My love affair with the Twin Cities

To cope with my recent move away from Paris and my quirkyaloneness in general, I have decided to romance Minneapolis (with a few dates with Saint Paul).

When I moved down here last week, I got hopelessly lost for awhile, and I sadly realized how much better I know Paris compared to my own city.

Well, this year, I'm going to change that. I am going to take Minneapolis like I did Paris, with to-do lists, pictures, and writing.

So far this week, I have ventured to the Saint-Paul Farmer's Market, where I Holga'd and got free sunflowers, to the Bulldog bar in Uptown, where I tried some Belgium Hoegarden beer and also got a glass of my trusty Leffe that brought back so many memories (or lack there-of...), and the Falafel King place on Lyndale, where I ordered the "appetizer" Maza, which is actually 2 meals in itself.

I had a lovely reunion with the Minneapolis Central Library, where I checked out a bunch of French novels, French films, and an American memoirs about time spent in France. Also the aforementioned Supercapitalism & Quirkyalone books.

I've scoped out the new and improved Seward Co-Op, where I was blown away! We then picnicked by Lake Calhoun, and it was lovely. I took my cuz & sis to Pizza Luce on Seward and consumed an entire Mashed potato pizza by myself. I ventured downtown to have lunch with Teddy - we had Jimmy John's at the park by the Orchestra Hall. Over in Dinkytown, I ate at the newly (new to me, anyway) expanded Mesa Pizza, had my favorite Southwest Beans slice, with a Mountain Dew, and felt wonderfully at home, despite missing fresh croissants with some French coffee like Phantom Limb Syndrome.

To-Do List

Sonic! (Even better after dark)

the Titanic exhibit

the M.I.A. and the Walker / Sculpture Gardens

Much Ado About Nothing at Theater in the Round

(500) Days of Summer

Caffetto's, Cupcake, Bordertown

that French restaurant on Lyndale

Galactic Pizza

(So much food!)

read, write, and take pictures

find more things to add to this list.

I think this list ever-expanding list, with school and work, will be more than enough to prevent me from slipping into a reverse-culture shock depression.

So Minneapolis, will you go out with me?

Currently

Living in: a cute little house in Uptown

Eating: spoonfuls of hummus (I ran out of pita bread)

Listening to: French radio station online out of Lille (http://www.mycontact.fr/player.html)

Reading: Supercapitalism by Robert B. Reich

Wearing: Charlotte Russe top that I haven't worn in years, same pair of Vanity jeans for the fourth day in a row, and purple ballet flats I just bought.

Contemplating: my life as a quirkyalone (Quirkyalone: a Manifesto for uncompromising romantics, by Sasha Cagen)

Talking to: Tara (London), via skype, and Shana, via thin walls

Dreading: the start of school and work

Fearing: greek olives and sharp objects

Healing: stitched arm, wisdom teeth gaps, and a disappointed heart

Loving: solitude, coffee, electro music, anything French

Wanting: a mac, an ipod, a quirkytogether relationship

Believing in: friendship, poetry, environmentalism

La Crise chez nous

New vocabulary I learned today grâce à or à cause de (depending on how you look at it) a series of unfortunate events in our apartment:

un disjoncteur - circuit breaker

une allonge / un prolongateur - extension cord

une prise - outlet / plug-in

un fusil - stove igniter

les plaques - hotplates

brancher, débrancher - to plug-in, to unplug

sauter - to blow a fuse

Needless to say, our hotplates suddenly decided to blow a fuse while Misa was in the middle of cooking us a delicious meal (mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn). We ran around with our heads cut off for awhile trying to figure out what to do. (Did you know, humans can live up to several hours without their heads?). We soon figured out that our hotplates were connected to the fridge so NEITHER worked anymore, and we had just gone grocery shopping. Our landlord kindly lent us some hotplates he found in his basement, that we hooked up in Misa's bedroom, and we steadily consumed perishable items all night until we could deal with this problem more thoroughly in the morning.

It was quite a stressful evening, but at least we got more than enough calcium, and now Misa can wake up to the smell crackling bacon if she wants.

Le Metro according to Us.

La bande de la rue Paul Albert

In the cult that is my co-habitation with Misa and Rachel, we have established a new culture and way of life.

Our days of the week are as follows:

Monday

Duplex

New Movie

The Mix

The Hide Out

Favela Chic

Sabbath

Days begin at 16:00 and end at 8:00.

