Véronique not in Paris

All About Me, a story by my big brother.

2011-01-02T18:35:00.013-05:00

Here is a story my brother wrote when he was probably about 12 years old. I'm going to date this around 1994ish. Note that this was probably dictated to our mom and typed out on a TYPEWRITER. Retro, I know. I will insert the teacher's comments in [square brackets].

Enjoy!

Cover Page: All About Me

***

Page 1: HOW AM I UNIQUE

I am unique in many different ways. I could tell you about many unique events that happened to me such as getting stung by a jellyfish or falling asleep with a spoonful of spaghetti in my mouth. Instead I will tell you about what is unique about the inside me. First of all, I will tell you when provoked or annoyed I have a really short temper but when in a good mood I have a good sense of humour. As you can see I am very different to other people.

[Is this you Georges!]

***

Page 2: MY GOOD AND BAD QUALITIES

I have a vast [great word] range of good and bad qualities and due to popular demand I will start with my good qualities. Some of my rood qualities are that I am kind and respectful. This wins a lot of respect among my elders. I don't normally put people down either (unless they're annoying and deserve it). I have a good sense of humour as well because if something bad happens to me I will usually take it like a "good egg". Unfortunately I have bad qualities as well. When in a bad mood or in a tired mood I have an irritable and short temper. I also have an uncontrollable laughter in which I cannot stop sometimes and I get in trouble with [rephrase]. As you can see I am a very varied person when it comes to my personality.

Pictures show him in a "good mood" and "tired mood."

***

Page 3: MY PERSONAL AND GLOBAL WISHES

I wish for many things and although I cannot have them all if I could I would wish for the following. First my global wishes. i would like for the world to realize what economy and marketing have done to us and the health of our planet [explain]. I also wish humans will be able to land on Mars by the year 2050, our knowledge about space has only just begun. On that same note I wish (in this lifetime) to make contact with extraterrestrial life. [Really? Are you an X-files fan?]

My personal wishes are to do well in school and extracurricular activities. I also wish to win 5 trillion dollars [Don't we all!] and buy everything possible. If I could I would wish for a huge computer corporation, the Pentagon and of course better T.V. programming. [Georges, you have a wonderful and very unique sense of humor.]

***

Page 4: MY FUTURE AND FUTURE JOB

I believe fate and destiny will lead me into the future and my future jobs. Although I do have wishes I don't believe any of them will come true. I cannot tell you what I will be in the future because, frankly, I do not know. I can tell you this though I will not be anything boring like a lawyer or an accountant. Whatever I do it will be fun and enjoyable to me. [Hope so!]

Note: my brother is currently working as a chartered accountant :-)

***

Page 5: WHAT I THINK ABOUT MOST OFTEN

When I think I am normally worrying. I worry about many things such as what will happen to me today or tomorrow. I also worry about things such as homework and due dates and getting around to meeting them. I also have an oversized conscience so I only worry more about everything.. I think about pleasant things as well though such as visiting an old friend or an upcoming special occasion. these are just a few of the many things I think about. [I always find it interesting to hear what people think about.]

Picture is captioned "Christmas 1987"

***

Page 6: MY WORDS OF WISDOM

My words of wisdom are just a few,

But they are just enough to get you through

Life.

A long hard test of courage and might,

To see if [it] can take the

Fright.

As life takes its harder turns,

A desolate time that leaves a burn.

A test [on] which no one has a perfect score,

But if you try hard, its something to ignore.

[Good!]

I believe the picture is Georges at heavens' golden gates. St. Peter is saying "Good score! Enter."

***

Page 7: MY LIKES AND DISLIKES

Lego

Ice hockey

Killer Instinct

End of school

Soccer

Dolls

Imbeciles

Sisters

Loud noises

Illnesses

Kerfuffles

Evilness

Stealing

I think the pictures speak for themselves. PS. I'm his only sister. *Sad face* (but really I'm laughing.)

***

Page 8: WHO I ADMIRE AND WHY

I admire many people either for what they do, have done or represent. i admire my mom and dad the most for putting up with my little sister and all her annoying and obnoxious ways. [ :) ] I also admire my karate sensei and instructors for balancing karate and a normal life so well. I aspire to be like some of time's greatest geniuses like Albert Einstien and Leonardo Da Vinci. AS you can [see] I admire many people for what they represent in my life. [Good. I'm sure your parents would like to see this! ]

Picture is captioned "Mom & Dad"

***

Page 9: THE ACTIVITIES I ENJOY

I enjoy a variety of different activities. one of the things I enjoy doing is training in the martial arts. It makes me stronger as well as relieves stress from school. The card game MAGIC [Don't know it!] is another one of my favourite pastimes it beats watching cheap T.V. [ :) ] My favourite sport would have to be soccer. It is fast and fun and not very hard to play. I also enjoy a bit of hockey, some baseball, and a tad of wrestling. I love playing on my Nintendo and computer because they are relaxing and entertaining. The last thing I will mention is building LEGO because it uses the imagination. Life can be difficult at times [Does it ever!]. With school, homework and chores to do at home it is those special activities that make my life special and enjoyable.

***

Page 10: MY PET PEEVES

Pictures are captioned "boredom," "school," and "sister."

***

THE END?

(I certainly hope not!)

I spent the weekend in 1964

2010-11-15T21:35:00.007-05:00

So this past weekend I was in Quebec City with my parents. It was a great chance to catch up with my mom's aunt, an 88-year-old woman who we dubbed "the blue aunt" because she loves blue, especially when it comes to home decor. However, what struck me about her house is that it looks like a set from Mad Men. Her house is a shrine to the 1960s. So here I present a salute to my aunt's lovely house and to the swingin' home furnishing trends of the '60s.

First, here is her house:

And here's the living room. Note the abundance of blue:

I love that the curtains match the couches!

I adore these hanging dishes, which make a nice arrangement in the dining room:

Moving on to the... I'm not sure how to define this room. This is where she watches TV and drinks her nightly Panaché (1 part Cinzano bianco vermoth with 1 part Martini Rosso vermoth served in a low-ball glass with ice and a slice of lemon).

There's a nice built-in desk in this room.

In true 60's-style, the desk holds the booze.

The herringbone pattern on the furniture is carried through to the tray and box on the table.

There's a lovely set of Larousse encyclopedias from 1964.

And here's my lovely aunt enjoying her drink :-)

This is a shot of the telephone and conversion mechanism thingy in the kitchen:

And her late-husband's office (where I slept).

She also has some lovely artwork in her house, but I might save that for another post.

I went to the Google Christmas Party!

2010-01-16T00:40:00.002-05:00

Are you jealous? I went with my friend Steve, who was interning at the Google Montreal office. Part of my entrance conditions was helping with a youtube skit, which was the theme of the party. Here we are!

Dear Montreal,

2010-01-14T21:53:00.001-05:00

I know everyone thinks you're awesome, but I think you're no fun. I wish I was back in Waterloo.

That is all,

Vero

End of an era

2009-08-03T00:44:00.005-04:00

It seems that I'm finishing my undergrad this week. I have two exams, neither of which I'm particularly worried about. Graduating feels bittersweet though. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was heading off to university and freaking out about whether I'd make friends or not. Now, in my 4th year at Waterloo, I finally feel like I'm rooted here. I have my own friends. I certainly feel more in touch here than I ever did living in Montreal. Now I'm moving back to Montreal in two week's time, a city where I barely have any friends at all. AND I'm moving back in with my parents which I'm not really looking forward to ; I LOVE LOVE LOVE my folks, but one gets used to not being nagged all the time, you know?

Since I haven't been on my blog in a long time, let's recap my life a bit, shall we?

1. My grades have been awesome! I honestly don't think it's because I'm really brilliant or that I work really hard, but circumstances have lead me to the Dean's Honours List! Yipee!

2. I applied to McGill for the Library Science program. I applied at the last minute and didn't have any expectations. I got wait-listed, which was slightly disappointing but beats getting flat-out rejected. I think I have a good chance of getting in somewhere next year.

3. One of my oldest friends, Cheryl, got married!! That was a very surreal experience, but now that I'm in my mid-twenties (!) I guess this is going to happen more and more. At least none of my friends have kids (yet!). It was nice to finally meet Dave, Cheryl's now-husband. He seemed very nice, but I hope I get to know him better in the future. I don't see my old friends enough!! Anyhow, voici les photos:

Cheryl walking down the aisle

Awwww. Dad lifts the veil.

Ron and Joanne

Theresa and David (the groom)

Monica looking like a pin-up.

Monica and her lovely boyfriend Adam

Mr. and Mrs. Pridham taking their first dance.

Cheryl and Dave with their families

The three musketeers: me, Cheryl, and Monica!

I liked Cheryl's yellow flowers :-)

There you are kiddos! Wish me luck on my exams!

A small statue in Versailles

2009-03-24T20:01:00.003-04:00

I guess the 1800s weren't that long ago

2009-02-12T09:05:00.005-05:00

Know what I just realized? My grandfather, this guy,was born in 1895. I have a grandparent born in the 19th century. Insane.

In other news, I'm off to Ottawa for the weekend. Should be fun!

I went to a La Nuit en Rose, the ball for the UW French department, a few weekends ago. Here's a picture:
That's me, Aisling and Carla.

ETA: That guy born in 1895 is actually my great-grandfather. I got confused 'cause he died in 1966 while my grandfather died in '67.

UPDATE

2009-01-14T22:09:00.003-05:00

It's cold. I'm grumpy. And I have to read FIVE French novels this term. SO I guess that's why I haven't been posting of late. School is a lot of work, even though it's only week 2. And I'm in a bad mood, and usually I only blog when I'm happy (today being the exception).

Anyways, to make the post more interesting than just me complaining, here's a picture of a torso from the Vatican museum.

PS. I'm not as grumpy as I sound.

