| Nous sommes jumelles, toutes les deux! |
[14 Feb 2007|03:22pm] |
It is almost that time of the month again. And this is one of those "that time of the month"'s where I feel like crap and cry in the shower, so I don't really give a shit about what I look like or what I eat. Also, I just had my foot attacked again, so that's extra incentive to just not give a crap. Anyway, lunch was two pork egg rolls that I just fried up (mmm grease) and two little yougurt-sized cups of chocolate mousse with creme fraiche on top. It was good. I want more egg rolls.
Anyway, last night, Caroline had friends over for dinner, Marie-Noelle and her daughter, whose name I don't know how to spell (it's pronounced "Ah-Leia," you know, like Princess Leia? But I think that might be the French pronunciation of "Aaliyah," so that's what we're calling her), who used to live next door. Aaliyah is seven and has been in love with Clement practically since she was born, or shortly thereafter, which is pretty adorable.
Anyway, I heard them come in but I was feeling pretty anti-social and was having a cry (see first paragraph) and laying down for a while, so I didn't go say hi. After a while, Caroline knocked on my door so that they could see my room. Aaliyah was being shy and hiding behind Caroline, before slowly coming into the room. I was then promptly asked if I had long hair, which seems to be Aaliyah's sole criterion for beauty. I said, yes, but I just cut it, and I showed her a picture of how long it used to be. She was pretty impressed.
Then we went in the salon, because apparently Aaliyah is also a pretty big danseuse orientale, so we danced together, which was fun, although it was the first time I've really tried to dance in a while, and the remembering that the woman who taught me so much of what I was doing is gone kind of struck me a bit. But Aaliyah was impressed again, we took out our hair, I was declared "very beautiful," she gave me lots of hugs, and we marched into the kitchen together, because after all, "nous sommes des vraies jumelles!" (Apparently, we are twins.)
Then I took down the duck puppet that sings that my brother gave me for Christmas, and she was pretty delighted by that, so she ran around with that for a bit, before we had dinner and it was bedtime for "coing-coing" ("quack quack"). I ate too many potatoes and convinced her to eat just one leaf of salad before we had macarons. And then Aaliyah took to cleaning up the ENTIRE kitchen, clearing off the table and wiping it off and what-not. And THEN she decided it was time to clean up my room.
Seriously. The seven-year-old kid cleaned my room better than I do. I mean, like, she got the broom and swept up all the dust from under my desk and folded my clothes that were laying around and made my bed. I was sort of put to shame.
We also played dress-up a bit, which entailed putting on my fake pearls, heels, and the brown dress I wore on New Year's Eve over my jeans and Backseat Kiss tee. I haven't played dress up in ages, haha.
Finally, they had to go, so Aaliyah wouldn't stop hugging me, haha. Eventually we got her out of the house. I was a bit exhausted after that- definitely a reminder that I don't was kids anytime soon, if ever.
But she was adorable, and it was nice to have a seven-year-old twin running around for a while.
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| Wah. |
[12 Feb 2007|12:30pm] |
Je me sens un peu malade. :(
Aussi je suis TRISTE car personne ne m'a donne(pretend accent!) un cadeau sur Facebook. :( again.
(I'm sick & someone send me a Facebook gift 'cause I feel left out. Please?)
PS: I ran into the Louvre yesterday 'cause I had to go to the bathroom like whoa (You know you've studied abroad in Paris when.....you run into the Louvre to take bathroom breaks, 'cause you know none of the other places on the street have public bathrooms.) and there was OMGANNOYING group of Brit girls like, CROWDING the bathroom and complaining about how it smelled, etc. I wanted to hit them and remind them that Uggs are so two years ago, and they weren't cute even back then, so please stop wearing them. Oy. I should have pretended I couldn't understand them and started screaming at them in French. That would have been hilarious.
PPS: ALSO tickets for Le Malade Imaginaire on the 14th AND on the 24th are sold out! Now I have to get there an hour before curtain and hope to grab one of the "reduced visibility" seats. >.>
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| 'Cause seriously, |
[09 Feb 2007|04:39pm] |
I totally want to look like a walking totem pole, too.
While we're on the subject of fashion, I have to make a few observations/desperate pleas. As you all know, Paris is the capital of fashion, of couture, blah blah blah. But there only seem to be two types of French women:
1) Those who look terribly chic and/or hip and/or put together, and they look chic/hip/put together in a way that suggests little or no effort on their part, and who just make me want to run back to my apartment, screaming, "I can't take it anymore! It's not my fault I can't afford all Dior and Miss Sixty!" (Also, please note that this includes a majority of high schoolers. The high schoolers dress better than I do. IT'S NOT FAIR.)
and
2) Those who look like they've gone completely batshit and should be locked away for the crime of "besmirching ze capital of fashion, of couture, blah blah blah." The ladies you look at and ask, "God, did you look in a mirror before you left the house??" You just want to slap them and sit them down with a few dozen good episodes of What Not To Wear (the American version, not the British. Never thought you'd hear me say that, huh?)
And there seems to be no middle ground.
That said, I have noticed several MAJOR faux pas that are rampant in this city that have begun to irk me just a little too much:
Scrunchies: Mes cheres parisiennes, we've discussed this before. It is no longer 1987. I am not two years old, and my brother has not just come out of my mother's womb. The times have changed, and frankly, so should your hair pieces. Scrunchies are not cool nor chic, period. Not even in that ironic sort of way. Besides, you should be wary of anything you can buy 3-for-1-euro in a Metro station shop to begin with.
Bubblegum pink: Okay, so I can't say this is necessarily rampant; however, I noticed two women on the metro the other day, both sporting bubblegum pink somewhere on their outfits. (One had a bubblegum pink scarf and hair clip, and I forget what the other was wearing, but it doesn't really matter.) As you know, I have no real issue with pink, or even bubblegum pink, but here's the problem: both of these women were well into their 40's. And really ladies, bubblegum pink (or candy pink, for that matter) looks stupid on anybody over the age of about 30. It's a girlish colour, and it's not becoming on you. There are so many other lovely pink shades out there- fuschia, magenta, deep pinky rose, golden rose. Even hot pink might look nice if you played it the right way (eg wicked hot pink heels with a black, slimming suit). Why not choose one of them? Why look like you raided your 5-year-old daughter's closet? It's not youthful; it looks stupid. Please stop.
Mini-skirts: Okay, as with bubblegum pink, I have no personal issue with skirts in general or mini-skirts in particular, as they're fun to wear and people frequently tell me I have nice legs. (And by "people tell me," I mean "men are frequently distracted by my legs," and I can tell you of at least two incidences in recent memory in which I'm pretty sure wearing a skirt seriously aided in me eventually getting to make out with a rather attractive boy. I find this odd, because I hate my legs- well, my thighs at least- and can't comprehend why anybody would want to stare at them for so long, but if it gets me someone to cuddle with, I'm not complaining.)
*ahem* I digress. Like I say, no issue with mini-skirts themselves. HOWEVER. LADIES. WHAT IS THE RULE RE: MINI-SKIRTS? THOU SHALT NOT WEAR MINI-SKIRTS AFTER 35. It's the same as with bubblegum pink. This doesn't mean that you can't wear skirts that hit your knee, or that you can't wear skirts that are sexy, because skirts don't have to be mini-skirts to be sexy. HOWEVER. Mes cheres parisiennes, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop wearing mini-skirts when you shouldn't be! You would not believe how many women I see in this city wearing minis when they are clearly in their late 30's, 40's, even 50's. At least once a day, sometimes more. Ladies, it's not attractive. At all.
And seriously, if you are going to break the golden rule, then at least deign to wear some footwear that isn't frumpy as hell, or DON'T wear a mini SO SHORT that when you sit down across from me on the metro in your fugly coat and limp grey hair, I can see your crotch.
Speaking of footwear...
NO WHITE SHOES AFTER LABOUR DAY! I'm not usually a horrible stickler for this rule; if it's well-done, it can slide. But when it's paired with a matching jean-and-jean-jacket set, it screams "white trash!" You don't want your outfit to scream "white trash!" do you? Didn't think so.
Too much eyeshadow: This isn't really fashion, but it's fashion-related. Mes cheres parisiennes, there is such a thing as aging gracefully. With the right clothing and the right make-up, you can look stylish and attractive at any age. Piling up loads of blue eyeshadow up to your brow bone at age 47 is NEITHER of these. The shade of eyeshadow you were wearing 20 years ago is probably not the shade you should be wearing today. Like I said before, times have changed; so should you and your make-up.
I know it seems like I'm razzing on the older ladies here, but that isn't the case. Women in their 40's, 50's, 60's and even later can still look attractive and chic. I think what's really the major problem here in Paris is age appropriateness. It seems to me like a lot of women here are just trying to regain their youth, and while I can understand that desire, they're going about it in the wrong way. Let's put it down to this, mes parisiennes: If you were wearing it when you were under the age of 16, you shouldn't be wearing it now. Unless you're like, 17. In which case, that's okay.
Now remind me to steal my mom's Hermes scarf before I leave the US in March...
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| The French are protesting again. |
[08 Feb 2007|04:07pm] |
This time, they're outside the window on Boulevard Montparnasse and playing loud music. :P
I just travelled from the 13th where I live to the 6th and I saw the manifestation pretty much the entire way. Point is, it's a pretty huge-ass protest.
I don't see what this music has to do with education, though.....
EDIT: It's gotten all cloudy now. I want it to snow now. It snowed in London. Why can't it snow here? :(
Biz: "It's going to rain on their parade, haha."
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| Update, part two: Jeu de Piste + Jen's 21st. |
[01 Feb 2007|11:31pm] |
So when I said I'd finished with September in my last post, I lied, 'cause I forgot about our jeu de piste (= treasure hunt) towards the end of the month. Basically, our director made up these little booklets with places we had to go and things to see and there was far too much to do in the time they gave us, but at least I got to see the city on a beautiful day. Also, we had lunch in this AMAZING little bistro that we totally thought was going to suck, haha.
( Pictures from that: )
Aww, wasn't that pretty? There are more pics here and here.
So I promised Jen that I'd go to her birthday party when she told me about it back in July. Except then I though I couldn't make it, 'cause I didn't expect to get my carte de sejour, which I would (supposedly) need to get back into the country, until November. Except, turns out, I got it about five days before her party, so I could go! And amazingly, I found round trip tix to London for 55 euros. And so ensued my first trip to England since I was 10, and Jen's party.
( Jen turns 21! )
Um. That was a lot. Haha. And believe it or NOT, there are MORE pictures from that night! They are here and here.
Okay, so I was going to put the pics from the trip to Normandy up in this post, but I'm too lazy to do that. So you'll have to wait. Neh!
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| Also: |
[27 Jan 2007|05:54pm] |
my hostess make chocolate chip cookies today, 'cause my mom gave her chocolate chip cookie mix as part of a Christmas gift.
They are not perfect, but they are yummy. I miss chocolate chip cookies.
I also feel like I've become a shop-a-holic. Really, the sales season is killing my bank account. Things I've bought so far:
*A bra and matching knickers that I've been eyeing all season at Zara, around 17 euros.
*Sparkly red ballerines, also been eyeing all season at Zara, 10 euros.
*Jeans (that aren't a perfect fit, but oh well), 19.90 at H&M
*Another of the striped sweaters that I absolutely love, 10 euros at H&M
*More pantyhose 'cause I ripped the sole pair I owned, 5 euros at H&M
(The above three were paid with the gift card my aunt gave me, though, so all's good with that.)
