presque typique

2008-09-11T23:15:00.003-05:00

Comment of the day:

I am officially a Mass-hole.

The new (very expensive!) license arrived today. It's still a little traumatic for me, even though I've had a week since I went in to get it and about two since I actively began the process.

If I hadn't lost my voter registration in Iowa, I probably wouldn't have bothered yet. Plus I still had another year left on my IA license and since I rarely drive, I figured I couldn't get into too much trouble -- though I'm hesitant to how much I actually believe that.

Plus it's weird out here -- they make you take your glasses off for the photo. But I always wear my glasses, so it seems a bit pointless. [side note, that's some serious html code just to italicize something!]

But the long and the short... I am now a lost Iowan soul. I can't bear to say I'm no longer an Iowan, because it's just not true. I won't ever get all the dirt out of my blood or from under my fingernails, so I will always be an Iowan even if there isn't any level of government that will acknowledge it.

2008-09-11T20:54:00.003-05:00

Trying this again :)

So question of today (from among way too many!):

How do the characters on Grey's Anatomy keep such beautiful and clean bedrooms?

Because my crazy schedule (which I am self-absorbed enough to say nearly rivals theirs at times) -- even at half-speed -- clearly does not really give me enough time to keep mine that clean, organized, sparse and beautiful. Seriously.

2008-08-12T00:10:00.003-05:00

argh! what has happened to me! i've been sucked in by that nonsense called Grey's Anatomy and now ABC is teasing me already with trailers for the new season -- which doesn't start for another MONTH AND A HALF! what am i suppose to do until then? how did i get to this point?! the pain and agony...

okay time to sleep -- if the cloud cover goes -- which it probably won't -- i swear I'm getting up early to watch the Perseids... i think i spelled that nearly right. though technically they're still visible for another few days, just that tonight's the best night to see them

wish I were at the Iowa State Fair again to watch them from there (what few you could see with the Midway lights) -- but I don't need the type 2 diabetes from the Fair! :D

drifting on the rapids of the cedar

2008-06-16T23:19:00.002-05:00

this bridge has been such a part of my mystical life. the words Sutliff Bridge always conjured up magical elements for me as a child.

this was the bridge my mom spoke of running across in her childhood and playing on with her cousins. the bridge my granddad crossed countless times to play stickball on the opposite bank. the same one he had to drive a Tin Lizzy across to prove to his dad that he was ready to get his driver's permit at 14.

this is the bridge my mom made my dad drive across in the early 1970's -- probably as a final test to see if he was made of the stuff she wanted in a husband; a test to see if she was going to let him propose to her... (btw, my dad still curses that bridge out and mum and I've decided he's rather happy the damn thing's been swept away now)

this is the bridge i stepped out on but my fear of heights and intense vertigo kept me from getting more than 13 feet out on -- though that experience is the one that cemented my Iowa origins ... Sutliff is smaller than small town and even i always recognized that, but felt lucky to say my family was from it.

and now it's gone. A bridge that survived '65 and '93 and survived being demolished on countless times... gone to the wrath that is mother nature and a wrath that is constantly re-proving that this year is going to be even more severe than that of '93... which was suppose to be the worst it ever could be.

It's just physical proof of what I always knew to be truth. But it's the physical proof of the mysticism that is the very essence of my marrow and knowing it's gone -- when knowing that it stood though i haven't seen it in over a decade helped to ground me to my roots -- causes an ache in my very bones.

http://www.kcrg.com/younews/19903804.html

2008-05-06T21:38:00.001-05:00

one of the neighborhood cats showing off his balance skills, taken with the review device (hence the poor quality) because my camera's dead

2008-05-06T21:33:00.002-05:00

rockin' out to the beat of finals!

still homeworking... but in a smidge of delirium this time

2008-04-10T00:15:00.003-05:00

JSTOR has a new look -- all pretty and academically sexy. Thankfully not more than two other people are on JSTOR at 1.15 in the morning this time! Seriously -- who else is on JSTOR at 3am -- I can't get over that still.

little fun factoid about me -- i have five library cards in my wallet. all for out here in greater metro area and all necessary to have with me so i can get into various libraries that i actually access! urban life is fun.

homeworking in obscurity

2008-04-09T23:25:00.002-05:00

it's quiet in my section of the ether tonight. my computer is connected to millions of points on the planet at the moment yet i see none in my corner -- it could be an overwhelming experience :)

something has changed lately. if i can figure out what has changed -- how all the little things that have changed have cumulated into the combined force that was strong enough to affect this change, i might stand a chance of making it through this long-term design process. whatever it was, however it happened, it's good -- i hope it lasts.

final thought: is architecture school suppose to feel like you're descending into schizophrenia... though maybe i could describe it better as walking on the edge of a razorblade... or, running up a scree slope....

2008-04-09T00:08:00.003-05:00

2008-04-04T22:38:00.002-05:00

There's a show on PBS tonight about how socio-economics can affect health and one of the interviewees mentions that he makes enough money to choose where he lives etc. He commented that he doesn't have to find a bus station to take the bus two hours each way each day just to get to and from work. Because of this, he has time to exercise and because he has a car, he can live where he wants and shop where he wants for better foods.

My thought is -- does living without a car, clearly a symbol of elevated socio-economic status in the US, mean the same thing if one makes the decision, the choice to live without the car? When it's a choice -- and it can be a very stressful lack in my life at times -- does it cause the same type of stress for someone who supposedly could afford a car as it does for someone who can not afford a vehicle?

2008-04-03T23:40:00.002-05:00

today was a day to live a normal day -- i pushed hard through my homework this last week (and taxes) so i could take today/night off from school. i just went to work, had lunch out and went with friends to a concert.

which concert? why an amazing concert! featuring the Wailin' Jennys from "Canada". I loved how they really didn't specify much. Though they probably, like me, claim to hail from multiple places in their country -- as I assume they're the type of spirits to roam a bit.

a truly amazing concert and experience, I skipped class tonight to make this happen. but as they are from the West Coast, they don't often make it to the East Coast too often, or at least as I've noticed. So i decided this time I would go and not worry about waiting for the next time they're out here. Plus they were right here in Somerville, what could be more convenient? Last time they were in Newburyport. Tomorrow night and Saturday, they're in Northampton and I can't help thinking it'll be a more lively crowd -- not like I had energy to be lively tonight myself. But it was still just amazing! So I am glad I went and sooo glad I made sure to go.

Additional a fellow classmate came too -- it's a funny story how it happened. she'd received a cd of their music three weeks prior from an aunt for her birthday. Then last Thursday night after class, she gave me a ride home. I was already singing along with the music, thinking how familiar it is, when she was saying how I should look into this group and that led to a conversation along the lines --

"omg, I love this group! They're playing next week in Somerville. I'm skipping class to go! You should come with!" -- me

"haha, I'm so stressed tonight, I think I might! That's so funny!" -- friend

so i had accomplices in my plot to play hooky tonight -- and it was a lovely scheme. :)

so it's late and I'm not completely sure I'm coherent -- or even if i have been for days...

