Happy Easter

One of my more memorable Easters was the one I spent in Paris, sick as a dog. I had planned on taking the train to Rome to meet up with a friend for Easter, but since I got sick I was forced to stay in my apartment in Paris with my ramen and my applesauce (there was no access to arroz caldo there). I remember being bewildered at the profusion of chocolate chickens in stores and on TV, not realizing that the French don't do Easter bunnies. They do Easter chickens. Which, if you think about it, makes a whole lot more sense than bunnies. Or Peeps.

Speaking of Peeps, check out the winners of this year's Peeps Diorama contest. I look forward to this each Easter since they started the contests. There are some truly clever ones submitted.

Last night the "10 Commandments" was on TV, the one with Charlton Heston. Glossing over the fact that this movie was made before the advent of CGI, thus forgiving the laughable special effects (the angel of death looked like Slimer from Ghost Busters), it really is a remarkable, classic, enduring story. Everything that makes for a great story is included: lust, revenge, hubris, love, adventure, schadenfreude, redemption, and a happy ending. It was just too bad Moses didn't have a TomTom at his disposal ("At the end of the oasis, turn left"). And how unfair that he never got to see the land of milk and honey after wandering around for 40 years? And how would he feel if he were alive today and saw that Mt Sinai has now become the ubiquitous name for every hospital in America?

Still, Charlton Heston sure made for a pretty dreamy Moses.

And I realized that Lent is over and I ended up not giving anything up, not even meat on Fridays. In the past I've given up swearing (very hard to do) and chocolate, but this year it seems like Lent and Easter came too early to prepare.