ELECTION BLUES 2016

So I stayed up until 3:00AM (over here, in France). and turned on the tv...

What I saw was an elderly White couple....looked liked an average middle class couple from somewhere on Long Island.
Looked like she was holding up a potato...and discussing how she was going to feed her family and balance the budget with this one Idaho potato. 

The husband wanted to get rid of their neighbors.

After 5 minutes I decided that I wouldn't throw my life away looking at this mess. 

Nothings's changed....I'm still going to vote for the Lady...after all...I was once an active member of N.O.W.

Repost from 2011: What is an "Expat"?

Nice, France google images

Who am I?

What am I? Expat? Refugee? Immigrant (certainly felt that way living on the weak and erratic dollar for the past 8 years)? Artist? Gringo? Defector? Adventurer? Long time resident of the French Riviera? An American who enjoys living France?

Below are two definitions of Expatriate that I found interesting:

*one who lives outside one’s own country; One who has been banished from one’s own country; To banish; to drive or force (a person) from his own country; to make an exile of; To withdraw from one’s native country; To renounce the rights and liabilities of citizenship where one is born … en.wiktionary.org/wiki/expatriate

*ex patriate – A person who has abandoned his or her country of origin and citizenship and has become a subject or citizen of another country. http://www.irishclaims/

Most of the Americans I have met, proudly call themselves Expats! The word itself has come to represent glamour, exotic choices, worldly intellegencia, café life… But you see, my problem is with the prefix!

EX-!

When I think of “ex”-something…I think of EX-husbands, EX-friends, EX-boyfriends, EX-roommates…EX-change…uhh …oh…never mind… but I think you get the point.

In the mid eighties, I took a vacation to visit the beaches of the French Riviera. I fell in love….no… not with a Frenchman, I was already happily and firmly married…with the light and colors of the Mediterranean. From Monaco to Saint Tropez. I was captivated by the foods of the region, the markets, boutiques, the souk of Nice (the Old Town), the laid back pleasures of the South. The politesse of the population. I kept coming back to the area until my husband and I were able to move here in 1999. I sold my business, published my first novel, my husband retired, and we left Dodge City (New York City) to move to the sunny Côte d’Azur.

Permanently?

Who knows.

Am I an Expat?

I am an American.

An eighth generation American, female of African, Irish, Native American ancestry, who lives in France with my American spouse of Russian, Scottish, English ancestry, because we love the food, rocky beaches, cheaper travel options…and the National Healthcare System.

Re-post: DRIVING WHILE BLIND

J’en ai marre !!!!!

The tourist season has officially begun here on the French Riviera. What always arrives with the hordes is the inevitable and harsh criticism of French driving habits.


I’d like to intercept a bit with this blog before the Anglophones really start getting flagrant down here!

Everyone knows that anyone’s life can be irrevocably destroyed by an intoxicated or mentally disturbed driver on the road in any country by a driver of any nationality. My question is why have the French, in particular, been given such a bad rap as drivers?

I have been recipient many times of French driving hospitality. What I have found is that my French friends and acquaintances have displayed skill and grace at ever turn…so to speak. It’s no wonder, I later learned, considering what they have to go though in order to earn the privilege to drive in their country.

How may of you who have criticized the French actually studied for the French Permis de Conduire?


Too scared, right?


And I’m willing to bet…too broke!



Then, that means you don’t know bupkis about anything French.

Want to know how I came to this conclusion? Because it is expensive, difficult and studying for it would actually result in an evolution of thinking that would cause you to realise that you had no prior knowledge of what it takes to understand of the Gallic approach to manoeuvring safely through life in France. My philosophy is in order to criticize the French you should have been educated in France and taught by the French. How else can one understand the cultural nuances of a country which has the power to seduce millions of people through its doors, whether they be rich or poor, yellow green or blue, to a place which is probably the most complicated in all of Europe? Even people from rich and powerful countries are willing to test their fate in a country which for years will render them functional illiterates!


Years ago I took the driving school plunge…so I know of what I write.


I can’t overstate the fact that the pursuit of the French Permis de Conduire is an expensive, lengthy but profoundly informative study of the psychology of the French population. Believe me, studying this will enhance one’s relationships with the French people you encounter, do business with or with whom one becomes intimately involved. It will even enable one to distinguish a foreign driver from a French one.


Imagine that!