*I got five CD's at Jussieu music for 13 euros total:
Idlewild, Warnings/Promises
The Sounds, Living in America
The Like, Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?
Bowling For Soup, A Hangover You Don't Deserve
Sugarcult, Back to the Disaster CD/DVD set
The first three are great. I really love The Like's record, it's really excellent. Idlewild is great, and The Sounds' record is a lot of fun. Bowling for Soup is good, but not stellar. It actually gets a bit repetitive. Haven't watched the Sugarcult DVD yet, but I love them, so I'm excited.
*This adorable blue striped collared blouse with this wrap-around belt thinger that I can't quite figure out but I've been eyeing it all season and it was on sale, 12.95 at Zara.
Oy. And I have to buy more credit for my phone, plus pay off a $200 credit card. I need a job.
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| All right, little, lost, abused JYA LJ. |
[27 Jan 2007|04:37pm] |
It is time for a massive...UPDATE!!!
Yes, my friends, you read that correctly. I am doing an update! Of stuff and things that I did last semester! Aren't you excited?! I know I am!
*ahem.* Sorry. I just got excited.
So I know I wrote about a few things here and there over last semester, but I never posted a bunch about things I've gone and done or seen or (the few) places I've traveled to. So I shall do that now.
Let's start in September!
-First off, Orientation sucked. It was terrible, hated it. Three weeks of feeling like I was in high school, plus final exams the same we started Smith classes. Ugh.
-Already posted about my first night here and seeing the Eiffel Tower.
-14 September was our welcome cocktail at our director's (very lovely) apartment (which has a view of the Eiffel Tower, that would admittedly be much nicer if the Tour Montparnasse wasn't sticking up like a sore thumb. But still. Eiffel Tower view.). We all sat around, talked, drank wine, it was good. ( Pictures from that: )
-The day after that, 15 September, was pretty big. ( First off, we went to Versailles as a group for our Monuments of Paris class. )
More pics of Versailles are here.
However, more importantly than Versailles, that was the day that OK Go played in Paris, a mere 15 minute walk from where I live! Um, but I LJed that already. My post is here. And if you just want to see those pics again, they're here and here.
Also, Barry came to visit that weekend. ( Pictures I took, even though he's going to complain about how he hates photos of himself... )
-23 and 24 September was our visit to the Chateaux in the Loire Valley. Unfortunately, I brought my camera...but not my memory card. >.> ( So here are some I stole from Angelina: )
So I think that's it for September. I'll put up stuff from October next. :)
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| Bonne Année 2007! |
[16 Jan 2007|04:34pm] |
Long time, no see! Well. Not really, since I keep posting in my other LJ. But it's been a while since I've posted here.
I know it's the second week in January, but it's the first time I've been able to sit down and think about the new year and write out what I want to do and make a post about it. So, here we go, about two weeks too late, mes résolutions pour l'an 2007:
1) I would like to be back down to 125 pounds by June. 120 pounds is ideal, but 125 is just fine. Right now, I'm probably between 130 and 135, which isn't bad at all. I'd just like to lose a few vanity pounds and have my pants fit better.
2) I want to be back to a regular exercising schedule by the end of the year. (I mean, obviously, I'd like to be back on track far before then; what I mean is by the end of the year, I want this to be a habit again.) That means running or dancing (this means I should start taking lessons with Leila Heddad!) at least three times a week, and regular ab work. I was very good about this my first year of college, and it felt good. I'd like to achieve that again.
3) Start seeing some kind of therapist for all my issues. Slightly personal, but you all know I've got them. I've been putting this off for a very long time, and I owe it to myself.
4) I want to keep a decent written journal and upkeep this travel LJ. I've been very neglectful, and I only get one chance to write about everything that happens here. So yes, keep buggering me about what has happened in my life here in Paris so I can write for you all!