2008-03-20T22:53:00.002-05:00

i hate baby's breath. but it does make some damn fine looking model trees.

and i've learned -- don't change shoe types in the middle of a stressful week. when your feet hurt, everything suddenly seems even more awful

ok time for history or sleep. whichever actually happens

2008-03-19T23:00:00.003-05:00

i'm so good at not writing for months -- then i only write to say that the stress is finally manifesting itself beyond small annoyances and panic is arising. too bad that's when i seem to be best at getting stuff done for final crits.

it's so weird how stress that's been internalized can't even be felt, yet when it finally starts manifesting externally only then do i understand just how much of it there is... how do i get to stay so calm when it's internal?

can't i just go back to visiting museums in new york?

2007-10-29T23:49:00.001-05:00

hmmm, so the roommate Amelia (also delphi goddaughter) and I were discussing whether we wanted to bet on how long we could go without turning on the heat ...

then we realised that Bobby would kill us if we didn't let him turn on the heat at some point soon, though he was asleep when we discussed this and I'm beginning to think he might be interested in participating.

we didn't come up with any turns because we were laughing so hard about this possible bet.

though i'd probably lose -- or be disqualified for cheating once my heating mattress pad arrives and I start using it! :)

but stay tuned, you never know if this bet will take place or not

also, does anyone have any good ideas on 'creative' supplies for building architectural models? I've always failed at this -- i usually don't build models until the weekend and then don't really have time to devote to 'experimenting' and recreating something if the experiment fails, but I've decided that I have to do or die trying this time -- the constancy of chipboard and the saving-the-environment excuse is apparently wearing thin on the instructors...

i'm thinking of hitting up Pearl, A&C and Home Depot this weekend! .. can we say Zipcar?!

2007-10-04T22:20:00.000-05:00

oh lor' it's been awhile...

so much to share, so little time to even sleep, let alone blog in my life right now. but the long and the short of it : back in classes, still at the same company (non-arch), new apartment and new roommates, no boy in my life and the summer was every ounce of down time that i needed.

One of my uncles' and his wife and their youngest son were in town for the evening. I had to leave the Florence Knoll lecture early to go meet them for what turned into dinner at the Hyatt Regency on Memorial Drive. I haven't seen this uncle and family since 1996 I think -- so ten or eleven years now, wow just realised how long it's been. Their oldest son is in NYC now -- he's my age -- and rather busy working in investment banking. Though I'm hopeful that when I go to visit Kim, he might have time for a coffee. Their youngest is about to start as an accountant in Orange County. So much has changed since I last saw them. They're not always able to at the family reunions so it was insane to see the youngest as a 21 year old now! But we had a lovely dinner and I'm glad I saw them. A couple of schoolmates were at the lecture too so I'll be get their notes to see what I missed.

The lecture was about Florence Knoll and her influence on design and interior design in the post-war era. Super interesting -- made even more so because the school provided wine and hors d'oeuvres and cookies! All before I had dinner! I love when schools give you alcohol to drink.

ok, it's late and time to eat fake baby sausages with the roommate! g'night!

2007-06-14T22:49:00.000-05:00

there is so much i should bring up to date however it's late so i'll only make a list (since i've been chastised for no pictures from France being up yet and also been chastised for faking being dead) and write about how fun tonight was

so the list:
1) france
2) london
3) the boys
4) Tampa
5) work
6) school
7) the apt hunt

tonight:
Tonight was fun! Bobby and I got free tickets to the screening of Ratatouille through the French Library. On the way to the Landmark Center for dinner and the film, the boy phoned me ( :) ) and then he asked what I was doing! -- except Bobby and I already had plans, which I told him. Then I invited him along (he's got to go out of town yet again this weekend) but he said he couldn't be ready in time to join us and that he would go to a film at the AMC instead and to call him when we got out of our film. So Bobby and I went to dinner and literally as we were finishing up someone came up to our table and just sat down -- it was him! So he came to Ratatouille with us and out for a drink afterwards. B approves of him (which i never doubted b/c he is always so supportive) and we have such similar taste in men.

so essentially I went out on a ?double?, or maybe, dual-, is the better word, date with both my boys tonight :D it was truly fun and a bit paradoxical.

here's a bunch of photos to tide the three people who read this over until i have the rest of them up on the blog

the london eye, parliment/big ben

windsor castle, inside windsor

st.paul and millenium bridge, my beautiful grown-up host brother striking his voltaire pose

capitole, marche du capitole (mercredi bien sur)

pont neuf, from ile de la cite

versailles (bien sur), les tortues et grenouille de versailles

notre dame, le tour eiffel

2007-05-14T00:04:00.001-05:00

"Not one of the lives of this world the heart does not choose."
-- Jane Hirschfield

still love that line

2007-05-13T23:37:00.000-05:00

hmm where to start...

it's been an insane, two?, weeks. so in other words, be prepared, I'm not sure where this post is going... it might turn into an undispherable ranting run-down of these last two weeks. but i'm listening to de palmas so hopefully i won't get too nutso...

we're prepping for finals this week in classes. i turned in the final part of my 20 page paper for design principles -- it was crap. i doubt michael will fail me but i really need to get better at those good intentions of starting my papers sooner than the night before they're due. sigh. the presentation as were most people's was very laid-back and minimal. I'm actually going to miss that class -- we were a really good, light mix of people.

i'm in the middle of designing my presentation layout for final review in studio -- it's immense and laying all over the office floor at the moment -- but i have good roommates who understand and are letting me take up the entire office for these few days. i realised that i still have another piece to produce and i really want to update my site model a bit -- though time wise i'm nervous about fitting that in. i also have a crapload of printing to do tomorrow night after my autoCAD final -- i'd have done it tonight but something about the fire alarm going off at 6.30 right as i was finishing up my CAD homework -- and 30 minutes before the building was closing anyways... argh. Sen was my goddess and let me come over and finish up on her educational edition (which is the same thing except it prints out huge labels on the edges of your papers that 'this document was created with an educational version of autoCAD'. not that that's an issue for this class!

oh and i have to photograph everything that hasn't already been photographed and drop it onto a disk before wednesday! doesn't that sound like tons of fun! :P

and i have a ton of perspective drawing to finish up -- but i think i can get everything done and still sleep and maybe not even call in sick to work, though i might wednesday ;)

i just have to make it to Thursday night! and then it's done -- Kris is having a party at her place then so we can all celebrate and i'm so excited -- and then on friday, I leave for eight days in France! I'm going home!!! uber excited! Angela's coming along for the fun too -- as we've been friends for the last nine years and haven't yet spent more than a week straight in each other's company, we decided it was time to change that :D here's hoping our strong friendship is as strong as we think it is! lol -- not that we're actually concerned!

in other news, the architect is uber stressed out between work and classes. i haven't gotten to really see him in the last two weeks. he's struggling with the concept of balancing work, school and a relationship -- worries that the person (me) he's in a relationship with should be the most important thing in his life (??? I know, i was confused as to why he thinks that too -- we're NOT married after all) -- and is stressed enough that he actually verbalised the thought of finding a different program.

