Wanderlust Lingers - Paris Anyone?

My blogging friend, John Ottinger, has published this article at Tor.com about his recent trip to Paris with a group of home schooled students. It tells the story of a sculpture he happened upon while in the Montmarte section of Paris (in the comments section, I believe someone even offered the coordinates for a google street look). The sculpture arose out of a science fiction story that John was familiar with. He gives a brief synopsis of the story and a photo of the sculpture.

It has been quite a while since my last visit to Paris, shortly after I graduated from college. Now, I want to go again. First, I will read this story. Then, I will begin praying for a miracle. If my prayers actually result in a trip to Paris (or England, where I can then take the Chunnel over to France), I will use this as a life lesson for my MS, who is presently trying to wear us down by requesting a dog, oh, say, a hundred times each day.

Today, at the park, we encountered a woman walking her dog. MS tugged on the dog's tail and said, "You know this is a good dog, because ... look ... I'm pulling on her tail and she isn't even biting me." Perhaps, I need to work on a video documenting a hundred reasons he isn't ready for a dog.

I tried incorporating his immaturity into a bedtime story (quite subtly, I might add) the other night. It was a story about two little boys who begged and begged for a dog but their room was a tornado strewn mass of clothing and toys every day. These clever lads realized that their actions might alter the outcome, so they kept their room clean for one month. Their parents were in deep awe (this word choice was especially helpful in telling the tale, since MS has decided that "quicksand" is really called "deep sand" and that we have loads of it near the creek beds) and purchased these boys the dog they desired.

The following morning, MS made his bed and pushed all the clothes on the floor over to one corner. Then, he asked me to help him clean his room. When told he must clean it himself for it to hold any weight, he pulled me into the room, and with a grand gesture, highlighting his efforts, he declared, "Now we can get a dog!" Yes, that boy's gonna need a lot of prayers.