5) I don't want to waste my Praxis fund! For those of you who don't know, Smith gives $2,000 to each student at some point during their four years that will allow the student to hold an unpaid internship. It's supposed to go towards things like food and housing and such. I haven't used mine, because I've been saving it for this year. I want to be a good Smithie and take advantage of it! So whether it's an internship here or in the US, I will definitely use my Praxis by the time my senior year starts.
Right then. I will do a massive picture update sometime soon so you can all see what I did last semester when I was being too lazy (or depressed) to post anything!
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| So. |
[20 Dec 2006|05:32pm] |
J'ai fini tout ce que je dois faire avant janvier, woo! Je n'ai que deux cours vendredi (ughhhh, Litterature Portugaise va être horriiiiiiiiiible si elle nous rend nos examens ugggghhh) et après ça, je vais à Barcelooooooooooooone!
Mais, j'ai des choses à faire pour janvier: au moins une exposé (peut-être deux) pour portugais, un autre examen pour portugais, et un très grand dossier pour mon cours de théâtre.
Je dois trouver le temps pour faire tout cela car quand je reviendrai à Paris, ma famille y arrivera; alors, je dois m'occuper avec eux. Et je ne sais pas qu'est-ce qui va arriver pour le Réveillon ou la première semaine en janvier, car ma mère m'a dit, "Mais bon, tu vas laisser ta famille à Paris pour le Réveillon?" Il n'importe que je sois à Paris, à Peterborough, ou au Pole Nord, je ne passerai le Réveillon ni avec mes parents ni avec mes frères; je veut être avec mes amis! Mais bon, si ma mère réagira comme ça, je ne veux pas laisser toute ma famille toute seule à Paris pendant la journée du 31, et si j'irai en Angleterre, je dois partir pendant la journée. Alors, je ne sais pas. Je ne sais pas si je vais en Angleterre soit le 31 décembre soit le 2 janvier. Et aussi, je dois finir mes courses de Noël, et je dois parler avec mes directrices au sujet de l'examen de portugais (oh là) (et aussi leur rendre le feuille de mes projets de voyage...mais je n'ai pas fini tous me projets de voyage!). Et je n'ai pas d'argent, pas du tout, car je viens de recevoir une affecture de ma carte crédit pour $334. Oy. C'est à cause des billets du train à Barcelone. Alors, je dois finir mes courses ET payer pour Barcelone ET payer pour aller en Angleterre ET payer mon affecture.
C'est la fin du semestre et je suis encore trop stressée!
Ah, bon, c'est peut-être car je n'ai pas assez dormi cette semaine. Dimanche soir (ou, lundi matin, comme tu veux), je me suis couchée à six heures du matin car j'ai parlé sur (au? je ne sais pas) MSN toute la nuit. (Vous pouvez deviner avec qui j'ai parlé...) Alors, je me suis réveillée vers 12h30. J'ai voulu passer toute la journée à étudier, mais je n'ai pas commencé jusqu'à 17h, et j'ai étudié jusqu'à 2h du matin. J'ai dormi cinq heures et puis, j'ai passé mon examen final de grammaire. Et après cela, en lieu de dormir, j'ai fait des courses avec des amies.
Et puis, je suis sortie hier soir, jusqu'à 3h30. Et j'ai dû me réveiller pour une classe à 9h30 ce matin. Et je n'ai pas pris un nap encore.
Blaaaaaah. Je pense que je vais ranger ma chambre un peu et peut-être faire une liste de tout ça que je dois faire, et puis, je vais au Louvre car c'est ouvert plus tard ce soir.