Our traditional dishes include raclette, Delicious Creation, galettes, fruits rouges, baguettes with cheese, yogurt that does not require extra ingredients added to it to make it edible, and entire loaves of Brioche. (Certain members appreciate goat cheese, while others do not. Also, pamplemousse).

Our prayer of supplication simply goes: "Pleaaase... Pleeaaaaaaseeee.... PPLLLEEAAAASSSEEE!!!!"

You may recognize a member of our cult by her frequent references to the Office, famous youtube videos, and other cryptic phrases.

Popular hang-out spots for our members include the Hall, Quick, le Départ, Milk, and that sketchy park across the street.

We have everyone drinking coke.

We have one idol - Sylvain the Alien.

Our demons appear in the forms of sharks, butterflies, siamese bugs, and Marie-Emmanu.

Some of our Commandments include the following:

Thou shall always do as thou wants. It is thy choice.

Except...

Thou shall always tell zee truzzzz.

Thou shall never eat anything that doesn't belong to thou. (And thou shall never eat too ravenously. Food is a gift to our body, we must savor it and eat normal amounts of it at a respectable pace).

If thy sister shall make the three-fingered hand motion, thou must swoop in and save her from the creeper that is bothering her.

Thou shall not bleed on anything.

Thou shall take responsibility for thy bodily functions.

Thou shall not covet thy sister's manfriend (or ladyfriend).

Thou shall always clean the hole.

Thou shall not make tons of racket when others are trying to sleep.

Thou shall always be there for each other.

And whenever in need, such as when you get shot in the side on the Champs-Elysées, just call "SeKERRRity!"

(with Misa K. and Rachel W.)

The Murphy's Law of Paris

In collaboration with Shelly S. and Megan N.

1. In Paris, if you lug around your umbrella for days, it won't rain a drop. But as soon as you leave your umbrella at home, it pours.

2. If you take your time getting to the metro, you'll get there as soon as the train is pulling away. But if you hurry to the metro, you'll get there with five more minutes to wait.

3. You only run out of Orange credit on jours fériés (on holidays when all tabacs are closed).

4. Things that are on every street corner until you need one : boulangeries, post offices, tabacs, ATMs, pharmacies, and public restrooms.

5. If you've ever tried to have a grubby day and wear not-so-nice clothes, you have more than likely ended up at an impromptu dinner party, a free concert, or passed a famous person in the street.

6. Paris is the city of love - for tourists. For the rest of us foreigners who've out-stayed our welcome, it's pretty much just the city of passive-aggression.

7. You've made do all year without things you really need, yet you still have stuff burried in your suitcase that you haven't used once.

8. Rachel W: "If you try to deter a creepster by telling them you only speak English, not French, they become more intrigued and insist on practicing their English with you instead of just leaving you alone."

to be continued

Summer in Paris... :)

I've taken all my finals, I've turned in all my papers (as crappy as they may be), the semester is done.

IES is over.

But summer in Paris is just beginning. I'm feeling newly inspired. I want to write, I want to take pictures. I want to go to movies, plays, operas, concerts. I want to read...

Paris Summer Projects

Ne-Yo in concert at the Zénith!!!

Parc Astérix (an amusement park based on a classic French comic book series)

Foire du Trône (basically, the fair)

Mass at Notre-Dame

Tea at Shakespeare & Co., and go to the readings

Picnic in Bois de Boulogne and Buttes de Chaumont

Rush tickets at the Opéra / Ballet

Learn some more French

Write

Work as an English teacher

FINALLY visit the Versailles Gardens and Marie Antoinette's Village

Expore the passages couverts

Afterwork on a peniche on the Seine

Visit the Lomography store

Regina Spektor in Concert!!!

Erasmus night at every club in town: The Mix, Duplex...

Disneyland

Bordeaux and Biarritz

Reading list:

Et après by Guillaume Musso

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

60 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong by Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Je l'aimais

Eat Pray Love

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Les liasons dangereuses

Les hommes qui n'aimaient pas les femmes by Stieg Larsson

Three Cups of Tea

Super Crunchers

I'm Not Myself These Days

The Reader

Revolutionary Road

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Brutal Week...

It all started with some violent vomiting

then a doctor's visit

then a shot in the ass

and some more medicine

then an oral presentation at the Institut Catholique de Paris

then some more homework

and some more presentations

and some papers

and it's only Tuesday.

Bring it on!

Why I love my sister

On the phone with Mom today

Tay, in the background, to Mom: "Give me the phone, I have something I need to say to Lexi."

