how did the cat get so fat ?

Lessivée

2010-03-14T08:28:00.003+01:00

"La nature est bien faite : j’ai la révolte facile. Toute forme d’autorité ne mérite cependant pas qu’on s’acharne contre elle. C’est avant tout l’auto-proclamée, la pernicieuse, la péremptoire, celle qui s’apparente à du despotisme ordinaire et qui est souvent l’arme des putois arrogants cherchant à noyer leurs propres échecs qui mérite d’être combattue.

Et si je commence à passer outre, si je commence à trouver ça dérisoire alors je peux tout aussi bien me caler la tête sous l’aisselle jusqu’à l’asphyxie. Mais je le sens bien, que mes pupilles sont ternes depuis quelques temps, que mon cerveau est apathique et que je ne peux répondre à la question sans rire bêtement. Oh ça, j’ai la forme ! Je mange comme un ogre et je dors tout mon soûl, je danse aussi souvent que possible et je m’en jette quelques-uns derrière la cravate dès que l’occasion se présente, mais la bestiole velue aux dents acérées au fond de moi est lessivée."

(c'est Elixie qui le dit mieux que moi - lisez son blog!)

That's me right now

2009-03-13T15:10:00.000+01:00

You can deal with almost any challenge if you understand its nature and how to tackle it. But issues - personal and involving others - are so complex, you're at sea. Actually, this benefits you, as it prevents your usual over-analysis and forces you to examine your feelings. These reveal that, in some cases, you don't care as much as you thought - or as much as some say you should. But others reveal a passion you've refused to accept, perhaps for fear of what it would lead to. Now you find out.

Je le note et j'y réfléchis...

2009-01-17T11:33:00.000+01:00

Question : Chacun dans la vie doit avoir un objectif, chacun doit trouver sa voie et en trouvant sa voie on doit y mettre toute son intelligence. Est-ce qu'il y a un moyen de trouver sa voie dans la vie?

Réponse : Oui, si on mène une vie droite, une vie naturelle, on trouve intuitivement la voie droite pour avancer. En outre, quand quelqu'un a trouvé son objectif, celui qui est pour lui, alors il se sent lui-même, il se sent chez lui. Alors, il constate que toutes choses l'aident, il se sent plein d'espoir et de courage.

Question : Y a-t-il un moyen de trouver l'objectif? Je n'ai pas encore trouvé d'objectif dans la vie.

Réponse : Il faut développer l'intuition.

Question : Comment développer l'intuition chez quelqu'un qui ne la possède pas?

Réponse : La confiance en soi. On doit être prêt à faire des erreurs parce qu'on ne peut pas toujours avoir la bonne intuition; si l’on se méfie de l'intuition, alors on n'en aura pas du tout.

Question : Alors c'est un grand risque?

Réponse : Rien n'est atteint sans risque. Quand les gens disent qu'en quelque chose il y a un risque, je leur dis souvent que ne pas prendre un risque est un risque encore plus grand.

Question : Est-ce que l'intuition est supérieure à l'intelligence?

Réponse : La supériorité et l'infériorité sont des termes relatifs. Bien sûr, l'intuition vient quelquefois d'une source plus profonde que l'intellect. Par intelligence, on entend la capacité de connaissance et par intellect, ce qu'on connaît. L'intelligence est la capacité, l'intellect, la connaissance. L'intelligence est une substance pure, quelque chose de très pur. Par conséquent l'intelligence est la substance divine que l'on peut reconnaître en soi. S'il y a quelque signe de l'âme dans une personne, c'est l'intelligence. Par conséquent, plus intelligente est une personne, plus cette personne a une âme brillante. Mais je ne veux pas dire qu'une personne intellectuelle n'ait pas d'intelligence.

Source: http://www.soufi-inayat-khan.org/murshid/alch_bo/ab03.htm

I will simply write it down

2008-11-16T11:40:00.003+01:00

Today would've been my dad's 65th birthday. I miss him.

Is there a book I need to read for that?

2008-09-26T18:24:00.001+02:00

"Sabine wonders what is wrong with her, and who can fix it"...

Comme c'est intéressant... (How interesting)

2008-09-10T16:01:00.002+02:00

Horoscope de la rentrée... "Evasion"

** Généralement je lis et puis j'oublie, mais là... Hmmmm... ***

Donnez le maximum, les planètes de cette rentrée vous le rendront au centuple ! En effet, ça s'exite dans le zodiaque, ça déménage, les grosses planètes, celles des changements radicaux, vous remueront la tête, le coeur et le corps. En premier lieu, Saturn dit "Je veux la sécurité", vous donne des responsabilités - certaines hors normes -, vous demande rigueur et force de caractère pour maintenir ce qui est. Ensuite, Uranus l'individualiste dit: "Je veux ma liberté" et provoque quelques bouleversements dans votre manière de vivre, d'aimer ou de travailler. Enfin, Jupiter vous offre la chance qui tombe du ciel, le coup de pouce et l'opportunité de transformer tout ça à votre avantage. Un vent cosmique souffle en rafales, hissez la voile, vous irez loin !
Osez prendre le large ou la tangente ! (...) en octobre un nouveau cycle s'enclenchera et novembre verra un changement de ton, de régime, de rythme ou de décor. Agitation, révolte, tensions, désir de liberté et d'évasion... orages et éclaircies se succéderont et, que ce soit en amour ou au travail, vous ne supporterez plus d'être enferm"s dans le même rôle, privés d'autonomie, et vous ferez sauter les verrous. Nouvel emploi, déménagement, rencontre providentielle, amour naussant, amitiés originales... fin novembre-début décembre marquera une étape importante. Ne restez pas coincés dans vos habitudes, vos certitudes. Protégés par Jupiter, choisissez d'être la Vierge folle plutôt que sage, une amélioration en flèche s'ensuivra.

Total Nintendo geek

2008-09-07T11:07:00.000+02:00

I am actually using a wi-fi web browser installed on my nintendo DS lite to post this. So cool. I know, I have smarter things to do, like finish writing about the trip to Iran... or getting stuff ready for my new life in the UK... :-)

Do YOU have a codega?

2008-08-18T18:56:00.002+02:00

"She is a firefly, this Linda. In Venice in the Middle Ages there was once a profession for a man called a codega - a fellow you hired to walk in front of you at night with a lit lantern, showing you the way, scaring off thieves and demons, bringing you confidence and protection through the dark streets. This is Linda - my temporary, special-order, travel-sized Venitian codega."

(from "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert)

Day 5: Isfahan

2008-06-29T13:15:00.013+02:00

Absolutely amazing breakfast served in a gorgeous little corner of the house...

The weather is still warm but overcast... not so nice for picture taking. Oh well, as long as there's no rain. We're invited to climb up on the roof of the hotel/house to have a different view. I really fall in love with the place.

We leave for the bazaar, towards Imam Square again. In daylight, this time.

(Above: a picture on the way to the bazaar).

Even with the overcast sky, everything is still beautiful. I really like this Square.

We visit all the monuments around the Square.

Sheik Lotfollah mosque...

Then the Imam Mosque itself...

I'm still surprised at the little number of tourists. Of course there are more than in Kashan, but nothing striking... We have lunch again at the Shahrzad restaurant, this time to try the chicken & rice-made-with-butter-and-egg-creating-delicious-crust (I'm sure it has a billion calories).

After that, we walk around the river and visit the different bridges. There is the 33 arches bridge, quite famous...

But the prettiest bridge (and the furthest) is Pol-e-Khaju (Khaju bridge). Where several men come to talk to us (well, to Alain, and indirectly to me). There is this really nice old man too. Alain takes a great picture of him (link).

After the bridges and a disapointing ice cream cone, we head back towards the Square. On our way, we meet Zahra, a English language student with whom we exchange e-mail addresses. She's very kind (and we're still in touch!).

Later, around the miniaturist shop, a young man (Iman) stops us. He speaks perfect French and wants to guide us through our visit of the Square. At first we're a bit surprised, but then we go with him to Ali Qapu palace. He explains everything and politely leaves us after the visit. To be honest, I was wondering if all this kindness would have a fee or not. I'm a stupid foreigner. The guy was just being nice and showing around his city and training his French. How come we're so suprised when people are just being nice?

We get a little lost in the Bazaar until we reach the Friday (Jameh) mosque. Very old, and pretty. The place is almost empty, only 3 tourists and a few locals.

Two little girls in pink are having fun in the abblution fountain. We take pictures (after asking the mother). They have so much fun seeing themselves on the screen of Alain's digital camera!

We return at Dibai House, to have some rest before leaving for the airport. There's a cat (un chat! un shah?) in the hotel...

One strange vision on the way to the airport... On the highway, we pass a pick-up truck. In the back of the pick-up truck, I see a round black shape covered in black cloth. Oh, I think it's just some merchandise... then we get closer, and Alain & I both see that it's a women wrapped in her chador, fighting against the wind (it's a highway!). Then we see the inside of the cabin: it's filled with 3 men. I guess the woman had no choice than to go in the back, based on the rules... I'm a bit shocked. Why couldn't a guy go in the back? Were these men non-related to her? One must've been, or she wouldn't be travelling with them. This is the only time I saw such an event. So this is woman's position in society. Maybe. I only saw it once. In Europe, we're bombarded with these images. You'd think you'd see this at every street corner. Well you don't. Like the women militias driving around to check on the correctness of your outfit... never saw the shadow of one. Is it reverse propagandha to make us "afraid" of Iran? I don't know...

At the airport, hardly no signs in English, and no flight information in English. But we manage. We shop around for Coke light & "Gaz" (nougat with pistachio, you gotta love them). We understand that the flight has some delay, but no details. We'll wait, see what happens. After only 30 minutes delay, we board for a 35 minutes flight, with full comfort, bilingual announcements, a meal & drink (all this for 30 euros).

In Tehran's Mehrahbad airport, we book a taxi to return to our dear Firouzeh hotel. At the exit, some non-official taxi driver tries to convince us to go with him. That'll be the only real bother we'll have in Iran. Just this one time. But, taxi drivers, eh... same problem everywhere... After fighting to get rid of this taxi driver, we manage to find the "regular" taxi queue. I'm a bit disappointed that among all the people waiting in line nobody helped us get rid of the guy. I think in France, people would've gotten into the argument, after a while at least. (Just for the sake of getting into an argument, you know).

Anyway, after a little ride, we are back at our usual hotel. The room is not as nice as the previous one, but it'll do. The airconditionning is full blast and no way to tune it down. It stops around 2AM...

Day 4: Kashan in a day

2008-06-28T23:40:00.009+02:00

With great difficulty we drag ourselves out of bed around 9AM... we both would've liked to sleep longer but it's a beautiful day, we're in Iran, and only for 1 day in Kashan. Tonight, we already have to leave for Isfahan!

We have a gorgeous traditional Iranian breakfast on the terrasse, with a view on the inner courtyard (see photo). The bread is yummy, the kind-of-feta cheese also...

We walk to the bazaar, we walk around, people say hello to us.

One man just stops to tell us "welcome to Iran". And it's in Kashan that I spot for the first time some Coke Light. A much more civilized country than Japan or Italy, finally ;-)

We walk back to the bazaar to climb on the roof. The view is really special. I had never seen that before, and I love it.

We then decide to go have lunch at the Delpazir restaurant, based on the recommendation of the LP guide. We search and search but cannot find it. We're told it closed a couple years ago. Oh well, that's what you get when you only edit a guidebook every other year. We end up at the only restaurant in the same area, the "Sha". Copious, cheap, maybe a bit fatty (kebab meat). After that, we head towards the area where many traditional houses have been renovated & are opened to visitors. We finally see a few tourists. Very few.

One of the houses we visit is also visited at the same time but schoolgirls & schoolboys (seperately). The schoolgirls say hello to us, start giggling, we take a picture of each other. I am laughing so much that my mouth hurts! What an atmosphere. You can hear giggles everywhere!

But it's already 4PM and time for us to think about heading towards Isfahan. A schoolgirl hands me a rose before we leave the traditional house. We walk back to the hotel & take a cab to the bus station. The taxi driver's just a kid. As soon as we are out of ear reach of people, he starts playing loud turkish dance music in his car. Woohoo! (illegal music)

We hop on the bus at 17:00 and travel through the desert... (including through Natanz, which is the nuclear testing zone). Ah, the desert...

2h50 minutes later, we're in the North Station of Isfahan, and Mohamed with whom we started a conversation in the bus, helps us find a taxi. The driver doesn't know where is our hotel (I had booked this traditional house via internet, gorgeous yet tiny place), but we find a closeby place he knows, and we say we'll finish on foot. I totally impress my brother when, once approaching our final destination, I ask (in Farsi!) the driver where is Hatef street, then based on his potive answer, I tell him "here, it's good". Well those 6 pimsleur lessons sure payed off. Just to see the face of my brother :-)

The area of the hotel (Ali Mosque) is so-so... to get to the Dibai House, you really have to look for a small door with no real sign... A young woman opens the door, no headscarf! wow! And the place is absolutely gorgeous. The colours (chosen by her mother) are amazing, and she chose the decoration.

We decide to go have a glimpse at the Imam Square by night and perhaps have some dinner. Alain takes me through dark and desert streets in the backstreets of the Grand Bazaar. I kind of freak out to be honest. But then... aaaaaaah... Imam Square. THE IMAM SQUARE. Wow. At night, it's all lit up, families are around, children playing... I was expecting tourist buses, but once again, there aren't that many. Again, people say hello & welcome us. Very nice. We sit down and absorb the moment.

It's already 9:30PM when we decide we should find something to eat. We decide to try a nice (expensive) restaurant Alain remembers as very nice. On the way there, we stop in front of Hossein Fallahi's boutique. He's a famous miniature maker. He remembers the photography Alain has sent him. He gives me his card and we promise to visit him the next day.

Again, before getting to the restaurant, we stop to have quick look at the inner courtyard of the Abbasi Hotel (5-star hotel). It's true it's absolutely gorgeous. There's a coranic school (Madresh) next to the hotel and Alain points accross the street to some blinking neon lights and tells me here stands the one and only sex shop in Iran. I stare at him blankly until he starts giggling. Ha. Ha. Ha. I almost fell for it. Not.

The restaurant ("Shahrzad") is yummy. I take "fesenjun" (chicken with a walnut & pomegranate sauce) and Alain has "zereshk polo ba morgh" (chicken with rice and "airelles"). Iranian food is amazing. So simple and tasty.

Day 3: Grab your brother & get out of here :-)

2008-06-28T19:02:00.005+02:00

Morning: I do my little travel organizing bit. Cancel things, book new places. For hotels in Kashan, there is only 1 hotel recommended in my books. Hotel that I cannot get a hold of on the phone. I ask Mr Mousavi for help, and he recommends his friends' place, the "Ehsan Historical House", near Agha Bozorg (Bozorgh Mosque). The room I book will be a traditional room, with en-suite bathroom (I thought Alain might need that after all the travelling, and I'm not against a little comfort myself).

This morning I eat my breakfast more heartily, knowing Alain's on it's way and that we can resume travelling... not that I don't like Tehran, but I know there's so much more to see, and so little tiiiiiiiiime.

Around noon, Anna and I leave for the Golestan Palace. It's walking distance, near the bazaar. The bazaar looks huge & complex, something else than the one in Istanbul (there I go again, doing some bazaar name-dropping now!).

Golestan Palace is absolutely beautiful. A real jewel. No tourists. Very quiet. Just the sound of the call to prayer in the background. We walk around...

We return to the hotel. I decide to wait for Alain, he should be here by 16:30 or so.

...but I learn that Alain received the wrong information, and he texts me telling me he'll land at 17:00. Aaaaaargh. More waiting! So frustrating! Oh well, we'll just take a late bus for Kashan, as soon as he arrives. Apparently, they run until 22:00... In the meantime, I'm in the lobby, reading. Anna joins me for a chat, waiting for internet. Time flies rather rapidly. We talk with Mr Mousavi about the trains in Iran. Anna wants to take the train to Isfahan. He tells us there's a very good train line from Tehran to Mashhad. The 1st class coaches are all comfort, flatscreen TV, food, european toilets, clean. I think that train is called the Simorgh. It's definitely on my list for my next trip to Iran. Definitely.

While waiting for Alain, I realize that when he shows up, I won't be able to kiss or hug him (public display of affection is a no-no). Will be very odd.

Finally the long-awaited brother arrives around 19:30. It is indeed awkward not being able to hug. Anna offers him date milk to celebrate :-)

We leave rather rapidly, to catch the bus for Kashan, with a taxi which takes us to the South Station. Once arrived, and as I am about to pay, I almost fall into the trap of the "taarof". Taarof in Iran is the "politeness rule". One example of taarof you can encounter while making a purchase (or paying for a taxi) is that the seller will refuse your money. You then have to insist to pay. He will refuse maybe 2 more times, then finally accept your money. So when the taxi driver first refused the money, I thought maybe it had already been payed for by the hotel, but by the time I got to the end of that thought, I remember reading about the t'aarof... and insisted to pay, to the great relief of the taxi driver (who had seen me hesistate).

The bus station is huge. It's 20:00 and so busy. We look for company n°17, the one providing trips to Kashan, but this one's part of the few stations where the number is written only in Farsi. But thanks to our little dictionnary, we find it. The bus is at 20:30 and it's 20:27. Perfect timing :-) The tickets are all written in farsi, so we have to ask someone where are our seat (seats are numbered). Because they are separated seats, someone has to move so I don't have to sit next to a foreign man (Allah forbid!). Finally my brother and I have time to catch up on our recent adventures, mine in Tehran, his in Roissy then Bahrain.

In the bus, a movie is shown. Iranian movie, in Farsi. The buses stops a few times to drop off some passengers, and finally we'll spend 3,5 hours in the bus. We get a snack (cookies) with Apple juice bought on the side of the road in a little store. (see picture).

Once in Kashan, the taxi has no idea where our "house" is. We ask around and finally find it. The taxi driver really put a lot of effort to find the place.

The Traditional House is beautiful. A renovated house... we arrive in the patio, nice lighting, a huge bassin and fountain... we have a choice between the traditional and regular room but opt for the traditional, after all, it's not everyday you get to pay to sleep on the floor, hee hee. Nah, it's just the same system as futon actually.

Even bothered by one mosquito, we both quickly fall asleep. Let the Kashan adventure begin...

Day 2: in Tehran, no brother

2008-06-15T16:27:00.005+02:00

This morning I have to receive our domestic flight tickets from the travel agency I had contacted from Europe (you can't buy domestic flight tickets from outside Iran - how unconvenient!). My brother & I are supposed to fly to Shiraz at 13:15. Obviously, he won't be there on time, so I have to see if rescheduling is possible.

The woman at the agency speaks great English and is very kind. Unfortunately, all flights are fully booked tomorrow. In the meantime, I call Shiraz hotel to cancel our first night... Maybe we'll have to cancel the whole Shiraz/Persepolis part of the trip :-(
The travel agency woman suggests to go to Kashan if we cannot make it to Shiraz. It's not too far and it's beautiful at this season. Why not, we'll see... I call Alain. He's still in Paris, at a hotel in CDG! Still no clear message about his flights (DO NOT EVER TRAVEL WITH GULF AIR)...

As the rest of the trip cannot be fixed for the moment, I decide to go explore a bit of Tehran with Anna, instead of staying at the hotel and worrying for nothing. We decide to go to the Jewels Museum, supposed to be something worth seeing.
I get out in the streets for the 1st time. I realize (how ironic) that the hotel is located in the "automotive" quarter of the city. Spare car parts everywhere :-) Spare tires are transported in huge piles and small carriages pulled by strong men. There is stuff everywhere, from every brand...

Further down the street, we arrive at Khomeini Square. A big, ugly square with lots of cars. We have trouble finding the museum (walk by it by mistake) but in any case, it's not supposed to open before 14:00 (and closes at 16:30!) so we decide to find some lunch.
We follow a Lonely Planet recommendation and start our quest for the lunch place. We walk though the suitcase district, then the shoes district, to finally arrive at a not-that-easy-to-find little eating place. Mostly filled with men. The window in the front of the store doesn't really advertise for food. It's really non-touristy (then again, there's nothing very touristy in general in the country). As there is no menu (not to say no English menu), I opt for the safe chicken & rice option. We're also offered some sort of delicious "purée" of tomatoes & aubergines. Sooooo good. Near then end of our meal, a couple joins our table. As a newly arrived tourist full of pre-conceived ideas, I am surprised that the man sits next to Anna (men & women are not supposed to sit next to each other if there are not related or married - which makes sitting in a bus a whole seating game). .. then again, the tiny eatery is crammed with people, so this man doesn't really have a choice.
So we head back to the museum, and Anna notices these green fruits being sold in the street. We're not sure what they are, and ask. We're shown that they should be eaten as is, with salt. We try, and discover theay are actually fresh almonds. The inside is yummy, but the Iranian seem to also eat the bitter green shell.
The museum is impressive with security measures. We are not allowed to take ANYTHING inside. Bags & purses must be given at the entrances (as well as weapons - it's mentionned on the entrance ticket). There are beautiful pieces of jewlery. And there's a group of Japanese tourists, guided by an Iranian man speaking perfect Japanese. I am in total admiration (of the language skills).
Teheran is a very beige city. Sand colour. Sometimes grey. I don't feel the pollution as much as I expected, yet it is definitely there. As for the cars and the legendary impossibility to cross a road without being ran over... well, it's true, yet living in Paris is a good training and it's possible to zig zag through the cars and every time barely making it to the other side :-) I apply the technique Anna has developped in Cairo: always cross with some local in between you & the cars, & follow their steps. Basically, you're using a wise local person as a human shield. And it works.
Story of the day: in the middle of a 4 lane road, a man asks us where we come from. He lists many countries but not including france... so I keep talking to him... during that time, a possibility to safely cross the street appears, and Anna goes away. I catch up, running a little. A few minutes later, a young woman stops us and tries to explain to Anna that the man wanted just to make some small talk and that she shouldn't take it negatively, etc. At first, we don't know what she's talking about, then we realise that she probably thought we were running away from that conversation-making man! How nice of her to come and talk to us! Wow! She introduces herself, a student in architecture at Tehran university. She gives us her phone number, if we need a guide in the city. She's all moved and trembling. (it must take courage to go and talk to strangers in a foreign language). We're moved too actually. Such kindness...
After the museum, Anna needs a rooposh (a "manteau", a coat thing, that'll cover more "reasonably" her body the way the locals do, as she is now wearing her "butterfly" outfit - very colourful piece of clothe - the good size but maybe a bit too bright I guess). She has a tip on where to go for shopping, and - hey! shopping! - I'm all for it. I wouldn't mind finding an alternative to my brown tunique. So we head for "Haft-e-tir". Based on yet another book I had read ("Les Pintades à Teheran") where this area is recommended, I am expecting quite a fashionable district. Well... it could be, if it wasn't located around a huge square, with no shade, quite ugly, and surrounded - again - by hundreds of cars in traffic. The sidewalks are packed, though. We try out three stores. Everything looks the same. Manteaus, manteaus, manteaus, headscarves. I do buy a light manteau, I kind of like it, but it's a bit big (no body-hugging clothes here!). I'm very impressed by the staff. The girls looked at me and handed me the perfect (based on local rules) size (that's like 2 sizes too big). When it's time to pay, both Anna and I get confused and - unintentionally - try to pay 10 times less the announced price. Because in Iran, the currency is Rials, but people speak in "Tomans".
Let me quote wikipedia for the explanation:
"In 1932, the rial replaced the toman at a rate of 1 toman = 10 rials (i.e., 1 rial = 1 qiran). Although the rial is the official currency of Iran, many Iranians employ the term toman in everyday transactions for an amount of 10 rials. In unofficial circumstances, a toman may also refer to either 1,000 tomans or 1,000,000 tomans. The order of the magnitude of the amount would be considered to be apparent from the context."
...so I tried to buy my coat for 2 euros, instead of 20. Very funny.
Didn't try to haggle, I'm just absolutely no good at that.
Anna & I return by subway. The Tehran subway is excellent. Clean, fast, cheap, much nicer than the one in Brussels, and much cleaner than the one in Paris, and much prettier than the one in London. It's a little like to one in Athens. (OK I'm done with the metros-I've-visited name dropping).
In the metro on the way to Haft-e-tir, we had actually met Photography students (with their very impressive digital cameras) who had asked us if they could take pictures of us. Very friendly girls, speaking english AND french.

In the evening, I offer Anna to go out in the area for a small snack. I just don't feel staying in my room all evening. Mr Mousavi (the hotel manager) recommends us a snack place further down the road. It's actually a restaurant. As we are standing on the side of the road trying to cross (it's very dark already and not many people are around to use as "human shields") we create a traffic jam, as every taxis comes up to us to ask where we are going! We just want to cross! Finally, we get to the restaurant and my light snacks turns into a very good kabab. The rice itself is delicious!
Back in my room, I hear from Alain that he'll be in Tehran tomorrow around 15:00. He's in Bahrain, in an Indian hotel. So now, all I have to do is: cancel the hotel in Shiraz, find a hotel in Kashan, find a way to go to Kashan (a bus)...
Yeah. In the meantime, I plan my visits for the next day: if I have time & energy tomorrow, I think I'll visit the Golestan Palace...
About the hotel: it's cheap & friendly, with a bunch of young & not so young backpackers and I have a good time. The only thing with having the toilets outside the room is that everytime I want to visit that place, I feel I have to dress for winter: put back pants, coat, and headscarf... it sometimes makes me too lazy to get out of my room :-)

D-Day: leaving for Iran

2008-06-15T16:09:00.002+02:00

It's 7:30 in the morning and I'm in the TGV for Paris CDG... It's a beautiful day in Brussels, and I hope it'll be like this all day. The soundtrack to the beginning of the trip is "I turn my camera on" by Spoon... I feel overdressed (I already have my Iranian "outfit" on).
A little stress before leaving: should I or should I not take with me (in my suitcase) Shirin Ebadi's latest book? (Iran Awakening) Is it allowed? In doubt, I leave it behind and take a book of short Persian short stories with me.
I meet with my brother at the airport and we have breakfast together. He leaves to board on his Gulf Air flight, I return to the Air France terminal (we weren't flying with the same company as my brother's holiday continued for 2 more weeks after our Iran trip). Alain calls later: his flight has some technical problems and he'll probably not make it to Tehran tonight (he has a connection in Bahrain which he'll probably miss)... Oh no! ...I leave for Tehran, feeling lonely & even more unsure of what to expect. We're both worried on how to communicate, as I have no idea if my cell phone will work in Iran. The good thing is that it's already planned that someone will pick us (me) up at Tehran airport and take me to the hotel. We'll see.
The flight goes well... I enjoy my last bit of wine, before one week of alcohol-free lifestyle (not that it's a problem at all). The captain of the flight, upon arrival, tells us "And I wish you a nice stay in...hmmm... Iran".
:-)
The only thing that we're told before unboarding is that we cannot disembark without wearing the headscarf and that alcohol is strictly forbidden.
In the plane, once we've landed, all foreign women are looking at eachother, wondering when it'll be time to put our scarves on. Nobody's really comfortable. All "styles" are visible. I'm now wondering if my kind of pro-American TIME magazines in my bag will cause any trouble.
I get off the plane. My cellphone seems to work. What a relief. I get a text message from Alain. He will not be in Tehran tonight, he's still in Paris. It seems I can only use text messages, when I try to call, I get a recording that "outgoing calls are blocked".
The waiting line for passport control takes forever... I pick up my suitcase real quick then it's chaos at the (one and only) bank counter, to change money. Iran doesn't have any credit card system really (as it is VISA & Mastercard, all American stuff), so cash is all you can use. At the bank counter, I meet a french man, working for Renault in Iran. Very nice, he explains to me the money system, using only the colour of the banknotes. Because... I'm a millionnaire, just by changing 200 euros (which will be wayyyyy enough).
I finally get out into the public zone and start looking for the chauffeur for the hotel. No signs. I'm afraid he won't recognise me, as I should not be alone but with my brother. I walk up & down the area, no one... I send a message to Alain to call the hotel to say I cannot find the chauffeur, and we finally meet. Anna, a canadian girl coming from Egypt joins the chauffeur & I and we're ready to go! It's very warm. Anna is a really nice person and we have a nice talk in the car. As we're both single women here, we decide to share the room & save some money. She's waiting for her boyfriend who will join her in 3 days.
I have a little trouble falling asleep... a bit because of the street noise, the heat, and also I do feel a little sad without my brother... Arriving in Iran should have been a happy moment but at that moment, I still have no idea when he'll join me.
Finally, I fall asleep, making strange dreams about Iran and Canada.

It hit me while I was getting in the shower

2008-06-07T13:42:00.003+02:00

OK, I know father's day is tomorrow, and it's not the happiest day for me. But this year additionally to that, exactly today (the-day-before-father's-day) is, well, it is today that 7 years ago my father passed away.
I think I had realized it a little while ago, this bad coincidence, but had hidden it in the back of my head. I guess working every evening this week until 9PM helped ;-)
Unfortunately, by some bad coincidence, my friends here are all busy this weekend... I wanted to visit my brother in Paris but he's not home either... and it's raining.
Gaaaaaah.
I didn't want to tell my friends that it's really important for me to see them this weekend as I don't want to stay home & feel all sad, because I didn't want them to feel sorry for me.
AND I can handle it, of course!
Time to go have a nice little lunch with newspaper (unfortunately not at a terrasse today, bad weather prevents it), then some shopping for me, me, me. :-)

D-5: last minute shopping

2008-05-17T19:54:00.003+02:00

I decide to go shopping for more PC clothes, as I've checked the weather 10-day forecast, and temperatures around 30°C are announced. That's when I really feel that it's not fair to have to cover up while my brother will be able to dress normally and not suffer from the temperature... Anyway... I find an oversized shirt at H&M which makes me look like a potato bag, and I find a scarf, bright blue (maybe to bright? Here I am overthinking again!!!). At least it's a light fabric, and it's long, so I can just wrap it around my head and not tie it in a know (I don't like that).
Later in the evening I check on the internet some pictures regarding the Iranian women's dresscode and I realize that at least in Tehran, tuniques are tight and scarves slip towards the back of the head quite a lot ;-) I'll really be on the (too) safe side with my loose fitting clothes. Oh well. I can always buy something more suitable once I'm there!

More travel-to-Iran preparation...

2008-05-17T19:45:00.003+02:00

Domestic flights can only booked from Iran, not from any outside country. Because our schedule will be so tight, I couldn't wait to be in the country to book the flight so I used the Iranian travel agency that had already helped me get my Visa, to help me for the flights. It came up to 130 euros for 4 flights. Cheap!
As for my Visa... adter receiving official invitation from the Minister of Foreign affairs, I was ready to go back to the Iranian embassy. The problem is that it is only open 1h on monday afternoons, and 1 hour on thursday afternoon, for Visa requests. And that's it. In the middle of the afternoon. So basically, if you have a regular job, you're ...ed. But I negociated to escape from work for that. This time at the embassy of course there are many more foreigners (non Iranians). I'm still not sure if I'm supposed to cover my head, but as I am about to grab my scarf I see 2 other Belgian women sitting there with uncovered heads. So let's go for scarfless... although later, another blond woman arrives, promply covering her head and looking at us reproachfully. Strange. I realize how obsessed I will be with this headcovering topic until I arrive in Iran. I am just so full of questions about it.

D-34: shopping for clothes

2008-05-17T19:36:00.003+02:00

After reading "Honeymoon in Purdah" from which I mostly remember that the main woman character is constantly complaining about the heat under her headscarf & manteau (due to the hot summer weather), I start to think that the clothes I thought I'd wear might be too hot for the season. So off I go to the mall in Niort, on a quest for a light islamically correct piece of clothing such as a tunique (luckily it's trendy this season). But it's not that easy, as yes there are many tuniques, but not that many which will not be see-through, with long enough sleeves & long enough (mid thigh height). The one I find I buy it 2 sizes bigger than I should, just to be on the safe side. Nope it will definitely not be a tight body hugging tunique! I'll never wear it again...
In the evening, my mother opens her magical drawer of scarves, and we select 3 which seem rather decent in colour & size. I try them on. This is going to be strange...

D-39 / Preparation for Iran: The Visa

2008-05-04T19:56:00.003+02:00

At the Iran Embassy in Brussels. I am the only one without a headscarf, and basically I think I’m the only wannabe tourist there. It figures: I trusted the opening hours of the website, but they are outdated and I showed up at the wrong time. I stay anyway; see if it’s possible to make my request. Well, it’s good I stayed as it seems that it’s not that easy to get the Visa. The impression I got was that I should fill out the questionnaire, bring all the documents, pay and get the visa. But nooooo.

What I need is an official invitation (a number, basically). To get that, I need to contact an Iranian travel agency (recommended by the Embassy), pay a fee (on a German bank account) and the agency will submit my request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (also mentionned in the guidebook as the "Force disciplinaire de la République Islamique d'Iran" hmmmm) who will deliver an invitation number, that I will provide to the embassy who will finally deliver the visa.