( En anglais for you lazy people... )
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| Considère, mon amour, |
[20 Dec 2006|05:17pm] |
...jusqu'à quel excès tu as manqué de prévoyance. Ah ! malheureux, tu as été trahi, et tu m'as trahie par des espérances trompeuses. Une passion sur laquelle tu avais fait tant de projets de plaisirs ne te cause présentement qu'un mortel désespoir, qui ne peut être comparé qu'à la cruauté de l'absence qui le cause. Quoi! cette absence, à laquelle ma douleur, toute ingénieuse qu'elle est, ne peut donner un nom assez funeste, me privera donc pour toujours de regarder ces yeux dans lesquels je voyais tant d'amour, et qui me faisaient connaître des mouvements qui me comblaient de joie, qui me tenaient lieu de toutes choses, et qui enfin me suffisaient? Hélas! les miens sont privés de la seule lumière qui les animait, il ne leur reste que des larmes, et je ne les ai employés à aucun usage qu'à pleurer sans cesse, depuis que j'appris que vous étiez enfin résolu à un éloignement qui m'est si insupportable, qu'il me fera mourir en peu de temps.
( Cependant, il me semble que... )
-- Première Lettre from "Lettres Portugaises" by Guilleragues, possibly inspired by actual letters written by Mariana da Costa Alcoforado
I think it's a shame that nobody writes letters anymore.
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| Aujourd'hui... |
[17 Dec 2006|11:30pm] |
*je me suis reveillée un peu tôt (HAHA, "tôt" pour moi, c'est 10h du matin).
*j'ai acheté un pain au chocolat delicieux
*je suis allée au Marais
*j'ai trouvé un magasin génial où j'ai fait des courses de Noël.
*je me suis trouvée dans le quartier juif, et j'ai mangé du falafel.
*je suis allée au Musée Carnavalet, où j'étais complèment perdue, car ce bâtiment est comme le Winchester Mansion, mais le Winchester Mansion du XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles.
*j'ai écouté le groupe Cabaret Slave, près de Place des Vosges.
*je suis allée au Pont Neuf et j'ai rencontré Ellen, Alex, et la mère d'Alex.
*je suis allée au Reid Hall.
*et je n'ai pas étudié pour mon examen final de grammaire. :P
( Today, I... )
Also, I've eaten too much today.
And I think I'm getting sick. :(
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| Place des Vosges |
[12 Dec 2006|06:54pm] |
( ...is terribly lovely )
Things I saw today in the Place des Vosges:
-A pretty little bird in the bare branches above my head.
-A crow who was searching for worms in the grass and kept cawing and throwing leaves about, being rather annoyed.
-Another crow who attempted to eat a Lego. It was, however, too large for its beak. (I quite like crows.)
-Lots of pigeons.
-An adorable chubby little French child, named Clement, who liked to run through the puddles and play in the sand. At one point, his mom was wiping off his shoes, and his dad was wiping of his coat, so he starting wiping his mom's hair.
-Clement made a new friend: another chubby little French boy. They make me consider having children some day- but only if they can be chubby, cute, and French, and only if I can live with them in the Place des Vosges (or at least in the Marais).
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| Woooooooo! |
[11 Dec 2006|01:57pm] |
Je ne dois pas suivre trois TD's de portugais le semestre prochain!
Si ceux que j'ai suivi ce semestre compte pour le cours de Por200, dont j'en ai besoin pour finir mon minor, je n'ai besoin que d'un autre cours de pourtguais, et il doit etre un cours de niveau 300; alors, je ne peux pas faire cela jusqu'au je revient a Smith.
Donc, j'aurai un semester un peu plus leger.
Je ne dois que decider entre le cours de grammaire et le cours de litterature que je voudrais suivre, ou le cours d'ecriture et un autre cours de litterature. Hmm.
( English! )
So I know I've been AWFUL at updating this thing. I've done quite a few things this semester (chateaux de la Loire, Normandy and Brittany, random wanderings around Paris), and I've hardly written about them. I wanted to keep a really good travel journal and so far, I've failed.
So I promise promise promise, once this semester is over, I'll update everything and keep a better journal. Really. It'll be my New Year's Resolution.
