School.Art.Hair.

I finally did my presentation on Hogarth this morning. I was so nervous last night, I stayed up till 2am preparing and I couldn't fall asleep until 3:30am. Nonetheless, I got my ass to school for 9am and did the damn thing and, apparently, I kicked it's ass. The teacher said I did a really good job (and my French is impeccable??? Except for remember whether a noun is masculine or feminine, which she understands). So I think I'll get a good mark on that one. Yay!!!!

I felt so good about that, I decided to be cultural tonight and go see an art exhibit all by my lonesome. I wound up checking out Allemagne: les annees noires, which was showing German works from the first world war by artists like Otto Dix and Max Beckmann. Some of my favourite works were Dix's prints from his collection Der Krieg (War). Here's some examples of the works:

Otto Dix, Wounded Soldier, 1924 (etching & aquatint)

George Grosz, Soldiers Charging, 1927

Other than that, the other big thing is that I got a hair cut! I had Alan's cute hairdresser, Christophe, do it. He was really nice and I think he did a good job. I love it when they cut a lot of hair off and your head feels so much lighter.

Old hair: New hair:
Just don't ask me why I'm posing like such a goofball.

Erin Stickney

As promised, here is a video of my friend Erin belly dancing in front of the crowds at Sacre Coeur.

Stressed and lazy

My big expose for my art history class is on Friday morning, and despite all the work I have to do to prepare for it, I am sitting at home surfing the net and not working. But alas, I finally have the internet back!

So what is new with me, you ask?
Well, a few weeks ago I went to this awesome museum called the Musee Guimet. It was filled with all this awesome Oriental art.

I also found these cool plants that bear my name, so I took a picture:

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I've been hanging out with my friend Matt a lot. He kinda lived with me for a week during the worst part of the metro strike because I am a lot closer to work/school for him. We usually have fun together, but we has a bit of a fight the other day 'cause I was being a bitch in the morning. It was 9am and he was still sleeping, but I decided that I was awake and wanted to listen to youtube videos of electric guitar nonesense. Obviously he got pissed off, but we made up today. Sometimes I don't know why I do thoughless things like that. Anyhow, here is a picture of Matt and I where we look really high.

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My friend Erin and her visiting friend Samara did some belly dancing in front of Sacre Coeur which was really awesome. There is a youtube video that I will put up as soon as Erin uploads it.

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And that's basically it! Otherwise I'm just dealing with the strike. The metros and trams are at about 50% of traffic, so I have to cram myself onto those damn things which is pretty uncomfortable. But it beats walking the whole way, right?

quelquefois c'est de la merde

Sometimes living in Paris is really, really fucking frustrating. Some examples:

1. I lost my monthly metro pass (my "carte orange") two days after I bought it. It wasn't even my fault; the stupid plastic holder they gave me for it broke and it just fell out. Despite still having the receipt, they refused to give me a new one. "I'm sorry madame, but it is like an article of clothing. If you lose it and have the receipt, they still cannot give you a new one." Well, actually it's a stupid peice of paper, not an article of clothing. So now I'm out 53 euros. But I just got a new yearly student card, and hopefully I'll be reimbursed for it 50% (cause I live in the suburbs, and the conseil general of my area gives a reimbursement).
2. Stupid metro stikes (the second one I've seen so far) are screwing up my life, and the life or every other Parisien for that matter. They are on strike cause Sarkozy wants to get rid of the special early retirement priviledges those unions receive. It's so stupid. So now I have to walk to school (which is about 45 minutes to an hour, not nearly as bad as it could be). My friend Matt is even living with me for the moment 'cause my apartment is much more stragically located to his school and job (plus I feed him).
3. My internet still isn't working. But some guy is supposed to come on Monday to fix the messed up telephone line, and hopefully it will all be better then. I'll have internet, telephone, and even TV! (they are all connected to the telephone line with the service I have).
4. I have an expose on Friday the 23rd. 30 minutes, in French, in front of French students, on William Hogarth (an 18th c English painter and engraver). I am just scared about that. I will let you all know how it goes afterwards.
5. The other day I had to go to 5 different libraries to find one book. Each library just kept telling me that it was at another address. I eventually ended up at the Musee Central de Louvre, which is more for museum curators and students if they have a teacher's note. It wasn't a big library, as I believe there are a few different small libraries at the Louvre, but it was cool that I somehow got myself in. Yay! And I got to discover a bunch of new libraries, like the INHA (Insitut National de l'Histoire de l'Art) which was a really magnificent oval-shaped library that I wasn't allowed to go into but was really cool looking anyways.

So I'm not really angry at France. I just needed to get those few things off my chest. And today is the 15th of novembre, when the Nouvelle Beaujolais comes out! So I plan to drink some excellent wine tonight!

I'm loving it?

So my internet isn't working anymore. I am sooo frustrated about that. Right now I'm in a McDonald's, 'cause they have free internet. Yes, McDonald's, in freaking Paris. Sad.

Anyways, things have otherwise been going alright. I have this 30-minute presentation in 2 weeks that I am mildly panicked about, but it'll be OK (I hope). My parents came to visit, which was really nice. They bought me an expensive Burberry winter coat, which will be useful when it gets cold here, and even more useful when I return to the Great White North. They also took me for a belated birthday dinner at this small fancy restaurant called Paul Chene, where I had mushrooms, hare, and crepes Suzette. Yum! And other than that, I've been hanging out with my friends.

And, to leave you with a bit of mystery, here is a picture of me with a handsome man.