Bedrooms

2008-12-22T08:30:00.003-05:00

This is my bedroom around 1992. I had a pretty sweet set-up: Peter Rabbit sheets, Mickey Mouse blanket, Little Mermaid night gown, and a bunch of toys.

And here is my brother's room. I can see Legos, and old-school Gameboy, and our old computer! That baby had 256kB of memory, a sweet yellow-on-brown screen, and you had to load DOS on with a floppy disk when you turned it on.

It's cold!

2008-12-19T17:20:00.004-05:00

It's really friggin' cold here in Montreal. I think it's about -20 and feels like -30 Celcius (that about 0 and -20 F for you Americans). And then it started snowing.

Whatever, let's look at some old snowsuits. These are from a 1992 ski trip in Horseshoe Valley.

Say what you will, but I think I'm kinda working this pink suit.

Georges looks a little more subdued.

We just don't rock the neon colours like we used to!

More Vintage Vero

2008-12-18T20:02:00.004-05:00

Let's revisit some of the things I did when I was little. Well, I did some very important ballet stuff (circa about 1991)...

As you can see, we were perfectionists. Notice how everyone is in synch in this picture from our recital.

I also had a brief stint as a brownie (circa 1990).

And as an ice-skater (1994)

As as soft-ball player (about 1990).

And an immaculately-dressed private school student (1991).

So there you go!

Vintage Vero

2008-12-18T13:10:00.003-05:00

Now that I'm back in Montreal for Christmas vacation, I have been passing time scanning old pictures. Here's me striking a pose, cica about 1989.

Wicker motorcycle

2008-12-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

Seen in Rome. I mean, you can't really tell it's Rome from the Blockbuster in the reflection, but trust me it's Rome.

The people I usually hang out with

2008-12-14T23:01:00.002-05:00

Seems like as good a title as any. From left: Mary, Stat, Matt, me, Chris, and Chelsea.

Dog in Brussels

2008-12-12T00:58:00.001-05:00

Now to keep studying! I have an exam on "Aspects of French Canada" tomorrow. And then I have to finish a film history paper (well, technically a take-home exam I should've finished ages ago). And then I have a French grammar exam (ugh!).

AND THEN I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Fuck I'm sick of this studying shit.

Notre Dame

2008-12-11T01:09:00.000-05:00

As seen from the roof of an apartment on Île de la Cité.

Cue the chorus of angels

2008-12-08T20:10:00.000-05:00

Taken in Rouen....I forget which church.

I went to a drag queen show!

2008-12-07T12:47:00.002-05:00

The Miss Club Renaissance pageant 2008! It was so much fun. I've never been to a show like this before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out it was like any other beauty pageant: evening gown, swimsuit, and question. Except these ladies were waaaaaaaay more entertaining.

Here is a picture of me with my favourite contestant. She was hilarious; for the talent competition she did a bit with a puppet. Unfortunately, she didn't win :(

Here's the winner! Avan Hart. She was in-fucking-credible. She did all these gymnastic stunts for her talent. And she was also damn funny.

Here's me with the handsome fellow who was bringing the contestants onto stage, sans chemise.

Here's Carla and me. Carla is the one who invited me to this thing! I just became friends with her this term, as we have 2 classes together. Don't worry, I didn't drink all that beer! I was just posing with it. You should all know how much I detest beer.

Me, Taz, and Carla.

Carla, Marc, and me. Marc was one of the celebrity judges.

Rome = tropical?

2008-12-06T13:20:00.002-05:00

The first thing that surprised me when I arrived in Rome were.....palm trees! In all my images of Julius Caesar and the Vatican and baroque architecture, I never factored in the tropical fauna.

A portrait of siblings

2008-12-03T23:33:00.002-05:00

I never thought my brother Georges and I looked that much a like.

Then I saw this picture. It's the two of us at a Radiohead concert in Montreal this past summer.

Holy shit, we have the same eyes, the same noses, the same smiles....

Boxing Match

2008-11-09T11:43:00.003-05:00

I saw this print in Rouen, and it represents how I feel about school right now: them vs. me. I honestly cannot believe there are only three weeks left of lectures.

Last night we had a little party to celebrate Mary and Stas's 21st birthdays, which were both this week. I think we had about 21 people over, which was pretty cramped to be honest. We ate so much food: tacos, smoked salmon, quiches, brownies, marshmallow goo, and a blueberry pie that we haven't even gotten around to yet. The stereotype of university students is that we all love to binge drink and go crazy, but at this party I don't think anyone had any alcohol whatsoever. As for crazy, we did have a pretty involved game of charades.

OK OK OK, back to work for me!

Street graffiti in Brussels

2008-11-07T00:34:00.000-05:00

OBAMA!!!!!!!!

2008-11-05T22:16:00.003-05:00

I was glued to the TV last night. It was over before I knew it! All of a sudden I saw McCain giving his concession speech. It's just so exciting to see history in the making.

Why am I excited?

2008-11-04T11:17:00.003-05:00

'Cause my side-by-side comparison was featured in this week's fourfour America's Next Top Model recap!

See:

Veronique L., like so many before her has compared Analeigh to Michelle Trachtenberg.

The difference? Veronique prepared the side-to-side herself. She wins.

Look, I have a test and a presentation today, not to mention I'm expecting to get back a midterm I know I did horribly in, so I'll take what excitement I can get.

Tiny Roman Buses!

2008-10-24T15:37:00.002-04:00

That I sadly never got to ride :(

David Beckham in his underwear! :)

Scene in Gentilly

2008-10-24T00:01:00.002-04:00

This dog just looks so sad....

What a cruel world where they don't allow such sad/cute dogs. :'(

Scene in Rome

2008-10-22T23:26:00.002-04:00

This is supposed to be me as a baby

2008-10-21T12:59:00.003-04:00

It's a drawing I did about 5 years ago from an old photo of me.

Scene in Brussels

2008-10-20T10:49:00.002-04:00

Scene in Paris

2008-10-19T17:19:00.003-04:00

For today's picture, here's a fountain that was really near my school, on the corner of Port Royal and St-Michel.

And now for the close-ups:

Scene in Brussels

2008-10-18T18:47:00.001-04:00

Worried about the economy? Stressed about school?

I have one piece of advice:

A Bottle of Vino

2008-10-17T23:32:00.001-04:00

'Cause it's 11:30 on a Friday and I just handed in an online assignment that is due at midnight! Go me!

I painted this.

Jon Stewart on Canada

2008-10-17T12:31:00.001-04:00

Scene in Giverny

2008-10-17T00:42:00.000-04:00

Scene in the French Alps

2008-10-16T11:59:00.002-04:00

A place called le Fer à Cheval in Haute Savoie.

Weird Flemish painting

2008-10-15T14:51:00.002-04:00

Details from a painting I saw in Brussels. I THINK it's from the 16th century....it's really old in any case. I'm pretty sure. Just enjoy :-)

Scene in Brussels

2008-10-14T22:19:00.001-04:00

Scene in Paris

2008-10-13T14:17:00.000-04:00

In the Musée Guimet...Qu'en pensez-vous?

Thanksgiving

2008-10-12T20:40:00.006-04:00

I stayed in Waterloo for Thanksgiving. I made a turkey anyways, with my roommate Matt. Faizan came over to celebrate with us. Ch-Ch-Check it out!

We had all the fixings: a 4kg turkey, my mom's classic stuffing, peas, corn, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce. Altogether, Thanksgiving was a success!

Scene in Rome

2008-10-12T14:46:00.001-04:00

Some heads on a ledge.

Fish Prints

2008-10-11T23:23:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a photographic inventory of all my art from the past few years. I don't know if I'm going to keep this stuff forever, so I figured I would get it onto my blog for posterity's sake. This is a series of underwater-themed monotypes I made in 2006. Basically, I manipulated ink on a sheet of Plexiglas, and then put the glass through the printing press to transfer the image to paper.

Some are, admittedly, better than others...

Scene in the French Alps

2008-10-11T12:57:00.001-04:00

Scene in Versailles

2008-10-11T11:17:00.000-04:00

A portrait as much of the tourists as of the fountain.

Scene in Rouen (2)

2008-10-10T18:39:00.001-04:00

Scene in Rouen

2008-10-10T18:32:00.001-04:00

Further "evidence"

2008-10-10T02:12:00.000-04:00

The last post reminded me....

I don't think my mom understands quotation marks. Refer to a comment she left to a post on July 1, 2007:

mom said...: Clever blog Véronique. By the way "what is a blog?"

mom

***

Now, that said, she's an awesome mom. I'm just amused is all. I love you mommy!

Non sequitur image time!!

Just what did my parents mean...

2008-10-10T01:02:00.000-04:00

When they say they went to the "zoo" ? Behold the postcard they sent me from Calgary. Apparently my mom thinks a zoo is either a colloquialism, or was speaking ironically and actually hit up some bar somewhere.

Did I mention I turned 24 on Tuesday! I demand accolades, for I have lived as many years as there are hours in a day.

Fractal cauliflower?

2008-10-10T00:21:00.001-04:00

Look what I drew two years ago!

2008-10-10T00:03:00.000-04:00

Wait, has it been a month already?

2008-08-23T01:20:00.000-04:00

I remember when I was little, on the first day of school we would all get a pencil, a small box of crayons, and half of one of these pink erasers. I used to love the first day of school, and I guess it still retains a certain excitement. The new teachers, course outlines, text books, classmates... all these things that you at first find thrilling, but the feeling quickly fades as you slip into the tedium of schoolwork.

That said, Jesus fucking Christ, it's already August 23rd! I go back to Waterloo in a week! I am elated to see my Waterloo friends again and thrilled about moving into a new house. But I'm not looking forward to the stress of moving. I feel pretty unready for school to start, to be quite honest. It seems I only have 3 classes lined up, one of which is distance ed, so I need to find 2 more classes once I get there. AND, because my parents are making me, I need to get a job. Please God let Chapters hire me!