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| Last night: |
[06 Dec 2006|03:10pm] |
Me: Yeah, so, Melissa and I had to pay more euros to get down to Barcelona because we waited too long because we had to go to the SNCF agency so we could be together on the train.
Barry: You went to another travel agent?? *miffed*
20 minutes later:
Barry: I'm going to watch The O.C. with Grant now.
That boy makes me wonder sometimes.
In other news, liquid nitrogen still hurts. Ow.
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| s097wg908joiu249t098... |
[05 Dec 2006|05:41pm] |
So my trains round trip to Barcelona were SUPPOSED to be 134 euros.
And now they are 202 euros.
Not to mention that I have to pay for hostels and everything else.
Which wouldn't be so bad, except I also wanted to go to England for New Year's through the 6th or something.
And that trips going to be 160 roundtrip, plus whatever it's going to cost me to get from Waterloo to King's Cross and a good 30 quid to get up to Peterborough and back, plus whatever else it's going to cost me to get to Notts or wherever else I want to go. Also, I wouldn't get into Pborough until 6ish on New Year's Eve- far later than I'd like to be there.
And now I'm pissed.
If my parents had actually made up their minds as to what they wanted to do for Christmas when I'd asked, I'd have been able to make my Christmas plans and I wouldn't be paying so much nor would I be running into booking problems.
Fucking hell.
I'm thinking I may not wind up going to the UK for New Year's, 'cause I'm supposed to be there the following weekend anyway...
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| "Le Baiser" |
[02 Dec 2006|12:52am] |
^^THAT is what I want.
I'm so in love with the idea of being in love.
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| I was standing at a cross-roads... |
[29 Nov 2006|01:03pm] |
...and it suddenly hit me.
Life is this beautiful, palpable, complicated thing that's oh-so fragile.
It's completely palpable and malleable and sitting their in your hands, ready to be played with.
And it suddenly hit me,
21 years, and what have I done with mine?
To stand at the beginning of a world of possibilities may be scary but it is also so exciting.
And I realised that maybe instead of trying to put together the puzzle pieces of yours,
I should be making the pieces of mine.
( So... )
Going to the Louvre tonight, probably. Am excited.
Will write more, as I saw a play last night and it got me thinking about all sorts of things.
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| I fucking love |
[20 Nov 2006|12:29pm] |
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being yelled at like we're 12 years old or something.
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| Nous sommes seuls cancer mon amour |
[15 Nov 2006|02:47pm] |
Last night I went to see Quartett at the Odeon- Theatre de l'Europe with my Theatre class.
Quartett, written by Heiner Muller, is based on Les Liaisons dangereuses. (Which I've never read but have been meaning to do so for ages. But I have seen the movie! :D)
Brief description (in French):
Heiner Müller, en concentrant Les Liaisons dangereuses dans une vingtaine de pages de dialogue, a produit l’une des pièces les plus tranchantes de la fin du XXe siècle. De ce bref et extraordinaire épisode de la guerre des sexes – à la fois duel amoureux, combat de grands fauves, joute verbale et jeu de masques d’une ironie et d’une cruauté sans égales –, Robert Wilson avait proposé, il y a quelques années, une vision à l’élégance épurée, dont les silences aiguisaient encore l’éclat cristallin du texte.
Il y revient aujourd’hui, suscitant à cette occasion une rencontre d’interprètes qui est à elle seule un événement : Ariel Garcia Valdès dans le rôle de Valmont fera en effet face à une Marquise de Merteuil qu’incarne Isabelle Huppert.
( Now in English... )
The text in itself is short but dense, and somewhat difficult to follow. It's full of double entendres, sexual meanings, things piercing and obscene, and is complicated by the fact that often the two characters onstage (Valmont and Merteuil) play the roles of the other two characters of the quartet, Cecile de Volanges and Madame du President de la Tourvel (neither of whom appear onstage in the text).
