Milk And Honey

oh hai !

2012-02-03T17:11:00.002-05:00

Don't even remind me how stupidly long it's been since I posted on here. To say life is getting away from me would be an understatement. I'm crazy! But I have a few free moments, and I want to share a great quote I discovered while reading Dialogues with Marcel Duchamp (a book that is basically one huge interview between Duchamp and Pierre Cabanne, conducted shortly before the death of the former).

"... deep down I'm enormously lazy. I like living, breathing, better than working. I don't think that the work I've done can have any social importance whatsoever in the future. Therefore, if you wish, my art would be that of living: each second, each breath is a work which is inscribed nowhere, which is neither visual nor cerebral. It's a sort of constant euphoria."

Marcel Duchamp

Every human should be required to read Letters to a Young Poet

2011-11-19T20:42:00.001-05:00

Turn therefore from the common themes to those which your own everyday life affords; depict your sorrows and desires, your passing thoughts and belief in some kind of beauty– depict all that with heartfelt, quiet, humble sincerity and use to express yourself the things that surround you, the images of your dreams and the objects of your memory. If your everyday life seems poor to you, do not accuse it; accuse yourself, tell yourself you are not poet enough to summon up its riches; since for the creator there is no poverty and no poor or unimportant place.

Rainer Maria Rilke

new works + more

2011-11-19T00:10:00.001-05:00

Here are some photographs from my work so far this semester, the ones I find myself to be most attracted to. I'm considering making a collection out of a few of them and perhaps putting a book together. I feel that I'm constantly working towards having enough material, and indeed making progress, but the problem is finding the time and focus to do the book project. To buckle down... we shall see.
Next semester's schedule is set and terrific (modern art seminar! photo III! feminist theory! digital photo!) Plus, I'm going on a service trip to western PA during spring break to build houses with Habitat for Humanity, among other things. My team for that is so great, and my photo 'team' (department? enclave?) has been particularly inspiring for me lately too. I'm feeling rather held up by all the good things in my life. And just in time for Thanksgiving too...

I'm still here

2011-11-11T09:07:00.001-05:00

I know... it's been a while. I needed to drop off for a little while, 'specially during October. Life's just been busier than ever, but things are beginning to calm down now. And so.

I haven't yet scanned any photographs that I've made this semester, but I like what I've been doing and I think you will too. Later today I'm heading to northeastern CT for a wedding at a manor house, an old family friend. I packed three cameras.

In other internet news, here's what you should know:

- pick up this book if you haven't yet!
- lend an ear to this album if you haven't yet!
- watch this trailer if you haven't yet!
- these ceramics
- these photographs
- this [new and brilliant] literary mag
- oh, and this genius blog.

I'm still on a lady singers kick!

I've got long johns under slacks for blustery days

2011-10-16T21:48:00.004-04:00

It's not here yet, but I feel it coming.

It Happened One Night

2011-10-08T21:29:00.001-04:00

She'd have to be the sort of a girl who'd jump in the surf with me and love it as much as I did. You know, nights when you and the moon and the water all become one. When you feel you're a part of something big and marvelous. That's the only place to live... where the stars are so close over your head you feel like you could reach up and stir them around. Hey, I've been thinking about it. If I could only find a girl who was hungry for those things...

homework haiku

2011-10-04T22:44:00.001-04:00

America's past

is as dry as the powdered

wig on Washington

that is all.

All week long...

2011-09-25T00:21:00.001-04:00

The National

2011-09-24T00:19:00.002-04:00

call me back, i'm on a plane

i think i'm somewhere over spain

i'm in a dark without the stars

i've never seen a black so dark

thought i'd be above the rain

somewhere on a higher plane...

I nabbed tickets to see these guys with The War on Drugs in December. I'm quite excited for it. They've always struck a chord for me, but since I was in Paris, up through the summertime, they've gone from great to downright brilliant. I can't get enough. I may even be going to this if I'm not working that night... !

Luis Camnitzer

2011-09-22T22:08:00.000-04:00

my inspiration lately...

My Favorite Song

2011-09-22T10:38:00.001-04:00

This song, originally by Bob Dylan, is my favorite song of all time. It has rhythm, soul, poetry, a little rhyme, and the perfect bits of sentiment all rolled into it. I never get tired of listening to it– that counts too. Blood on the Tracks is my favorite album of all time too (if I absolutely had to pick one.)

This cover is one of the best I've ever heard. I really enjoy Marissa Nadler's voice, her little lilt and almost squeaky harmony. It works here, the high note to low note dips and all that jazz. Her detail adds something to it without detracting from the essence of the original.

Speaking of female vocalists and soaring harmonies... talk about a song/ an album I can't stop listening to! Buy A Creature I Don't Know immediately and it will quickly become your most worthy purchase this week, promise.

Aristotle

2011-09-15T15:10:00.002-04:00

"This is why, when we enjoy something a great deal, we do not really do anything else, and when we are only mildly pleased by something, we do other things; people who eat sweets in the theatre, for example, do it most when the acting is bad."

He really knew his stuff.

Paula Scher, Designer

2011-09-08T07:32:00.000-04:00

ARTIST SERIES: Paula Scher from Hillman Curtis on Vimeo.

"And it doesn’t smell right! It doesn’t smell like an art supply; it smells like a car."

- Paula Scher on computers

I'm taking an intro class to graphic design programs this semester, and my professor showed us this video on the first day. I have to say that design and the world of typography are some things I know nothing about, so seeing videos like this is rather eye-opening for me.

Posting may be light around here as I adjust to my new and enormously stressful workload, but I will pop in to say hello and share fun things as often as possible.

Autumn dressing, chez Anthropologie

2011-09-03T21:21:00.001-04:00

Click each picture to be transported to each style. How luscious are these prints? combinations? cuts? textures? It's a sensual overflowing of gorgeousness. If I had $1,052, I would buy all four of them.

Valencia in black and white

2011-09-01T20:32:00.000-04:00

I know it's been forever since I've posted. I took the month of August, as the French do, to relax. I needed time away from my little corner of the internet, and I think it was well worth it.

I've been organizing and archiving my negatives and prints lately, which is suuuuuuch a good feeling. These are some shots from Valencia back in April. I've been getting lots of medium format photos printed (see my flickr on the right) and I hope to be shooting a lot more like them. I'll put some new ones up here soon.

p.s. have you all seen Rachel Getting Married? if you haven't, you really must. brilliant.

today

2011-08-11T10:12:00.000-04:00

I would give most anything to be in Paris today, looking out of this window into this blue sky, eating fried eggs and drinking tea and speaking French. Standing on that balcony to feel the warm sun. Being quiet.

the north fork

2011-08-08T10:33:00.000-04:00

Spent a great day on the North Fork of Long Island with my family last week. I'd love to live in a big colonial house out there one day.

Sylvia Plath

2011-08-07T22:58:00.000-04:00

I've been reading her 'Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams' collection of short stories.
Listening to these recordings of her is so fascinating. Her accent is terrific and she is so interesting. She's officially added to my list of deceased people I'd like to dine with. (Everybody has one of these lists, right?)

morning walks

2011-08-07T10:38:00.003-04:00

I got up early this morning at 8 am though my alarm was set for 9:30. My body was boiling with energy, so I decided to go for a walk on the Upper West Side. I always knew I loved this neighborhood, but every time I explore a different part of it I fall in love even more. I discovered a Mint boutique that I didn't know existed, a Steven Alan outpost, a very cute restaurant called Good Enough to Eat, and Amsterdam Gourmet, a quaint market with everything from French pastry to yogurt to breakfast sandwiches to wine. I bought yogurt, and then stopped at the Greenmarket and found blackberries!! Local ones! So yummy.

New photos are on the way. I found my stash of never-before-printed 120 negatives, and I decided to invest in seeing how they came out. I've also been knitting a whole bunch, and I made my first socks. I was completely inspired by Jenny over at Wiksten, who is not only a wonderful knitter but an even wonderfuler clothing designer. I hope to soon catch one of her shop updates in time to snag a piece for my own!

Here are two recent photos of mine that I'm quite liking. The first is from this downpour, and the second from a sunset in Madison Square Park one evening with friends over some Shake Shack grub, my absolute, 100% not-so-guilty pleasure.

where have I been?

2011-08-01T01:49:00.002-04:00

right here.

I have no idea.

It's been a weird month, this July creature.

Here's to making August last.

photo by Lisa Smit.

click it !

New music from Feist!

2011-07-26T18:53:00.000-04:00

It's about time! I'm quite, quite excited. The album is called Metals and it won't be out until October– but I like having something to look forward to. Big thanks to The Alternate Side for the heads up.

Etsuko Ichikawa, Artist

2011-07-17T12:19:00.003-04:00

This is the most interesting and unique art form I've come across in a very long time, possibly ever.

If you're looking for inspiration of any kind, take in this article from the anthropologist.

Then visit Etsuko Ichikawa's personal site for even more brilliant work. Wouldn't you love to own one of these?

notes on today

2011-07-13T23:54:00.001-04:00

- I got caught in the craziest rain shower in Astor Place. The wind and rain blew down east 8th street like they were racing to see who could hit people faster. I ducked into a parking garage with my friend and took out my camera. I jumped out onto the sidewalk and shot a picture. The sun was in the middle of two buildings a bit off center. It was perfect. It was so bright you could see the streaks of rain. They looked like pick-up sticks falling from the sky. Then I ran to the subway alongside everyone else. There were lots of shouting and random exclamations. Climbed onto the R soaking wet. It was really thrilling.

- Stumbled across the greenmarket in Union Square today. I always forget it happens on weekends and wednesdays. I bought so many veggies, including a lovely batch of golden beets. I'm going to bring them home and make mash for my family on Monday night.

- I'm in the market for a medium format camera. Something that won't break the bank (like that precious, drool-inducing Hasselblad 503CW). The main contender is a Seagull GC-105, but the reviews are awful. A friend of mine has a Lubitel and likes it. My other friend has a Yashica Mat and likes it a lot. Any opinions, fellow photographers?

- I painted my toes this fun mint green color. My digital camera is a big piece of nothing.

- The gallery where I'm interning represents a photographer named Jose Picayo. First off, his work is incredible. But his portraits are the thing. I know there is a method to doing it, but he has some way of making the center or a certain part of the person's face in focus while the rest remains out of focus. I attempted to do that with my feet photos above, kinda, ishhh. Mildly successful, I think.

jj- new work

2011-07-11T00:10:00.000-04:00

new favorite !

Pocket Dept.

2011-07-09T00:02:00.000-04:00

If you're looking for a place to write and draw and record things, Pocket Dept. is where it's AT. It's a new line of simple and functional notebooks produced by the Art House Co-op in Brooklyn, truly keeping things local. These are the same people who brought you The Sketchbook Project and A Million Little Pictures, a disposable camera themed project. (Psst, have you seen my 2011 sketchbook project?)

But back to Pocket Dept. Since I've been carrying around a bright red backpack lately, and as I'm interested in all things French, the company's French Line (specifically The Backpack Pocket) has captured my heart. As soon as I have need for a notebook, you know where I'll be despensing my dollars. (Did I mention I bought about... 8? 11? notebooks and journals in Paris? I have a thing about blank paper.)

But I really need to sign up for the 2012 Sketchbook Project!

Madrid in color

2011-07-08T23:10:00.000-04:00

Tiny Beautiful Things

2011-07-05T23:02:00.000-04:00

Her name is Sugar, and she writes an advice column for The Rumpus.

She was asked a version of that age old question: if you could talk to your 20-year-old self, what would you say?

This is her response.

It struck such a chord with me that I've been thinking about it for days. Especially this part:

The useless days will add up to something. The shitty waitressing jobs. The hours writing in your journal. The long meandering walks. The hours reading poetry and story collections and novels and dead people’s diaries and wondering about sex and God and whether you should shave under your arms or not. These things are your becoming.

Thank you, Sugar, for saying what I couldn't put into words.

And a photo, taken on a long, meandering walk through Madrid.

New Laura Marling

2011-07-02T00:46:00.003-04:00

I can't wait!
Out in September.
Pre-order it here.

Etsy shop revival!

2011-06-29T10:06:00.000-04:00

Helllooooooo everyone!

We are in the process of creating a neat concept for my new knit collection. There's no debut date yet, but I sure hope it will be soon. I've been doing a lot of knitting and a lot of experimenting with other crafts too. I'm quite excited to get the ball rolling again. Here's my facebook fan page link to keep up with the times, if you so please. Here are some photos from last time, taken and modeled by my lovely friends Richard Wagner and Kristina Wagner, respectively. All these items were sold over here.

Reliving Paris a little bit...

2011-06-23T22:49:00.000-04:00

Video proof from this post! I enjoy youtube.

Barcelona: Mercat de la Boqueria

2011-06-23T22:27:00.002-04:00

There's a reason the majority of these people look so happy – look at all this food! That candy! Those fruits! This market contained the most color I have ever seen in one place, period. Such a high concentration of life. We visited twice and I'll never forget it.

Quick hi

2011-06-21T15:44:00.000-04:00

A very pretty piece from Stewart + Brown, the Gatsby Knit Tunic

and two photos from misanthropicnic's flickr photostream.

Barcelona: streets, buildings, & boats

2011-06-16T23:42:00.000-04:00

The second city in Spain that I saw. We stayed in a hostel where the building was truly the most beautiful low budget living arrangement that exists, I'm convinced. I remember that I ran out of 35mm film, so I used my lomo Diana to take some shots of the interior as we were leaving. They were long exposure and I don't think they came out. A word of advice: if you're going to get a medium format camera, get a good one. I've wasted more rolls of film (and the money! oy) with that Diana, and the shots I do get are always a bit mediocre.

Anywho, Barcelona was awesome and a really, really good time. Wonderful if you're looking for nice people, good food, and some lovely museums. I recommend the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and the Museu de Picasso.

Next up are the market pictures. Get ready for a color explosion...

antique market

neat sculpture

coffins hung on the walls!

Zaragoza

2011-06-13T23:52:00.000-04:00

The first city I visited in Spain. It's fairly small. We saw the whole thing in 3 or 4 days, multiple times. Tip: don't go on Sunday or Monday because everything and its mother is closed. Otherwise, such a beautiful city...


The establishment wherein I politely ignored the no picture rule! (see below)

Two technically forbidden shots, thus the blur/ off-kilter qualities

12th-13th century castle. And yes, that grassy knoll used to be a moat.

Interior courtyard of the castle

Amazing.

Really neat sculpture under a highway overpass kind of in the middle of nowhere.

The main square

Perfect mix of modern and ancient architecture

HI.

2011-06-05T20:00:00.001-04:00

So, wow. I'm home.

I'm amazed at every moment that these passed four months took place at all and even more amazed that it's over. My life doesn't feel ordinary anymore, and I think that's what counts.

Yesterday, I celebrated my 21st birthday with family and friends. Today, I washed my car with my dad in my driveway. I ate a hamburger with pickles and potato salad for lunch. Tomorrow, I'm probably going to the beach. I love America and New York and Long Island.

In the meantime, I've been scanning tons of photos that I finally got developed at my local drugstore (as is evident from the inundation on my flickr to the right! -->)

I'll write a little about each place and feature my favorite photos as these days pass on. To start, here are two of my most frequented places, Boulangerie de Vavin on rue de Vavin and le Jardin de Luxembourg. This boulangerie had a line this long outside it every day from the hours of 11:30AM until probably 2 in the afternoon. The sandwiches, the quiche, the pastries... it was all cheap and delicious. My personal favorites were the chocolate beignets and the pavé framboise, two dense, buttery biscuits with raspberry jam in the middle. I lost count of the amount of times I got lunch at this place and walked down the street to the garden to eat. Even in the bitter cold of winter it was the most pleasant option, and in springtime it quickly became the only obvious choice.

last night in Paris

2011-05-28T18:11:00.004-04:00

the sky was gorgeous.

this city does me good,

and I can't wait to come back.

Raymond Depardon

2011-05-28T12:49:00.001-04:00

and why I'm excited to come back to New York.

"I think that we photographers are behind in relation to other forms of expression. We're still questioning ourselves, wondering, 'Are we useful, or are we a little frivolous?' But these drawbacks are also advantages: Obviously, we're not very serious, we're not very important, but that's the strength of the photo, precisely that it's ephemeral. It's somehow both ephemeral and superimportant. It can go back and forth, like a conveyor belt, I'd say, between the two things."

[taken from an interview conducted in 2001, via ASX]

Things to come...

2011-05-27T11:57:00.002-04:00

In the beginning of my stay in France, I created a knitting pattern (pictured above in a light lavender alpaca variety). I combined a bunch of techniques I'd learned over the past few months into one super sweet ribbed diagonal scarf. I'm going to experiment more this summer with it too, change the gauges, etc. I've been knitting a lot and buying yarn stock. I'm hoping to revive my shop in mid-summer and present a fall collection of sorts at the end of August. Check back often here, or you can submit your email to be notified when I return to the Etsy world.

Big and flowing at Lanvin

2011-05-22T04:51:00.002-04:00

Lanvin

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear

Auguste and Camille

2011-05-21T04:32:00.003-04:00

I went to the Musée Rodin yesterday. It was part of my 'last things to do in Paris before I leave' tour of the city. It's a pretty tiny museum but the works that they have are just incredible. I've been reading up a little on the nuts story of Auguste and Camille too. I can see her folie in her works, her crazed nature. How she was driven towards that. I can't even imagine how it really was.

This one Rodin piece, Je suis belle, really caught my eye. It's a man clutching onto a woman who's folded up in his arms. These pictures are from different angles so you can see the whole thing (photographing sculpture is so tricky like that). I think the one below it, Femme accroupie, was a study for this one. Just amazing.

Claudel did a bunch of sculptures in what looked like jade or this lovely green marble. Just all kinds of awesome stone, really. I love how in La Vague, the wave looks like a bunch of men crashing on the women. I don't know much about her at all, but I feel that she probably represents a large population of late 19th century women who shared these sentiments towards men at the time. I read somewhere that after Rodin stopped seeing her he continued to support her financially, but she was constantly trying to be free from him. That says a lot.

In L'Age Mûr, she's pulling Rodin away from death and old age. I think it's one of the most beautiful and tragic things ever made, this one. When I get to heaven, I'm going to give her a really big hug.

Rodin, Je suis belle

Rodin, Femme accroupie (Crouching Woman)

Camille Claudel, La Vague (The Wave)

Camille Claudel, Gossipers

Camille Claudel, L'Age Mûr (The Age of Maturity)

e.e. cummings

2011-05-19T10:41:00.002-04:00

Now i lay(with everywhere around)
me(the great dim deep sound
of rain;and of always and of nowhere)and
what a gently welcoming darkestness--

now i lay me down(in a most steep
more than music)feeling that sunlight is
(life and day are)only loaned:whereas
night is given(night and death and the rain

are given;and given is how beautifully snow)

now i lay me down to dream of(nothing
i or any somebody or you
can begin to begin to imagine)

something which nobody may keep.
now i lay me down to dream of Spring

Plenty Is Never Enough

2011-05-17T17:52:00.000-04:00

original by Tenement Halls:

cover by The Shins:

This second video has some of the most ridiculous pictures in it, ha! It's one of the only ones available on youtube though, so here you have it. I can't decided which I like better; they're both good in their own right.

the ensemble and the details

2011-05-16T17:33:00.000-04:00

dace spring 2011.

The belt is made from recycled leather and is part of a collaboration with Vancouver based designer Ashley Watson.

The necklace is part of a collaboration with Vancouver jewelers, husband and wife Rexford Lavado and Lindsay Rankin.

They call themselves Broken English.
All of it is gorgeous.

M. Ward takes the cake

2011-05-14T04:08:00.003-04:00

Every single time I see him live, he confirms for me even further how truly talented he is as an artist, and how much I've grown up beside his music. His albums brought me through adolescence. I swear I can attribute to him at least a smidge of my slightly lacking quality of gracefulness, my ability to recognize poetry in music, and many, many white nights, bus rides, plane rides, and awful situations turned tranquil. Seeing him now, at this point in my youth, feels so good. After years of being a fan and watching his hair turn salt-and-peppery in the same way that I am aging (perhaps not as visibly but inevitably am) makes me feel like we've arrived at something. Or maybe I've just arrived at something, I don't know what. Je sais pas quoi.

At one point in the concert, someone requested "Rollercoaster". He said, I'd love to play that but I need someone to come up and play the piano with me (as he was completely solo on stage), maybe in D major... any takers? (At this point I was kicking myself for quitting piano at age 12 and immediately thereafter forgetting every bit of it.) So a random dude from Iceland hopped up on stage and played the piano with him! While M. Ward was showing him what to do, the guy did something and M. Ward said, "Yeah yeah that's perfect." We were right in the front at this tiny venue, and it was basically silent in there (so parisian), so my immediate reaction to this resonated rather loudly: "Dude, M. Ward just called you perfect." My group and I burst into laughter at how ridiculous I am... and it was all just a really good time.

He also played this song and dedicated it to all the artists living in Paris. I had a happiness brain explosion. *sigh*.

This is another really great fan video. I'm impressed at how many of them exist out there.

Most Lovely Track 2011

2011-05-10T16:21:00.003-04:00

Fleet Foxes - "Helplessness Blues"

These guys could not be more in my head.

note: this is not the official music video but rather a distinctly awesome fan video.

Patrick Modiano said it best:

2011-05-10T12:55:00.003-04:00

En ce temps-là, Paris était une ville qui correspondait à mes battements de cœur. Ma vie ne pouvait s'inscrire autre part que dans ses rues. Il suffisait de me promener tout seul, au hasard, dans Paris, et j'étais heureux.

At the time, Paris was a city which corresponded to the beating of my heart. My life couldn't register itself anywhere but in its streets. It sufficed to take myself for walks all alone, randomly, in Paris, and I was happy.

Come and find me

2011-05-07T20:19:00.009-04:00

So I keep you in a flower vase
with your fatalism, your crooked face

with the daisies and the violet brocades

and I keep me in a vacant lot

in the ivies and forget-me-nots

hoping you'll come and untangle me one of these days

I will never hear this song and not think of riding buses all around Spain.
Weaving tales in my head and daydreaming for hours on end.
Passing by wind energy turbines and huge silhouette cutouts of bulls
perched on the tops of hills.
Rest stops. Fields and mountains.

Lately on my mind

2011-05-07T12:28:00.000-04:00

Living in France has made me acutely aware of many details of daily life that I normally most likely overlook. For instance: clothing dryers are not necessary and toilet seats don't need to be that big. For some reason, though, I feel that my petite stature is highlighted more here. Maybe it's just my own insecurity speaking, or maybe the not-so-feminist French views of women are getting to me. Women here wear high heels like it's their job. It's not the worst thing, but I wonder sometimes if their motives are personal or serve more of a socioillogical 'I-must-appear-perfect-at-all-times' purpose. (Yeah, I just made up the word socioillogical.) The above linked article is super interesting, and, from the viewpoint of another person who's lived here for months, extremely truthful. I've seen all of those ads in the metro and at bus stations, and they get worse than that when it comes to the representation of women in relation to men. I miss New York for that: women are short and tan and perky, like me.

Besides all of that though, I enjoy looking at all the lovely heels women sport over here. I wish I was as brave as them. I prefer wedges, and it's a good thing they're pretty 'in' now!

Coclico, "Morphos"

Coclico, "Monarch"

Esska, "Nip"

Aged gouda and fromage blanc

2011-05-05T17:05:00.000-04:00

Lately with dinner we've been eating a delicious aged gouda cheese that I almost can't get enough of. And, because it's strawberry season, fraises et fromage blanc. Now, how to describe fromage blanc... let's say that sour cream and crème fraîche got together, had a baby, and let plain yogurt have a part in the whole thing too. That's what it tastes like. Add a little sugar and drizzle over strawberry halves. OY.
This is not what's pictured above, though. Above is my host mom's wonderful raspberry charlotte. She made it when my mom visited, and again this past weekend to celebrate her own mother's birthday. It's a mom thing, I s'pose. It's awfully photogenic, too.

Gustave Moreau

2011-05-05T15:12:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I visited the Musée Gustave Moreau with my art history class. The building is literally Moreau's house that he gave to the state to be made into a museum, on the promise that nothing would be touched or moved. Apparently he even arranged each painting and truc in every room just as it looks today, one hung above the other like tiles of wallpaper. The building is a three-story time warp into the awesome 1800s.

Moreau is typically associated with the Symbolist movement, so most (if not all) of his works have to do with Greek mythology. He trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, failed at winning the Prix de Rome twice, and was buddies with Chassériau and Degas. He never married and lived with his mother until she died. He worked constantly in his atelier, which he renovated into a large gallery before donating his home to the state. There are fold-out cabinets installed along the walls that display his drawings and studies like posters in a gift shop. So. Prolific.

Youngins in the field

2011-05-03T13:45:00.000-04:00

Today I visited one of the coolest shops I've found in Paris, 0fr. It's a gallery/ bookstore that also sells artsy knick-knacks. It's based around photography and art books and keeps current with all the new, cool stuff happening in the field. I totally love it. I pass it every Tuesday on my way to and from my painting atelier. I usually glance through the windows and tell myself that I can't spend money on more photography books (so true) and continue walking, but today I went in. I was looking for a gift for a friend; it was easily found, and I found a gift for myself too. Both purchases are really neat, but as I probably shouldn't disclose my friend's gift lest s/he read my blog, I will tell you about my birthday gift to myself.

if you leave.

It's a book of photographs so neat I dare not attempt to explain it. Some are double exposures, all in color, and all the same size: those are the facts. They are taken by young photographers from all around the world, curated by one photographer, Laurence Von Thomas. As I was flipping through I came across this photo and thought, huh, I recognize that. It's a cool feeling. I think I'm 'arriving', as they say. I take projects like this very seriously to heart. They make me excited and inspired to make my own book, which is happening before the year's end.

I don't want to repost any of the featured photographers' work without proper permissions and all that. You should go to the website and look at it all, nevertheless. And since I haven't scanned anything new in ages (did I mention I have 15+ rolls of color film to get developed?!), here are some shots by Francesca Woodman, an amazing artist who left us too young.

All week long

2011-05-02T09:36:00.001-04:00

You know how you can listen to a song rather frequently for, I don't know, SEVEN YEARS, and finally one day, completely out of the blue, realize how truly terrific it is? Yeah.

Classical in springtime...

2011-04-30T18:36:00.001-04:00

Coming off of spring break

2011-04-28T06:31:00.001-04:00

and back into real life. It's no easy task.

I spent a really lovely, relaxing week in Madrid and Valencia with a few old friends. We sat in the park, drank wine, and played cards while watching the sunset over a gorgeous horizon. We searched out croquettas at midnight and learned how to salsa from some really nice South Americans. It was all so great. Now I'm bit sick (traveling and over-exertion does that, I hear). I came back only to be faced with a stressful ending to the most relaxing semester I've ever had. I am determined to make time to enjoy Paris in spring and not let finals get the best of me, though. There is still so much I want to do in this city...

I'm heading out to see Noah and the Whale tonight!

On another note...

2011-04-19T07:26:00.000-04:00

really cute bathing suits!
by Zimmermann, sold at Urban Outfitters.

On being culturally well-read

2011-04-19T04:24:00.001-04:00

and why we can't know everything. Damn I love NPR!

This article speaks to my innermost overachiever. The girl who tried to read a book a week at age 7. The girl who tried to read a book a week, for a summer, at age 15 (and succeeded this time.) The girl who can't get enough music, even if it means her computer is starting to give notifications of an almost-full hard drive. The girl who tried dancing, who tried piano lessons, who tried the saxophone, who sings in the shower. Who tried to make herself completely ambidextrous in pre-K. Who makes lists of movies to see, people to look up on wikipedia, and who learned French just because it sounds beautiful.

Sigh.

Yet, I persist. My new favorite paintings, seen at the Magritte museum in Brussels. I like his work so much more than I thought I did.


L'Empire des lumières, 1954

La Magie noire, 1935

Update

2011-04-15T08:39:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting home in Paris taking a petite pause until later on when I'll be boarding a bus to Brussels for the weekend. Last week was spent in Spain: Zaragoza and Barcelona. I took 8 rolls of film. I swear this blog will be so much more interesting and up-to-date once I have a scanner at my disposal again.

Here are some paintings I saw in Barcelona at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. This museum is unlike any other I've ever been to. It's very Catalunya-specific, but the variety therein is incredible. The 19th and 20th century paintings by obscure artists that you don't learn about in AH101 were just phenomenal. They're potent enough to remind anyone why art in general, as a practice, is so brilliant.

Joaquim Mir, Poble escalonat, 1909

Joaquim Sorolla, Retrats d'Elena i Maria amb vestits valencians antics, 1908

Lluís Masriera, Ombres reflectides, 1920

Ramon Casas, La mandra, 1898-1900


Ramon Casas, Primero pasarás sobre mi cadáver, 1893

And last, but certainly not least, Picasso's Los Pichones series (located at the Museu de Picasso in Barcelona, also a 'must' if you're in town.)

More to come on Courbet and his influences.

on a musical note (ha! pun intended)...

I have a really neat book at home in NY called Conversation Pieces: Poems that Talk to Other Poems, and I've been thinking lately that it would be cool if a publication existed in the same vein but for music. There's probably something out there already, but either way I'd like to make my contribution:

When mom comes to town...

2011-04-08T21:04:00.001-04:00

My mom came to visit me in Paris for a week. It was totally wonderful having her here, showing her my favorite neighborhoods, stores, boulangeries... I could go on. The highlight of the week for me was our day trip to Versailles. We took an audio tour of the chateau, which was super interesting. The weather was perfect, the gardens had bloomed, and I shot many rolls of film. We went to Marie Antoinette's private chateau, Trianon, and rented bikes to get there (my suggestion). My last adventure on a bike ended, well, badly. But as they say, it always comes back to you right? Like riding a bike? Right.

My mom and I were laughing from the moment we got on the bikes because this usually isn't our thing. So I found my balance and went. It was super fun, and I got a sweet rush of something great... until 40 feet later when I had to navigate between two very close posts and realized I was moving a lot faster than I thought. So as you can imagine, this is when I crashed. I was fine, and I got right back on, laughing all the while (and listening to my mom laugh AT me as she kept riding, because this is just so me: to fall off a rented bike when it was my idea in the first place). I didn't fall on my bag so my cameras were fine. Funnily enough, I got a big bruise on my knee and skinned it right where I have a scar from falling off my bike when I was 8 years old. This was the first of many, apparently.

I picked up the rolls taken with my Diana F+ from the lab today, and they came out all right. I'm waiting until I get home to have any prints made, as the prices are pretty elevated here. I actually am looking forward to reliving Paris during the summer through having all the prints made... scanning them, spending time with them. It's a good thing.

Here are some newbies. Click the picture to be transported to my flickr.

I can't believe how wonderful the light is at the end of the day here. It makes a thing like wet laundry look glorious.

Springtime in music

2011-04-08T07:06:00.001-04:00

This week turned out to be my annual celebration I like to call "Catherine's springtime love affair with great music"! Every year when the temperatures rise after cold and dreary winters, I swear music just sounds different. Better, even. Some of my favorite videos from this week...

The secret show Arcade Fire played in Haiti. Looks like fun, right?

My good friend Matt Sucich (sue-sitch) debuted his new album Jubilation and Jealousy at Joe's Pub on March 26! This is a new song not on the record. You can find the record and other recordings of him on Bandcamp and iTunes, all linked on his website above. Fancy!

The Bewitched Hands on the Top of our Heads performed "Hard to Cry" for La Blogothèque (up there with Daytrotter for one of the best music collaboration ideas ever). This sesh was recorded in Reims, France. The end is just... SO good.

EDIT:

This one too. It's been a favorite for some months, but lately it's really hitting home.

My list

2011-04-06T14:11:00.002-04:00

I'm making a list of things to do in New York upon my return. I have a feeling it's going to be an amazing summer... but right this very moment I'd like to teleport to the Met and stare at this painting. It's one of my favorites, and I miss standing in front of it for minutes upon minutes.

In my search for the photo (which doesn't do the work justice; in real life the painting takes up a whole wall), I came across an interesting essay by Mona Hadler that discusses this painting and some other key works of Manet's œuvre. As I'm almost positive it's copyright infringement to copy/paste an academic publication in my ho-hum blog, here's the link to the PDF/JSTOR citations, etc.

Édouard Manet, Woman with a Parrot, 1866

Clementines sunshine printemps

2011-04-05T09:20:00.000-04:00

and this.

I had a wonderful weekend, and I'll be back to tell all about it as soon as I finish my film research paper.

Useful French Phrases for the Foreign and Confused: Installment No. 6

2011-03-29T12:21:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a while since I posted an installment from this series, so I thought I'd make your day with this one.

I woke up with this song in my head

2011-03-28T02:49:00.004-04:00

these past four days.

and saying that always makes me sing this song.

Etsy in Paris!

2011-03-26T20:34:00.000-04:00

French Etsy artist Lucile runs her shop out of her Parisian kitchen!

This print makes me smile. Piles of colorful macarons make me smile.

The other day Pierre Hermé hosted free macaron day,

so I got to try 3 usually-overpriced beauties at no damage to my bank account.

My favorite flavor was Arabesque: apricot and pistachio.

More great Etsy shops in Paris:

ikabags

rhubarb and apples

BVMhandmade

There are some stunning things happening in this city.

New work

2011-03-26T11:03:00.001-04:00

All the photos on top that are a little bigger than the others were printed on glossy paper. They get fingerprinty so easily, it bothers me. The smaller ones are on matte paper. I'm not sure of the measurements because it's all in metric; I will check on that.

The top and bottom photos were taken in the studio during class while experimenting. For the others, click on the picture and you can see where they were each taken.

I never get tired of this. I am, though, tired of writing research papers. mehr.

AMERICA

2011-03-25T22:36:00.002-04:00

Ongoing fascination

2011-03-25T22:24:00.001-04:00

I saw a girl my age on the métro today reading another one of Guibert's books, À l'ami qui ne m'a pas sauvé la vie. This one is about how a friend of his promised that he would take him to the U.S. to find a cure for AIDS, that he could save his life. It's all so very tragic. I'm still reading his journal, and in a weird way I feel mentally and artistically closer to this person than I've felt towards anyone in a very long time.

And now the similarities:

1.) We both think la galette du roi (taste: THIS) is the most delicious dessert we've ever eaten.

2.) We have both taken photographs of our respective stuffed animals tucked into our beds. He had a lamb that he named (though I can't for the life of me find the passage); I have a lion named Mr. Lion / Monsieur Le Lion.

3.) We both read Crime and Punishment and freaked out over the fact that we hesitantly/ mildly identify with Raskolnikov. We adore Dostoyevsky.

4.) We both write in our journals about strange dream sequences and people we see while out walking around, on the métro. He wrote a passage once about sitting across from a young girl on the train who was knitting. She had green eyes. I fancy this was me in my previous life, and perhaps that's why I feel so strangely connected to him. Maybe we've met and we never knew it. Wouldn't that be neat.

Here's a photo from photographer Billy Maynard. He's from New Zealand and seems pretty sharp for a 19 year old. This photograph screams Guibert to me.

Roustem Saïtkoulov + His Grand Piano

2011-03-24T20:01:00.000-04:00

Last night I went to a piano concert. The player was Roustem Saïtkoulov and the pieces were by Chopin, Schumann, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev. I didn't get a program for some reason. (I think the girl who shows people to their seats was bitter because I didn't have my tip ready for her immediately upon being seated. Thus, no program for you américaine, you!) I'm a bit miffed too because I couldn't quite find one after the show, and I don't know which specific pieces were played.

But besides all that nonsense, it was an intense and beautiful show. Here's a clip of Saïtkoulov performing Rachmaninov. This wasn't what I heard last night, but it's the only decent thing I can find on youtube. The piano makes me hang my head to the side, smile a little, and sigh. Sometimes furrow my brow. All good things.

Sarah Trotter Vintage

2011-03-21T17:53:00.003-04:00

Beautiful photographs by Lauren Bamford for Sarah Trotter's lovely vintage Etsy shop. So much talent in this collaboration– it's a lot to take in.

This week I'll be scanning new photographs and making more in the darkroom. I have some ideas for experiments, so we'll see what comes of them.

This looks like fun

2011-03-21T07:27:00.001-04:00

Made by Juan Rayos in Madrid 2010. via Holgarific.

If my budget can swing it

2011-03-20T14:24:00.000-04:00

I may be coming home in this little number.

(courtesy of Comptoir des Cotonniers)

Louise Lecavalier dances "Children"

2011-03-19T13:46:00.001-04:00

I went to see Children / A Few Minutes of Lock on Tuesday night this week. It is of the most beautiful things I've ever seen happen on a stage in front of me... I really hope they come to New York. Here's a miniscule taste of what the show was like:

Already decorating...

2011-03-17T19:19:00.002-04:00

Though I'll be in Europe for more than the next two months, I can't help but be excited at the prospect of getting an apartment in New York when I return. I think about it constantly. Finally, a place all to myself. It will be small, but mine. I truly can't wait.

My mom informed me the other day that she suddenly detests the mirror I picked out for my bathroom at home, featured in this picture.

So it's now mine for my near future apartment and I am so thrilled! It's super heavy, made of mosaic style glass pieces with a thick rough black trim. And it's round– I have a thing for round mirrors. My family is in possession of a plethora of furniture from this person and that person, all stored away in various basements and hideaways. I'm excited that I get to essentially have my pick of it all when the time comes. Especially a certain armoir from a family friend.... I also have a thing for armoirs.

I feel a future post about art nouveau et les arts décoratifs coming to fruition. Keep an eye out.

View camera mug shots

2011-03-17T06:15:00.002-04:00

NPR's The Picture Show blog did a wonderful article on 1920s mug shots from Australia. Fascinating...

Read it and see the rest here.

Cannot stop listening

2011-03-14T12:28:00.003-04:00

to this.

Fat Friday!

2011-03-11T08:46:00.001-05:00

Vendredi Gras > Mardi Gras.

This morning I stumbled into a neighborhood not too far from where I live. I'd never been there before, so I just walked around and tried to absorb the surroundings (a skill I'm becoming quite proficient at). I stumbled upon a traiteur/ boulangerie/ boucherie/ patisserie alsacien, the first of its kind I've seen in Paris. So obviously I went in. Lunch ended up being the most ridiculously fatty sandwich I've probably ever eaten. It looked kind of like this, but better:

Ingredients: saucisson sec cut in paper thin slices, sprinkled with paper thin slices of the most delicious pickle I've ever had. Oh and there was butter, a lot of it. The baguette was the best I've had in Paris thus far, definitely. And for dessert a chocolate tart that I'm almost positive was 3/4 butter and 1/4 chocolate.

This is just lunch.

So yes. Fat Friday.

Fay Andrada

2011-03-07T10:17:00.001-05:00

Fay Andrada designs and makes jewelry by hand. She lives in BK and keeps a really neat blog.

Four words:

1. Beautiful

2. I

3. Want

4. Please?

Purchasing possibilites located here.

Hervé Guibert

2011-03-06T06:07:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I saw an exposition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. It was a retrospective of 230 prints of Hervé Guibert's photographs. He was born in 1955 in Paris and died in 1991 of AIDS. He was openly gay and photographed his lovers often. He was a writer and filmmaker as well. I think the reason I'm so attracted to his photographs is because they look always like a work in progress. I got the impression from viewing so many of them together that they are all connected like pieces of the same puzzle, and that he was constantly a student in his craft, experimenting but keeping it simple. He photographed bedrooms, people, objects, shadows, and himself, all from very interesting angles.

There were quotes from his journal written on the wall of the exposition too, and one of them said something to the effect of, I hesitate always to call myself a photographer. Once you realize that everything is photographable, you start taking pictures, and you don't know where to stop, and you think you're missing out on every single moment of every day that you're not capturing on film. I'm not putting it in quotes because that's not the exact quote, but it was the idea. I saw this quote at the very beginning of the show, and was hooked for the rest of it.

So I promptly visited the librairie and bought his journal, Le mausolée des amants: Journal 1976-1991. It's quite a thick book, published in French, but I started reading it on the métro and it's not too hard to get through. It's fascinating, actually. There aren't many of his photographs available to view online, but I recommend that every person who enjoys looking at images search out a way to look at his work. My day yesterday started out as a bit of a bummer, but I left the show feeling completely inspired.

I also read the essay by Paul Graham, "Photography is Easy, Photography is Hard" (2009) (discovered via the blue hour), and it's been sticking with me since I read it.

In the end, it's all just so much. But it's a muchness I really enjoy.

EDIT:
A few hours later, and I've found the quote in my book. I thought it would be on page 217 or something like that, but it's actually on page 33.

en français:
« Je me défendrai toujours d'être un photographe : cette attraction me fait peur, il me semble qu'elle peut vite tourner à la folie, car tout est photographiable, tout est intéressant à photographier, et d'une journée de sa vie on pourrait découper des milliers d'instants, des milliers de petits surfaces, et si l'on commence pourquoi s'arrêter? »

in english:
"I will always defend myself from being a photographer : this love makes me scared, it seems that it can quickly turn to madness, because everything is photographable, everything is interesting to photograph, and from one day your life you could dissect millions of moments, millions of little surfaces, and if you start it, why stop yourself?"

Exactly.

inspiration + idioms

2011-03-02T17:01:00.001-05:00

My host mom taught me a fun little idiomatic phrase over dinner tonight. She was complaining that she always forgets to salt the vegetables, but she insisted that ça va because it's much better than oversalting them. She told me that when the cook oversalts the food, people usually say "le cuisinier/ la cuisinière est amoureux(se)!" which means "the cook is in love!" The idea is that the cook was so busy daydreaming about his or her petit(e) ami(e) that they weren't paying attention to the amount of salt going into the pot. How cute is that?

I bought these two postcards at the Musée d'Orsay this weekend. The left is a colored photograph of Monet in his garden at Giverny (where I'll be visiting soon!) and the right is the painting La Toilette (1896) by Toulouse-Lautrec. They have a [hopefully] cozy home on my desk.

So I'm finally reading Pride & Prejudice

2011-02-27T17:56:00.001-05:00

after years of watching the movies and discussing it with family and friends. I enjoy how truly frank and ballsy Lizzy is in the book. My plan is to rewatch the BBC mini-series when I'm finished with the book, as I haven't seen it since I was quite young and watched it with my mom.

I'm reading the little red Collector's Library edition, and in it are these wonderful drawings by victorian illustrator Hugh Thompson. There's a shocking lack of good quality images online of his work, but here's what I could find.

'And your defect is a propensity to hate everybody.'

'And yours,' he replied with a smile,

'is wilfully to misunderstand them.'

tit-for-tat. tête-à-tête. witty banter. j'adore l'époque victorienne.

James Perse Spring '11

2011-02-27T17:32:00.000-05:00

Because at the end of the day, overpriced knitwear is pretty attractive.

all photos James Perse

I think we can all agree

2011-02-27T10:43:00.001-05:00

that this is about the cutest thing ever.

Ty Williams

2011-02-23T17:38:00.000-05:00

"Suns" by Ty Williams via Brian Ferry at the blue hour.

AAHHH LOOMSTATE

2011-02-23T17:22:00.002-05:00

It's an attack of pretty. I wish I could fathom wearing anything but bulky wool or cashmere sweaters every day. Soon enough all the spring fashions will be in the windows, soon enough...

Check the Loomstate Spring '11 Lookbook here.

Yummy: Local Natives

2011-02-22T17:54:00.000-05:00

If only everything could be sorted carrément

2011-02-21T17:53:00.001-05:00

squarely. blunty. all neat in little charts and graphs.

Today on the métro, an extremely attractive young guy got on just after me. He was carrying an art portfolio (the same kind I bought last week), so I thought he was neat from the beginning. Then after a few stops he pulled one of these rubiks cubes out of his bag and started fiddling with it, hands like lightning. Soon enough everyone on the crowded train was staring at him in the corner. He was so close to being finished too, but I imagine that with these things it doesn't matter if it looks like you're almost done unless you're actually done.

I am a very visual person, but I cannot for the life of me picture how to solve rubiks cubes. I wonder if part of my brain has trouble putting things in terms of squares, boxes, geometry. In photo class tonight I took instruction to hold a flashlight in the dark and move it at only 90 degree angles while the camera was on bulb. In the picture, my lines weren't straight. I can draw a fairly straight line with a pencil, but a circle, not so much. Yet when I move I much prefer soft and circular motions. When I think, I think in circles, not in lines. I connect things from beginning and end to make perfect little wholes and then put them aside; I can't do linear plots. My eyes move around artworks, people, places, all in circles, and a lot of the time I don't take in everything that's there, like in the middle of a circle. Example: it took me two days to look up in my own Parisian bedroom to see that the light source is a birdcage lamp (ironically shaped like two squares, one on top of a bigger one). Yet I was completely enamored with the fact that I finally have an armoir.

Brains, geez. je ne comprends rien.

first picture via tune the proletariat

sun, sun, sun, stay with me !

2011-02-20T09:42:00.000-05:00

you went behind the clouds, then all the rain came down.

I've been listening to The Elected album Sun, Sun, Sun all week. It reminds me of a particularly relaxing vacation at the beach a few summers ago. In this weather I need to be reminded.

