Susan Thomas Springer

Il ne faut jamais dire “fontaine, je ne boirai pas de ton eau.”

In America, we’ve heard the saying “never say never” so I had to laugh when my French language calendar showed how the French would say it. This sentence literally means, “You must never say ‘fountain, I won’t drink your water’.” Of course it’s not any sillier than some of our sayings such as “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” “spill the beans,” or “tongue-in-cheek.” We’ve used idioms without thinking about them until we had kids – now we see how silly their literal meanings can be. Au revoir!

“The Vice President is a heartbeat away from becoming President, so to choose someone with not one hour’s worth of experience on national issues is a dangerous choice.”

Obviously Senator Barbara Boxer is concerned with McCain’s choice as Vice President. Governor Sarah Palin, who has held that office less than two years, was plucked from obscurity because McCain thinks she will help him get elected to the White House — not because he thinks she will be a good president if the 72-year old has a heart attack and dies. He actually cares more about getting himself into the Oval Office than how America would fare should the inexperienced Palin become president.

Palin introduced herself with, “I was just your average hockey mom in Alaska.” Let’s hope, should McCain get elected, that he is a very healthy man.

“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”

American musician Miles Davis (1926-1991) said that about the cool jazz he played but I think it pertains to other creative pursuits too. I doubt painters have an individual style with the first brushstroke. And I know it takes experience to find your voice as a writer.

Sunday mornings are usually slow and lazy… and Davis’ Kind of Blue set the perfect mood. Davis’ influential Blue is the best-selling jazz album of all time — something that he could only accomplish when he began to play like himself.