more like advanced calculus

"We've become a nation of wusses. The Chinese are kicking our butt in everything. If this was in China, do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? People would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked and they would have been doing calculus on the way down."

Thanks Ed Rendell for the enlightening comment. I really appreciate how you managed to turn an interview about the delay of an American football game into Yellow Fever. It's also really considerate how you included a math related stereotype. Keep it classy, Governor Rendell.

merry christmas!

from me and the gang. I've spent my Christmas eating great food, receiving and giving gifts, and watching Love Actually with my mom. More Christmas movies to follow, currently The Muppets Christmas Carol, later the Doctor Who Christmas Special. And I can justify all of this television, because after all, Christmas is all around.

hope that your Christmas is warm and lovely. tell me all about it!

none the wiser

I went to the doctor's today and they said that I can stop using crutches. My excitement was short lived, as I had to get my wisdom teeth removed two hours later.

I was assured by the nurse that I would not be awake during the procedure- but that might have been a laughing gas induced figment. Figment or not, I was awake while my teeth were being pulled out. But I was traveling around in a state of partial consciousness, where my mind was independent from my quickly exhausting body. Sometimes I fought to keep my eyes open to show the dentist that I was capable. Of what, I'm not certain. I just thought that by staring at the dentist, he'd understand that I was a very intelligent person.

that's laughing gas logic for you.

Also going through my head during the entire ordeal was Hamlet's soliloquy- one of the most destinct memories that I have is of getting the laughing gas mask put over my nose and being told to sleep, to which I responded "to sleep perchance to dream". Some people get nervous. I go thespian.

I attempted to acknowledge the removal of my teeth once during the procedure by asking a level headed question- which would, no doubt, prove to be highly eloquent and be told to all dentists in the tristate area. My story, the story of the most eloquent wisdom teeth removal patient ever. I would be hailed as a poster child for oral surgery everywhere.

What I meant to say was "Are you done with the upper and lower wisdom teeth on the left side?" What came out was entirely different, and consisted of "Arrrrruuudun teeefffflef?" and then maybe followed by some profuse bleeding from my mouth.

And this is how I can explain and justify why my kitchen now has large amounts of pudding, jello mixes, apple sauce, and pain killers in it. If you see a tiny manila envelope at the end of the island, open with care. It contains four wisdom teeth that are likely still covered in dried blood.

don't judge,

http://highexpectationsasianfather.tumblr.com/

This is just how my life is sometimes. And when it isn't like this, I make it this way, because I don't know how to respond otherwise.

The coolest poem

was written for me in history class.

Candy,
Oodles
Of
Latkes,
Eggs,
Sushi,
Time.

acrostic poems are the way to go. the more nonsensical, the better.

one week

since you looked at me, threw your arms in the air and said you're crazy.

just kidding. it's been one week (and some change) since I got my stress fracture confirmed.

in the first two days I knit three scarves, and watched more tv than could possibly be helpful.
after four days, the school week started and I went to school on crutches, which is more humiliating and exhausting than it should be.

dear school,
you are not handicapped accessible. I have a stress fracture. It's not even a real handicap and you're still making this difficult for me. I'm late for most of my classes now, and I feel terrible because I make the people helping me late for classes. sure, teachers aren't exactly mad at me for coming in late, but considering each class period is 45 minutes, I'm missing a considerable part of the overall learning experience. please invest in hoverboards like back to the future.
with love,
pi.

I am physically capable of walking, which is the worst part. I can do it, I'm just not allowed to for fear of worsening the fracture. So, when I get to the point where I've made two people ten minutes late for their class because they're too kind to tell me to hurry up while trying to get up a flight of steps, I put my foot down (literally. oh gosh wow I'm funny.) and walk.

I hop up and down stairs because I don't really know how to use crutches properly. I can't open doors, and the immense weight of my backpack is getting cumbersome.

my coach doesn't think I'm really injured.

here's a secret: although I'm sure that I sound confident and capable of communication here, I am not actually this suave in real life. (I'll give you a moment to collect yourself. this must be a huge shock, and will likely cause some form of mental breakdown.) I can't very adequately communicate with authoritative figures. I stumble over my speech, and I'm really no good at that at all. I like my coach, I really do. But, I don't think that he understands my awkwardness or the fact that I'm positively incapable of doing really supposedly simple things, like using crutches in the rain or getting up and down steps. no, I am not acting about this injury, and yes, I really am so incompetent that I can't maneuver around on them when there is any sort of precipitation or incline. sorry.

here's another secret: it feels so much better. I'm curious how much longer I'm going to need crutches, because I'm not limping when I walk (half the time) and my other foot is starting to hurt from all the hopping.