Mom passes the phone to Taylor

Taylor (sings): Prom tonight, doo doo doo doo...

May Day

Stumble upon a communist demonstration,

meet up with Julien, Clément, and Alessandra to organize our group project,

discover the (cheap) delicious wonders of the restaurant Viagio with Alexandra,

watch "Celle que j'aime" at UGC CinéCité Les Halles,

stay up later than necessary doing absolutely nothing,

all in a day's work.

Monday

9h00-10h30 Démocratie et Médias et Céline... :)

10h30-13h00 kill some time

13h00-13h30 write explication de texte

13h35 lunch: demi-bagette and coca light

14h15-15h45 Litt with Sophie Robert. Doodle instead of take notes.

15h45-16h00 Debate with Bekah whether or not to skip our next class

16h00-17h30 Decide to go to class anyway - Cinéma et Société

17h30-18h00 Intensive research in the IES computer lab (Sources cited: EurActiv, le Monde, and Facebook.)

18h30 Crêpes with Bekah

19h45 Avant-Première (early screening) of the film Romaine par moins 30 with the film crew, director, producer, sound editors, and the lead actress Sandrine Kiberlain. After the movie we were all served champagne and dessert, mmm! Quelle classe !

22:00 home, 4 course meal in my bedroom: bread with picant, salad, heart-shaped pasta, and cookies :)

22:30 research on a weekend in Bruges... 

Flamber, in all its senses

Tonight we had bananes flambées for dessert (banana flambé).  My host-family's grown son Alexis is visiting from Austria for the weekend, and him and Ivan made this delicious treat for us. Ivan prefers to keep it au naturel - no added sugar or butter, but Alex prefers to add both. They added butter on the second round, and I liked it much better too. You just fry bananas (and/or butter and/or sugar) in a pan over the stove, and then at the last minute, add some cognac (or rum). Then take the pan off the stove, and light the alcohol in the pan on fire with a match/lighter and let it burn! Be sure to lean away as you do this - I about got my faced burned off by a flaming banana. Once the flames go out, serve the tasty results, and enjoy.*

I also got a French vocab and culture lesson during this cooking experience:

flamber = to burn (cooking)

flamber = figurative use. flamber de l'argent = to blow through money. to go out on the town and spend tons of money on drinks, cabs, clubs, etc.

un flambeur = a high roller. A person who burns through money

cocorico = the sound a rooster makes in French. Also the sound a French person makes when they're proud of themselves (as a nation). For example, on the news the other night, a recent study found that French women are Europe's thinnest, and the newscaster said, "Cocorico, on est toujours les plus minces!" ("Cockle-doodle-doo, we're still the skinniest!")

"Du cognac français en plus! C'est le meilleur, franchement!"  - Alex ("French cognac, too! It's the best - really, it is.")

"Cocorico!" - Gladys

(*an actual recipe should be consulted)

Things I Miss

the Onion every Wednesday

Netflix

MOUNTAIN DEW

Oreos

Mexican food

the Sims 2

Forever 21

My friends.... :(

Mesa Pizza

Newsweek

Weeds (the TV show!)

TiVo

Bordertown

B&N

My family

Blanche.

Saturday

Hôtel des Invalides (and yes, I got in for free, yay!)

- Musée de l'Armée

- Napoleon's tomb

film at UCG Montparnasse : Coco avant Chanel

Coco: No smoking!

Friday

9:50 wake up

10:20 leave for IES

10:54 stop at Huit à 8 for a 50 cL coca light (1,20)

10:58 stop at a boulangerie for a demi-baguette (,43)

11:00 watch "Hiroshima mon amour"

12:30 facebook

13:00 watch "La haine"

15:00 wait for the bathroom

15:05 get sick of waiting for the bathroom and just go home

15:35 have lunch, take the dog out, facebook again

17:30 trek over to the 19th to see an installation of the set from the film "Mon oncle" by Jacques Tati

19:30 meet up with Joel at the Saint-Michel fountain & watch breakdancers for awhile

19:50 get dinner at "Milk" (3,00) & wander the Latin Quarter

20:30 get an ice-cream cone on Ile de la Cité (3,00) and continue to wander Paris for hours

22:30 film at UGC Les Halles "Erreur de la banque en votre faveur"

12:45 take the metro home, stop & sigh over the boutique "Shine"

1:00 make tea, watch the YouTube links Tay sent me

1:30 rock out to "Luxour j'adore," by Katerine, "Time to Pretend" by MGMT, "Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Remix)" by the Killers, and "Assassin de la police" by NTM and Killer Cut

2:00 watch some episodes from the Office Season 2

and eventually fall asleep...

