Before I freak out and start emailing professors, I thought I would ask the collective wisdom of the three or so readers of my blog for advice on how to deal with my first major dissertation research crisis.
Subscribing to the po-mo, hippy sort of research method, I wrote my proposal with the intention of then discarding it to go with the flow of whatever was in the archive. That's all fine and dandy as I am finding exactly the sorts of documents I was expecting to find in the archive I am currently working in. The problem, however, is that there are about 2 billion too many of them to actually read and/or photograph. And my list of archives to visit grows exponentially by the day. Therefore, before I completely lose my sanity, I would very much like to know whether it is more advisable to cut the project down to what I think are more manageable proportions now and stick to that path (and new argument) or should I keep this new path in the back of my mind while continuing to look at lots and lots of different sources and documents?
I'm quite confused about what to do, as you can see. Mainly I'm just concerned that if I cut the project down too much (which is what my blood pressure is telling me to do) I will lose the part of the project that is the "cool" part. On the other hand, if I continue on this path, I may never finish the dissertation at all because I will be buried under a mountain of decaying typewriter paper (whoever thought tissue paper would be a good way to make extra copies of documents was an utter moron).
So, dear readers, would you rather read about people who throw off the burdens of the nation-state to defend human rights and ethical principles, or about the ways that Christians in postwar Europe thought about Islam (with, of course, a detour through some concentration camps in Algeria)?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Who should get a noodle? Me!!
Today has been a difficult day. I awoke with the hope that I would finally accomplish the two bureaucratic tasks that have prevented me from enjoying my Parisian life: finish the insane paperwork to get my residence permit, and get my bank card so I can actually access the fellowship money sitting in my bank. Alas, neither was very successful. I did, however, manage to convince my personal banking advisor to at least start the process to get me my bank card, although this was after waiting in the lobby for more than an hour and explaining for the eightieth time that I was not going to get my residence permit for several months probably, and that it was ridiculous to expect me to wait that long to get the money that I am supposed to be living on. I also pointed out that several other friends in the same situation had gotten their bankcards several weeks ago (and from the same bank!) It's pretty insane how everything in France depends on the specific location, so while Katie could get her bankcard from this same bank in the 13th, I, in the 4th, can not because of some person who doesn't want to give it to me! GRRRR.
But I have to say, the thing that really ruined my day was that during my daily visit to Perez Hilton, I discovered that he just got a goldenoodle puppy. (Some people call them Goldendoodles, but I like goldenoodle better). Anyone who has been around me the last few months knows that Aaron and I have spent several productive hours putting together a list of the four puppies we want with their respective names. Top of the list is, of course, a goldenoodle named Noodle. I either want one that is modeled on Riley, the lovely little black muppet I dogsat last spring, or this cutie
(many more adorable pictures can be found at http://dailypuppy.com/index.php?itemid=1216)
How come Perez Hilton gets a puppy and I don't? Oh the tragedies of life!
Someday I will get one though, and she will play so nicely with our other puppies:
1. a wolf/malamute named Tzara (after Tristan Tzara of course) who looks like my beautiful Brandy, who died about 4 years ago (seen here 'dancing' with my mom):
2. a Bernese mountain dog named Djuna (after Djuna Barnes)
3. and Aaron's favorite, a Newfoundland (or Newfie) named Roxie Sparklebaum. He picked that name, not me. Newfies are known as water rescue dogs so Aaron envisions Roxie Sparklebaum as a superhero Newfie who will save many drowning children. And everytime she jumps into the water (à la this dog), Aaron will say in his cartoony voice "Go get em Roxie Sparklebaum!!"
I think we will be excellent dog owners, although clearly we cannot be trusted with children or other human beings.
But I have to say, the thing that really ruined my day was that during my daily visit to Perez Hilton, I discovered that he just got a goldenoodle puppy. (Some people call them Goldendoodles, but I like goldenoodle better). Anyone who has been around me the last few months knows that Aaron and I have spent several productive hours putting together a list of the four puppies we want with their respective names. Top of the list is, of course, a goldenoodle named Noodle. I either want one that is modeled on Riley, the lovely little black muppet I dogsat last spring, or this cutie
(many more adorable pictures can be found at http://dailypuppy.com/index.php?itemid=1216)
How come Perez Hilton gets a puppy and I don't? Oh the tragedies of life!