I wish that I had something more interesting to say, but let's be serious: I'm pretty average.

blink

or rather, don't blink.

"The angels have the phonebox," that's my favorite, I've got that on a T-shirt."

I used the fob watch pattern from the bbc website (the fob watch from human nature/family of blood episodes in series three that was used with the chameleon arch, but I'm sure that you knew that) and a quote from blink (the episode in series three that first introduced the weeping angels, but I'm equally sure that you already knew that.)

it's a plain white v-neck shirt that I took a sharpie to last night. I think that I like the results. (and now I have something to wear for the christmas special!)

and on the back of the shirt, there's this. I'm fairly certain this will be rather unsettling for anyone sitting behind me that doesn't watch doctor who.

x-rays, bad news, and (not so) humerus puns.

so, that pain that I was mentioning last month? well, it never really went away. and as of today, it has officially been declared as a stress fracture.

I've suspected that for a while, but wanted to believe otherwise. If wishful thinking worked, I suppose we'd all be a lot happier. I'm trying to stay positive about this, but I went all wibbly in the office this morning and started crying as soon as the doctor left.

The prognosis? No running for six weeks, and crutches.

It's really only the beginning of the winter track season, and I'm frustrated that I'm missing out on it. I'm embarrassed that I'm going to be the kid blundering around on crutches for the next month, and I'm disheartened by the number of stairs that there are in my house and at my school. I can't really move with the crutches very well at all, and the stairs in my house are considerably more difficult to maneuver up and down than those at the physical therapy office where I got crutches 101.

I'm allowed to do no-impact exercise, and while I'm glad that I can stay in relative shape for the spring track season, it means that I'm going to be spending my time in the weight room, and not at the track with the rest of the team.

Maybe I'll start stress knitting again. who knows, maybe crutch cosies will become tres chic. (after all, once people see that someone so cool and fashionable has stress fractures, they'll all want them.) Stress knitting will take on a whole new meaning. (geddit? stress fractures? stress knitting? my leg and sense of humor are both suffering.)

please do your best to bear with me while I deal with this, I'm liable to go wibbly on you and I hope that you don't judge me to harshly if I do.

found

improve your stamp collection for only 2.95! It's the world's most rewarding hobby.

found tucked in between page 160 and 161 of my new old copy of Much Ado About Nothing.
(I am constantly expanding my collection of used Shakespeare plays)

he's space gandalf

But really, SPACE GANDALF. Matt Smith, you are one GLORIOUS Doctor.

mix tapes

music of the moment. I'd call it the monday mix.

Cold Girl Fever- The National
Tangled Up in Plaid-Queens of the Stone Age
Are You Ten Years Ago- Tegan and Sarah
Within You- David Bowie
One Hit Wonderful- Reel Big Fish
Kid Gloves- Voxtrot
Tu Seras- Emma Daumas
Pink Bullets- The Shins
You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son- Wolf Parade
Derniere Danse- Kyo

what are you listening to?

oh for piet's sake

Happy Halloween!


the fact is, this costume is terrifying. It shows that someday I will be destined/doomed to be a starving art major.

I went to the art museum on one of the last days before school started (has it really been that long?) and picked up some post cards to decorate with. One of them was a piece by Piet Mondrian, and I guess that might be where this whole thing started.

The dress is the product of a Sunday afternoon, and a couple of days of work during the week after cross country practice and homework.

I bought 2 yards of white, and half a yard each of blue, red, and a goldenrod that I want to pretend is yellow. I used less than half of each of those amounts, but it's always best to buy more than you need because I will inevitably mess up with something. I also used 12 yards of black bias tape and methods that might make a better seamstress weep.

the neckline fit rather poorly when I finished it, so I fixed it the only way I know how... with a pleat.

total for the project- $15.00. I hope people won't judge me if I wear this forever.

ouchies.

our aversion to the most minor pains is perplexing. popping little white asprin and blue drug store pain relievers at the exact times that are laid out by the bottle- two pills every eight hours, or some variation thereon, so that we don't have to feel anything at all.

sometimes I subscribe to it. I won't lie- I don't like feeling discomfort any more than the average person and I have an unbelievably low tolerance for pain. and sometimes it's necessary- I'm in no means trying to argue that relief from pain is bad.

but sometimes I think that feeling the hurt might be good. because I'm too young to hurt in any real way, and sometimes the dull throbbing helps to anchor me. feeling the aches and the strains and hearing the hollow echos of cracking joints is a constant reminder of something. I don't know what- but it's something and isn't that enough? It's like always being aware of a dedication to something: I hurt because I run, and I run because I love it.

