Journal Prompt: What was the last compliment you received?

Hmm... Good question. I am often told that I look younger than 62, and this is meant as a compliment. But the thing is, looking old at 62 is really a thing of my mom's generation. Women dress more youthful today -- I dress like a teenager half the time -- and we have a freedom and an independence that our mom's lacked.

Independence and the ability to choose what you want to do has its own collagen, its own anti-wrinkle ability. My mom was saddled down in an era where women had very little choice about their lives, careers, relationships. Now women are doing all kinds of crazy wonderful things and age is becoming younger.

Perfect Strangers

Tonight I am watching Perfect Strangers, a thriller, with Halle Berry and Bruce Willis. Some of the sub-titles are:

1. Don't betray your friends. Ne trahis pas tes amis.

2. Take the virtual tour. Fais la visite virtuelle.

3. Fais de beaux rêves. Sweet dreams.

4. You are fired. Vous êtes renvoyée.

5. Esmeralda avait raison. Esmeralda was right.

I LikeTuesdays

I like Tuesdays because it's the last day I have to myself before I watch Stefan. It's a me-day...

I tried taking some pictures when I was in Sausalito this afternoon but there was too much fog. I have a film on the TV right now w/French sub-titles but it's not very interesting...

I am trying to put a photo or two on Flickr every day. That means that I need to take enough shots to get a few that I like. Not an easy task...

I joined a Flickr group just now called Thursday self-portraits, so once a week you submit a portrait of yourself. It's the first group that I've joined. I'm excited!!

Here's some things I wrote down from today's film:

1. On l'a retrouve. -- We found him.

2. J'avais sihonte. -- I was so ashamed.

3. I will have a bonus coming in January. -- J'aurai une prime en janvier.

4. Je n'ai personne. I have no one.

5. I will call you. -- Je t'appelerai.

6. You're going to need a lot of money to raise that one-year-old kid.
Tu vas avoir besoin d'argent pour elever ton fils.

7. The pipes can never freeze. -- Les tuyaux ne gelent jamais.

8. Elles n'ont rien. -- They have nothing.

9. Par ici! -- Over here!

10. I have to go. -- Je dois y aller.

Goodbye Arthur

My 20-year old French-speaking language partner just returned to Belgium last week, so I am in the market for a new French-speaking buddy. I looked on Craig's List tonight and there is actually someone (a 28 year-old woman) who is looking for someone to do a language-exchange with....

French. Mostly what I've been doing lately in regard to learning French is renting movies at Blockbuster that have French sub-titles. That's the pre-requisite. So I am renting movies that I don't have any real interest in seeing -- like the one I'm watching tonight called Zohan with Adam Sandler with a lot of penis jokes -- but this is a great method for learning. Also, I have two Skype buddies so twice a week I have a half hour's worth of time to practice...

Frederic told me that every day he does something to facilitate his learning English, so I am trying to do something every day to help me learn French... Slowly but surely should be my middle name.

Some interesting sub-titles:

Une fliquette -- slang for female cop...

Limiers -- bloodhounds...

Renards -- foxes...

Je suis enceinte -- I am pregnant...

Tu as vu mes bottes? -- Have you seen my boots?

Quelqu'un ment -- Someone is lieing.

J'aime vos collants -- I like your tights.

Je suis un mec -- I'm a dude.

You're hiring me? -- Tu m'engages?

Playing with monkeys -- Jouer avecs les singes...

There is a package for you -- Il y a un colis pour vous.

I'm going to find you -- Je vous trouverai.

Suis-moi -- Follow me...

Salami, merguez, pommes-frites -- Salami, baloney, apple-sauce...

Are you even watching the road? -- Vous regardez la route, au moins?

----

I am going to email the French woman now.......

Plus ou moins, tout va bien

Aujourd'hui, j'ai parlé avec mon amie Claudia en Suisse de midi a treize heure. Ensuite, j'ai travaillé sur mon roman. Maintenant, je fais bouillir des haricots noirs que j'ai poussé pendant quatre jours. Pour le déjeuner, j'ai mangé du riz, des choux de Bruxelles et de crevettes. Plus ou moins, tout va bien.

Disappointment

A long long time ago, some 28 years ago, I was in a serious automobile accident where I was rear-ended by a drunk driver and had to subsequently have root canals on two of my front teeth, not to mention wearing braces for a second go around in order to be able to correct my bite. (To this day I hold my jaw at an angle that looks like I am posing, my attempt to line everything up right.)

The two new "teeth" in front never matched the rest of my teeth, plus they didn't really look like real teeth to me. I think of them as George Washington teeth because they look wooden, like his did.

So, when I reached the ripe wonderful age of 60 I told myself that I was going to go to a cosmetic dentist to have those two wooden-looking teeth replaced with ones that looked more like the rest of my teeth. I am 62 now so it has taken me a while to put this into motion -- going to two separate dentists to get their opinions, spending a long time decising which person to choose.... I move very slowly.

So today I had my appointment with Dr. Yang and had an ex-ray taken of those front teeth, being told that there could be complications that could prohibit fixing them. Well, there was a complication. Apparently, the teeth are too short to fix -- they are not as long as the root --and taking off the crown and replacing those crowns wouldn't be a good idea. Dr. Yang honestly said that he would advise me not to do it, that why don't I try bleaching my teeth to at least try to make them the same color...

I really wanted to make this change in my appearance. I wanted this to work. But it didn't. And in the scope of things, I know that this is a tiny problem compared to other things going on personally as well as globally.

But still...

There was one funny thing that happened in his office today. When I got the ex-ray the technician asked me if there was any chance of my being pregnant. (Was she kidding me?) I told her I was 62 and the only thing I might give birth to would be a hot flash. Actually, she kind of made my day...

10 Things That Make You Happy...

1. when you watch a French movie you haven't seen in a year and can now understand parts of what the actors are saying...

2. when your grandson tells you he has a present for you and gives you his plastic bottle of bubbles...

3. when you go out to dinner with your buddies and laugh over crab/corn soup...

4. when you take photos with your new camera and several of them turn out good...

5. when Friday rolls around...

6. when you have a good day at writing...

7. when ideas alight about what your next book might be about...

8. when Jennifer Weiner comes out with a new book...

9. when you go to the dentist and she tells you your teeth look good and you don't have any cavities...

10. when you're driving in traffic while listening to a fantastic audiotape...