I was sitting over breakfast at the Breslin with Claire last Thursday when this blog was born. We were each mourning our linguistic atrophies -- specifically in French and Japanese for the both of us. Possibly inspired by the lovely ricotta pancakes with macerated strawberries and candied almonds, we decided to start a blog that would stretch and strengthen those dormant muscles. Claire is in transit and quite occupied for the month, so allow me to get the ball rolling! I am revealing my unabashedly selfish motivations for blogging, which are specifically to provide an outlet for me to write when the fancy strikes, to get myself into the habit of writing in French and Japanese, to solicit comments and revisions in those languages, to take advantage of positive peer pressure from Claire and from readers to continue my language endeavors, and to have another means of connecting with Claire while we live on opposite coasts (she in Berkeley, I in New York). J'ai envie de continuer ...