I thought that this would become more eloquent as I wrote it, but it ended into an incoherent mess. (as per usual). I've got shin splints in my right leg and I'm acutely aware of that fact every time I try to move, but I've also got the fastest times that I've ever run. I've never run myself this hard before, and I'm happy with how things are going.

here are some haiku

I wrote them today
aren't I just so so clever?
please don't judge me now.

-

uninteresting.
absolutely adequate.
today I ate soup.

not smarter than her.
I'm doomed to be second best.
at least I'm pretty.

I am awkward, but
it could always be much worse
like Michael Cera.

frankenstein was a pirate

I found treasures
never-ending
sunk deep

lately I've been trying my hand at black out poetry. Mary Shelley would probably be ashamed.

sweater weather

its only just starting to actually feel like fall (because the October date stamp failed to alert nature that it's officially autumnal weather)and to kick it off I celebrated with a week full of sweaters.

Mostly thrift store sweaters, but I did mention to my Mom how excited I was about sweater weather and she found an old sweater that my Grandma knit for her. It was in a cedar chest for a long time and I think that I smelled like a type of cologne that would be marketed under the name "lumberjack in a can". It was absolutely lovely.

seriously, comfy stuff. sweaters really are the way to go. Maybe it's time to go thrifting again so that I can stock up for winter? I am so looking forward to sweaters and scarves and being cozy all of the time.

maybe we could snuggle up together? (I'll bring the snuggie.)

guess what I'm watching?

marcel the shell with shoes on.
he is really rather adorable I think.

he hang glides on a dorito for adventure.

librarian chic

R.E.A. (check out that cleverly disguised name!) started laughing today when he saw me, and he told me that it was because my outfit was very 'me'. he continued to add that I looked like a librarian. I'm taking it as a compliment. (I think that it was? maybe?)

I'm glad that my sense of style can be equated to that of a librarian. LEVEL UP! my dreams of being a childrens librarian are that much closer to being achieved.

I'll be recommending my favorite books to kids and having story time and doing craft projects and playing peek-a-boo between the shelves before you know it. as soon as I learn my alphabet I'm going to be totally ready for the rest of my life.

QUESTION

does my enjoyment of running (especially hard workouts and long runs) make me a strong and dedicated runner, or a masochist?

just a question for all of you. it has been bouncing around in my head for the past few days and I want to hear your answers.

is it worth more than 1000 words?

oh no not again. I'm so indecisive and so I think that I'll wish on spare change and fountains. started a couple of weeks into summer vacation, and have been folding them while I watch tv. at least I got it done before the school year started? (t minus two days now)

they're really rather small- 1/16th of a regularly sized piece of origami paper. (because I don't want to have to deal with the storage of 1000 full sized paper cranes. you understand- don't you?)

this is my second time making 1000 paper cranes with this paper- it's all left over from the origami page-a-day calendar that my parents gave me in 2006. I'll use it up eventually. (I hope.)

best wishes to all of you for the academic year- and for cross country season- and for autumn- and for the year- and for life. :)

Darleen

went out thrift shopping two days ago- summer is drawing to an end and I felt the need to go back to school shopping.

I went a little crazy and ended up buying five sweaters and four button down shirts and one blanket. (for the impressive price of $9.50) I fell in love with the cool floral pattern on one dress, and being inspired by New Dress A Day, decided to throw it into my (rather tall) pile of purchases.

so, here it is in all of its pre altering glory. complete with some monstrously large shoulder pads. (I have such good tastes in clothing.)
I took a pair of scissors to the dress and went wild. First went the protective football gear attached to the shoulders, then the lace from the neckline, then seven inches from the bottom, then half the sleeves, then the other half of the sleeves when I decided to go the sleeveless route. I took a scoop out of the back, removing the top button, and making it ever so slightly more possible to breathe. altered the front neckline as well and sewed my first button hole. (write it in the baby book- this is a big accomplishment.)

and, ta-da! no more of that three quarter length sleeve nonsense or six inches below the kneecap skirt shenanigans. just a new dress to spend the last few days of summer lounging about in.