-- side note: everyone is thinking that -- at least three friends are leaving. Joe actually applied and was excepted to GSD (whatever!) but isn't going b/c he wouldn't be able to work while taking classes there. i've had the conversation with myself of if i'm being idiotic by not actively considering leaving -- then i remember that i like small institutions that the majority of people don't know or think is a bad school ... i know this is a stupid reason for choosing and staying at a school but it's that underdog scenario i guess....
-- end side note

so anyways, the architect is stressed, has been distant -- at an annoyingly bad time as I'm finally getting comfortable with letting people know we're together, though i can't do that now that he's not cooperating -- and it doesn't help i think, that i'm the one calling and saying hey, i can come over and hang out if you want while he can only tell me he's too stressed and busy.

the thing is -- he is stressed, busy, anxious and not just wasting time etc -- so it's not like i can fault him or be upset that he can't find time for me even though i'm in the same position and can find it. (i know he doesn't consider my job as demanding as his and in some regards it's not but in other ways it is -- so i know it balances out, but he's a guy and he's older and has some weird age syndrome so he definitely doesn't think my jobs as demanding, whatever :) )

the long and short of it -- two weeks since i've really seen him, i'm out of the country (hooray!) next week, we both work the week after and he's going home over Memorial Day weekend. So it's going to be a month before I see him again really. in other words, i'm not sure where we're going to be in a month :( -- i don't get the feeling that this relationship is over yet (it's going to end at some point -- this i know -- we are not meant to be lifers) but i just didn't sense that this was going to be such a short relationship -- though i don't know if it's going to end in a month just that well, i don't know what's going on and i'm nervous though i'm also coming to accept that whatever happens is what will happen and i'll have to go on from there. Senofer would be so happy if this thing ended I know -- she tries to be nice to him though. and i'm hopeful that he and i will ride out part of the summer :)

-- man this whole relationship thing can really suck -- no wonder i've stayed away from it for so long -- it doesn't help that my stress and hormone levels have risen exponentially in comparison to the decline of my sleeping hours :P

well it's late and i'm sleepy and my mind's drifting and my fingers are typing lots of wrong keys and spellings so ... time to end -- nothing funny or amazing to share but comments are welcomed, comme toujours! a la prochaine!

2007-05-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

i'm interrupting my 'long haul' -- as i've recently dubbed my evenings of late, i'll try to remember to explain why later -- because i was thinking about the architect and i realised something ... or rather i came upon a question concerning him for which i have two answers and i'm not sure which one is right.

i've been trying to understand what about him makes him different for me -- why do i feel more comfortable with him than i have other guys in the past, especially when i can tell he's not a guy i'm going to marry ...

i suppose you could say that it's simply age and time -- i haven't dated in years, i'm extremely independent and i've had plenty of time to evaluate what i want out of a relationship

or it's that being independent, having been so and on only my own for the last several years, I know how i am and that i could walk away from this relationship intact

or it's that he's older (??) -- this brings us back to that question of age vs. maturity though (read the previous posts) -- and is more willing to let me be me even though there are things about me that he isn't as fond of (vice versa for me!

those were the main points of thought and most of the rest revolved around those... and for that i interrupt my long haul of homework, cleaning and laundry -- why do i try to cramp so much into one evening when i'm getting into the busy part of my semester! why do i think these things are good things that MUST be done now! ... aieaie aie.... i laugh at own insanity, feel free to join in

back to the grind...

2007-04-15T00:08:00.000-05:00

the girls -- aka TL and Kim from France -- have arrived! Kooby and I went out to Logan tonight to pick them up! It was soooo exciting! The girls are staying at my place the first week and with Kristen for the second week... so we took the long T ride home to my place and hauled the luggage up the seven flights of public stairs before hauling them up the next two to my floor! It was an extremely interesting 'intro' i suppose to Boston for them.

They have arrived just in time, also, for a true NE (New England, not Nebraska) style Nor'easter -- which is expected to be full-on ranging on Monday -- MARATHON MONDAY! I'm actually living near the marathon route this year -- so I'm going to go out and see part of it at least and cheer people on -- I doubt I'll be out to cheer on the leaders and I'm nearly definitely not going to go to Copley Square! I can't handle that much crowd! In fact, I'm hoping to go to Salem at some point on Monday to see the Yin Yu Tang house as it's supposedly going to be my basis for my comparison paper in Design Principles -- if I ever make it up there!

In other news, well there isn't much -- i'm so excited for my upcoming trip to France, especially now the girls are here and i'm really excited for my federal tax refund (I'm 99% sure I did them right) to pay for my trip to France!! yay educational tax credits! Revolution season is up and running though I had to turn down going to tonight's game b/c I wouldn't have made it to Logan in time to meet the girls! And finally, for tonight anyways, the boy is still on the island in a strong way -- (please don't worry, I'm not falling for this boy) but he's definitely in my life and it's kind of interesting. you may feel free to live vicariously through me ;)

oh so my day was a weird day -- woke at the boy's, spend the morning there, was going to go to Salem today but umm, cough cough, missed my train -- had had a call from Joe (classmate) earlier in the day inquiring what i was doing -- so I stayed at the boy's a bit longer and then left to go home and work and instead phoned Joe while out doing errands and met him for food and then ice cream (coffee in his caffiene-addicted case) before running home long enough to change bags and heading to Logan. The reason I spent time with Joe is b/c I know he has about three friends in Boston still and his long-time (like four years) girlfriend and he are splitting up and she's moving back to PA though not until the end of the month -- so he's spending a ton of time away from the apartment and he was bored today... it's really an insane situation and scares the crap out of me that a relationship can go so bad ... I'm so sad for him.... and yet professionally his life is going in such a good direction.

ok so that's enough randomness about other people and vague randomness about my day :) Friday was awesome b/c I got this kick-ass Pink Panther fold-n-mail letter from Iowa!! (wish me luck all with the next two weeks as I go beyond calm while attempting to balance friends, work, classes and homework!)

2007-04-06T23:06:00.000-05:00

hmmm long time no blog.... yeah

so last week was the first week back after break and to paraphrase my thoughts and a fellow BACer -- i almost wish we hadn't had a break, i needed it but it really broke my momentum

just a quick update, as i have -- as ever -- homework (suprisingly (HA -- not!) studio)

the boy is back on the island. yes, pheebee officially chastised me and threatened to throw me off her island. however, this is for fun and so pheebee can live vicariously ;)

studio is driving me insane -- correction, the instructors infuriate me on a regular basis anymore and i'm in serious need of some solution that allows me to come to terms with the fact that they are in charge of my grade for this course -- but i'm doing my best to keep some perspective on the whole situation (though that does mean I did get a wild hair of an idea involving transferring to 'another' school... maybe more later...)

i also added autoCAD 2d to my courses -- paid some more tuition and (insanely?) upped my number of courses hours from 11 to 12 a week, and my homework by another three. i now take autoCAD (4-7pm) and design principles (7.15-10.15) on Mondays, studio (7.15-10.15) on Wednesdays and perspective drawing (7.15-10.15) on Thursdays; have got somewhere around 15-20 hours studio homework, 3-4 hours perspective homework, 3 hours principles homework, and nearly 3 hours of autoCAD (i do the additional exercises when i can squeeze them in) in a week -- there that's my busier-than-thou speech for the semester oh and somewhere in there i fit in 40 hours for a workweek... ... ...

angela and i are chatting out the details of our pending voyage en Europe in may -- i can't wait to be back!

nothing really exciting -- just the usual humdrum of a busy life of work, school, occasionally some sleep and now a boy

but this i know ... life is good

To finish, happy national poetry month

courtesy of Shea:

The Heart as Origami
-- Jane Hirschfield

Each one has its shape.

For love, two sleeping ducks.

