Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me

I would like to point out that I don't watch the show to which my title alludes but I'm alluding to it anyway.

Right, so I said I had made my last post and I have! Sort of. Not really. Let's just say that my previous post was the last of the school year, the last of the project. However The Rose of No-Man's Land is still a novel and has places to go in the world. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed blogging this year and I intend to do it recreationally.

However, I will not be using this blog. I've created a new one! I haven't posted to it yet but I will get around to that. I'll put a link to the other one in my Links page and I'll link this one in my new blog somewhere. I'm keeping this blog around to notify the progress of this particular novel. If I get lazy and decide only to update on my main blog, someone slap me, please and thank you. Really, the comments section is there for a reason. Please comment "slap" if you believe I have failed this blog. Or "you have failed this city" as I have recently started watching Arrow and I will understand that reference.

Don't expect there to be any news anytime soon. The writing and editing and publishing processes all take lots of time and, let's be honest, I'm not sure I'm even done with the first one yet. So this blog will probably sit here for a while without much activity.

Regardless, it will be here. Thanks for reading to anyone that sees this.

P.S. My presentation for this project went very well. I didn't have it recorded because I am afraid of public speaking but it went much better than expected.

Last Post

I had planned on doing this in class but then I got distracted by the rad party we had in fourth period. Granted, the party was tinged with melancholy, due to the fact that it was our intern's last day. We will miss you, Ms. G. Come back and see us. Watch me fail at presenting this project. Follow me on Instagram.

So this week in Lang we spent all week working on our presentation for the project. We watched many TED talks and evaluated them. As a person that's absolutely terrified of public speaking or interaction, I have not been anticipating this with any amount of excitement. I don't know what I'm going to talk about, first of all. Secondly, how am I going to talk for five minutes about nothing?

Okay, a rant is not what you signed on for when you opened this blog. I will try to talk about what I learned from this project. 

For starters, I learned that I have it in me to write a good story. I've written before and this is the first story where I'm genuinely confident in the storytelling. Also the writing is good. There's good imagery, good depth. I managed to properly develop characters for the first time—ever.

I've learned a lot about history. Like more than I ever expected to know. I know how a trench was designed in WWI and the agriculture of the Loire Valley in France. I know about Edwardian dress fashions and how they changed when the war started and progressed. As Stephen Sondheim once said, "I know things now, many valuable things, that I hadn't known before". (If you didn't sing that, I pity you.)

Most importantly, and this is debatable, I learned how to challenge myself. Now this begins with time management. There were times when I managed my time well and there were times when I didn't. I learned how to cope with the consequences of both. I challenged myself to stay within my deadlines, which worked most of the time, but not always. Sometimes it meant writing 2 chapters in 2 days, but I did it. I challenged my ability to storytell and to do so effectively. Sometimes it meant being cruel to my characters, by telling them to make the hard decisions, and sometimes it meant completely changing the main idea of an entire chapter. But all of it was worth it. 

My project is unconventional. It's not life-changing, but it's not unimportant. I'm glad I did it, although my presentation grade might not be. But this has been a journey for me, and for you, my 2-3 readers. Thank you for taking it with me. 

Thanks for reading. 

Much reflection. Such thoughtful. Wow.

Creds to Yanes for this killer title. 

So basically I have nothing to blog about because I finished my project like 2 weeks ago so my teacher told me to blog about reflection stuff. In other words, I will attempt to supply you quite a lot of backstory in like 10 minutes because I need to go to bed and I have the ACT tomorrow morning. 

Okay so last year as in sophomore year I decided I wanted to write a novel about WWI because it was pretty important to our history and is heavily overshadowed by WWII. I had a few friends talk with me about things I could do with it and they get a lot of credit for developing the story. I had done my history fair project on women's rights in the Great War so I knew a lot about a bunch of random stuff that no one else knew or cared about. 

I decided to change that perspective. 

Being relatively obsessed with Sherlock at the time (let's face it, I still am) I even named a character "Benedict" in honor of the great Cumberbatch. Regarding the story, I knew for sure I wanted to include the Hello Girls because they were really awesome. Due to plot twisting, I added the Red Cross in and the plot twist became part of the third major setting for Elsie. This third setting is the Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau. 

