My lovely, lively street

     I don't want to write the name of my street for fear of giving away personal information (after all, I try my best to be a smart Digital Citizen), but I will reveal that I live in a neighborhood of Paris near many of you, my dear students.

     My street is very narrow and there are only two shops on it: a tailor and a grocery store. The grocery store is very convenient because it is open late and on Sundays. This is very helpful for people who need to purchase eggs, milk, cheese, or other necessities when the regular supermarkets or closed. In my case, it is very handy for me when I get those "I need chocolate!" moments. Don't try to tell me that chocolate is superfluous at 10 o'clock at night!

     I am glad that I don't own a car because, from what I can see, it is pretty impossible to find a parking spot on the street. There are, however, plenty of places to lock up a bike, scooter, or a motorcycle. Every year when the weather finally turns nice in springtime, I am tempted to buy a scooter (which I could park right in front of my building) but whenever I hear about an accident, I am reticent to purchase one. I am not sure that I would be adept at riding it on slippery roads; it seems like that could somewhat perilous.

     Although I live on a quiet street, there are always a few people heading up and down it going somewhere. One of the busiest times of the day during the week is 4:30 pm; that is when the little elementary school next door to my building gets out. The little children can be heard crying out, "Maman!" at that time of day. They are obviously famished at that time of day; fortunately, their mothers or babysitters always have a nice snack in hand for them (I should mention that there are at least 3 boulangeries near my street which makes it smell quite nice.

     More interesting than the people are the DOGS on my street! Many people in my neighborhood own dogs so I can safely say that I have seen just about every kind. They sniff, snarl, bark, amble, scramble, urinate and defecate. You do have to watch out a bit on the sidewalk.

There is one white poodle in particular who is quite conspicuous because he (or she?) yaps all the time. The funny thing is that she (or he?) resembles the woman who walks him. She has white curly hair and so does the poodle!

     One dog in particular is Mowgli, a yellow lab who lives in my building. He is the steadfast companion of Annie, a woman who lives in my building. Mowgli has lived there as long as I have! He always takes a walk with a little stuffed doll in his mouth which he sometimes leaves in the elevator (Mowgli has arthritis so he takes the elevator to his apartment on the 1st floor of the building).

     I like to take photos of signs that people post around the street - on doorways, for example.
Here is one that the "gardienne" of my building posted on the door of the room where the trashcans are kept. As you can see, she is pretty angry about something: 

                                                       Complaint note,16th arrdt, Paris, 2013



     Here is another sign that really caught my eye. It was hanging up at the boulangerie right around the corner of my street. Somebody was actually selling a fur coat! This sign inspired me to write a short story; I invented the character who was selling the coat as well as the person who goes to purchase it.
     I don't know the real story behind it, of course.

                                                    Fur coat for sale, 16th arrdt Paris, 2012

Much Ado About Shoes and Jeans

My mother and I have never agreed about clothes, especially shoes. Now that I am an adult and can buy my own shoes (after I pay my taxes,  of course), I understand that it's a simple matter of personal taste and style. However, back when I was in Middle School, our differing points of view seemed quite dramatic to me.

One kind of shoes that I really wanted in 6th grade was a brand called Candies shoes.
I wanted these kinds of shoes:

                                                       photo from shop.marketpublique.com

They're fabulous, don't you think? Well as you might imagine, my mother REFUSED to buy shoes like this for me in 6th grade! For one thing, she thought the heel was too high but mostly she didn't like the wooden heel because, as she said, "You'll just clump around the house and ruin our nice floors!"
I mean, floors? Seriously? When I was twelve years old, you can imagine that I didn't care much about floors.
Here is a link to the commercial that was on TV at the time:
Candies Shoes Video

By 7th grade, I wanted more. I wanted a pair of Jordache jeans. You've never heard of them, have you?