For selfless courage, the war-horse.

For fear of death, the daylily's one-day flower.

More and more creased each year, worn paper thin,

and still it longs for them all.

Not one of the lives of this world the heart does not choose.

2007-03-23T00:27:00.000-05:00

totally just re-read some of my posts from two years ago -- oh my heart, i miss France!

What am I doing in Boston, please? i'm going to go sob a little bit now

2007-03-22T23:46:00.000-05:00

update: I love spring break. It's almost over but not before I have a great visit from a wonderful friend.

i have become a social butterfly this week -- dinner and fun out every night. Monday with Senofer and later Sen and Adrian. Tuesday with the frenchies. Wednesday celebrating Kristen's new job. Thursday (tonight) with Tessa having a girls' night -- aka, hair cuts, dinner and undie shopping :)
Tomorrow, the Bobster and I are having a girls' day -- nails, lunch, shopping, window shopping, coffee, dinner, ice cream and fun.

spring break is so nice. too bad it's about up. but it'll be ...fun... to be back in classes. more fun than writing an email to tell the boy that i'm not going to get over what he said enough to be able to spend time with him as more than a friend... that's going to be... well not fun.

finally, interventions on behalf of my recently developped caffiene addiction will be appreciated -- this doesn't mean i'm going to cut out my two- to three- times weekly morning latte but it does mean i need to not sample all the yummy flavors of new coffee we have at work :)

2007-03-18T01:07:00.000-05:00

OMG it's Spring Break! It's such a breath of fresh air or something -- I hadn't realised how much I'd become used to my monthly three and a half day block breaks! I've gone straight through the last eight weeks of 40-hours work + 11 hours class + a minimum of 26 hours of homework really without a break on top of ALL the boy drama. So this morning after an hour on the phone with a progressive drunker Tessa I crashed and slept and stayed in bed until 2:30 PM! PM, people! I didn't have to get up and do studio homework or feel negligent for not putting every ounce into my homework or sketchbook. it was amazing. Then I got up and ate cookies... and my belt is still too big for my waist (this is the black belt too, not the brown one that I had to give up using two months ago -- the one i got while in undergrad b/c the black belt became to , gasp, small.) mmm, cookies. for breakfast.

last night was insane though -- Kim couldn't get out of NYC b/c greyhound canceled busses from 6pm on, so she's coming next weekend now which might be better as I could feasible get my room cleaned up enough for her to have space to crash. school closed again (not surprising as there aren't classes on Friday night anyway!) but i didn't know so I T'ed-it in and went to North Face and then Patagonia b/c i was desperate for a hat that I just bought one at each place. Then I got to school and it was CLOSED so there was no SDC meeting and I didn't get to find out if ... Oppie (it's his name, I swear!) would be there and if I could figure out if he's someone I want to be a friend or not and so then I'm standing there (luckily in the airlock) trying to figure out where I can go until 10.30 when Kim is suppose to get in b/c I don't want to go all the way back out ot Brighton just to turn around and go back into South Station. I'm thinking, it's too bad Kris is already back in Conn. (she lives around the corner next to the Pru) when my phone rings... it's Kris, she had to meet a client in the morning and now can't drive to Conn and asks me to meet her at Solas for a drink! Kim later calls and informs me of Greyhound's sad announcement. So Kris and I have dinner and another drink. She called the boy to invite him down to join us -- I am restricted from phoning him -- but he didn't answer and hasn't called back as far as i know.

This leads me to the current analysis on the boy -- who has been kicked off the island -- it's final, he's seriously off. I realised in the middle of the snow-intense T ride that nothing is going to happen. I think Sunday night's declaration of 'I don't know what to do with my feelings for you' has left him thinking the ball's in my court -- if you can tell me how his telling me that means that the ball is in MY court, then someone please enlighten me -- and since he's out traveling and home this week, I don't think he's going to phone me. On top of that I think a week away is going to leave him forgetting about me or just it's going to be the time to step away and even if he doesn't make a decision (which I don't think anymore that he's capable of) he's going to think that he doesn't want to do anything about me ... and as Sen's pointed out, do I really want to be with a boy who can't decide if he wants to be with me? And my answer is no. If he does decide he wants to be with me, he's really going to have to give me a reason and more than the 'I like how I feel when I'm around you' reason he's given me before. but i don't think anything's going to happen -- he might think the ball is in my court, but it's in his honestly. and i don't expect a call next week. it's probably for the best and I can deal if he doesn't call -- i don't think i'll be that broken up -- i mean at least i know where he stands than and that's really all i need to know at this point.

my hair is finally long enough to put into cute little straight braids, but i think i'm going to get it cut this week anyways -- it's almost to the point of being long enough that it's going to very quickly get shaggy -- bleg. other fashion news: i've also hit this point where I WANT to wear skirts! so I guess i'm going skirt shopping sometime soon. who knew someday i'd like skirts again! though i have to admit that patagonia is my new favorite store of the month -- i had no idea that they were so sustainable oriented!

new favorite thing: pandora!

tonight was delightful -- scattorgories at sally and matt's with bobby too... nice, easy, relaxing. though i'm not sure if bobby still wants to live together -- sigh. i really can't afford to live with the amount of space i need on my own but i don't know who else to live with and i need something somewhat easy to get to school on.... i'll see... something will work out. oh and i walked in tonight (granted i haven't seen my girls in about a month now) and they both noticed that i have lost weight, so that was exciting!

sen and i are mock 'cutting studio' next wednesday! we'd never actually skip studio so we're celebrating our freedom and recent weight loss by going jeans shopping! hmmm shopping....

i so have to get my school work photo-documented this week too! i really need to get on top of that so my portfolio when i start actually getting it built isn't completely going to kill me!

ok movie/sleep time, as i have to clean and do taxes demain.... but i'll leave you with a few photos that haven't gotten posted yet...

king cake!

bobby, mathilde (our french friend with a north carolinian accent) and kristen

joyeux anniversaire bgbfe!

all together for a soiree mardi gras!

guilherme applauds the proclamation of la reine renee

ps. i'll throw up some studio project photos sometime soon...

2007-03-13T19:47:00.000-05:00

news bulletin:

daniel the cute london guy who rides the shuttle to work -- has a girlfriend... and he's leaving in three months....

gloom has clouded my world :D

2007-03-12T22:52:00.000-05:00

everyone ... my three friends who do blog ... has been so quiet lately. it's that time of the year i guess when everyone gets bummed out with the greyness and up and down weather. i know how ready everyone is for spring, myself included, but i can't help but feel cheated that we didn't really get winter here in boston -- it was like the evil kind of teasing your best friend's big brother did to you when you were six years old and wouldn't let you have that stick of bubble gum he kept promising to give you.

tonight was my last class for design principles before the break -- everyone was a bit loopy b/c I think we'd all be up to the last minute finishing our ten page papers. but it was a fun class and we got out early; which meant i got to sit and catch up with my roommates for a few minutes. and i got to ask their opinions on the boy situation -- yes, this is STILL dragging on... but it's midterms so he's not allowed to bother me this week and next week is break which he's going to be gone during most of -- that's going to give me (and him) good time away to really think and see how things are -- I can't help but feel like he should have one last chance, it's only fair; but telling me you don't know what to do with your feelings for me is not the way to impress me. why is this boy still an issue! i was doing so well getting over him. now i guess i'm at a standstill again -- why did i like this boy in the first place? honey that's the question of the year.

time to build a model -- i am just realising how crappy it's going to be! I so did not plan this out as well as i should have. sigh... break is nearly here and so is the visit from an amazing friend. don't let the ides of march blues get to you too!

