jek in the box {is home}/flickr
Bonjour!
Would you like a macaron? Please help yourself!
mosaic from lildamselfly’s flickr photostream
Small and round, crisp, creamy, so colorful and, let’s face it, so dang cute — you’d have to be hard-hearted indeed to turn down one of these beauties. Before you accuse me of misspelling the name of this French meringue cookie sandwich, let me clarify — le macaron is different from the American macaroon (a sticky, chewy, overly sweet coconut cookie).
Ready, set, go!
A-B-C. 1-2-3.
Zee leetle blog, she is three!
Hard to believe. Time sure flies. Why do I keep talking in three’s?
Can’t help it. Oops. Did it again ☺.
Wow. We’re up to 950+ posts, 14,000+ comments received, and 5500+ images uploaded. I’m happy to report that although blog reading in some circles is down, my readership has doubled in the past year. By now, I should own stock in flickr, Campbell’s Tomato Soup, and Earth’s Best Organic Alphabet Pasta. And of course, I’m pretty sure Sir Paul, Bobby Dylan (wearethisclose), and George Clooney have all been asking about me.
"The arts are what help us make a coherent whole out of chaos. In two years I was on the road 13 months all over this state, and am more convinced than ever, that people are looking for what poetry has to offer. They just don’t know it. Most people who say ‘No’ to poetry don’t know what they are saying no to." ~ Sam Green, former Washington State Poet Laureate
Recently, poet and educator Laura Shovan sent me a poem by Sam Green and said, "I thought of you when I saw this."
Laura posted one of his other poems, "If You Had To," a couple of weeks ago as part of her ongoing Poet Laureate Series, which sparked an interesting discussion about how poetry has long been a "hard sell" when it comes to mainstream thinking. Why do so many people reject, out of hand, the one thing they need the most?
Bonjour! Comment ça va?
J’ai faim — quelle surprise!
Picture Books about France, Part One, with a few punitions, satisfied my hunger for a leetle while. But now, I am in the mood for my morning cup of Darjeeling, a warm croissant, and more stories set in the land of pâtisseries, artistes and les animaux!
photo by timmertaugh.
C’est vrai. In my quest to find the best picture books with a French setting, many included dogs and cats. Remember Bonaparte, Metro Cat and Zaza the dachshund? In this second batch, we have three cats as main characters. Does this mean the French have an inordinate love for les chats — or is there something innately “French” about cats that make them ideal for these particular types of stories? Perhaps authors who like writing about France just happen to also be cat lovers. I haven’t been to Paris in years, but I sense there are a lot of stray cats wandering around the city. Oh well, Marie Antoinette has her loyal pug, Sébastien, so that evens things up a bit. ☺
This lovely video was made to the poem, "How to Be Alone," by Tanya Davis, © 2009. I find it especially uplifting and enlightening in this day and age of "FaceHook."
Thanks to bb-blog for the heads up!
Jama's Alphabet Soup 