The other solution is to ask for a visa upon arrival at the airport (only possible for some nationalities, French is OK, but not Canada for example). As it is a 7 day-visa* and as I am staying for 7 days and 2,5 hours, and as I’m not sure how strict they’ll be, I decide to ask for the visa beforehand so I don’t have to worry about anything upon arrival at Tehran airport.

But… it’s the Iranian New Year (March 21st) and basically a 10 day period of holiday. Everything will take longer…

Anyway, with my trip to Iran preparation, I will learn patience: getting replies (when I get replies!) from hotels took longer than I’ve ever experienced until now, getting replies from the travel agencies also, but all worked out in the end. It was a good lesson for me, as I’ve become a bit too obsessed with precision and efficiency after working for over 3 years for a Japanese company. So this was a breath of fresh air… "Relax. Take it easy. Replies will eventually come!"

*Later (meaning, in Iran) I learned that the length of the « airport visa » was changed to 15 days, last February. Oh well, next time I’ll do that. Because yes, there will definitely be a « next time »!

Song du jour!

2008-05-04T14:46:00.004+02:00

MGMT's "Time to Pretend"
Check it out: (love the cat in the video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVnRzEjpUmE

Didn't realize that the lyrics were so... well not as uplifting as the song's rhythm :-)
Ah... kids!

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.
This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

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

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.
There's really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we'll get a divorce
We'll find some more models, everyting must run it's course.

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

Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah

I just got back from Iran...

2008-05-03T19:14:00.002+02:00

And when I say just, I mean JUST. I flew back to Paris during the night (2:20AM flight, landing at 5:45AM!)... took the train to Brussels, had a nap, picked up the cat, bought food, wasted time on the internet, downloaded over 300 pictures, and tah-dah...
So let me sort out the pictures, re-read my travel journal, and you'll be reading all about the trip here soon! Yeah!
Iran was amazing. Not many tourists, but so much to see & enjoy...

The thing is...

2008-04-23T21:43:00.003+02:00

...here are some extracts from the TIME magazine article "You Are Not My Friend" written by Joël Stein for the November 19, 2007 issue (well, you can probably now tell that yes I have a subscription to TIME magazine, and yes I usually apreciate what Mr Stein writes). The article sub-title is "Yes, we're on Facebook. But I don't care about yout cat. And stop poking me"... and of course, I felt directly concerned...

"(...) This is hard to say to a friend, but our relationship is starting to take up too much of my time. It's weird that I know more about you than I do about actual friends I hang out with in person (...) In fact, I know more about you than I know about myself. I have no idea what my favorite movie or song or TV show is. Last I checked, they all involved Muppets. (...)
But really these sites aren't about connecting and reconnecting. They're a platform for self-branding. (...) We're showing you our best posed, retouched photos. We're listing the Pynchon books we want you to think we've read all the way through. We're allowing other people to write whatever they want about us on our walls, unless we don't like it, in which case we just erase it. If we had that much privacy in real life, the bathrooms at that Minnesota airport would be empty. (...)"

This is just my type of humor...

2008-04-23T08:36:00.003+02:00

And I hope it's yours too...

Green & Confused

2008-04-23T07:34:00.001+02:00

Bio-ethanol actually pollutes more than it saves, wash your jeans and you're killing the planet, organic cottons exploits children, buying local products is probably not as green as you'd think... I'm just too confused...

"The local-food movement is (...) part of the green lobby that measures improvement by self-denial more than actual impact - considering shipping food in containers is often more energy-efficient than a local farmer trucking small amounts that are then purchased on a separate weekend farmers'-market trip you take in your SUV. So I'm going to keep buying food from my foreign neighbors. Because it's the only way Americans learn about other countries, other than by bombing them."(Joel Stein, "Extreme Eating", Time magazine - January 21, 2008)

"I'll not budge an inch"

2008-04-07T07:20:00.001+02:00

This weekend I went to Paris to see "La Mégère Apprivoisée" ("The Taming of the Shrew") by Shakespeare, at the "Comédie Française" theatre, probably the most prestigious theatre in France, for those who are not french natives... It was, once again (I saw "Cyrano" 1,5 years ago there) amazing! From now on, I will go see as many plays as I can at the Comédie Française. The 2 I've seen were probably the best plays I've seen until now. It's the type I like, lively, rich in expressions & decorations, etc. This last one was just delicious... and so funny actually, I had tears in my eyes. As I know one of the actors, some might say I'm not objective, but really it's the whole play I adored. I recommend anyone to go there. I went with non french-speaking friends, and they could still enjoy the play!

Finally!

2008-03-25T20:33:00.003+01:00

At last... it snowed! Last year it only snowed for 3 hours. This year, it seemed it snowed all night. This morning, all was covered in snow with the sunrise... really nice! And as it's a holiday period, it wasn't even difficult to drive to work. Yeah!
Keeping my fingers crossed for more snow, but in case it was just this one time for this year, here are a couple photos... My neighbor's cat was really wondering what to do & where to walk this morning... cuuuuuuuute...

2008-03-11T00:54:00.000+01:00

Yeah! I finally found a way to find out how many people check out my blog... which, by the recent result, is well... let's just say people aren't fighting their way to my pages... Which I understand. I haven't posted anything really for a long long time. It's not that I don't have anything to say. "Au contraire!" I would even say. I have my travel memories to share with you, my concern (struggle!) with my downstairs neighbor who is reaching mid-life crisis and decided to play his (crappy) music really loud at random times during the night, and I can also share my feelings about going on holiday in Iran in a little while (trip is under preparation). So yeah, lots to write. But I keep postponing it, thinking I'll just sit down, take the time to write properly, and then... I never do. I never do sit down. I sit down all day, I don't really want to sit down after work (unless, OK, unless it's to waste time on Facebook and Scrabulous, I have to admit it)...
...But I'll try to keep posting regularely.
I'll also write a book, save the world, and sort out all the papers & bills at home.
Yeaaaaaaaaah.
Oh, and I also want to release a new issue of my fanzine soon.
Yeah right...
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. :-)

Please keep checking these pages...

It's the small things that count

2008-02-26T00:58:00.002+01:00

...like receiving greeting cards for Xmas / New Year's, either spontaneously or as a reply to mine...
...like buying Q-tips made out of wood instead of plastic and thinking that it's just a start to make a difference...
...like daring and seeing that the consequences are just fine...

it's the FB fault

2008-01-23T22:03:00.000+01:00

It's facebook's fault I'm not posting, and I feel terrible... I'm using the little sentence you can personalize (next to your name) with what you're doing, feeling, etc, as a substitute for this place... But I have feedback from trips to write down, and some stuff to share (brain is overheating), so I'll be posting... soonish... I hope...

Play & Repeat (Play & Repeat)

2008-01-10T01:05:00.000+01:00

I've been listening to "For Reasons Unknown" by The Killers all week long in my car (it's on "repeat" mode)...

I pack my case.
I check my face.
I look a little bit older.
I look a little bit colder.
With one deep breath, and one big step, I move a little bit closer.
I move a little bit closer.
For reasons unknown.

I caught my stride.
I flew and flied.
I know if destiny’s kind, I’ve got the rest of my mind.

But my heart, it don’t beat, it don’t beat the way it used to.
And my eyes, they don’t see you no more.
And my lips, they don’t kiss, they don’t kiss the way they used to,
and my eyes don’t recognize you no more.

For reasons unknown... for reasons unknown.

There was an open chair.
We sat down in the open chair.
I said if destiny’s kind, I’ve got the rest of my mind.

But my heart, it don’t beat, it don’t beat the way it used to.
And my eyes, they don’t see you no more.
And my lips, they don’t kiss, they don’t kiss the way they used to,
and my eyes don’t recognize you at all.

For reasons unknown... for reasons unknown.

Must - read - more - books - this - year...

2008-01-06T17:03:00.000+01:00

I've just finished reading "L'Apprenti Japonais" by Frederic Boilet... (http://www.boilet.net/am/sommaire.html)
It seems it hasn't been translated in English... it's a shame for all the non French speakers, because this book is really good. An insider's view of everyday life in Japan... with some details that you don't find in the "official" guides. So quite cool.
One quote:
"Au diable la différence - de fond - qui existerait entre le peuple japonais et le reste du monde. La particularité de l'essence japonaise est une escroquerie, un mensonge qui alimente les chroniques spectaculaires des médias occidentaux ou sert d'alibi aux zozos de l'extrême droite nippone. Les Japonais sont en tout point pareils à nous, c'est façon d'être identiques qui change ! (...)"
"To hell the - deep - difference that would exist between the japanese people and the rest of the world. The particularity of the Japanese is a hoax, a lie that feeds the spectacular chronicles of the occidental media or is used as an alibi by the japanese cuckoos of the extreme right party. The Japanese are absolutely identical to us, it's their way of being identical which differs!..."

Geek, I'm a geek

2007-12-29T01:20:00.000+01:00

Tonight I found - on the internet - a direct ancestor (family tree) of mine, from 1720... Cool!!! Old!!!
That's like almost 300 years ago.

An evening spent watching Grey's anatomy... and I quote...

2007-12-28T00:19:00.000+01:00

Cristina: "There's a club. The Dead Dads Club. And you can't be in it until you're in it. You can try to understand, you can sympathize. But until you feel that loss... My dad died when I was nine. George, I'm really sorry you had to join the club."
George: "I don't know how to exist in a world where my dad doesn't."
Cristina: "Yeah, that never really changes."

Preview for 2008

2007-12-27T19:48:00.000+01:00

Based on a serious women's magazine hahahaha, here is a preview for what personally awaits for me in 2008 (speaking of my "path" for 2008):

"It leads you far away, further than you can imagine, the road leading to broad horizons, long lasting trips, broad prospects and human experiences! It is the path of the "pélerin", the artist, the philantrope, the missionary, the hermit or the wise one, which goes through steep mountain tops and luminous valleys, with fulgurating (?) climbs and vertiginous slopes, it is the path to never ending knowledge."

Original text:
"Elle mène loin, plus loin que vous ne le pensez, la route des horizons immenses, des voyages au long cours, des larges perspectives et des expériences humaines ! C'est la voie du pélerin, de l'artiste, du philantrope, du missionnaire, de l'ermite ou du sage, qui passe par des cols escarpés et des vallées lumineuses, des ascensions fulgurantes et des pentes vertigineuses, c'est le chemin de la connaissance sans fin."

Zero coke (not coke zero)

2007-12-04T21:46:00.000+01:00

And here I go again... First day without any Cola (light or zero, or anything like that)... I have to succeed... I MUST succeed!

3 balls

2007-11-05T23:01:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I got my first lesson to learn how to juggle, thanks to l'Amie de Lucie...
So that's one thing done, on all my list of things "to do, to learn, to experience etc."...
Thank youuuuuuuuuu. You rock.

Now I just have to train, train, train, and one day, one day I'll succeed to juggle decently (now it's rather comical).