Annnnnd the spring/summer collection from Ace & Jig. Simple and super cute– I love the big red stripey shirt, and its photo. All the photos are actually very well done, très bien faites.

via camp comfort.

Jean Paul Gaultier

2011-02-20T09:09:00.002-05:00

couture SP2011. so edgy, love it.

sometimes I feel exactly like this

2011-02-19T18:41:00.000-05:00

via lolita

a sunny morning

2011-02-17T18:41:00.001-05:00

in a few ways more than one.

I woke up a little late today only to find the sun shining through the thick red and orange curtains in my room. The sun. I see it so rarely that I've begun to actually take notice when it comes out. Maybe in the long run this Parisian weather will help me appreciate and take advantage of good weather more often. [insert quip about me keeping on the bright side of the street/fence/life, whatever.]

I got dressed and went to the corner store to buy some eggs. I've had a craving for fried eggs (sunny side up, of course) for about a week now, and this was my morning damnit! This little store around the corner is called 8àhuit, which just means "8 to 8". I take it to be France's exponentially more amazing version of 7-11. (They even sell this delicious raspberry yogurt that comes in a little glass jar, and a dozen varieties of those terrific pudding-type desserts that everyone here loves.) I bought the eggs and a little container of apple mango pressed juice (ugh, so good), and upon arriving home, immediately got back into my comfy clothes. This had to be done right.

(For the record, the sun was STILL shining at this point... such a record for Paris.)

Toast, butter, fried eggs, salt, tons of pepper, juice, sunshine... the simplest things, it was just so perfect.

Then I felt compelled to listen to this song and its accompanying album so cleverly titled Album.

Took a shower, did some yoga, glanced at my email, and left for the darkroom. Spent hours there, made good prints. I've been taking the bus to the studio this week, which I much prefer to the metro. There's so much more to look at out the window.

la-di-da. more soon. bises.

Little Otsu this week!

2011-02-16T17:32:00.001-05:00

Little Otsu is a truly amazing publishing company and online shop that's based in Portland, OR. (I've featured their products before, remember?) They support green publishing and independent artists– two things I care for so deeply! The Little Otsu blog has a fun little featured series where readers submit photographs according to a theme. I turned in three photos for the theme Living Things Among Us and they are officially live! Check them out here.

Big thanks to Little Otsu for featuring my work! I am so thrilled to be included among all the amazing artists featured on the blog.

In other news, here is a wonderful sculpture I saw at the Louvre today.

View the whole Messerschmidt exhibition online here. They're most amazing faces I've ever seen. And they were made in the 1700s, which surprised me because it seems like a very contemporary (though classical technique-wise) concept, sculpting screaming/grimacing people. N'est-ce pas?

14 feb and a new mix ~!~

2011-02-12T20:25:00.000-05:00

I've been compiling a list of songs about weird love for a long time now, and it just so happens that tomorrow is valentine's day. So in the spirit of caring, I present to you odd love: songs of love gone awry and strange, just in time for st. valentine.

If you're interested in hearing my other themed mixes, check out my 8tracks account.

As for me, I will be spending the whole day with my one true love: the darkroom. oui oui oui.

Steven Alan Spring 2010

2011-02-11T19:07:00.001-05:00

Steven Alan does a great job at making complementary collections for men and women. His styles are congruent. (I love that word, even if it makes me think of 8th grade math class.) I love man style like this, and my posting of this gorgeous model is my valentine's day gift to all you ladies out there.

And to say that I gasped when I saw that backless black dress would be an understatement. It's not listed for sale on the site yet, either. I wonder...

Spike Jonze + Arcade Fire

2011-02-11T04:37:00.003-05:00

So intense. Incredible!

See by Chloé - Printemps 2011

2011-02-09T17:26:00.000-05:00

so dreamy.

Sculpture

2011-02-07T18:36:00.001-05:00

The sidewalks are covered in loogies, dog poo, and very serious looking people.

I bought some postcards of beautiful sculptures and tacked them up in my room.

Lyon this weekend was wonderful. Pictures to follow.

I cannot wait to go back to the Musée des Beaux-Arts.

Learning (in another language) how to use a photography studio is no easy task.

This stuff: saving my knuckles since I've been in Paris.

Monoprix is an amazing store (think: cheap cool clothes + B&N + ginormous grocery store)

Seeing two completely straight men kiss each other on each cheek makes me so happy.

And it happens so often here!

It's official: I must cut back on the amount of cheese I'm eating. No bueno.

But the ham can stay.

I can't stop listening to Blue. I feel 15 again.

Sitting on the métro and reading a French magazine makes me feel like a local.

Choosing themes for my work is proving to be a challenge. In time the theme will choose me.

I feel like I've been gone forever.

Joseph Chinard, Juliette Récamier

I have always loved this song...

2011-02-03T05:27:00.000-05:00

"All good dreamers pass this way someday..."

Where to begin...

2011-01-27T17:54:00.002-05:00

I've had a hard time convincing myself it will be worth it to sit down and write about my time in Paris thus far; not because the time isn't worth writing about, but because no amount of writing would be enough.
I have learned more French in this past week than I have in the past year, easily. My host family is amazing, and their apartment is lovely (and huge! there are parts I don't even go to). Everyone is nice, but I'm doing a lot of work for my program. It's French-only, all the time– it's not at all a vacation. I went to the Musée d'Orsay this morning before my mandatory orientation class to see some grand Courbets and colorful van Goghs, and then I remembered why I came. ~~It hasn't felt all that different.~~ Ok so it's really, REALLY different. Plutôt.

Unlimited metro pass, I can go basically anywhere.
Cheese, white bread, ham, and butter every single day.
Duck and fish sometimes too, which I normally don't eat that much of.
Someone asked me for directions on the street.
Found an organic food store and bought falafel and taboule; they were delicious.
Spent an entire afternoon speaking French with a group of five friends.
Encountered the biggest dog on the street that I have ever seen in my life.
Walked through a dewy Jardins du Luxembourg in the morning.
Walked in circles around streets, just to get familiar.
Saw the same man walking his golden retreiver two days in a row.
Spoke in French with our Sri Lanken housemaid.
Discussed politics at the dinner table.
Explained how charter systems and american universities are organized.
Opened a bank account.
Learned the value of terrific supermarket pudding desserts.
Sat for hours listening to my host mother and her elderly church friend discuss 'la vie.'
Tried to buy a cell phone; got lost.
Looked up – birdcage lamp!

Useful French Phrases for the Foreign and Confused: Installment No. 5

2011-01-25T14:44:00.000-05:00

The best yet!

Useful French Phrases for the Foreign and Confused: Installment No. 4

2011-01-24T04:26:00.000-05:00

(In case you were wondering.)