This Blog Is Now Closed…

Greetings Readers!

I’ve had a couple of subscribers sign up for email alerts since my final post here at An Alien Parisienne, so I wanted to create a “top post” that reiterates I will no longer be posting at this site. This blog is now closed.

To read about why An Alien Parisienne is finished, please read this post.

To join me at my new blog, Do-Overs in Denver, please go and subscribe here.

Thank you.

Adieu.

Karin

This is the end, Beautiful friend.

I know — it’s a little dramatic.
From November 7, 2010

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never look into your eyes…again

“The End” by The Doors

Greetings, Readers.

This coming week marks one year from the date I last posted on An Alien Parisienne. This month marks the fifth anniversary from my very first visit to Paris, France in 2008. Today marks the end of An Alien Parisienne.

On August 1, 2012, I arrived at Denver International Airport at about one in the morning. Disoriented, and arriving late having been placed on an alternate flight because the customs line in Detroit, Michigan was too slow and several on route to Denver missed their plane, including me, my first ex-husband (“UnEx”) picked me up and drove me to the place that had been my home from 1995 to 2000 and which has since become my home again, temporarily, until I get on my feet again. (No, UnEx does not live here now, but it is a three-bedroom condo we owned together and which he still owns, renting out a room to a guy who has lived here for 10 years as well as the place where our son — my oldest —  lives since it is only a short distance from his high school.)

It’s taking me a while to find my feet. They have gone somewhat comfortably numb. I’m figuring it out, though.

I had decided in February after a couple of months of rumination that at last I would need to write a closing post for this blog, and I started composing in my head what such a post would say. I still get quite a few subscribers to the blog and also quite a bit of daily traffic to the blog — I don’t want to entirely shut it down as it still seems to have a readership. But it was realizing the significance that the month of March has played in my Paris Journey that made me think, “Hey, I need to bring some closure to this thing” and do so at this meaningful time. Interestingly, this March also marks other endings as well, and it is now wholly appropriate to write this post.

Please read on if you are interested in knowing the rest of the story, and also find out about a new blog I am starting: Do-Overs in Denver.

Books, Books, Books

Books in a book market in June 2009, near Saint Sulpice

“… for some of us, books are as important as almost anything on earth.

What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid, squares of paper

unfolds world after world after world,

worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.

Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave.

They show us what community and friendship mean;

they show us how to live and how to die….

An author makes you notice, makes you pay attention, and this is a great gift.”

(Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, pages 14-15)

Hello Readers!

I wanted to let you know about something special going on on Paris this coming weekend.

WHAT: a book sale where one can buy paperbacks for only a euro and hardcovers for 2€

WHEN: Sunday, March 25, 2012, noon to 4 pm

WHERE: Orrick Law Offices, 31, avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie, 75016, Paris

WHY: The semi-annual book sale is one of the main fundraisers for the volunteer organization SOS Help, an English-language emotional support line for the international community in France.

Since 1974, SOS Help has been “listen[ing] to callers speaking about issues as wide-ranging as loneliness, depression, health concerns, bereavement, money problems, unemployment, difficulties with friends or family, or substance abuse.” Anonymous and confidential, the listening line is staffed from 3 pm to 11 pm every day of the year by volunteers who are trained by professionals “to provide empathetic, supportive, and non-judgmental listening to anyone going through a difficult or painful life experience.” (quotes from the SOS Help Facebook Info page linked above. For more information, also see their website: SOS Help)

I can’t imagine a more fun thing to do on a Sunday afternoon than to shop for inexpensive books and help out a very worthy organization at the same time. In fact, to inspire you, just check out this haul that Sion of Paris (Im)perfect came away with last October during the fall sale in her post Books, Glorious Books!

I am going this year with a really big bag and some babysitting cash in pocket. In fact, one wee one I watch has parents that volunteer for this organization, and they are really swell people. I’m happy to put some of my earnings back to an organization they support. Full circle, pay-it-forward, All That Jazz. Result? I get to read more in the process. Also, if you have books you would like to donate, you can take them with you! Lighten your load!

Can’t come to Paris to participate? Well, find something you can do in your community this weekend to support a worthy cause.

So, how am I seizing the day of late? How am I taking care of myself? Read on to find out what I have been up to in trying to accomplish these two goals.