Mirror Mirror on the Wall …

Is this going to work?

I am afraid I can’t spare you, I have once again experimented with my new camera and self portraits.  I have learned this morning that the way to take pictures of myself is to use the night scene setting, rather than the portrait option.  The portrait option invariably uses a flash, which results in all sorts of exciting light effects which obliterate my image – interestingly enough in its way, but not quite my intention.

The other thing I noticed is that my face always looks somehow rounder, less long, than in real life, no doubt a result of having to hold the camera at an angle – if I hold it straight I get a photo of the camera superimposed on my face, which is again interesting as a one off but not really my intended effect.  Somehow I don’t think I will ever really be sold on these portrait shots in a mirror ….

With glasses ...

... and without

My cold still has a toehold on me, but I am off medication and hope to be able to go swimming again soon – got to use up those 8 hours still on my multi ticket!  About half of my fellow curistes and a third of the staff of Les Galapagos have also managed to catch a cold, whether from me or elsewhere is uncertain.  Everyone blames the weird weather – one day it is almost freezing and I have to buy a turtleneck, the next we are over 30C and I am watching Cleopatra in my underwear.  Dash dash dash, is all one can say about this.

I love the way my glasses glitter in concert with my earrings - very fetching, eh?

Amazingly, the Spiegel has arrived today at Remys.  I am reading German, English, and French publications all at once.  You might think this is confusing, but it is really necessary.  I noticed that if I focus on only one language I get the other two wrong – for example, I have to be careful not to spell English words the French way, like ‘courate’ instead of ‘curate’.  I just can’t afford to screw up my English just to learn French – the idea is to add another language to my brain, not to replace one.  But I do feel that all my slapdash half-hearted intermittent – I mean incredibly hard work! is finally paying of.  The natives understand me much better, and I understand them as well, even the occasional joke.  Still a long way to go, mind – Radio France Inter is still pretty incomprehensible to me, they talk too fast and never repeat themselves.  Why can’t they talk with subtitles, like they do in the movies?