2007-03-11T22:30:00.000-05:00

i just thanked Sen's fiance for telling me that there are enough nice eligible young men out there who want to get into my pants that i shouldn't waste time on the not-so-nice young men who don't know if they want to ...

that's how my entire day has been. apparently the boy didn't get the memo that he's been kicked off the island.

plagiarizing my own material

2007-03-09T01:17:00.000-05:00

sigh...

mid-term week sucks! haven't these people ever heard of one-course-at-a-time where we just have mid-term day and final day? what's with the never-ending week PREPPING for mid-term, so I can spend another WEEK presenting mid-terms -- a paper, a REVIEW in front of strangers for studio AND an exploded axonometric that conveys a FEELING?!?! insanity, and i think i might plagiarize myself and just copy/paste (or CTRL C/CTRL V in editors' world) this into my blog... blurg mid-terms (PLURAL 'S'?!?!?!)

that's all thank you

(lifted directly from my comments on 'The Book I Keep Promising to Write')

2007-03-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

additionally

i'm playing hooky today -- i usually don't but it's a mental health hooky day -- ie: i have way too much homework to do work today so i called in sick

however i justify it this way, if i'd gone into work i'd be up all night tonight doing homework and then still'd go in tomorrow and by wednesday or thursday i'd really be sick, so mental health day taken = not really sick later

well, it works for me anyway -- time to get the homework done.

kicked off the island

2007-03-05T10:35:00.000-05:00

update to follow-up psa to the world in general

the boy has officially been vetoed and kicked off the island by fellow BACer who totally knows what she's talking about

psa to the world in general 3/ note to self

boys who can't make a decision and/or then stick with it = not good

life in general note no. 1

2007-03-03T01:32:00.000-05:00

sigh.

follow-up psa to the world in general.

the boy-crazy phase is still over (right?) -- even though the boy has announced he can't stop thinking about me (after he already told me he wasn't interested!), even though i am in the getting-over-him phase -- it is still time to focus on work and classes (only?)

psa to the world in general 2

boys are evil

merci de votre attention

2007-02-26T23:06:00.000-05:00

psa to the world in general

the boy-crazy phase has passed. it's time to buckle down and concentrate on work and classes.

thank you for your attention.

2007-02-14T16:20:00.000-05:00

side note, I just realised that now I'm even more busy, I actually bother to blog -- like I should be taking the time to blog right now -- but it's also that I actually have something I feel like I can share even if no one comments and probably no one visits my blog! though that amuses me too... it's like that pardox of a tree falling in the forest...

2007-02-14T16:12:00.000-05:00

woo-hoo! classes WERE canceled for tonight! it's the first time in years apparently too! This is like my first year in undergrad when classes were canceled for the first time in 23 years then! Now even though I stayed up utnil 6 this morning and i'm still not done with all my homework, I can get it done in time for the make-up class and I can get homework for tomorrow night done too! I'm so excited! (Yes, I know it means I'm a geek that I am excited about having my homework done in time for class. :D ) hooray blizzard and ice storms!

2007-02-14T05:54:00.000-05:00

iteration no. 1 for final studio model (this is the one the studio profs told me late on Sunday night by email 'wasn't quite there' -- i had told them in the email it wasn't quite done and i wanted some constructive feedback -- I'm doing my best to be nice to them, I promise!)

midway through iteration no.2 for final studio model -- coincidentally, this was approximately at 3 this morning...

final iteration (no.3, incorporating above figures) -- this should be it
though there's a possibility I'll add lines similar to the original final model, but I still have all three drawings to do before class (tonight) so I think this model is now done
maybe i'll cut out lines to take with to explore possibilities while at studio

Lesson learned from this activity... either 1) don't ask the studio profs for feedback as it might be either unconstructive, vague or tell me to simply do everything over when I have sixteen hours of work, a three hour class and nearly seven hours of combined commuting before I even make it to class -- I'm not sure where feedback given at 9pm on Sunday night is all that timely and useful
2) overnighters are not fun (this is a review of a previously learned lesson)

3) well i forget but i did want to mention how badly i'd love to have classes canceled because of the snow though i know it's not going to happen, even if every other school in the region cancels evening classes, we won't! and of course it'd snow heavily and wetily on studio quarter-review day

2007-02-14T05:46:00.000-05:00

I almost didn't share this but then I realised how much I just don't care -- I knew it was a really bad first model when I built it and I've already decided to rebuilt the entire thing this weekend -- but I'm going to try museum/-type board instead.

2007-02-12T09:40:00.000-05:00

ode to fb 2:

to you who remained calm inspite of my panic attack (while I had a knife in my hand!), kudos. thanks for trying to calm me down, to make me laugh, and reminding me that life is like being at CC -- it really doesn't matter if you get the homework done

------------------------------------

note to self: scrolling through the contacts list on your phone will not help you set the alarm clock feature.

architecture school note no. 2

2007-02-12T01:28:00.000-05:00

note to self: elmer's or sobo glue do NOT burn small craters into your fingers as does hot glue

architecture school note no.1

2007-02-12T00:09:00.000-05:00

why do i always fall for the guy who thinks of me as his little sister...

feedback not needed for this one

2007-02-11T02:37:00.000-05:00

ersilia

the latest from the studio homework factory
not really what i'd hoped but it came out alright nonetheless
the thing that's hard to see is that some of the dark areas are actually a grey that's rather easily distinguishable from the black -- sigh digital cameras

feedback, as always, appreciated

2007-02-11T02:35:00.000-05:00

Ogunquit ME in october

as you can see it's picture upload time -- because I haven't in ages

2007-02-11T02:31:00.000-05:00

Amadou et Mariam

from the french library's bastille day street party!
I just realised I don't think I ever got photos up from that -- it was such an amazing experience! I was so excited that my first french library bastille day street party was with Amadou et Mariam headlining! The concert was incredible, despite the horrible humidity and heat of the day and night!

2007-02-11T02:27:00.000-05:00

chelsea market milonga

playing around with the camera settings

2007-02-11T02:19:00.000-05:00

this was the worst thing to take a picture of! But if you look closely at my finger -- the middle one -- you'll see the approximately 2mm diameter cave the hot glue dug out of my finger tonight while model building for studio -- unnecessarily, I iterate OUCH! This too is what happens when you're in architecture school -- you get holes in your fingers.

ps, some of the glue is still in my finger next to the lovely bitty blood blister.
pss, my camera does not like to give me manual depth of field control.

disclaimer, all typos for the next week or so are directly resultant of this accident!

2007-02-11T02:18:00.000-05:00

now over a week late, happy groundhog's day! This came off one of those groundhog day sites

2007-02-11T02:14:00.000-05:00

btw, the new camper shoes -- I finally succumbed to my from-afar obsession and purchased.
I'll try to get the second pair (yes! second pair but i bought them during sale!!) up soon...

