Yes, I love Technology

M and I had a lively debate about the role of technology in education the other night.

M maintains that within my teaching career (which he estimates will go for another 35 years or so - THAT'S a scary-ass thought!) computers will completely take over the classroom and will be able to teach better than a teacher - meaning that teachers will become no more than facilitators.

I argued that if that were the case, I would no longer be teaching as, to me, education is a lot more than turning the computer on and loading up a program.

The argument descended into hilarity when I was trying to prove that technology has a place but, for now, it doesn't compensate for a real-life teacher in the classroom.

M's response?


Look, I love you
but technology is better.


The immortal words of my husband. The giant Geek. Which had me howling with laughter.


This exchange has given me licence, however, to sing this song, from the end of Napolean Dynamite at him the past 2 days:

(If you haven't seen the film, this will make no sense, if you have, you'll know the bit I mean.)

Sure the world wide web is great

But you you make me salvivate

Yes I love technology

But not as much as you you see

But I still love technology 

Oh M. Why so amusing?

xxx 

Stylish???

Laura over at The Everyday Life of a Young American Girl in France has awarded me the Stylish Blogger Award, which is very exciting.

Laura's blog is very funny - so wry and astute and cheeky, well worth a look.

I’m not sure that there’s anything stylish about me or the rambling conglomeration of thoughts and rants that makes up my blog, but I’m honoured that Laura thinks I’m interesting enough to win an award.

Whoo me.

Now the rules go that I have to tell you 7 interesting things about me, but since you already know so much about me due to my embarrassing honesty, this is tricky.

I asked M when we were driving on Saturday what he would say about me and his answers were:

• I give terrible directions
• I lose the ability to read maps when I’m with him even though by myself I manage fine
• I have a nice set of tits

Which seemed both topical (due to the fact I’d just gotten us slightly lost) and inappropriate.

So he was useless.


So I’m sorry if my 7 things are a tad boring. And typically long-winded.
Should my 8th thing be that I’m annoyingly verbose? Nah – that’s a given.


This will probably be the last award this blog ever gets.


1. I have ordered a fitness DVD.
It’s the Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred.
Yes, that Jillian, from The Biggest Loser USA.
Now, this is despite the fact that I’m almost positive if I met and trained with Jillian in person, I’d probably punch her in the face as she annoys the crap out of me. I have never owned a fitness DVD but thought this was worth a shot.

However I’m not exactly sure what “shred” means – is it like “to shed” as in "If I don’t shed some of the fat off my arse I will be harpooned on the beach this summer as an escaped albino whale”??
Or does “shred” mean to get more muscular or "shredded"? Colour me confused. It just makes me think of Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Either way, the DVD is on its way and I am ready to shred.
Or shed.
Either way – I’ll keep you posted.


2. I have a morbid fear of bike-riding.
Several bad experiences including FAINTING the last time we went for a serious ride means that, for me, it’s NOT as easy as riding a bike.
M has decided that his next physical challenge might be Triathlons.

Awesome. - So he’s decided we need to get bikes.

Firstly: I don’t like DRIVING on the roads around here, let alone riding on them. I also hate hills. Both uphill and downhill. I’m a non-discriminatory hill-hater. I’m a “flat” specialist. Hills: Just say no is my motto.


3. Idiosyncrasies make the heart grow fonder ...  right? 
I’m at once incredibly messy, always leaving shit everywhere and unable to put lids on jars, things back in cupboards AND extremely anal-retentive about things being in order and filled away properly and put in their proper place. This means when the house needs cleaning, I will sit down and sort out the bathroom cabinet, or organise my bedside table drawer instead of - say – doing the dishes.

Drives M bonkers. Hehe, sucker.


4. Po-ta-to Po-tah-to
I’m a fairly decent cook and I generally really enjoy cooking and baking when I have time.
Today I whipped up this yummy, moist Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Yes I tried some before I took the photo. 

What? 

This was half to do something with the huge bag of carrots we bought at the markets last weekend, half because carrot cake = GOLD . And "healthy" because there are carrots in there. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And yet the dish I am most famous for, and all that anyone ever asks me to bring to any event is the easiest, albeit tastiest Potato Salad. Don’t get me wrong, the Potato Salad IS ridiculously good, but I’d like to be known for more than just my lovely potato lumps. A man is not a piece of fruit!
(Sorry – I’m teaching Death of a Salesman at the moment and Loman-isms keep creeping into my conversations.)