While I was pinning up the arm holes, my home phone started ringing and somebody started asking for Darleen- a wrong number, but a good name. I wouldn't be a very good crazy person if I didn't try to name this project with clever alliteration. so, I give you the Darleen dress. (I'm just so clever!) started as a prairie dress, ended like a prairie mess. can't deny or pretend like I don't love it.

winning and losing

you win some and you lose some.

won:
a delicious lemon pie
14 new (used) books for $3.50
a new running companion (and somebody to watch a very potter sequel with)
an ebay auction for series 1-4 of Doctor Who + the complete specials
a delicious milkshake made from the remains of failed meringue batter


lost:
battle with a garden hose
$5 in my pocket in New York
3 egg whites in an attempt to make meringue
15 minutes spent listening to an irritated man trying to buy an old copy of Les Mis

on the topic of winning and losing, I suppose I should mention that I also lost my evening to ants. in my pantry. which was unnerving and more creepy crawly than I would have liked. but, like my dad said, it could have always been worse. The ants could have been spiders. or crickets. or roaches. or tiny raptors.

while my dad and I tend to agree on a lot of things, I disagree with his opinions on having a raptor infestation in our pantry. I've always wanted a pet that could fit into my pencil case. I'd name it Nellie. we would have been the best of friends.

Missed Connections

dear frankie valli-
you told me that you were geeking out over my mighty morphing power rangers t-shirt. I don't know if I thanked you for making my day, so here it goes: thanks. also, you were really rather wonderful and I can't remember if I told you that, but I sincerely hope I did.
-girl with the power rangers t-shirt

on the subject of Doctor Who

well, we weren't really on the subject, but I just finished a mini-marathon with myself and felt inclined to talk about it.

(it's sunday night in the middle of summer vacation, and I have nothing to do besides sit in front of my computer and watch five hours of doctor who. let's make a deal: you don't judge me for doing this (I'm certainly not embarrassed) and I don't judge you for reading this blog.)

a marathon of last five episodes of the first series (the empty child, the doctor dances, boom town, bad wolf, the parting of ways) was tonight. I'm onto classic who from here on out.

My parents judge me (I think) for my love of the show, and I don't blame them because the first time that they saw Doctor Who had been in pieces of Love & Monsters.

Me trying to explain Doctor Who to my parents: "well, you see, Mom, this here is Moaning Myrtle, and she's been absorbed by this monster, but really that's okay because The Doctor comes and he saved her and then she got turned into a paving stone."

I could talk about Doctor Who for excessively long amounts of time, but I think that I'll refrain from doing that (now) and leave you with this: watch it. really really watch it. I don't think that you can really go wrong with watching it. (unless, of course, Fear Her or Love & Monsters is your first episode.) start anytime, anywhere. Series Five is beautiful. Really is. Series Three was my first series, and a good series that it was. Having just finished Series One, I can tell you that it was really rather good for a beginning, and having also watched Series Two and Four I'm pleased to inform you that they're both winners. You don't really need to begin at the beginning, just begin.

After you've done that, come back and talk to me. I'm always up for a rousing discussion about the cool factor of a good bow-tie.

found

inside an old nancy drew book.

rather precious, innit?


"created for
the children's book council, inc.
by
Hardie Gramatry"


anyways, the Nancy Drew books have been living in a cardboard box on a shelf in my basement for a couple of years, and I thought that it was time for them to come back to my bookshelf. (I went through a Nancy Drew craze in the fifth (give or take a little) grade. they were packed up and put downstairs a couple of years after that to make room on my shelves, but now I've seen the errors of my ways.)

the books are the originals, and belonged to my mom and her sisters. A large number of them have bookplates in them that my aunt (the oldest of the sisters) wrote her name on.

not really sure when this bookmark was printed, and because my memory is like a pasta strainer, so I don't know if this bookmark was mine or if it belonged to one of my cousins or to one of my aunts.

dancing in the rain.

two days of solid rain are following my last post. no big deal or anything, but apparently I'm Storm from x men in disguise. I guess I'm okay with this.

