"Europe Relaxes Rules on Sale of Ugly Fruits and Vegetables"

Thank you, EU, for entertaining me this morning. They've eased up laws against oddly shaped produce, which lead to statements like this one:

“This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot,” said Mariann Fischer Boel, European commissioner for agriculture, who argued that regulations were better left to market operators.

A new dawn, curvy cucumbers!

But curvy bananas still need to watch out:

The European Union is well known for its detailed regulations on agricultural items. Commission Regulation (EC) 2257/94, for example, states that bananas sold in Europe must be “free from malformation or abnormal curvature,” though Class 1 bananas can have “slight defects of shape,” and Class 2 bananas can have full “defects of shape.” Bananas were not covered in the ruling, so for now, these standards remain.

Portes ouvertes, oh penoose

This Saturday, my friend/coworker and I are going to be staffing a booth at the embassy's open house. (Let me say now that "open house" is my new favorite English expression to say with a French accent, because it comes out sounding like "oh penoose.") She and I are two of three Americans on staff, although she has dual citizenship. Oh, to be able to talk about scientific diplomacy in Charlotte Gainsbourg's voice! I will probably be able to offer French snacks, though, and pins at the very least. And I designed our brochure.

If you're in DC, this is the EU site for the embassy open houses. Hopefully the weather will be good. At any rate, no matter your location or forecast, I hope you can enjoy as much as I did the discovery that Melle Gainsbourg starred in a 1996 version of Jane Eyre.