I went to Catholic school from preschool through college.  When Rita Cary & I get together, we compare stories about strict nuns, bad uniforms, and church on the first Friday of every month.  For Christmas one year, she bought me a wind up Nunzilla toy that breathes sparks.  I still laugh whenever I wind it up.  I love it.  Being Catholic is like a secret handshake.  You're either in or out.  You fellow Catholics will enjoy this story...

When I was graduating high school, we had a group session with the guidance counselor priest.  He asked us what we wanted to do with our lives.  I piped up. "I want to live and to work in France".  His repsonse, "How realistic is that?  You look like you spend a lot of time at the Meadow Glen Mall.".   Ok, first, it's the GHETTO GLEN MALL.  Second, no, despite my big hair, I don't hang out there. Third, I REALLY don't appreciate the fact that you think my Esprit clothes from Jordan Marsh look like they came from Tellos.

Regardless of whatever Father Judgemental said, I never let go of my dream of moving to Paris.  At this point, I have a nice retirement nest egg.  I have an EU passport so I don't have to worry about visas.  Most importantly, I have been practicing my francais by watching copious of amounts of TV5Monde. 

While I am still living in the US now, I can live vicariously through David Lebovitz:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/

His book, "The Sweet Life in Paris" is laugh out loud funny.  I've had a lot of LOLZ on the subway train.  AND the recipes are very good. 

This book makes me very impatient for my future!

I'm a hater, I'll admit it.  I hate Valentine's Day.  I just do.   It's weird because I love holidays in general, especially ones that involve chocolate.  I love the colors pink and red.  There is something soothing about the symmetry of a heart.  Of course, I have plenty of people in my life that I absolutely love.  When it comes to Feb 14, I am not feeling it nor have I ever felt it.

Maybe it has more to do with the time of year?  Every year at this point, I am frustrated with winter (the shovelling, the loss of muliple single gloves, the short days).  Usually, I am sniffling with a never ending cold.  MEH.  February may only have 28 or 29 days but it just seems to draaaaaaaaaagggggggggggggggggg.

Winter aside, Valentine's Day just feels so forced with overpriced out of season flowers and mediocre restaurant meals.

Having said all that - I actually bought little valentines for my staff and special prezzies for people like my mum.  I'd like to think that doing these things appeals more to the fact that I genuinely enjoy doing little stuff to make people smile...and not to the fact that I need a holiday as an excuse. 

Either way - I hope you have a reasonable Feb 14th.

This is all I have to say...

So, the last time I talked to you over blog, it was right after Thanksgiving.  I can't quite believe we're already at the second week of January.  So much has happened since then!  But let’s rewind even further...

In 1988, INXS released "Kick" which was an amazing album.  "Never Tear Us Apart" was my favorite song off the album and the video, to this day, is still one of my favorites.   The video was filmed in Prague, a city of which I had never seen modern pictures. At the time, Czechoslovakia was still Czechoslovakia and under Communist rule.  I was 15 years old with limited life experience.  So, this video made Prague endlessly fascinating to me.  I was smitten and HAD to go.

21 years later, I got there and I tell you - it did not disappoint!  I spent the first 2 days bumping into people while wandering the streets all gobsmacked over the architecture.    I did all the touristy things like walk over the Charles Bridge;  eat my weight in Liege Waffles while watching the Astronomical Clock; and drink beer from a smoky pivobar.  The consumption of pivobar beer may or may not have contributed to a possible late night liberation of loose cobblestones from Muzeum Square to be used as souvenir paperweights.

HOWEVER - the consumption of pivobar beer did contribute to another fiasco.  While ambling to the subway on the way home, I stumbled upon Prague's #1 radio station, Radio Hey!

I was so excited!  I left them my card so they would know that a fellow radio person had stopped by.

Aside from my ridiculousness, Prague is a fascinating place to be right now.  It's part of the EU but it's not on the Euro yet.   From all the shopping and the goods available, the economy is poised to become something big and global.  Czech is, of course, the number one language there but almost everyone is learning to speak fluent English.   Prague always been ex-pat, artsy hotspot anyway.  It will be very intriguing to see how the Czech Republic unfolds politically and economically over the next few years.

At the end of my trip, I was meandering down the streets just taking everything in.  A fortuitous turn brought me to this place:

The cemetery where Kirk Pengilly was doing his sax solo in the video!!  This is why I was here in the first place!! 

Even more amazing....

The cemetery is on top of a bunch of souvenir stalls!!

Huh! Never would've thought that from seeing the video on MTV all those years ago!

The holidays! SIGH!  I always get so excited the week before whatever holiday is coming.  It's the anticipation of the event...and food...and people...and decorations.  Then, the night before arrives and I am exhausted.  I just want to sit around in my martini pajamas and watch trashy BBC documentaries.

Tonight, it's the night before Thanksgiving and true to tradition, I am dragging. I don't feel festive.  If anything, I look like I murdered someone due to an explosion of red velvet cake batter from my electric mixer. 

Soon enough, I will be loafing in bed and Thanksgiving will be here.  Every Thanksgiving, I watch the Macy's parade.  I still get that little kid thrill when I see Snoopy. Of course, I am very happy they added Hello Kitty and the Keith Haring Heart figure.

While I don't feel especially into it all tonight, I know when the holiday finally gets here, I will have fun.

May your Thanksgiving be everything you need it to be.

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was this past week. In honor of such a momentous occasion, my cube mate, Matt, and I built a Lego Berlin Wall between our cubes.  Matt also made an impressive Soviet Union flag with red & yellow Legoes.  Then, somebody drove a Lego tank through our wall and posted a paper doll of David Hasselhoff on the ruins. 

In a couple of weeks, I will be going to Prague and I am so curious.  I've spent time working in Eastern Europe and, as someone who grew up with capitalism, it's a fascinating area of the world.  At one point, I was trying to bring home some souvenirs (how very American of me!!) but the only things I could really buy were clothes, food, and household appliances.  Bucharest, Romania seemed like it took a big hit over the years with all the turmoil.  There are a few remnants of its former glory of being "The Paris of the East" though.  On the other hand, Budapest, Hungary was able to maintain most of it's beauty despite the events of the past century.   Prague supposedly is THAT much more intact.  Needless to say, I am excited.  I am hoping to get some more firsthand perspective on what it's like 20 years after the Wall and the Velvet Divorce on this trip.