Bonjour, mes ami!

When I logged into Blogger, I was stunned to see how much time had passed since my last post to MMMLog. In fact, Blogger seemed surprised as well because it took more than a bit for my dashboard to drift up from the vast blogger ocean. In any case, here I am. Back from two weeks in France and seriously Franco-phoned.

By the time the DH and I boarded the Air France A330 nonstop to Seattle from Paris, we were almost convinced I could actually speak, if not understand, French. After all, I'd practiced the language asking for directions, a glass of white wine, the room key, the toilette, many other necessaries and usually got what I thought I'd ordered. Mostly. There were a good many surprise results of my communication attempts such as our lunching on a small, cold pasta salad that we thought was going to be a hot and hearty main dish. If I'd paid attention to where it was listed on the menu, I'd have noticed that it was under "fresh" stuff right after the aperitifs and starters. Ah well, my multilingual wine ordering skills proved salutary, as they often do. One thing I did learn was that if I attempted French, observing the pleasantries, the people I spoke to would rattle off French back at me. Sometimes, though, they would immediately speak English. Then I knew what I'd tried to say was so maimed as to be incomprehensible, perhaps bordering on insult, resulting in their taking the American polyglot in hand to save her from possible arrest, a bloody nose or starving to death.

This was our first Rick Steves tour--Paris and the Heart of France in 11 days. Rather than my detailing the itinerary here, I'll send you to his website. According to Rick Steves' "backdoor" touring philosophy, the more you spend the less experience of foreign cultures you have. Also, his tours are rated as to activity level with a lot of strenuous (five-six miles a day) walking. So I guess I was expecting a bare bones, near backpacker hostel experience. Our tour was anything but that. The hotels were usually three star, decent and clean. All had great bathrooms that looked as if they'd just been remodeled with new fixtures and tile. The beds were awful, low and hard. And small, sometimes seeming less than a double. All were noisy except our lovely rooms on St. Michele island and Arromanche, Normandy. Steves kindly supplies a great set of squishy and very effective ear plugs with his travel kit of excellent and entertaining phrase and guidebooks plus a money belt. The first three days in Paris, our room in the Marais district near the Bastille at the Hotel Castex was on the front, two stories up. Yikes. The traffic was LOUD all night. I put in the plugs and off I went to dreamland. However, I did awaken from a troubling dream where I was hearing impaired . . . good times.

I'll do more fun in France in later posts. Right now I've got to get back to the book. While in France I discovered that the book I thought I was writing was not the the story that needing telling. I've returned juiced up to create this new tale. That's just one of the benefits of travel--gaining a new perspective on the world, and if you're lucky, your life.

Ciao! (Yup, I actually heard French young somethings use that word!)
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMelinda

First, fans of MMMLog, I beg your indulgence as I have been stricken down with the deadly-seeming croup or flu or juicy creepy crud. That is my current excuse, and a dang good IMO, for my behindedness with posting to MMMLog and other things I haven't done. I've decided that I must be about over this experience and am determined to get back at it as I'm leaving for the Novelist's Inc conference in NYC on the 27th. Eeeeeee.

I need clothes for the trip but haven't been able to get out to shop, croupy shut in that I am. And the world is safer for it, I'm telling you. In any case, I was online this morning when a secret 20% off sale from Macy's popped in to the inbox. I shopped around online and found several items that I thought would work. When I hit the checkout, the discount hadn't been applied and I was directed by online chat rep to call to place the order. I did so and we finally got the whole thing straightened out. Barbara, the Macy's rep, applied the discount and free shipping, too. It was pretty painless.

At the end of the order process she asked if there was anything else I wanted to put on the card today. I thought just a sec and said, "Yes, world peace, please."
Dead silence, then Barbara laughed and said, "That's the best idea I've ever heard!"

Me too.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMelinda

The site has been glitchy and down in the last couple of days as we're changing over to a new host. The transfer is now complete and we're going ahead with a site redesign. I've lots of ideas of what I want to do, but I'm also feeling that those ideas must somehow be coherent and work together in a unified theme. Now, just what that means at this moment I'm not sure. It's the decision thing.

My website designer, Connie Cox, Websites for the Arts, has suggested that I make lists of what I want the website to accomplish and who the target audiences might be. I'm a great listmaker so that feels right to me. However, narrowing down all these I'd like to do choices is another matter. I'm writing the new paranormal to a deadline right now, and of course that's when I get these great new ideas about everything! As if the writing is priming the creativity pump. That's good and possibly problematic because my attention or focus can jump on whatever wild idea and ride like the wind, leaving my deadline in the dust until I rein it in.

So, with that in mind, I say WHOA to this website redesign ride and get back at my fun new paranormal. Then on the weekend, I'll cut the redesign pony out of the herd and take it out for a gallop.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMelinda

If you suddenly found yourself with, say, five days of free time on your hands, how would you spend it? Would you continue your routine of doings and daydreams? Sit in front of TV, never moving off the couch expect for body calls? Or would you do something different, something you always wanted to do or dreamt of doing or being?

Possibly all of us wish for the gift of unencumbered free time. But when we get it, what do we do with it? I'm also willing to bet that each day we have moments, minutes or even an hour of such time that we can enjoy if we're aware of it and allow ourselves to grab it. However, if you're a list maker and inveterate planner/doer as I've been known to be, you might think of using that precious time to plan and make lists. Not that this is a bad thing, but such satisfying planning and task crossing-off can take the place of doing and inspired enjoying.

