The kiddies.

The kids I nanny for are so great.  Erin (6) is a lot like how I was when I was little (starving for attention, funny at times, but super whiny and annoying at others, really good at memory games, wants to do everything herself but wants you to watch her while she does it.  One difference is she totally embraces the girl things like pink and princesses and skirts, and I rejected all that, except for Barbies.  I loved Barbies.)  The boys are boys.  Cameron (10) is really into video games, magic, and asking questions like “What does algebra mean?”  and Ryan (8) loves anything that has to do with war, battles, and natural disasters.  They all play tennis and we get to practice on their court in the backyard.  They love Monopoly and have at least 8 different kinds (Girl version, Little Petshop version, World version, Paris version, Star Wars version, the one that is printed on a huge carpet, etc.)

My favorite thing about this picture is Ryan’s soldier hand in front.  The boys sometimes sing “La Marseillaise” (the French national anthem, whose beginning is in that Beatles’ song “Love”) and march around like soldiers.

Erin eating cake batter.

Cameron trying to hide from the camera.

I love Ryan’s WWII helmet.

Versailles in Pictures

I was too cheap to pay for the entrance fee and to lazy to walk around to the free garden entrances so I just took a look-see from behind this purple sleigh they’ve decided goes with Louis XIV’s front yard.

So then I walked around and here are a few things I saw.

I like when people agree to be in my photos.

The only way to eat animals.

Fresh figs are nothing like the Newton.

Mmmussels.

Artichoke stuffed with feta.

This post I realize has almost nothing to do with Versailles, but whatever.  More news and photos to come.

PS is there something I can do to make my pictures not turn into poop when I upload them on my blog? (Reference picture 3… the lady’s face like barely exists.) Help me.

The The-atah! (imagine David Cross rolling onto the stage)

So I’m not going to lie, I usually hate musicals.  Really.  I made myself fall asleep during Phantom of the Opera because it was So. Boring.  I know. Judge me.  I deserve it.  Hating musicals led me to not liking plays and other things live and on stage.  Sure there were a few that I could appreciate and enjoy but for the most part their deliberate/horrible line delivery turn me off.

AND THEN last night I had a GREAT theater experience.  And not only was it great it was excellent. Unparalleled.  Extraordinary.  I saw This: (photo thanks to parisetudiant.com)

Mozart’s The Magic Flute.  The South African adaptation.  Holy Moly it was amazing.  I can’t describe in words and sentences the magic that is the Magic Flute. Ha ha.  A few things: the orchestra is on stage, so the intro was more than just listening.  You could see the cast rocking out on their marimbas.  Swaying and pounding.  Plus, watching a good conductor in cargo pants and bare feet is a juxtaposition you don’t see every day.  The orchestra is made up of varying sizes of said marimbas.  That’s IT, yet the music is SO well done; it didn’t feel like anything was missing.  Many marimba sizes makes for a impressive amount of texture.  The dancers/singers/actors are also the instrumentalists so 33 people are switching instruments and roles, but it’s not at all distracting, it’s mesmerizing.  Also, these cats can Dance! and sing!  And they are funny when they want to be!!  Sometimes when you hear a really good song do you ever feel almost debilitated like you stop walking or reading or you feel like you shouldn’t move for fear it might disrupt this palpable moment of perfection?  I felt like that a lot during this production.  There was so much to love.  So if this is coming to you, buy tickets and GO.

I tried to find some stuff on youtube but nothing really captures the feeling.  Here is the best that I found.  Ignore the French.  Around 1:43 was my favorite part.

So good!  I tried to take pictures in the theater but right after my first attempts there was an announcement saying I wasn’t allowed to.

You get the idea.  Good night!

Attend World Cup Qualifier Match de Foot. Check.

Oh my goshhhh. The Stade de France is AMAZING.

(image from rankopedia.com)

Seriously though. I just saw France beat Austria (3-1) in a World Cup qualifier in this place.  It’s like a different world in here where French people are happy and excited and unified and playful and wearing bright colors and doing The Wave and heckling the opposing team and cheering their guts out.  It was absolutely delightful.  And I got to see this live in front of my face:

Ok ok, so I missed the first two goals – but mostly because some idiots made us walk around this huge stadium 3 times because no one knew which door we were supposed to go in.  But we finally made it.  And it was SO GOOD.

Kimamila.

Meet Kimamila. (as in, “Qui m’a mis là?” as in, “Who put me here?”)

Erin’s teacher picks out a name every couple days to see who gets Kimamila and SHE GOT PICKED!!  It’s like the whole gnome thing in Amélie and the little tots are supposed to take pictures with Kimamila in different places.  So we took him to her “gymnastics” class.

I do it so you won’t have to.

