when I was so sick; I couldn't read to him and he couldn't understand why I wouldn't play with him, and I had to come up with some way to keep him entertained. Now we can't sit down at the computer when he's up without him running up signing "dog" over and over again. He's starting to realize that we usually aren't doing anything nearly so interesting. But at least it's commercial-free, which is a big advantage over tv.

I had a great birthday. We went to the Cite des Sciences, only to discover that it's closed on Monday. We ended up wandering around the Parc de la Villette instead. It's a gorgeous little park--they are so much better designed here!--and we wouldn't have made it out there had the building been open. Tristram got to run around, we found the French National Center for Circus Arts, we walked by the canal and saw the coolest dragon play structure ever...

I also got ipod speakers (the old ones somehow got too rattled up in transit coming over here), so we have been listening to lots of music ever since Monday. That, and applying for lots of jobs (which is not related to the speakers). My eyes are sore. I must say, all this actual work to do what with the translating and job applications really eats into sewing and blogging time. I do miss blogging daily; it was more fun and I think a better read too. But priorities are priorities, and getting living money and ideally some benefits for the lot of us when we get back comes ahead of computer fun.

Lisa gets here tomorrow morning! We've got the small bed set up for her in the living room, all clean, and we are not going to let Tristram smear food on it tonight. I am excited to hear all about the inauguration firsthand. We watched, of course, but it's hard to get caught up in the moment when a one-year old is running around asking to be read to and needing diaper changes during the festivities and the big speech. I was very excited to hear Obama's clear signals of intending a more liberal administration, such as his specific inclusion of "non-believers" (though I wish he'd chosen a less pejorative-sounding term, like "agnostics and atheists." I believe lots of them; that the biblical God exists just doesn't happen to be one of them). A question for presidential-speech nerds: Is that a first in a major presidential address? I did appreciate, though, the Daily Show's pointed notice that a lot of his rhetoric sounded quite familiar--national pride, standing firm, etc. Most of the foreign commentators I've been translating are also taking note of signals on his part that change won't be quite so dramatically forthcoming as we might hope.

Finally, we liked Jill Biden's knees just fine. Inaugurations are like weddings; they are meant to be fully enjoyed and that means everyone attending should wear whatever pleases them best.

Tristram got so overwrought from being bombarded by TV that he started shouting, "Bawah Obawa!" at the top of his lungs. He will be talking very soon.

Yogurt Face

I recommend Pat's new blog, Zombie Public Speaking (http://zombiepublicspeaking.wordpress.com/), with all my heart. At least, I recommend it for those who like his style of music and for those who enjoy being nostalgic about my wedding. That last category is probably mainly just me and Jonathan, but we had so much fun that we enjoy it very much. And Pat deserves a good share of credit for that, along with Erin and Sterling, for providing such good music.

I am settling in to this job search thing, along with regular translation. It leaves a lot less time for stuff like blogging and sewing, but it makes me more content with life in general to be doing something intellectual too.

Yesterday it rained all morning, then cleared up in the late afternoon, and Jonathan wanted to see Tristram run around in the big park. Plus now all three of us are so used to going out and walking out of necessity every day that we get stir-crazy when we don't, rain or shine. So we went over to Chatou and let Tris out, and he went on an expedition all around. He was really into following the path for a while, then realized he didn't necessarily want to that way since the birds were off in another direction, and took off across the grass pointing out every gull and crow and picking up every stick.

He is big now. His 18-month clothes barely fit; he is in 24 month shirts now. The sleeves are a little long, but they don't pull up on his back like the smaller size does. He has short legs, though--he is still in 12-month pants though they are nearing the end of their wearability. Sometimes I wonder if I should be worried about his disproportionality. It's like he is (or is shaping up to be) the world's tallest dwarf.