How to make money while flying: If the flight is overbooked, volunteer to take the next flight. As compensation, Air France gave me 150 Euros cash AND they didn't charge me for my overweight luggage (another 100 Euros). In the end I was on my original flight in my original seat, but I got to keep the money! Cha-ching!

When I stepped off the plane in Montreal, my family got my flowers and a big "Welcome back" balloon. It was really wonderful to see them after such a long time.

I quickly got to re-integrating myself into Canadian society. I was a bit thrown by the French spoken in Quebec compared to France. I started to notice that in Quebec we say bienvenue instead of de rien. Or if you want to eat in a restaurant we say pour ici rather than sur place.

I'm bad at conclusions. I'll just end with another non sequitur image.

Goodbye Paris

2008-08-01T05:18:00.000-04:00

Goodbye baguette.
Goodbye aged Comté.
Goodbye chateaux.
Goodbye Le Nôtre gardens.
Goodbye mild winters.
Goodbye Seine.
Goodbye tour Eiffel.
Goodbye cheap wine.
Goodbye chocolate meringue.
Goodbye la Sorbonne.
Goodbye museums.
Goodbye RATP.
Goodbye France!.

Rome, Rome, Rome...

2008-07-20T06:23:00.000-04:00

The title is meant to be read in an exasperated tone, as that is precisely how I feel about Rome. (Note: I cant find the apostrophe key on this keyboard so forgive the grammar.)

Lets make a list of things I dont like about this city:

Its hot as balls
Its sunny, really, really sunny. The UV index is 8/10, so Im just coated with SPF 50 and trying walk on the shaded side of the street.
I have no money. Well, all my bank accounts appeared to not be working. I have surpassed my limit on my French account, I apparently forgot my RBC pin number, and my National Bank debit card is expired. Genius Vero! Luckily my parents bailed me out by wiring me some cash with Western Union.
I missed an organized tour of the Catacombs cause I got lost and was late.
I get lost, a lot.
Only 2 metro lines.
A lot of walking means I hurt.
There are a tonne of tourists here

But now, good things:

My hostel is air conditioned at night
I met nice people. A nanny to a Russian family, who I met on a tour. (Stas, shes a nanny to director Andrei Konchalovsky and Yulia Vgorshaya; she said a Russian would recognize these names). Also, some nice ladies from Utah (I think they were Morman) who went to the catacombs with me and gave me some money out of sympathy for my no-money situation.
Gelato (I had banana and nutella, melon, and straccciatella)
Water fountains all over means free water! Drinking from a Bernini fountain = awesome!
All the other stuff. You know, the art, the architecture, the sculpture, the food..

Ok, I have less than 2 minutes left on this internet thing. I hope this trip starts getting better!

My poor, neglected blog!

2008-07-16T15:22:00.000-04:00

I just haven't felt up to writing in my blog for the past few months. And I'm lazy.

I feel bad now 'cause I've done A LOT over the last few months! Like going to Belgium and Switzerland and the French Alps, for example. I've taken a lot of awesome pictures too!

But at the moment it's 9pm, and I have to catch at 7am flight to Rome tomorrow. ROME bitches! So I'll save the catch-up post for after I get back. For now, here is a picture of my former guy-I-was-dating-but-not-calling-my-boyfriend and me. He's back in the States working on more cartoons (a new Casper the Friendly Ghost show and then Strawberry Shortcake). We're fucking adorable, right?

If I'm a good girl I'll do a short post while I'm in Italy.

From Bercy to Bastille

2008-03-14T14:35:00.000-04:00

I was bored so I took a little walk around Paris. I first went to the Bibliotheque nationale de France, which is this enourmous, brand-new building. I saw the "L'enfer de la bibliothque" exhibit inside, which was essentially just porn from the 1600s. Well, it was more than that. I saw some Marquis de Sade manuscripts, Japanese erotica, a Dali etching that he apparently made while masturbating. Interesting stuff. The point of is was that all the books they were showing had been at one time banned and hidden, or something. To be honest I didn't really read the explainations because I'm lazy. Anyways, I don't have pictures of the dirty stuff, just the building:

Here's the cool pedestrial bridge infront of the BnF.
A view of the BnF from the other side of the Seine. Like I said, HUGE!
I saw some cool outdoor sculptures as I walked on.
Found a skating park.
Then I explored Bercy park, which is beautiful. Even though it's March and things are still pretty barren, it was a gorgeous, sunny day. There are flowers in bloom in Paris people! Sooo much nicer than the late-winter blizzards Canada is getting hammered with.

If I had money, I would buy one of these condos overlooking the park. Bercy is one of my favourite parts of town because it seems much more modern. It's also by my favourite giant movie complex.
Ducks!
Then I walked to Bastille to have a quick coffee with Phillip. Here's Place de la Bastille.
And the Opera.
And Phillip, in the Starbucks as usual. Drawing on his awesome tablet computer.
And here's a pic of me that I took in a reflective window. I think it looks cool! I like the jogger in the background.

The Philippe Auguste wall

2008-03-14T14:24:00.000-04:00

These are the pictures that went missing the other day. I'm glad I recovered them because this was my favourite part of that little tour: the Philippe Auguste wall. This wall, which dates from the 12th century, used to encircle the entire city. We were on Cardinal Lemoine...Found this open door, and decided to trespass... And found this cute little courtyard, and the wall! How cool.
We walked around the block and found the other side of the wall.
And here the plaque that explains it.

Random thoughts:

2008-03-06T12:39:00.000-05:00

When I look at art, I like to get really close and see the brushstrokes.

I prefer the beginnings of movies to the endings.

But Dogville has perhaps one of the best movie endings ever.

American's don't say "grade 8," only "8th grade"

And they don't call washrooms washrooms. Silly Americans!

I love photoshop.

Life marches on (get it? because it's March now)

2008-03-03T14:52:00.000-05:00

The last few days have been really good! I finally went to see the Musee National Picasso, which was amazing! I know Picasso was apparently an egotistical a-hole, but I still adore his work. It was also edu-ma-cational because I'm taking a course on Cumism. Here are some of the things I saw:

Still-life with chair caning
Some sculptures and painting. Fuck me if I'm naming them all.

After my visit, I took a lovely walk through the Marais. It was a particularly warm and lovely Saturday afternoon, and the whole quartier felt especially Parisian to me.

Some other good things that happened lately:

- Things are still going well with Philip, the 36-year-old (meaning, gasp, 13 years older than me!) animator I met at a party about a month ago. He's American (I know, I'm supposed to be dating French boys, but what can you do). I'll try to get a picture of him up soon.

- I got a cheque for 139 euros from the conseil general of my area. It was a 50% refund for my Imagine-R metro pass. I knew living in a town run by communists would pay off eventually! (Seriously, the mayor of Gentilly is in the PCF, aka. the communist party. Awesomeness)

- I have no art history classes this week! I actually showed up for class this morning, because I was completely oblivious to this fact. But still, NO SCHOOL BITCHES! Ha ha ha.

Last Wednesday, as part of my History of Paris course, our teacher Mme. Comerre took the class on a little walking tour. I thought you might be interested, so...

La Mosquee de Paris, as seen in Paris, je t'aime.An example of Gothic architecture, apparently.
Les Arenes de Lutece, which is a gorgeous park/site in the 5th. I had never seen in before this tour, even though it's right by one of the schools I have class in. Here's the "arene". It's like a huge outdoor ampitheatre.
Once we left the arenes, we headed up these stairs.Here's the view from the top of the stairs. Typical Paris street, so beautiful.The staircase had a fountain. I think the people of Paris used to count on these fountains for drinking water, and they can be found all over the city. Our teacher said that you can still drink from them unless there's a sign saying you can't. This one seemed to not be running, however.This is the street at the top of the stairs. The sign says that I was in Place Benjamin Fondane. You can see the gutter in the middle of the street, good for rainwater (and sewage I suppose, once upon a time...)A picture of the History of Paris class. Look at how cute our teacher is, with her hat!! The beam at the top of this door is the original one!

The sign says that Renee Descartes used to live here. Damn

Elections are coming up, so every arondissement's mairie has this election boards up. One board for each party. This is were Ernest Hemingway used to live.

Place de la Contrescarpe

The Mayflower, one of the best pubs I've been in so far! They had Ontario and Quebec license plate on the walls! I miss home.

I lost a few pictures which makes me sad. They were of the old Philippe-Auguste wall built around 1200. It used to be the wall that contained Paris. We actually went into a private courtyard where we could see the wall. Well, you guys can just Google it if you're curious.

My Family Reunion

2008-02-27T17:17:00.000-05:00

Sunday, February 17th was the day. My great-tante Marcelle's Paris aparment was the place. The event= a super-awkward but still fun family reunion. Tante Marcelle's passion is music, and her apartment is a veritable museum of instuments and other symphonic periphenalia.

Two pianists played on Marcelle's 100-year-old (as of this year!) double-piano. Well, this is a picture of them on one the sides, but for some of the pieces they each took a side. I remember they played Rhapshody in Blue, and some West Side Story.

Marcelle's hallway. Brimming with interesting stuff!

My cousin Frederique and her new son. Cute!

My Tante Elizabeth. That kid is also related to me, but fuck me if I know how.

Mamousse! She's another "tante", but more distant.

Drink and chat!

My tante Nicole made me a family tree so I could try to place people, but it was basically futile. Most of these people are descendents of like my great-great grandmother's brother, or some such thing.

Marcelle and Mamousse

I love that Marcelle is totally not wearing bras anymore. I can't wait to be old.... She's my hero. I want to be just like her one day.

Best part of the thing= chocolate cake.

