Ask what the hell is wrong with me without asking what the hell is wrong with me. A photo of me and my girlfriend from 2022 in front of the Moulin Rouge tourist trap in Paris. I don't know what I did for her eyes to start drilling into my soul at that moment, but I had to have done something! Where will we go next, and what will I do to deserve another drilling gaze into my core being?
My girlfriend got this promotional poster framed.
This close-up image of Claude Monet's Chrysanthemums is from our recent Paris vacation.
It was one of a few souvenirs from our stop at the Musee de l'Orangerie. She thought it would look good hanging up in our home.
It was already rolled up and wrapped in plastic, but I had a bad feeling that it wouldn't survive in my checked baggage without getting ruined.
I carried it in my hand walking through the airport and kept it close to me on the plane back to Boston.
If I had kept it in my soon-to-be lost luggage, lord knows what condition it would have been in when I finally got it back.
There's not a lot about the summer I want to look back on, but seeing this picture every morning makes me happy.
On June 30, I read at the Culture Rapide in Paris, France.
It was my first time reading in another country.
I wasn't able to read as a feature.
When I got there to sign up for the open mic, I was put on last.
I gave it my all. I might not be back for five years. Maybe longer.
Maybe I went too long. Maybe I went overboard.
I don't care.
I did what I had to do to make my spot count.
That was my only option.
I think it worked.
Someone asked if I was going to be around for an event next week.
Sadly, I had to leave that Monday.
I will not make that mistake if there is a next time.
Found this while walking the streets. Translation: "It's not love, it's your hormones."
Here's the memorial section for COVID-19 victims at The Church of Saint-Sulpice.
I saw this spray painted devil head all around Paris. I think the "Raskeem" a the bottom is just coincidental, but I could be wrong.
Here's a video from the Paris trip that I'll be uploading on Instagram and Facebook later. Listen to the organ in The Church of Saint-Sulpice
I saw the devil head all around Paris. I'm pretty sure the red writing is from a separate artist, but I like the message.
My girlfriend knew I would do this to the picture she took, and she sent it to me anyway.
Claude Monet's "Water, Waterlilies [...] On A Very Large Surface." So hard to grab this shot with all the tourists and would-be Instagram Influencers.
I read last Thursday on June 30 at Culture Rapide as part of the open mic Paris Lit Up series. Just another open micer. So happy my girlfriend had the more advanced iPhone camera that could take a decent photo of me in a dark setting.
I was in a place I had never been before, and no one knew me. I was the last one up, and I gave it my all. That's all I can do. That's all I've ever tried to do. Thanks for not throwing me out, fellow poets.
