Day Light Savings Time

I have had quite a "I love the world" day!

Although I did not get the best night sleep last night, I woke up excited for the morning. While on my way to school, I saw some water trickling down the edge of the street, and I realized then and there how fascinating water is! I'm not going to get into all that right now, but let me tell you that one of my fondest memories of being a kid was playing out on the sidewalk in front of the house during a rain storm and making dams with bricks.

Second realization today came with my flowers that I bought on sunday. I have absolutely no idea what they are called, but they are beautiful. So full, so colorful, so fun.

Third realization came while I was eating dinner. It was 8:30 and it was still light outside! Spring + Day Light Savings Time + Western edge of the time zone means that the sky doesn't start to get really dark until around 9:15. Super!

Fourth realization was just about how much I love spring. It's such a happy time of year. And it makes me feel so alive. This is one of the few times that I wish I lived out in the country so I could really see the season change. One of the two trees in the courtyard outside my window has turned completely green, while the other remains completely dormant. It's intersting to compare the two; you usually don't get two trees like that side by side.

Ok, enough Rousseau-ing for one night.

-Dave

Dreams, who needs em?

It's too early. I should not be up. I'm still sleepy.

Why am I up?

I had a dream that there was a bat in my room, and it was squeaking. Now, normally I could will myself back to sleep after this. But here's the kicker: I keep my windows open for a little while before going to bed so it will be nice and cool in my room. I am always worried that a pigeon or a bat will fly in and I won't know what to do!

So, a dream with a bat in my room held some water, somewhere deep inside my self-conscious. I could not quell my fears, and instead just got myself more worked up, and consequently, more awake too!

Oh well! It's not all bad. I need to study a bit before class anyways!

-Dave

French fries to French bulldog

This week has been relatively calm, but that is definitely a good thing! The weather has been just beautiful, and as such, I have spent as much time outdoors as possible. However, there was one pesky thing that prevented me from enjoying this week to its fullest : class.

That was a joke, people.

Anywho, lets review the highlights -

On Tuesday, after classes, I relaxed in the park near NYU with Alex and watched the dogs playing. Then, I journeyed over to Uniqlo to exchange a few shirts for a different size. Failure. The girl at the counter was SO rude to me. It really made me upset. I am still considering writing to Uniqlo. I shop there enough that I think it is completely fair to complain!

Tuesday evening, Patrick held CiPizDi (Cinema - Pizza - Discussion) with all of his classes. We watched Le Petit Nicolas, which was really cute and funny. I had tried watching it online earlier in the semester, but my internet connection was too slow. Afterwards, Patrick had a bunch of pizzas delivered from ............ Pizza Hut! How funny.

The pizza was good, but it was not like American Pizza Hut. First of all, the cheese pizza had slices of goat cheese on it. Second, it was not thick greasy crust like in America. Third, there was goat cheese on the pizza! (<-- I can't get over this detail.)

The Discussion aspect of the evening did not go so well. Several people decided they didn't want to speak in French, even though it was an evening spent at NYU in Paris, that was organized by a French professor, and we were discussing a French film. Whatever. Some people get it, some people don't.

Wednesday was a great day! For my Contemporary Art Scene class, we met at the Museum of the Decorative Arts and saw modern art that was NOT pretentious at all! In fact, it was quite pleasing! The artists, a couple with the last name Lalanne, created pieces that were at the same time sculptures of animals AND functional items. Sadly, we could not take pictures. But let me illustrate a bit: There was a big blue hippo, whose mouth opened up to reveal a bathroom sink and mirror, and his back opened up to reveal a bath tub! How cool! Then, there was a rhino, but the rhino came apart and was actually a bunch of arm chairs and love seats and ottomans! How cool!

I was able to snag a few pictures while I was upstairs exploring the museum. Here is one of the better ones:

You can see the hippo on the right

After class disbanded, I stay and enjoyed the rest of the museum. (Side note: I think it is ironic that I ended up at the Museum of Decorative Arts after finding out that morning that I had gotten into the NYSID.) There was a Playmobil exhibit. Need I say more?

Chef de tribu et son cheval, 1975

And so I continued on, and went through the entire history of French decorative design: Medieval to "Currently." I was really happy to find that my two favorite styles were very well documented - Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

Art Nouveau bedroom set

Art Deco Dining Room

Not sure who is familiar with these styles and who isn't, so let me give a short description. Art Nouveau is a late 1800s - early 1900s style that emphasized organic forms. Essentially, you should just imagine an Art Nouveau interior that has absolutely NO pointy edges. An onlooker can imagine that the furniture/interior are in fact plants.

