Good to remember. . .

image via cupofjo

Courtesy of SollyMaraSpam. <3

Happy Veteran's Day

"And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war. It's about sunlight. It's about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen.” "

                                                                                     --Tim O'Brien

I used to think of soldiers as a mass force of generically heroic and honorable people, when the truth is that each man or woman who serves has an individual humanity that must bear the brunt of the duty they accept.  This is such a poignant expression of that idea.

Girl Crush: Jenny Slate

Self Esteem: Jenny Slate from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it 
forever. That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past 
to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you 
can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are.
Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is 
nothing to remember except the story.
                                                              -The Things They Carried

Clark

While doing research for the 1930's-era play I'm designing, I came across this picture of the late, great Clark Gable:

Doesn't he look like a young, pre-grey George Clooney?  Swoon!

Just--This.

Paris, tu me manques!

I'm back from a lovely weekend staying with Paris friends in Chicago (pictures coming later), and the visit left me feeling oddly detached. It was so much fun catching up and reminiscing about our petit vie français, but now I feel all mixed up to be back in Charleston with suddenly reawakened feelings of Paris-sickness. I can't help but feel that I didn't appreciate the short time that I had there, and I can't begin to imagine the next time I'll get a chance to go back. 

In Chi-town, getting down

So apparently the MoMA and I had the same idea for our pumpkin. . .

Here's mine:

And here's their's:

ha, ha. . . . . . . . . . . . .ha.

Halloween Nostalgia

Vintage before it was cool

I don't know about you, but Christina Ricci in the movie Casper was THE COOLEST girl I knew at 5 years old.  First off, she wore a totally awesome dress to her school's Halloween dance, (not to mention the fact that her school even had a Halloween dance.)  Add to that how seriously dreamy Casper was when he came to life for one dance with her--(that haircut!)--and needless to say I pretty much wanted to be her, in 1995 and many years after.

"If I'm going to kiss her, I count to ten, or I’ll pretend my whole family’s going to die if I don't, and then I do.  -- Andrew, 33

--taken from a piece I read on Cup of Joe today about guys' thoughts on kissing.  Too sweet!  

a little strange, a lot sublime

Not sure if this bodes well or ill for those sharing the road

Photo taken in Tigertown, USA. 

        When I was home for fall break, I went to see the new film The Ides of March.  I had heard great things about the movie which is based on Farragut North, a play written by a former staff member of the Howard Dean presidential campaign.  It certainly did not disappoint. . . .

But something managed to distract me from Ryan Gosling's beautiful face. . .

Late night+early morning+rush to finish paper,+TWO burnt pans of brownies(courtesy of bain-of-my-existence oven)+ one cut finger+car problems+too much homework = BLECH!  


Here's hoping tomorrow is better. . .


. . .or at least tolerable.

                      

"When I first moved here, I loved to ride the elevated trains, especially at night, when I could glimpse the thousands of glowing windows, each an indication of a life or a cluster of lives, as rich and difficult and sweet as my own. Glimpsing inside, seeing the moment when the lights go on — or off — is a confirmation of our likenesses, our common depths."

I read this today in article about New York and it made me think of  riding back to my homestay in Paris.  Looking into the windows of the apartment buildings always gave me the feeling the author describes, but also something else.  Dating back to my years living away from home in high school, a lit window seen from the street would strike me with a pang, reminding me more of the home I was missing then the place to which I was heading.  I'd like to think that this feeling has lessened over the years, as my sense of home has expanded to fit the people and places that occupy a larger percentage of my life.  And so luckily, with a few timely trips home, I can enjoy fully the cooling weather and the shortening days, and feel at home, even when away.

Is this too sappy?

too bad

One more exam and then its on comme les bonne temps!

p.s.  picasa has been updated!

SNL Vidéo jeanmarcmorandini sélectionnée dans Humour

Back from break, heading into a busy week

   I wanted to post a quick update along with all the photos I'm posting to my flickr saying I'm back from my spring break to Barcelona and Rome.  It seemed like it flew by so quickly and was such a great time, but I'm still a little exhausted and hustling to finish the work coming due this week.  This is another busy and short week, as I will be heading out again on Thursday to visit Greece with my friend Jessie.  This week hasn't even started but I'm excited by the thought  of having a very relaxing weekend going to the beach and eating lots of Greek food.
   I really can't believe how little time I have left, and I'm in a bit of a panic whenever I think of all the things I want to squeeze in before I leave.  I hate having to stay in and work this weekend but I hope to get as much as possible out of the way so that I can enjoy leisure time for my last few weeks.  Its been a little cool here but once the warm weather comes back I will simply have to insist on working in a visit to the Jardin de Luxembourg everyday--it is too heartbreaking to think of how little time I have the opportunity!  (By the way, once all my pictures are loaded I will try posting the link to my flickr page in the sidebar on the right to make it easy to access.)  I'll be back soon with updates of all the work I've finished--I hope!

Playing Catch Up

So, I haven't done a very good job at updating this blog, but this week its down to business.  I have a lot of school work to try and accomplish this week so I can enjoy the beautiful spring weather.  After all, I've only got a month left! I can't believe it!  I had a wonderful, albeit low key French birthday and thanks you for all the good wishes! I'm in the process of posting a number of new albums on flickr with a bunch of pictures and I'll be posting again soon this week.  I've finally got my two trips planned--for spring break and easter weekend--and am working on planning mom's trip at the end of my program.  Between that and registering for CofC classes and my schoolwork and trying to figure out a plan for the summer I've been busy busy busy, but I'm determined to better with this!  I'll post again soon but in the meantime I'll leave you with a pretty  bit of Eudora Welty that my friend Sara sent me and makes me think of home and summer and being out of the city:


I was born with the feeling that if time and 
hurry were forgotten, something quiet and wonderful would happen in their place. Maybe because on summer nights in deep content and quiet, lying on the grass, unhurried and so in deepest waiting, that is when you see the shooting stars, and the touch is almost made between the sky and the earth. - June 24, 1942

Reporters sans Frontières

     The weather went from mild back to dreadfully cold this week, which resulted in a general drop in activity and spirits. As it turns out, the grey days of February are pretty much as grey in Paris as anywhere else, but after having been shamefully lazy all week, I've gotten it all out of my system and am looking forward to a busy coming week. However, before I drifted into my haze, there were a couple of things I've done since my last post that I felt are worth going back to.
     The first is a photographic exposition I saw last Sunday at the Petit Palais entitled Reporters sans Frontières. It was a show of work from two photographers--Pierre Boulat and his daughter Alexandra. I expected it to be quite dry but the exposition actually made a huge impression on me. I found it especially effective that it was staged so that the viewer could compare the work of the father--who took mostly black and white photographs mid-century of historic figures and events and was a prominent photographer for Life magazine--and the daughter--whose smaller body of work was no less moving with color photographs of more modern political and cultural conflicts, many set in the middle east. Alexandra's photographs were more emotionally striking, as can be seen by the photo most used in the promotional material for the exposition and set behind the title on the website here: http://petitpalais.paris.fr/en/expositions/reporters-sans-frontieres
     My favorite were Pierre's, whose work serves as evidence of a bygone era. My favorite of his by far (for obvious reasons) was a story he did on West Point for Life in 1957 entitled "Beast Barracks." It, like many of his other works, show the perspective of a Frenchman on Americana culture, which I found fascinating and very charming. I have included my two favorite of these pictures below. Also, here is a interesting video, though it is narrated in French, that shows the difference between the two bodies of work: http://vimeo.com/14997444

Pierre Boulat. Cadets of West Point ‘Beast Barracks’. USA. Dancing lesson. May , 1957

© Pierre Boulat / COSMOS

Pierre Boulat. Cadets of West Point ‘Beast Barracks’. USA. First day. May , 1957

"Tu as un mois pour perdre ton double mento.""Yes sir!"

© Pierre Boulat / COSMOS

Not by way of Paris, but hooray for this!

Pere Lachaise

     I will be trying to make up for all the lost time by posting things/pictures from the last month.  For right now, though, I'll go ahead and share some pictures of what I did today.
     Since its a Friday and I don't have classes, I started my day by meeting my friend Emily at the Louvre.  For one of our classes entitled "Issues in Aesthetics," we were supposed to view the "salle de Rembrandt" to better understand a text we read in class on his work. Specifically, his Bethsabee:

     Afterwards we got a coffee at the Louvre Starbucks--my first time trying it in France--that, at around 6 US dollars was a good deal more expensive then I remember my cafe mochas being at home!  I then had to hurry back to the IES center to view a film for my cinema class.  When the film was finished I took the metro to meet another friend, Kristen, at the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise.

     It had been sunny and nice all day, perhaps the nicest weather so far in Paris.  At the cemetery, considered the largest "green space" and oldest park in the city, the trees were actually green and for the first time, I caught the smell of vegetation and of earth.  The cemetery is, of course, the famed one in Paris where many historic people are buried like Chopin, Balzac, and most famously, Jim Morrison and Oscar de Wilde.  We were able to see Jim Morrison's grave, but then found a bench to sit down and have a snack.  By the time we were finished employees were coming to herd everyone out, so we'll have to go back to kiss the often-visited grave of Oscar Wilde (the same one featured in the Paris Je T'aime short.)  I've included some pictures from the day and the rest have been added to my flickr page at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/58415884@N04/sets/

le 30e jour

     Tomorrow marks one month since my plane touched down at Charles de Gaul.  It hardly seems that I have been away from home for that long when it feels that I’ve just begun to really settle in.  In fact, I’ve been so exhausted that I’ve found myself sleeping in far too often then I would like--I shouldn’t be sleeping in PARIS!  Its high time that I do better and hopefully this blog will motivate me to take more photos, go more places and write more, as well as keep everyone updated.  

     My impression, so far, is that it is the little things--"les petits riens" create the biggest difference between Paris and home.  They are also often the best part of the day. It is my intention to share these-whether they be small novelties of the French culture, style, pictures, or things I learn--to give a more thorough semblance of what my day-to-day is like here.  Here’s hoping I can keep it somewhat engaging and not too tedious!

     à bientôt!