A hodgepodge of info

Today I went to Antoni and came back with this little cute souvenir...even french pastries smoke.

This little froggie slash/ogre needs to "kick" his habit.


...or I can just help him by eating the cigarette.

...and then by eating him

And the aftermath. It was actually too sweet, I could only take a few bites.

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Today, I also bought me some presents for people, gave a chocolate snowman to say thanks to my helpful pharmacist Gladys, and bought myself a few gifts for my skin:



...and I got a free calender (above) with the purchase, which brings me to another point:

So, I was trying to decide whether to buy the french vogue this month, because, frankly, the American one is much better (a surprise, I know). And it was wrapped up, so I couldn't flip through and decide. However, there was a bonus feature. You got a free 2010 calender with purchase. "Sold," I thought, since I did not yet have a calender for the new year. Well, got home, and this is what the calender consisted of:

(The cover one happened to be my month, November


The above is December. So, COME ON! I mean, I know that Europeans are more comfortable with nudity, as seen by commericals and, well, nude beaches, but give me a break. What Vogue-buying woman would want to hang this on there wall? I would understand if this was in the back of a men's magazine or if the nudity was more tastefully done in an artsy and whimsical way, like Will Cotton's paintings (yes PAINTINGS) below...



But, it wasn't. This is like a calender of strippers. And the dates were a foot note. You barely knew that it was a calender...What kind of deranged Editor in Chief cleared this decision? "Oh yes sure, women will LOVE this"--uh WHAT? I guess one of my guy friends will be getting a present soon.

...and, again, speaking of calenders, I would like to have this one:

"Spanish designer Oscar Diaz has designed a calendar that uses the capillary action of ink spreading across paper to display the date. Each month, a bottle of coloured ink spreads across a sheet of paper embossed with numbers, colouring them in as it goes." (http://www.dezeen.com/2009/07/17/ink-calendar-by-oscar-diaz/)
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On a totally unrelated note. This is what I've been listening to the past few days:

Surving France with a Melody

So we all know that Penny Lane quote from Almost Famous: "...And if you ever get lonely, you just go to the record store and visit all your friends."


We also know that everyone loves top ten lists and countdowns. Before it invented the biggest disgraces to the human race of reality shows, VH1 was saved from it's deathbed by countdowns.

We also know that Passport Smiles' iPod had amnesia just after arriving in France. And since she switched computers with her father before coming to France, her iTunes are also in the USA. So, with thanks to Urban Outfitters and Nylon's free mixes and some randomly acquired songs, I have come up with some train-ride playlists. Also, thanks to UO and Nylon, I am able to understand Pitchfork's top 50 albums of 2009 list. (http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7744-the-top-50-albums-of-2009). Gossip Girl also soundtracked quite a few of these songs.



So...without further ado, here is a list of my survival songs in France:

1) "The Tenure Itch" by the Pains of Being Pure at Heart

2) "Home" by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros

3) "I Start to Run" by White Denim

4) "Fables" by the Dodos
5) "Shiny Happy People" by R.E.M
6) "Is It Any Wonder?" by Keane
7) "Majestic" by Wax Fang
8) "Time Bomb" by the Old 97s
9) "Given to Fly" by Pearl Jam
10) "Another Saturday Night" by Sam Cooke

Baby it's froid outside.

Having been down in the nostalgic dumps lately, I woke up today to a winter wonderland, but, despite my enduring love for snow, my cultural supremacist, brooding mood remained. And an extremely kind and spunky english teacher named Melanie, who I just figured out today is my age (high five!), saved me from my sorrows and took me back with her to Nancy today to show me around. It was a rough, long journey, as it was extremely cold outside (I don't know how the russians do it), and the trains were delayed because someone, supposedly, tried to commit suicide again. So we had to kill time, no pun intended, at the train station. But we eventually arrived with rosy cheeks and numb filangies.

In place Stanislas:




After finally arriving and filling our bellies, we made it to the Musee des beaux-arts de Nancy which had the exposition of Beauties and Monsters:























Basically, there are both inside of everyone. It just depends on how you look at it...

Then I did some shopping... I don't like pink, but I couldn't resist the extremely warm "Hello Kitty" socks when it's freezing outside

...Then back on the train...

























...and into the snow


And I almost forgot, at the museum, I discovered an artist that I really like who comes from the Lorraine region: Emile Friant...And here is my souvenir above from him: Les Amoreux



















But...to sum up, my day with Melanie lifted my spirits. Plus listening to Mermaid Avenue, drinking tea, and a hot shower helped.

Googler

Last night, I googled my name. Yeah, that's right, I admitted it. And I had a hilarious find...criticism from the following link: http://advocatesforag.blogspot.com/2008/09/reporters-agenda-against-agriculture.html.

It's from a blog titled "Advocates for Agriculture," and it's ragging on an article I did for Murray State News about industrial hog farming. The blogger responded to this article by saying,

"It is bad enough when reporters write an article that you can tell is biased to the writers opinion, but it’s down right nauseating to read articles like this. From the onset this reporter presented her opinions as fact and never interviewed those who own or work on these farms. The media is not always concerned about telling the true story of ag, which is why it is so important for those of us in agriculture to do just that."
My rebuttal: Good point!

P.S.--I was a contributing editor for a COLLEGE newspaper. This was my first article, and I only wrote four. So, I must say, I am sincerely honored to have been taken so seriously. Good job, Advocates for Agriculture! Keep up the good work, because I like to eat. Oink Oink

Greetings to the Abyss!

"Well, this will be my third voice on the web: 1) facebook 2) myspace and finally 3) a blog. All this implies that I feel like I need to be heard and that others actually want to hear it. I most likely have mistaken the latter, but, nevertheless, will still pursue to shout on the web with ignorant bliss, assuming someone is listening. I have a quote book that holds collaged pages of lyrics and quotes from my favorite books, songs, and movies. I also have a journal that many times is unorganized and belated. This blog will seek to combine the two books oh so dear to my heart in a more vague fashion. So here it goes, blog number one..."

So, I have another blog that I started in 2008 under the exact same name (I will refer to it as PS #1), but it got abandoned. And the stuff above is from my first post from that blog, but I hope that I will have more discipline and loyalty this time around.

When I started PS #1, I was 22 and was overwhelmed with my desire to travel and to go abroad, hence the name. Now, I am aptly starting afresh with this passport smiles, and my previously virginal passport has now been stamped a few times around (hmmm...strange choice of words. And it sounds a little pejorative?), as I am sitting in my room during my third month in France. And guess what? I am overwhelmed with homesickness and miss America terribly...haha Ms. America.

So...instead of "Terrence, This is Stupid Stuff" (as I posted on PS #1), I will post a little diddy from Simon and Garfunkel. I must admit, last year, before I came here, I was already looking forward to being nostalgic about the US while in France, and I pictured myself blaring 'America' in my room, singing it at the top of my lungs with tears in my eyes. Well, Ladies and Gents of the web, it happened today.

This is me from last night, when homesickness hit a home run...







































"Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together"
"I've got some real estate here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies
And we walked off to look for America

"Kathy," I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now"
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America

Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said "Be careful his bowtie is really a camera"

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat"
"We smoked the last one an hour ago"
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field

"Kathy, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all gone to look for America
All gone to look for America
All gone to look for America