Possibly, but it helps to define what you mean — There is hardly any activity or endeavour which is started with such great hope and expectation…and yet still fails as regularly as love. Eric Fromme I wrote recently about how I met my partner, five years ago now. We’d both lived alone for many years, swore we never wanted to…

And now I feel betrayed. — This picture was taken four years ago and bears no resemblance to the way I felt yesterday as I hobbled, cane in hand, out of the Imagerie Médicale after having my hip x-rayed. I wore a newly purchased black and white top (I seldom wear patterns) that I’d already decided…

But our lives took very different directions before we finally met — On a September afternoon, five years ago, I sat at the kitchen table wondering what I’d done to offend the gods. I’d just returned to France from a trip back to the States to see family and, as I wrote in my journal, I was feeling seriously sorry for myself. …

And the advice? — I read this morning that ChatGPT is now helping people with everyday problems. The New York Times listed 35 examples — everything from planning gardens, meals and exercise routines to writing wedding speeches. Sitting at my messy desk as I read, I thought I’d pose a few questions myself. Yes…

I feel about my arms as Nora Ephron felt about her neck — The Languedoc region of southern France where I have lived for the past ten years has the second hottest summer temperatures in the country. This is unfortunate because I dislike heat. Anything above 26 c (80 f) and I wilt. Finding myself in Languedoc is a perfect example of my…

Also old & ditsy. During my first year in France, I became familiar with those feelings and more — My first year in France taught me that you’re never too old to learn — even at the ripe old age of 68. Which isn’t to say it was easy. I hadn’t thought much about my age or my minimal French when I moved to France. …

An endless uphill struggle — Sisyphus was the cunning and ingenious king of Ephyra, renowned in Greek mythology for cheating death. Twice. That didn’t sit well with the gods so they condemned him to endlessly push an enormous boulder up a hill. …

Yesterday’s update was going to be my last on the subject, but . . . — This morning, still in bed and checking e-mails, I found one from Medium to say that one of my stories had been boosted. A few e-mails further and another e-mail about a second boosted story.

And the answer is . . . — A small boost. Yesterday, I wrote about receiving a mystery check from Medium. I’d hoped it was a boost but feared it might be a bust — perhaps a book-keeping mistake and I’d have to return the money. I learned this morning that it was a boost, just not quite…