One week to go! I'm getting really excited for Paris. I'm slowly slipping into vacation mode, which is dangerous as I still need to finish all my homework that's due after break before we go. One of my favorite things about vacations is deciding what book I'll read, but I'm in a real quandry over what to read in Paris. I just started 102 Minutes, but every time I pick it up I start crying, so I think it's staying home. I bought Paris in Mind, edited by Jennifer Lee. What a worthless little anthology. I NEVER would have bought it if I had realized her previous anthologies were titled "Martial Arts Are Not Just for Kicking Butt" and "2sexE: Urban Tales of Love, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Gettin' it On." If those are not the worst-titled anthologies in creation I'll eat my hat.

But Dave Barry saves the day - his excerpt is a good laugh:

Nevertheless it's very pleasant to walk around Paris and feel - as so many Americans feel when they're in that incredibly beautiful city - fat. Because the fact is that we Americans look like enormous sneaker-wearing beef cattle compared with the Parisians, who tend to be very slim, with an average body weight of 38 pounds (7.83 meters). It's odd that the French appear to be in such good shape, beacuse the major activity in Paris, aside from trying to run over pedestrians, is sitting around in cafes for days at a time looking French.

Of course I could bring A Moveable Feast, but is that too obvioius? I do really want to read it, so I have a feeling this might be the one. But I'm dying to read Savage Summit too. It's only out in a clunky hardcover right now though, so logistically this won't really work. I want a nice slim little paperback I can take to the gazillion cafes we plan on parking ourselves in.

I've been monitoring the Paris weather like a maniac. I can deal with 40s! I hope it stays that way. I'm also keeping my eye on this strike situation, which is scheduled for the day before we arrive. I hope it doesn't extend beyond the 10th, but if so, c'est la vie! We'll just mill around the airport with the other sneaker-wearing beef cattle buying duty-free perfume.