Archives: October 2004
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This Blogexplosion thing is funny. It really has exploded. I like the idea though - there's a strange sort of sheepish recognition on everybody's behalf that a) they read a lot of sites and b) they want a lot of people to read theirs. "Blogging" (still hate the word) is something that my friends just don't get, and I only half-get myself, but Blogexplosion is a whole world of people who seem to understand.
The one issue I have with Blogexplosion is the rating idea. Every blog group thingamajig has one, but they annoy me. I sorta feel like the whole point behind blogging is that nothing has to be polished, you can say what you like, and people who find it interesting will hopefully come back. We're not exactly looking to be published novelists. Most bloggers are just geeks with something random to say. I like it that way, and wish there wasn't an imposed sense of how-it-should-be, you dig? The really good writers - who also happen to be bloggers (Dooce, for example)- will get discovered, ratings or none.
Anyway. Hello Blogexplosion types. You're welcome here.
So I've been dwelling a lot on The Next Step. Once I finish my thesis come June, I'll be at a point where I can continue here, continue elsewhere, or change direction entirely. Being abroad makes geography a factor, and when I came back to Paris in September I had decided I would leave France. I told The Boy I'd go back Stateside sometime next July-ish.
But, naturally, being here I've fallen back in love with my life in Paris, and I wonder why change a good thing? My family is the main thing tugging at my heartstrings, and I'm having a hard time with that. Being far from them right now is bearable, but what happens when people start having babies (including myself)? Could I stand being so far away? I just don't know.
Recently, I've had a rather strange set of opportunities come my way that are making the entire decision-making process even more difficult.
For one, I rocked my GREs. It was strange because I actually thought I had more or less failed them, and when I clicked on the button "See My Score," I actually looked around the room with paranoia when I saw what was on the screen. I was sure there had been some sort of computer error. I was well over the score I needed, and now I can pretty much sit easy knowing I could most likely get into even the high-end graduate programs. That's a funny feeling.
However, I've recently come up with a crazy idea that could potentially work, and one of the most difficult key elements in the plan has pretty much been offered to me with no strings attached. It would mean I would take a risk - a big one - and that I would stay in France. I'm scared of both possibilities, but once-in-a-lifetime opportunities only come by, well, once, so I'm pretty tempted. The Boy says, "Take the plunge!" but I know he's thinking that because it's his personality (for one) and because he wants me to stay.
I'm doing research on the idea, and I'll leave it at that mystery for the time being.
I am sad because my parents arrive tomorrow, and I want to be in tip top form for them, but I woke up this morning with something akin to bronchitis.
My voice is several registers lower than it should be and there is a patch of my esophagus that feels as if it were being scraped with a spatula like burnt shit in a pan.
Cough, cough. Oooowww. The rhythm of my life at the moment. Cough, cough. Ooowww.
I went to my doctor today (already had made an appointment for a check-up two weeks ago, bizarrely) and she listened to my lungs. Then she said, "When the fever starts, you can begin taking these antibiotics."
So I'm spending my Friday night waiting for the FEEEEVVVAhhhh.
I need a book to read. I would go to my bookworm list, but I'm not in the mood for anything serious. Thus far, everything I've read off that list has been pretty good, but I'm looking for something a little more "light entertainment" and a little less "serious litterature." It's my last week before both school and work start up again. So let my brain fully turn to mush just this once, and I'll whip it back into shape in no time.
I'm going to London this weekend and will pick something up there. What do you suggest?
No Nora Roberts, Tom Clancy, or other crap fiction allowed. Just something good, if maybe a little light.
After checking back in at Daily Kos (truly addicting), I found out a new Eminem video premiered on MTV yesterday.
I tried for a year or two not to like Eminem, but I caved after a hit song or two. I think he's witty. I know some people have said he's racist or homophobic, but I haven't heard any indication of that in any of the songs I know. Then again, I'll admit not to knowing every Eminem song ever. Still, what I do know of him, I like.
But here's an excerpt from a new one called "Mosh":
This is a good one. It's political, and sends a good message, and makes me appreciate Eminem even more. When pop idols use their fame for a good cause, that can't be a bad thing.