Today in Seattle, we have clear skies and frost. Really beautiful for taking the dog for an icy, invigorating stroll. But I sit here blogging about free time as if this wasn't it because I have my endless lists to keep me going. According to the Leo sun sign horoscope for the month, today, January 21, is a four star day for us Leos where we can see success in regard to work, health and money. We're advised to use today for our advantage, in one of those areas, I suppose. If I think in terms of health, walking the dog is healthy for both us, so a good use of the four star time. And if I totally ignore my to-dos to get my page count on the book, that's a good use of my work four stars. As to money, banks are closed and so is the stock market. That leaves the Monday Lotto. Consequently, I shall take advantage of the health and money four star time and walk the dog up to the convenience store to buy lottery tickets. All the while writing the next scene in my head like we writers do.

Yeah, time really is on my side, yes it is . . .
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMelinda

I guess I'm an out there thinker. I don't notice I'm out there until I start yammering on to someone about the latest idea or thought flashing through my mind. The first time I discovered that what I considered an inescapable truth of the moment was inconceivable, no, just plain whatha? to someone else was when an old friend and I were talking. We hadn't seen each other since high school and that occasion was like twenty years on. He was kind enough to say that he was sorry but he just didn't understand what the hell I was talking about. Fair enough. Most people aren't into considering the possibilities or that universal truths might only be the limiting beliefs of the moment and no more true or eternal than that. Yeah, I know, where the heck did this come from?

I'll tell you what sent me out there this morning. On my new puter, there's a gadget thingy that shows headlines. There was one from last Thursday about thirty registered charities now have a presence on Second Life, a virtual world with its own economy where you or your character called an avatar can build a house and a business, a Second Life virtually. Why would registered first life charities want to get in on this? Because there are "real" moneymaking opportunities in this virtual world. True, my survey of the site was not in depth, but I discovered enough to know that this is one creative, way out there proposition. Finally, "they" have come up with a way to make money on people's secret daydreams and desires. Naturally, the way I think I see this venture as yet another parallel reality or life, one that consciousness is actually aware it's creating. Cool.

Think I'll go create another reality with HP Support, a second life, if you will, with someone who will tell me why Windows Media Player unloads the CD/DVD driver if I select iTunes as the default to burn CDs. I'll create a fix for the damn thing.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMelinda

A friend of mine gifted me a Guided Visualization CD that her daughter and son-in-law had produced. I love that wonderful CD with beautiful music and ordered more for gifting at their website

The shopping cart was handled by CD Baby, an online retailer of indie music in Portland, Oregon. They emailed me a confirmation on my purchase with the subject line of: CD Baby Loves Melinda. Hey, that got my attention and I opened the email with a smile. I was pleased to see that CD Baby encouraged me to make sure all was right with the order, too.

Then I got the shipping notification. I've copied it here because it's so creative:

Melinda! Thanks for your order with CD Baby. Your CDs have been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow. A team of 50 employees inspected your CDs and polished them to make sure they were in the best possible condition before mailing. Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CDs into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy. We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Thursday, January 10th.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did.
Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sigh...
Derek Sivers, president, CD Baby
the little store with the best new independent music http://cdbaby.com cdbaby@cdbaby.com (503)595-3000
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Isn't that fun! If only I'd gotten at least an .01% of that kind of creative gratitude with my recent purchase of two (2), really two!, new HP computers that were several thousand bucks more than the $26 I paid CD Baby. Ouch! And no thank you from the HP president or HP Support whom we've already dealt with (though he was a nice guy who spoke English and worked our problem well), either. Hmmmm, wonder which guy I'll remember . . .and buy from in the future?

Yeah, thanks, Derek. Talk to you soon.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMelinda

2008 Greetings to all!

Just to catch you up . . .today's the DH's and my wedding anniversary. We've decided to dine in tonight since we've eaten out so much while the son was here that we can't face another restaurant. Though, we had a great send-off celebration for the boy at Trader Vic's on Saturday night. Nothing says good luck and goodbye like booze heavy fruity drinks in a tiki bar where we also had great food. The son is now in D.C. on his way back to Seoul as a civilian government employee. The movers took two days to crate all his household goods gathered from outposts in Asia and temporarily stored in our garage and living room for three months. Now it's all headed back to Seoul with the son of MMMMmmmm.

TIME TRAVEL FOR EVERYONE
My sister-in-law sent me the following post from the Best of Craig's List:

wanted pre 1965 paper money for time travel

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2007-11-05, 3:36PM PST


i have come into the possession of my great grandfathers life work, among being a decorated aeronautical engineer it would appear he dabbled in the lesser accepted sciences. i have almost finished building his masterpiece a 1952 nash rambler time machine. unfortunately my grandfather didn't live long enough to find an energy source with high enough density to fuel his machine, but i believe i have the problem solved.

serious offers only, i would like to exchange paper money for paper money printed before 1965 (for OBVIOUS reasons!). i will pay 5% of the total currency exchanged, unfortunately i cannot offer transfers of coinage as i am already pushing the weight limit as it is!

please no solicitations on changing the future as any changing would only happen in an alternate future reality and be a waste of yours and my time.

back to the workshop!


Location: los olivos
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 469985878
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Hmmm, I guess when using a time machine one does have to be concerned with stuff like appropriate clothing and vintage money, as in the movie Somewhere In Time. That didn't method didn't work out so well for the Christopher Reeve character. Or in Terminator when Kyle and and the terminator came through naked, which can be so problematic.

When I or my clients travel time using safe and easy Personal Time Travel hypnosis techniques, we don't have to worry about that stuff. We just relax and time travel (in any direction) via the mind while being aware of ourselves in the now. It's a really fun and effective way to surf time without nash rambler hardware or worries about changing the time continuum.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMelinda