and count every beautiful thing we can see

These last few weeks have been extremely stressful....trying to complete my application to French university on time. The deadline was supposed to be the last day of January, and I worked so hard to make sure I was finished atleast one day before the deadline. And then of course I submit it on time and find a note on the website the next day saying that the deadline has been extended to February 15. Pas juste!!


Life is so wonderful right now. Although it is still not sure that I can stay in France, I am trying not to waste time thinking about "what if I can't". I began a French course the week. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. It is honestly so nice to be sitting in a class room challenging my brain again. It has been a while I must say. What's even better is that the school is located almost directly beside L'arc de Triomphe, at the top of the Champs-Elysées. Each morning when I leave the metro to walk to the school at 9 in the morning, I am amazed to see l'arc de Triomphe there. I could never become tired of French monuments. So after class that day, it is one of the first beautiful days with sunshine I've seen in a while. It had rained that morning so everything was shiny, the sun was brilliant and the sky clear blue. I turned on my eye-pod to listen to this song. And life is amazing. Not perfect, because perfect is boring, and with only perfect there is nothing worse, and it is then impossible to feel something better. Listening to this song and walking down le Champs-Elysées in the morning sunshine, nothing can go wrong. Every care and worry is suddenly forgotten.

Rodney Smith

Sometimes I hear a song, or see a photo or a moment passes, and it connects to me. I feel suddenly emotional. Not necessarily sad or happy, or anything in particular, everything just seems clear. It happens to me often when I'm just walking down the street and find a homeless person looking at me and sometimes just staring, or sometimes begging. But even without words I can feel them begging for something. But sometimes you can see it on the faces of everyday people walking down the street.

But this song is addictive. I heard it on a website and I could not stop listening to it. I wanted to download it, but it couldn't be found anywhere. So then I thought I would buy it, but only a certain number of copies were being sold at Colette. It is a small section of Bohemian Rhapsody turned into a ballad. by Blackjoy. Turn it up really loud, open your windows, or walk down the street listening to it, and prepare to feel something. It is a sexy, seductive song. It is romantic and sad. It is refreshing. Listen to the bass. I have realized that many of my favourite songs have a bass line almost the same to that . Pachelbel's Canon, by Johann Pachelbel, and the bass of Where is my Mind, by the Pixies. They all have something similar to them. I really must thank this gentleman for leading me to "Nothing Really Matters".

raw commitment

Sometimes when I'm eating, or going to eat a piece of fruit, I get lost in thoughts about what I am actually eating. It is an apple. It grows, it is natural, it is part of the earth, it was not created by man. If I am half way through eating this crispy apple and suddenly decide that I have had enough I must either just finish it, or put it in the garbage or compost. I can't just roll up the bag and put it back in the cupboard for later. I can't close the lid and put it back in the fridge to eat a few days later. Nope, can't do that with an apple. You make a commitment to the fruit the second you bite into it, or peel it, or cut it. But not just apples, it's the same for anything....fresh, and anything, well....good for you. Some things last longer, like broccoli you can keep in your fridge for a while, potatoes can stay in the cupboard for a few weeks even. And that fresh cut of beef can stay in your fridge for about a week too. But soon, they will all go bad. And that is ok. Sure, you paid £2 for that bag of mushrooms that you didn't end up eating. But it doesn't matter, because they will decompose. Because you know that they are mushrooms, they are a vegetable. The end. But that bag of Doritos that says best before 10/08/09, or that bottle of creamy alfredo sauce that says please keep refridgerated and consume no more than one week after opening. You know what it is because thats what the label says....but if you were to read whats on the package and use that as a base for recipe....I'm sure you could find only 1/10th of the ingredients.

What exactly is in that "chip" that you are eating??

corn, vegetable oil, chese powder, salt, buttermilk powder, wheat flour, whey protein concnetrate, tomato powder, flavour enhancers (621, 627, 631), onion powder, whey powder, garlic powder, dextrose, sugar, mineral salt (339), food acids (270, 330), flavour (natural), spices, colours (129, 150, 110).. Contains Gluten.. Contains Milk or Milk Products.. Contains Soybeans or Soybean Products.

Let me translate that:
lqsdnfhoizhtong 249879 lskjtirzqtjbarfbarfbarf8347, qzlkrt, shit (978,080,654), zirngjjqjkqqqqqqqqqqqqzortuoziruskdnfizoerutpziuetpizrutoizr8796769874987 pozurtjh

honestly, I love chips, and I am not planning on stopping to eat junk food anytime soon. It's just, how can a snack change so much from a simple apple, to bag filled of "spices" and "colours"? Seriously.... spices, colours.

I started reading this book last year. I didn't finish it though. But if you need a hint for a gift ever, this is one. I've babbled enough for one post, click on the link if you are at all interested in sustainability or potential presents for me.

*The photos are all courtesy of my boyfriend. He used them for a photography project a couple of months ago. But I hardly need to give him credit....after all it was my idea to cover the fruit in glow in the dark powder. I think.

la la la la

step 1:
listen to this

step 2:
look at these

step 3:
crave summer as much as I am right now.

Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand

So the "Paris Soldes" has started.... and I am trying really hard not to indulge. But it's honestly such a tease for me if I can't just buy a few things. So, I am being very careful and thoughtful when I treat myself to something. My favoured peronal treat is my new lingerie from Princess Tam Tam. They are so absolutely delicious. Like cupcakes with tons of purple sprinkles and little gold flakes and and fresh cocoa. I wear them and feel like I am in some magical sugar land.

Photo recognition: Lovely cupcake photos,
thank you Chockylit, from the cupcakeblog
for the photo of the "Persimmon Pavlova
Cupcake". And the painting "Dancers"-1878
by Edgar Degas, one of my favourite artists.

Some unfortunate news about the French founders of Princess Tam Tam. Loumia Hiridjee, and her husband Mourad Amarsy, were sadly 2 of the casualties from the Mumbai attack. They were dining in the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai when it happened. Here is an interesting article on the Mumbai attacks, and here is the background of Princess Tam Tam. And so I will wear my beautiful undergarments with remembrance.

Josephine Baker, Princess Tam Tam

And yesterday night, my O and I used the bike system in Paris, Velib'. How the system works, is that basically there is a collection of about 20-30 city bicycles, that are stationed approximately every 100 meters apart within Paris. You pay an initial fee of 1 euro, and like that you have the bicycle to use for the next 24 hours. Each half-hour though you must replace the bike at a station and take a new one. If not, you will be charged about 1 euro for every half hour. Which still, is not really that bad. It was a little bit scary at first, to be on a bicycle in Paris. It made me much more alert about my surroundings, and fully realized how crazy both the drivers and pedestrians are in this city. I also realized how much I want a Vespa now. Maybe if I stay longer I will check prices....

moi et un parapluie

My hands are sitting here on my keyboard, wanting to type so many thoughts and experiences.... but it has been so long that I don't know where to start. Blog posting became such a part of my basic routine, that now since I've been out for so long it feels strange getting back in. I guess I'll start with a simple friendly greeting to start.

Oh hi. How have you been? I know, it feels like it has been so long! Yes, almost two weeks to be exact. I have really been very busy. I am in the midst of applying to University here in Paris. It is so stressful, and it has been literally consuming me and my life for the past 2 weeks. I must apply to the university through Campus France. It is a website designed specifically for your country of origin, and you must fill out a lifetime of information into the application. I will be so content when the process is complete and I never have to log onto the soul sucking site of Campus France.

Nothing major has really happened recently, other than university related things. And although it has been such a big part of this month, and will continue to be for a while, I am just so tired of speaking of it, that I won't go into any more details here. There, that is my explanation for my lack of posting. I will try to keep this blog as free from treacherous university related things as possible.

It has been raining almost every day off and on the past week. The sky is grey-white and the sun is clearly no where to be found today. C'est dommage. But yesterday, after an intense down-pour of rain and immense winds, the sun came out. It was beautiful to say the least. Every surface was glazed in water, and the sun reflected off the entire city. Everything was illuminated, looking so fresh and vibrant. It was the equivalent of Paris at night, but in the day. Paris shines like a diamond at night, with the lights on the river and lighting up the sky. The buildings at night showing subtle details when the light shines on them.

In other news, it looks likes I will be going back to Canada for a few days for some interviews/ French tests in about a month. eeep poor little bank account.

tardive, mais toujours sincères

Happy (belated) New Year!

I forgot to say happy new year. For some reason, I have never been super excited about New Years. I like the idea of the celebration of the ending of one year, and the beginning of another.... but I think after I realized (quite a few years ago), that New Years was simply that, the novelty wore off. It's like when I was a child and I truly, madly, deeply believed in jolly old St. Nick. Christmas was this magnificent day when magic happened, it was the one day when you didn't have to play make-believe.... it just kind of happened. In fact, Christmas was so advertised (and still is), that you didn't even have to use your imagination to wonder what Santa and his reindeer and elves looked like....the media produced this image for you. And so, the day I discovered that Santa did not actually exist, all the Christmas magic was lost....forabout the next five or six years. And now I appreciate Christmas for the time I can spend with my family and see people that I don't see very often. Anyway....what I was getting at was, that New Years lost a bit of its charm when I came the age of responsibilities and decision making. When New Years resolutions became more than just, "I will unload the diswasher 4 days a week, to help mom", or "I will sometimes let my sister play with my barbies". Cute little resolutions that I just made because it made me feel more grown up. In fact, I'm pretty sure until I was about 12 I was still under the impression that I was making "New Years ReVolutions". This new year rolls around with the pressure of making real life resolutions, and commitments. Like suddenly it's 2009 and the first thing that comes to mind is that I now only have one month to apply for university, or, on the 4th, I have to work.

Anyway, I wish you a very healthy and happy New (list of responsibilities) Year!!!!!

I am making it sound like I had a terrible new year.... mais au contraire! I spent a wonderful New Year in London! My boyfriend's brother and bro's girlfriend are living in London currently, and invited us to come spend a week there. We spent the night in, but it was a wonderful night of dinner, wine, snacks, champagne, party-crackers, and laughter.

Portobello Road Market

hopscotch

....does not seem to exist here in Paris. Neither does sidewalk chalk. Maybe because nobody in the city actually has access to sidewalks because the entire city is apartment buildings. It's incredible that a city of only apartment buildings can be this beautiful. Another reason to never leave Paris.

This is cool


I would not be upset if I found these people in my apartment one day.

This is not


What were you thinking?? I don't even know what to say....