Art Deco, on the other hand, is a big fan of pointy edges. Art Deco followed Art Nouveau. The distinguishing feature of Art Deco is the play of light and dark. Sadly, this means that the majority of the Art Deco interiors at the museum could not be photographed without a flash. Result? The only good picture I got does not have Art Deco furniture, but you can see how the ceiling is bright gold, and the walls are a deep dark wood.

I like both of these styles so much because 1) they are fun, 2) they are French, and 3) they are absolutely unique and make no attempt to harken back to Ancient Rome! I get really bored with western architecture referencing ancient Rome. Boring. Do something NEW! Whats new? French Gothic, French Art Nouveau, French Art Deco, Gaudi, and of course, Germany's contribution, Bauhaus. Ok, enough ranting.

There was a retrospective of design from the 1940s to the current day, which was housed in the top floors of one of the pavillions. To show the retrospective, the museum had the different periods on different floors, but they all had a cut out that formed an atrium, at the bottom of which there was an exhibit of chairs:

Retrospective much?

Ok, enough with the museum. Afterwards, I wandered over to the Marais, got a sandwich and did a little window shopping. What a beautiful day. Sigh.

Thursday was a pretty uneventful day. There was a thunderstorm in the afternoon, which was a bit disconcerting considering that it was March. I met Liz, Taylor's ... female friend. Shes very nice. I'm excited to get to know her better. I waited around to help Patrick get a cell phone, but he ran out of time, and so that didn't happen. It's cool though. During the last 20 minutes of my wait, I thought about the NYU in Paris building, and how much NYU does not take advantage of its beauty. Sigh.

All week, my mind has been on two things: French Fries and French Bulldogs, both of which I want. I have been craving McDonald's french fries and Pommes-Frites-Sauce all week. So good. And I've been thinking about French Bulldogs because before leaving for Paris, Luke and I discussed adopting a little Frenchie when I got back. He's submited an application for this one: Guinness

Well, thats all for now. I'm tapped out. I've also been awake for two hours now and havent left my bed! hehe

- Dave

Oh, before I forget, here is a picture of Clemmie:

I know this seems random, but let me explain. While talking about Art Deco, I went searching for pictures of either the Chrysler Building or the Irving Trust Building, both of which are the prime examples of an Art Deco building. Anywho, I found this picture of Clemmie and her paws. Aww.

Naps are for suckers

I cannot keep my eyes open. Nope. Not at all. The only thing keeping me awake? The freaking pigeons cooing outside my vent!

Friday, after spending all day at NYU, I gathered some people at Grace's apartment to head out to Club18. I had found free passes, so why not? Anywho, that was a bust. They didn't let us in the club. Sigh sigh.

So the group split up, and Taylor, Cáit, Grace, Grace's friend and I continued on to Le Queen, which said the cover would be €8. However, after taking the last train for the evening to get to Queen, we discovered that in fact the cover is €20. Bust. So I left the group and walked home. I was probably in bed by 3:30.

And then I got up at 9:00! Turns out someone screwed up Grace's computer while we were at her apartment. Feeling 100% guity, I left my apt, headed for Darty, and bought her a new keyboard. Aparently it works; I just hope there is no other damage. Cáit, who had spent the night at Grace's, and I indulged in some delicious McDonald's for lunch. Yum!

Last night, saturday night, I met Patrick at 9:00 at St. Paul to get a drink and food. It was raining. Really hard. We finally ended up at L'Apparement Café, where (drumroll!) I found spiced rum! Woo! Unfortunately, after taking the first sip of my Rum & Coke, which they called a Cube Libre, I discovered that they had used diet coke. Oh well! It was nice to have a Rum & Coke, even if it was ... diet. Bleh. Patrick and I had some one-on-one bonding time. Then Taylor, Michel and Olga joined us. A cheese plate and carafe of wine later, we were all having a good time. We met a group of peoplle who ... I really don't even know how to describe them. Go to this website: (http://uranie.ile-mysterieuse.net/).

I ended up at home around 3:00 again, I think. I Skyped Luke, since by that point, it was his birthday in France. Woke up around 10:00. I got out of bed around 12:30, showered, went to the store around the corner, came back, made some pasta, and got back in bed. Woops! Then, I fell asleep!

I hate naps, though. I always feel sick afterwards. There is this strange acidy, empty feeling at the top of my stomach. Very strange. Anywho, I'm off to work on homework! Have a lovely day, everyone!

Happy Birthday, Luke! Three for three! Where will I be next year?!