In other words, I came up with the beginning of the story last year. Shortly thereafter, I began writing. Now this writing was not the same story as the one I just finished. I have since scratched and replotted what I previously had, for the sake of good story telling and the project. When my Lang teacher introduced this project and said it was about passion, I decided to tell a story about which I was passionate. I replotted and started anew, and let me tell you it has been worth it. 

Research was a big, big part of this project. I got a fashion book for Christmas which allowed me to perfectly envision the styles (and social circumstances surrounding those styles) from the Edwardian and WWI era. I received multiple WWI books, giving me insight into the actual war and some of the notable people in it. A few of the people I've even included in the novel, such as Grace Banker, one of the number one Hello Girls, and Mata Hari, an infamous double agent that was executed in 1917. My former history teacher lent me a battle book so I could research uniforms and battles. I should probably return that to her sometime soon. 

To sum up, this story has come a very long way from the little inkling of a thought germinating in my brain in the middle of sophomore year. I've since named it after a song from the WWI era, The Rose of No-Man's Land, which I think is appropriate for the story; assuming I publish it, you'll see why. 

Anyway, that's my reflection. It took 20, rather than 10, minutes. I hope you're happy. Next week will be my last blog post for this project. By then, I'll have been working on my presentation for the class so I will have something more entertaining to share. 

Thanks for reading. 

Novel=Edited

french.

This was not how I intended to start this blog post but that's just how it happened. When I set a book down on my laptop, it typed "fr" and I decided to keep it. French is pretty integral to the project. It's half the reason Elsie goes to France. I have a French test today on the imperative, meaning I now know how to give commands in French! I kind of already knew, picked it up while learning, but now it's official and I have no excuse for being wrong. I would like to now formally apologize to any native French speakers that ever read this book because I am but a simple American that pretends to know more than she does. Just like the rest of my country.

That said, GUESS WHAT KIDS. I finished editing the novel. I'm sure, after shutting it up for a few weeks or a month or however long, I will likely look at it and cringe and strongly desire to destroy it and start anew, or maybe I'll have an epiphany and decide to change something. I don't know what will happen. Until then, I will simply brag about my stats.

The final page count comes to 174 Microsoft Word pages. Final word count is 43,669 words (I just added 3 extra words due to superstition; don't judge).

Let's have a profound quote from the end of the novel.

Life is a constant problem. People live in constant darkness. Happiness isn’t a place we want to get to but an event we want to enjoy. And just as the tiny stars speckle the black night sky, happy moments erupt from a dark existence to make the light shine brighter.

I got happiness, just as I got misery. And I’m content with the life I’ve lived, just as I’m content with the people that lived it with me. I’d never trade my dark sky if it meant I’d lose my bright stars.

I’d never trade those stars for anything.

Yay, deep thing.  Anyway this will be one of my last posts. It is now time for me to stress about my test next period.

Thanks for reading.

I AM SO DONE WITH MY WIFI

Is there any feeling better than a Friday afternoon with no obligations and pure, vast freedom on the horizon? One could argue about the thrills of a wedding or the sight of a newborn child but I advocate Friday appreciation.

The title and opening paragraph of this post are unintentionally juxtaposing each other. The title relates to the fact that my bloody WiFi at home refuses to upload my blog posts half the time. So today you will be receiving two posts but one of them is a week old. This is not entirely true because my WiFi cut out yet again last night and I couldn't load blogger. By now, my opening paragraph is irrelevant because it's Saturday evening. Sorry about that.

Moving on, this week I've accomplished two chapters (yay, one more than last week). I have 2 chapters and the epilogue left to finish and then I am done. I think I'm going to go back and change things in act 1 later but I'll get to that eventually.

So lately I've decided to force myself into exercising which is a) an excellent excuse to procrastinate homework and b) the perfect opportunity to read. I'm still on that Stephen King memoir and he says interesting things about writing. He recommends not plotting, which I thought was totally weird. It makes sense for him because he's a suspense writer and the less he knows, the less the reader knows, which ups the suspense.

Personally, I feel it's important to know what you're doing with your story because otherwise it could go in weird directions and there could be lulls and I find it too risky to simply wing it. But if you disagree, that's totally up to you. Enjoy your obscure plot twists; maybe they'll work for you. 

Well that was nice and random. The novel is up to 172 pages and at least an additional 1000 words. Yay. Success. I'll be done soon and maybe I'll publish it or something crazy. Who knows?

Thanks for reading. 