There's a first time for anything

2008-02-25T19:06:00.000-05:00

So I'm at the movie theatre yesterday (to see Jumper, in which Hayden Christensen's hotness was the only highlight) and I tried to get a medium-sized cup of Kit-Kat balls. And the guy encourages me to get the SMALLER size as it is part of value deal. SMALLER! And it worked! I was persuaded!

This *idea* of encouraging the customer to buy less goes against everything I grew up beleiving.

Hold me.

Valentine who?

2008-02-14T18:37:00.000-05:00

Another Valentine's Day come and gone. You know, in my heart I feel like this day is a complete scam. I subscribe to the belief that it's a marketing ploy concocted by Hallmark. I agree with Ze Frank that saying "I love you" on February 14th is, if anything, much more meaningless than saying it on any other day. But underneath all that reasoned thinking, I just really want to have a romantic dinner with a special someone. Someday...

Happy Valentine's day, for all the lovers. And the for all the solo cats too.

A long overdue post about my apartment.

2008-02-13T20:12:00.000-05:00

I should have done this post soon after I moved in, but whatever. I just thought you guys might want to have a vague idea of where I live, although it's been almost 6 months that I've been here.

As you may know, I don't actually live in Paris, but just south of the city limits in a working-class town called Gentilly. There isn't a lot of restaurants, bars, clubs, tourists, or anything like that, BUT I still think it's a great place to live. I have 2 grocery stores, 2 bakeries, 2 butchers, a laundry mat, a post office, a flower shop, a newspaper store, a convienience store that's open all the time, and an open-air market that happens 2 mornings per week, and all this is within a 2-minute walk. (I think I used the number 2 a little much in that last sentence.) Regardless, Gentilly is a practical place to live, and the people here are very friendly.

This is a sticker someone put on the back of a stop sign. It says "Sarkozy is watching you!" There are a lot of anti-Sarkozy posters in Paris.

This is a map of the town located just outside the mairie, which is just by my building.
Some grafitti I pass everyday alongside some left-wing political posters. This "walk" sign is not the typical one for paris. Le petit bonhomme vert here is more chill looking.This is what I see as I walk into my place: my little kitchen. You can see my little 2-burner stove (the tiny fridge is below it), my microwave/oven, and my water heater that lets me 10-minutes hot showers, if I'm lucky.

Another view of the sink area. Once you leave the kitchen, you're in my room! Here you can see my Ikea fold-out bed and Moulin Rouge poster.

Here is the fireplace that's been converted to a store space. It's my cave a vin.

Here is my desk, which I never actually work at. The chair is now mainly used to hang my towel on (it dries better that way), and the desk covered with random crap I really should put away.

Here's the view from my bedroom window. The neighbour has a garden! I can also see the courtyard of my building, where we keep the garbage bins.

This is the view from the kitchen's window.

I didn't take a picture, but I also have a decent bathroom with a shower, toilet, sink, mirror.... you know, the usual.

In conclusion, I love my little apartment! It's a little out of the way, but I can walk to school within an hour (which I had to do during the metro strikes), and the RER will get me there in a couple minutes. YAY!

Gumbo!

2008-02-10T10:08:00.000-05:00

I missed a party this weekend. I was invited to a Chinese New Year party which I was really looking forward to. The hostess cheekily asked all people born in the year of the rat (which means me, Miss. 1984) to wear red underwear. Not owning any, I actually bought some pretty crimson underthings specifically for this purpose. In my mind the party was on Sunday, but I realized too late that it actually on Saturday. FRUSTRATING! On the plus side, I do have some sexy new underwear, as well as 2 new dresses and a black turtle neck, all of which will allow me to better blend in with the chic natives.

The other day I went to see a really fascinating exhibit at L’Hôtel de Ville called “Paris en couleurs.” It featured photographs of the city since the advent of colour photography, around 1918, to today. That means pictures of Paris when people were still getting around with horse-drawn carriages, as well as pictures from the German occupation, all the way to Paris celebrating the turn of the millennium. You know, this video explains it a lot better:

Expo « Paris en couleurs » à l?Hôtel de Ville
Uploaded by mairiedeparis

I also hosted a party chez moi the last weekend. I made my first Cajun gumbo, which turned out surprisingly good. The small crowd, which included some friends from the exchange as well as some friends of my co-host Erin, made the party very lively and fun. Here are some pictures:

This is the picture we put on the Facebook invitation. We look hot, right?

School starts Monday. I am taking a course about Cubism, one about German art from 1945-60, one about movements in modern Western art, and one about the History of Paris. I’m actually pretty excited! I just hope they aren’t too hard or stressful, as I am allergic to hard work. I also don’t have any school on Fridays (hurrah!) and the earliest I start is 10am, which is only on Wednesday (double hurrah!). So, to sum up, my schedule kicks some serious ass.

I'm really feeling the blogging bug lately, so I think I'll start posting more regularly. I have no idea if the posts will be quality, but regarless.

Lesson of the day: don't mess with the metro

2008-02-05T16:58:00.000-05:00

I was looking at the Globe and Mail's website today and came across this sketchbook slideshow by cartoonist Brian Gable. I love the depictions of Paris in January, and they are very true to life. Click on the picture to check it out!

In other news, I passed my Goya class! 13.5/20 baby! I also got "controlled" on the RER. I fucked up and took the wrong train, ending up in zone 3. My metro pass is only good for zones 1 and 2. On-the-spot fine of 25 euros. What can you do? Stupid life.

1st term here officially "un fait accompli" (assuming I didn't fail any courses)

2008-01-28T21:35:00.000-05:00

I wrote my final test for "Roman, Cinema, Societe" (I really don't know how to do accents on this laptop) and I mean, I didn't bother to study that much, but I think it went OK. It wasn't exactly my favourite course, and ultimately I just wanted to pass it and get it all behind me.

After that, I went les galaries nationales du grand palais to see the Gustave Courbet exhibit. It was really packed as it was the last day for the it, but I'm really glad I went. I really don't know much about Courbet, but I am somewhat familiar with a few of his works. Here is a sampling of what I saw:

This was the exhibition's poster, with one of his self-portraits

Burials at Ornans, which is incredibly huge. I looked it up, it's about 10 feet high and 21 feet long. I'm constantly impressed by how gigantic some of the paintings I've studied really are.

The (in)famous L'origine du monde

His paintings were really cool and interesting. I also loved his landscapes and hunting scenes. The Musee d'Orsay has a good webpage if you're interested in learning more.

After the exbibt, I came back home. Erin and her friend Bobby came over later to eat some pasta and oreos, and watch C.R.A.Z.Y., a wonderful French-Canadian movie if you've never seen it.

A giant, picture-filled post to make up for the fact that I haven't posted in a while

2008-01-27T10:08:00.000-05:00

So I know it's been a damn long time since I've last posted. I guess there hasn't been too much to report. I've been mostly lying in bed the last few days doing nothing, and the less I do the less willing I am to get up and be productive. I'm fairly certain I'm only attending to my blog now is because I have to study for an exam tomorrow, and blogging is less effort. I am a professional procastinator!

First off, watch this video of Flight of the Conchords, a comedy, folk song duo from New Zealand. They do a song about a sexy song called "Business Time."

I've just been watching a bunch of their songs on YouTube, and they are all hilarious. Here are a few pictures from the Christmas holidays.

Les Galeries Lafayette

Paris at Christmastime

La famille
Melanie, Camille, and Mom (she's kissing Camille's hand. How cute is that baby!)

Me in Santa mode

My cousin Dave has already come and gone. We had a lot of fun together, but I was mostly stressed about my Goya exam and didn't get to spend as much time with him as I would have liked. We didn't go to Amsterdam either.

But we did do some cool shit together. We got to ride the giant ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde.

The wheel

The view from the wheel We checked out the Louvre, and the inverted pyramid (and the Starbucks. Dave loves Starbucks)
La grande arche de la Defense (which is in the business area of Paris. Apparently all of Notre Dame cathedral could fit inside).
The Pompidou Centre (the line-ups were crazy so we only looked at the building)
La musee des arts et metiers

And the Moulin Rouge, where we ate a nice dinner, watched a wonderfully tacky show, and met two cool Austrailian guys sitting next to us.

Now I really need to get studying for this friggin' exam.

p.s. Please comment! I'm lonely and I love reading them. God I'm desperate.

Words I've learnt

2008-01-08T18:25:00.000-05:00

from Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, which I am presently reading

lu·gu·bri·ous /lʊˈgubriəs, -ˈgyu-/ [loo-goo-bree-uhs, -gyoo-]
–adjective
mournful, dismal, or gloomy, esp. in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner: lugubrious songs of lost love.
[Origin: 1595–1605; <>-ous]

re·con·noi·ter (rē'kə-noi'tər, rěk'ə-)
v. tr. To make a preliminary inspection of, especially in order to gather military information. v. intr. To make a reconnaissance.
[Obsolete French reconnoître, from Old French reconoistre, to recognize; see recognize.]

Things are going well in Paris, by the way. My cousin Dave arrives tomorrow! I'm very excited, but less excited to have to get up at 7am to meet him at the airport. I'm hoping we get the chance to visit Amsterdam together. This song has been inspiring me to see the city. I mean, I've seen the airport, so it's time I see the rest of it.

Well that was fast

2008-01-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

My stay in Montreal is almost at a close. I had a nice little vacay though. I had forgotten how nice my parent's house is! How much I love my bathtub! I love being home, but I know it's time to return to Paris 'CAUSE MY PARENTS ARE DRIVING ME FUCKING CRAZY! I love them though.

Christmas was lovely. I got a Jamie Oliver cookbook, my plane ticket back to Paris, cash in Euro form, a Tommy Hilfiger gift certificate, a necklace and a spa massage + pedicure. I got to meet my cousin's new baby girl Camille, who is absolutely adorable. Things got kind of tough when my Dad had a bad sciatica attack (a pinched nerve in his back) which left him immobile and we had to call an ambulance. Right now he's feeling much better, but he's on some pretty strong pain killers. For New Year's Eve I went to my brother's place to party with him and some of his friends. It was pretty fun, but they love punk and metal a lot and that really isn't my favourite kind of music.

