Chill

In the midst of my meditation & research on migraines, mental illness [health?] and moxie, I pause to think of the blessings in my life.

For example: Mama et Papa and the loving home they make for me, walks in the neighborhood, dinner guests such as Amy,Peter & JPEG, a fine & diverse home library, & etc.
But what could be better than....

a personal 1992 4-door Toyota Corolla?

What more conducive to dog-happiness than tooling down the highway, on the way to nowhere, warm breezes ruffling my ears and rural Georgia yielding up it most secret treasures?

Note in the Toyota photo the stickers on the bumper. To the right, an artifact evoking wistful memories of my 3-weeks visit to Berlin as the wall came crumbling [literally] down.

But, on the left, the mark of ownership: a picture of a poodle, my name inscribed underneath.

Truly, the Toyota Corolla is the best car in the world & the best of the best resides in my garage.

If any of you, my loyal friends & fans, have car stories that can top mine, please use the comments section at the end of this entry.

[Any Vespa owners? You're also invited to share tales of Vespa adventures. And see photo of Amu (uncle in farsi) Hassan Aragh below. He kindly treated Mama to a ride on this fabulous machine (car in farsi) And may I recommend the film, Caro Diario.]

Amu Hassan Aragh, 1930s Vespa

Ah, Paris!

As you already know, I trace my origins to France & maintain a close relationship with those of my relatives lucky enough to live in the City of Light.

Every morning as Papa drives to the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, I shout "au revoir Papa."

I read books about Paris, for example:

Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnik, or

Paris: Capital of the World, by Patrice Higonnet

Sometimes I dip into tomes by French authors.

Three of my favorites:

Georges Simenon's Maigret books or the recently published in English, The 13 Culprits or

A Barthes Reader, introduction by Susan Sontag, or

Georges Bataille, Histoire de l'oeil

I urge that at least once before the grim reaper snatches you from terrestrial existence, you too explore the city I call my second home, recoognized as the most beautiful city in the world, with the assurance that you'll return fulfilled & content that you did not miss one of earth's greatest treasures.

A votre sante, M²

[Oh, la la, I can't find the accents on Mama's keyboard]

[Pictures of Paris courtesy of Parler Paris]