He loves caramel, but most of all he loves vanilla.
He doesn't like chocolate.
He doesn't like beer. He doesn't drink wine.
He drinks white martninis. I had never even seen one; my martini is a lemon drop, and everyone else I know likes them dirty, with olives.
He likes the way I'm always smiling.
He doesn't know it's because he's around.
I enquired, in a moment of lasciviousness, whether he plays Scrabble.
'No, what is that?'
I explained, it's a game, with letters, you make words....
'Ah! Scrar-bluh!'
We're playing today.
He says he doesn't know how to repay me for looking after him during his visit.
I don't know how to tell him that he repays me each day, that after so long frozen in the head, the heart, and everywhere else, he makes me thaw.
I can't tell him he makes me feel human again.
He says he will send macaroons from Laduree, as a thank you.
I'm not going to argue.
il est stupéfiant.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
They keep getting younger!
So Mr.Engineer was only 24, and today I found out our French intern is just 18.
It makes sense, he only speaks when spoken to, but he has a good sense of humour and is very polite. I'm pretty sure this is the only internship he'll be taking where someone heats up a chocolate cookie for him.
Anyway, the fact he's still an ultra cool teen explains why he wears his jeans so low half his ass is hanging out. He was leaning over slightly yesterday and I walked right past his crack dimple that showed though his jersey boxers. The boxers had a tiny hole in them.
That really was the most interesting part of the work day.
It makes sense, he only speaks when spoken to, but he has a good sense of humour and is very polite. I'm pretty sure this is the only internship he'll be taking where someone heats up a chocolate cookie for him.
Anyway, the fact he's still an ultra cool teen explains why he wears his jeans so low half his ass is hanging out. He was leaning over slightly yesterday and I walked right past his crack dimple that showed though his jersey boxers. The boxers had a tiny hole in them.
That really was the most interesting part of the work day.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Haha!
Last week I went out to celebrate the end of J's exams and met a lot of her other friends. J is considerably younger than me, which is charming because she seems to think this means I know all sorts of stuff and can give her advice. I don't know much, but I can talk like I do so it's gratifying for both of us.
At J's post exam pub dinner, her youthful neighbour, upon finding out my age, immediately cried 'Don't worry! You don't look 28! And besides, you have a really nice coat so it doesn't matter!'
I might as well have confessed to being 78.
Then I quietly luxuriated in no longer being 21.
At J's post exam pub dinner, her youthful neighbour, upon finding out my age, immediately cried 'Don't worry! You don't look 28! And besides, you have a really nice coat so it doesn't matter!'
I might as well have confessed to being 78.
Then I quietly luxuriated in no longer being 21.
In Defense of Disney - by Elle Woods, or Cher from Clueless
I spent the weekend on the south coast with my school friends. It was completely fabulous. Especially the ride home. We sang most of Evita and half of the Ultimate Disney Princess CD.
Disney gets a lot flak. It was a solid part of my childhood; the films, the characters, the toys and the theme parks. Yes, the girls all have outrageously huge eyes, tiny waists and a tendency to get hitched at sixteen. They don't go to university, and they usually need their lives saved at least once per movie. Preferably by a really hot guy. I know, I know, it took forever for Disney to consider drawing a non-white princess. And where are the non-heterosexual characters? You know, like in real life?
So Disney may be flawed, but I don't think it's actually evil. The reason the stories have outdated premises and stereotypes is that they are based on fairy tales. They are generated from the old, white, straight Hans Christian Anderson world of good vs evil and ugliness vs beauty. Disney has not evolved these tales very much, but they allow the characters to evolve. Even if it's only to believe in themselves, and let love into their lives. That's something real people often have a problem doing. The reason I still have songs from Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Alice in Wonderland on my ipod, is that they were my very first exposure to dreams, to burgeoning womanhood, to real passion (passion for living, not just for the hot guys, although I quite liked Aladdin). I can almost hear you laughing but they really were important to me.
Ok so pretty much all the Disney women find love and their journeys are usually not complete until they have found their mate. So what are Disney films saying? That you can't be happy without love? If Disney is considered a bad influence for this alone, then I have some unfortunate news...the whole of modern life tends to give this message, it didn't start here. And even though when you grow up you learn (hopefully) that there are actually many different kinds of love, and being swept off your feet by a rich, handsome, possible former beast, is usually not the way life rolls, the idea that everything you have or don't have is made better when you experience love is not far from the truth. Loving and being loved is something you have to learn how to accomplish successfully, even if it's so nuanced and intrinsic you don't know you're leaning it as you go along.
