2008: Tom in Paris
Tom left to go on vacation after Christmas
in 2007, and ended up spending the whole year of 2008 in Paris. As of this
writing in early 2009, he is still there.
Which causes us problems in trying to record his life here. The only
photographs that we have access to are on his and his friends'
MySpace and
Facebook sites. So we download
what we find there and fill in the extensive gaps as best we can with phone
calls and emails.
One thing that we know for sure is that he's doing a lot with his guitar. He
busked on the Metro and played in bars (see here), and
then starting in the fall began attending a music school. He's learning to
play the piano!
On the left, he's singing with a band he was in for a while (maybe he still
is) called "mot direction home," a French play on words of a Bob Dylan phrase in
Like a Rolling Stone: "How does it feel to be on your own with no direction
home, like a rolling stone." "Mot" is "word" in French. How does it feel to
have two directions home, Tom?
He's not yet addressing such questions in his songwriting, but his lyrics can
be profound and moving. He periodically emails them here for comments. And he
even recorded the guitar and voice for one song, in a studio! Charlie said that
it was his favorite song.
We have less to say about the rest of these photos, knowing neither the
people or much about the circumstances.
The cigarettes laying on the wall next to him on the right may be gone by
now. He announced a New Year's resolution in 2009 to quit smoking. We don't yet know
whether that worked, and as the parents themselves had
a very hard time quitting we will not be pushing the issue. But Tom, if you want
to protect and improve your singing voice, the last thing you want to do is suck
hot smoke down your throat! The only reason that your lungs don't scream with
the heat of the smoke is that there are no nerves to sense that high temperature
there.
We don't know who the friends are in the photo above left, but we suspect
that all three are partying. Many of the photos on Tom's MySpace or Facebook
pages are of young people letting loose.
Others, like the one below left, are more typical portraits. In contrast to
his Santa Cruz photos, where Tom smiles a lot, in his Paris photos he looks like
a Parisian. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." This one was posted on Facebook
at the end of 2008.
We also know that Tom has been working part-time almost the whole time that
he has been in Paris, looking after younger children in a "centre aeré."
We know nothing about the adolescent photo on the
right, which is clearly a good thing! Except that the other odd-looking people
in the photo are Hadjira and Frederik.
Tom is 19 years old, going to music school in Paris, and yes, he is having a
good time.
And at 19, that's what it's all about! Go for it, Tom!
But don't forget your family here in Santa Cruz!
Here are the other 2008 photo journal pages:
Alban out and about in Santa Cruz, Ian on a
short visit to family in England, Maman, Papa,
Charlie and Alex taking a long weekend down the California coast,
birthdays and other special days in 2008,
soccer in 2008,
portraits in 2008 and, last but not least, the
main 2008 journal page.