I think the best part about being back has been the weather! Canadian winter, yes! Right now it's -14 outside and there's like 4 feet of snow on the ground. I'm not even kidding, it's absolutely nuts. I will post my pictures from Montreal when I get back to Paris and can load them on my laptop.

I will leave you, however, with this lovely New Year's picture of me (who is not as inebriated as the picture suggests) and my brother's friend Damien (who is, in my brother's word, "a slime ball")

Happy 2008 everyone!

Back to Montreal on Sunday

2007-12-20T04:59:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to come back to Montreal! Back to my family, Christmas cheer, my bathtub (oh how I miss my bathtub)! And back to the Canadian winter, but only for a week, which is about as much as anyone really needs. Here's what I have to look forward to:

You don't get this picture everyday.

2007-12-14T12:24:00.000-05:00

Me, standing on the roof of Jared's building, with Notre Dame behind me.

Taking advantage of "free Sunday"

2007-12-03T18:29:00.000-05:00

Right now it's 12:36am and I am just lying on my bed completely relaxed. I finished my presentation, I just wrote a test for my Roman, Cinema, Societe class, and I have no school tomorrow. Ahhh... Life is sweet. Matt just left a little while ago. He came over "to do homework," but we just ate some steak, got buzzed off Malibu and Coke (too sweet to get drunk with as I discovered), and looked at cute guys on MySpace (one of the most fun things to do with a gay friend is check out guys together).

This past Sunday was a "free Sunday," meaning that many of the sites and museums were free because it was the first Sunday of the month. I got to see the Musee D'Orsay for the first time this trip (I did go 8 years ago though). It was amazing! Overwhelming even. It was filled with some of the most famous Monets, Manets, Gaugins, Renoirs, Van Goghs, etc... Here are some examples:

Manet

Monet

Many Van Goghs

Cezanne

Renoir

I don't know who did this one, but she looks tres sexy with that cigarette, no?

I also don't know who did this sculpture, but you've gotta appreciate that this photo rocks!

Degas

Afterwards I got to check out Sainte-Chapelle, a church built in the 1200s by Louis IX to hold Jesus' crown of thorns (he actually paid more for the crown than to build the church!) It has some of the most magnificent stained-glass windows in the world.

The famous rose window of Ste-Chapelle which, according to my guide, depicts the Apocalypse.

And then we headed to the Conciergerie, which used to be a prison. During the Revolution they held prisioners here before sending them to be guillotined at Place de la Concorde (Marie-Antionette was held here).

That's about all for now! I'm going to hit the shower and get some shut eye.

School.Art.Hair.

2007-11-30T14:59:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-24T06:22:00.001-05:00

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

Stressed and lazy

2007-11-21T15:04:00.000-05:00

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:

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.

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

2007-11-15T11:30:00.000-05:00

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

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).
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).
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).
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.
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?

2007-11-12T05:36:00.000-05:00

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.

Thoughts from September 27 to October 8, 2007

2007-10-23T05:07:00.000-04:00

Thursday, September 27, 2007

A summary of my life since arriving in Paris:

(1) Arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport after long, long, flight. Was greeting by my Tante Nicole, who gave Sebastian and I RER (train) tickets and pointed us towards the Cité Universitaire where we would be living for the first ten days. Seb and I lugged our heavy, cumbersome luggage to the Maison des Etudiants Canadiens and got settled in our rooms. I felt like shit, but after a nap and a shower I went to find Seb who was with Matt and Erin who were chilling with some wine. That’s how I came to meet my present group of friends.

My room at the Canadian House

(2) The first few days we did a lot of walking around Paris, eating out at random restaurants, and drinking cheap red wine. I got the chance to visit the Musée Rodin, go on a boat tour of the Seine, and explore Paris. A lot of the outings were planned by MICEFA.

Me sightseeing

(3) The intensive French class has already finished. I was originally placed in the intermediate strong class, but a few of us found it way too easy so we quickly switched into the advanced class. It was alright; I learned some things. The best part is that I get school credits for it!

(4) I went through the trials and tribulations of finding a place to live. I thought it would be easier that it was, but I am happy to be where I am now, in my little apartment in Gentilly.
Now to get to more recent events. Last night I threw a little dinner party with Alan, Erin, and Jared. I made a whole chicken, potatoes, and salad and we had some chocolate cake I bought at a local bakery for dessert. We had a lot of fun and very squished. You see, I only have three chairs, so we had to double up a bit. As it turns out Erin didn’t go to Spain like I thought she had because she got a stomach flu.

The conversation at the party turned to the dark side of living in Paris. Specifically, the negative experiences Alan and I both had the metro today. Alan got hit by a man running the catch the métro, getting thrown against the side of the métro car and falling to the ground, unconscious and bleeding. And no one helped him. No one helped him up. No one asked him if he was ok. Not the guy who hit him, nor anyone else who was there. He was lying on the ground bleeding for God’s sake. It’s truly scary to think that I live in a city where you could get seriously hurt and not even a decent pedestrian will lend a hand. My bad experience occurred in a crowded métro car where this old man started rubbing into me. I was freaking out internally because I couldn’t move anywhere and he was doing it harder and harder. He wasn’t even looking at me or anything; he was just staring off in another direction while driving his crotch into my thigh. Well, when the métro stopped a few people got off and I took the opportunity to move as far away from him as possible. I wasn’t too shaken by the incident, as it’s something that happens everyday I’m sure, but I still had the gross feeling of old man dick on my leg for most of the day. Yuck.

October 1, 2007

So I have a head cold. Which means that I’m all congested and feel like crap in general. Luckily I went to a pharmacy and got some nasal spray and pills that have like speed or something in them and I feel much better now. I thought today was going to be the first day of classes, but as it turns out my French cinema and literature class starts next week, as do all my art history classes. The art history course guide I got said that classes begin on October 1st; I only found out that they actually begin next week when I went to the building and overheard that because of construction, lectures would be starting on the 8th. I don’t know how I was supposed to know that without making that trip.

So how did I get sick, you ask? Well, I believe I caught a virus from Matt, who I saw on Saturday when he, Erin, and I went to see the broadway musical Cabaret. I’d seen the Liza Minelli film adaptation several years ago, and the stage production was quite different. It was all in French, of course, but I understood most of it (probably because I had seen the movie). Erin was drooling over the gorgeous female dancers who were wearing nothing but negligés and garters for the whole play, while Matt was smitten with the homoerotic emcee. I loved it the whole production, and I love that I did something very cultural and cool with two people I like hanging out with. One downside to the evening: my beautiful new black patent-leather, stacked-heel five-inch high pumps nearly killed me. They are what I like to call taxi shoes (ie. not meant for walking).

Here is a number from Cabaret performed on a French TV show.

On Sunday I went to an exhibit with Sebastian called Bêtes et Hommes. I’d seen the exhibit advertised all over the métro stations and whatnot, so I decided that since there’s nothing else to do on Sundays, why not check it out. The exhibit was...weird. I think the language barrier prevented me from really understanding what the organizers were trying to communicate. There were televisions playing skits about Darwin using puppets. There were cages of animals like crows, vultures, iguanas, and otters. There were strange art installations: an octopus with diamonds surrounded by ghosts, a grizzly bear humping a polar bear, a series of photographes depicting a blind woman going throught the day with her seeing-eye dog. There was scientific stuff, modern arty stuff, funny stuff, serious stuff, informative stuff. For me, the fact that there were so many different, seeming unrelated things shown at the exhibit that made it confusing for me. However, it was interesting and a fun way to kill time on a Sunday. The downside (there’s always a downside) is that that’s when I started to feel sick. Which brings us back to today. Fucking head cold. Could be worse though. Apparently everyone’s sick these days and it’s not like I’m in the hospital or anything.

October 3, 2007

Yesterday, which was a Tuesday, I neither had any classes nor anythng else to do. Tuesday being a day that most of the museums and galleries are closed, being cultural was out of the question. So I decided to do my laundry and see a movie. I’ll spare you the details of me doing the laundry except to mention that I don’t have a washing machine at my place so I have to go to the laundromat that this fortunately very close to me. The movie I decided to see was Goya’s Ghosts (Les fantômes de Goya) which was playing in English with French subtitles. It’s a movie I’ve been wanting to see for a while because not only does it star Natalie Portman, who I love, it’s also about the Spanish painter Goya, who I also love. The story is about Spain during a very tumultuous time in its history when they had the Inquisition, then the French Revolution come in, and then the return of the monarchy. Portman plays one of Goya’s models who gets taken by the Inquisition only to be tortured, raped, and kept in a dungeon for 15 years. It was a heartbreaking film, but I’m glad I saw it because I knew little to nothing of Spain’s history and Goya’s place in it beforehand, and I love learning history while being entertained. As a side note, the theatre I went to was fantastic: no ads, no previews, pitch-black, and cheap tickets.

Today I finally had a class. It’s a MICEFA class called “Grammaire du texte” that is about grammar, analyzing sentences, and understanding texts. I don’t know if it will turn out to be the most fascinating course in the world, but I know that it will be helpful because I still don’t understand a lot of the stuff I read. It’s frustrating when you read a sentence and even though you know what each word means, you still don’t get what the sentence really says. I hope this course will help with that and also help me with my written French. I think the best part of the class, other than the fact that most of my friends are in it with me (Matt, Erin, Alan, Seb) is that it’s being held at the Sorbonne, which is a very famous school in French that was established about 700 years ago. The classroom itself is a small library, although the bookshelves are all empty now. I love having classes in these ancient, beautiful buildings. It’s a refreshing change from Waterloo.