2007-02-04T00:36:00.000-05:00

this was the first project (stage 1)

helpful thoughts will be appreciated

2007-02-04T00:32:00.000-05:00

this is what we do at architect school :)

2007-01-08T21:36:00.000-05:00

just so you know, i've recently become addicted to t-shirts supporting my home state -- without the cheesy hog or corncob on it.

there's some great designs on the site for Smash. If you're from Iowa or know the state well, you will enjoy these shirts.

2007-01-08T21:10:00.000-05:00

thanksgiving dinner.

2006-12-02T01:10:00.000-05:00

one palm

2006-12-02T01:05:00.000-05:00

high tide

all lined up

2006-12-02T01:02:00.000-05:00

hot coffee

2006-12-02T00:59:00.000-05:00

one, two, three

2006-12-02T00:49:00.000-05:00

paradise ladder

2006-12-02T00:40:00.000-05:00

pacific waves

2006-11-13T22:07:00.000-05:00

so i did the math tonight and figured out that -- if, if i keep going at the present rate -- my undergraduate student loans will be paid off in seven years. just in time to have been paying off grad loans for at least twelve months! hooray? At least nine total years is better than the originally planned for fifteen years. Hopefully that means i'll get my grad loans paid off early too -- though better yet would be to get a firm to do a tuition reimbursement thing! hooray indentured servitude!

2006-11-12T01:33:00.000-05:00

it is my birthday.

i know my parents felt that it was better all around for me as a child if my birthday was early in the school year. My dad had been one of the youngest children in his class and had always felt like he was scrambling to keep up with the other kids in his year. As a result, he wanted my brother and I to be among the oldest kids in our classes.

I have never once wished for anything but a fall birthday -- and while in November, it has usually been a half way decent day out, including my actual birth date when it was 70 degree, blue skies and quite windy. I adore the colors during this month, the wind and nature in general.

but what i have wished for, is more understanding from people. those who know me, know i have a deep need for privacy. so much in my life needs to be logically reasoned out, but can be privately determined. and the most important things in my life are private -- including birthdays. While I can enjoy celebrating with others, I have always detested the attention that is thrown onto you simply because someone birthed you on this particular day, however many years ago. I didn't even do anything other than breathe vaporous air for the first time, scream my head off and eat through my mouth. Hooray? If someone is being celebrated, I think logically it should be my poor mama.

However, I know my one soapbox high rant will not change society and I admit, a birthday has the potential to be fun. But my awkward nature lends itself to even more awkward birthday parties -- so I don't have them unless I decide to handle the details myself and I stress overly if I feel like someone else is planning something for my birthday -- I'd much rather just enjoy the day for being another day on this planet than setting out to make it 'special'. Because, aren't they all special days? Why should this one be forced to be more special? That's just too much stress for one little day. So please if you see me today or next year -- just tell me happy birthday like you would hi or hello or what a beautiful day, for that will make me happiest. Not making a fuss is the best birthday present you can ever give me. (Outside of the lovely card the gay bf gave me that has purple sparkle-ly dorothy shoes on the front and says "make this your motto -- I get to because it's my birthday")

I get to be awkward and shy and contrary today, because it's my birthday. :)

off the birthday soapbox rant now -- so, are skunks good luck? I just saw resident neighborhood skunk tonight and damn if they don't grow'em big out here in Boston!

2006-07-06T20:44:00.000-05:00

i rediscovered a childhood habit -- i used to leave a bookmark in every book i owned

2006-07-06T00:31:00.000-05:00

it's one of those nights, when I can't distract myself to sleep -- or don't want to, I've never really analysed it yet -- so now you have to endure my uninhibited need to share, in the depths of the early morning

accompanying all the letters i would write, the ones that float into and out of my head when I can't sleep, was the the tangent thought on my wallet
-- i bought it in Metz and still use it, something to do with the one centieme piece that's been a permanent companion since Toulouse, but it struck me bizarre this night how though i inaugurated my wallet with colorful euro bills and the convenience weight of one and two euro pieces, it's as if a dream now -- the bland uniformity of american dollars mocking the vibrant tomato red of my childish wallet -- was it really over a year since i handed over a blue twenty to pay for groceries

blame the vastness of night, the type which Anne Morrow Lindbergh best describes its effects -- i'll regret your reading this tomorrow, but not enough to actually take this post down: tough luck for you

2006-06-25T16:45:00.000-05:00

A fun new food blog, from yet another ex-pat in Paris!

the road to reno

2006-06-19T18:01:00.000-05:00

sometimes leads to Canada.

at Niagara

in Wyoming

2006-06-19T17:53:00.000-05:00

north of the Rockies

direction: up into Utah

direction: down through Utah

direction: still down through Utah

2006-06-19T17:42:00.000-05:00

two perspectives

Antelope Island

the land dries out

mountains over Reno

ode to fb.

2006-05-17T21:47:00.000-05:00

who keeps me company on the phone while I'm being unfairly imprisoned in my room and terrorized by a dying wild squirrel right outside the door of said room...

You're the best.

obviously the caffiene is getting to me ... again

2006-05-11T14:51:00.000-05:00

1) "cold coffee" is super funny at the moment

2) i think i might have learned how to drink american coffee

3) if you can explain why some of my favorite music is music I can't dance to, then you are a genius -- but not if you just tell me it's because I can't dance, then you're just a meanie

Vindication!

2006-05-09T17:29:00.000-05:00

Ha!

Well, ha! ...anyways. So I did just move away from my beloved state, but I'm still pleased as punch that it made the top ten Kiplinger's list of the top 50 cities to live, with Iowa City.

And for my brother, Kansas City also made the top ten.

For Kim -- Holland, Michagan rounds out the top 50.

(so I also thought maybe I should post something!)

2006-03-13T23:19:00.000-05:00

It's rainy out tonight. There's even thunder and a wee bit of lightning. Mostly just rain, though. And I don't know if it's because of second month syndrome and everything, especially now, makes me think of France-- or if it's just that the rain always makes me think of Toulouse, but think of it I do.

Mostly I think of the onset of winter in that southern climate- where cold was 40 degrees F with wind and especially rain- all for either three, six or nine days. That unchanging of multiples of three- that cycle that became a rhythm, even for this midwestern kid.

Mostly, writing to this listening to the rain on my multiple windows, I think of those blustery nights with the rain sounding on my third floor bedroom skylight. I was unconventional within that French household and left the shade open on mine. I loved the starlight and moonshine pouring in on clear nights; the staccato rhythms of rain on it as winter creeped in alongside the ending of my journey.

The rain never fails to remind me of that skylight; to draw up that desire to have one again someday, so I can always sleep under the stars and remember how those three months brought back to me the joy of living, after that hellish deviation we call college.

2006-02-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this will sound silly to most people, but I've discovered that I really like that cd player/radio combination desktop stereo that the average person has at work. Nothing impressive, but I just got my first one (from friends who are getting rid of things as they prepare to move) and I love it! I've never owned one- didn't ever buy or get one for some reason or another, and mostly because I've moved around so much that it was just one more thing to move. But it totally beats my alarm clock radio- mostly the speaker bit. I'm quite happy with it.

2006-02-19T03:26:00.000-05:00

roommate is a bad influence. meatball subs at 2:30am are not a good idea for either the budget or the waistline... however, they are delicious!

2006-02-17T13:18:00.000-05:00

You know what will always brighten my day (though today didn't need brightening, even with the torrential downpour outside)?

