MY MIRROR -- SELF PORTRAIT -- IS THAT PA DION?

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Believe it or not, I was saving this one for # 500.  Since I have committed to total honesty here, like Alceste [Google him], I admit that I am doing this at # 495 because  I am suffering from a serious case of writer's block tonight.  So I will pretend that this the # 500.  
I occasionally read what it is that I have written in the past. It is always a revelation that  I could have said something in that style.  It is rather strange to discover that there is a great difference between a mirror and a paragraph.  I am accustomed to the ugly face in the mirror.  I am not familiar with the attractive turn of phrase that I see underneath the by-line of an article such as this.  In my case, I even have things to read that I produced in high school.  Boy, they were really plain-Jane stuff that I really should throw into the fire;  but I can't.  It is still quite interesting, especially because of its simplicity.
The most intriguing body of writing that I have is the collection of French essays, poetry and bulletin board articles that I wrote while in High school.  Now those really throw me.  They are better than anything that I ever wrote in English.  I still can't figure out why I was not making more than a "B" for the effort.  I look at the writing that I do these days in French and I have to admit that it strikes me as hay-seed buffoonery.  Sadly, that is the level of my French these days.  You should be glad that you don't have to put up with it.  
So, friends, if you want to look into the mirror for more than just shaving or curling your hair, be ready for some surprises.  Some will be comforting, some will be dis-comforting.   All will be eye-opening discoveries.  Enjoy them all.  You will become better people for the experience.  I know.