I edited one chapter this week

I am sOoOoO done with obligatory blogging. Mostly because it just highlights my inability to do anything. I've seriously edited one chapter this week. One. I shouldn't complain though. Plenty of people I know haven't even started their projects yet. And I'm practically done. Of course that means my productivity level is way down for the ending which also means I have nothing to blog about. 

Wow coming up with 300 words is impressively difficult. Last week I just talked about nerd things and what do you know, I'm still a nerd. I started Dollhouse because I love Joss Whedon and I believe him to be a very helpful person when it comes to inspiration and learning. Stephen King writes that you should destroy your television if you know what's good for your writing career (I'm paraphrasing, here) but I think it can be a useful tool if you know how to use it. For instance, in Dollhouse, there is a plot twist in every episode that makes me curse Joss Whedon's name. In later seasons of Supernatural I've learned what not to do when trying to develop characters. 

So I should probably talk about something other than writing. I don't know what that subject is but I should probably talk about it. 

Also I think I might do camp NaNoWriMo next month so that means less work with Elsie. 

I really have nothing else to say so here's a picture that I stole from Pinterest that has a relevant quote from Stephen King which is relevant because it's from the book I'm reading. Thanks for reading. 

Spring break 2k15

Hello, I did not update this blog on Friday. However, the requirement for spring break was that you post and it didn't specify when. Since I am still on spring break, this blog is within the time parameters. 

So spring break. I've found it's nearly impossible to try to do anything productive during a time when you're not required to do anything at all. That said, I've been editing my way through the first draft. I've decided that right now I'm editing the story and then I'll go back through and edit the writing. This is likely the only way to stretch out the project until it ends. 

I have done some editing over break but, mostly, I've been doing nothing. I've watched quite a lot of Dan and Phil on YouTube, which has been incredibly unproductive but very worthwhile and entertaining. I took the SAT and later tried to meet an actor from Buffy who didn't show because he'd been arrested. I finished all of Supernatural so I don't have that distracting me anymore.  Oh, I passed my drivers test today. Congrats me. Now I have absolutely no excuse for sitting at home and not leaving the house. But I'm gonna do it anyway. 

I realize that this post is pretty much not at all about writing but that's okay. One of Veronica Roth's (or maybe it was Cassandra Clare's) writing tips is that after finishing your manuscript, you take a break from it for a week. While I didn't last an entire week before beginning my editing, I have been taking breaks. I suppose I just need to let the story simmer before diving back into it. 

Well, I don't think I have anything else to say. I'll probably come back while editing act 3 and whine about how hard editing it. Please bear with me. 

So spring break was chill. Break from school and break from work. I don't wanna go back to school but I don't really have a choice, do I? Oh, well. I'll cry later, I'm sure.  

Thanks for reading. 

Deliverable 5

So get this: I finished the first draft of my novel! After a long and arduous struggle, I finished chapter 19 over the weekend, chapter 20 on Tuesday, and the epilogue on Wednesday. It's terribly unedited and needs a lot of help. Everyone's been asking me what I'm going to do for the duration of the project. I don't understand. Do people believe books are perfect after the first draft, or that spelling and grammar errors don't occur ever or that plotholes don't spontaneously occur as you're writing? As an amateur writer, I can assure you all of this happens--and often. So I have my work cut out for me. The project isn't finished and neither am I.

Anyway, here's my clever photo of the entire novel.

That should be every page included and the whole pages wouldn't all fit so some of them are halves. Current, unedited stats are 168 pages on Microsoft Word, since there are no page breaks for chapters, and 42,291 words.

Yay for deliverables! Also I'm posting late because my laptop lost its mind last night so I tried to update it and it froze on 17/44 updates for like 5 straight hours so I had to hard  shut it down and then it was 11pm when I tried to restart it and it decided not to work at all and I had the SAT this morning at 8am and I wanted to sleep and evidently so did my laptop. But it's working now. Remind me to update my laptop more often.

Thanks for reading.

Not a deliverable week

Do you remember the times when I would blog and I wouldn't have writers block? Yeah, I don't either. I have a deliverable due next Friday and it happens to be the entire rough draft of the entire novel and I'm entirely too stressed about it. I probably shouldn't be.  I should be finished with chapter 19 by tonight. Then all that's left is chapter 20 and the epilogue. 