Someday I will get one though, and she will play so nicely with our other puppies:
1. a wolf/malamute named Tzara (after Tristan Tzara of course) who looks like my beautiful Brandy, who died about 4 years ago (seen here 'dancing' with my mom):
2. a Bernese mountain dog named Djuna (after Djuna Barnes)
3. and Aaron's favorite, a Newfoundland (or Newfie) named Roxie Sparklebaum. He picked that name, not me. Newfies are known as water rescue dogs so Aaron envisions Roxie Sparklebaum as a superhero Newfie who will save many drowning children. And everytime she jumps into the water (à la this dog), Aaron will say in his cartoony voice "Go get em Roxie Sparklebaum!!"
I think we will be excellent dog owners, although clearly we cannot be trusted with children or other human beings.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Sunday Stroll
It was a sunny, cloudless sky today (although quite a bitter chill) when I stepped out for a stroll. I decided to take some pictures of my neighborhood so you could see how charming it is.
This picture is of my front door and the Scottish pub that my apartment sits several floors above. I actually live on the fifth floor of a building with a very narrow, wooden staircase, probably leftover from the medieval period. It's nice to live above a Scottish pub, except on rugby nights. Fortunately last night was the final game of the Rugby World Cup, and South Africa roundly stomped on Britain so it got quiet fairly early.
This next picture is mainly just to show how anything can be cause for celebration in Paris. This lovely shop is advertising the Grand Sauerkraut Festival to be held sometime soon. I might just have to go to that, just to see what there is to celebrate about sauerkraut. The man at the bus stop near where I was standing when I took this picture looked at me like I was insane to take a picture of that shop.
This is one of the entrances to the lovely Place des Vosges, which is a residential square where Victor Hugo once lived. It's hard to take pictures of because it is so big, so you can just imagine that this is what it looks like inside, in a big square, with grass in the middle.
As you might already know, many things in France are closed on Sundays and Mondays. The strict labor laws allow people to take two days a week off (although that may change soon) and since tourist season is winding down, and shopowners have little reason to work on Sundays. Yet this bakery has a line halfway down the block! It either must be the only one open in this area or it must be really good! I'll have to go buy a baguette there this week to check out what the fuss is about.
One of the great things about Paris is of course the open markets. There is a huge one at the Bastille on Sundays (the prison was torn down soon after its storming in 1789, and replaced in 1830 with this monument to the revolutionaries).
Normally I love a farmers market, but today it was a madhouse and I felt a little overwhelmed. HoweverI felt much better when I saw this gentleman juggling with a vase of goldfish balanced on his head. I've never seen anything that cool in New York City!
This picture is of my front door and the Scottish pub that my apartment sits several floors above. I actually live on the fifth floor of a building with a very narrow, wooden staircase, probably leftover from the medieval period. It's nice to live above a Scottish pub, except on rugby nights. Fortunately last night was the final game of the Rugby World Cup, and South Africa roundly stomped on Britain so it got quiet fairly early.
This next picture is mainly just to show how anything can be cause for celebration in Paris. This lovely shop is advertising the Grand Sauerkraut Festival to be held sometime soon. I might just have to go to that, just to see what there is to celebrate about sauerkraut. The man at the bus stop near where I was standing when I took this picture looked at me like I was insane to take a picture of that shop.
This is one of the entrances to the lovely Place des Vosges, which is a residential square where Victor Hugo once lived. It's hard to take pictures of because it is so big, so you can just imagine that this is what it looks like inside, in a big square, with grass in the middle.
As you might already know, many things in France are closed on Sundays and Mondays. The strict labor laws allow people to take two days a week off (although that may change soon) and since tourist season is winding down, and shopowners have little reason to work on Sundays. Yet this bakery has a line halfway down the block! It either must be the only one open in this area or it must be really good! I'll have to go buy a baguette there this week to check out what the fuss is about.
One of the great things about Paris is of course the open markets. There is a huge one at the Bastille on Sundays (the prison was torn down soon after its storming in 1789, and replaced in 1830 with this monument to the revolutionaries).
Normally I love a farmers market, but today it was a madhouse and I felt a little overwhelmed. HoweverI felt much better when I saw this gentleman juggling with a vase of goldfish balanced on his head. I've never seen anything that cool in New York City!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Two thumbs up
I have been feeling fairly depressed after reading a passage from Germaine Tillion's book L'Algérie en 1957 yesterday. If you don't know, Germaine Tillion was a French anthropologist and former concentration camp inmate who worked harder than just about anybody to inform the French about their misplaced sense of morality in regards to the Algerian War. In this passage she is, I think, trying to emotionally blackmail the French, using their vision of themselves as the inventors and progenitors of the Rights of Man (and of a strange paternalistic version of the Civilizing Mission). She writes (my own translation):
"You find yourselves, then - like everyone - left with these emotional reactions. For our 'conditioned reflexes' are - and I know that I speak for the majority of us - a passionate love for Justice, a quasi instinctive solidarity with the oppressed, prisoners, fugitives, but also a fidelity to our country when it is attacked and when it is in danger."
She seems to sum up the French moral position fairly well and hopes that people will once again revert back to their instincts in terms of their moral position. It is clear that many French behaved very badly during the Algerian War, but what I respect about their situation is that when evidence of torture and the regroupment camps in Algeria were exposed to the French public (through many clandestine sources), they actually did something about it and put enough pressure on the government that they eventually pulled out of Algeria. What depresses me about all this is that when Americans were confronted with Abu Ghraib and Blackwater, they brush it all off as 'necessary' or a single incident, condemning the lowest enlisted soldiers and refusing to interrogate the causes of the disease. Unfortunately I don't think that it would be possible for someone to call on Americans to rediscover their love for justice, and solidarity with the oppressed because I'm not sure it exists anymore, if it ever did. Individualism and nationalism have become our national morality, and it is very sad.
I was, however, quite encouraged when I found this article this morning in the Washington Post. Apparently Pete Stark is considered by many to be a raving lunatic without any class, and I have to admit I am appalled by previous things he has said, but I have to give him two thumbs up for saying out loud what a lot of us have been thinking for a long time: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/
Republicans are apparently very offended, but perhaps that's a good sign.
Okay I'm done venting and being political. I will go back to posting pretty pictures of Paris now.
"You find yourselves, then - like everyone - left with these emotional reactions. For our 'conditioned reflexes' are - and I know that I speak for the majority of us - a passionate love for Justice, a quasi instinctive solidarity with the oppressed, prisoners, fugitives, but also a fidelity to our country when it is attacked and when it is in danger."
She seems to sum up the French moral position fairly well and hopes that people will once again revert back to their instincts in terms of their moral position. It is clear that many French behaved very badly during the Algerian War, but what I respect about their situation is that when evidence of torture and the regroupment camps in Algeria were exposed to the French public (through many clandestine sources), they actually did something about it and put enough pressure on the government that they eventually pulled out of Algeria. What depresses me about all this is that when Americans were confronted with Abu Ghraib and Blackwater, they brush it all off as 'necessary' or a single incident, condemning the lowest enlisted soldiers and refusing to interrogate the causes of the disease. Unfortunately I don't think that it would be possible for someone to call on Americans to rediscover their love for justice, and solidarity with the oppressed because I'm not sure it exists anymore, if it ever did. Individualism and nationalism have become our national morality, and it is very sad.
I was, however, quite encouraged when I found this article this morning in the Washington Post. Apparently Pete Stark is considered by many to be a raving lunatic without any class, and I have to admit I am appalled by previous things he has said, but I have to give him two thumbs up for saying out loud what a lot of us have been thinking for a long time: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/
Republicans are apparently very offended, but perhaps that's a good sign.
Okay I'm done venting and being political. I will go back to posting pretty pictures of Paris now.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Black Thursday!
Well what an adventure today has been! In case you didn't read the New York Times (which had a better explanation than any of the French papers or tv news programs I examined), the French transit industry is on strike. At first it didn't seem like it would be a big deal since it was just the train lines that are going on strike to protest against reforms against their pension funds (apparently back in the day workin on the railroad was considered a fairly dangerous job so as a RR employee, you could retire after 37.5 years of employment, as opposed to the 40 years that normal chaps must put in). But, as tends to happen here, the subways, buses, and apparently everyone else also decided to take the day off and run around the streets yelling loudly.