Case in point:

One sunny afternoon, a fellow student, who is also an American, and I left another gruelling session of La Code de la Route to stop at a corner café. As we approached the curb, a car came screeching towards us in a completely misguided attempt to park in a no parking zone.

Mr. America, hisses, ., “Look at that. After they get their permits, all rules fly out the window. How typically French!


My response was, “What makes you think the driver is French?”


He pointed to the French License plate on the Italian Fiat, and said, “Look… 06 (the code for the Alpes Maritimes)!”

As if on cue, two men emerge from the car, sharing a typically boisterous conversation in Italian!

Typically French, right?

So, this is the advice from yours truly…the Expat Curmudgeon Writer on the Côte d’Azur…to American drivers in France. Stop criticizing…stay alert and either take your bigotry and pack it in your little back packs and go back home… or just get off the road and take the friggin’n bus!

Revisiting Our (American) Roots DJANGO :UNCHAINED

Finally got up the nreve to see it at the Cinema Rialto in the rue de Rivoli in Nice:

What did I think of it ?

Ridiculous.  But then so was Jackie Browne, Kill Bill 2 & 1.  So was Pulp Fiction. So was Killing Zoe.  So you see….I’ve been a fan of the ridiculous for quite some time.  In my opinion, Quentin Tarrentino has a unique way of blending the serious with the ridiculous which I enjoy and admire.

Writer and director ,Quentin Tarantino

The movie was way too long…but then, that’s probably his point.  Some things just go on way too long.

Filmmaker Spike Lee, Upset about something as usual; ajnd Jamie Fox

Historical accuracy?  Who cares.  Maybe there was no slavery. No European Holocaust.  No Bubonic Plague wagons. No Crusades.  Just a long history of loving warm populations all over the world inspiring one another toward greatness.  Cumbaya and all that.

Jamie Fox and Leonardo DiCaprio

In other words, I would highly recommend this movie to people …adult people…with strong stomachs AND a twisted sense of humor.

Leonardo with the fabulous Samuel L. Jackson

I would also say that this is his best movie so far.

Three Tips For Aspiring Writers

(google image)

1) If you are looking for commercial success, study the books on the bestseller lists.

2) If you are an artist, write what you want and study the craft.

3) Before publication studymartial arts because there will be all kinds of folks out there waiting to beat you up in dark alleys.

http://thenovelladyfingers.wordpress.com

http://gingersnapsanovel.wordpress.com/

What Am I...Refugee? Expat? Political Exile?Gringo??

google image

Need I say more?

Enjoy the day!

AGING GRACEFULLY?

This is a reprint of a blog I posted last year:

Berlin

Recently an acquaintance of mine who lives in Germany commented on my blog concerning the “Chic of French Women.”

Rome

To encapsulate his quite lengthy response which was sent to me through my private email, he basically stated his opinion on what he felt was the self -deprecating tendency of American women to use facelifts as beauty enhancements in order to combat the aging process.


What came to mind was how ironic his opinion was considering the fact that we both live among the antiquities of Europe.

Paris

Image what living here would be like without the nips and tucks of European restoration efforts. The way I see it is that we’d all be living as if we were in the bowels of the slums of Cairo.

Cairo

  Anyway....on another note:

                                                           

"Never let a man tell you "you look so beautiful stirring the soup'"

                     ~Josephine Premice

 

 

 

 

 

DIVIDE AND RULE

(google images)



So, today I rand across this headline:

"CANNES FILM FESTIVAL SLAMMED BY FEMINIST GROUP LA BARBE FOR EXCLUDING WOMEN DIRECTORS"



The feminist group La Barbe which started several years ago in response to the sexist media treatment of Segolene Royal in her race against Nicholas Sarkozy, has taken on one of the most sexist film establishments, the Cannes Film Festival for its exclusion of female directors from this year's competition. They are kind of like the Guerilla Girls in that they dress up in beards and as they say "crash high level meetings to protest male supremacy.")

This is my assessment of the situation:

Divide and Rule:

In politics and sociology, divide and rule (derived from Latin divide et impera) also known as divide and conquer is a combination of political, military and economic strategy of gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy. The concept refers to a strategy that breaks up existing power structures and prevents smaller power groups from linking up.

Elements of this technique involve:

creating or encouraging divisions among the subjects in order to prevent alliances that could challenge the sovereign

• aiding and promoting those who are willing to cooperate with the sovereign
• fostering distrust and enmity between local rulers
• encouraging meaningless expenditures that reduce the capability for political and military spending

Historically this strategy was used in many different ways by empires seeking to expand their territories.

