I was tagged by WUASTC and I had to dig deep so as not to bore you. Yesterday I had the 1001 Nights treatment at the spa at Moving. I will tell you all about it tomorrow, but here is a hint - I may never be able to bathe myself again! It was heavenly.
1. Most favorite celebrity sighting:
Had to be Catherine Deneuve at a party at the French Embassy in London. She is physical perfection. I was in my twenties and so much in awe I could not talk. She was so kind to me, I have never forgotten it. She pretended I was not a complete klutz and my husband pretended I was prettier than she (you have to love that). At the same party was Elizabeth Taylor wearing that HUGE diamond necklace that Richard Burton had just given her. Some snotty London aristocrat (no doubt one with title and without money) said within her hearing (purposefully), “I think a diamond that exceeds three carats is vulgar.”
Ms. Taylor went right up to her and said, “Would you come over here for a minute?” She led her to a large mirror next to the bar, followed by a crowd of course, and took off the necklace and put it on her Ladyship who went a bit pale as she reached up to touch it with her fingers and observe herself in the mirror. “Doesn’t seem so vulgar now does it darling?” Ms. Taylor said taking her diamond back with a smug smile.
I was watching all of this intently, trying to learn from the pros here. Standing back away from the main event I was tucked in-between a large chap in his tuxedo with a cigar and another snotty Aristocrat who was so loaded down with her family jewels I imagined she needed a forklift to get in and out of the Rolls - Ms. Taylor looked right over at me when she was putting the necklace back on and winked. It was so cool.
2. A little known fact: I was born in the United States! That’s right my friends I have an American passport, but I used to have a British one as well until they enforced the new rules. I was there for about two hours then left for Lucerne, Switzerland with my grandfather. I did not return until 1980.
3. Concert I am most likely to admit going to: The Three Tenors in Paris in 1998. It was brilliant. I saw more celebrities that night than I can remember! I did think of making a list but then I had champagne after and… My very good friend Jeff had purchased me seats right down center on the fourth row! I think I stopped breathing there for a while. It was magnificent. They were all in top voice and the crowd was ecstatic.
4. Life changing event: the birth of Q. She gave me a reason to live again after the deaths of my husband and my son, and has brought me joy every day of her life. Because of her I never have to ask, “Did my life matter? Did I make a difference?” I am unspeakably grateful to the Universe for this gift.
5. When I went into the Hindu Kush in the late 1970’s I had to go disguised as a man because I couldn’t get the “woman’s walk” down and I kept staring men in the eyes (a real no no). I wore a breast binder (try that and keep your oxygen levels up chaps) and had a fake scar over my throat to explain why I could not speak (because I do not have a Lauren Bacall/Kathleen Turner voice). I had to stay dirty, really dirty, all the time to hide my pale skin, and I wore a pakol all the time to hide my long red hair.
When we arrived back in Srinagar I showered then stayed in the bath for two hours then showered again. My hair was the consistency of Crazy Glue.
It took three washings to get it clean. Afterwards sitting on the deck of our houseboat on Lake Dal, having tea and watching the sun set over the Himalayas I have never felt so clean.
6. Best trip; My honeymoon with John has to be at the top of the list. We went to Carnival in Rio de Janeiro before the wedding then after the wedding in Paris; we started in Venice then Monaco, Greece, and ended by taking the Royal Scotsman for a seven-night trip. It was very fairy tale, as well as hilarious in spots due to my total lack of knowledge in the “intimate areas”. I was after all, the oldest living virgin in Europe and the U.K. – not something I was proud of. I packed my dog-eared copy of the Kama Sutra along with my trousseau. Really, I’m not kidding. Sad huh?
A close second are the two trips to Alaska with Q. It was another train (I love trains), this one from Anchorage to Seward, it was breathtaking; and the trip we took to London for Christmas after I was well again from being ill a rather long time was memorable. We snagged second row center seats to see “Phantom of the Opera” purely by chance which made it even more fun, saw “Mama Mia” which was hysterical; and visited all the tourist places I had never been because I lived there – the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, et al. It was so much fun to see the city through her eyes.
7. My favorite physical attribute: I have dimples and I know how to use them.
I tag James of Nourishing Obscurity; Annie of Blooming Marvelous, Scarlettscion of long way home, and Drunk Mummy because I want to know what she was drinking when seven great things happened to her!