I, after eating one of the largest meals of my life last night, decided a nice walkie would do me good so I walked to my archive, which is about an hour away from my apartment. It was a nice walk though, and I discovered many things I would never have seen, including the scene of a murder in an outdoor sculpture garden next to the river, and the most beautiful view of Paris in the mid-morning sun (I unfortunately didn't take a picture). And I had my nice walk only to get to the archive to see that the entire building was closed. It's not really an archive, but a real working aid organization for asylum seekers and I just sit in a room with some boxes and don't interact with anyone. But still - they could have told me yesterday that they weren't even planning on opening today.
My plan to be a good graduate student foiled, I decided to hike a few more blocks over to the Bibliothèque nationale, where I found out that during a strike you can easily get a place to sit in the reading rooms, but you cannot get any books. I did, however, read some interesting reference materials - for about 4 hours - until I decided it was time to trek home. On the way home I walked by the Jardin des Plantes (I'm mystified as to why you have to specify that it is a 'garden of plants' - aren't most gardens full of plants??), where they had this lovely dragon sculpture made out of recycled metal and spewing more metal out of its mouth. Pretty cool!
Finally on the way home I crossed a different bridge than usual and saw the front of this sculpture on the bridge I usually cross. I think it's fairly beautiful, even if it's made out of cement.
But of course the big news of the day, which you will only catch if you read the BBC and not just CNN, is that Sarkozy and his wife are divorcing! So shocking! Well not really, since everyone has been anticipating this since she disappeared from public view as soon as he won the election. Some funny cartoons in the paper this morning said that "Cecilia is on strike indefinitely, and will not offer a minimum of services." This is only funny, I guess, if you know that everyone is debating about what a "minimum of services" means during this strike. Apparently not much.
Well I have 4 different beverage glasses on my desk so I had better get busy and do some dishes. Hopefully there will be even more excitement tomorow to report.
I, after eating one of the largest meals of my life last night, decided a nice walkie would do me good so I walked to my archive, which is about an hour away from my apartment. It was a nice walk though, and I discovered many things I would never have seen, including the scene of a murder in an outdoor sculpture garden next to the river, and the most beautiful view of Paris in the mid-morning sun (I unfortunately didn't take a picture). And I had my nice walk only to get to the archive to see that the entire building was closed. It's not really an archive, but a real working aid organization for asylum seekers and I just sit in a room with some boxes and don't interact with anyone. But still - they could have told me yesterday that they weren't even planning on opening today.
My plan to be a good graduate student foiled, I decided to hike a few more blocks over to the Bibliothèque nationale, where I found out that during a strike you can easily get a place to sit in the reading rooms, but you cannot get any books. I did, however, read some interesting reference materials - for about 4 hours - until I decided it was time to trek home. On the way home I walked by the Jardin des Plantes (I'm mystified as to why you have to specify that it is a 'garden of plants' - aren't most gardens full of plants??), where they had this lovely dragon sculpture made out of recycled metal and spewing more metal out of its mouth. Pretty cool!
Finally on the way home I crossed a different bridge than usual and saw the front of this sculpture on the bridge I usually cross. I think it's fairly beautiful, even if it's made out of cement.
But of course the big news of the day, which you will only catch if you read the BBC and not just CNN, is that Sarkozy and his wife are divorcing! So shocking! Well not really, since everyone has been anticipating this since she disappeared from public view as soon as he won the election. Some funny cartoons in the paper this morning said that "Cecilia is on strike indefinitely, and will not offer a minimum of services." This is only funny, I guess, if you know that everyone is debating about what a "minimum of services" means during this strike. Apparently not much.
Well I have 4 different beverage glasses on my desk so I had better get busy and do some dishes. Hopefully there will be even more excitement tomorow to report.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
And a few more...
Here are a few more photos of my outing last Sunday. Unfortunately I then got a cold and didn't leave the house for a few days and today had to haul myself out of bed to go to the archive before the "I haven't done any research this week" guilt set in. This weekend I will try to take some more interesting pictures of less, how shall we put it... touristy locales.