You can watch the video here if you have real player. There's also a .mov clip floating around on the internet somewhere, if that suits your fancy. You can also read more about it at Salon.com.
The video is pretty intense. Full lyrics are in the extended entry. I suggest reading them first, so you can focus on the images when you watch the video.
Read more »In over 35 years of marriage, my parents have only not voted for the same president once. "I always knew Nixon was a crook," says my Mom, explaining their sole electoral difference.
With lifelong Republicans as parents, my brother, sister and I have tried to get them to talk politics several times. They never seem to want to do it - maybe because they know they're outnumbered. How two Republicans bred three Democrats is still debatable, but I blame Churchill's statement: "Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains."
I'm sure my sister would refute the statement, but it's there.
Regardless, I just received news that the two Republicans I know best have switched teams. They cast their ballots today. I didn't expect it, and I clapped my hands and jumped out of happiness at the idea. Two more for the Kerry camp. This makes me pray there may be more like them out there. I am keeping my fingers crossed that things might change come next Tuesday.
Or, as my Mom says, "See? There is hope for life after 60."
Yes Mom, there is. And thanks for thinking of your grandkids when you voted today. There might be hope for them, too.
You have to go to Gadflyer to read this whole piece. It puts thing in perspective, again.
Here's an excerpt:
Read more »It's Jon Stewart. On "60 Minutes." And he's even funny there, too! Go see it.
How's that for a name? We've got a project in mind... I'll leave you with only the name for now. Mystery is part of fascination. So, how do you like Ruby Shoes? What do you think of the name?
Now that you've given me some feedback, I would also like to point out that on Blogexplosion, it says my site contains partial profanity. I feel oddly satisfied with that.
Kathypath and I got the unlimited movie pass at MK2. We have thrown quite a party at the Parisian cinemas. In the last week we have seen:
Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries) - everyone must up and see this movie, right now. I thought it was beautiful, inspiring, wonderful. I might go see it again in a week or two, actually. It was that good. I don't think there is any movie I have ever intentionally seen twice in the theaters. Really. Go see it. Go! Now!
Memoir d'un saccage - This is a documentary on the collapse of Argentina. While the beginning was fascinating, after about an hour of learning about privatizing the national petrol company, I wanted to leave the theater.
2046 - Everyone told me this was going to be a great, fabulous, wonderful film. But um... not so much. No. At first, sure, it was kinda interesting. But it dragged on for soooo long. I guess people thought it would be fabulous for the big names (directed by Wong Kar Wai and starring Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung of "In the Mood for Love" fame) but wow. Was I ever bored.
Dodgeball - What can I say? I laughed. And contrary to most of these dumball films, I actually felt it gained momentum towards the end instead of getting a little stale and old. But I think, deep down, I'm a sucker for Ben Stiller.
Uncovered - Nothing you didn't know about the Iraq war. I thought it was worth the time because I was able to match names to faces. I've been reading about a lot of people over the years without ever seeing them, so now I know Paul Wolfowitz (sp?) is not an attractive man.
Shark Tale - You know what? I sorta thought the pixar/rap mix was interesting. I was pleasantly surprised by this film. I laughed. I didn't like it as much as my all-time favorite (Monsters Inc - and side note: I have yet to see Shrek) but it was worth my time and money.
This weekend, we are off to see:
1. Genesis (can't find it on IMDB)
2. Wimbledon
3. Outfoxed
Who needs tv when you have unlimited movie passes?
I just read something another site about the first time the author saw a dead body. Because it's 12.50 am, I'm going discuss the same.
This was not the first time I had seen a dead body, however. I had seen at least one, maybe more, before. But Jaysis, this was the first time I really saw death.
Don't keep reading if you get upset easily.
Read more »Jon Stewart's response to his appearance on Crossfire can be found here.
So this is freakin' hilarious. I mean, I started laughing alone in my buildings hallway, it's so damn funny.
