Sidewalk Chalk Art

These photos (forgive the quality, they were taken with a camera phone at night) are of drawings done near one of the République metro exits and about a week earlier we passed the artist drawing on a sidewalk near Porte St Martin. He does the amazing drawings in colored chalk on Paris sidewalks and puts a note asking for money in return.

Nip/Tuck Meets The Sopranos

When I checked my email this morning, there was a Facebook message about a pair of former clients (I used to work in ad agencies) in the Seattle area. One of the two has been arrested by the FBI and charged with attempting to hire a hitman to kill the other (his business partner) and a former colleague. He asked an employee who, depending on which article you read, is either Russian or Ukranian if he had any contacts in the Russian mafia. The employee contacted the FBI and the accused is currently in jail awaiting trial. Apparently he thought he could not only have two people killed but also profit from the life insurance policy of his partner. I always thought he was a bit weird and kinda creepy, but this is beyond crazy.

Interesting Tidbits

Babies May Pick Up Language Cues In Womb

French Women Do Get Fat

The Highlands

The Brit and I are headed back to Scotland for a few days. Here are some photos from our last trip.

In The News

Eiffel light show marks 120 years

Maternal mortality high in the US

French pedophile trial fuels castration debate

Pilots Who Overshot Minneapolis Airport Say They Were Working On Laptops

Sarkozy son pulls out of job bid

Church Of Scientology Convicted Of Fraud In France

La vie est chère

I was standing on the sidewalk reading a book while waiting for someone when a middle aged man appeared in front me saying that life is expensive. I pretended not to understand French so he repeated the phrase in English. For a brief moment I considered pretending that I didn’t understand English either, but since I was holding a book in English I figured that wouldn’t work.

The man continued babbling about life being more expensive these days, his lack of hair and how great it is that Obama is President while I started backing up to get out of spittle-flying range. Then, out the blue, he told me that he wanted to have coffee with me. I said no and his response was “I don’t want to make love; I just want to buy you a coffee.” I told him I couldn’t because I was waiting for someone. He said “You’re busy” then walked off while telling me that I would learn French. This is definitely one of my oddest Parisian encounters…

Paris = perverts?

Paris has a reputation for being a city of Romance, but the writer of this article has a different view. Be sure to read some of the comments, because they are just as (perhaps more) interesting than the article.