I'll be figuring out what else I can do with my newly discovered superpowers, but feel free to leave a comment or shine a giant flashlight into the sky or something if you have a cat stuck in a tree or a baby in a burning building. or a baby cat in a burning tree. It's all in a days work for a superhero like me.

ps suggestions for a superhero name?

melting on the sidewalk.

oh dear it is too hot to be living in a house without air conditioning. what do I do what do I do?

I'm surviving but only just barely and I don't know if I can keep at it.

seriously, who decided that it could be this hot? I'd like to find out so that I could write them a politely worded but nonetheless opinionated letter. if you find out before I do, here's a draft of the one that I'm writing. Please feel free to send it for me.

Dear ___________,

I am sending you this letter as it has recently come to my attention that you are the reason for this horrendous heat. Please refrain from doing this, as my feet are melting into the sidewalk which (rather unsurprisingly) is an acutely painful experience. Your recent rise in temperature has likely brought more business to the frozen dessert industry, and although strawberry lemonade water ice is delicious, I cannot afford to continue to spend such an inordinate percentage of my income on frozen water and flavoring.

Please stop. I cannot take this anymore. I have no containers in my house that hold enough water and I don't like moving back and forth between my couch and freezer to get more ice/stick my head into the frozen peas. It's too hot.

Regrettably without love,
Pi

found

found on June 8th inside of a book being sold at my library.

Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing + forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weakness.

Love is content w. the present, it hopes for the future, and it doesn't brood over the past. It's the day-in and day-out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and working toward common goals.

If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great may things that are missing. If you don't have love in your life, no matter what else there is, it's not enough.

-Attributed to many, originally (perhaps) by Ann Landers

something to consider, maybe.

Day 4

[Day 1][Day 2][Day 3]

Day 4: April Fools! Poisson d'Avril (the French equivalent, translating to Fish of April) was celebrated with a sad start to the morning: getting locked out of our apartment. After going to Moulin de Rosa for breakfast (a chausson aux pommes) we got to the door of the apartment to find that we had left our keys inside.

I was charged with the ever difficult task of waiting on the staircase up to our apartment, in hopes that somebody would have a spare key, or that the woman who was in charge of the apartment would arrive (as we had asked her to come due to some difficulties with the washing machine). I sat on the stairs eating my chausson aux pommes, which was delicious and flaky and caused me to cover the steps in pastry crumbs.

Meanwhile, my aunt and cousin went back to the Moulin de Rosa to talk to the cashier and see if he knew of any internet cafes in the area that they could go to so that they could access their emails so that they could get the number of the woman who had an extra key. Regrettably, he informed them that there were no cafes nearby. Yet, despite knowing us for only a few minutes, he handed his iPhone across the counter and offered to let them use it. My aunt (with the help of my slightly more technologically adept cousin) was able to navigate to her email so that she could retrieve the phone number. The man then let my aunt use his phone to call her, and she arranged to have her come by the apartment in the next hour.

We had an hour to spare, and we were locked out, and it was cold, so we walked to the Maison du Victor Hugo where admission was free and the insides were warm. We didn't have enough time to see the temporary exhibit on the first floor, but we did see his apartments and a lot of correspondence between him and his favorite daughter Leopoldine. Last year in French class I had to memorize the poem Demain, des l'aube, which was written by Hugo in response to her untimely death. It was strange having the lines of a poem that he wrote because of her death running through my head while I looked at the words that the two had exchanged during her life.

After an hour we exited the museum, and while me and my cousin walked directly to the apartment, my aunt stopped for a third time at the Moulin de Rosa to buy a package of macaroons as a thank you for the woman with the key. She arrived, opened our door, and all was well.

After we got into our apartment, we drank our hot drinks (a cup of tea for me, and two cups of coffee for my aunt and cousin) and headed out the door again to see more of Paris. On our way to the Bastille, I saw something that was most fantastical.

Invader #1

Lets take a look at the image that you see above you. Do you see that beautiful wonderful fantastical tiled piece of art that is hovering over the graffiti? Meet Invader! I had learned about Invader a couple of weeks before I left for Paris, and was thrilled by the idea of finding some of his work. He puts up mosaics around Paris and France and the entire big blue world with pictures from Space Invaders and other 1970s video games.