Chat conversations with my French students. Somedays I really miss those 'petits monstres!"

2006-02-17T11:10:00.000-05:00

I have a bed! They delivered it and set it up this morning!

Seriously, everyone goes on and on about pillowtops- but I always feel like I'm continuously and slowly falling, or that I'm going to roll over and suffocate myself. Besides the thrifty aspect of a more basic mattress, I think it just feels better to sleep on.

Now I can pretend to feel like an adult... even more so because now I have to go do laundry. The one time I will do laundry during a weekday for a long time to come.

2006-02-15T01:58:00.000-05:00

The best Valentine's Day ever!

I had completely forgotten it was V-Day until about the third time it came up in a conversation with Nathan while we were out mattress shopping today. It finally clicked when we were talking about Leanne, and I was the idiot who finally asked if it was ok with her for us to be out mattress shopping on this of all days!

It was later in the evening, as Kevin and I were finishing up dinner that I realised that his mention of the V-Day Prom Karaoke at the Milky Way was in reference to Valentine's Day rather than Victory Day (which is still a few months -both of them- away). It's a side effect of having moved across the country and then not having to work for the last week-ish, that I can remember the day but not the date!

So we dressed up a little, went down the street to meet the others, and then headed out for Jamaica Plains for quite the interesting night! This group really gets into their karaoke! I'll be seriously inspired once I get over my shyness. We danced, we sang, we were part of the small minority dressed up, and we made fun of the one truly obnoxiously bad guy, and we raved over the great twentieth century invention of karaoke and it's accessibility to all walks of life! I wish I would quite forgetting my camera!

Quite honestly, the best Valentine's Day ever!

2006-02-12T18:09:00.000-05:00

They say the snow is starting to let up. It's been a fun, first storm for me in my new home. I stayed indoors!

2006-02-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

Sarah asked me to post about the move, but there really isn't much yet to post.

After my usual bout with moving anxiety, I settled a bit more into my new home. The anxiety slowly subsided, so my internal dialogue wasn't set on the heart-stopping, nerve-wracking repetition of 'What was I thinking? Am I going to make it here?'

The day after my late evening move in, Kevin gave me a ride out to a possible work site for an informal meeting. Turns out it's quite a nice place, and I think I would enjoy working there, even with the commute. Though I think the commute will be a great excuse for reading time.

Friday night was quite a bit of fun. I went to a Chinese New Year celebration with Justin, and then went to the Kevin's show "In The Garage", which was hilarious. We went out to dinner with his parents afterwards, followed by a cast party of sorts.

Saturday was low-key again, though went with Kevin to the Courtside for karaoke with his friends. How I wish I'd had my camera! Even though the music was mostly rock, it brought back such happy memories of Country Karaoke Night at the Longbranch on Thursday nights! And I seriously felt like I was back in one of the small-town bars I ate burgers in all summer long- like a touch of Iowa out here! Afterwards we all ended up at home, waiting for the snow to start and watching Stewie Griffin.

It's mostly been the little details that make me realise that I've moved: the different languages I hear on the streets (I've heard French!), the new metro system to become acquainted with, the smells in the air at 5 o'clock (not fried chicken, which hung over Creston), and being on my own again.

Today has been even more low-key. Mostly experiencing my first nor'easter from the warm comfort of my room.

2006-02-12T16:56:00.000-05:00

After a year of searching for the name of my blog, I vowed to stop changing the title. But I was sorely tempted last night after reading some more Wright. "If one cannot live an independent life of one's own, one may at least become a modest parasite and, instead of honest arrogance practice hypocritical humility."

I am enjoying this book so much more than I thought I would!

2006-02-12T16:51:00.000-05:00

What else are you going to do on a snowy Sunday afternoon.

MY STAR WARS NAME(first 3 letters of your last name + last 3 letters of mother's maiden name /+/ first 3 letters of your pet's name + first 3 letters of the town you live in)

Dosman Som

2006-02-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

Despite all the other moments, I think this might be my truest "I am here" moments.

I haven't yet decided if I'm going to be like the crazy Arizona tourists and go for a little walk or stick to my sensible midwestern roots and wait it out inside.
I suppose it's quite a good day when that's to be my major decision. Until then, I might go have a bowl of oatmeal.

2006-02-12T01:14:00.000-05:00

seriously need to blog about tonight (which isn't apparently over yet) regardless of what serpico thinks of my blogspot blog...

2006-02-08T17:18:00.000-05:00

you know you've moved farther north when it's darker than you'd been used to at 5pm.

if only we could all be gods...

2006-02-05T19:47:00.000-05:00

'God' faces name-change deadline

as if my two homes are merging...

2006-01-31T22:51:00.000-05:00

did I just not notice this before? I have just started seeing things using SMS to mean text (on a cell phone) here in the States.

It makes me si contente, as the English assistants last year all used sms was both noun and verb, in place of text/ing.

2006-01-31T00:14:00.000-05:00

So, tonight, I'm sitting here going through MORE backlog paperwork. I've found it after I thought I had already filed everything... my room is a pit. And as I am going through all these papers, I come across some of the reports of my Cornell bills, in particular, the bills from my last year there. The space is entirely filled by additional Stafford Loans (uh-hmmm.. unsubsidized), Off-campus Residence/Dining designations, and Adjustments to my scholarship, tuition, etc. And I have to say, it made me smile. All that adjusting and extra work- so I could go abroad. And I don't regret it- it was the best experience of my undergraduate career. To be all cliché, it changed my life. I almost want to frame the damn thing, as a reminder of what taking risks and doing all the paperwork can mean. Seriously, if I hadn't ran all over campus to get every imaginable and necessary signature, pushed to get the financial aid, visit Mike in the Business Office about once a week, and generally demand the right to study abroad (as long as I was paying out of pocket for it), I wouldn't be able to tell you the crazy return trip from Barcelona story! So here's to sleeping on the floor of the Narbonne train station for two and a half hours at 1am- just to make it home to Toulouse in time to take a mid-term! And all because we got on the wrong train in the first place!

Maybe this is all just from too much dust...

2006-01-27T22:36:00.000-05:00

BBC NEWS: Chirac tricked by Canadian hoax

2006-01-23T01:56:00.000-05:00

January is quickly coming to a close and I'm quite bummed about the lack of lychee in my diet. It's a newly foreign idea to me; January without lychee, how does that happen?

I had a conversation tonight with someone who told me they had seven televisions in their house- there are only four or five people in the house. It amazes me that one house can have more tv's than people. Coming from a household that only ever had one, and only in color for the last 13 years, it astounds me. And for all the time we don't have the television on, it makes the most sense to have only one. It's really a personal choice, but what's the use of seven tv's? What purpose does having the tv's in various rooms accomplish, other than a constant distraction? It confuses me greatly; especially knowing as I do, that'll probably be another five or six years before I contemplate buying my own- if even that soon. Perhaps it would be sooner, if I were ever to live in my own space- but I think it would mostly be for watching videos or the news- until then, my computer is fine enough for watching movies when I have the time. I guess in other words, don't be adding a television to my wish/Christmas list- just stick with the Wigwam socks.

what happens when you google yourself!

