brussel sprout cooking competition!

the weather thing is now confirmed beyond a doubt, by the way. cool and misty this morning, then i went for a run, and the clouds disappeared. i hope i don't come down with something that keeps me in bed for a week - i can just see the headlines now. Unprecedented Tsunami Hits Loire Valley; Village Under Ten Feet of Water. no, no. must stay healthy and active.

today i went to the bakery (baker now back from her vacances) for the very first time. so exciting. the official mission was to buy bread, but i decided (since i was there) that i should also perform a community service (you know me, give, give, give) and make sure the pain aux raisins were of acceptable quality (pleased to report that they were). i am worried, however, about their tarte au citron; i may have to do a repeat visit to inspect those more closely.

i learned a fun new word at the market this morning - betterave (beetroot) - disgusting to eat, but such a good time to say. i was also briefly possessed by aliens, who made me buy a bag of brussel sprouts, which i hate, but because i have had so many people tell me that i only hate them because i have never had them prepared properly, i am holding a competition. if you think you know the best way to cook brussel sprouts, email me your recipe, and if you can convince me that brussel sprouts are actually delicious, you will win a super fantastic prize (a painting of a brussel sprout?) and my eternal amazement and gratitude. you have 48 hours. if i don't get any takers in that time, i am sauteeing them in butter with salt and garlic, and if they are still disgusting, they are going to the donkey. (we have started a collection bag of donkey food, in lieu of compost - any fruits/veggies that are starting to go a bit funny, L takes to give to the donkey. the donkey LOVES L. i think it might try to come back to the states with her.

drawing so-so today - i decided to try doing a portrait with the two days of this pose we had left, and it was terrible horrible no good very bad, so instead i switched to a systematic program of phobia eradication, drawing nothing but eyes, noses, mouths, ears, bits between mouth and nose which i think is the hardest part of the face to draw, hands, and feet). i'll take another whack at the portrait tomorrow. painting much better - i am almost almost done with the figure (except for one leg and the feet. if the model loses her lower limbs in a tragic chainsaw accident over the weekend, i suppose i could be done sooner, but realistically it will be another two days of leg/feet, two days for drapery, and then a day for finishing touches/starting something else/whatever). the painting does not meet my basic artwork standard of "if i saw this for sale at a garage sale for $5, would i buy it?" but i don't think i have ever painted anything which meets that standard, so ??? we'll see what it looks like when done.

we had M&P over for dinner tonight with their two little girls (who spent most of the time jumping on my bed - there are probably a few new cracks in the ceiling plaster as a result, and i will find out soon how the bedsprings fared, but they had a good time doing it). we had a show after dinner (the elder standing on a chair in the kitchen singing, the younger doing spazzy three-year-old interpretive dancing as accompaniment - with her stuffed goose). very cute. i scored some points for being the only person there who knew all the words to 'three little monkeys jumping on the bed' - the elder had learned it at school in canada before she left, but didn't remember all the words. (neither of the girls really speaks english, as they go to french school in quebec, and obviously speak french at home, but luckily L and i speak fluent macaroni-cheese-with-chocolate-eclairs-for-pudding, so we were able to communicate without too much difficulty).

martin scores extra points (personalized shout-out in the blog - you've hit the bigtime now, baby!) for the most eloquent epitaph anyone has ever composed for me, which i would like to share with you all:

'here lies j., beginning to molder,
she was famous in france for her perfect shoulder.'

koan-like in its simplicity, and yet, i think, it speaks volumes. thank you, martin. that's truly beautiful. i will share it with the teacher on sunday when we are back in class. not to blow my own horn, here, or anything, but today she said my left hip was 'quite good.' dizzying heights of praise... :)

okay, time for bed - notre weekend starts tomorrow and i have big plans to NOT get out of bed at half past six...

love to all!