Oui Oui

At the urging of my father, I'm making a conscious effort to keep up my French. Currently, I am listening to a live webstream of a Parisian news radio station. It is 7:45pm here, which means it is 2:45am in Paris. I have a feeling there are more American listeners right now than there are French ones. They are talking it seems to be a round-table episode, with about three different speakers, and (gasp!) they are talking about Sark-o and the economy. BORING.

There are also some great podcasts available to Francophones of all levels and I imagine there is a great selection for n'importe quelle langue ("any language"). I started this re-immersion into French last night after attempting to get through another epi of SKINS (unsuccessful), so I turned the radio program on and did my sit-ups (this is also a very new routine). I literally shed a tear when, while listening real hard, I was able to understand what they were talking about: the withdrawl plan for America from Afghanistan and Iraq....sigh...

I've been writing since I was old enough to sharpen a pencil. But no, I won't lie to you and tell you I was one of these kids with plastic frame glasses sitting in their treehouses writing screen plays. Instead, I worked writing into my life, to make it a very natural extension of who I am. If it was notes to myself, "documents" during my sister's and I games of "House" or "Work," or dreams and thoughts into a journal, I was conscious at a young age to embrace writing. And now, that I'm an adult and have to do it as part of my job work current gig, I've realized that writing is something I have to do on my own. In other words (did you get my pun?), it's something that has to come to me, that if feeling unispired or feeling short of material, it's not something I can force. Writing has always been a mutual love: being a creative outlet and a utilitarian tool for survival. Our relationship is symbiotic, and if I ask too much, it doesn't come...

So my challenge to you today is three things: One, start practicing that skill you worked so hard to get and may have since lost (maybe the piano, running a mile, making a batch of cookies without a recipe). Two: write about it, just a paragraph, and remember how easy it was. And three, find a job, volunteer opportunity, or internship that sounds interesting to you. Here are some suggestions:

Bare Escentuals (ie, Bare Minerals, foo) is hiring a Brand and Internal Communications coordinator--Coordinator is an entry-level job title, and internal and brand comm is perfect for anyone wanting to get involved in Public Relations, Marketing, etc. Click here for more (I also applied).

For volunteering, check out Cross Cultural Solutions. They offer one-four week volunteer and internship opps all over the world. Great for anyone with a conscience. *Wink* I'm interested in this one in Morrocco--un pays francophone.

Happy writing!! And happy job applying!!