Time to Pretend

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

There's really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we'll get a divorce
We'll find some more models, everything must run it's course.

We'll choke on our vomit and that will be the end
We were fated to pretend
To pretend
We were fated to pretend

To Pretend

- MGMT -

Paris Beauty Spectrum

In a given day in Paris, you can see a wide range of very beautiful things, and very, very gross things...

Scale of pretty/ugly things I've seen in the past couple of days:

-10. Vomit

0. Man peeing on the sidewalk

1. Dog Poo

2. a Mouse

3. Pet squirrel on a leash

4. Goat Cheese Sandwich 

5. Harry Potter 6 Movie Poster

6. New window display at the boutique "Shine" 

7. My Parisienne "Démocratie et Médias" Professor

8. the Eiffel Tower

9. Sainte-Chapelle

10. My sister as the queen of Chateau de Vincennes

Welcome

Should someone be punished for helping out an illegal immigrant? 

This movie hits me even more closer to home now that I've personally experienced the nightmare that is "documentation." Right now, I'm insanely lucky - I'm a student, I have financial aid, France lets me in, no problem (except for all the backwards flips through hoops I had to do first). But at the end of September, my (legal) time is up, and I'm not sure what I'll be able to do to get back in for an extended period of time. I could marry a Frenchie. Except for Sarko is putting the smack-down on all that - immigration and gay marriage - double-whammy!

In France, you always have to have your vos papiers (your "papers," ie: legal documentation) on you. The police, in groups of three, always walk together, all in a row, when they're patrolling. I see them stop people in the streets and ask to see their "papers." Quite obvious racial profiling. I've never been asked. I wonder if I ever will be. I hope they'll accept my photocopies because I'm too afraid to carry around my real carte de séjour since I know my dumb ass is certain to lose it.

Anyway, it's a really good film, you should check it out. Allez le voir!

OSS 117 : Rio ne répond plus

Il faurdra une bonne couverture...

Je suis une ressortissante de l'Union européenne... n'est-ce pas?

The European Union has just passed this fabulous new law that lets all EU students under the age of 26 into cultural and historic places and monuments for FREE! There is just a little confusion on whether this means students currently enrolled in EU institutions (like moi) or university students of EU nationality... So I just muster up my best French accent, and say as little as possible at the ticket booths, and hope for the best. So far, I've been très successful - I've gotten to visit the Saint Denis Basilica, the Chateau de Vincennes, the Sainte Chapelle, and the Concierge for zero euros. Now I'm on a roll... This will be so perfect for the summer when I'll have no money and all the time in the world to sight-see in Paris :) 

Next on the list: Napoleon's tomb.

Parisian Playlist: Songs of the Year

C'est beau la bourgeoisie - Discobitch
La Complainte du progrès - Boris Vian
Le Tourbillon de la vie - Jeanne Moreau

For Me Formidable - Charles Aznavour

J'traîne des pieds - Olivia Ruiz

Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi

Great DJ - The Ting Tings

Losing Myself - Brazilian Girls
So What - P!nk
Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Breakin' Up - Rilo Kiley
When I Grow Up - Pussycat Dolls

American Boy - Estelle feat. Kanye West
Disturbia - Rihanna
Dilly Dally (version française) - Hakimakli
Please Don't Stop the Music - Rihanna

Show Me Love (Club Mix) - Michael Mind
Just Dance - Lady Gaga
Cry For You - September
Now You're Gone - Basshunter
Womanizer - Britney Spears
Right Now (Na Na Na) - Akon
Beggin' - Madcon
Toi + Moi - Grégoire

Closer - Ne-Yo
Quelque Part - Sheryfa Luna
Il avait des mots - Sheryfa Luna

Right Here (Departed) - Brandy
C'est chelou - Zaho
Décalé Gwada - Jessy Matador

To Build a Home - The Cinematic Orchestra

How It Ends - DeVotchKa
I Miss You - Incubus
Scenic World - Beirut

See You Soon - PlayRadioPlay!