5 more photos of Eindhoven

2007-11-04T13:56:00.000+01:00

Rat (plastic) jewellery... Hmmmm... (I'm sorry I didn't keep the name of the designer... if anyone knows...):

Aaaaaaah when non-automotive designers have "automotive" dreams... so romantic... loved the pattern for the wheels...

Aaaah in this case I'm really upset I don't have the name of the designer(s). The concept is a ceramic tile that is punched (a bit like stamps) so you can separate the pieces and customize them to make (really nice) jewellery:

And here is my colleague, exhausted after a day of walking all over the city ;-)
(these big size cushions were in a corner of the Strijp S exhibition, a lot of fun. I never really was interested to get one, but to get 10 of them would be cool)

My DDW

2007-11-04T12:34:00.000+01:00

10 days ago I visited the Dutch Design Week events (for work) in Eindhoven. It was a medium sunny day, yet dry, but cold, and I really really liked Eindhoven, as a city. The fact that the Design HQ of Philips and the amazing Design Academy Eindhoven is located there is a bonus, but the city itself was quite appealing.

Here are a few photos:

This is a small street of Eindhoven, almost in the centre of the centre of the city :-)

A cup of tea (study by graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven) - check out www.ivanaborovnjak.com/ :

The "dynamo" building in the centre, near the "design street":

The "Strijp S", an old factory of Philips, more or less in "reconstruction", where some other part of the exhibitions were happening:

More to come... but blogger is preventing me to post the 5 other photos, sorry.

4 days just here

2007-11-04T12:30:00.000+01:00

I don' remember when was the last time I stayed in Brussels for several days in a row (I mean, more than a regular weekend). I think it was Christmas 2005, when I was completely stuck due to my back. But this time, I'm healthy. I was just tired so I decided that finally no long weekend abroad would work. I would just stay home, take time to see my friends, take time to do nothing, take time to sort out things.
Of course I haven't done half of what I wanted, but I'm happy and rather relaxed.
Hope you had a nice long weekend too.

Note to self: check this out...

2007-11-01T21:21:00.000+01:00

http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

Kyoto - Heian Jinguu gardens

2007-09-27T07:16:00.000+02:00

These were the indications while we were strolling in the gardens... But it just shows exactly a general feeling I sometimes get... :-)

Miyajima island: Itsukushima-jinja

2007-09-26T23:11:00.000+02:00

The famous 'floating' torii (gate), in the sea... considered one of the 3 most beautiful spots of Japan...

Himeji castle...

2007-09-19T06:57:00.000+02:00

As part of a day trip, while we were located in Osaka, we visited Kobe and Himeji. Himeji-jo is considered the most beautiful castle in Japan... (looks crooked ont his photo, but it isn't... I think).

Photo du jour... of my birthday!

2007-09-18T23:37:00.000+02:00

Such an innocent girl, making a wish after blowing her candles... I don't even look 30, do I? :-)

Photo du jour...

2007-09-18T07:24:00.000+02:00

...might as well put into profit the fact that I'm awake since 5:30 AM to post some pictures of my recent holiday in Japan.
This one was taken in Kyoto near Ginkaku-ji (the silver temple)... cute cat "sculpture" :-)
(Notice the fake plastic food displays in the box)

Florence je te kiffe

2007-09-17T20:14:00.000+02:00

I got Florence Foresti's DVD for my birthday... Hilarious... Here's one extract (I found it on the internet)... in French, I tried to translate it in English also...

"En même temps j'ai bien réfléchi, je crois qu'il y a deux catégories de femmes dans la vie, il y a une espèce de sélection naturelle, je crois qu'il y a d'un côté, comme ça par exemple (elle fait signe de séparer le public) :
- les filles douées pour la vie à deux, c'est leur mission sur terre, elles sont obligées ;
- et de l'autre, les filles douées pour autre chose, le scrabble, le tennis, la natation, non mais c'est vrai, je crois qu'on ne peut pas avoir deux talents.
Moi, par exemple, je suis assez bonne en orthographe, et je pense que c'est pour ça. On ne peut pas tout avoir.
Bah, si ils se sont dit : elle a déjà l'orthographe, elle peut pas tout avoir ! Ça aurait fait trop.
Alors voilà, voilà ma croix. Moi j'écris bien. Voilà, c'est mon truc.
J'écris et je fais jamais de fautes c'est de la folie ! J'écris : oh y a pas de fautes ! C'est dingue.
Alors des fois, j'aime bien, je me fais des blagues pour rigoler, alors je me dis : tiens, je vais faire une faute et après je la retrouve, ouais ! Trop l'éclate, ça m'occupe.
En même temps, il n'y a pas lieu de s'affoler avec cette histoire de catégories de filles, parce qu'entre nous, elles m'énervent les filles douées pour la vie à deux (elle les singe) .
Si, vous en connaissez : elles sont toutes douces, toutes fragiles, elles sont douces, on dirait des paquets de coton hydrophile qui se baladent, hein ? Du Moltonel ouais, c'est ça, du PQ. "

----------

"Come to think of it, I believe that there are two categories of women in life, it's like a natural selection phenomenon, I believe that there is on one side, like that for example (she acts as separating the public in two sides):
- the girls who have a talent for living a life as a couple, it is their mission on the Earth, they are obliged to do it;
- and on another side, the who have a talent for something else, like scrabble, tennis, swimming... no really it's true, I believe that we cannot have two talents.
Me, for example, I have a rather good talent in spelling, and I think that's why. One cannot have it all!
Of course, they said: she already has the spelling talent, she cannot have everything! That would have been too much.
So here, this is my cross to bear. Me, I write well. There you go, it's my thing.
I write and I never make mistakes, it's crazy! I write and "oh there are no spelling mistakes!" It's crazy.
So sometimes, I play jokes on myself, and I say to myself: hey, hold on, I will make a spelling mistake and then after I find it, yeah! Soooo fun, that keeps me busy.
At the same time, there's no need to panic with this thing about categories of girls, because - just between you and I - they really irritate me, those girls talented to live a life as a couple (she mocks them).
Sure, you know some: they are all soft, fragile, soft soft soft, they're like walking cotton balls, see what I mean? Like "Scottex", yeah that's it, toilet paper."

And so she's back...

2007-09-16T08:00:00.001+02:00

To celebrate succeeding to pass the final exam of my 2nd year of Japanese evening classes (I scored a wonderful 65% - the requested score was 60% to pass... Hmmmm), I spent 2 weeks in Japan for holidays.

(OK so it was all planned before I knew I would succeed or not in that exam, really - and to be honest until 2 weeks before, I thought I'd give up learning it completely, but - what do you know - on Oct 1st, I'll be attending my first 3rd year class... Gaaaaaaah such a tough language)

Many of my work colleagues made fun of me going to a country where I usually go to for business (7 times since I started in the company)... but it was interesting to spend some touristy time there. Usually we barely have time for that (very frustrating).

So the program was dense, and of course, one day, when I have time, I'll post a detailed story of the trip... For now well... I'm still sorting out the picture (since I'm awake since 3:30AM, I've had time to check them hahaha - stupid jet lag).
Just for the record, we visited Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Kobe, Himeji, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Yokohama and Kamakura...
...Dense, I said.

And...

2007-08-30T19:54:00.000+02:00

I'm now 30. Woohoo!!!
I celebrated 4 times, bringing me to the actual age of 120.
Cool!

Yeah!!!!!

2007-07-29T22:40:00.000+02:00

My holidays in Greece were THE BEST. THE BEST.
Woohoo.

And lots of vitamines later...

2007-07-10T23:05:00.000+02:00

---start of book quote---

I said, "I also like 'You Sexy Thing.'"
He sang the line: "I believe in meerkls since you came along," and I thought, Here is a man who can sing Hot Chocolate on the first date.
When our steak frites came, I told him that I liked nothing on Earth better than a french fry.

---end of book quote "The Wonder Spot" by Melissa Bank, which I actuallty finished! 70 books to go... Erm... maybe more----

I can't hold it any longer...

2007-05-20T19:14:00.000+02:00

...and this might come to some of you as a shock and nonsense, but I think Björk is annoying. I do like some of her (old) songs, but I don't get what all the fuss is about each time she releases a new album.

I had to get this off my heart :-)

Bookabookabooka

2007-05-08T22:36:00.000+02:00

Remember in January, one of my resolutions was to read all the books I already have?
Well, to give you an idea on how things are going, today I received 4 books* (3 books I intentionally ordered + 1 book via Bookmooch)... Yep.
I still believe resolution #2 ("saving the world") is more feasible...
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

* "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things" by William McDonough et al.
"Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century" by Alex Steffen, Al Gore (Foreword), Bruce Sterling (Intro)
...That's to save the world (thus helping achieve resolution #2),
"Patient: The True Story of a Rare Illness" by Ben Watt, the male half of the band Everything But The Girl, who developped the Churg-Strauss Syndrome, a very rare disease.
"The Wonder Spot" by Melissa Bank, because I really liked "the Girl's guide to hunting and fishing"

It's American Indian Proverb Day!

2007-04-27T19:18:00.000+02:00

"No answer is also an answer."

"She said she usually cried at least once each day not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful and life was so short." B. Andreas

2007-04-26T21:54:00.000+02:00

I'm sad and tired. I don't know which comes first.

In this past month I've been to 8 countries and transited through 2 more... Belgium, France, Germany via the Netherlands, Portugal, UK & Italy for work ; Turkey and Greece (via Switzerland) for my own little pleasure.
OK no wonder I'm tired.
But it's not just the travelling.
The quality of my sleep is really poor. So I just can't catch up on all that tired in me.

Sigh.

Can't wait for the weekend. Can't wait to hear from you.

Working nine to fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive

2007-04-23T20:26:00.000+02:00

Here are a couple pictures of Brussels... This first one taken on my way to work...

And on the way home: there is some construction near Schumann, buildings are being torn down, and this "street art" appeared one day... Made my day :-)

Irresistible, n'est ce pas?

2007-04-14T15:23:00.000+02:00

Went to see "Music & Lyrics" last night... yes, this very deep independant film with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore... I needed something light and funny to watch. Laughed my head off, actually!
Check out the hit song "Pop! Goes my Heart" featured in the movie. Irresistible, n'est ce pas?

GMT +1

2007-04-11T23:08:00.000+02:00

Yes I have been quiet...
I spent 3 days in Athens, to get away from routine, and had the most amazing time I have had in a while. I knew it was going to be nice to spend time with my bro, but this was even better :-)

And yesterday I came back from 4 days in Istanbul, which was step 2 of the "get away from routine" (and avoid overheating of brain). Step 2 was also quite successful.

But now I'm back.

Brain is not doing so well :-)

Reminder

2007-03-18T23:35:00.000+01:00

" When you feel that nobody loves you,
Nobody cares for you,
Everyone is ignoring you, and people are jealous of you
You should really ask yourself...

...Am I TOO sexy ? "

Relationships

2007-03-07T21:14:00.000+01:00

I just want things to be simple and straightforward. Is it so much to ask? Am I hanging on to the wrong people??? Am I really so far off?