He was very whiny all day, and I'm not sure if he has a touch of my cold (which is almost gone) or is just teething. He didn't sleep well last night, either. We are starting to refuse to give him what he wants when he is whining, since he knows how to show us nicely what he is asking for, or often how to just go get the toy or sippy cup he wants himself. I feel mean, but I really, really don't like his whining when he gets in that mode. He is frustrated because he understands everything but can't communicate as well as he wants too; he still only really uses the signs for "bird" and "dog," though he's starting to try out more, and he's great at repeating words and sometimes can come up with them on his own, but not well enough to explain what he wants us to know. Also, he'd just like it very much if we'd make sure his every wish were instantly granted and that he felt wonderful every second, thank you. He thinks we are very remiss for failing to do those things.

We might go the Cite des Sciences for my birthday, or we might not...in any case, I have been promised the chance to take a long, hot bath, which is all too rare for me these days. I think I am going to steal some sewing time, too. Ironically, I baked for Tristram and Jonathan for my birthday--I made raisin bars, though I am the one in the house who doesn't like raisins. That's okay; Monday is pastry night so I will get something good for myself in good time. And it would be kind of sad to bake my own birthday cake.

The rain cleared away the last of the snow, and uncovered green grass everywhere. It's strange; the schedule of the year is so normal to me but the weather contained within it is so foreign. Jessie, in particular, was completely baffled by the trees already beginning to bloom and was convinced they had made some terrible mistake; she was very worried for their health and safety. Jonathan, likewise, assures me that the worst of winter is still to come and that it won't be anything like spring till May. But it sure looks like a regular end-of-January to me: buds coming out all over, trees starting to bloom, pussy willows, green grass...and yet it's surrounded by dead-looking trees and bushes, and occasionally covered by snow. A Mediterranean climate by schedule, a cold landlocked climate by content? Ask me in a couple of months.

Anyway, what with the snow being gone and the sun being out, I took Tristram across to the big park. We did not get to see ponies at work, but we walked around the stable and met them. He ran across giant open fields, chased crows yelling "Duck! Duck!," and played with a Jack Russell terrier who was there for his daily tiring. Tristram got kisses, hugged him a bunch (actually, the dog was the same size as one of his favorite stuffed dogs; I think he thought he could pick it up and carry it around the same way), gave him sticks and pine cones one after another till the dog didn't know what to do with them (all the more so because Tristram was occasionally confused about which end to offer the stick to), and tried very hard to grab the wagging tail. But mostly he chased the dog and got himself good and tired. I'm pretty sure that, in all, he walked at least twice as far as he ever had in his life. For once he was glad to get back in the stroller.

I have had a little less fun, as I've come down with a cold or a mild flu. I had special mom powers of immunity for a very long time, and I miss them. Everybody knows about the extremely robust short and long term immunity boost for breastfed kids, but it seemed I got superpowers of health too, which was a very pleasant surprise. Or maybe it was just that since I had no time to be sick as it didn't make any difference how I felt, I still had to mom up and do all my regular duties, I just didn't bother noticing. It's hard to tell the difference when you're sleep-deprived for months. But what with the tonsil infection in November and another, thankfully milder illness now, I have to face the fact that I've lost my lactational invulnerability. I suppose at one year old it's best for him to be getting most of his food from not-me, though he's nowhere near ready to wean completely. And neither am I. If I'm sick, he probably will be too, but at least I can make sure he's stocked with a good dose of antibodies to this virus first.

Jobs, jobs, jobs

I have now definitively run through the usajobs listings, and it's time to start the civilian searches. Somehow that makes me anxious all over again, even though now I have my materials even more thoroughly prepped than I did going into this first round. Also, the more time goes by, the more I start to feel anxious about not having heard anything, even though it's only been a week and most of the job application periods haven't even closed yet--if any of them have; I'd have to double-check that.

In the meantime, translation continues. I am down to the last page of the museum translation. I haven't done any more articles for worldmeets.us yet, but the one I translated has taken off--it's now up, with my name on it as translator, on several sites that picked it up from the original. There should be a lot more coming soon for the inauguration, and down the road I will start getting more involved in the whole production process (finding material, translating, editing, publishing...) That's taken off a lot more quickly than the job thing has. I'm thinking about doing some volunteer grantwriting, too, so I can get experience to list under that heading.

