Champions of Breakfast

Champions of Breakfast

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
There are so many things that France does right.  The wine, the food & the healthcare.  The 35-hour work week & the apéritif. Some things about living in France have just been too easy to get used to.  The fact that in France, bad grammar is a worse offense than profanity just makes me feel at home.  I can no longer sit down to a meal without a glass of red wine, or go without an espresso after lunch - especially when lunch can often be around 2 hours long. So many things about life in France are - yeah, I'll say it - better than that in the United States.  But, you already knew that, right?  It's hardly a secret.  People here have longer life lines for a reason. That's not to say that I don't ever have a few complaints.  Believe me... I do.  (You knew that was coming, right?) Sometimes, it's just a matter of homesickness, or missing something from home...
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13 Women of World War II

13 Women of World War II

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
1.  Astrid Løken  -  Norway  -  April 14, 1911 - January 19, 2008 Astrid looks like my friend's grandma and was a student at the University of Oslo back in the day, where she studied bumblebees. So what does that have to do with the war? Well, Astrid was also a spy for the Norwegian resistance and worked under the code name "Eva." Appearing as an ordinary student riding around on her little bicycle taking photographs, Astrid wasn't much of a concern to the Germans during their 2-month occupation of Norway. How were they to know that she was actually snapping shots of their installments, or that she had incendiary bombs, grenades and slept with a cyanide capsule under her pillow?2.  Corrie ten Boom  -  Netherlands  -  April 15, 1892 - April 15, 1983 In addition to looking like someone who likely bakes delicious cookies, Corrie and her family harbored several refugees during the Holocaust. Eventually, she and her family were arrested...
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Speaking American

Speaking American

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
It took me a bit by surprise, the first time I heard it."You don't speak English."For fuck's sake.  What was I thinking?  Of all of the things that I have ever pulled out of my ass, the notion that I speak English is among the worst.  Sometimes I'm such an audacious shit.  Of course I don't speak English.  I must be speaking...hell, I have no idea.  What language is it that I speak, then?"You speak American."Oh...right.  American.I had to move to France to learn this, that I speak American.  Evidently, anyone who originates from the Unites States is not an English speaker.  We are all American speakers.At least, this is what some of the French have told me.I have no proof, but I'm assuming this means that the Canadians are speaking "Canadian" rather than French or English & that the Brazilians are speaking "Brazilian" rather than Portuguese.To be fair, there are plenty of U.S. citizens who think that they are...
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13 More Warrior Women

13 More Warrior Women

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
Ok...I've done a list like this one before.  However, there's a significant difference this time - these women aren't fictional characters.  These women are actual historical figures & didn't have any stunt doubles.1.  Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae - Massagetae, now eastern Iran - c.550 B.C. When the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great attempted to invade the Iranic Massagetae of Central Asia, his army was beaten & forced to retreat.  Cyrus' boys then persuaded him to trick the enemy into getting drunk on wine because they were hash smokers & likely to be lightweights when it came to booze.  It worked - while the opposing army was shitfaced, the Persians came in & slaughtered them.  Tomyris' son was at the head of the drunken army.  When he sobered up, he killed himself.  When Tomyris got the news, she sent a message to Cyrus telling him what a rat bastard he was & called him out to another fight.  Another battle ensued,...
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