The Lame Basic Overview
Name: Lee or Lee Ann (your pick)
Location: Paris, France
Age: 26
Gender: féminin
Employment: Rare art books meet the internet. I make it happen.
Astrological Sign: Libra (Aries rising, Taurus moon)
That's me in my tiny-ass bathroom. I used to have a picture up of me in my tiny-ass kitchen, but I changed it because my hair has grown since. I was looking at myself in the mirror and checking the length when someone snapped this picture. Usually, I hate pictures of myself, but this one seems semi-bearable. Weird, I'm wearing ths same shirt as I type this as I am in the picture.
Brief Intro:
Short-but-Sweet Background: I'm the youngest of three, I grew up in the Midwest, left it at 17 to spend the first few years of college in California, and then took off for Paris at 19. I have been living in Europe for (almost) seven years now. The fact I am still here is a bit of a fortunate accident - I originally intended to stay only a few months. But, when it came time to leave, I instead decided to finish my undergraduate career in Paris (BA is in International Communications/Journalism) and the got a master's in linguistics from the Sorbonne. Now I study Arabic at "Langues'O" - a seriously rockin' school, if anyone is interested.
Meanwhile, I work at an art book store - it's a great job and I hope it lasts. I am also helping The Boy set up his company (online, news coming soon, books are involved), and I occasionally sell books on Ebay for a few different people for extra cash. This means that my VERY small apartment is almost constantly filled with books, so it's a good thing my specialty is not in fruits or snakes.
Projects: I'm hoping to get to India in August -- and dream of going other places (Syria and Lebanon are next on my list) in the coming year. We'll see where finances take me. I'm still working on a sweater I started knitting a year ago. I'm slowly creeping towards my lifetime goal of being quadrilingual. One day, I will run a marathon.
With the light spare time I have I enjoy going out to dinner with my friends and ordering too much wine. I have an unlimited movie pass which means I see afternoon movies by myself when I can fit them in. Other hobbies include reading, discovering new music, and snuggling with The Boy.
Other interesting tidbits:
I have size 11 feet (American sizes). I don't look or act like a hippie, but I think deep down I must be one. I love grammar, and read grammar books for fun. I think it's like a fun puzzle. My friends are spread out throughout the world. I have a long list of countries that I want to travel in - most of them are, unfortunately, outside of Europe (but I would go almost anywhere if you paid the ticket for me). I am obsessed with music. I could spend all day just sitting with my records. I have done it on several occasions. I prefer the morning to night. Nevertheless, night usually wins just because once I'm up, I have a hard time going to bed. My parents are both rock stars.
Want to read more like this? Check out 100 Things.
Top Ten (or almost) Lists: (in no particular order)
Books (fiction, which is harder for me than non):
“The Color Purple” - Alice Walker
“The Witches” - Roald Dahl
“Any Human Heart” - William Boyd
“Roots” - Alex Haley (I know, I know, not entirely fiction, but…)
"We Need to Talk About Kevin" - Lionel Shriver (just read this, so it might disappear from the list, but was so impressed that I had to add it)
“The Blind Assassin” - Margaret Atwood
“A Brave New World” - Aldous Huxley (trite, but I have my own reasons for loving it)
“East of Eden” - John Steinbeck (side note: I'm pissed Oprah made it some damn popular, because this has been my favorite book since I was 13. I feel like she's taken a little part of me and mass marketed it, as ridiculous as it may seem)
Albums:
“Thriller” - Michael Jackson
“Standing on the Verge of Getting It On” - Funkadelic
“Travelling Without Moving” - Jamiroquai
“All Eyez on Me” - Tupac (I can’t help it)
“Mama Said” - Lenny Kravitz
“Superfly” - Curtis Mayfield
The Al Green Anthology
“Low End Theory” - A Tribe Called Quest
Films:
“Brassed Off”Memories from Childhood:
Swinging on the willow branches near the golf course
Sledding (and occasionally peeing in my snowsuit)
“Bridge Night” - when my brother, sister, and I go to stay up to watch 20/20
The independence of going to White Hen (convenience store) by bike
Dinners at “The Kitchi” with the grandparents
“Midnight Wolf” and “Bloody Murder” on summer nights
(M)TV dinners with the babysitter
Pretending to be Madonna’s rock bad (did she have one?)
Fourth of July potlucks
Lightning Bugs
Favorite Places to Be:
On the bridges of Paris at night
In my parents’ living room in the winter with a fire and a book
In any café with a high quality Chai latte
On café terrace in the summer, ideally with some sangria in Barcelona
In the driver’s seat of a car
In Borders Bookstore (or any bookstore, really)
In the Luxembourg Gardens in the fall
In my Spanish teacher’s classroom
On a train
At any restaurant in Paris with a good friend
What I Miss About the US:
Greasy spoon diners and the corresponding breakfast
“Jeopardy!”
Big bookstores filled with books written in English
Burritos
24-hour stores
Mom’s lasagne, and everything else she cooks, really
44 varieties of anything you might like available in the grocery store
Customer service
Non-smoking sections
What I Love About Paris/France:
Pedestrian-only streets
Street markets
The restaurants
Mom and Pop stores
French
The student discounts
Good wine at a reasonable price
Random moments of incredible beauty
The bridges at night (I know it’s a repeat but it must be included)