Here's the rundown on what federal agencies are like to apply to:

Navy--a seething den of idiocy and incompetence. Their website doesn't work; it's only compatible with Explorer (the least reliable browser in common use, and the one with the most and worst security holes). Their webmaster's contact info is hidden, and once you do turn over the right stone to find it you get a reply to your email telling you that, while they do everything they can to make their application process convenient and efficient, they don't accept applications from Safari or Firefox (the #1 and 2 most trustworthy browsers) because they "have heard reports that they don't work very well." They helpfully recommended that I go to my local library or internet cafe. I'm not sure they even realize it's their site, and not the browsers, that is failing to work properly. I realize their HR site is not necessarily reflective of the organization of a whole, but when it makes that bad an impression, it makes you extremely reluctant ever to apply for any position there.

IRS--they clearly think they are the most organized and precise with their paperwork. They certainly are the most demanding of precise documents, but the documents they demand are not necessarily ones that exist in nature. It's as if they wanted you to submit your resume on paper made of Einsteinium. Well, not quite that bad--one can jerry-rig unofficial transcripts to the specific format they want, for instance--but it makes me wonder whether they are just that silly, have come up with an ingenious strategy to weed out applicants who aren't willing to do the hoop-jumping required by the job, or are trying to see who is clever enough to make it around they obstacles they throw up to even applying to the job in the first place.

USDA/Forest Service--rather bizarrely exist in a parallel universe of government job sites. They're listed on the main clearinghouse site, but when you click to apply you are routed to another site where you have to recreate your resume and personal info, answer all the same eligibility questions and so forth, search again for the job announcement on a much more opaque database interface, and then go through exactly the same application process you would if they could just hook themselves up to usajobs. Plus, you have to click "submit" through no less than five separate screens to apply.

CDC--efficient and helpful, but they try harder than any other agency to sell themselves to you. That may just mean they're better at it, such that it stands out as memorable, or it may mean they need people more badly.

The rest are about as you'd expect: form-heavy, but logical in their demands and clearly taking every reasonable step to make the process efficient. Though they seem to be full of redundant steps and long forms that may or may not really get at the information they want, I suspect they will turn out to have been much more streamlined and clear than civilian application processes. There's no way to find out who you want to hire without asking lots of questions, after all. Now we'll wait and see what they thought of me.

New Camera!

But no pictures yet. It's charging.

We've finally had some warm weather--well, warm by my new standards. In the 40s. The snow is mostly gone. We took advantage of it yesterday to walk over to the island of Chatou right across the bridge. We found a giant rival Parc des Impressionistes. Rueil and Chatou seem to be in battle over who owns the impressionists. I'd have to say, Chatou has the better claim. Anyway, their park is much less landscaped but much more full of open space for Tristram to run in (once it's not full of ice) and has some of the most amazing playground equipment I've ever seen. There's a climbing structure I can't do justice to with words, but now I can soon take a picture! There's also a pony club right there, about half an hour closer than Rueil's, so I can take him to watch the ponies. You can see all the pictures at http://www.poneyclubchatou.com/ Also you can play their games to teach you equine skeletal structure, how to tack up your horse, and the parts of a saddle in French (which I don't know both because I never learned that vocabulary and because they only use English and dressage saddles here. Not a horn in sight.)

We walked pretty far down the island, till Tristram announced it was time to go home. There's a golf course there too, right across from Rueil's. The rest of the walk--I'm now determined to go all the way to the end of the island--is next up on my list for Mommy-Tristram adventure day. Also, taking him to that park is first on the list of things to do once it's warm and dry enough.