October 8, 2007

I’m twenty-three (23) years old. Does that mean I’m in my mid-twenties? Am I still a kid? 23 is overall a fairly unaventful birthday; you can’t do anything new like drinking, driving, smoking, or voting. But in my mind it seems like a scarily big number. I don’t think that I’m old at all, but as the numbers mount, the more it seems like I should be a real adult. And that’s something I don’t feel like at all.

Today was the first day I had art history classes at the Sorbonne. Real art history, in French, with real French art history students. It was pretty intense, I will tell you. I could understand maybe about 50% of what they were saying, but the other 50% was the important stuff. “A blazchmba is a type of ceiling where the arches of the roof come together in a gzbleh.” This is what the entire class sounded like to me. But the teacher was nice, and the other students seem nice too. They all were willing to help me and give me some advice and whatnot. All wished me “Bon courage” too, which is a friendly but cryptic thing to be wished. Does studying art history really take a lot of courage??

Now to describe this past weekend, my birthday weekend!

Saturday: Me and some other MICEFA students went to meet some French telecommunications students to speak English with them. I was paired with a guy named Styven who was from Gabon, Africa. He was very nice, but from my converstion with him I got the vibe that he wanted to marry me and get me knocked up. I got this impression from some of the questions/comments he made to me during our time together (in this order, but not all at once):

• Do you have any children?
• Are you married?
• Do you have a boyfriend?
• I find you very beautiful.
• If we had children, they would be a nice colour.
• Do you want to have children?
• How many children do you want to have?
• When I graduate, I want to get a woman and have children.

Anyways, like I said he was very nice and he wasn’t coming on to me (even though it seems like it from what I wrote). He just asked really odd questions, in my opinion, for someone you just met.

Saturday evening was Nuit Blanche, a night when all the metro lines are supposed to be open all night and there are cultural events throught the night all over Paris. However, because metro workers would strike if ever forced to work all night (it’s just once a year guys), only one line was open. Line 14, which is apparently completely automated. The night started with everyone watching the rugby game between France and New Zealand which no one thought France would win (if you know rugby you know the NZ All Blacks are the best team in the world). Against all odds, however, France fucking won! The entire city was going nuts! You could hear everyone cheer simultaneously, it was an awesome celebratory atmosphere. I was looking forward to seeing some of the outdoor art exhibits that had been set up at sights along line 14. But Alan and Matt took me to a bar in the Marais (a beautiful part of town that is currently the gay/Orthodox Jewish district). The bar wasn’t completely gay though, and I wound up getting quite a lot of practice on my French flirting skills (one handsome guy came up and whispered something about my eyes and gave me a little peck, so I know my flirting skills are improving). After one long island ice tea too many, the three of us wobbled home to Alan’s place to crash.

Matt, Alan, and I drunk on Nuit Blanche in front of Notre Dame

Sunday: I met up with Sebastian and Nick to check out some of the museums that are free on the first Sunday of the month. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm and blue skies. What a wonderful day for a birthday! The three of us went to the Musée Rodin and the Musée de Moyen Age. They were also being super-nice to me ‘cause it was my birthday, telling me I could do what I want. I threw a little party at my place afterwards with Seb, Nick, Erin, Jared, Matt and Alan. We had a lot of fun eating Chinese food, drinking wine/champagne, and playing charades. The running joke during charades was hump Sebastian, much to Seb’s sexual confusion. All my friends sang “Happy Birthday” to me in different languages all simultaneously (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Cantonese). Erin videotaped it so hopefully I’ll be able to post the video. Another highlight, Jared gave me a lapdance as a birthday present. It was awkward. But funny. I’ll take awkward but funny. At least I wasn’t Sebastian with people humping me all night.

I will leave a few more insights into living in Paris:

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat a loaf of Wonder bread again. I’m all about the bakery with hot-out-of-the-oven baguette now.

I’ve never been hit on more in my life since I’ve been here. Although it’s rarely with men I find attractive. Men here are more open with flirting. I’ve had a guy stop his motorcycle just to chat me up.

There is indeed quite a bit of dog poop on the sidewalks. I haven’t stepped in any yet (knocks on wood).

They don’t have any processed cheese nor blocks of orange cheddar here that I’ve seen. Only the good stuff.

Thoughts from Wednesday, September 26, 2007

2007-10-21T16:26:00.000-04:00

Living in Paris is more agreeable that I had predicted it would be. In fact, I’m enjoying it so much that I’m 99% sure that I will remain living here for the entire year. A four month stay really is too short; by the time I start to get fully acclimatized to life here it would already be time to leave. Also, in after a whole year I will probably become completely fluent in French. It may mean dropping out of co-op, but I’ve talked to my parents and they support my decision.

Finding an apartment was harder than I thought it would be. A lot of students live in chambres de bonnes which are what used to be the maids’ chambers at the tops of the old, chic buildings. The problem with them is that they are small, usually crappy, and have shared toilets (One of my friends shares a Turkish toilet, which is just a porceline hole in the ground). On the upside, they often have panoramic views of the city.

My apartment, on the other hand, is a cute little studio with a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. At 18m2, it’s the biggest apartment of all my friends. However, it’s also outside Paris in the proche banlieue of Gentilly. It’s all newly renovated and I’m really quite happy here. I am a bit worried I’ll be lonely without a roommate, but once I get a TV and internet, it will be better.

Last night Sebastian came over for dinner. We had some cheese and peppered pork terrine on fresh baguette which we washed down with the red wine he brought. We then went out for sushi, which was not nearly as good as the sushi back home, and then we came back for more wine. I drank a bit too much and was pretty tipsy. Once he left I polished off the rest of the 2nd bottle and was pretty drunk. I had a very enjoyable candle-lit shower and then plopped into my bed (which is an IKEA click-clack being held up by books at the moment). I slept well from about 9pm until 3:30am, but then I woke up. Since then, I haven't been able to get back to sleep. It's 6:25am right now and I'm still awake! [Note: I’m revising this now at 8am, and I’m still up].

Interesting tidbits about Paris:

The café is a place where you can get a cup of coffee and read the morning paper, get hammered on beer while watching the rugby game, or have a gourmet meal. Usually those activities are conducted at different locations in Canada, but not here.

Mustard here is divine. It's spicy and flavourful and everything you would want a mustard to be. A lot of restaurants keep it on the table with the salt and pepper. I used to not like mustard, but I know realise that I just didn’t like that putrid yellow junk they call mustard back home. French mustard is my new favourite condiment.

Food, especially fries, is less salty here. I think it's just because North American food is over-salted.

Pharmacies can be found on every street corner. They aren’t the convienient vendors of sell personal hygeine products like Shopper’s Drug Mart is; they just have medicine and some over-priced beauty creams. I haven't yet worked out why the French need so many damned pharmacies.

In Paris, students have to sign up for classes in person. It's an archaic and frustrating process that would be easily remedied if the universities could discover the possibilities provided by the "internets."

School toilets usually don’t have seats on them. They are like a regular toilet where someone took the seat part off. It's fine because you'd probably squat anyways, but I thought it was noteworthy.

Canadian stores are open every day and they are open late. Here stores close for Sundays and they close earlier in the evening. This is also true of restaurants. What there is to do on a Sunday if you can't shop? Parisians either sleep in and relax at home (it's a good day to make a fancy dinner), they exercise (there are forests around the city, and the streets lining the Seine close Sundays for pedestrians and cyclists), or they go to museums which are often free on Sundays.

Wine is cheap here. This tidbit is pretty obvious, but I was only 14 the last time I was here and I just now noticing dirt-cheap it is. I don't know anything about wine, but Sebastian (whose father makes wine) told me that we can buy here for under €5 (about $7) would cost $50 at the LCBO. I've been to restaurants where the wine is cheaper than the water.

One of my earliest memories of Paris was from when I was a young girl, maybe eight or so, and I saw a couple making out on a bench, in broad daylight, near my granny's apartment. Having never seen people making out before, this made quite and impression on me. PDA is much more prominent in Paris. It's quite common to see couples kissing—eating each other’s faces, really—in public in this city. It's something that you would never see people doing in Canada (at least not without getting stared at dissaprovingly).

That's all the tidbits that came to mind for the moment. Now I thought it would be fun to give a little description of my friends in Paris (at least the ones I hang out with the most).

Matt and Alan

Matt Ray (23, Florida), speaks Italian (he lived there for a year), used to work at a fondue restaurant (he said he’d make us fondue one day), and is very energetic. He’s not only fun but he’s also someone here that I really trust, which is a hard thing to find in someone. Right now he is in Spain killing time until school starts.

Alan “Japanalan” Kawakai...something Hawaiian (25, California) is not, despite the nickname, Japanese. Well, he’s a ¼ Japanese. It’s just that the men on the métro try to pick him up, asking whether he’s Japanese or not. Japan must be "in" here. He always responds “yes” too! Anyways, he's a very cool guy who has an envy-inducing apartment in the middle of the city for which he pays pays only €500 per month for (damn him!). He always seems to know where cool stuff is happening, like a good party or something.

Erin (20, Louisiana) is a the most indie girl I know. She's beautiful and voluptuous like a pin-up girl from the 50's. I think she looks rather like Parker Posey. She has short, shaggy, coal-black hair that she occasionally sweeps up into a faux-hawk. She’s also a belly dancer who is searching for a half-decent dance studio in Paris (not easy). She's good to have around because French men find her charmante—which we suspect is a euphemism for "has big breasts"—and they give her free stuff.

Jared Leblanc (23, Louisiana) is someone Erin knew from back home. He’s incredibly handsome, but unfortunately he’s also gay. He’s so handsome that I know of three men who've asked him out since he got here a few short weeks ago. Right now he's dating a 34-year-old banker named Stephane (good name, right?) that he met on the métro. We're all jealous that Jared found his French sugar daddy, something the rest of us are still working on.

