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13022. alistairconnor - 1/4/2005 2:06:40 PM Hello Mac. I trust you were christmasly cheerful and everything, and that your health hasn't suffered too much from the usual excesses.
I'm certainly hoping for a better class of year this time. 13023. Macnas - 1/4/2005 2:58:06 PM Indeed alistair, I feel every bit of good for what amounted to 3 weeks of reverse detox.
I rarely dwell on the year past, and never try and divine what a new year will bring. In comparison to others around the world, my life is so good I should feel guilty.
I don't though.
Highlights of Christmas, well, the solstice, (bonfire burning pagan that I am).
The snow on Christmas day, the ensuing snowball fight with 2 of my brothers, the kids running around in it, more happy with snow than with any gift given them on the day.
The Saint Stephens day hunt, not a horsey affair, us commoners follow the hounds on foot. Myself and the kids headed off to the lonely crossroads where the hunt usually starts from, and by listening out for the "eyower-ower-yower" call of the harrier dogs we found them. Standing in the snow at the side of the road looking down at a wood where the pack was hunting, we could hear them but not see them. The kids shouting and laughing as the pack broke over the ditch bordering the wood and streamed across the boggy meadow in full throat, brought smiles to the faces of the hardbitten huntsmen we were in the company of.
My last day out shooting, where I struggled to get to a remote bog, a real bog complete with dangerous deep holes filled with brown peaty water, deep enough to swallow cattle nevermind myself. Breaking the gun and looking on in wonder as the dog rose maybe 30 or 40 snipe from one corner, then the whole bog coming alive with them, the twisting wisps screeching and spiralling into the air all around me. More snipe than I have ever seen in one place, who could shoot while this was happening? Not me.
13024. alistairconnor - 1/4/2005 3:29:27 PM Hey there's a thought... I suppose they do fox-hunting in Ireland?
That will be a juicy little business sector when the ban in the UK comes into effect... stables and lodgings and catering and weekend flight packages. 13025. Macnas - 1/4/2005 3:33:43 PM Nope, in fact the Irish Master of Foxhounds has issued a public statement that UK foxhunters are not welcome here. 13026. Macnas - 1/4/2005 3:37:24 PM Foxhunting, on horses at least, is not what you might call the most popular of sports, as it is expensive and has the smell of gentry about it. Also, the practicalities of our countryside,lots of wet bog, high ditches complete with barbed and electric wire, does not lend itself to hunting with horses. 13027. alistairconnor - 1/4/2005 3:40:19 PM Not welcome!
That's extraordinarily uncivil of them... 13028. Macnas - 1/4/2005 3:41:08 PM Isn't it though? 13029. judithathome - 1/4/2005 4:54:47 PM never heard of USAA
as a credit card . Is that only a Texas company?
No, it is national and serves military and retired military. You can get a card from them if you've never served if one of your parents did...it was at one time only for officer level. I don't know if that has changed.
13030. The Summer Woman - 1/4/2005 4:57:56 PM Mago - I am a strange traveller. I can tell you more about the plants in the little courtyards that I saw than about the magnificent art work in the museums. I like to sit and just look at a particular painting or sculpture for a long time, and of course, this is not possible in a crowded museum.
I did not do my usual French language "cramming" before this trip (conjugating as many verbs as possible, reading up on idioms, listening to tapes, etc., etc.), and found, much to my surprise that, for the first time, I was able to communicate freely and un-selfconsciously, using simple tenses. I joyously threw myself into playing the fool-tourist and exaggerated my accent (lot's of hocking noise) and found the result to be very gratifying. Right from the get-go, I had a long conversation with our taxi-driver (a luxury that turned out to be a luxury indeed, considering the packed holiday roads and streets). We talked about politics, both French and American, the differences in the education systems, the work week, Chirac and Futbol. It turned out that our driver thought that Bush had managed to impose a Stalinesque-type censorship on our country, and I had to assure him that I took Bushes name in vain right along with God's and even though I lived in an area where fundamentalists were as common as flies, no one had as het sent me off to the gulag. Upon further questioning, I discovered that he had come to this conclusion watching Fox News! The "news" seemed so far from the truth and so pro-Bush that he had concluded that we were being censored on a grand scale. He offered to give us his phone number when we reached our hotel, and looked a little hurt when I said thank you, but no, it wasn't necessary.
13031. The Summer Woman - 1/4/2005 4:59:55 PM Our little hotel was located off the street in a courtyard with a beautiful garden. An un-selfconscious mixture of Mahonia, Rhododendron, Viburnum davidii, Roses, Boxwood, Abelia, Meiterranean Heather, Primroses, Salvia, and Sedums. Lots of variegated eunoymous, also. I was startled
to see three Sweetgums, planted quite close together, towering over the garden and not see a single gumball on the paths or in the beds! (We spend a good deal of time at our house raking up and "roller-skating" on the horrid fruits of our neighbors gumballs.) Could French gardeners be using the genetically-altered "ball-less" Sweetgum? Mon dieu!
The first couple of days we did the usual - Centre Pompidou, Musee des Arts et Sciences (which turned out to be more geared toward children and teenagers than adults), Notre Dame, the Conciergerie. This last, along with anything architectural, was far more interesting to my son, Strudel, than any sculpture or painting.