Today Tristram got his 12-month shot. As is his custom, he looked very offended but didn't cry. He never yells till the second shot, and today there was only one. He spent the whole time we were waiting trying to get into the doctor's office, because he remembered the toys she had from last time. (In France you go and get a prescription for the vaccine, pick it up from the pharmacy, and take it back for the doctor to give.) As soon as his shot was done he ran right back over to them and started playing again. Also, he charmed the medical group's dentist when she came into the waiting room and he ran up to her and held out his toy German Shepherd for her to see. He tried to make friends with a teenager in the waiting room, too, but that was less successful. He mostly made her feel awkward, and she was much more into her phone than she was into babies.

I have six job applications out now, and I would have seven if the navy's civilian employee job site worked. But if they can't maintain a functional site, I probably don't want to work for them anyway. Not that the navy would be my top choice in any circumstances. I think I've exhausted the current government jobs that look suitable, unless I want to go into HR or something like that, so it's time to branch out to the monster.coms of the world. In the meantime, I seem to be making a good impression as a translator with worldmeets.us. When is it reasonable to add that to my resume? January 2009 to present sounds absolutely ridiculous when it's still January.

That's all the pictures we had ready from the old camera. The new one tried to arrive on Friday, but we didn't have the cash on hand to pay the customs fee for it. They'll bring it by again on Monday.

Thanks to Jennifer and Jonathan, I have purloined a copy of my unofficial transcript from UCI--they carefully (or carelessly, but very effectively in either case) make it both unemailable and impossible to cut and paste into a word document, but RichText works ok. The university's website tries to disguise the fact that you can still log in and see your transcript after graduation, and the registrar's office is singularly unhelpful when you ask them about accessing transcripts, but we got it done. Now I'm just waiting for the USAjobs site to bring its online application server back online to continue that branch of job searching.

The translation stuff is up and running. I've edited my first translated article for worldmeets.us, and have the first to translate myself downloaded and ready to start as soon as I finish this. I'm about three pages into the museum translation, and I am more and more astounded at the claim that the previous version was done by an English professor. Though, to be fair, there are a couple of points that are hard to translate because of some problems in the French original.

Yesterday we went downtown to take advantage of the sales--it seems every store in France has a total liquidation sale at the end of the year, continuing until early February. We got some clothes for Tristram--pants, a long-sleeved-long-legged onesie, four shirts (they gave us a free box of pasta with his shirts--I'm not sure why). We also got him some new shoes, in the next two sizes that he'll need. I didn't buy anything for less than 40% off all day. I'm hoping the sales will cut prices even farther before they're over, in which case we'll stock up more. I tend to resist buying clothes for him, because we've actually got a complete wardrobe for the next year or two already thanks to the generosity of friends and family with older kids. But there was some confusion in packing, since Tristram and I left CA early and Jonathan had to finish it up on his own, and we ended up with a sack of 3-year-old clothes and nothing for his current size. (He's now up to the 24 month clothes; he could squeeze into the 18-monthers for a few more weeks but it would be silly to keep buying them).

The other, smaller, splurge this week was baby-safe markers (feutres) for Tristram. He's starting to get this coloring thing, though he's still not altogether clear on which ends draws. We got him a set of super-washable pens that have (supposedly) indestructible tips as a starter set. I have grand schemes of having him draw on thank-you cards for this year, but we'll see how much he wants to cooperate with that one.

It's been a productive day, on the whole.

We went to CAF this morning to see if we were eligible for government aid with our rent. It seems we certainly are, though they can't tell us how much and we can't have any of it till our cartes de sejour are ready. It makes one wonder how anything gets done in France; government bureaucracy is so slow and everything depends on something else that won't be done for months. We may not see a penny before March. It is good, however, to know that we will eventually get something, and to have our paperwork started, and a list of what else we need to finish it, and to know where the office is and what the hours are. Also, being recognized when you come back goes a long way.

