bout de papier, Vol. 27, No. 3 (2013) — Autumn 2013 // Automne 2013, p. 36
Conçue exclusivement pour les lecteurs de la revue bout de papier, la série traite de la vie de famille dans le contexte de l’expatriation professionnelle, à travers du regard d’une épouse. Quatre planches dessinées, telles quatre fenêtres offertes aux regards curieux, offriront aux lecteurs
vie de réve.
by Stuart Hughes Washington doesn’t have winters, just bad weather. I was suffering the blues when a colleague at the Embassy said, “Let’s go explore Savannah, must be fun.” I had just read about Savannah in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, a gothic account of a dodgy gay antique dealer, his rough trade partner, drugs, loose money and a dubious death. Sounded great.
The highlight was a splendid historic home on one of the city’s fabled squares — but not for the reasons you might expect. Our guide was a somewhat faded blonde apparently given to the occasional “beverage”. We began with a puzzler: the semi-circular windows way up there, she explained, were demi-luminettes. Hmmmm thought I, time to brush up on my Architectural Digest. She then drew our attention to a lovely, if diminutive, rosewood desk…which she ventured was made for people “small of statue”. Ehhh, thought I, my hearing must be going already. Then, with a flourish worthy of Margot Fonteyn in her dotage, she gestured grandly toward the fireplace. It was lovely, Grecian caryatids supporting the mantle. It was, she continued, “made of the finest Italian statutory marble”. It finally hit me that if the fireplace was marbelled, our comely docent was plastered.
We proceeded up the stairs, all of us tightly packed together, me furtively looking for a washroom given the two big coffees I had consumed just before. Fellow guests listened with rapt attention as she noted that the Marquis de la Fayette (of Revolutionary war fame) had slept there once, adding that although he was not so much admired “in his homeland of France”, he was truly — now lending emphasis to gravitas — “an American hero of PRODIGIOUS proportions…” Oy, the vision of her fervently extolling an all-American “hero”, all belly and backside, was too much! I crept down the stairs heaving with laughter inside. Some diplomat I was: although Marilyn Monroe called sophisticated folks “continental”, my problem was just the opposite — one more bon mot from our docent and I was going to be in continental. Bye bye blues, I loved Savannah.
Stuart Hughes is a retired Foreign Service officer and Editor of bout de papier. (Have a favourite vignette? Send it!)
FSCA Art Expo // Expo d’art de l’ACSE
The Annual FSCA Art Exhibition has graced the Skelton Lobby of the Pearson Building since 1988, transforming it into a welcoming and Glen Dixon and Helen Boutilier-Inglis colourful gallery. It provides a unique opportunity for FSCA members, foreign service employees, the diplomatic community, and their families, to exhibit and sell their artworks and published books.
Ces expositions attirent une grande gamme d’artistes, des chevronnés comme d’autres qui exposent pour la première fois. Pour les artistes débutants, cette entrée « en douceur » dans la communauté artistique de la région de la capitale représente un premier pas important pour développer leurs contacts et la confiance. En plus d’œuvres en huile et en acrylique, la photographie, le verre coloré, la céramique, la poterie et la sculpture y sont représentés.
The Vernissage for the 2013 Art Exhibition will open on Monday, November 4 by invitation. It is open to the general public during business hours from Tuesday, November 5 to Thursday, November 7.
La planification de la 28° Exposition est en cours, et les nouveaux artistes sont encouragés à y participer. Pour parler à un artiste ou à un écrivain de leur expérience, poser des questions ou signaler votre intérêt à participer à cette exposition, veuillez contacter le plus tôt possible le bureau de la FSCA/ACSE à [email protected].ça. Please join us! Soyez des nôtres! For further information on the FSCA, please see bout de papier Vol. 27, No. 1 or contact us at the above e-mail Address; pour plus de renseignements sur l’ACSE, veuillez consulter le Vol. 27, N° 1 de bout de papier ou nous écrire à l’adresse de courriel indiquée ci-dessus.
View the original scanned pages →
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 27, No. 3 (2013) — Autumn 2013 // Automne 2013, p. 36. Read the rest of this issue →
