Green Thumb

My office has plants in it.  Every so often, a man comes by to take care of the plants.


No one else should.
 

One may think that having leaves turn yellow is bad if you are a plant.  One may also think that it is bad if you have not bloomed in a while.  One may even be under the assumption that if the man has not watered you in over month you may be a thirsty plant.

One can be wrong.
 
With some investigative work, the story of the man is corroborated.  He visits other floors frequently. 


Why does he not visit mine?  Must he start on the first floor?  Is he paid hourly?  Must he stop when the clock strikes a certain hour?
 
Most certainly plausible.
 
Thus, one might take this as lackadaisical.  One might feel obligated to care for the nearby plants.
 
As it turns out, some plants do not do well with too much water.  In fact, they rot.  This particular plant drowns in seas of good intentions.
 
So then one might wonder if giving this person an olive tree is a good idea.
 
Well if you are wondering, after a month, it’s still alive.

Food Poisoning

Sometimes you want to take a risk.  The road less traveled.  A new experience.  A new flavor.

A new restaurant.

There are many types of food available in Paris.  The list of things not available is somewhat small.  Anything short of Italian beef and real pizza is located in this corner of the universe.

Just, not all of it is good.

Very apparently.

Korean food is a favorite.  Not sure what it is about Kim Chee, or Bulgogi, or the little fish.  Maybe it is a challenge to the Western palette?  Maybe it’s because many Americans think it is weird?

In a spirit of adventure, a new Korean experiment was found and tried.  It looked good.  Korean people were eating in the restaurant.  The food tasted good.

The experiment failed.  Some may claim weak stomach, but the event had another unfortunate witness.

Something on the inside wanted out.

One incident, however, is not the end of the world.  Not the best day, but it passed (thankfully) quickly.  You take a risk, sometimes you lose.

Like Las Vegas.

So what are the odds of it happening again?

Quite good, apparently.

Not too much later my sister and her friend were visiting.  Sometimes, the place you intended to go to is closed Mondays.  Sometimes you do not look these things up.

“Try something new.  Life is an adventure.”

Life is an adventure.

New experiment.  This was recommended by the best bartender in Paris.  Sorry to say, though her bartending is stellar, this recommendation does no justice to that skillset.

“I’ve never thrown up like that before.”

“I feel better, though.”

Maybe going to new restaurants with people who will eat there with you is the way to go.  But just like in science, even when the experiment fails, it still gives you knowledge.

French Humor (Filler)

A man goes out with his friends to celebrate his birthday. The next morning he wakes up in his bed with a brutal hangover. On the nightstand, there is a glass of water and some aspirin. A fully cooked breakfast is awaiting him in bed.

The man gets up. He takes the aspirin and finishes the food. He gets out of bed and walks downstairs. There, he sees his son.

“What happened last night?” the man asks.

“You went out with your friends,” his son replies.

“And then what?”

“A taxi brought you home very late. You threw up on the grass. You couldn’t get yourself inside.”

“And then…?”

“Mom tried to help you get in the house.”

“Go on.”

“And then you said, ‘get your hands off me you filthy whore, I’m a married man!”

Invitation

Today marks my one year anniversary of getting on a plane and saying:

“What the hell did I do?”

Not sure if everyone else had the same feeling.

In fact, chances are that if you live in Paris, you may have a different perspective than what you find here. In fact, recent conversations made me aware that it would be nice to have some of these perspectives and stories here.

So if you have something you would like to say let me know. Either if you have your own piece of the internet to link to or if you would like it put here.

Look forward to hearing from you.