I don't know how many of you know anything about Bob Wilson, but apparently his work is known for being bizarre, abstract, and just plain out there. Our prof warned us not to expect the text to be clarified by the production, since Wilson believes that the dialogue is just another part of the spectacle as a whole.
And goodness gracious. Bizarre doesn't even begin to describe it.
There were five characters onstage: Valmont, Merteuil, an old man, a young man, and a young woman. You were never sure of who the last three were supposed to be- and I don't think you're meant to. Valmont looked devilish and was often bathed in red light. He would go from angrily reciting a line to grooving to rock music and back again. The lighting switched suddenly and without reason, and often with loud "cracks" or "rips." There were images of S&M and death. There was a lot of repetition: the first time Merteuil spoke her opening monologue (at least a good 5 or 10 minutes into the play, mind you), she just stood in a spotlight on a dark stage, repeating the same three or so lines over and over again. Their voices were all so clear, I began wondering if they hadn't been recorded and the actors were just moving their mouths onstage.
And frankly, it was kind of terrifying.
I don't really like loud noises, so all of the cracks and such bothered me at first. Then there was the fact that, throughout the play, characters would randomly open their mouths to the sound of something between a bird and a dragon screaming, which scared me a bunch. (Reign of Fire? Only movie in recent memory that has given me nightmares. Repeatedly.)
It was just bizarre and scary.
Which isn't to say it wasn't good. It was. It was just....bizarre.
It also lasted nearly two hours, which is a long time when you consider the text itself is just around 40 (small) pages long.
It was probably one of the most well-done and craziest productions I've ever seen. It was definitely worth the experience.
( Valmont et Merteuil )
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| Yay grèves! |
[09 Nov 2006|01:47am] |
So I left the apartment around 8:30 am today to get all the way up to the 18th for my class at 9:30 am.
When I got to the metro stop (Bibliothèque-François Mitterand) so I could take the 14 to Chatêlet and switch to the 4, I swear, every French person, their mother, and their second cousin was there. I've never seen like, a wave of humanity coming down an escaltor like that before. I had to wait for three trains before I finally decided to push my way forward and get onto a train. Luckily I grabbed a seat so I didn't have to stand on my left foot.
Anyway, I got back home and talked to my hostess, and apparently, there's some big ol' grève (aka strike) going on over at SNCF, so none of the banlieu (suburban) trains are running. So all of the people who would normally take those trains were crowding onto the metro instead.
As my hostess remarked when I mentioned the all-of-two-day-or-whatever-it-was NYC Subway strike recently (this summer?), "Strikes are a lot more common here in France..." ;)
So there you go. It was the first time I experienced the effects of a French strike firsthand. Let's see how long this lasts, shall we?
In other news, I have a mere 2 weeks 'til my 21st birthday!!!
And I shall be spending it in style. The style of "I have a paper due tomorrow and I'm finally getting this fucking thing removed from my foot!" >_> How exciting.
I won't be actually able to celebrate my big 2-1 until the weekend, but I'm willing to wait. I'm planning on having a party-type thing on Friday after our faux Thanksgiving dinner. And I will be out all night. At least, I'm planning to be. :P
And the following weekend, I'm planning on going to Barcelona with Barry. (Who has finally called me. And who is leaving for the US tomorrow. :P) Plans are actually still up in the air (this is what happens when you try to work something out with someone who always makes plans at the last minute), but I'm pretty sure this'll work out. Only problem is, I might be going away two weekends in a row (one weekend to Barcelona, the next to Sweden), which may or may not be good academically. We'll see.
(Pam, if you're reading this, when does your semester in Sweden end??)
Right. Bed time.
PS: Deval Patrick won Governor of MA! I'm so incredibly excited! I'm not from MA, but going to school in MA means being involved in MA politics. I've seen this man speak live several times, and believe me, he deserves that governorship.
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