This beauty was spotted, as I said before, on the way to the Bastille. The cross streets were "Boulevard Beaumarchais" and "Rue Jean Beausire". After I took a couple of pictures, we jumped onto our train heading toward Cite, where we got off.

We walked past Notre Dame and then went to Sainte Chapelle where we waited in line for a little while before gaining entrance.

here's a picture of the lower chapel... also known as the gift shop.

Going upstairs lead to the Upper Chapel, famed for its beautiful stained glass windows. However, the church was undergoing some renovations, and the windows were being cleaned, so it didn't appear as insanely beautiful as it really is. (To give you a mental image: scaffolding covered somewhere between three to five of the windows, and the scaffolding was covered in a white tarp branded by the company that had donated the money to provide for the cleaning.) This isn't to say that I wasn't thrilled to be there (because I was thrilled to be anywhere during my trip. I was in Paris! I was thrilled to be almost everywhere!) but it was a little disappointing. The windows that I did see were really fantastic looking:

detail from stained glass window


rose window of Sainte Chapelle

I think that I might have paid more attention to the patterns on the floor than the stained glass that was throwing them. whoops.

After Sainte Chapelle we went back to Notre Dame.

My aunt waited in the line to get to the tower while my cousin and I went to buy crepes. We took our places back in line, and my aunt went into a nearby cafe to wait because she didn't want to climb the stairs due to ankle problems. The line moved (albeit somewhat slowly) and we eventually found ourselves walking up the steps to the tower. We were (ever so briefly) locked into the gift shop, while the group before us left, because the steps were too narrow to have two groups going up and down them (or something like that.) Strange marketing ploys are strange.

After ten minutes or so, we were allowed to continue up the steps, which lead to the first level. I acquainted myself with some of the Chimeras (you know, the things that people think are Gargoyles but don't actually spew water out of their mouths?) and found that there is an elephant on the top of Notre Dame. Things I never knew.

My cousin and I went inside of one of the bell towers, where I got to meed Emmanuel, the largest bell in Notre Dame. (I geeked out.)

After this, we were allowed to go to the uppermost level of the tower, which gave us a spectacular view of Paris. (I'd suggest full view for those two- you'll miss the details if you don't.)

in the first picture you can see the Eiffel Tower on the far left, and the arch de la defense in the center. in the second picture you can see Sacre Coeur in the center atop the hill of Montmartre.

Due to a time limit, we were only allowed to stay on the upper level for five minutes, so after we got our pictures we headed back down the staircase. I lost count after two hundred steps.

We found my aunt in the cafe that she had been in, and then bought some souvenirs. (A couple of generic posters, postcards, and a silly grey beret- because every tourist needs one.) From Cite, we took the train to Place de la Concorde and saw the Obelisque. It was shiny. (and I mean that in both the literal and Firefly slang sense.)

We strolled through the Tuileries Gardens for a tiny bit, pausing sometimes to people watch. The Musee de l'Orangerie, home to Waterlilies by Monet, was within the gardens, so we stopped there ever so briefly. We got there forty minutes before closing, but because of our Museum Passes we didn't have to worry about paying admission fee. The paintings were more immense than I had anticipated, and I really liked them. We had enough time to run through and see most of the other artwork before closing, and after leaving we finished walking through the Tuileries Gardens. From the Tuileries Gardens we made a quick trip to the Gardins du Palais Royal, and then took the metro back to the Bastille.

We walked to the apartment, and (surprise!) I found another Invader!

Invader #2
located near the intersection of Rue du Pas de la Mule and Rue des Tournelles

We got back to our apartment where I tried to get in touch with a cousin of mine who is staying in Paris for her junior year.

We went out to dinner at Chez Janou to meet with the woman that we had met in a cafe on our second day. The dinner was good, but the dessert was to die for. We ordered the chocolate mousse, and it was served with a ladle. Yes, you read that right. It was served with a ladle. It was the most delicious dessert that I think I ate all trip. Chocolate upon chocolate upon chocolate. If you ever go, you have to try it.

While talking to the granddaughter, we found that we had more in common: we were both planning on visiting Versailles the next day! We invited her to come with us, which she accepted. We agreed to meet at 9 the next morning at the corner across from the restaurant that we were eating at, and left to go back to our respective apartments.

