I have been getting emails from concerned Burkinamom fans. They all say pretty much the same thing, ie: “Hey B- What’s the matter? The film is great, but I’ve watched it about 20 times now. WRITE something, dammit!”
It’s true that I have been resting on the cinematic laurels of FAVL. Which was not a good idea, as they are comfy, but not my own. Michael K at FAVL did all the work and all I did was paste in a link. But I was VERY happy that all my family and pals could finally see Aslan, Midnight and all the gang.
What have I been doing? Well, last week was spent getting ready for the weekend. Mallory, Alexa and their twin pals E and S were in serious training for a show. We had the dance teacher at the house every afternoon, the furniture all pushed against one wall. Alexandra is Russian and trained as a dancer back when it was called the Soviet Union and they did not kid around. She had to train for hours every day, she tells the kids, and if her posture was less than perfect, her mattress was confiscated, forcing her to sleep on the wooden bed frame. Ah, the good old days.
Anyway, the girls worked a lot with her, getting ready to perform at the ISO Talent show. And I have to say that they were wonderful on Saturday night! I will have pics to post soon. Sorry, no film.
Sunday night was the concert for the small choral group I sing with, so there were a few extra rehearsals for that, as well. One of the highlights was two piano pieces played by Valentine. She has only had four lessons and has mostly just been teaching herself. She played a couple of minuets and sounded great.
There was also the Saint Ex school fun fair on Saturday morning. And there was also the rehearsal for the “Profession de foi” ceremony for Valentine that is happening on the 3 of June. Along with teaching catechism, going to the gym daily and working at Papiers du Sahel, I managed to be too busy to turn on my computer for several days.
This week promises to be a bit calmer. I am working a lot at Papiers, though. Some of the women are taking an accounting course, so I am filling in for them, running the shop from 8am to 2pm each day. I mostly keep very busy, but do take a short break at about noon. I drink a diet Coke and read a bit. Or try to. This morning, I grabbed a paperback on my way out the door. When I settled down to read it a few hours later, I knew I was in trouble from the first page. The writing was pedestrian, but I can live with that. All I ask for is a decent story that will make me forget how hot I am for a little while. But the stupid details were killing me. For example, the main character is supposed to be a hard-hitting criminal lawyer. Her name? Betsy Korn. Her name is actually Elizabeth, but she thinks it’s too dignified for a “frazzled” scatter-brain like herself. (It’s common knowledge how those high-class lawyers hate to have a dignified image.) That’s really the best name he could come up with? Sounds like she’s going to cook food with possums in it and then marry her first cousin.
Also, within the first twenty pages we already had two lawyers named “Alfred”. You’ll be surprised to know that they were not called “Alfie” or even “Al”. I guess guy lawyers don’t mind being dignified.
I will restrain myself from further ranting. Just be assured that it was all really stupid. If you are tempted to read something by Phillip Margolin, don’t. I’m saying this as a friend.

Late breaking news!!!! Yesterday afternoon, Al and Mal polled their money and bought a air of little “mange-mil” birds. They are cute, tiny, little yellow things. Well, they were. The girls have just discovered the bamboo and wire cage laying on the tile out on the terrace. The bars are all bent and nothing left of the birds but tiny yellow and grey tufts of feathers. The cat is sitting nearby, looking pleased with herself. This looks pretty incriminating….