So Elsie goes through some pretty heavy stuff during the war and I figure, since we've been studying mental disorders in psychology, why not give her PTSD? Of course in order to write the PTSD, I have to give her some serious psychological damage in previous acts. There was a split second where I considered changing my deliverable to a rewrite of act 3 but I'm not going to be a weak writer. You're not supposed to reread your writing before you're finished because then you'd only spend time editing and never get anywhere. It's best to have something to edit and then return to it then spend all your time going in circles in the same spot. 

So I will be continuing with the original plan. Finish this act by next Friday and spend the time editing until the next deliverable. Strange to think that I'm nearing the end of my little ink journey with Elsie. But there's always editing. And there could be the possibility of a sequel (there won't be one--probably). Actually if I wrote a sequel, it would be about someone else in WWII, maybe with ties to Elsie. But I'll cross that bridge when I get there and I haven't even finished paving the road I'm currently on. 

But yeah I'll probably finish chapter 19 tonight, which I'm starting to like as much as chapter 14. It's really cute. 

Maybe another snippet next week. Acually I have to have proof of my deliverable and I have a clever idea for that so who knows what could happen. Thanks for reading. 

Moving into act 4

Okay well my failure isn't totally failed. I finished a very rough draft of chapter 16 and act 3 in general. It's terrible. It is genuinely awful and I already have so many ideas for how I want to edit it. But I refrain. I know all authors have moments of crippling self-doubt and it's not that I think I can't do it. Sometimes it's just really hard to actually do it. The words just aren't there all the time. I even struggle to write this blog. But I'm glad I squeezed out enough to justify it being a full act. As I often say, something awful is something to edit and that's better than having nothing. And now I have something to edit.

So Elsie has just returned home from France and the war is coming to a close. The story will also be ending soon. I am now in act 4, which i think is shorter than the others. I might be bittersweet to finish it but it's not like I won't be spending time with her. As I said, I have a lot of editing to do. 

I finished chapter 17 this week and started chapter 18 yesterday. I haven't written at all today for the sake of sanity and because I'm watching Star Trek on account of Leonard Nimoy's passing. It's sad to see such a legend die and he was a legend. He certainly lived long and prospered. 

So I was watching early Star Trek and there was some underlying sexism, which is unsurprising given that it was filmed during the 60s. But I think I can talk about sexism during WWI and remain on topic. So people thought women were inadequate, belonged in the household, and existed to get married and have babies. The only reason they got jobs was because the men were off in the war. But! Their effort in the war is the reason that Woodrow Wilson changed his mind on giving women the vote. Prior to the US's entrance into the war, Wilson believed women had no reason to vote. But afterwards, he said it was only fair to include them. As he said, "we have made partners of the women in this war...Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of privilege and right?" Talk about character development. 

Thank you again for tolerating my whining enough to read this, my 2 viewers. Live long and prosper. And rest in peace, Mr. Nimoy.

Deliverable 4

I have accepted that I am a failure. I did not complete my deliverable in time. I got 5 out of 6 chapters written. I attribute this failure to the fact that I had 3 weeks to get a full act done. Even with trying to get ahead by starting on it early, I was unable to complete the full thing. I intend on finishing it this weekend. 

I will now talk about my birthday because I am writing this blog and can therefore talk about whatever I want. But I'll be reasonable. February 18th, I turned 17. As for relevant gifts, I got a Stephen King book about writing and some really cute Merlin bookmarks to accompany it. I intend on reading the book, obviously. Hopefully, it will give me the knowledge to be a better writer. 

So I talk about writing a lot. But this project has never been about just writing. It's about history and French too. So while I'm trial and erring with writing, I'm also learning history and French. Those two are probably easier to study. For French, I take French 3 at school so I learn something new every day and have to go fix something in the novel. It can be frustrating but it's educational. The history is different. I have an American history class but considering we spent about a week on WWI before having a little quiz on the information, I don't depend on school for the details.

Instead of using just the one chapter from a relatively generalized textbook, I keep Google handy and use it quite often. I use it for the major events of the war to the little details of individual people. I have a lot of books for reference: WWI books, fashion books, battle books. I have so many resources that help me learn every day. 

Well I'm supposed to include a picture that proves i completed my deliverable. Since I didn't actually do that, I'm gonna take a rain check. 

Thanks for reading. Wish me luck. 