Advice:

1.  When you see dust in your keyboard that you desperately want to get out because you’ve suddenly realized you’re the new Danny Tanner in the meticulously clean sense, DO NOT VACUUM IT.  Luckily, I was able to find my Tab key without too much trouble.  I still don’t know how to keyboard clean though.  (Another reason I should have shoveled out a little more for a mac. …Next time.)

2.  Don’t send paté in a package to a country overseas.  You may have gotten the wrong address (an honest mistake) and the package may have gotten lost, and been violently handled to the point where liver and guts start to leak out and 2 months later when you get it back, the paté/everything in the package will smell like dog.  And you might throw up.

3.  Do not trust public bathrooms in Paris.  Free ones anyway.  I have yet to have a good experience, and I’ve been holding out on this story for a few months, but my FIRST day back in France in June, I was merrily walking down the Champs-Elysées when dire circumstances forced me to use the bathrooms in Quick (a fast-food chain hamburger place).  You would think since it’s on the CHAMPS-ELYSEES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD where thousands of tourists from very hygenically clean places come every day that the toilets would be usable, presentable.  At first I thought it was just the smell, and THEN, yes THEN i realized the horrible smell was the result of Fresh Human Feces right under my feet.  YES.  It happened to me.

This Charming Man

YES. Because I prefer the Smiths to Morrissey and I hope you do too, but honestly I’ll take what I can get.  And what i can get on November 12th in the City of Lights or Love or Pastries is this ridiculous, blighted, yet lovable man.

I saw this Glorious Being perform in a little venue in Utah a couple years ago and after glowing, melting, and feeling the satisfaction of life objectives fulfilled, I feel like being able to hear this little number INNNNN Paris might be worth another go.

Because it’s MORRISSEY.  And he can get away with anything.  And because I listened to “Strangeways, Here We Come” on a tape in my mom’s minivan throughout most of high school.

But going to shows makes me feel old. And I lack the energy to make it THE experience.  Should I go? Wanna come with?

Language Lessons.

Remember in the MTC when literally translating expressions like, “I’m pickin’ up what you’re throwing down” (for those of you who speak french, we’d say, “Je ramasse ce que vous jetez en bas.”  ha ha ha) was really funny?  well to me, those things still are funny, and now it works the other way around, French to English. And to add to it, I’m like a child when it comes to hearing swear words in French, and it just makes me giggle.  I can get into a spectator mode when I am surrounded by Second Language and it’s like i’m watching it on tv.  It’s just not that real.  So the extra step of literally translating those things just adds to the entertainment.

I won’t burden you with the actual French, but I will tone it down and give you the translation.  So let’s say you’re late and running to the train, but it whizzes by as you reach the platform.  Two seconds too late.  One might say in English, “Agh! That sucks!”  Here, the translation would be, “Agh! That makes me crap!”  or, if you’re really mad adding a “Hooker!” in the mix always adds some spunk.  So it would be, “Agh! Hooker! That makes me crap!” Think about that sentence for a second.. it’s pretty good.  Anyway, the “That makes me crap” phrase is pretty versatile because you can actually use it with people as well.  For example, if someone were bothering you, you might say, “I can’t handle her,” or, “She’s killing me,” or “She’s so annoying.”  Here, they can simply say, “She makes me crap.”  Not bad, eh?

Expressions of surprise are all pretty good too.  Let’s say you just found out your friend has to pay a $500 speeding ticket.  You could say any of the following to show you’re shocked: “Hooker!” (Once again this comes up… believe me, I’m not exaggerating about the omnipresence of this word.  It’s everywhere.) “Mashed potatoes!”, “Thumbtack!”, or “The cow!”  Don’t believe what you hear, no one actually says, “Sacré bleu!”

I could go on about how screaming “YOUR FACE” means “Shut the F up” and how there are about 8 different words for face, each with a slightly differing degree of politeness, but it’s almost 2 AM and i’m going to choose bed.  Thank you for reading, and try to incorporate, “Thumbtack!” the next time you’re surprised… it’s not a natural reaction.

Gem Finding

Well after that photo exhibit there isn’t much that can compare, until I saw the video to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” on a friend’s blog.  WOW.  Have you ever watched it?  It’s seriously. amazing.

The trenchcoat! The dancing / arm moving / kicks!  The blond and the pirouettes! The black dude in suspenders! The constant thumbs up! The voice from that face!!  The clapping! The flashing blue lights! The shoulder moving!

Watch it again!

No time.

Have to work in 5 minutes, but saw a photo exhibit at the Jardin du Luxembourg and the pictures are phenomenal. So good that it made me cry in the streets of the 6th arrondissement.

(photo from www.mekong-lexposition.com)

This is just one, and I can’t really post on here because they’re not my photos, and the ones able to be saved are tiny like this one, so just click on the link and love it in better quality.  http://www.mekong-lexposition.com/