I did have a request for some footage of bombed-out Paris from World War II and I am happy to inform my readers that the Germans never really bombed Paris. It was much too easy just to march down the Champs-Elysees and much too pretty to destroy. Therefore the best WWII footage you will get (besides Hitler at the Eiffel Tower - included below) are a few markers to deported Jewish children which hang outside of elementary schools and the Shoah Memorial (which is apparently only a few blocks away from my apartment, though I can't say for sure as I have never been there.)
Normandy was pretty much destroyed though. I once had a nice postcard of the before and after with death and destruction on the left and then pretty restored cathedrals on the right. I'll have to see if I can find it for you.
But here is modern day Paris again. The first image is of the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité, with Sainte Chapelle in the background. Apparently Sainte Chapelle is the most beautiful church in the world, but I have never been in so I cannot corroborate that theory. Plus I haven't visited all the churches in the world.
Next is a photo of a lot of rollerskaters careening through the streets of Paris. I wanted to cross the street to go home from my nice walkie, but could I? Oh no, I had to wait for fully 10 minutes while thousands of people in roller skates took up the whole street. I have no idea why. Strange things like this often happen in Paris. Why just the day before I couldn't go to Monoprix across the street because of the march against Genetically modified foods that was taking place in my neighborhood!
And finally here is the Hotel de Ville (or City Hall) where in winter they put up a big ice skating rink and in Rugby season you can watch the matches on the lawn. Apparently they had a hideous Pavarotti memorial concert here last week as well, but of course I missed that.
Well that's all for now. I shall take some more interesting pictures this weekend and go in search of hidden mysteries.
I did have a request for some footage of bombed-out Paris from World War II and I am happy to inform my readers that the Germans never really bombed Paris. It was much too easy just to march down the Champs-Elysees and much too pretty to destroy. Therefore the best WWII footage you will get (besides Hitler at the Eiffel Tower - included below) are a few markers to deported Jewish children which hang outside of elementary schools and the Shoah Memorial (which is apparently only a few blocks away from my apartment, though I can't say for sure as I have never been there.)
Normandy was pretty much destroyed though. I once had a nice postcard of the before and after with death and destruction on the left and then pretty restored cathedrals on the right. I'll have to see if I can find it for you.
But here is modern day Paris again. The first image is of the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité, with Sainte Chapelle in the background. Apparently Sainte Chapelle is the most beautiful church in the world, but I have never been in so I cannot corroborate that theory. Plus I haven't visited all the churches in the world.
Next is a photo of a lot of rollerskaters careening through the streets of Paris. I wanted to cross the street to go home from my nice walkie, but could I? Oh no, I had to wait for fully 10 minutes while thousands of people in roller skates took up the whole street. I have no idea why. Strange things like this often happen in Paris. Why just the day before I couldn't go to Monoprix across the street because of the march against Genetically modified foods that was taking place in my neighborhood!
And finally here is the Hotel de Ville (or City Hall) where in winter they put up a big ice skating rink and in Rugby season you can watch the matches on the lawn. Apparently they had a hideous Pavarotti memorial concert here last week as well, but of course I missed that.
Well that's all for now. I shall take some more interesting pictures this weekend and go in search of hidden mysteries.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Des photos de Paris
Here are some long-promised photos of Paris for you all. It is a beautiful day out without any clouds and very warm so once I finished cleaning my apartment today I set out for a little walk around the city.
This is the view right outside my front door toward a lovely little square with restaurants and shops called la Place Ste. Catherine:
Next up is the church off of the Rue de Rivoli, about 100 feet from my apartment. I can't find out the name of the church but it looks really old:
Now here are some nice photos of the Seine and various landmarks. The first picture is looking from the Right Bank toward the Ile St. Louis, which is one of the medieval islands in the middle of the Seine. The next picture is on a bridge between the Ile St. Louis and the Left Bank, looking toward the Ile de la Cité and Notre Dame:
I hope you enjoy! I'll post some more tomorrow. Let me know if you have any burning requests.