Chapter 14

I've really got to make sure my blog posts are actually posting. New goal.

I had the best burst of inspiration this week. I finished chapter 14, which has to be my favorite chapter probably in the entire book (at least of what I've written so far). It's a very epic chapter where many things happen and lots of secrets come out. From now until the end of the act, there's a lot of tension and intensity.

The beginning of chapter 15 has been a struggle. I feel like it's there but I don't have any time to sit down and pull it out. So hopefully this weekend I can crack down. I'm so close to finishing this act, which is good because my deliverable is due next Friday. I totally forgot about that until now. I guess I will definitely be cracking down this weekend. Thanks for reminding me. 

But my birthday is this Wednesday so that'll be a fun obstacle to work around as I finish these last two chapters. I suppose professionals do it all the time so I'll have to do it too. As the phrase goes, a professional writer is an amateur that didn't quit. I'll be seventeen. But that's not important because this isn't a diary. 

So how about time for another snippet? This one will have a little bit of character development. At the beginning of the novel, Elsie was feeling really hopeful about finding a purpose by serving the war and by now, her steam is running out.

Where was that other me, less than a year younger than the present one? Where was the young woman longing for adventure and purpose and freedom in a colorless world? I supposed she’d grown up and realized the reality of the world was far different from what she’d imagined. Heroes aren’t filled with glory, but with tragedy. They aren’t heroes for their triumphs but for the sorrow they endure to achieve them.

 Deep, I know.
Well, that's all for now. Since I'm having to post this late, happy Valentine's Day. I'm spending mine by writing a riveting love story and then later with Dean Winchester of Supernatural.

Thanks again for reading.

Update on act 3

Okay so I had this awesome deliverable for last week and it didn't publish! So I had to publish it today in addition to the one I'm supposed to post this week. Yay you get two in one day. 

So last night I finished chapter 13 of the novel. Let's just say Elsie is having an interesting time in France. Life is also about to get really rough for her. But if I told you why, it would ruin all surprises and someone could steal my idea and my life would be ruined and we can't have that. 

Instead, I'll talk about my own struggle because, let me tell you, it is real. Sometimes the things you think will be really good ideas are not that good. Sometimes they are but they aren't good enough. For me, I write out my outlines for chapters but once executed, they aren't long enough. I've had to do a lot of research on this really snazzy chateau in France, Azay-le-Rideau, where most of this act is set. 

Here, have a picture. 

I told you it's snazzy. More pictures are available on my Pinterest storyboard, found in the links section of my blog. 

Not enough material is one issue. Writers block is another. Usually, I write through my writers block and go back and spiff up what I've written once I've got inspiration. This makes the chapters longer, solving two problems at once. 

Tonight, I'll be starting chapter 14, where things actually get intense. I'm excited. You should be too. 

Anyway that's all for now. Thanks again for reading. 

Deliverable 3

Right okay deliverable one is finished. I have completed up to chapter 10, which completes act 2. As for writing, I'm in the middle of chapter 12. So the whole book is roughly 87 pages and about 21,000 words. Again, this is with minimal editing and no chapter breaks.

So I have to have some form of picture evidence of my deliverable. But unfortunately for you, I've already posted the beginning of chapter 6 so that's nothing new. 

Okay but also I'll give you some evidence of chapter 10 aka the very end when she decides to be a Red Cross nurse. There's a minor spoiler I guess so don't read if you don't want a spoiler. 

And now I'm on to act 3, probably my favorite part for reasons I can't tell you. But trust me, it is wonderful. 

Okay well I'll post again next week. Thank you again for reading. 

I don't know how to title things

Act 2 is finished! Chapter 10 is done and now I'm on to chapter 11. The deliverable isn't due until next Friday so I'll have time to edit and add things and all that jazz. But coming up is Act 3, which is probably my favorite. It's when things get very interesting. Seeing as I've already started act 3, I'll give you the first snippet of chapter 11.

The tents were white. The sky ranged from blue to gray to black. The people were ashen and the smiles invisible. But the color I saw the most was red.
Red was the color of a nurse's flush as she ran back and forth, carrying water and supplies to sick and dying men. Red was the color of the cross we bore on our arms and heads, representing the aid we delivered. And red was the color of the blood that dripped through our fingers and congealed on bandages wrapped around wounds of an even deeper crimson. 