Lucas (29, Quebec) is a man we met while we were temporarily housed at the Maison des Etudiants Canadiens. He is good to hang out with because he teaches us a lot about the French language and culture, especially the rude and naughty stuff. After learning that I have French citizenship he also proposed marriage to me, trying to persuade me by saying "I [Lucas that is, not me] have a big penis." I figure I could do worse husband-wise, so Lucas if you’re reading this, if I'm 40 and still single I may just give you a call.

Seb and Nick

Sebastian "Man vs. Wild" Schmoranz (20, Waterloo) is the only person here I knew beforehand. I was so stressed out when I was boarding the plane to come here, but by coincidence he was on the same flight and his presence was such a relief to me (the drinks we had at the airport bar didn’t hurt either). I had always gotten the impression that he didn't like me as he had never made an effort to talk to me or hang out with me in Waterloo. But now that I'm here I find that we are indeed friends. Seb is a good guy to have around because he has a good sense of direction, knows a lot of interesting stuff, and is the token "man" of our group.

Nick (20, Waterloo) is another cool guy to hang out with. His distinctive trait is is very, very low voice. It drives the ladies to him like tornadoes to a trailer park. And did I mention that he's straight? All the straight men came from the Loo! Holla!

My birthday party

2007-10-18T12:07:00.001-04:00

This is how I celebrated my 23rd birthday on October 7th. I threw a little party at my apartment and my friends sang Happy Birthday to me in different languages, simulateously. The attendees (and their respective languages) are: Matt (Italian), Sebastian (German), Erin (Spanish), Nick (French), Jared (English), and Alan (Mandarin/Thai).

In another internet café

2007-10-15T09:34:00.000-04:00

I was just reading the comments from my last posting, and I hadn't realized that people were worrying whether I was alive! Yes, I am alive. To amend my last posting in which I said that I had taken 200 pictures, I checked the other day and I've actually taken closer to 400. I plan to get an account on Picassa or something and post them all, as I think this blog would explode if I put them all up here.

I finally have my classes all figured out (classes only began the first and second weeks of October). Here's what I'm taking, all of which are in French:

- Roman, Cinéma, Société: This is a course offered by MICEFA (the exchange program). The teacher is a nice, retired professor. Right now we are reading accounts from French soldiers from the first world war and watching war movies. It's alright, though war films and litterature aren't my thing really.

- Grammaire du texte: This is another MICEFA class. It's just straight-up French grammer and text analysis. I'm hoping this will help me with my reading comprehension and writing too. The best part about this class is that it takes place in the old Sorbonne building, which is a historical sight. You need to show your student card to a guard just to get in!

- Histoire de France: Yet another MICEFA class. It's about French history (duh) from the middle ages, through the French Revolutions and to today.

- L'art d'Egypte, Proche-Orient, et Islam: A first-year art history class at the Sorbonne Art and Architecture school (which looks like a castle, I'll have to post pictures). This class is good because there are other American students in it (yes, I'm grouping myself with the Americans. I'm in France and that's just how it it). Anyways, all us English-speaking students can help one another out.

- Goya: This is a third-year art history course that looks really fun so far. The reason I decided to take it was because I just saw Goya's Ghosts, which is a good a reason as any in my opinion. The teacher is very funny and sympathetic to foreign students. I have to do an oral presentation for this class too, but I'm not overly worried about it. The prof gave us a list of books which were split between French, Spanish, and English. Therefore, what I don't understand in class I can read up on in English!

So that's it for school. So far I understand almost everything the teachers say in the lectures. I hope that in a few months I will be able to express my self as well as I understand others.

Hmm, what else.... What am I doing other than school? I've been visting a lot of museums. I've been to the Louvre 3 times already (it's free for those under 26 on Friday nights). I've been going out to some cheap restaurants, especially the fabulous kebab places that you find all over here. I have people over for dinner. I went to a hooka bar once. I saw a few movies. Threw a few parties. That's pretty much it. What can I say, I'm doing the best I can to make the most of my time here. As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been keeping a little journal which I will post when I have internet at my apartment. I have more stuff in it about who my friends are here and what exactly I've been doing.

That's all I've got for now. Ciao!

In an internet café

2007-10-12T06:41:00.000-04:00

In the latin quarter of Paris, right near La Sorbonne, the 700-year-old school where I happen to be taking Art History classes. I have 3 minutes left of internet access (2 Euros doesn't go far). I just want to let all my blog readers know that I am still alive and doing very well here in Paris. I am keeping a journal which I will post as soon as my apartment gets internet access. I've also taking over 100 (maybe 200?) photos which I will also post. Please accept my apologies on having neglected my blog.

Love,

Cute. Dancing. Robot.

2007-08-19T03:04:00.001-04:00

Exams are over! And this video makes me happy. I also think my most loyal reader, Mary, will enjoy it. The song is so awesome! It's "I Turn My Camera On" by Spoon.

Enjoy!

Edit: The song is called "Don't you evah." It says so at the beginning of the song :S

Archie's New Look

2007-08-07T18:23:00.000-04:00

I've been a fan of Archie comics for many, many years now, so I was very excited when I picked up one of the new comic books with the new drawing style they're trying out.

I like it! Perhaps because it's new, and Archie rarely has a lot of new stuff (for instance, this particular comic had about 2 new stories that I hadn't read before). Some notes about the new story line done in this more realistic style:

1. Veronica is dating a a-hole named Nick St.Clair. I personally always though Archie was enough of a dick as it was, seeing as he was always two-timing Betty and Veronica and never appreciating Betty enough. Anyhow, Nick is a "bad boy."

2. Betty and Veronica look more real and have cooler clothes, but still remain unrealistically mature-looking 16-year-olds.

3. And speaking of unrealistically mature-looking 16-year-olds, Archie is ripped. I mean, looking at the first picture you wouldn't have thought he was packing some Rambo-esq muscles, would you? It's all a little silly. Traditionally, Archie is more on the slim side.

Me as a Simpson's character

2007-07-31T02:28:00.000-04:00

I finally had some success with the Simpsonize-me program and this is what it came up with. Truth be told, I had to tweak the image (you can change the features yourself once they do it) but I think it turned out pretty good.

Paris Je T'aime

2007-07-29T20:09:00.000-04:00

I just came back from seeing Paris Je T'aime at the Princess Cinema. It was a wonderful film that I would recommend to all the romantics in the world.

The movie consisted of 18 short films, all by differend directors and starring different actors. One reason I wanted to see this movie, other than the fact that it takes place in Paris, is that many of my favourite actors are in it.

Steve Buscemi

Natalie Portman

Rufus Sewell and Emily Mortimer

As well as Bob Hoskins, Gerard Depardieu, Elijah Wood, Maggie Gyllenhaal, William Dafoe, and Juliette Binoche. Oh, and a mime...

After seeing this movie, I am even more excited about my exchange. I hope I'll fall in love with Paris too (or, failing that, just meet a really handsome boy in Paris).

Here is the trailer:

The five hottest rockers

2007-07-26T02:22:00.001-04:00

To celebrate my last day of classes for the summer term, today's post is going to be completely brainless. Here are, in my opinion, the five hottest rocker stars:

Number 5: Ryan Star

Born: January 7, 1978

Known from: Rock Star: Supernova

Star gets the number 5 spot because I don't really know him from a rock band, but rather from reality television. Regardless, he was my favourite contestant on Supernova and I was very sad when he was voted off.

Check him out playing his own song, Back of Your Car here.

Number 4: Trent Reznor

Born: May 17, 1965

Known from: Nine Inch Nails

Okay okay, at 42 he's a little old for me. Regardless, he's aged well, and he's still relevent! NIN's most recent album Year Zero is amazing. You can check out one of the videos, Only, here.

Number 3: John Mayer

Born: October 16, 1977

Known from: Being John Mayer

I'm kind of departing from the "rock" rock, but I'll let it slide for Mayer. I love his songs, I love his voice, I love that he's tall and very handsome. This picture is from his new GAP campaign.

Here he is playing Neon from his first album.

Number 2: Sam Roberts

Born: October 2, 1974

Known from: Sam Roberts Band

I love Sam Roberts. I mean, to the extent that I'm a member of the "Sam Roberts is my husband" group on Facebook. I love his music, love that he can pull of the messy, scruffy look, love that he's Canadian.

I found this clip of him playing a Gordon Lightfoot song.

Number 1: Josh Homme

Born: May 17, 1973

Known from: Queens of the Stone Age

I save the best for last. QOTSA has been one of my favourite bands for a while, and I've been holding a torch for Josh for almost as long. It may be my weakness for redheads, or that I listened to his singing for so many hours that I began to imagine he's singing for me, but he just does it for me.

Here are the Queens doing their hit No One Knows on acoustic.

The end of term is nigh

2007-07-23T00:47:00.000-04:00

I drew an enormous breath of relieve Thursday night as I submitted the last assignment of the term! Take that, "Genres of Business Communication"!

To celebrate, Chris, Chelsea, and I (constant 3rd wheel) went to see Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix. It was amazing, especially seeing all the characters growing up. We got to witness Harry's first kiss:

Actually, I was really struck by how Daniel Radcliffe looked on the cover of the new Details magazine. Check it out:

All I can say is....wow! I can't wait for the final Potter flicks!

Bénabar "Le Dîner"

2007-07-14T16:34:00.001-04:00

Here's another great song by French crooner Bénabar. Here are the lyrics:

J'veux pas y'aller à ce dîner, j'ai pas l'moral, j'suis fatigué, ils nous en voudront pas, allez on n'y va pas. En plus faut que je fasse un régime ma chemise me boudine, j'ai l'air d'une chipolata, je peux pas sortir comme ça. Ça n'a rien à voir je les aime bien tes amis, mais je veux pas les voir parce que j'ai pas envie.

