What next?

As my French learning continues to accelerate, regular readers of this blog will surely be asking themselves, "What will David do next, once French is done?"

There are at least two possible answers to this question, one more frivolous than the other. The less frivolous (and therefore more likely) option is that I will move on to the next Romance language on the list. Spring 2013 in Italy -- what could be so bad about that? The good news is that the recent uptick in the stock market means that I will likely be able to afford one more stay in France this fall, after which I feel that my French will surely be pretty decent. The recent uptick in the stock market may also finance renovation of the master bathroom in San Francisco, a project that Brad is already fantasizing about starting once he gets home -- God bless him, he loves to have a project to work on. Do I feel guilty about reaping the benefits of late-stage capitalism and living off my dividends? Not even a tiny little bit.

The second, more frivolous, possibility was triggered by my purchase, for less than 5 Euros of this fine item at the Pompidou Center gift store on Friday afternoon:

With the self-explanatory title "I learn how to draw animals", even in two days, I'm sure you will agree that it has borne fruit:

So the plan is roughly this. Once I have the animals down (I figure two weeks, max) I go back to the gift store and pick up the set "I learn how to draw people". After 3 weeks of intensive practice, I should be ready to set up shop on the sidewalks of Montmartre, at which point the euros will just start rolling in. As I have an Irish passport, there should be no worries about visas or work permits. Et voila !

Pretty nifty, eh? But what are one's fifties for, if not to explore one's hitherto unplumbed depths? My muse is calling to me.

And there's always the Italian plan to fall back on, in the unlikely event that I don't thrive in the cutthroat world of tourist-fleecing Montmartre sidewalk portraiture.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Paris?