As a Black American let me give you Mother Africa as an example:

art by Ben Heine

The divide and conquer strategy was used by foreign countries in Africa during the colonial and post-colonial period.

Germany and Belgium ruled Rwanda and Burundi in a colonial capacity. Germany used the strategy of divide and conquer by placing members of the Tutsi minority in positions of power. When Belgium took over colonial rule in 1916, the Tutsi and Hutu groups were rearranged according to race instead of occupation. Belgium defined "Tutsi" as anyone with more than ten cows or a long nose, while "Hutu" meant someone with less than ten cows and a broad nose. The socioeconomic divide between Tutsis and Hutus continued after independence and was a major factor in the Rwandan Genocide.

Another example:

During British rule of Nigeria from 1900 to 1960, different regions were frequently reclassified for administrative purposes. The conflict between the Igbo and Hausa made it easier for the British to consolidate their power in the region.

• Regional, ethnic, and religious splits remain a barrier to uniting Nigeria, today.

So, you see, my analysis of the Cannes film festival situation and the film industry in general is this: perhaps if we women weren’t so bogged down in ideological wars between Lesbians and Straights, none of this kind of thing would be happening... on such an international level, no less!.

Afterall, women are a majority group, right?

Talk to you later...

CULTURAL VERTIGO

Just finished reading the debut novel of Korean American author ,Y. Euny Hong. It had me in stitches…as they say. I highly recommend it...a cautionary tale...especially to recent University graduates.

Then I ran across the German translation.   As you can see, there is a dramatic difference in the cover interpretation of the story.

I have become convinced, over the years, that foreigners have a keener understanding of the cultural nuances of societies than we Americans have ofourselves.

German edition

Which brings to mind a quote from one of my favorite American actresses,Sesame Street's Miss Piggy...

On Chinese food and Chopsticks:

"You do not sew with a fork, and I see no reason why you should eat with knitting needles."

~Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life (1981),

ALL UP IN MY KOOL AID AND DON'T EVEN KNOW THE FLAVA'

Recently, a person wrote me asking how I handled racism in the South of France.  This person claimed they had lived here and found the people extremely racist to the point of driving him out of the country.  The writer claimed that they were East Asian and Caucasian. 

When I asked him to describe  his experiences, I never heard from him again.

He ran away.  Puff!

Numerous persons of color…all kinds of colors, let me tell you… have asked me about French racism assuming that I would be qualified to discuss racism in France simply because I’m Black.  

I am an American.

 I consider myself an expert on racism in America as an eighth generation (on my Mom’s side, even more on my Dad’s), Scots, Irish, Seminole, African decent American citizen, but am not arrogant enough to believe I am able to discuss something that exists in France between it’s Caucasian citizens and its immigrants from the former colonies….somebody’s former colonies, anyway.

Whatever racism which exists in France I’m sure is being worked out among its citizens as it was in America over a 500 year period of racial terrorism inflicted on a small racially mixed minority group called Nig___rs, Negros…uh, Colored people…um Afro…um Blacks Ummmm……

Anyway, the Black people of America who were imported in chains to build the very infrastructure of a new Western, Eurocentric society had to find a way with very little help from the outside world to assert its humanity in their own country.  No one ever threatened American with divestiture, for example, due to its human rights violations of the Negroes of the US. 

We had to do the work all by ourselves.

Racism in America, is violent, institutional, simultaneously blatant and subtle and is incredibly, incredibly Butch!  You know?

"Those who kill their own children and discriminate daily against them because of the color of their skin; those who let the murderers of blacks remain free, protecting them, and furthermore punishing the black population because they demand their legitimate rights as free men—how can those who do this consider themselves guardians of freedom?"”

                                                                  ~Ernesto "Che" Guevara

Why ask me about French people?  Ask the colored French people about French people.

Perhaps there is certain air of nobility which surrounds people who have risen above oppressive regimes the way Black Americans have, which might elicit envy among others, who have no idea of who you are except for Will Smith movies, Mike Tyson, Martin Luther King speeches and Jazz music.  As a result they try to *“bite offa yo’ history” with a “high five.”

*BITING:

(Definition: Copying in a plagiaristic context, though mainly just unoffical fad-related things; such as made-up words, clothing styles, types of music, etc.

ie: "Dude, those kids are totally biting on my style!"

