So, what exactly is there to do in this town to keep a girl like me busy? Well... I guess there's sitting on the front porch, petting the cats, and watching the flowers bloom. Fun, right? I've also spend a fair few hours trying to get my car back into shape. It's sad to say, but she's getting old. I discovered that she wasn't honking anymore, so I tried to take her to a new place that said they would work on Volkswagens, but after 6 or so hours they hadn't really started to look at her, and when they did they gave me the run around, so we decided in all it was just best to go back to the dealership for the work. The dealership has been acting better, but we've just had a few mishaps with them along the way (not looking at items I specified, water drains being put in upside down causing the car to flood once when it rained, a busted plastic panel... all of these were annoyances but they did fix them free of charge).
I've tried to keep my eyes open for cultural events. One weekend there was a French-themed 'fair' going on in Eureka Springs, AR. I thought it might be cool to go, but on closer examination of the offerings, it seemed like they were events more for people on vacation there. There were things like very expensive French brunches at the hotels, wine-tasting boutiques having art shows with an entry fee, the movie Chocolat would be playing in the town square, etc.. It just didn't seem like it would be an event that would really have anything for a Francophile to really go out and experience, especially without spending tons of $$$$.
Then, the rodeo came to town. I talked my mom into going (neither of us had ever been to a rodeo before). It was pretty fascinating watching grown men being tossed about on the backs of bulls and broncos like they were rag dolls, but it wasn't truly enjoyable. It was rather cringe-worthy, truth be told. Like watching a train wreck, knowing that something bad could happen at any moment, but you couldn't peel your eyes away. Yes, all of the events take tremendous skill, and I admire the people competing for that, but it was still an event which was hard to watch. Then, when they were roping the calves and goats, it just made me feel bad for the poor creatures. At one point, all of the kids were invited out into the stadium, and they had to chase calves and get ribbons off of their tails. The 4 or 5 kids that got the ribbons received prizes, but it just seemed rather silly. And the rodeo clown was rather idiotic. He was telling jokes that were terrible, not even worth laughing at, and he was very opinionated in a not-so-good way. So, in all, I think my rodeo days are more or less over. It was worth going to see, but didn't seem worth repeating.
Before I left France, mom surprised me with tickets for us to go see Michael Bublé in concert. The opening act was quite fascinating. It was a group called Naturally 7, and the 7 members each were able to make their voices sound like different instruments. Because I like youtube clips lately, here's the group performing in the Paris subway, Line 1, I do believe:
Then the main event was Michael Bublé. Mom got us tickets on the ground, really close to the front. The 25 or so rows in front of us appeared to be for people with season tickets, or who had won tickets to the concert. There had been problems earlier in the year with purchasing tickets online to go to the Elton John show, so the day the tickets came available mom was online, ready to click, and was one of the first put into the virtual waiting room. Pretty soon, she was able to go purchase the tickets, but she was a little worried because the system only allowed about 3 minutes to choose seats and enter all of her billing and credit card info, but she did it, and she got us some terrific seats!
Michael Bublé was a bit more of a smart alec than I had imagined, telling the audience that one of the band members was from Springfield (he wasn't) and flipping the audience off once for booing (which I didn't hear and didn't get it), but I guess it made for a good show. And, his voice is, shall I say, dreamy? About 3/4 of the way through the show, I noticed the grips rolling out what looked like might be a stage, right next to where we were sitting. I figured it out quickly, and when one of the guys said "Go for it," I grabbed mom and we went over to the stage, which was literally only 10 feet away from our seats. I don't think I'm one of those fangirls that just dies when touched by a celebrity, but with all of the peer pressure, I reached up my hand and Michael grabbed it. So, now I can say that I was one of the lucky few, I guess? It was more interesting having one of the guys from Naturally 7 sitting right beside where I was standing. I have no idea how they do it, but they were the 'big band' for one of the songs performed while they were out on that temporary stage. Then, Michael sang the song "Home" and dedicated it to Joplin.
Other than all of that, life has been, well, life. My mom and I took up lap swimming over the dog days of summer, and that turned into the highlight of my day for a while. I even bought my own kick board and swim buoy, and I enjoyed using them while the pool was open. I was also a bit of an enigma, since I came every day, could swim well, and no one knew who I was, but no one bothered to ask who my mom and I were, either. But really, the only people that were there at that time were the lifeguards and the older women doing swim aerobics who gossiped the entire time.
Applying to jobs is a full time job, and I haven't been very impressed with the amount of call backs I've gotten, but I also know that it's a tough job market. I've made it through to the final interview stage once, but I got the feeling that there were some weird office politics going on, and somehow I just didn't make the cut. Some places I've applied to have written back saying that usually they receive at most 15 applications for that type of job, but they received more than 100 applications. So, I'll just have to cross my fingers for now and hope that someone somewhere will see my resume and cover letter and say, "Now, that's the person for this job!" Until that day comes, I guess I'll get to help out around the house and keep applying and hoping. If you know of any jobs, send 'em my way!
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