-Dave

Lovely Day

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Paris! Apparently it got up to 67 F, which, after the freezing temps of last week, was quite warm! After thoroughly insulting Patrick and giving a lack luster presentation in Bussiness French, Taylor and I got some Dom's wraps and chilaxed in the courtyard. One pick up soccer game and a deflated soccer ball later, Grace, Cáit and I headed off to the Champ de Mars, where we sat and enjoyed the glorious weather!

Taylor met up with us, we did a little walking, headed to his place, found a restaurant off the Champs-Elysées, and enjoyed "Sex on the Beach" and some really great bacon cheez burgers. Yum! Quel fun!

Now I'm off to bed. Why? Because I have a full day of Contemporary French Art Scene tomorrow, which begins at 9:30. Blah.

-Dave

Stressed

After a wonderful week with my family, full of good food and good times, it's nose back to the grindstone. That combined with my slight cold is not making for a fun monday. Boo hoo. I need a distraction.

In other news, it was quite warm in Paris today. I went out with just a t-shirt and a hoody. Pretty exciting! I can't wait for real spring weather.

-Dave

Quel francophone!

What a great couple of days! On Wednesday, from the moment I woke up, I felt a little "blah." After buying a book for class, I headed to Monoprix to find the biggest bag of candy I could find. Before I even had a chance to break into the bag of "Lion Chocolate Bars," I received a call from Anthony, one of the young artists I met a few weeks ago. I had forgotten that we were to go out that night. That lifted my spirits. Though, that didn't stop me from devouring half of the bag of Lions. Delicious!

Taylor and I met up with Anthony, his girlfriend, and Nazhli at St. Michel, where I discovered a brass band playing a collection of songs including "Hot Stuff - Donna Summer," "Gangstas Paradise - Coolio," and "Brain Stew - Green Day." Anthony had a place in mind that happened to be right behind the fountain at St. Michel: Happy Days Diner. We had cheeseburgers, milkshakes, cheesecake and cokes in a 1960s setting. Thoroughly enjoyable. The three artists taught us how to say "I don't care/give a shit" several different ways in French. They all included male genitalia.

Yesterday, we had Patrick's class, which is, as always, very entertaining. In class I shared my discovery of the Lion bars, and brought one for everyone so they could experience a small piece of the happiness I felt when I was eating half a bag the day before. Seriously, these bars are delicious. They are not too big, not too sweet, not to heavy. They are just right! I ended up giving four to Patrick to supplement his breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After screwing around for a few hours, Taylor and I spent some quality time with Patrick practicing our French and expressing our frustrations and concerns thus far.

I had to cut the conversation in order to make it back to my apartment before dinner with my landlords at 7:30. After a stop by Happy, where I bought them a bouquet of white roses and purple tulips, I came home, changed, and headed downstairs. To my surprise, what do I find in there apartment? One of their grandsons - Vincent! I love kids. After a great meal that Christine prepared herself, I read Vincent a bedtime story and retired myself for the evening.

When I woke up this morning, the sky was absolutely beautiful:

À bientôt,

Dave

Don Carlo

Yesterday, on a whim, I got a ticket from NYU to go to Don Carlo, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi AKA Joe Green (Thanks, Mr. Gaylor). I met up with Taylor, Lindsay, Rob, and Michel at Resto-U to get some dinner before. Somehow I ended up with a Tuna pizza (gag). 6:25 rolled around. With a curtain call at 7:00, I started to get anxious. I CANNOT be late, especially to a performance. Everyone mocked me the entire trip to the opera house. But you know what? We were late. We had to stand in the back for 20 minutes during the first act.

I have to admit, I was a bit creeped out by the first act. The stage was set with only one detail: a sunken cross in the center filled with candles. Ever now and then, between actions, a group of monks would start singing, medieval style. It was creepy. But I stayed, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was beautiful. The end was a bit ... frustrating, but what are you going to do? You win some, you lose some, right? I got a ticket for Patrick, because he had expressed an interest in NYU's free tickets. We were amongst the few who stayed for the entire performance.

Afterwards, we scoured the streets to find a restaurant where he could get something to eat and I could get a glass of wine. No such luck! We ended up finding a brasserie that was closing up and snagged a glass of wine and a beer. Thoroughly enjoyable. Patrick is a really cool guy, and I'm so happy that I've had the opportunity to meet him.

May I also say that the sun is amazing? It makes me so happy that we have had several consecutive days of sunlight now. Just lovely!

Well, on that note, I'm going to head to buy a book for a midterm that I have on monday. I was supposed to have bought this book at the beginning of the semester. Woops! I'm a senior. What do you want?

À bientôt,

Dave