                                                                      ~The Urban Dictionary)

What bothers me in France is far more complex than the so-called racial issues.

My problem is, why do the people in the North of France look at those of us who choose to live in the South of France, as right wing country bumpkin imitations of residents of the 16^th arrondissement in Paris? 

Answer that one, instead of trying to “steal my kool aid”.

Get it?


another viewpoint: http://deloryswelchtyson.blogspot.fr/2010/07/racism-in-france-is-it-racism-or.html

I LIED!

I promised levity (see last post).  Can't do it yet.  I just can't "shake" that "shock art" cake Happening in Sweden!

Swedish Artist Kakode Linde

Sometimes the public can become so bogged down with concepts of racism that it can miss the entire point in creating controversy.

There is an old proverb that goes: When the axe came into the Forest, the trees said "The handle is one of us"

My question is: What would the public response have been if the cake was cut, more appropriately, by an African woman as opposed to the Swedish female participant in the event?

 Swedish Minister of Culture Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, cutting "the Clitoerectomy Cake"

I ask you, as a former art gallery owner and artist, myself ...what on earth does African Female genital mulitation have to do with Scandinavia?

Have a great day!

MORE DESPRESSING SH_T TO SHARE WITH YOU!

This time courtesy of the Swedes...

http://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/clitoridectomy-cake

This leaves me speechless to say the least.

I promise some levity on the next post!

Advice For Expats Everywhere.....

Uncle Remus and Friends (goole images)

"Boy,


what ever you is and where ever you is,


don’t be what you ain’t,


because when you is what you ain’t,


you isn’t."

 ~Uncle Remus

...and I’m sure you all know who I’m referring to!

http://thenovelladyfingers.wordpress.com

http://gingersnapsanovel.wordpress.com/

The Fresh Prince, Sammi and Election 2012!

We tend to rent or buy our French movies because we find it rather penible to sit through a French movie in the theater.  When one considers the various regional accents, dialects and all, I usually use the hearing impaired mode as well, to help me along.

Sometimes a French movie plot line vaguely echoes a popular American movie or television series.  When this happens, it is an absolute guarantee that I will see the movie.  I am never disappointed by the fact that there is always a wildly divergent approach to what on initial impact would seem a similar issue.  One such movie is Agathe Clery, which most Americans could assume is a take on American filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles' Watermelon Man. 

Another example of this Gallic wink towards American issues is the film I saw recently, Neuilly Sa Mère.


Years ago there was a popular television series, called Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  Actor,Will Smith, starred as a teenager growing up in the "hood" of Philadelphia.  After a scary gang rumble, his mother sends him off to live with his aunt and uncle who live in the wealthy town of Bel Air in California.

In Neuilly Sa Mère, adorable young actor, Samy Saghir, stars in this hilarious film about the pretentions and dysfunctions of the bourgeoisie...or the upper classes...I still have trouble with the distinctions, here in this Socialist country.  After all, I'm from a Capitalist one, where the classes, these days are ironically rather...flou...in comparison.

Fourteen-year-old Sami, lives with his father and mother in a housing project in a working class and immigrant neighborhood in Chalon-sur-Saône in the Burgundy region of France.  Unlike the American Fresh Prince, whose old neighborhood is ruled by gang violence, through Sammi's eyes, his "hood" is a vertitable multi-cultural and ethnic paradise...Kumbaya and such... you see.

His father drops dead of a heart attack as a result of over-identifying with and over-reacting to a Soccer game.  His mother is forced to take a job on a boat, so she sends Sammi to her sister and husband who live in the affluent Paris suburb of  Neuilly.

Hence the title.

Oh, by the way, Sami and his family are Beur...North African Moslims.

I'm not quite clear whether both Sammi's aunt and uncle are both Beur or in an intercultural/ racial marriage. Perhaps I missed it in my translation, since it is obvious that his aunt is North African, but his uncle, you see, is a Pork distributor.

The most amusing aspect of this tale, when I compare it to The Fresh Prince, is that while Will Smith's character arrogantly flaunts his ghetto savvy and lords over the naive, marerialistic and self-centered members of his extended family, Sammi encounters bullys and thugs of proportions previously unimaginable in the exclusive enclave of some of France's future leaders.  His young cousin,Charles, with whom he must share a bedroom, is Right Wing, has political ambions and aspires to become President of the Republic.