This is the view right outside my front door toward a lovely little square with restaurants and shops called la Place Ste. Catherine:
Next up is the church off of the Rue de Rivoli, about 100 feet from my apartment. I can't find out the name of the church but it looks really old:
Now here are some nice photos of the Seine and various landmarks. The first picture is looking from the Right Bank toward the Ile St. Louis, which is one of the medieval islands in the middle of the Seine. The next picture is on a bridge between the Ile St. Louis and the Left Bank, looking toward the Ile de la Cité and Notre Dame:
I hope you enjoy! I'll post some more tomorrow. Let me know if you have any burning requests.
Friday, October 12, 2007
The wonder of the internets
Dear readers,
I am happy to tell you that I have finally managed to get my DSL hooked up so I can now communicate with the outside world for more than 30 seconds at a time. This is actually a fairly significant victory in a week full of setbacks. My modem arrived at the post office on Monday and I had to wait in line for nearly an hour there just to get it, and I came home to install it, and of course it didn't work. The installation CD would only get through the first two steps and then I would get a message pop up that my computer did not recognize the files.
This was disappointing as I was always under the impression that Macs were magical machines that could magically make everything work without a lot of effort on my part. So I gave up for a few days, but came home from the archive yesterday determined to prevail! I unplugged and replugged everything and still nothing. Then I got onto a very unstable wireless network to read some Mac message boards in French where several solutions were suggested. The easiest was just to change ethernet cables since the one that comes with the modem is apparently crap. So I did that and lo and behold it magically worked!!! Yay!!! I love my pretty little Macbook.
This then allowed me to iChat with both of my sisters about what I was having for dinner, and then talk to Aaron on Skype for an hour about the new Radiohead album and the sexually suggestive M&Ms commercials* on television. So far I have not done any work or research, but I'm sure that someday I will.
I am going shopping today to see how long it can take me to spend 100 Euros. Probably not long if I buy books, but I also need some clothes so we shall see. I shall also try to remember to take some photos of the city to share with you all.
* This M&Ms commercial featured a regular M&M, a peanut M&M and several humans playing strip poker and when the peanut M&M lost the hand, he was ordered to undress whereby he said "yes but I don't really want to show my nuts in front of the ladies." (and I thought M&Ms were such a wholesome, puritanical chocolate candy!)
I am happy to tell you that I have finally managed to get my DSL hooked up so I can now communicate with the outside world for more than 30 seconds at a time. This is actually a fairly significant victory in a week full of setbacks. My modem arrived at the post office on Monday and I had to wait in line for nearly an hour there just to get it, and I came home to install it, and of course it didn't work. The installation CD would only get through the first two steps and then I would get a message pop up that my computer did not recognize the files.
This was disappointing as I was always under the impression that Macs were magical machines that could magically make everything work without a lot of effort on my part. So I gave up for a few days, but came home from the archive yesterday determined to prevail! I unplugged and replugged everything and still nothing. Then I got onto a very unstable wireless network to read some Mac message boards in French where several solutions were suggested. The easiest was just to change ethernet cables since the one that comes with the modem is apparently crap. So I did that and lo and behold it magically worked!!! Yay!!! I love my pretty little Macbook.
This then allowed me to iChat with both of my sisters about what I was having for dinner, and then talk to Aaron on Skype for an hour about the new Radiohead album and the sexually suggestive M&Ms commercials* on television. So far I have not done any work or research, but I'm sure that someday I will.
I am going shopping today to see how long it can take me to spend 100 Euros. Probably not long if I buy books, but I also need some clothes so we shall see. I shall also try to remember to take some photos of the city to share with you all.
* This M&Ms commercial featured a regular M&M, a peanut M&M and several humans playing strip poker and when the peanut M&M lost the hand, he was ordered to undress whereby he said "yes but I don't really want to show my nuts in front of the ladies." (and I thought M&Ms were such a wholesome, puritanical chocolate candy!)
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Allez les Bleus
My guess is that most of you have no idea that the Rugby World Cup is currently taking place in France (and sometimes in Wales, although I have no idea why). Last night the French team beat the New Zealand team, which is called in French "Les All Blacks" since their jerseys are all black. The New Zealand team was the favorite to win the whole thing so the upset was very exciting in France. There's something different about sports in Europe. I know people in America get very excited about sport, but here it seems much more public because people are all in bars watching and out in the streets. I don't give a hoot about rugby, of course, but my apartment is just above a Scottish pub so on game nights, I don't get to sleep until about 2 am. Last night was much worse. There may have been cars set on fire or something, but all I heard were screams and cars honking their horns until about 4 am.