Remember the crazy lady who lost my file, accused me of never sending one, gave my job to someone else, "found" my file, and then asked me to handwrite a letter of apology for telling her she lost my file? Remember that? Well, after exchanging some firey emails, I think the two of us pretty much agreed to disagree, and I refused to write her a letter of apology just to get a job... she was the one who was wrong after all.
I fretted quite a bit because it's very hard to find a well-paying job in a foreign country. I got nervous and even considered writing the apology (someone said, "Would it have been too much to just swallow your pride?" and I said, "Hell yeah, it woulda!") but I couldn't even figure out how I would word it: "I apologize that I pointed out you do not do your job. Maybe I should have sent you flowers or chocolates to let you know next time?" I really don't know what she was expecting.
Anyway, so I dwelled on the whole issue for several weeks, wondering if I should just buckle and ask for the job anyway.
But today, I have had:
- one person contact me about a teaching job
- one person contact me about another article
- someone in Switzerland contact me about some site design
and...
- the bitch from the previous job sent me a full contract in the mail.
Obviously, I'm going ot wait to see how the other things pan out first. I'd rather not work for the bitch's establishment if given the choice. My bet is that her boss got the copy of the email I sent and was like, "Um... did I read that right? Did you really ask her to apologize for your mistakes?" And then they realized they needed me to work for them and instead of coming out and saying, "Yo, we're like, so totally sorry about that mishap" they were just like, "Um... I dunno... send her a contract and see if she'll work for us anyway."
Fucking hilarious.
Meanwhile, anybody here from BlogExplosion? Welcome. Handy tool, no?
Via flea, I got a fabulous link that I am so glad I didn't miss out on. It's wonderful to see Jon Stewart using his fame to come onto Crossfire.
I'm sure The Daily Show fans are just wild with happiness right now, and maybe I've missed the boat on this whole discussion. It seems I'm always behind with these kinds of things.
But I'm so excited about it I have to spread the word, at the risk of revealing my tardiness. I've already watched the clip three times... it's so intense, and it's obvious that Jon really gets under the hosts' skin. As flea said, it's appalling that Carlson kept trying to argue that The Daily Show should somehow be embarrassed for their programming. As Jon tries to hammer home the point that Crossfire is not doing it's job as a "debate" program, their only response was, "Well, whatta 'bout your show?" To which, naturally, Jon reminded him that The Daily Show is on Comedy Central, not CNN.
Anyway, I applaud Jon's courage to go on the show and to try to get something through their skulls. I doubt it will change much of anything, but it was still nice to see.
Oh, and by the way? Jon? Really hot in that clip, no? I'm so used to him in a suit... he looks great in that sweater. Or maybe it's just that integrity is sexy.
You can get the full video and transcript here.
I think I'm losing it. Truly, perhaps I'm already gone.
After the administrative hellhole I have lost myself in, I shouldn't be surprised by another blow to my well-organized and excessively Type-A ego. But, alas. The absentee ballot saga continues.
I double-checked on the Michigan website. It says:
That's it!, I thought, and sent an email along to the township clerk, pointing out that, yes, I'm an overseas voter. Her response?
Read more »I got a note from my township clerk saying, essentially, "We got your request for an absentee ballot. However, since you registered to vote by mail, you have to show up in person to cast your vote."
Doesn't this seem like a strange idea? I'm sure I'm not the only person who has been living overseas, who has registered from overseas, and who doesn't plan on going back to the United States just to cast a vote.
I'm a little upset because I would really like to vote in this election. My state is currently on "Barely Kerry" according to this map, and I need to tip those scales a bit further in the right direction.
The pressure's really on now, and I'm getting pretty nervous. The election is just a few weeks away.
I called my clerk to figure out what to do. You know what their answer was? Send an email. I was like, "But, um... I'm on the phone right now. Couldn't we just...?"
I felt like I was dealing with French administration or something. It just figures that once my paperwork problems start easing up on the French side, they go haywire on the American end.
***Update:***
Read more »I'm saddened to learn that Christopher Reeve died today. Everybody made so many jokes about the irony of his situation, but the truth is that he was an amazing person. I read several articles on him and his surprising recovery; I also appreciated his stance on stem cell research. He passed away from heart failure at the age of 52.
