Off to Lille!

Well, Ariel and I are off to visit my family in Lille for the holidays. Chances are, we won't do any posting while we're over there, but we promise we'll take pictures and put those up whenever we get back.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this photo of Ariel enjoying the present we got for my cousin Ingrid's daughter Louise.




Wait, what's that, Ariel? You want to keep koala for yourself?



Okay, then, it might be Louise's present. Ariel's taking such a liking to the little guy, he might just have to stay here with us. Or at least, she's going to get as many hugs out of him that she can before having to be the bigger person and give him to the baby.


Have a merry Christmas!

A pain in the neck

My wife's neck is hurting. Like but bad. For a few days now. I don't like this. I don't like her to be hurting. And I get the distinct impression she doesn't much care for it either. I'm hoping that going to Lille for a few days starting tomorrow might do some good - if only because she won't be craning over a sink washing dishes or over an ironing board ironing or looking down at her computer while sitting on the bed or sofa. In the meantime, though, does anyone have any suggestions other than taking Tylenol for what one can do to help get rid of neck pains?

And eight tiny reindeer...

My Aunt M sent me this link, and I just love it - so here you go. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Photos from Paris, 27-Nov-2008 to 15-Dec-2008

Photos from Paris, 27-Nov-2008 to 15-Dec-2008

Thanksgiving soup, lovely Paris, & a whole lot of twinkly lights!

Listening to Christmas music, and making turtles (dark chocolate, caramel, & toasted almonds). Pretty yummy. (I had to try one or two or three to make sure they were okay, didn't I? I'm not at allll sugar twitchy now. Not a bit.)

Anyway, I'm listening to this online station called "Xmas in Frisko", described as, "SomaFM's wacky and eclectic holiday mix. Not for the easily offended." Currently playing : Weird Al Yankovic's "The Night Santa Went Crazy". Wild. My favorite song so far has been "Christmas at Hogwarts", by Harry & the Potters. The sound and video don't quite sync up, but you can listen here.

How many archivists does it take to clean a toilet?

God I wish that were the start of a bad joke. But I honestly don't think the bathroom at the Archives Nationales has been cleaned once since I've started working there, and it's getting pretty damn nasty.

Who knew scholars could be such foul people? Maybe they just want to get a sense of what pre-sewer France smelled like - you know, like a historical reenactment. Only disgusting.

Fakin' Bacon

For dinner tonight we went across the street to the local (by which I mean only) diner, called "Breakfast in America."
Being "in America," we decided we needed to get the most American food we could think of, something we can't get anywhere else in France. And, since this is Ariel and Derek we're talking about, you should already know what that something is: bacon. Ariel had a BLT and I ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger.

Midway through the meal, Ariel stopped eating, at which point we had the following very brief conversation:

Derek: How does the bacon taste?

Ariel (looking betrayed and sounding disappointed): It tastes......French.