I sent out three job applications today, though one is still waiting on unofficial transcripts. That's something of a problem, since UCI is hopelessly behind the times on transcripts: no online transcripts are available, nor can I request transcripts by email or phone. I have to request them by mail or in person, and if I request them by mail, for unofficial transcripts I have to send a stamped envelope to get them back or have them sent on to the HR office in question. Where to get the American postage to put on said envelope is a bit of a puzzle. For official transcripts, I have to send a check instead of a stamped envelope, which will soon get expensive compared to getting an unofficial transcript I can photocopy myself (which is, in most cases, all that's required until you get much farther along in the hiring process). Still, it's nice to have a start on the job thing.

I went by the museum yesterday, and am going to redo their translation. They were surprised to hear that it was poorly done--remember how Jonathan and I were convinced it was the project of babblefish rather than human hands? Turns out it was done by an English professor, or at least someone claiming to be a professor of English. It may have been farmed out to students as a homework assignment by an English professor, but no professor worth the name would write "otherthere" in their translation. Amazing. Anyway, it shouldn't take too long to redo that and get it in to the museum.

I just got off the phone about half an hour ago with the managing editor of worldmeets.us It sounds like a more and more interesting project, and one that can potentially get me a lot of editing/translating experience to claim. It also sounds like I should not have too hard of a time being valuable; it seems good translators with editing skills who are willing to work for free are in short supply. It's an intriguing idea; it's sort of a meta-presentation of news, as much focused on the perspectival presentation of news as the news itself. Of course all news is focused on presentation, not on objective fact, but most news sites try to obscure that as a threat to their credibility. This one embraces it and makes it its foundational claim to authority: it's the site that presents the news from the perspectives of different countries for Americans. There could be some literary journalism essays in the making, depending on what comes out of this.

Sweeping

This is why it takes me a lot longer lately to get any sweeping done. I'm glad he is a helpful helper, but I think I might get him a small broom of his own. Although he'd probably still prefer whatever tool I'm using, so maybe I should get him a full-sized one I can use too and just trade back and forth. It's not like the weight bothers him.

Actually, the heavier a toy, the more it pleases him. I'm going to contrive a way to weight down his push toy, since its main frustration for him is that it's so light. He's used to stacking two chairs to push around, and when he pushes the cart that hard it falls over and so does he. So he usually picks it up and carries it around at chest height. Playing with these puny Earth baby toys is confusing for him. Jonathan has suggested just tying a string to a brick and giving him that for a pull toy.

I am starting my job search for when we get back to the States. It's quite nerve-wracking, since I feel like the whole future of our family depends on me. Actually what depends on me is just where we move first off when we get back, but that's still a big enough weight. It's discouraging, too, since I struck out completely on my academic job search last year. My excuse was that most people do their first time out, especially when they don't yet have a dissertation in hand. Then I struck out on my French job search, though that was a long shot, since unemployment is so high and they strongly prefer to hire their own citizens. Well, actually, I didn't totally strike out--I got one very interested response, but it came after we'd moved here and before we got internet access, so by the time I received it it was already two months old and even if I'd seen it earlier I'd have had to return to the U.S. and start the entire visa process over to be able to pursue it. Then I struck out on my online job search, though that seems to be mainly because freelance is particularly slim just at the moment.

I have all my references confirmed now, so it's time to start sending out letters & resumes. While I'm searching, I'm picking up a volunteer translator position for worldmeetsus.com and (pending the outcome of today's trip downtown) for the local history museum. That way I can add recent experience as a translator; I'll get paid in lines to add to my resume, which is pretty good. Turns out most translator jobs require you to be certified; the governing professional body has an exam you have to take to be an accredited translator. Trouble is that you have to show a certain amount of professional experience already to be eligible to take the exam.

I'm also planning to volunteer as a writer for some nonprofits; my resume would benefit immensely from some demonstrable grantwriting experience and some publications that are less arcane than my academic ones so far. And just from more publications. Worst case scenario, if I strike out again, I will keep doing freelance & volunteer work when we get back and start taking some community college tech classes to get qualified as a technical writer. Something will have to turn up eventually; till then I just need to keep contributing enough for us to get by.

Wish me luck!