Then last night before bedtime I saw this on CNN. It’s like President Bush has the ego of Stalin AND Genghis Khan and the unlimited power to back up his belief in his omnipotence. I cannot get over this. The act is just one more piled on a mountain of ignoring the law.
AND THEN I SAW THIS:
"An empty can of gourmet dog food taken from Paris Hilton's rubbish has sold for over £150 on an Internet auction. " In the IHT! What are people thinking? I’m all for relaxation and brain candy when needed but this? I’m going to go hit something with my boxing gloves. Talk amongst yourselves.
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
Monday, 2 July 2007
I feel like a celebrity..
I have been interviewed by Expat Interviews. How cool is that? It is an website/magazine about expats around the world and their experiences. Lizzie emailed me and ask me to submit the interview. She will let me know when it is to be posted, and I will let you know! I think I'm ready for my closeup Mr. Demille...
Fireworks and Curling in Morocco...
We had another fireworks show last night. Apparently in Rabat fireworks are called for on all occasions. This one was not quite so convenient as it was centered behind “the tree”. NO matter where we stood on the terrace we had to view the very colorful show through the tree. Always before they have been centered behind the Hassan V tower where we get a perfect line of sight. Obviously this is a new chap!
I love our very oddly shaped tree. It is home to a host of birds and clothed in a skirt of brilliant purple bougainvillea.
Here are the photographs advertising the Curling event coming up at the Mega Mall in Souissi-Rabat. I still can’t quite get over this. Debio will be able to relate.
More photographs to the right and below.
Update on the renovation of the fort walls
I am so pleased to report the renovation of the fort walls around the Oudayas is being done in the old manner with the lime stone and not (shudder) concrete. The walls will now settle into lovely patterns. When it dries I will get some up close photographs. If you scroll down you will see a photograph of the lime walls taken in the Fez Medina. The photographs of the excavation being done out front show what are a mystery to us. Where those anchors came from this far inland? shipwrecks? and why the walls that are fortified with brick are so deep? and the stakes? Yea, I don't really want to think about that one... I will keep you updated as I gather data. The renovation is extending all the way around to the walls that face the sea and the cannon mounts as well. It is really quite exciting as it is a marvelous structure. I will get out and get some photographs of the gates, the cannons, and the garden as soon as it cools a bit. We are headed for the nineties this week ("I'm melting, I'm melting...")
Sunday, 1 July 2007
the apartment, the terrorits, and the non-sex life of a cat
Thank you everyone for your concern and kind comments. I don’t know why that helps, but it does. Q has had good news and not so good news, but not bad news. After another frustrating day on the telephone from here to NYC trying to get in touch with anyone who might, if not know the whereabouts of the landlady, at least be able to certify her validity as a ne’r do well and not a con artist, as oddly comforting as that would be. Some other matters transpired in this in-between stage but as she was not overjoyed at my “sharing” yesterday, I think it best I not go into detail lest I languish alone and unloved in my declining years, long may they be in coming.. At day’s end she had been able to discover the apartment, lease, and arrival in September are all valid and safe; however the landlady has apparently taken off for the Caribbean with the KEYS. But, good to have a ‘but’ there may be a key with the building superintendent, and if so they can show the apartment. This part of the tale lingers on, but the essentials, a place to live, are assured. Whew. I have been forbidden to speak of further details (sigh). You know… when I began this blog she said she wasn’t going to read it. Um hummmm.
I am very distressed to read of the further attacks on Britain. The car bomb in Glasgow Airport is not a good sign, to state the obvious... I cannot imagine the authorities will be able to get any information from those arrested, so I can only hope they do not let their attention wane. They seem from what I can read here on top of the situations, as much as one can be – after all the point of a terrorist attack is to strike where unexpected in order to cause the greatest fear. Please let me state the obvious from my geographic location that while all radical Islamic terrorists are Muslims, not all Muslims are terrorists. It is a fact easily lost in the face of fear. Which is one of my greatest objections to the declaration of a “war on terror”, it paints such a broad picture that the individuals, their specific organizations are lost in the generalization and it sounds to the Muslim nations as if they are all being targeted. While offensive to them it is also ineffective in catching the culprits and stopping the attacks. This perception is not helped by acts like the U.S. hanging Hussein during the Muslim holy days.
Britain’s problem at the moment would appear to be “home grown terrorists”, those radicals from inside the country itself. Whether individuals from the outside are further stoking those radicals, supplied by them (albeit it is much easier to obtain weapons in the West or Russia), and or directed by them is something for MI6.