On s'en fout, on n'y va pas, on n'a qu'à se cacher sous les draps, on commandera des pizzas, toi la télé et moi, on appelle, on s'excuse, on improvise, on trouve quelque chose, on n'a qu'à dire à tes amis qu'on les aime pas et puis tant pis.

J'suis pas d'humeur tout me déprime et il se trouve que par hasard, y'a un super bon film à la télé ce soir. Un chef-d'oeuvre du 7ème art que je voudrais revoir, un drame très engagé sur la police de Saint-Tropez. C'est une satire sociale dont le personnage central est joué par de Funès, en plus y'a des extraterrestres.

On s'en fout, on n'y va pas, on n'a qu'à se cacher sous les draps, on commandera des pizzas, toi la télé et moi, on appelle, on s'excuse, on improvise, on trouve quelque chose, on n'a qu'à dire à tes amis qu'on les aime pas et puis tant pis.

J'ai des frissons je me sens faible, je crois que je suis souffrant, ce serait pas raisonnable de sortir maintenant. Je préfère pas prendre de risque, c'est peut-être contagieux, il vaut mieux que je reste ça m'ennuie mais c'est mieux. Tu me traites d'égoïste, comment oses-tu dire ça ? Moi qui suis malheureux et triste et j'ai même pas de home-cinéma.

On s'en fout, on n'y va pas, on n'a qu'à se cacher sous les draps, on commandera des pizzas, toi la télé et moi, on appelle, on s'excuse, on improvise, on trouve quelque chose, on n'a qu'à dire à tes amis qu'on les aime pas et puis tant pis.

It's that time of the year...

2007-07-12T22:05:00.000-04:00

...when school is just paining me.

To illustrate:

lemon = me

juicer = school

I had a bunch of stuff due last week, even more due next week, and I am sooo tired. I may be developing a dependence on energy drinks, although I'm sure it's just a placebo effect that makes be believe they work.

But after next week things will quiet down and I will see the new Harry Potter movie and be happy.

This cute drawing is from http://www.nutandbee.com/index.html. My friend Mary is a fan of their stuff. Check out the site if you want a dose of uber-cute.

New Laptop!

2007-07-10T22:27:00.000-04:00

I just ordered a new Dell laptop yesterday. I was originally going to get a plain one from Best Buy or something, but once I saw the ads for the new colourful Dells I knew I had to have one. Look at how cute they are!

Oh God, I am such a girl.

My housemate Steve is getting a black one. I opted for the green, although the brown and yellow are also pretty neat. But green looks better with my skin, and isn't that the most important thing?

I cannot wait till my little lappy comes in the mail.

I got the matching case too, natch.

French music doesn't suck, part 2

2007-07-09T01:38:00.000-04:00

This is in response to the comments I got for my first posting about French music. My buddy Mark, who lives in Montréal (and therefore knows about such things), told me about this French (from Paris) hip-hop trio called TTC. My other friend Steve told me that French rap sucks, so this is also to prove him wrong.

So I present to you all the infectious beats of TTC:

1. "Téléphone"

2. "Travailler"

This music is a perfect antidote to the Canadian politics essay I have to write by tomorrow.

My Boyfriend the Monster is hungry...

2007-07-08T00:07:00.000-04:00

This is an illustrated story I made last year. Note that the only French word in the entire thing, "sautéed," is misspelled. So few words, yet I still manage to muck it up. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy my story! (Disclaimer: this work is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is not intentional)

Me Talk Pretty One Day

2007-07-05T23:44:00.000-04:00

The following is an expert from David Sedaris' hilarious collection of short stories Me Talk Pretty One Day. In this, the title story, the authour is taking French lessons. On the first day the teacher asks her pupils to list things they like and dislike, and proceeds to insult their lists.

The teacher killed some time accusing the Yugoslavian girl of masterminding a program of genocide, and I jotted frantic notes in the margins of my pad. While I can honestly say that I love leafing through medical textbooks devoted to severe dermatological conditions, the hobby is beyond the reach of my French vocabulary, and acting it out would only have invited controversy.

When called upon, I delivered an effortless list of things that I detest: blood sausage, intestinal pâtés, brain pudding. I'd learned these words the hard way. Having given it some thought, I then declared my love for IBM typewriters, the French work for bruise, and my electric floor waxer. It was a short list, but still I managed to mispronounce IBM, and assign the wrong gender to both the floor waxer and the typewriter. The teacher's reaction led me to believe that these mistakes were capital crimes in the country of France.

[...]

I absorbed as much of her abuse as I could understand, thinking- but not saying- that I find it ridiculous to assign a gender to an inanimate object incapable of disrobing and making an occasional fool of itself. Why refer to crack pipe or Good Sir Dishrag when these things could never live up to all that their sex implied.

If you've ever been as frustrated with learning French and remembering the genders of nouns as I have, you should take a look at this book. Honestly, it is one of the funniest I've ever read.

Transcend practically the dichotomy?

2007-07-05T00:33:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I received an email from the Université Paris-Dauphine, the school where I'll be taking classes this fall. I'm supposed to let them know what courses I plan on taking, but that isn't easy. First, they don't tell you when the lectures take place, and second the course descriptions are some of the most cryptic ones I've ever seen. Case in point (and this comes straight from their site):

Aesthetics and organisational culture

Objectifs:

This course has three main goals:

Transcend practically the dichotomy between science and "humanities" in education and particularly between economics and arts as well as literature in management training.
Discover one's personal creativity and use it as a professional device.
Perceive and experience transdisciplinarity and transculturality through a mode of cognitive navigation between different traditions of reality representation.

Contenu:

Peter Drucker's expressions about work content in the "Knowledge society" as well as Daniel Bell's perspectives on "post-industrial society" in the 60's have both already been validated by numerous researchers dealing with the paradigm of "knowledge economy". This course focuses on Knowledge economy. It starts with Nonaka's 's the Knowledge Creating society and enquires deeper about the concept of knowledge , its meaning in history as well as its anthropology. Going on through the case studies of innovation processes, the role of the metaphor is also explored as an intellectual tool for communication as well as brainstorming.

I don't really understand what any of that means, but seeing as I'm a fine arts and business student, the title sounds promising enough! I've had a life-long desire to experience transdisciplinarity and transculturality. This seems like the kind of course that would make more sense if you attend the lectures high.

Suprising Fact: French music doesn't suck

2007-07-03T21:24:00.000-04:00

I suppose I'm a bit close-minded at times, but in my mind all foreign-language music sucks. For my French conversation class, however, our teacher had us research some French musicians. Shockingly, I rather liked some of it! Here are a few good music videos you can enjoy:

1. Mickey 3D "Respire"

This is an adorable video, but the lyrics are rather sad, telling the story of how mankind is destroying the earth. The video's ending is particularly poignant.

2. Bénabar "Dis Lui Oui"

A very catchy tune and cute video. I rather think Bénabar is pretty cute too! His songs are about real life. This one is about him trying to get a girl, Muriel, to take her boyfriend. The boyfriend is driving Bénabar nuts; he sings that he can't handle living with this guy who is continually talking about her and writing poems about their intimate moments.

Canada Day Fireworks!

2007-07-02T12:15:00.001-04:00

I can't work out how to post a video without creating a new post. Nevertheless, here are the fireworks from the Waterloo Canada Day celebration. Enjoy!

Canada Day Celebrations

2007-07-02T11:28:00.000-04:00

Just as we planned, my friends and I trekked up to the Columbia Ice Fields yesterday to partake in the Canada Day festivities.

Here is the crew: me, Mary, Chelsea and Chris.

Here are some adorable lemurs that were in the petting zoo.

A giant octopus kite.

Me enjoying "the champagne of ginger ale."

The delicious pulled pork sandwiches we all ate. I cannot explain how delectable they were. There were other food vendors there, but this stand has their own smoke-cooker apparatus and advertised all the awards they'd won. Here is the site if you're curious http://www.kitchenerbbq.com/.

Although it was pretty fun, the daytime stuff was more or less exclusively for little kids. Case in point: Chris and I tried to obtain some free Freezies, but were denied because they were "for the kids." BOOO!! On the plus side, we saw a lot of adorable kids, especially twins for some reason.

We came back to the Ice Fields for the 10pm fireworks. I haven't seen decent fireworks in ages, so I was really blown away.

I'm a Clever Equation!

2007-07-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

I'm a bit surprised I have never done this before, but my friends showed me the website that makes anagrams. Naturally I wanted to see what could be done with my name, so here are the best anagrams for Veronique Lecat:

Clever Equation

Acquire Love Net (see drawing)

Never Quite Cola

Crave Quiet Noel

Ace Event Liquor

Quite Over Clean

Evil Queen Actor

Eat! Conquer! Live!

I rather like the last one! It would make a good motto for me. I suppose having three E's in my name in addition to a "QU" really opens up anagram possibilities. If you want to see how your name can be rearranged, go to http://wordsmith.org/anagram/.

Also, Happy 140th Birthday Canada! My friends and I are planning to go to the big UW Canada Day Party. I will post the pictures tomorrow.

2 months to go!

2007-06-30T15:09:00.000-04:00

In exactly two months, I will be boarding my plane to go to Paris. I would be more excited if I were not utterly pre-occupied with school work. I've started this blog to chronicle my experience, for better or for worse.

I'm going to Paris for 4 months to study through a Parisian exchange program called MICEFA (http://www.micefa.org/). I still don't know what classes I'll be taking exactly, but I know there will be some offered by MICEFA and others that I'll take at real universities in Paris. I don't know where I'll be living either, except that the first 10 days I'll be staying at the Maison des Etudiants Canadiens while I search for an apartment.

I haven't been to Paris since I was 14 (which was, let's see...8 years ago) so this will be an interesting experiment.

This picture is an etching of the Eiffel Tower I made this past Fall in a printmaking class I took at school. It also evidences my long-standing obsession with Paris (if you've seen my room you'd notice the multiple Eiffel Tower posters I have).

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