J'aime plus Paris - Thomas Dutronc
If I Were a Boy - Beyoncé
I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Across the Universe
Long Distance - Brandy
J'essaie encore - Kenza Farah
We're Gonna Make It - Mychael Danna
Time to Pretend - MGMT
Kids - MGMT
Burnin' - Daft Punk
Infinity 2008 - Guru Josh Project
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
Circus - Britney Spears

Mr. Brightside - PlayRadioPlay!
This Modern Love - Bloc Party
Tulips (Minotaur Shock Remix) - Bloc Party
Drowned - Halloween, Alaska
Razor - Foo Fighters

Vas-y, Francky - Francky Vincent

Boulbi - Booba

Il y a je t'aime et je t'aime - Quentin Mosimann

I'm Yours - Justin Mraz

Ca m'énerve! - Helmut Fritz

Right Round - Flo Rida & Katy Perry
Single Ladies - Beyoncé
Some People - Ocean Drive

Tomorrow Can Wait - David Guetta (vs. El Tocadisco)
Je veux te voir - Yelle
Jai Ho - Pussycat Dolls / OST
Rue des étoiles - Grégoire

Louxor j'adore - Katerine
Like a hobo - Charlie Winston

Assassin de la police - NTM & Killer Cut

Day 'n Night - Kid Cudi vs. Crookers

Dance Anthem of the 80's - Regina Spektor

World Go Round - Busta Rhymes feat. Estelle

I Got a Feeling - Black Eyed Peas

When Love Takes Over - David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland

Love is Gone - David Guetta feat. Chris Willis

One, 2, 3, Four - Martin Solveig

We Are Your Friends - Justice vs. Simian

Freed from Desire - Gala
Boom Boom Pow - The Black Eyed Peas

I Want You - Martin Solveig

I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) - Pitbull

No Stress - Laurent Wolf feat. Eric Carter

Let Me Think About It - Ida Corr

In My Arms - Kylie Minogue

Ca fait mal - La Fouine

Molotov 4 - Seyfu

By Your Side - CocoRosie

Boys & Girls - Blur

Put Your Hands Up For Detroit - Fedde Le Grand

Lala Song - Bob Sinclar feat. Sugarhill Gang

The Beat Goes On - Bob Sinclar

Move - CSS

Dance - Justice

Shine On - R.I.O.

Love Sex Magic - Ciara & Justin Timberlake

So Fine - Sean Paul

Also, anything by Justice, The Killers, Beirut, Franz Ferdinand, The Watchmen soundtrack and Waltz with Bachir soundtrack.

Boy A

Do we all deserve a second chance?

A record number of mishaps

In one week, I managed to flood the kitchen with coffee,

break the shower curtain,

slice my hand open on a jar of sauce I broke in a grocery store (notice the tiny albeit deadly wound that bled all over the place on my left hand),

fall on my face going up the stairs in the metro, fall off the curb while I was walking, seriously wound my knee while I was trying to beat a little kid to a seat on the metro (I limped for 2 days), knock over an entire movie display at the cinema (and make a run for it, haha), trip over my professor's laptop cord, ripping it out of his computer, knock stuff off a shelf, wound my thumb on an noodle (it was dried onto a plate I was washing, but I seriously couldn't use my right thumb for 3 days), electrocute myself, burning a hole through my shirt, and break the bed canopy.

It's exhausting being such a klutz!
(Photos courtesy of R. Wiesenbach)

Milk

I finally saw this excellent film. All the actors were phenomenal, portraying their characters to the fullest. I believed in each one of them. I even teared up. Twice. I really take for granted how lucky I am. Even though we still have a LONG ways to go. Thank you, Harvey Milk, for all the progress you made for us.

Angular Momentum

I wish you never had to leave.

http://www.xkcd.com/162/

Quality of Life in Bedroom Reaches All-Time Low

In conjunction with the facebook group, "Nothing gets my room cleaner than a paper due tomorrow." Luckily, I only had to wait two days for my literature professor to asign another one of those infamous "explication de texte"'s and my desk was sparkling clean.

My first crêpe

Apparently, the French do not believe in measuring cups... So I guesstimated my very first home-made crêpe, and it sort of turned out! It had the consistency of pancake... but it still tasted très très bon! :)

Gravedigger

Je me suis coupée les cheveux

According to Tara and Sarah, cutting your hair with a disposable razor "hands down" beats any pair of scissors... So I decided to try it out. I got a bit carried away (it was SOO fun!), and cut off more than I meant to, and my complete lack of experience caused it to come out looking like something à la Mara Wilson, age 8. Oh well, at least I saved 30 euros.

Thank you, Molly Olly

I just received this card in the mail from my dear friend Molly. Too perfect. :)