5. Umm .. on a related note
“moist” is one of my least favourite words in the English language. 
It’s gross.
If you combine it with one of my other least favourite words “flap” - ......... you’ll see my point.
Ew.


6. Memory ... all alone in the moonlight ....
I have a phenomenal memory for lines from movies, plays and songs. For the names of actors and actresses. For names of movies and TV shows. For trivia related to all of the above. I’ve mentioned my domination in the Pink section of Trivial Pursuit before yeah? I RULE

Then why, for the love of god WHY can I not remember French possessive pronouns or the past participle for various verbs? Why is my mathematics level about that of 3rd grader? (and a slow 3rd grader at that).

Answer? - I have the most Selective.Memory.Ever.


7. Say hello to your friends ...
I religiously read and collected every single edition of The Babysitter’s Club (including 6 of the "Super Specials") from #1 to about # 73. Same story with Sweet Valley High and Sweet Valley Twins.

Many of my disappointments in life can be traced back to not living in a fictional American world in the late 80s/early 90s. I wanted to be in the Unicorn Club soooo badly.

Then I turned 13 and started reading Stephen King and Partricia Cornwall instead
And the Wakefield twins and BSC were left behind.

At least until the Saturday morning Sweet Valley High series started
“Look right down any crowded hall
You'll see there's a beauty standing
Is she really everywhere
Or a reflection?”


That's all from me - off to eat some carrot cake.

A Stylish Blog that I'd recommend?

Fashion me French - Melissa is in Lyon and I've recently fallen in love with her blog - so many of her experiences are familiar and she's very very funny.Go. Read. Enjoy.


xxx

Dating my husband

Yesterday, M and I went on a date.How romantical.

Last weekend M suggested we go for a drive to one of the many gorgeous villages dotted throughout the PACA region for a Valentine ’s Day lunch. I turned this (very sweet) offer down because I was in no state to be wined and dined what with the illness still holding me in its germ-y clutches and the insane amount of work I had to do.

So we rain-checked it.

Friday marked the start of two weeks of school holidays, so I am feeling free and groovy and plan on spending a lot of time in my PJs over the next few days. Booyah.

So we we finally got to go for our planned rendez-vous.

The sun was shinning for the first time in days and it was a very scenic drive up to  Le Bar sur Loup, which is here:

 Some photos we took:

After a brief wander around the town and a few photos we made our way to the Restaurant Ecoles de Filles which is a restaurant situated in an old converted school dating back to 1929.

Really cute decor, a beautiful setting and outstanding food. It was an unexpectedly delicious meal.

We went the “formule de la semaine” which was a daily special for €24

To start with, Amuses Bouche: delicious buttery vegetable soup, endive wrapped in bacon and grilled (yum), little parmesan biscuits topped with creamy goats cheese and local olives. I love me an amuse bouche. My mouth was very amused.

The main course was:  
Ventrèche de Liche, pomme purée, étude de blettes pays et champignons
Which actually translated to Swordfish with mash potato, country style (?) swiss chard and mushrooms.
And it was fabulous. Earthy, flavorsome, simple and cooked to perfection.

In between the main and dessert they gave us chocolates and other sweet treats.
Then the dessert itself: Crème brulée au thé earl grey , financier et glace vanilla.
AKA: Early Grey infused Crème brulée with a little madeline cake and vanilla ice cream. Soooo good. The Bergamot in the Crème brulée was really unusual and delicate.

It was then coffees and chatting to the lovely waiter before we rolled out of there full to the brim and very impressed with the service, the ambiance and the food. Will definitely be adding this place to our list for visitors.

A nice way to spend a Saturday with my funny man.

And, in honour of Valentine’s Day, I gave him this card:

True story
xxx

Pimping Adele

Yeah yeah yeah, I know.

2 blogs in a row with clips of Adele singing live.

This one is from the Brit awards last night (where my beloved Mumford & Sons walked away with Album of the Year. Fist pump. You go Glen Coco.)





But you guys - for serious, this song is ................ words honestly fail me.

Hasn't everyone felt like this at some point? The chorus is just so beautiful.

She is so beautiful. Look how overwhelmed she is at the end. Too cute.