Also I have that playlist I promised. The link is http://8tracks.com/jaydabird/rose-of-no-man-s-land

Okay well I guess that's all I really have to say for now? Writing is hard, if you're wondering. I have had the worst writers block and I'm going to have to go back and add a lot to this past act. But I introduced one of my favorite characters so I guess you have to appreciate the little things. I'll keep you updated on the deliverable. Seeing as it's a grade, I have to. 

Thanks for reading again. 

Posting on time!

Okay so I have miraculously managed to remember to post on time. I finished chapter 8 this week and I'm almost through chapter 9. My goal is to finish chapter 10 over the long weekend, thereby completing the act and giving me 2 extra weeks before the deliverable is due to get ahead on act 3.

But the good news is, thanks to my favorite history teacher ever (hey Mrs. Guffey) I have another resource on the battles of the war to assist in my writing. Battles are pretty important to a war so I should probably have a better understanding of them. 

Okay at this point in the story, Elsie has befriended a young soldier over the phone and they talk often. Soon, however, she will leave the Hello Girls and join the Red Cross. There are a good number of events leading up to that, none of which I want to spoil. 

So I'm going to add a few links to this post and put them on a links page somewhere on this blog. I might add to it periodically. 

http://pinterest.com/Jaydabird18/the-rose-of-no-mans-land-storyboard/

This is the link to the Pinterest board I created to pin inspiration for the novel. It's helped me find some nice resources in addition to actors I would cast as the characters. 

http://8tracks.com/megan_h/downton-abbey-mix

http://8tracks.com/thefontbandit/nanowrimo-adventure

http://8tracks.com/thefontbandit/nanowrimo-writing-fuel

http://8tracks.com/thefontbandit/nanowrimo-fight-scene

These are playlists on 8tracks that I listen to while writing to drown out the real world and focus. Credit goes to the creators of the playlists. I should probably make my own. Maybe next time I'll have that up for you. 

That's really all for now. How about an original playlist and maybe another snippet next time? Thanks again for reading. 

Better Late Than Never

So I had a blog post due Friday but I totally forgot about it. I don't know what kind of grade it counts for but I figure that I should probably post just in case; and besides, I owe you all an update.

The good news is that I managed my goal of finishing two chapters over break. Then I slacked off. But with chapters 6 and 7 done, I only have 8-10 left for the current act. I intend on working some tonight and throughout the week. These chapters have been shorter than the previous ones but I expect after editing, they'll beef up nicely.

And now for a surprise! I've been considering doing this for some time but I wasn't sure what to do. I'm going to post a snippet and talk a bit about it. To avoid spoilers, I'll post just a nice description. This is the beginning of act 2, which I'm currently working on. It's Elsie's description of France.

Winter melted into spring. Snow dripped into rain. Crisp wind swirled into a gentle breeze. France was beautiful in the changing seasons. Until we reached the cities.
It was early March when we arrived. After swearing into the American military, a ship and a few train rides later, we found ourselves in the heart of the country. We glimpsed the French cities, bustling about with their everyday lives. It was different here than it had been in America. Women worked almost every area of the city. Men were incredibly sparse. And yet every “bonne journée” was resigned, like it might be the last day they would ever have, whether or not it was good. Each smile between neighbors struck somber, clipped with melancholy, as if the smile might be toxic. The air swam with the tension of total war, knowing every effort they made for their soldiers was being replicated in a German town elsewhere to be used against those soldiers.
America wasn't like this. We still had joy and hope, festivities and a fighting spirit. But total war took as much of a toll on its supporters as it did its soldiers. America wasn't like this. But it was on its way to becoming it.
I tried not to think about how the Germans across the continent were looking at each other with the same misery. I tried not to contemplate that we were all the same people, standing on opposite sides of the battlefield and looking at our own reflections. I tried. I really did.
The country was beautiful for a while. That’s where I saw the changing of the seasons. Then we passed the trenches, miles of holes in the earth, fortified with barbed wire and dead bodies. Even from the distance, I could see this was no childhood fort. It was hell on earth.

There you have it. A description of France from the perspective of a Hello Girl. "Bonne journée" means "good day" if you didn't pick that up from context clues. It's possible you didn't. Forgive me for any typos; my software doesn't notice such things.

Well I guess I don't have much to say about the snippet after all. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for my forgetfulness. Thanks for reading.