2006-01-22T00:53:00.000-05:00

I recently had a necessity to google myself. And oh, what do I find?! SIT used one of the photos I sent in for the Alumni Photo Contest (I didn't win by the way- no return larks to France for me in the near future) on their web page about the France program, SIT Study Abroad - France: Culture and Society!
In case you're curious, it's from the ramparts tour on the Old City walls of Carcasonne. A couple of us took a fabulous little weekend daytrip there- with the result of many great stories! It's totally a tourist trap, but so thoroughly well done, you don't even notice it! And it's completely worth it, simply for the atmosphere, or the military butts, if you're lucky enough to be there on one of the days the local military bases lets the boys out as part of return to civilian life after their version of Basic!

(Patience, if you ever check in here- just remember, you're shitless! gros gros bisous!)

National security vs. Censorship

2006-01-16T16:59:00.000-05:00

BBC NEWS, Dutch MPs to decide on burqa ban

2006-01-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

kind of cool, eh?

2006-01-12T20:39:00.000-05:00

So after inquire within's comments on the cost of public transportation in London, I was curious to compare it to what I'd known in France.

It ends up he's paying quite a bit more than it would have cost for a month in Paris, unless you get the student discount, which is considerably helpful. The current rate in Paris is about $62 USD a month without the student discount, with it's : $36 USD. The weekly pass I purchased in April cost me about $18 USD.
In Metz, the monthly bus pass cost about $40 USD, I think; though with the student discout it was $30 USD. I never had to buy the monthly pass as I didn't bus around Metz all that much.
The best I've ever seen was Toulouse, where the montly pass for the student was $25. Though Toulouse (600,000) is rather isolated, and you tend to go there only to study, live, or work, and it's really just a massive uni town. But still, a simply great city to live in!

That's it- I was really just advertising the greatness of Toulouse.

too much of a good thing is never that evil, is it?

2006-01-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

BBC NEWS: Festival to sell Tuareg culture

a little slice of paradis...

2006-01-08T19:34:00.000-05:00

Mes recettes de cuisine favorites

2006-01-01T17:10:00.000-05:00

Louise phoned today! She is home for a bit, which is exciting as she hadn't thought she would be. Her parents wanted to see her so they bought her plane ticket home for the holidays. I was just delighted to talk with her for a bit. She leaves Tuesday, as does Kristen and that makes me sad.

I know that I will miss my phone calls with Kristen now that she's going to be far away again. I could say we'll still chat from time to time, but honestly, after I came back during holiday 2003 and she was there still for the spring, we never phoned! It's just rather expensive. But I also know that my jealousy will probably over-balance missing her, so I doubt I'll be terribly sad!

I wish I could see Louise's apartment this year, as she's in a truly ideal location and I'm sure it's adorable. How I miss all the little hassles she's currently going through- as ridiculous as it is for me to say that!

So all in all, even though I had to be back in town to work at noon today (even though I'd rather have continued sleeping), the day's turned out decently well. My headache didn't last for too long, everyone on the Interstate and CR was driving nicely, work ended early (annoying) but I got a crazy big bag that was a Wedding Crashers promo (which makes up for not getting all my hours!), and Louise called.

Well I'm off to watch holiday kids' movies with mum and be productive on the whole grad school app front (this is the last one--- I hope I hope I hope!).

Bonne Année!!!

because I don't say this enough ...

2005-12-30T21:40:00.000-05:00

I miss France! Yikes!

OK, so not the scary, depressed missing of France... just well in general and certain moments. Like the buses and subways of Paris. How pretty Metz is. Teaching my classes. My not-quite-internship. My cubby-hole studio apartment. Mmmmm... my bakery. That's it, I really just miss the bakery... nothing else.

Speaking Metz, I swear ABC's thing on the Mystery of Pope Joan last night, I saw a shot of Metz when they momentarily mentioned France. Except if it was Metz, the funny thing is, they showed the Protestant church, not the Cathedral, and the show was about the Roman Catholic Church.

That's all.

2005-12-28T22:14:00.000-05:00

There's loads I forgot to write about earlier, but one last thing I don't want to forget to mention.

Haha... I was reading an article on Le Monde.fr and there was an advertisement for Boucheron. It had this crazy white masque, and it spun around on the screen like a clock. As the masque was upside down for a split second during it's spin, and because of the way it was formed, you ended up seeing a vague outline of the Eiffel Tower. Si drôle.

After the editing ends...

2005-12-28T21:19:00.000-05:00

Today’s been one of those days when I feel I need to stop and seriously consider the fact that I’m trying to go back to school. A friend passed along some free lance editing work, which is super nice on the budget and nice to get back into it, but the whole deadline thing is enough to make me run screaming into the nearest ocean.
Granted, I’m not known for being any good at things without deadlines, but still, I realized that I’m up for some serious shock when I do get back to academic life.

On the other hand, one application is done, so I’ve been enjoying the excuse that the second one doesn’t technically have a deadline to get some reading done. (Or if it does have a deadline, I might be screwed, as I’ve yet to find it.) But the reading—so I finally finished Byatt’s Possession, and it’s as I always suspected, there is so much missing from the movie. And I finally finally finally let myself sit down and read “The Rabbi’s Cat.” (Yes, I did buy it in english and am desperately waiting the day when I get to read it in french.) But it was so darling! And the images were so good. I can’t wait now till I can get “Persepolis,” as Satrapi was quoted on the back about how good The Rabbi’s Cat is, and as Céline always tells me how good it is. I definitely want to reread Camus’“La Peste” after reading The Rabbi’s Cat. My other reading’s just been some arch stuff that I’m actually enjoying more than I probably should considering I’m not even back in school yet. My brother has informed me that he’s sending me Brunelleschi’s Dome for the holiday, and I’m super excited.

In the midst of intense editing today, I also heard from Kim. It was quite the highlight of my day. The French holiday card was so much fun- makes me reflect on things like last year and how ridiculously elaborate Christmas cards in the States get. The surprise was a two disc set of Lynda Lemay! Totally above and beyond necessary, but so completely loved. I’m listening to “du cog à l’âme” for the second time this afternoon. To top it off, Violet emailed with a photo from the trip to Barcelona too. What a day for nostalgia. I had to change my desktop background as a result.

So really nothing interesting to type about, but it’s nice to be typing something I don’t have to edit (much) or paraphrase, etc. And if you decide to edit this blog, have fun. It probably needs it.

2005-12-28T16:33:00.000-05:00

Cool photo off the BBC, what else. See especially number 7.

Last year it hardly snow while I was in France. What we did get everyone kept saying was the most they'd gotten in years. I guess this year is a bit more drastic.

2005-12-18T23:45:00.000-05:00

Cool.

2005-12-12T02:18:00.000-05:00

Giving in, yet again, to my BBC addiction... Here's a funny little story. hehehe.

2005-12-09T00:01:00.000-05:00

seriously, but what would a world without friends be like? can we talk about how much I adore those friends who are always able to read through your emails and tell you exactly what you need to be told- such as, to remember to sleep and breathe and not to stress and eat breakfast! And not just that, but also remind you, while in full panic, about what's important in life: crazy stories. And if I ever live to be 87 and can look back on all my crazy stories and have at least one that tops the drunken rooster story, I will know that I have lived a full life. Friends rock, most especially Kim!

"Il faut danser toute la vie!"

2005-12-06T01:07:00.000-05:00

I just found this BBC article interesting.