¡Hola from Angers, the watery city!
Wednesday’s French test is back in my sights again, so what better time to be here, speaking Spanish with the in-laws and confusing myself? This morning, when I was trying to tell the bro-in-law in French that we were getting ready to go out for a walk, I used salir (leave in Spanish, get dirty in French) when I should have used partir.
God knows what’s gonna fall out of my mouth during the exam next week. Stay tuned to discover if I insult one of the test-givers by mistake.
The reason we’re here? The mother-in-law is turning 99. She’s had more lives than a cat, with several in Cuba, a few more in New York, another here in Angers where, despite being three years older, she’s outlasted her more famous peer Fidel.
I can scarcely imagine the world in 1923. Just a few years out from the Great War, and already trouble brewing in Europe again. A riot here, a revolution there. In Munich an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government was crushed by police and soldiers. The leader? Adolph Hitler. There was good stuff, too, of course, the first nationwide feminist movement was founded in Egypt. Louis Armstrong made his first recording, "Chimes Blues", with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. (Louis appears around 1:51).
And a tough little girl baby was born in a small provincial town in Cuba. Without her, without her daughter, what would my own life be like?
At any rate, we will celebrate with enough cake and chocolate ice cream to have us all whimpering with joy.
In Other News
In Iran, a man was so proud of butchering his 17-year old wife, he paraded around town with her decapitated head, and his brother shot a video, posting it on social media. Forced to marry at 12, the young girl, identified as “Mona” by the Islamic Republic News Agency, and as “Ghazal” by Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars, fled to Turkey to escape him and was given asylum. But her father persuaded her to return, once Interpol had helped locate her. I hope they all burn in hell. Or in this life. I’m not picky.
Since Ukraine is in the news, one wonders what happened to the baby factories exposed by the Covid lockdowns two years ago. Oops, still operating just like they were making shoes and not humans. No, I do not feel sorry for you Irish parents getting charged nanny fees.
Check-out this really great review by Grace Byron of The Most Honest Book About Homosexuals: Patricia Highsmith’s Diaries and Notebooks describing how by “1945, she had slept with six of her eight closest friends. 'The L Word' starts to look like a model for healthy relationships.”
Then there’s this mysterious Scientology Super Bowl Ad conveying, what exactly?
Fun With Twitter
That’s it for this week,
Disgruntledly yours,
Hey babe! I hope you pass your test! Sending big love on Valentines Day!