Camping

Went camping this weekend to L'Ideal at Annacy. Nice campsite, very grumpy staff. Sad to see the USA leave the World Cup.

The Smiths get back to nature

Ciara plays the poubelle

We went to concert this evening at Ciara's school for her end of year show, where the class put on a performance on the dustbins. Contrary to what you might think, they were actually very good.

And the band played

on and on and on and on... while we quietly and politely cursed them as we died of thirst and hunger.

Guest post by  Graeme Stewart.

Blogging

A blog post about blogging - a bit of navel-gazing going on here at AYearInThoiry. I must say I've really enjoyed creating and posting to my blog. It elevates the mundane happenings in my life to high art (doncha think?). I've kept a diary all my life, but after this I might just forgo the paper edition and switch to digital. I mean, it's different in a way because it's out there, and public, and I think people have to guard against oversharing and put on some filters, but then on the other hand I think hey, it's their blog and their business what they disclose to strangers. One of my favourite ways to waste time do research for this class is to click on the next blog link on the blogger header. I'm often very surprised by how creative and profound the postings can be. On the other hand it can be quite scary - you can get stuck in a homeschooling Proverbs wives inescapable loop and end up watching a video on how to properly fold a sheet (don't click!). Sometimes I think, this must be satire, it's just too OTT, but I fear not.

Checking out other people's blogs also helps me to humanize strangers and stop making generalizations and quick judgments about people. I'll be on some blog where the parents are detailing every aspect of their child's life and I'll be thinking Why, then further down, I'll see they've had a terrible tragedy, such the earlier death of child and that'll stop me up short. Blogs are making me a better person!

I've been listening to podcasts from women's hour which takes me back a bit. It's a great mix of current affairs, politics and culture and I really enjoy the convenience of just clicking and listening.

As far as how blogs have impacted society, I think blogs have more of an individual effect rather than affecting society at large. It's so personal, it's like reading a stranger's diary, but with their permission. You're either going to connect or not with that person based on their interests, sense of humour, worldview etc. and I don't think that effect can translate to a mass movement.

BBQ

Beautiful weather and great food for the BBQ at Geneva Quaker House. Ciara and Evan fell in love with Jane's dog Bongey- a very gentle and patient soul.

Podcast

Coming to you in mono ! (No roosters were harmed during the making of this podcast - unfortunately).

Karma

France 0 - Mexico 2!!
Allez les bleus? - je crois NON.

I hear the Irish were wearing sombreros and downing tequila shots as the match was being played. God bless us - we never forget an injustice.  See Hitler react to le main de Thiery  Henry- caution - bad language and tasteless humour (and some misspellings too). 

Evan

Evan put a tattoo on his forehead and asked me to paint his nails. There you go Evie, get it all out of your system now.

Jenny van Hove

I spent the afternoon with the charming and elegant Jenny van Hove, 87 years young, a founding member of the CERN Women's Club. I was interviewing her for an article which I am writing for the CWC Newsletter. Amongst other things she told me about the early days of the club. I had no idea the club had such a tragic provenance. Jenny (whose husband Léon was Research Director General of CERN) and Renie Adams (whose husband John Adams was Executive Director General) had heard about the difficulties encountered by the wives of CERN's foreign employees. These women accompanied their husbands to CERN but then felt extremely isolated living in the nearby French villages. Their loneliness often had heartbreaking consequences such as marriage break-ups and even suicide. Jenny and Renie used their influence (who wants to say no to the wives of the Directors General?) to start the club with the aim of  connecting women in similar circumstances to foster friendship and community. The club continues with this task in the present day.

When I complemented her on how well she looked and expressed the hope that I looked as good when I am in my troisième âge, Jenny's advice is "to look forward...don't complain all the time, try to laugh as much as you can". Delightful and inspiring words, just like the lady herself!

My baby sister is 40!

Here's a slide show I put together from photos I have. This is the short version (believe it or not) which I had to edit down to put on YouTube.  
Disclaimer - May be very boring to anyone who's last name is not Moore.

Slow News Day

Took a bath, ...yup...with bubbles

Is it ever going to stop?

As a pacifist, I'm troubled by my fantasies of dipping the BP executives and engineers in oil. So instead I created a logo at FlamingText.com and signed a petition to take away BP's millions in federal contracts.
Nope, that's not working... wait..., here's something... BOIL the oil first, then dip 'em. Now, that feels better.

John Clare

So I'm working my way through the shortlist of the books selected for the Mann Booker Prize 2009, and I just finished The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds. It takes place in 1840, in an asylum in Epping Forest, and is based on real events in the life of John Clare, the nature poet. I found it very affecting; the author vividly portrays the desperation and lack of control felt, not only by Clare and the other inmates of the asylum, but also the director Dr. Mathew Allen and his lonely daughter Hannah. Clare eventually escapes into madness and delusion, which actually seems a blessing given his brutal reality.

In real life, Clare was at first lauded for his original, rustic style but had fallen out of vogue by the time he published his third book of poetry. This critical neglect, (together with his alcoholism and depression) led to his spending the last 23 years of his life in Northhampton Lunatic Asylum, where he continued to write poetry, including the one reproduced below. I find this a sad and humbling poem.

I Am!

I am! yet what I am none cares or knows,
My friends forsake me like a memory lost;
I am the self-consumer of my woes,
They rise and vanish in oblivious host,
Like shades in love and death's oblivion lost;
And yet I am! and live with shadows tost

Into the nothingness of scorn and noise,
Into the living sea of waking dreams,
Where there is neither sense of life nor joys,
But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems;
And e'en the dearest—that I loved the best—
Are strange—nay, rather stranger than the rest.

I long for scenes where man has never trod;
A place where woman never smil'd or wept;
There to abide with my creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept:
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie;
The grass below—above the vaulted sky.

Manpris sighting

It's June 1st and, despite the still-dire weather, this morning I got my first sighting of the year of a man in capris. Ever fashion-forward, les Français seem to be completely without shame or fear of looking a little silly. They're especially popular among elderly gentlemen. Yippee, summer's here!

Poppies

The roadsides and fields around Thoiry are awash with poppies. It's absolutely gorgeous.