Le bruit qui court...

In France, the firing of three employees for writing derogatory comments about their bosses and the HR manager on Facebook has just been upheld in a labor court (industrial tribunal) decision.

This whole Facebook thing has me troubled. I de-activated my account some time ago, after a cyber-friend got upset (freaked out) when I friended one of her cyber-enemies. Having written horrible things about this cyber-enemy, the cyber-friend was afraid that the cyber-enemy would see photos of her grandchild and come after her in the dead of night. I'm not kidding. I was in trouble for friending someone without consulting every other existing friend to see if anyone had a problem with me friending the cyber-enemy. I decided the whole thing was too ridiculous to spend time on and shut down my account altogether.

And you know what? Betty White was right: What a time suck facebook is! Goodbye Facebook, hello 90-minute flow yoga class at 8 Limbs. Goodbye Facebook, hello longer walk with Neko at Lincoln Park. Goodbye Facebook, hello an extra chapter of A la recherche du temps perdu... tiens, tiens. A post-modern meaning of the title of Proust's book has just hit me in the Face! Goodbye Facebook, hello real books!

And tonight, at the Columbia Tower Club, I'll be tasting the 2010 Beaujolais nouveau at a fancy party put on by the French American Chamber of Commerce in Seattle. I know it is all just a marketing ploy and blah blah blah, but you can't beat the top of the tower and a delicious buffet! Who needs Facebook friends?

Time flies

As we biked along the Sammamish River Trail yesterday, I was thinking about how amazing it really is - when you think about it - that it is possible to fly 5,004 miles (Paris - Seattle via the great northern route) in just ten hours. Last Sunday, just a week ago, I was trudging through the Buttes des Chaumont park with my cellphone in hand, trying to find the exact location of the birthday party for Hanna, who just turned two. Noel and I finally managed to bump into eachother, though it seemed to be due more to random luck than technology and reconnoitering skills.

I stopped to snap this photo on the way:




Here she is, the birthday girl:

My career in advertising

The pay is pretty good.
I created the tagline for the Sanctuary advertising that will be visible with every film shown at this year's Seattle International Film Festival. It was the best ten minutes I ever spent. My friend D is one of the SIFF sponsors this year and, as a result, in addition to the free advertising, we get free passes. These are cool things you wear around your neck, and they get you in for free to any film you want to see, any time.

The festival starts in about two weeks, but there are press screenings going on now and we get to go to those too. Today I actually went to a movie at noon! It was a French film, Les Beaux Gosses. Bizarrely, the title was translated as French Kissers. Most unfortunate. Not a great film, but not bad either.

A cross between a tranche de vie and a series of vignettes.

No time to blog!

The best part? As I was leaving Pacific Place, I noticed that Anne Taylor was having a sale on dresses, so I walked in to have a look. Ten minutes later, I walked out with two for the price of one. I am not a shopper; I get no pleasure out of agonizing and lingering. These dresses are perfect; one will be just right for my cousin's daughter's wedding in three weeks. I just need to find the right shoes. Clementine will have them.

If you go to SIFF, look for my masterpiece.

Sanctuary: a unique place for life's special events.

It is just right with the artwork, which I can't post here for some reason. Go to SIFF and you'll see it.

Sosies

Last week, having exhausted the challenge of getting people to post profile pictures of themselves as kids, Facebook got the masses involved in posting profile photos of celebs they are purported to look like. I only got involved on Sunday, since I don't get to Facebook very often. It is better that way. Really.

Some of the lookalikes were a huge stretch; I won't name names. But in some cases, the resemblance was immediately apparent. I don't usually participate in these things, but this time I did. As usual, I did more than the assignment strictly called for.

First of all, I have been told at different times that I look like 3 famous people. One is Liv Ullman. The second is Hayley Mills. And the third is a secret, at least for now. My closest friends know who she is. But I'm not sayin'.

I thought it would be fun to post a photo of each one as she was when the comparison was made and as she is now. Hayley Mills is about 63 and Liv Ulmann is now 70. Here they are, then and now. Neither has had work done, which makes both more interesting.

I used to hate it when people said I looked like Hayley Mills, but now I can see why they said it. If I had a scanned photo of me then, you would see why too. But I don't. So too bad!

As for Liv Ullman, there is a story behind it. I was at the Bon Marché liquor store, underage, trying to buy a bottle of scotch. Rumor had it that it was easier to get away with using fake ID there than at other state liquor stores. So there I was, fake ID in hand, heading for the check-out counter. The guy behind the counter would or could not take his eyes off me. It was too late to return the bottle to the shelf and flee. I stood in line like a lamb being taken to slaughter, waiting to be busted, humiliated.... When it was my turn to pay, the cashier said "Has anyone ever told you that you look just like Liv Ullman?" When I, relieved, said no, he showed me the back cover of Changes, Liv Ullman's then recently published memoir. I don't know if I could see any resemblance; I was blinded by the sense of relief that flooded over me. He didn't even ask me for ID. Makes sense: Liv Ullman was in her late 30's at the time.

Photos below: Hayley and Liv back then, followed by Hayley now and 2 of Liv Ullman now.