Bubbles

2007-03-04T18:43:00.000+01:00

Just came back from dropping of Izb at the train station. As I was driving towards my neighborhood, about to turn on charleroi avenue, there was this guy sitting on some bench at the intersection, blowing soap bubbles non-stop. On and on. And it made people smile. He wasn't smiling, but it made people smile. It made me smile. It feld like spring had finally arrived.

29,5

2007-03-01T06:59:00.000+01:00

As there is no February 29th this year, today is officially my half-birthday... I made chocolate chip cookies.

Urchin to win

2007-02-28T23:39:00.000+01:00

Today at work I ate (sea) urchin-flavored crackers (chips).
URCHIN flavored snacks.
That's what you get for working in a Japanese company ;-)
Taste wasn't too bad, but really I couldn't have guessed the flavor until someone told me. Then again, "urchin" wouldn't have been in my potential list of flavor candidates. Salt & Vinegar, BBQ, Sour Cream, maybe, sea urchin ...nah.

MonEspace (ça fait pub pr voiture en Français, c'est clair)

2007-02-18T19:32:00.000+01:00

For those of you who need more space, there's mine right here: http://www.myspace.com/howdidthecatgetsoflat

Honestly, I have myspace, but I'm not really a big fan... maybe it'll grow on me?

While flying back from Detroit...

2007-02-10T11:25:00.000+01:00

...I watched this film I had never heard of ("The Last Kiss"), I only watched it because the main actor is also the main one in the serie "Scrubs"...
And here's the memorable quote :-)

"Stop talking about love! Every idiot in the world says he loves somebody. Means nothing. (...) What you feel only matters to you. It's what you do to the people you say you love that matters. It's the only thing that counts."

2 down, 72 more to go...

2007-02-06T23:25:00.000+01:00

I've very recently finished reading 2 books, one I don't dare to mention, the other one I really want to mention. It's called "Pascal de Duve. Lettres à un ami disparu." written by Michel Robert, a Belgian writer who knew Pascal de Duve. I've read it in just a few hours, it was very interesting. "Just" letters that were never sent, from Michel to Pascal, after Pascal died (from Aids).
Through this book I learned more about Michel Robert - who I kind of know without knowing (those of you who have visited me in Brussels will understand why) - and it also made me want to read all of Pascal de Duve's books, as he also was a writer (and as bonus, was appreciated by Amelie Nothomb, one other Belgian writer I appreciate).
So "Izo", here I come...

Spéciale dédicace

2007-02-01T23:41:00.000+01:00

A little thought towards Roberta (“Roberta, si tu me lis…”) the groundhog we (M. my roommate & I) had in the « garden » of our Cote-des-Neiges appartment in Montreal in the winter of 1998-1999… because tomorrow is groundhog day!

Kitty needs to relax, and yet...

2007-01-28T19:35:00.000+01:00

While walking in the little old fashion shopping streets of Fukuoka (Japan), last November, I entered a pet store. Actually it was a pet accessories store. And I picked up a brochure of Bach Flower remedies for ANIMALS. Perhaps you're familiar with the Bach flower remedies, they make the famous "Rescue Remedy"... but to make a version for Pets? This is just a little too much. (And I do love my cat, especially when she's not walking all over me trying to wake me too early on a weekend morning). I guess that confirms how far the Japanese will go to take extra good care of their pets.

Sunday afternoon readings...

2007-01-28T17:25:00.000+01:00

I just read in TIME magazine (yes, I have a subscription!) that "a new Canadian study suggests that being bilingual will, on average, postpone the onset of dementia by 4.1 years. (...) What's not clear is why. Researchers speculate the ability to operate in two languages could - like exercise or stimulating leisure and social activity - help the brain continue normal functions even as it decays physically. (...) The study defines bilingual are "regularely using at least two languages" throughout adulthood."

Back pain

2007-01-26T06:29:00.000+01:00

When you have trouble putting your socks on and sitting in your car, that means trouble.

Before the big 3-0...

2007-01-25T21:23:00.000+01:00

Here's a list of things I ideally would like to do before I turn 30. Considering the limited amount of time left, I'll just try to do as many as possible...
If you think you can help me with any of these items, let me know :-)

1. Go to the train station and randomly pick a destination where I will have to spend the night
2. Volunteer at a charity / food kitchen
3. Do a 10 km run
4. Eat at a restaurant where I've never had that country's food before
5. Have a letter to the editor published in a newspaper / magazine
6. Attend a flash mob
7. Attempt a Guinness book of records record
8. Hire a scooter for the day
9. No mobile phone for a week
10. Send a message in a bottle
11. Go alone on holidays
12. Write a book
13. Learn how to fly a (small) plane
14. Take a weekend break more than 500 kms from home
15. Get lost in a country where I don't speak the language
16. Make a parachute jump
17. Dye hair an unusual colour
18. Drive across America
19. Visit each of the continents
20. Scuba dive
21. Learn to sign language
22. Walk on the great wall of China
23. Write a poem
24. See the northern lights

To tunnel

2007-01-25T06:48:00.000+01:00

Almost at the same time I was looking at Canada from my hotel room window, (Canada is on the other side of the river where the city of Detroit stands), Segolène Royal (who's the President of the "Région" (Province) where I come from) was making a fool of herself with improvised declaration about Quebec and its sovereignity. She's never even been to Quebec.

I can see it coming

2007-01-23T08:22:00.000+01:00

Oh OK now I see... Maybe it's because I'm slow or something, but I think TODAY is going to be that "bad day of the year"... Oh yeah. I can see it coming.

bad day?

2007-01-22T21:00:00.000+01:00

As you perhaps remember from my post last year, there is a calculation to figure out the worst day of the year... And for 2007, it was today!
And the fact that the Abbé Pierre died this morning, surely confirms that bad day theory... I don't know how popular he was outside of France, but he is a real symbol in France, there will be a national event in France on Friday, national mourning...

Honestly today has been personally very "average"... But if you think you can help making this day happier for me, don't hesitate, I'm always interested :-)

Must - reduce - book - buying

2007-01-21T22:55:00.000+01:00

Oh and I've bought 1 book in Turkey and 2 in the States, so that brings me to 74 books to read still... before December 31st, 2007. Aaaaaargh.

“If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul.” (A. de Lamartine, French poet)

2007-01-21T22:08:00.000+01:00

Some souvenirs of my Turkish adventure from 10 days ago...
Got to ride a bus/taxi for 5 hours at night instead of less than 3 due to the dense fog preventing the ferries from functionning thus taking the long way from Istanbul to Bursa...
Bursa, relatively nice city, on the Asian side of Turkey... Used to be the silk capital of Turkey... now there are car factories and fabric factories. But still interesting. And I had the best kebap over there, it's a local chain called "Kebapçi Iskender" (and they have a website). Just ask for 1 Porsiyon İskender Döner Kebap. Simple, yet very yummy.
While in Bursa I also had the very rare pleasure of watching the daily News program about Azerbaidjan in English. I'm glad to be up to date on what's going on there. (Can't really remember to be honest).
I also experienced a turkish Burger King, which tasted like any other Burger King except that this one finally tasted better because (1) we were in Turkey, (2) we had been riding on the bus for 3 hours, (3) I hadn't has BK for a while (doesn't exist in Belgium nor France).
And then finally Istanbul. Next long weekend I have, I'm heading back. It's such a great city. Very good atmosphere. A mix of Asian and European, I know you've all heard that before. I was taken to the "flower passage" ("Çiçek Pasaji" in turkish) near Taksim place, it's a covered passage with restaurant and flowers hanging, and we sat and had mezze and beer (well I had beer, the others had raki, I can't handle that stuff's taste).

(that's a bad picture of the Çiçek Pasaji)

And then, may I mention again the amazing Ciragan Palace Kempinski... Besides the amazing pool outdoors, it's a hotel where there actually is a "Pillow Menu". You can actually select, from a booklet (the menu), your pillow for the night. And the breakfast buffet is wonderful, from Champagne to sushi, from french cheese to simit bread (my favorite, simple turkish food).
So, if YOU have been to Turkey, what do you recommend I experience next time I go?

The Big 3 and Me

2007-01-18T18:46:00.000+01:00

I'm back from Detroit, Michigan, U.S. of A. Yeah!

So between last week's Turkish delights (pun intended) and this recent American adventure + some leftovers from Japan and China, I think I'm going to be blogging all weekend.

Until then, my friends, take care.

Sultan's luxury...

2007-01-12T07:51:00.000+01:00

I’ve just had the most exquisite and amazing swimming experience (well the hotel itself also was amazing, but I’ll stick to the swimming details for this post, more about the hotel later... it's the Ciragan Palace Kempinski in Istanbul, by the way, voted 14th most luxurious hotel in the world).

Picture yourself getting up at the crack of dawn, which would be 7AM local time for me, meaning 6AM in Belgium, hopping in your gown and Kempinski slippers…

It’s quiet. You slip out of your room and get to the health club. Ask for the pool. "There’s an interior one" you're told. "But also an exterior heated one". Yes? Yes!

You go outside, it’s 10°C. The water is 30°C. The view is unbelievable. The sky is dark blue, grey and pink, the sun is just getting up, and there is the Bosphorus right at the foot of the pool… You swim one (long) lap, you see the old çiragan Palace, you swim back you see the sky rising and the Bosphorus bridge…

No one else in the water. It's all for yourself. There is steam rising above the water. It’s amazing. In the small heated veranda, there’s someone looking like Prince Williams. But due to the absence of bodyguards, I conclude that’s he’s just a look alike.

You swim, the boats pass on the bosphorus… The silhouettes of the mosques appear…

It is the most peaceful, amazing, beautiful experience. I am in love with the world. A bomb has just exploded 30 minutes ago in the US embassy in Greece, and I feel completely in another world. Relaxed and amazed.

And with that experience in my head, I know my day will be great because I will remember this morning and how good I felt.

This picture was taken at 9AM, the sky had already turned more blue, but perhaps you can still imagine how it was at sunrise just 2 hours before...

You know what can make you forget about your little worries... a big scare.

2007-01-09T07:11:00.000+01:00

Last night I had a really nice dinner with a couple of friends to celebrate the new year, downtown Brussels... nice wine, nice food, nice atmosphere. Then I drove home, turned into my street and saw 2 fire trucks right in front of my house. Of course, I couldn't find a parking space and my heart was beating really really fast, finally I stopped in the middle of the street and asked the police who was blocking entrance to my street. They told me the fire was at my house level, on my house side, but they couldn't tell me which house exactly (duuuuuuuuh)... It was the longest 20 second walk to the firemen, only to realize that it was the building right next to mine that had caught fire.
For the second time in 2 months, by the way.

Learning points:
- don't bother with the police, check directly with the firemen
- I live next to pyromaniacs
- it's difficult to fall asleep after having your heart beat really really really fast
- it's always when your apartment is potentially on fire that you cannot find a decent parking space.

I'm probably writing down this quote because I'm still a little... something, but I'll erase it if necessary.