There has always been an element of terrorism in the world; it is easier now to transport terror and to report its effects. We still need to know the why and we cannot allow it to stop us from living our lives, and we cannot allow those who would spread terror the opportunity to do so. The difficulty here is not to spread such a wide net that we catch up the innocent as well as the guilty, assuring another generation of terror.
This is not a “war” you can win. There have always been terrorists. If the west continues to target “all terrorists” we will lose more lives and influence. The organization committing the specific act needs to be identified and dealt with. All right I ‘m done now.
Here is the latest chapter on E. (our proper British girl) and Rashid (nice Moroccan boy) and the “cat” that would be neutered. E., Q’s friend a fellow Fulbright Scholar has a Moroccan boyfriend and a cat; she is taking the cat back to America.
Rashid has reconciled himself to the fact E. is having the cat, Maximus, neutered before returning to the States. His outrage at the poor feline never having a sex life has been inconsolable. He thought he had found a solution when he returned home with a female (prostitute) cat from the streets for Maximus to have his one shot at sex.
Every feminist bone in E’s Princeton educated body bristled as she asks, “And what will happen after they have sex?”
“I will put her back on the street,” he replied smugly as a man who had thought this out – not.
“And if she gets pregnant? Who will care for her and the kittens?”
“Um well I guess I hadn’t thought of that, but..”
Turns out the nice young American chap who lives upstairs agreed to keep the prostitute cat until Monday when they could find someone to take her. Over the weekend the young man feel quite in love with her, named her Misha Misha, and took her home with him to America. Happy ending for her. Maximus remains virgin. Rashid remains distraught. E. remains determined.
I am very distressed to read of the further attacks on Britain. The car bomb in Glasgow Airport is not a good sign, to state the obvious... I cannot imagine the authorities will be able to get any information from those arrested, so I can only hope they do not let their attention wane. They seem from what I can read here on top of the situations, as much as one can be – after all the point of a terrorist attack is to strike where unexpected in order to cause the greatest fear. Please let me state the obvious from my geographic location that while all radical Islamic terrorists are Muslims, not all Muslims are terrorists. It is a fact easily lost in the face of fear. Which is one of my greatest objections to the declaration of a “war on terror”, it paints such a broad picture that the individuals, their specific organizations are lost in the generalization and it sounds to the Muslim nations as if they are all being targeted. While offensive to them it is also ineffective in catching the culprits and stopping the attacks. This perception is not helped by acts like the U.S. hanging Hussein during the Muslim holy days.
Britain’s problem at the moment would appear to be “home grown terrorists”, those radicals from inside the country itself. Whether individuals from the outside are further stoking those radicals, supplied by them (albeit it is much easier to obtain weapons in the West or Russia), and or directed by them is something for MI6.
There has always been an element of terrorism in the world; it is easier now to transport terror and to report its effects. We still need to know the why and we cannot allow it to stop us from living our lives, and we cannot allow those who would spread terror the opportunity to do so. The difficulty here is not to spread such a wide net that we catch up the innocent as well as the guilty, assuring another generation of terror.
This is not a “war” you can win. There have always been terrorists. If the west continues to target “all terrorists” we will lose more lives and influence. The organization committing the specific act needs to be identified and dealt with. All right I ‘m done now.
Here is the latest chapter on E. (our proper British girl) and Rashid (nice Moroccan boy) and the “cat” that would be neutered. E., Q’s friend a fellow Fulbright Scholar has a Moroccan boyfriend and a cat; she is taking the cat back to America.
Rashid has reconciled himself to the fact E. is having the cat, Maximus, neutered before returning to the States. His outrage at the poor feline never having a sex life has been inconsolable. He thought he had found a solution when he returned home with a female (prostitute) cat from the streets for Maximus to have his one shot at sex.
Every feminist bone in E’s Princeton educated body bristled as she asks, “And what will happen after they have sex?”
“I will put her back on the street,” he replied smugly as a man who had thought this out – not.
“And if she gets pregnant? Who will care for her and the kittens?”
“Um well I guess I hadn’t thought of that, but..”
Turns out the nice young American chap who lives upstairs agreed to keep the prostitute cat until Monday when they could find someone to take her. Over the weekend the young man feel quite in love with her, named her Misha Misha, and took her home with him to America. Happy ending for her. Maximus remains virgin. Rashid remains distraught. E. remains determined.
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