Things to know:

always make sure that you have a key on your person before locking the door. always.

be prepared to be locked in the gift shop when you're climbing up to the towers of Notre Dame. It's perfect (I hope) normal. also, be prepared to climb up to the towers of Notre Dame. There were quite a few people who weren't all that pleasantly surprised when they saw the number of steps.

also, some cool information about a cool guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invader_%28artist%29
http://space.invaders.paris.free.fr/
http://www.space-invaders.com/som.html

in the event that you're in paris and you're hungry:

Chez Janou: 2, rue Roger Verlomme - 75003 Paris. Phone number: 01 42 72 28 41

Apparently it's been a year.

Apparently I've had a blog for an entire year. That's a surprise.
And I didn't even make a blog post about it on the right day! That's a little sad.

So, happy (ever so slightly belated) birthday blog! I wrote you some haiku:

I have had this blog
for over a single year
but I'm still not cool.

it's not your birthday.
I'm sorry that I forgot
here, have a cupcake.

this is not witty
though I yearn for it to be
I'll try hard next time.

keys click-clack and I
would like to apologize
for forgetting you.

blog blog blog blog blog
you are a very good blog
blog blog blog blog blog

here's to hoping that my haiku skills and blogging ability will improve over time.

With lurve,

Pi.

Day 3

[Day 1][Day 2][Day 3]

Day 3: I woke up at 9 in the morning, and (as would become our morning routine) went to Moulin de Rosa to get breakfast. We bought a single baguette, which I held as we walked back to the apartment. It made me feel ever so Parisian. We broke our bread at the apartment and ate it with the fruit and jam that we had picked up at Monoprix, as well as the butter and Nutella that we found in our apartment.

After breakfast we jumped onto the bus and went to the Louvre.

I'm really astounded by I.M. Pei's glass pyramid. The space beneath it was all illuminated by the natural light let in by the pyramid- making it infinitely more open and airy. I'm starting to think that I really like architecture a lot.

We entered in the Denon wing, where we flashed our fancy museum passes and went right in to seeing the art. We walked up a staircase and through a room filled with Roman antiquities until we were faced with another staircase, which we knew to hold the Winged Victory at the top. (My Grandpa still talks about the angel at the top of the big staircase sometimes, so I knew where it was.) We walked up and found ourselves face to face (I suppose that I shouldn't say face, as she doesn't really have one) with the Winged Victory of Samonthrace.

The Victory stands on the prow of a ship. The angle from which you see the statue in the picture above is the direction that you're supposed to look at it- not head on. The other half of the body lacks the fine details present in this side, leading many people (including the author of the guide book that I read) to believe that the Victory was intended to be seen at an angle. After seeing the Winged Victory we walked through some of the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities section.

The Venus de Milo was crowded. Impressive, but very, very, very, crowded. Trying to take pictures normally ended up with a group of people in the corners. Still, really impressive.

Walked back through some of the Roman Antiquities and into the Italian Sculpture room in the Sculpture section. I think that I might have gone to heaven. Really, truly, it might have happened.

Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss - Antonio Canova


Dying Slaves - Michelangelo


Le Cardinal de Richelieu - Bernini
( I LOVE YOU BERNINI AS;KLFASFD LETS BE FRIENDS.)


mystery statue!

We made a loop somewhere and found ourselves in the Apollo Gallery- home to some of the Crown Jewels. After this time, we left the Louvre and walked to Ile-St.-Louis. We passed through the Marche aux fleurs again. (Can I just take a moment to say that it was beautiful? it was beautiful. Not large- but perfect nonetheless.)

The wind started to pick up as we walked from Ile-de-la-Cite to Ile-St.-Louis, and it was drizzling by the time we reached a place to eat. We ate lunch at a place called Cafe Med, where the waitress sung along with classic American pop/rock on the radio and smiled at me when we made eye contact. After lunch we walked to Berthillon to enjoy a delicious ice cream cone.

After eating ice cream and walking around Ile-St.-Louis, we walked back to Ile-de-la-Cite. The wind and the rain were picking up, so we went inside of Notre Dame. It wasn't crowded when we entered, but it seemed to be that there were many people doing the same as us: seeking shelter. (from the rain, and from other things.) I'm not religious- and the fact that there were people around me feeling the warmth of some divine light made me shiver with cold and a strange type of loneliness.