                                                              photo from etsy.com

At the time, all the girls in 6th grade were under the impression that Jordache jeans were French!
That's because the commercials all said that they were "French jeans." Since we didn't know anybody who actually WAS French, we believed it. Now I know the truth: the Jordache Jeans company was created in New York City by three brothers named Joe, Ralph, and Avi Naccache. Oh well!
Here is the commercial that was on TV at the time:
Jordache Jeans

Once again, trying to convince my mother that wearing Jordache Jeans would improve my grade in French class DID NOT WORK. She did not appear to believe me at all. How unfair, right?
At the time, we shopped for jeans at the Levis store. That seems OK now, but back then Middle School girls didn't really like Levis because they were for boys.

From my point of view, I thought I should have these items because, according to me:
1. Everyone else has them.
2. It's not fair! Everyone else has them.
3. You're a mean mother. Everyone else has them.

My mother did not agree with buying me Candies or Jordache jeans because according to her:
1. Not everyone else has them.
2. And even if everybody has them, I don't care. I am your mother and I am the one who decides.
3. If nobody has them, would you still want them?

Uhhhh.....hm, that number 3 was quite a question! Even today, I still don't know the answer for sure.

Anyway, my mother was and still is a wonderful, attentive mother mother and today I am grateful to her for making good decisions about my clothing and my future.

Having said that, I STILL would like a pair of those Candies shoes! I might just run right out and buy a pair for spring...after I pay my taxes, of course!

Zeugma

                                            copyright O.V. Collingridge

I wonder how many of you know the word zeugma? I did not know this word until my junior year in college when I took a class on analyzing Shakespeare texts using literary devices. We used a really good book called Figures of Speech: 60 Ways to Turn a Phrase by Arthur Quinn and, fortunately, I still have my copy after all these years. 

The word zeugma (by the way, it's pronounced "zugma") is a noun. It comes from an ancient Greek word meaning "linked together". People who are specialists in analyzing language do not completely agree on what a zeugma is, but I'll give you the pretty basic definition:
Zeugma: when a clause (a part) of a sentence is missing a verb on purpose, usually for a dramatic or humorous effect.

Here is an example of how Shakespeare uses a zeugma in his famous play Romeo and Juliet:
"Passion lends them power, time means, to meet."

What Shakespeare is saying is that “passion” lends Romeo and Juliet the power to meet. 

Not only that, “time” ALSO lends Romeo and Juliet the means to meet. 

As you can see, Shakespeare chose to leave out the verb "lends" from the second part of the sentence.

Don't worry if you are confused; you'll see that again in 8th grade when you study this play.

Here is a clearer example of the use of a zeugma:

"Bob loves soccer, and Susie tennis."

In this case, it's very easy to tell what verb was left out in the second part of the sentence.

Why use a zeugma? Why not just say:

"Bob loves soccer, and Susie loves tennis."??

Well, it gives a more sophisticated effect to writing.

Here is an example of a more dramatic use of a zeugma from Star Trek: The Next Generation:

"You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit." 

Do you get it? 

Why do I like the word zeugma? I have many reasons. Not only do I like the way it sounds, I also like that it comes from ancient Greek. In addition, I really like words that begin with the letter "z" because there are not many of them in English and they are good to know for playing Scrabble, a game I enjoy. For those of you who know Scrabble, you know that a "z" is worth 10 points, both in the English and French versions!

Moreover, when I think of the word zeugma, it brings back very good memories of that class in college since we spent time looking for literary devices in Shakespeare texts. The professor was really good (although I don't remember his name...).

Not so many people know the word zeugma. I like to try use this device in writing, although I am not very skilled yet at using it in a humorous way. You can see how someone could write a sentence, leaving out the verb on purpose in order to make the reader laugh, like in these examples: 

“The angry man lost his temper and his coat.”

“On his fishing trip, he caught eight trout and a cold.”

“The farmers grew potatoes, peanuts, and bored.”

“She killed time and the mailman.”