IsThisThingOn?

A  sample of notes I made when I lived in Paris for a short time when I was 30.  Still editing...   A  continuation from the first installment, found HERE .  (disclaimer: forgive this site's formatting issues) Notes from Paris This material is original and not to be duplicated  or used in any way without the authors permission. DRAWING AT L’ ACADEMIE de la GRANDE CHAUMIERE  or... A ROOM WITH QUITE A VIEW I relinquished speech completely in trade for the chance to  spend an afternoon -   and as it ended up, several more - drawing live models with a room full of strangers.  The entire time I said not one word.  I was hiding in plain sight.   I found my way to a door  that led to an archway, that brought me into   a hall with more doors, one of which was ajar. There was a man,  wearing  glasses and a vest buttoned over a rumpled white shirt,  standing at it's entrance,   his back pressed against the frame, greeting the people trickling past him

When I turned 30, I went to Paris for the first time, under circumstances far from what I'd envisioned when, sprawled across my bed as a teenager, I dreamt up a romantic vision of my adult life that included going there. But... I went, and it felt like home from the moment the plane wheels met the tarmac at Orly.  Soon after, I made a decision to put all my spare hours into  writing, to see what was there. Though I had written almost every day since I was 10, I wanted to try my hand at all it's forms in a disciplined way, and set the stage to discover once and for all if it was my calling.    I was living in Hollywood then and so ripe to leave, but I had a few commitments there, keeping me from a wish to move to New York. To cope, I began to go to Paris on a regular basis, even rented an apartment for the span that a long-stay visa would allow (6 months), to see where it took me. By the time I arrived, unexpected developments caused me to cut that plan short. But the time I