2007-01-07T01:12:00.000+01:00

" I can’t just sit here and have coffee with you. (...) I know the other night didn’t mean for you what it did for me but I don’t regret it and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since it happened. And not just because it was great. Which it was. But because it was right. It was so right, and you may not see that right now but I do and if I have to wait until we’re both 80 years old for you to see it then …then I’ll wait. I’m not going anywhere. This is it for me, you’re… it for me and I can’t pretend to feel any less than I do, I’m sorry… I just can’t. "

(And that's Gilmore Girls season 7 episode 3 for you, and what's not to love about a series that has Sonic Youth guest-star in it at some point, eh?)

I’m going to try to post a normal post, before this blog starts looking like quoteland.

2007-01-06T17:52:00.000+01:00

The other night I was talking to a friend about the books I got for Christmas. He made fun of me as they were yet more books that would go on the pile of the other unread books I have been accumulating. Which is true. Because I love books. I buy books, I trade books (try Bookmooch), I get books, etc. And then while we were talking, I decided to count the books I had waiting to be read.
I count 73. Seventy-three.
That’s over a year of reading if I read one book per week.
So I decided not to reduce my book buying (well, maybe by a little) but to seriously read the books I have at hand, and keep track of my reading.
Let’s say it’s new year’s resolution #1.
New year’s resolution #2 is saving the world, new year’s resolution #3 is to worry less about everything, new year’s resolution #4 is to stop being so self conscious about everything, and new year’s resolution #5 is to try to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.
So from now on (I hope), I’ll keep track on this blog of the books I’ve read, or most of them anyway.
And, I can happily say that I’ve already done a good job since Christmas, since I’ve read 2 books…
« Poulet au Prune » by the Paris based Iranian Marjane Satrapi, who you must all already know (I wish there were a Persepolis 5, 6, 7, 8... I loved the 4 volumes so much! - read it all, it's a must, that is, if you read french, I'm not sure there are English versions available yet?)
« Une fille dans la ville : New York, Paris, Kaboul, etc. » by Flore Vasseur. Reads very easily, and I like reading books written by people my age more or less.

Well, so now that’s 71 books to go.

But of course, I bought a book today. So we’re back at 72.

Hee hee.

And I would like to thank the band "We're from Barcelona" for making this day less sad with the song "I'm from Barcelona" (and these guys are swedish).

yet another quote I like.

2007-01-05T23:03:00.000+01:00

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”
(Neil Gaiman)

Happy Happy Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T16:35:00.000+01:00

(...) Essaie de vivre
Essaie d'être heureux,
Ça vaut le coup.

(Try to live,
try to be happy,
it's worth it.)

(Michel Berger - "Il jouait du piano debout" who would've thought I'd quote such a song...)

I wish you HAPPINESS for 2007.

(And next post's topic will be Sabine's new year good resolutions for 2007... Your suggestions are most welcome, before I make my final list... hee hee)

Christmas. Noël. From last night. (This is NOT intended to be a sad post, just wanted to share a nice text)

2006-12-25T14:20:00.000+01:00

Sentir naitre et s'épanouir l'amitié, partager les repas de fêtes et la joie des retrouvailles ; s'intéresser aux plus faibles, à celui qui ne compte pas, à la veuve sans le sou ; être ému au plus profond devant celui qui est rejeté, méprisé, écrasé par le jugement des autres ; croire que tous peuvent se relever, et admirer en eux cette force que la foi et l'amour peuvent susciter. Refuser la compromission, éprouver de la colère devant l'hypocrisie, les faux-fuyants, les coeurs doubles. Pardonner, renouer par delà l'offense, revoir le sourire habiter un visage... Expériementer combien c'est bouleversant d'aimer.
(...)
Connaître la souffrance, celle qui marque le corps, cell qui s'installe insidieuse sans crier gare ; connaître la souffrance, celle qui atteint le coeur, dans la rencontre de la méchanceté, de la trahison ou de l'indifférence. Souffrir d'être impuissant face à la bêtise, au mépris, aux coups bas ; sentir l'hostilité grandir ; voir s'éloigner ceux à qui on avait fait confiance ; se retrouver seul. Et puis un jour trembler devant la mort, dire : "s'il est possible, que cette heure passe loin de moi!". Et crier sa peur en voyant cette vie qui s'en va, sans pouvoir la retenir. Croire cependant qu'elle aura un lendemain.
(...)
Noël c'est le rêve d'un Dieu qui prend naissance pour inviter chaque homme à s'aventurer sur les chemins d'une vie sans fin et d'un monde réconcilié.

- Alain Patin

Rough translation:
To feel the birth and spreading of friendship, sharing festive meals and the joy of the meeting again; to be interested in the weak, the one who does not count, the pennyless widow; to be deeply moved in front of the one who is rejected, scorned, crushed by the judgement of others; to believe that all can raise again, and to admire in them this force caused by faith and love. To refuse compromise, to feel angry in front of hypocrisy, subterfuges (...). To forgive, join again beyond offence, to see again that smile on a face… To experiment how wonderfully upsetting it is to love. (...)
To know the suffering, that marks the body, which settles insidiously without a sound; to know the suffering, which reaches the heart, when meeting spite, treason or indifference. To suffer to be powerless when in front of stupid, contempt, low "hits"; to feel hostility growing ; to see those who which we had once trusted move away ; to end up alone. And then one day to shake in front of death, and say: “if possible, may this hour pass far from me!”. And to shout ones fear by seeing life go away, without being able to retain it. To believe however that there will be a tomorrow.(...)
Christmas is the birth of the dream of a God, inviting each person to venture on the paths of a life without end and a reconciled world.
(Alain Patin)

Ah oui, tiens, why not???

2006-12-21T19:35:00.000+01:00

Yes. If only I knew

2006-12-17T19:25:00.000+01:00

“Missing you could turn from pain to pleasure, if I knew you were missing me too.”

"Cheshire Cat: If I were looking for a white rabbit, I'd ask the Mad Hatter." (Alice In Wonderland)

2006-12-13T21:37:00.000+01:00

Saturday when I was at the Beau Beau market (see previous post), I also bought this button (it's 2,5 cm in diameter in real life, which is quite tiny):

I think it's funny and kinda cute in its own way. (The artist who made it says it's inspired from a real life incident).

Now I've been wearing this button on my winter coat's collar since monday, and absolutely nobody has noticed it (true, I don't walk around the office with my winter coat on, but still). This is currently my thrill of the day, wondering when someone will notice and see if she/he laughs. Or not. Huh.

"me, I"

2006-12-10T23:57:00.000+01:00

Explanation of the above drawing.
This weekend I went to the Beau Beau Market in Saint Gery, Brussels. I bought a little book in French, called "Moi Je". The author wasn't there but I got a fake inscription from another author (who shares the same editor) on the inside of the book, which I quite like. It's cool.
The sentence on the bottom ("j'ai des trucs à te dire") means 'I've got things to tell you". Interesting.
I just hope the things he has to say are good things...

Keeping my brain busy...

2006-12-02T11:22:00.000+01:00

"Hey you (the rocksteady crew)" by the Rocksteady Crew
(The lyrics are at the end of this post - check out the song itself!!!)

I heard this song on the radio a couple days ago, it's an oldie of 1983, pure b-boy stuff, and it ROCKS. The song just puts me in an excellent mood, makes me want to get up and dance silly.

So my question is: what song(s) - preferably silly - something in the "oldie" category usually does it - automatically puts you in a good mood, makes you want to get up and be (dancing) silly or at least always puts a smile on your face?
Let me know. If I get enough decent answers (I'll be the judge hee hee), I'll make a CD and send it to whoever wants it :-)

My other proposals could be Cornershop "Brimful of Asha", some old Madonna, Le Tigre's cover of "I'm so excited", Katrina and the Waves "Walking on sunshine"...

Your turn.

Hey you, the rocksteady crew, show what you do
Make a break, make a move
Hey you, the rocksteady crew, B-boys, breakers, electric boogaloo
Hey you, the rocksteady crew, show what you do
Make a break, make a move
Hey you, the rocksteady crew, B-boys, breakers, electric boogaloo

There's a new headline there's a new sensation
Ev'rybody's talking about the situation
Bodies in expression of music inspiration
Tell us when you feel it, 'cause we're gonna rock the nation

Hey you, the rocksteady crew, show what you do
Make a break, make a move
Hey you, the rocksteady crew, B-boys, breakers, electric boogaloo
Hey you, the rocksteady crew, show what you do
Make a break, make a move
Hey you, the rocksteady crew, B-boys, breakers, electric boogaloo

Electricity just runs through me, digital with a capital 'D'
I said: Synchronise your feet, get down on the rhythm, high on the beat

Hey you, the rocksteady crew, show what you do ...

There's a new headline, there's a new sensation
Ev'rybody's talking about the situation
We know you're gonna love it, we know you're gonna make it
Is ev'rybody ready 'cause here's rocksteady

Hey you, the rocksteady crew, show what you do ...

Electricity just runs through me, digital with a capital 'D'
I said: Synchronise your feet, get down on the rhythm, high on the beat
I said: Synchronise your feet, get down on the rhythm, high on the beat
I said: Synchronise your feet...

Hell

2006-11-30T07:13:00.000+01:00

I know patience is a virtue, but hey sometimes, it's really difficult to wait. But I'm trying really hard.

"Asparagus inspires gentle thoughts." (that's actually a REAL quote, by Charles Lamb UK 1775-1834)

2006-11-29T22:36:00.000+01:00

I have the feeling there are a million things a minute going through my brain these past days, but I'll just slow down a minute and post the "surprise du jour": my cat looooooves to eat fresh (cooked) green asparagus. (I had my first trial of haute cuisine green asparagus tonight, that's how I discovered). Do all cats love asparagus? What's next? artichokes?

“The cat is above all things, a dramatist.” (Margaret Benson)

2006-11-27T19:43:00.000+01:00

If you like cats and - even better - if you like to laugh at cats, check out this website: http://www.stuffonmycat.com/ There are some really hilarious pictures! My little selection follows... (I could never ever ever do that to my cat, she wouldn't ever let me!)

Quote of the jour

2006-11-26T16:21:00.000+01:00

"A lot of people will try to talk you out of pursuing your dream. The world has too many people who are happy to discuss why something might not work, and too few who will cheer you on and say, 'I'm there for you.' The more time you spend navel-gazing, the longer you give those negative gravitational forces to keep you in their tether... If there is somehting out there that you want to do...don't focus on the obstacles. Don't ask for permission. Just dive in."
(John Wood, founder of Room to Read, in Leaving Microsoft to change the world: an entrepreneur's odyssey to educate the world's children)

You forgot to kiss my soul.

2006-11-25T19:20:00.000+01:00

Because I still haven't worked on putting some "favorites" on the main page, here's a special post to advertise for the most amazing photos on the web... By coincidence, it's my brother's artwork, just by coincidence :-) Don't hesitate to check out PICTALOGUE, there are regularely new photos, amazing... From Iran to France via Eastern Europe, I really love them. Here's a small selection to wet your appetite...

Terre de nos aïeux

2006-11-23T22:23:00.000+01:00

Well I just picked up my new canadian passport at the embassy this morning... so I thought I'd go for a canadian-themed entry where I REVEAL a few of my most recent favorites in Montreal, thanks a lot to Marion who is now a real Quebecoise and showed me all the good spots!

