Catching up

It’s been a busy week or so, and thus the blogging has suffered. And I’ve got about 15 minutes before I have to hustle the child off to school. So for now, we’ll have to do with a bunch of random thoughts. Such as:

I know I was all about the Seattle Seahawks, and I still wish they would’ve gone all the way. Of course, that was a hard chore for a 7-9 team. But at the end of the day, they beat the defending Super Bowl champs in the playoffs and were one of eight teams left standing. There are 24 other teams who wished they were the Seahawks. So…not bad, fellows. Not bad at all.

So now my allegances have shifted to where they belong, at least in terms of geography. J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! JETS! They’re such an odd, quirky, rabidly off-centered team, how can you not like them?

We spent the past weekend in Paris. As in France. Yeah, I know. It sounds glamorous. And it is. But we’re still driving a Honda Accord with 114,000 miles on it and an 18-inch rusted gash in the front driver’s side door. It’s all about the priorities. A shiny car doesn’t make me particularly happy. Watching my daughter’s face, rapt with awe, as the Eiffel Tower lights up and sparkles…that makes me happy.

It was my first time in France, and I have to say, the French were pretty friendly. Whenever I go abroad, I try to learn at least a bit of the language. And so I tried my rudimentary French. Of course, everyone spoke English, and they were kind enough to run with it as soon as it became evident that the big bearded guy was mangling their mother tongue. But I didn’t get snobbery about it. Helpfulness, most of the time. Occasional bemusement.

Writing on an airplane, in coach, is impossible. Unless you’re 5-foot-nothing and writing on an iPad. I’m 6’3″ and was writing on a 17-inch giant laptop. I maybe did 500 words before giving up and watching Transformers, a movie that I, thankfully, only seem to watch on trans-Atlantic flights when there’s nothing better to do.

I’ll expound of some of these things later. For now…off to school!