Taller Than the Table

GrandRobyn and GrandDan are coming! We weren't sure they were really going to until they called us today to say they had their tickets. Lisa will be here Jan. 23 to Feb. 10, and Dan and Robyn will be here Feb. 19 to 25. Bob and Toni will be back not too long after that, so we will be a lot less lonely for the second half of our stay than the first.

And what will all these visitors see while they're here? First, that Tristram has six teeth. Three on the bottom and three on the top--but the third tooth is on opposite sides on the bottom and top.

In addition to extra teeth, we have permafrost. The snow I mentioned last post? It's still here. It hasn't snowed again, but neither has it melted. It's still fluffy in spots, in others it's sludge, and in others it's turned into a solid sheet of ice so people are falling down on the sidewalk. Maybe it will still be here by the time Lisa arrives. The park is still closed; Tristram has played in snow at the playground but it seems they lock the park gates for snow. I'm sure that Tris will be a lot happier, and a lot easier to deal with, when it's nice enough to let him play outside again.

Also, Jonathan has gotten thoroughly sick of me saying, "Look at that! I wish I had a camera." Apparently I will be getting a new camera for a birthday present. We missed our chance at Jessie pictures, but we will still have Lisa and grandparent pictures.

Playing with GrandBob

I apologize for the tardiness of this post--I've been doing the recipe blog the last couple of days instead. It is filled with tales of cucumber salad and chocolate cookies.

It is snowing for the second day in a row, and has been since we woke up (it's 2:15 now). It's beautiful. I wish I had a camera so I could take pictures. It's measuring in the inches now, and falling steadily and softly.

Yesterday we took advantage of the Louvre being free the first Sunday of each month. We discovered that once you get on the train, you don't have to set foot outdoors again until you get back to Rueil Malmaison, which is nice for winter travel. We also discovered that, since there turns out to be an underground mall next to the Louvre, there's lots of food court opportunity that lets you avoid museum food lines. The Louvre is as close to being toddler-friendly as any museum I've seen, since everything they don't want tourists to lean on for photos is behind glass. I think we'll brave letting Tristram out of the stroller there before we leave France. It was extremely crowded, but since we stayed in travel mode we got to see most of one wing of one floor before we left to get home for a late nap. That's not bad for one trip. We covered Egyptian antiquities (well, the thematic grouping--the chronological tour is upstairs) and part of ancient Iraq. I think our favorite was the mummified crocodile, though Tristram's favorite was a statue they were calling a dog and I would probably call a jackal. We also saw some displays promising us statues of Sokar, which made me thoroughly catsick, but those were not in the case at the moment.

We figure next time Jonathan has a chunk of time midweek we'll get a multiday pass and go mornings, so we can skip the huge free-day crowds. We got pretty sick of people walking right into the stroller. There are two exhibits coming up that we can justify as dissertation research for Jonathan--one on French-Chinese aesthetic interchange (form of woodcuts) under Louis XV and one on Ariosto of Orlando Furioso fame.

Tristram is giving us lots of zerberts. He tried to give one to the snow through the window this morning. He also has just learned to throw things overhand, which he thinks is great fun, and to bang his head or his butt against our one non-concrete wall to make it thump, which I'm sure won't wake up the baby downstairs.

Tomorrow Jonathan heads back to work--but only for a week; then it's dead week and finals, and then a week off. We're planning on a lot fewer classes next quarter.

So Much Snow

Jessie left this morning to fly back to Oklahoma. She may well be warmer there. We will miss her! Jonathan is probably on his way back on the train now from dropping her off at the airport.

The weather has kind of prevented us from taking her on too many adventures. Monday we went downtown in a hopeful mood, since someone had called to tell us he saw a sign that our camera had been turned in to the police station. Jessie wanted to see Centreville, but she probably didn't want to walk there through the sleet, especially since she had thin shoes with no tread and jeans that dragged on the ground to soak up freezing water. It turned out someone had played a mean trick on us. There was no camera. There was, however, a new photography exhibit at the library, of work by someone named Edouard Boubat. This is the photo that the library chose as their cover for his exhibit flyer. We also took Tristram into the kids' section to let him run around, which he found quite entertaining. He was too excited to sit and read any books, but he had lots of fun running from person to person handing them books.

