Things to remember when you fill out your 1040

On Tax Day Eve, I thought it would be good to be reminded exactly why we pay taxes. We do it to help improve and safeguard our communities...and so politicians can take credit for the projects and thereby remain employed!

BTW: In case you were wondering, in the year of the University Avenue project there was a lot of economic and industrial growth in Provo. Yes, it was an election year (and yes, the mayor did get re-elected)!

Change will do you good

This didn't really happen, but I'll bet it happens all the time. Euros are kind of cool, though, because each country mints its own coins, but they're used all over Europe. In one transaction we had change in Euros from Greece, Spain, Great Britain and France. Here you look for the mint mark to see if a coin was minted in Denver or Philadelphia. It's not quite the same!

Monday sketchbook: The weekly bath

I liked this idea until I sketched it out, and I started to wonder what would be in the bathtub that would remind the kid of Mt. Ararat. The sketchbook stops here.

Amen to that!

There must be something in the air. Arie over at Mormon Cartoonist had another over-the-pulpit joke this week as well.

Pronunciation

I think there is a conspiracy amongst French teachers in this country. We go on our merry way pronouncing crepe as krape, with a long a sound. Little did I know that in France, or at least in Nimes, the word is pronounced, yes, crap.

Thanks for that tip beforehand, Mme B!

The upper crust

I saw firsthand that most of the stereotypes about the French are not true. We encountered no mimes, I didn't hear a single accordion, and most of the people were very friendly. The one thing that seemed to be true, though, was the preponderance of baguettes. They were everywhere. I also noticed that most young women had a certain dress standard: nicely coiffed hair, tight pants, boots, a jacket, a bag or purse, a scarf around the neck, and a baguette. So, I thought, the baguette isn't really for food - it's a fashion statement!

Foreign phrases

Yes, I know that Steve Martin did a similar joke way back when. But this had some added context: while the kids were saying that the language was too hard, I noticed the signs in the background said such foreign things as restaurant, cafe, hotel.