Get it?

If you should choose to accept the challenge of watching French political satire, I'm sure you'll agree that the political references in this story are not exactly all that nuanced.  Even an Anglophone foreigner like myself would get the joke...I mean...message.

It'll make you look up the backgrounds of our 2012  Presidential candidates, which is never...ever a bad idea.

This is why I  read "Dreams From My Father" before I decided to cast my vote for President Obama.


No surprises.  No regrets. 

POACHING FOR EUROS: Part 1

First, I would like to emphasize that this Post is targeted specifically to American women in France, and those looking to live in France…actually to American woman everywhere.

Not long ago, I was having lunch with some American women who happened to be married to or living with French men. They were exploring the reasons for the difficulties in developing friendships with French women.

Reasons explored ranged from “they tend to make their friends in elementary school» or “they are so busy with their raising their families and cooking gourmet meals for their men, or “they are not as liberated as American women…they close their eyes to their men’s affairs” to “I am so intimidated by those stylish French women and their chic, black ensembles.”

It made me reflect on the numerous books on the allure of French women published by Anglophones.

After indulging in a conversation and theories that went nowhere, we changed the subject, finished lunch after which I returned home to the comfy familiarity of my American husband.

Later that day, I looked up books on Amazon.fr to see whether French women extolled the feistiness, progressive and liberated openness… or anything else positive at all…about the American woman.

I found nothing!

Nothing titled, “Unlock Your Inner American Woman”, “Those Lucky American Chicks Who Mostly Sleep Alone,” or even “The American Amazons of the Women’s Liberation Movement: What On Earth Is Their Secret?”.

Again...absolutely nothing.

(Perhaps some of you out there might be able to name a few for me). It simply appeared to me that here was no reciprocal interest between French and American women, regarding anything! Not even PMS.

Over the years I’ve met French women who expressed in subtle and diplomatic ways a curiosity of what the attraction American women had for their lifestyles…French cuisine and politesse, notwithstanding… and their men, in particular. It seemed to them that we, American women, had access to more wealth, comforts and gorgeous men of such diversity that it was globally enviable. Or so they said.

I kid you not!

It’s no wonder that thousands upon thousands of French women every year clandestinely flock to Greenwich (Village), San Francisco and Disney World in search of the American Woman’s secret allure and wonderful quality of life!

But then…I digress…

Although, I can personally understand the unpredictable power of love and the unpredictability of where one might unearth a lover or mate in this big wide world, I can also understand the ominous consequences of choosing a life partner from a tribe whose women are an unknown entity to a newcomer.

When a woman enters a foreign culture she instantly acquires the status of the women of that culture. Remember that.

On impact, I might look like a poacher, myself. However, my girly- girl posse, prior to marriage and for most of my life, actually, consisted of primarily members of the tribe among whom I eventually found my mate. It was inevitable that I would end up marrying one of the members of their family. I had been acculturated by the population of that particular tribe already and was quite familiar with the nuances of the male-female relationships within that tribe.

My advice to my American sisters: Do some serious research. Put romantic notions on the back burner...especially after your sweet sixteenth birthday. Read up on American foreign relations… think twice before poaching. It could prove hazardous to one's emotional, financial, social and spiritual well being.

Of course, that is unless one is a War or Mail Order Bride. Then that’s a whole ‘nother story…n’est-ce-pas?

"P.C." and the Global Community

It's kind of a cloudy day down here in the South, today.  I'm not feeling too productive, so I've just been lazing around, surfing the net.

I just came across the most amusing images of  "mappying sterotypes".

I’ve always considered my self a bit of an ethnic connoisseur.  Any person who has had the privilege of living among others in foreign countries should find it quite easy to distinguish between an ethnic connoisseur and a racist clod.

An ethnic connoisseur is merely a keen and well informed social observer.

A clod is the one who hides behind pretentions of “political correctness” while rancid bones of negativity issue from his lips landing in everyone’s plate at the dinner party

You all know who I’m talking about, I’m sure.

Anyway, check these out.   For a clearer view go to   alphadesigner.com/mapping stereotypes.

Europe according to the French

Europe according to the Greeks

Europe According to the Americans

The World according to the Americans

The World According to Israel:

and my all time favorite...

Europe according to the Vatican!

Fun, right?

On target, you think?

Nevertheless, let me offer you a piece of diplomatic advice on stereotyping: Don’t dish it if you can’t take it!