The France/New Zealand matchup was seemingly foreordained by a television commercial sponsored by Toyota. I've seen it several times but can't quite figure out if it is racist or not. I'll let you take a look and tell me what you think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7lqUOjxj7k
The more interesting thing last night was that they held what they call the "nuit blanche" or 'white night' where all of the museums in Paris were free and open until about 2 am. I went to the Centre Pompidou to see a film with some friends and then wandered around the museum in the middle of the night. It was pretty awesome. Especially with that museum, since I have, on previous visits, not been so impressed with the modern art. A and I visited it a couple of summers ago and he had to explain to me why a room with a theme of 'white' (where of course all the pieces in the room were white) was important or interesting. It's much better after a couple of glasses of wine and late night tomfoolery.
My other escapade yesterday (while avoiding writing my grant proposals, which are killing me) was to visit the Père Lachaise cemetery. I have never actually been, but have wanted to on many previous visits to Paris. There are lots of famous people buried there, including Oscar Wilde, and lots of other writers. Jim Morrison used to be buried there, and it was fairly hilarious to watch the American tourists trying to find the place where he used to be. I ended up realizing that I was very distressed by this and by the whole fact of pilgrimmages to famous people's tombs so you can leave crap and dead flowers on them. It's very strange and I wish someone could explain to me why this happens.
The France/New Zealand matchup was seemingly foreordained by a television commercial sponsored by Toyota. I've seen it several times but can't quite figure out if it is racist or not. I'll let you take a look and tell me what you think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7lqUOjxj7k
The more interesting thing last night was that they held what they call the "nuit blanche" or 'white night' where all of the museums in Paris were free and open until about 2 am. I went to the Centre Pompidou to see a film with some friends and then wandered around the museum in the middle of the night. It was pretty awesome. Especially with that museum, since I have, on previous visits, not been so impressed with the modern art. A and I visited it a couple of summers ago and he had to explain to me why a room with a theme of 'white' (where of course all the pieces in the room were white) was important or interesting. It's much better after a couple of glasses of wine and late night tomfoolery.
My other escapade yesterday (while avoiding writing my grant proposals, which are killing me) was to visit the Père Lachaise cemetery. I have never actually been, but have wanted to on many previous visits to Paris. There are lots of famous people buried there, including Oscar Wilde, and lots of other writers. Jim Morrison used to be buried there, and it was fairly hilarious to watch the American tourists trying to find the place where he used to be. I ended up realizing that I was very distressed by this and by the whole fact of pilgrimmages to famous people's tombs so you can leave crap and dead flowers on them. It's very strange and I wish someone could explain to me why this happens.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Je voudrais un croissant
Dear Readers,
I have been having many bureaucratic adventures the last few days. There's a vicious circle that exists between the Ministry of the Interior, my bank, and the university I am attempting to register at. Each one requires the proof of at least one of the other to move any process forward, but getting one to take the lead is proving quite difficult. So I am sitting at home waiting for my university registration to go through so I can get my residence permit so I can get my bankcard that is sitting at the bank. Until this all happens, my new wardrobe will have to wait.
In spite of all of these difficulties, I adore Paris. I thought I would share with you (à la Oprah) some of my favorite things, albeit they don't have much to do with France.
The Flight of the Conchords:
The Daily Puppy:
www.dailypuppy.com
Hopefully these will fill your depressed hearts with joy, especially before the big exam!
I have been having many bureaucratic adventures the last few days. There's a vicious circle that exists between the Ministry of the Interior, my bank, and the university I am attempting to register at. Each one requires the proof of at least one of the other to move any process forward, but getting one to take the lead is proving quite difficult. So I am sitting at home waiting for my university registration to go through so I can get my residence permit so I can get my bankcard that is sitting at the bank. Until this all happens, my new wardrobe will have to wait.
In spite of all of these difficulties, I adore Paris. I thought I would share with you (à la Oprah) some of my favorite things, albeit they don't have much to do with France.
The Flight of the Conchords:
The Daily Puppy:
www.dailypuppy.com
Hopefully these will fill your depressed hearts with joy, especially before the big exam!
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