It's fine if you'd rather avoid allowing your kids to get obsessed with all that pink plastic princess crap. When I was a kid there was no such thing as a Disney store, there were absolutely no miniature versions of Disney Princess outfits, no sparkly baby heels or fairy wings. It was just the movie plus your imagination. (And if you're really spoilt like I was, trips to Disneyworld and a pair of Minnie ears.)
At work, after J and I had compleetd an under-our-breath rendition of the song about Gaston and his incredibly thick neck, from Beauty and the Beast, J asked me which Disney film was my favourite:
'Alice in Wonderland.' I replied.
'What!? There's no princess! She doesn't fall in love!' said a horrified J.
'She goes on a JOURNEY OF SELF DISCOVERY!' I sort of yelled.
Even though she laughed so hard her cup of tea may have come down her nose, I think that's the essence of why J loves Disney too. I think it's why so many girls love Disney - the protagonist gets to be true to herself, and often gets to be loved for it too.
By a really hot guy.
Disney gets a lot flak. It was a solid part of my childhood; the films, the characters, the toys and the theme parks. Yes, the girls all have outrageously huge eyes, tiny waists and a tendency to get hitched at sixteen. They don't go to university, and they usually need their lives saved at least once per movie. Preferably by a really hot guy. I know, I know, it took forever for Disney to consider drawing a non-white princess. And where are the non-heterosexual characters? You know, like in real life?
So Disney may be flawed, but I don't think it's actually evil. The reason the stories have outdated premises and stereotypes is that they are based on fairy tales. They are generated from the old, white, straight Hans Christian Anderson world of good vs evil and ugliness vs beauty. Disney has not evolved these tales very much, but they allow the characters to evolve. Even if it's only to believe in themselves, and let love into their lives. That's something real people often have a problem doing. The reason I still have songs from Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Alice in Wonderland on my ipod, is that they were my very first exposure to dreams, to burgeoning womanhood, to real passion (passion for living, not just for the hot guys, although I quite liked Aladdin). I can almost hear you laughing but they really were important to me.
Ok so pretty much all the Disney women find love and their journeys are usually not complete until they have found their mate. So what are Disney films saying? That you can't be happy without love? If Disney is considered a bad influence for this alone, then I have some unfortunate news...the whole of modern life tends to give this message, it didn't start here. And even though when you grow up you learn (hopefully) that there are actually many different kinds of love, and being swept off your feet by a rich, handsome, possible former beast, is usually not the way life rolls, the idea that everything you have or don't have is made better when you experience love is not far from the truth. Loving and being loved is something you have to learn how to accomplish successfully, even if it's so nuanced and intrinsic you don't know you're leaning it as you go along.
It's fine if you'd rather avoid allowing your kids to get obsessed with all that pink plastic princess crap. When I was a kid there was no such thing as a Disney store, there were absolutely no miniature versions of Disney Princess outfits, no sparkly baby heels or fairy wings. It was just the movie plus your imagination. (And if you're really spoilt like I was, trips to Disneyworld and a pair of Minnie ears.)
At work, after J and I had compleetd an under-our-breath rendition of the song about Gaston and his incredibly thick neck, from Beauty and the Beast, J asked me which Disney film was my favourite:
'Alice in Wonderland.' I replied.
'What!? There's no princess! She doesn't fall in love!' said a horrified J.
'She goes on a JOURNEY OF SELF DISCOVERY!' I sort of yelled.
Even though she laughed so hard her cup of tea may have come down her nose, I think that's the essence of why J loves Disney too. I think it's why so many girls love Disney - the protagonist gets to be true to herself, and often gets to be loved for it too.
By a really hot guy.
No More Mr.Engineer
Today Mr.Engineer and I had a friendly conversation about the Mummy exhibit at the British Museum. I was wearing a pair of gloves from my vast and beautiful collection, along with my new stripy hat. The weather has turned icy cold again and Mr.E informed me it is the coldest winter in Britain since 1918.
And that he is leaving for China on Thursday. This means a deflating end to our absolutely-going-nowhere after work flirting. I was rather enjoying it though, and had been hoping to get the chance to be much more nosey about life in modern China.
And that he is leaving for China on Thursday. This means a deflating end to our absolutely-going-nowhere after work flirting. I was rather enjoying it though, and had been hoping to get the chance to be much more nosey about life in modern China.
Useful Advice
Do not go shopping after consuming a strawberry daiquiri closely followed by a cosmopolitan.
There is a danger you could come back with 5 pairs of gloves and a superfluous stripy hat.
There is a danger you could come back with 5 pairs of gloves and a superfluous stripy hat.
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