On our way home we got crab so we could have our traditional Sparkly Day feast. I had to clean them myself, but at least I didn't have to cook them. I would have trouble throwing a living creature into a pot of boiling water. We realized belatedly that we didn't have claw crackers for them, which made them a little difficult to eat. I shocked Jonathan and Jessie by biting to crack the leg segments instead of prying them apart with the fork. They were very tasty, but so much work for so little meat. I miss Dungeness crab. It's the perfect balance. It's not too much work, and it gets you nice large chunks of meat. King crab yields larger chunks of meat, but it's gross. It doesn't taste like crab. It just tastes like salt. Dungeness has that delicious light, sweet crab flavor.

Tuesday we spent, sadly, at the mall. I had some exchanges to do, and a lot of guesswork in figuring out my European size. I also had shopping to do for Jonathan, since I hadn't had Tristram-free time to do any shopping, and I can't do too much of it with him. For some reason he doesn't think it's fun. The mall was crazy, but we were victorious. New pants for all! Unfortunately that wasn't too fun of a day,

Now I've gotten off somehow in my chronology. I know the mall must have been Monday, because we were so tired the next day that we didn't do much. Perhaps I've switched the order of my days.

In any event, on Wednesday we went to Disneyland. It was Jonathan's birthday, and we'd talked it up to Jessie, and it was a day when our annual passes aren't accepted, but since we had been expressly charged by my parents to take her somewhere fun for them and it was what Jonathan wanted to do, we made the trip. Being New Year's Eve, it was quite crowded, though it was just held in check by, again, snow and ice. Jonathan and Jessie waited nearly two hours for the Star Wars ride. That was probably a blessing in disguise, though, since it gave me a chance to let Tristram out of the stroller to run around. He walked up and down the line waving to people, and even tried to climb under the rope to go visiting at one point. He saw people eating some food, and he wanted to see if they had anything good. Not much stranger anxiety in that kid. It is very nice having him old enough to be handed a granola bar when he is hungry--it makes long days much, much easier. The other thing that makes it easier is having the trains run smoothly with no delays, which they did.

Jonathan was quite pleased with his birthday loot, especially his new laptop bag and his gloves, which he liked so much he considered wearing them to bed that night. Instead he wore them for our walk along the Seine yesterday. He and Jessie got to see the Tennis of the Forbidden Fruit, and Tristram got to have his first actual meeting with a dog since we moved here. We met a super-friendly Newfoundland that came up and licked him right across the face, much to his delight. They don't get much bigger than that, so now he is all set on being okay with big dogs. I think it was the highlight of his week.

That was the extent of Jessie's French adventures. We spent most of our time playing new games, including a lot of Around the World in 80 Days. I didn't think to break out the board games when Bob and Toni were here, but next time it is definitely on the agenda. We like having people besides ourselves to play with.

I will be sad to leave because of the library exhibits. I know I've said that before, but I am impressed all over again with how much they treat them like real art exhibits you could find in a museum. Fine photography sometimes includes nudes, and in France that is ok--it doesn't seem to occur to anyone to flip out about some nipples showing in the library. You'd never see that in the US, because so many Americans are crazy prudes with underdeveloped aesthetic capacities. I will be glad to leave because of the frequency and shamelessness with which the French wear fur. Who wears a full-length fur coat to an amusement park?! The French.

One last note: I am surprised to find how many people seem somehow convinced that France is dangerous. We were told very explicitly, multiple times, not to let Jessie out by herself because "something" might happen to her (no one knew what, but they were really scared of it), and we've been asked a bunch if we feel safe. Just to put all that to rest, let's review some basic statistics: Jessie is 15 times more likely to be the victim of a violent crime in Oklahoma than in Paris. The far greater safety of Europe is, in fact, on my list of reasons I'd like to stay.