Alysa Salzberg's Blog
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Jun.18.2013
Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.
- Ovid
“It’s not fair,” my brother complained half-jokingly one night on our trip to Italy. “You’ll always spend less money than us!” He wasn’t talking about my budgeting skills, though: He continued, “You...
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Jun.06.2013
One of the reasons I love living in Paris is that I can find just about anything I want here. But one thing I, a whale fanatic and would-be marine biologist, thought I couldn’t find was a way to see whales.
There are whale skeletons in the Muséum de l’Histoire Naturelle...
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May.15.2013
The statue was magical. Staring at it, I forgot how ancient it was – it transcended time, it was a spirit, an elf, a monster.
This striking ancient sculpture was just about the only memorable thing in what was supposed to be one of the greatest museums in the world...
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Apr.15.2013
I’ll admit it: In addition to safe and wonderful travels, there was something else I was hoping for during my brother and his fiancée’s trip to Europe: that they’d fall in love with one of the cities we were visiting, and decide to stay.
One of the hardest things about living abroad is...
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Mar.10.2013
It took me a really long time to learn to walk. That’s the way I’ve been about most big developments in life; I rarely just decide to do something on the spur of the moment. Instead, I hesitate, analyze, worry over what could go wrong. Baby me probably didn’t want to fall too much....
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Feb.07.2013
I take a breath. How am I going to write this email without seeming overly upset?
After a few minutes, I begin:
Hi guys,
I just want to thank you all, on behalf of myself and my brother (and Hermes) for all your help in spreading the word about Hermes!
I've just received a link...
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Jan.20.2013
When my brother Jason* left for film school, the usual things stayed back home: knick-knacks, books, papers, and photos accumulated over eighteen years of life. Action figures and the occasional stuffed animal sat staring out windows, watching the year change for the first time without...
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Jan.06.2013
For most of my life, people have called me a bookworm, and I've seen no reason to argue. Like one of those perhaps mythical worms, I feel nourished by books. I love the physical presence of printed pages so much that I often bury my nose into them, savoring the smell....
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Dec.24.2012
For the first ten years of my childhood, a vast treasure was stored in two boxes in the unfinished part of our basement.
Though they were only made of cardboard with pretty motifs in red and white, the boxes seemed immense and imposing. Even when I was in third grade, I remember...
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Dec.20.2012
There are many differences between the furnished vacation rental we’re staying in while our home is being renovated, and our own apartment. One of the most striking is that this rental place is on the top floor.
Most buildings in Paris have only six or seven floors at most, and many rooftops...
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Dec.10.2012
Maybe it was the rain. Or maybe the weather that had been veering towards winter cold, and now seemed to be trying an unexpected, futile, and frustrating climb back to summer. Maybe it was because of rush hour and the crowds that always seem to clutter the fairly wide, yet...
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Dec.03.2012
From our window in this new place, we can see the top half of the Grande Roue in the Jardin des Tuileries. Far off, lit white every night, shining like an archway of diamonds or stars.
I remember riding it with you, one night a few months after we met. Afraid of heights, I...
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Nov.18.2012
Lying down, I wonder, Where is the usual stream of cars? No trucks pause below the window, their hydraulics puffing and groaning at the stoplight. There’s no misbegotten youth outside, yelling to each other, laughing, sometimes fighting. It’s as if, tonight, they’ve taken...
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Nov.09.2012
I have a difficult relationship with warfare.
When I watch war movies or series, I rarely think of glory – rather, I find myself saying, “What a waste.” What a waste of life and promise thousands upon thousands of fallen soldiers, civilians, and animals represent. What a waste...
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Nov.03.2012
My husband bought me the coat for Christmas two years ago. Its military style and high collar are the embodiment of an aesthetic he loves. As for me, I liked the coat’s length, and the fabric it’s made of, warm enough to wear in winter, but light enough to serve in other seasons. ...
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We work in the dark--we do what we can--we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.”
—Henry James
About Alysa
I'm an American writer, teacher, reader, traveler, worrier, antiquer, ailurophile, and history buff based in Paris, France, where I find something to marvel at each day, all while wondering if I should really go back to the States and live a far more...
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Causes Alysa Salzberg Supports
International Bird Rescue (http://www.bird-rescue.org/)
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Alysa ’s Favorite Books
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Dark is Rising and The Grey King by Susan Cooper, Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller, Cyrano de Bergerac by...
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