Good news! I talked to a professor at school and he agreed to be my research director. This is a freakin' miracle. The first guy I talk to, and he says, "Yeah! Great idea!" I couldn't believe it. Nothing is that easy in France. He even gave me some references and some ideas of his own. Plus, we sat for awhile after our "business" was done with and gabbed about the structure of the American higher education system. He's a nice professor, and I'm so glad he agreed to my pitch for an idea.
So that's great news. It means I can enroll, pay my school fees, get insurance, sign up for Arabic, and feel efficient, all within the next two weeks. The relief is incredible.
I also learned that, although nobody thought to tell us, linguistics students don't start their classes until Nov 1. Hello, extra month of vacation. I'll also refer to it as intensive, quality job-searching time.
The next step to today's happiness was running into a friend from last year whom I haven't seen since January. I've always liked him, and as a matter of fact, he was the first person I ever spoke to at the Sorbonne. Sometime last winter, I changed cell phones and lost everyone's phone number, his included. So we re-exchanged and hopefully we'll chill again sometime.
Two minutes after saying goodbye to him, I received a call from ANOTHER friend I haven't seen in forever. I explained the phone situation, and she said, "Oh God! I'm glad I called then!" We're hanging out tomorrow.
Right afterwards, I went to grab a coffee with another American suffering through France's bureaucratic mess, and shortly afterwards I went to meet Kathypath at the movies. She ended up being late, I waited around in the rain, and when she called me from a 15-minute subway ride away, the movie had already started. We scratched the movie idea, and now I'm back at home. That was a pretty shitty part of the day, because I had had to run home to pick up my movie pass and run back - all in the rain - in order to be at the theater on time, but it ended up all being in vain anyway.
Last night, The Boy finally remembered my birthday. He's stupid like that, but is attempting to redeem himself by taking me out to dinner tonight. Although it's rainy and gross and I've been hobbling around like a madwoman all day, it will be nice to spend a few hours with my man.
Good, bad, good. I'll take it.
I need to stop with the politics talk. It's a strange sort of masochistic thing I do... I have too many liberal friends so I seek out right-wing opinion and am totally shocked when people admit to thinking that our current administration is OK. This is so mind-blowing to me that I question things, but usually this just enrages people.
I think the internet is a lot like email in that tone does not come across as it should. If I put three question marks after a phrase, it's not because I want to make it look like I'm really upset, but it's because I really just don't understand how the hell you could think that. Please clarify.
Anyway. I really hope our country doesn't go down the shithole. I don't know if Americans living in the US are aware of how much esteem we have lost on the international scene. Not a day goes by that I don't enter into some conversation with people about our government. Most people just want to know "Why?" It's terrifying that I don't have an answer for them. About anything. Even armed with the facts, I can't justify our country's current actions.
Read more »Went over to The Knitter's and she made Beccarah and I some food. It was tasty and delicious and a nice evening overall. They're good cats. We laugh a lot together, and I think they're both smart and witty and certainly on my wavelength.
We talked a lot about politics. It seems to be all I can talk about lately, and I have a feeling things are going to continue on this fervent pace for awhile, up until election time. We're trying to find a place where we can watch the results come in live on November 2. As ex-pats, we feel this election is really the make-or-break decision as to whether or not we can face returning to the Homeland. I'll have a really difficult time returning to American soil if Bush's cronies are the ones who own it.
Read more »Another birthday has come and gone. I guess you can't help feeling a little let down that there are no longer any pinatas and scavenger hunts.
On my birthday, I woke up after three hours of sleep and left to go to class. It took all I had to force myself out of bed, and when I got to school, they had changed the classroom. I hiked up several flights of stairs (the Sorbonne has sooo many!) in search of the right room. When I finally got there, I waited around for half an hour with several other students, and the teacher never showed up.
So I tredged back home in the rain and got in bed around noon (after reading the news and eating a little something), feeling a little sorry for myself.