So let me recommend the stuff of Montreal based Matt & Nat. It's really nice stuff, with a little pinch of originality. Get your (vegan) bags & accessories there!
And they have their own little philosophy I like, it's printed somewhere on all the items, in little...

Next is Lululemon Athletica. A sports clothing store with, once again a philosophy. The clothes are really nice, the fabrics, stitches are amazing. And the people friendly (in the St Denis store anyway). Check it out.

Here's the Lululemon Manifesto. Reading it gives me some energy to do things. Or try to take things easy. For example.

Drink FRESH water and as much water as you can. Water flushes unwanted toxins and keeps your brain sharp.
Observe a plant before and after watering and relate the benefits to your body and brain.
Coke, Pepsi and all other pops will be known as the cigarettes of the future. Colas are NOT a substitute for water. Colas are just another cheap drug made to look great by advertising.
Be yoga. Breathing has you live in the moment and stretching releases toxins from your muscles.
Do yoga so you can remain active in physical sports as you age.
Listen, listen, listen, and then ask strategic questions.
SWEAT once a day to regenerate your skin.
Compliments from the heart elevate another person’s spirit and will often result in an encouraging word for someone else ... a domino effect.
Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.
Life is full of setbacks. Success is determined by how you handle setbacks.
Write down your short and long term GOALS four times a year. 2 personal, 2 business and one health goal. A university found only 3 percent of the students had written goals. 20 years later, the same 3 percent were wealthier than the other 97% combined.
You ALWAYS have choice and the conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time.
Choose a positive thought.
Communication is COMPLICATED. Each person is raised in a different family with a different definition of each word.
Love.
Jealousy works the opposite way you want it to.
Nature wants us to be mediocre because we have a greater chance to survive and reproduce. Mediocre is as close to the bottom as it is to the top. Be creative. Do one thing a day that scares you.
Take various vitamins. You never know what small mineral can eliminate the bottleneck to everlasting health.
Dance, sing, floss and travel.
Do not use cleaning chemicals on your kitchen counters. Try vinegar and lemon. Someone will inevitably make a sandwich on your counter.
Friends are more important than money. Don’t trust that an old age pension will be sufficient.
Live near the ocean and inhale the pure salt air that flows over the water. Vancouver will do nicely. Stress is related to 99% of all illnesses.
One hour of aerobic exercise will release endorphins to regenerate cells and offset stress.
A daily hit of athletic induced endorphins will give you the power to make better decisions and help you be at peace with yourself.
Wake up and realize you are surrounded by amazing friends.
lululemon athletica was formed to provide people with components to live a longer, healthier and more fun life. If we can produce products to keep people active and stress free, we believe the world will be a better place.
Do it now. The world is changing AT SUCH A RAPID rate that waiting to implement changes will leave you two steps behind. DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW!

I should read it everyday. During the day. I should print it out and bring it to work. Wonder what my colleagues would think.

Well besides these 2 major discoveries, I'd just recommend the usual treatment in Montreal: fresh muffins at Tim Hortons and a cup of hot chocolate at Second Cup with wipped cream and little chocolate sprinkles on top while reading some free Montreal newspaper and looking forward to a nice evening with friends.

And I'll finish this post here because tonight I'm tired... must still be the jetlag tiredness... weekend is coming soon yeah!

[More Japan-related posts to come, I think I'll even dare the Shanghai one, yep.]

Sweet!!!

2006-11-22T06:54:00.000+01:00

I saw this info on a PSFK trends newsletter while I was in Japan:

It’s about this candy, calle fuwarinka (ふわりんか for the purists out there) which is, I quote « A new gum from Japan that not only brings flavor to your mouth, it brings scent to your skin too. Within an hour of taking Fuwarinka gum, chemicals in your chew called geraniol and linalool itch through to your skin to give it a scent.”

So of course, it’s sold as a trendy product at US$7 a piece in the States although you actually buy it in convenience stores for about 0,80€.

So I bought a few packs.

Can you smell my lemony skin from here?

My conclusion after trying the product on myself:
- first of all it’s not gum, it’s candy, a lot like “mentos” type of texture
- no effect whatsoever on bringing scent to my skin, perhaps if you eat 20 packs of the stuff, but then you get sick before you start to smell

Then I wondered how healthy geraniol and linalool are?

Well geraniol, as you can see from Wikipedia, is used for perfumes and also for instect repellent. It’s also an additive to cigarettes for improved flavour.
Now that’s appetizing right?

Linalool is a bit less scary. Reading the definition, it seems you’re just “eating some perfume”.

Ah, those Japanese…

Meet my new friend

2006-11-21T22:38:00.000+01:00

I was lucky to attend a Sumo tournament in Fukuoka. It was AMAZING.
A good way to look skinnier than you really are? Hang out with Sumos!
And they have such a good sense of humour.
I guess.

Now let’s go back to Sunday November 5th…

2006-11-21T07:20:00.000+01:00

(All the annoying numbers mentionned is intentional, just to make the post a bit more annoying and to illustrate my state of mind at that time, obsessed by time, time difference, flight and train numbers...)

I left Canada (Montreal) on that Sunday evening… a 19:30 flight, which was pretty comfy although too short for a real sleep… Arrived early in the morning in Paris at 8:30 (so 2 :30AM in Canada)… my next flight for Japan being around 17:00, I decided to take a hotel room to rest. Some hotels in Roissy have this type of “room for rests”, per hour. So I took 4 hours to sleep (1,5 hours), to read my e-mails, to take a shower and watch TV (actually watched a Quebecois show, how ironic).

I checked-in really early around 15:00 (that’s 9:00 AM Canadian time) and waited for my flight… luckily I was travelling business (gnark gnark gnark), so I slept 9 hours in the plane…
And then it was time to land, at 13:30 normally (that’s 23:30 the previous day in Canada or 5:30AM in France… perhaps you kind of understand how I was feeling?)
BUT the winds were too strong and the Nagoya airport closed, as well as the Tokyo one, the only one left to land was the Osaka airport… So we landed in Osaka (which is maybe over 250 kms from my expected final destination). And were handed a voucher (in Japanese) for free train ride to Nagoya. That’s it. That’s all the explanation I got. So it wasn’t that simple. You have to find the place where to get your tickets first. Luckily in the plane were some other members of my company, including a Japanese guy. My savior. My translator. My help. Because, on top of it, I was going to Toyota city, not Nagoya.
So I got a whole bunch of tickets:
- a reservation ticket to go from Osaka airport to Shin-Osaka to catch the high speed Shinkansen (bullet train)
- a global ticket to go from Osaka airport to Nagoya
- a reservation ticket to go from Shin-Osaka to Nagoya
- a ticket to go from Nagoya to …well I don’t remember the station, we’ll call it “mystery station”, but it got me closer to my final destination
- a ticket I have no idea what it is for, but I needed it

And as you can see from the attached photo, the tickets are easy to understand. Ha.

After the bullet train, the regular train, I arrived in that mystery station to take a taxi to Toyota city, and finally managed to arrive, in full rush hour, at 19:00 at my hotel (so that’s 11:00 AM in France, and 5:00AM in Montreal).

Dead.

Since I had left my friend Marion’s place in Montreal, I had been travelling for 38 hours. I took 1 subway, 3 buses, 1 taxi, 2 planes, 3 trains.

« Les voyages forment la jeunesse » they say in French.
Boy am I feeling young :-)

"Most Likely"

2006-11-21T07:16:00.000+01:00

My magic 8 ball says "As I see it Yes".
I sure hope the Magic 8 ball is right.
...

Sorry for the prolonged silence.
After my brief canadian holiday, I went to Japan for a couple of weeks (for work).

Many photos to come.

Now let me go back to praying the Magic 8 ball.

Brain cell !!!!

2006-11-08T14:50:00.000+01:00

Argh!!!
Changed the template of the blog but lost all my links to my favorite blogs... Lucie s'ennuie, Just a Place in the Sun, Rad Party, Gatsu Gatsu, One Point Zero, Banterist, PostSecret, TotoroLand, Hot Dog Addict... All gone... Will put them back ASAP, in a couple of weeks... I'm too lazy to figure it out for now :-)

Songs that remind you of people...

2006-11-08T14:16:00.000+01:00

Do you tend to associate songs to specific people or events? I do, I really do. Some songs are definitely linked to some people and it will never change. Thankfully, because of that they are songs I like, except when well... the person becomes a bad memory. But that's not what happens most of the time.
Is there a song that reminds you of me? Is it the same one that reminds me of you?
Here's my list, in no particular order, and it's incomplete... I will add more as they come bak to my mind...

Bikini Kill "Rebel Girl" -> Marion B.
Erasure "Chorus" -> Rina ("and the fishes in the seaaaaa have gone to sleeeeeeeeeep")
Welcome to Julian "Surfing on a T-Bone" -> JC
Dinosaur Jr. "Show me the way" (cover song) -> Arnaud & Thomas
Midnight Oil "The Dead Heart" -> Cecile J.
The Levellers "What a beautiful day" (and any Levellers album) -> Mathilde
Soldout "You're not OK" -> Tim
Alphonse Brown "Le Frunkp" -> Mathieu W.
Primus "Tommy the Cat" -> Tom M.
Scorpions "Wind of Change" -> Mom
Robert Charlebois "Je reviendrai à Montreal" -> Dad
The Postal Service "Frengers" album -> Shane
Wyclef Jean "The Carnival" -> Fred S.
Brooklyn Funk Essentials "The Revolution was postponed because of rain" -> Fred B.
Matchbox 20 "Long Day" -> Armin
Fugazi "Do you like me" -> Brice L.
JMKE "Tere Perestroika" -> Yves P.
Tocotronic "Letztes Jahr im Sommer" -> Anja
Bloodhound Gang "Discovery Channel" -> Julien C.
Crustation "Ride On" -> Thibaut
The Beatles - any song -> Isabelle
Joe Dassin "L'équipe à Jojo" -> Remi
Soul Asylum "Homesick" -> Julien P.
Dover "Serenade" -> Teresa
Depeche Mode - all albums -> Alain

...OK that's it for today... :-)

Viva Canada

2006-11-07T10:40:00.000+01:00

So my silence is just due to the fact that I was in Canada for the past few days, in Montreal to be more precise, to see a couple of friends. It was just great. Exactly what I needed, even more. As soon as I set foot on the Montreal land, I felt good, I felt better, I felt that it would be torture to leave (and it was). So I absorbed as much canadianness that I could. Marion lives on the Plateau so it was delicious just to walk around Mont Royal street, shop, eat some Tim Hortons, have some hot chocolate at Second Cup (I do have simple tastes), etc. I walked down St Denis, Ste Catherine, all the way to my University which has changed a lot, and then spent an excellent friday night celebrating... Saturday was more quiet, shopping, relaxing, and a movie at the Quartier Latin. I even love the movie theaters. Sunday was time to leave, too early.
So I'll be coming back ASAP. And I mean it. I'm talking February or something like that. I NEED Canada, I can't help it :-) it's for my own sanity (or not, actually).

More details, tips on Montreal to come, although I kind of said I'd do that for Shanghai and I never did, so well, I'll try my best.