This is talent. F-me this is glorious.

I have been listening to her album non-stop - I even listened to it while at the gym last night.
Which to be honest wasn't exactly conducive of hardcore exercise and building up a sweat, but - meh. I'm obsessed.

With Adele. Not exercise. Obviously.

Will blog something proper and stop pimping out tunes soon I promise.

xxx

Stop looking at me swan

We went and saw Black Swan with Alessio and Agi last night.

O holy heck. That is one disturbing film.
Natalie Portman's performance is a revelation, truly exceptional and worthy of the praise and prizes she has been receiving.

I wouldn't say I enjoyed the film - it's not a light-hearted feel good family romp that's for sure, but I appreciated the performances, which were all excellent, the imagery and symbolism, the stunning costumes, confronting camera work and its exploration of the darker side of ballet, ambition, desire and mental illness.

Even M liked it, which surprised me.

The French lady next to me however, HATED it.
Which she declared loudly and in full voice as soon as the credits started rolling.
Which in turn caused everyone in the - very full - cinema to turn around and give me death stares.

There's not an appropriate non-verbal cue for "I didn't say that, the nut bag next to me did" besides pointing, shrugging and eye-rolling all at once.

Which probably just made me look like I'd lost control of my basic motor functions.


Speaking of over-sharing....


Adele.
iTuned her new album over the weekend.
(I'm determined to make iTuned a verb. You're welcome Steve Jobs)


This is what an ear-orgasm feels like.





Her voice..............

Dies.

The end.

xxx

Stuck for ideas for Valentine's Day?

A quiet Saturday night in chez nous.

I’m attempting to make David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Chip Cookies with salted butter (yum) for my students for Valentine’s Day - yeah, I'm the nicest teacher in town.  However M and I have been scoffing most of them straight out of the oven, so the kiddies will be lucky to receive crumbs come Monday.

We’ve done some household jobs, I’ve done some school work, we’ve watched a film  - True Grit (not bad) and the 3^rd episode of the latest series of Skins - which I’m sad to say – kind of sucks.

So it’s 23.30 

                         

A quick scan of the TV channels and what should we find but a documentary called Sex in the World Cities – Sidney. (Not my spelling mistake - that's what it said).  Straight off the bat we hear a very distinct Aussie accent and the picture is showing Burlesque dancers and discussing its appeal – so we’re interested - plus, there were boobies for M.

The burlesque dancing ended.

Then – an elderly tanned man wearing only a metallic silver g-string and  Mad-Hatter-esque hat came on ..... and proceeded to paint a guy’s portrait 

.... with his penis.

I’m not kidding. I wish I was. 

French television has very different standards about nudity to Australia. 

And there was a lot of penis on display. And a lot of paint.

He goes by the nom de plume (or should that be, nom de knob?) of “Pricasso”.

You want to know the absolute kicker – that had us both screeching with laughter?

His paintings are actually pretty good. 

Where exactly does one hang one's portrait......painted with a penis??

Don’t believe me? He has a website. Look him up.

This is his info, taken directly from the website - no word of a lie:

There are Millions of Artists in the World...

BUT ONLY ONE WHO PAINTS WITH HIS PENIS

Many established Artists have commented on the speed accuracy and the unique way Pricasso can paint. Astute buyers have expressed the opinion that Pricasso's paintings will see an incredible appreciation in value due to the use of video as proof of authenticity, the quality, and physically he can only paint a limited amount due to the equipment being used.

I. LOVE. THIS.

“equipment being used” is his wang.

His self-portrait also reveals a rather healthy level of self-delusion.

Gold.

This + a disgusting amount of chocolate chip cookies = a great night in.

And I know exactly what to get M for Valentine's Day next year.

xxx 

B

On the mend

Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a rowboat and taking the tartar sauce with you.

I'm finally feeling better. FINALLY.

It has been a fairly hellish week full of phlegm and tissues and coughing fits that make me nearly wee myself and truly awful television but I'm back in the land of the living - even if I'm still as weak as a new-born kitten. 

A 30min walk around Cannes in the sunshine yesterday left me exhausted and needing a lie-down. So still a way to go.

But I'm feeling confident that I can get back to work on Monday and leave this Bronchitis behind me. 

No more bed-ridden B!

Wish me luck!

xxx