It was cold, windy, and it rained non-stop. Strudel and I were generally quite happy about this, as it necessitated frequent stops in cafes. Something my husband would have fidgeted about had the weather been nicer, since he always feels he must be "doing" something. 13032. The Summer Woman - 1/4/2005 5:01:28 PM We also "did" the Pantheon, whose vaults and crypts I have always loved. We walked the Champs-Elysees from Arc de Tripomphe to the Louvre where Strudel got to see Pei's pyramid, and decided to make the next day a "museum day" The lights were absolutely beautiful, the crowds of non-Parisian French joyful and un-hurried tourists.
The "museum day" did not turn out as planned. After going to the Cluny (I had no idea that George Sand was involved in the Unicorn Tapestries) and the Musee d'Orasy, where I enjoyed the exhibition, "New York and and the modern art, Alfred Stieglitz and his Circle, 1905 - 1905"; this Renoir -
c 
and a Sisley, which I cannot find an on-line image of. Why are there so few nudes of males in non-religious paintings?
We took a break after this, and it became apparent that Strudel was getting sick. He went back to the hotel, and we we skipped our planned visit to the Rodin museum (I always liked Claudel's scuptures better) les Invalides, and Jardins Luxembourg. I was sad to miss the gardens, as on our previous visit, the gardeners invited me to help them turn over the almost dust-like dirt in the huge circular planting area. They felt that I was doing a most wonderful job, and inquired whether the crazy American woman might not want to do the whole job by herself. Also, the last time I was there they were in the process of taking cutting from the pear trees, and it was wonderful to look at the bundles of branches and see the expertly grafted scions.
Guiltily, we set off to see l'Orangerie at the Louvre - which was closed. Grrrrr. So we wandered the streets around les Halles and had a wonderful cheap dinner in a local student's dive.
I have more to tell, but perhaps this is enough.
13033. The Summer Woman - 1/4/2005 5:06:02 PM Macnas - 13023 was beautiful. I think it will be my favorite "What I did for Christmas" post of all time. 13034. PelleNilsson - 1/4/2005 5:19:04 PM You spoke French with an American accent? In Paris? And didn't get your throat slit? Stunning. 13035. wonkers2 - 1/4/2005 6:04:31 PM Another complaint about CitiCard. The bill was dated (the closing date for December) December 21. I didn't receive the bill until January 3. Payment was due January 14, leaving only 11 days to avoid a penalty charge. This, in effect, sets a trap for anyone who happens to be away from home or otherwise unable to respond during this brief window. And once the trap is sprung, the interest rate on unpaid balances goes up to 29 percent. Citi-Bank could give lessons to the Mafia juice racketeers. 13036. thoughtful - 1/4/2005 6:15:33 PM yes often credit cards do that where the bill rec'd has eaten far into the 'grace period' over which you can pay the bill. The only solution is to pay the bill more frequently...with or without having rec'd a bill.
And if you've messed up and missed a payment, be sure to overpay the next bill so that you will cover any add'l finance charges/fees they might have attached. Otherwise, even if payed in full on the old balance, they'll continue to charge finance charges on the total outstanding due including finance charges and late fees until they're paid.
Nasty business, but ubiquitous.
My mother made the mistake of getting a capital one card. While she's not had the payment issues with them (yet) she is absolutely inundated with junk mail and phone calls from them to the point she wishes she never did business with them. 13037. Macnas - 1/4/2005 6:33:08 PM Summer Woman, you are far too kind, but I am happy that you liked it.
Now I must away, as it is going home time and I've had more than enough of work. Talk to yez tomorrow. 13038. The Summer Woman - 1/4/2005 6:36:11 PM Pelle - I never have bad experiences in France - ok, maybe one. My problem is usually that someone assumes that I am fluent once a converstaion has toodled along for quite a while, and then, when I say, "Je ne comprends pas" all hell breaks out.
Oh - you were being ironic. :) 13039. alistairconnor - 1/4/2005 6:36:44 PM Dame d'hiver! (A woman for all seasons) More! Please!
Why are there so few nudes of males in non-religious paintings?
Since the commissioners of art works have almost always been rich/powerful men, probably because the only gay men who feel they have a strong enough alibi tend to be bishops, cardinals and the like. 13040. Magoseph - 1/4/2005 6:56:40 PM I have more to tell, but perhaps this is enough.
No, Summer, never enough for the Mote, you know that--as the Prof has made it clear, 10 posts aren't enough for us.
As you think about your trips to France, tell us about them again and again, please.
And thank you very much.
13041. Ms. No - 1/4/2005 8:04:11 PM Could French gardeners be using the genetically-altered "ball-less" Sweetgum?
When my stepfather's sister and her husband bought their last house there was a large and quite fruitful olive tree in the backyard. It was very old, however, so the fruit was plentiful but not very good. They wanted to keep the tree but not have to deal with the thousands of olive-plops that littered the terrace and pool area. So they had the tree "fixed". I've no idea what that entails but I think it's some kind of chemical sterilization.
I don't know whether the tree continued to blossom and just not produce fruits or whether it ceased blooming altogether but they managed to keep the tree and also maintain their patio.
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