I woke up at three and just did nothing special... Mom and Dad called to wish me a happy birthday, I got a few birthday emails, and so on. The Boy forgot, as usual. The ironic thing is that we had a conversation on Wednesday in which I reminded him my birthday was on Friday. I even added that I just wanted to go out to dinner and then watch the presidential debates as my big birthday activity.
I ended up making a quiche and then watching the debates. He watched them with me, but STILL didn't remember. I think in a day or two, he'll say, "Happy Birthday, baby!" He does that every year, usually two days late. I'm used to it.
Anyway. I'm just a little down. A good friend has had her heart broken, another good friend is having big problems at home, and a third good friend is miserable where she is and thinks she's going to throw in the towel and go back to her home town. I got my job yanked out from under me, my school problems are just getting worse, and I still haven't written the article I'm supposed to be working on. It's not the end of the world, but everything feels sorta drab and gray. Quite a letdown after such a glorious summer.
I think 25 is going to be hard, hard year. Leaving people and a place I love to go to the unknown. Scary. Hopefully it will start picking up soon.
My negativity from the previous post inspired me to listen to some music. And then I remembered I had been neglecting the music section of this site, so it's back. Sorta. Plus, if you navigate around a bit, you'll realize that it's still clinging on to the old site format (which I technically prefer to this current one, but you gotta vary things sometimes or you end up a boring old hag).
I just wanted to tell those who had given up hope. Maybe I'll do a weekly special or something. Anyway. I feel good about that. Music can always turn things around for me. It's pretty amazing, really.
Only another hour until the debate starts, too. See? I'm not so negative after all.
Oh, and I sat next to a famous old woman at the pizza place today. I'm almost sure it was the middle lady in this photo, but you never know. Great film, too.
Sometimes it's so hard to focus on the positive. I know from years of comparison that I can be annoyingly positive. Cynical sometimes, but positive most of the time. And I don't know what's happening right now, but I feel that negativity is everywhere I go. I'm not depressed - thank God - I'm more just irritated and fed up with other people's bullshit. It's getting in my way.
Some examples:
Read more »So here's the funny thing:
(or several funny things)
1. Classes start tomorrow at the Sorbonne. But, of course, in order to enroll in the master's program, you have to have an advisor. This means that I haven't enrolled yet, as in order to have an advisor, you have to have an idea as to what your thesis will be on. Well... me, not so much. The tricky part is that as I am not enrolled, I don't have an ID card yet, and without an ID card, I won't have health insurance and I won't be able to renew my carte de sejour (one year residency permit). So the irony here is that I'm going to have to propose some crappy topic just to be able to sign up for school. Now, is that really logical? Oh, the joys of French bureaucracy.
2. I have been in correspondance with a woman who was supposed to give me a job last June.
Read more »I went out tonight and had a great time, but I also secretly couldn't wait to get back to my beloved C-Span. I missed the debates last night and had to make a concentrated effort all day long not to read any newspapers or listen to the radio (tricky) before watching the event myself.
Naturally, upon my return to the house, I jumped right online and found myself my debate heaven. Halfway through the madness, I turned to The Boy and said, "You know how pathetic this is? I'm hooting and hollering and clapping my hands as if this were a basketball game. Some people get excited about sports. I get excited whenever Bush trips over his own words." It was a thrilling 90 minutes. I kept laughing and hee-heeing at Bush's blunders. Even The Boy, who doesn't speak English, kept making fun of him for sputtering.
Now I'm really hoping Kerry nails him in the "town-hall" "debate" next week. If he was able to set Bush off his feet this severely with such tight format restrictions, I can't wait to see him in a more relaxed environment.
I'm up to speed now, and have formulated my own opinion of the "debate." I watched the Spin Room afterwards and have now read a couple of articles. It looks like people agree with me that Bush looked like a bumbling idiot (again). It doesn't matter how many times he repeats that John Kerry shouldn't say "the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time." Bush has nothing more than that pathetic phrase - and even his spin team can't come up with anything else. I relished every minute.
In my post-viewing readings, I stumbled upon this great quote from The New Republic. It made me giggle:
Read more »