We walked through the cathedral for a while, taking in all of the spectacular stained glass and arches and columns. The back half of the cathedral was closed in preparation for evening mass, so we didn't get a good view of the rose windows. When the rain had let up we walked over to the Cite metro stop where we boarded a train and went back to the Louvre.

Again we entered through the Denon wing, but this time we went straight to the first floor, largely resuming where we had left off. We walked though the Italian paintings of the 13th-15th centuries, and I must say that I apologize for having been entirely too thrilled by my surroundings. But, again, can you really blame me? I'm me, and I'm an art nerd. Had the museum guards been watching me with a more critical eye, I may have been told off for salivating too much. Art is cool! (please don't judge me too harshly.)

Leonardo di Vinci
Baccus/Saint Jean-Baptiste, La Vierge aux Rochers, Saint Jean-Baptiste

Of course, we saw the Mona Lisa.
Through a swarm. And a six foot protective bubble. And five inches of glass.

Still, I saw her, and I smiled back at her, but I don't think that she really noticed because she was too busy concerning herself with the fact that she was absolutely adored.

After exiting the room that the Mona Lisa was kept in, I found myself facing La Belle Jardiniere by Raphael. I think that my gasp might have been audible. (that's a little bit embarrassing, so I'm trusting that's going to stay between you and me.) (Because the internet is a great place to keep secrets.)

After getting my fill of Italian paintings (that's a laugh. Like that would ever happen at all. Let's try that again:) After I realized how limited my time was, I decided that I would have to save the rest of the hall for my next trip to Paris, and continued to the Large Format French paintings.

Oedipe explique l'enigme du sphinx, La Grande Odalisque
Ingres


Pygmalion et Galatee (detail)
Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson

One of my favorite paintings. :D My mom loves the movie My Fair Lady, so I'm no stranger to the story of Pygmalion. Still, this picture is absolutely wonderful and fantastic. Don't look at her. Please don't look at her. Ignore the fact that she is naked, and just look at Pygmalion. He's positively perfect. See that look of awe? The way that he is tentatively reaching out to confirm her reality(or possibly grope her)? Love is good. This picture is good.

I'm not really sure how much I like or dislike David. I'm leaning (at the moment) to strongly adore him, but that might only be due to the fact that I watched the Simon Schama's Power of Art episode about him. Other paintings that I saw the Coronation of Napoleon, the Oath of the Horatii, the Intervention of the Sabine Women, and The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons, all of which were immense and fantastic.

Remember this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erbd9cZpxps ?

At 1:15 starts the piece Death of Marat, by Jacques-Louis David. That's another reason why I'm liking David at this moment. And when Marat opens his eyes three seconds later? I swoon.

Raft of the Medusa
Gericault

1:05 in 70 million, if you were curious.



Liberty Leading the People
Delacroix

2:05 in 70 million.

(I hope that you understand that the video for 70 million is my second favorite music video of all time. I am an art geek and it thrills me. I'mma let you finish, but Bob Dylan had my favorite music video of all time with Subterranean Homesick Blues.)

After seeing much of the Large format paintings, we went to the ground floor and entered the Richelieu wing, where Hammurabi's Code was. (An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.) We also walked into the Palace of Sargon II.

This smile will never stop being hilarious to me.

From the Palace we went up to the second floor into the German, Flemish, and Dutch Painting section. There were a large number of vanitas, and I felt ever so clever for knowing why there were soap bubbles and wilting flowers and other symbolic things like that adorning the tabletops. We walked through the Reubens room rather quickly, I think, and went to see The Lacemaker by Vermeer. After seeing The Lacemaker, I walked up to one of the guards and clumsily asked them in French for directions. They were really nice, and I think that they might have felt bad for me because I was so apologetic, and gave me good directions to get to our last destination for the night: Poussin.

My camera had died at this point, so I don't have anything to show you, but I will tell you that Et In Arcadia Ego (Even in Arcadia I Exist) is just as great as it looked in Art History class.

Left the Louvre as it was getting late, and took the train back to the Monoprix where we bought eggs for dinner. (I also picked up two packages of Kinder Eggs because they are really wonderful and I don't eat them enough.) We picked up a bottle of wine for my aunt and cousin and I picked up a bottle of Orangina. (The advertisements for which that I saw in the metro seem to always include scantily clad animals. Don't ask, because I don't know how to answer.)

At the apartment we scrambled our eggs and ate them and fell asleep.

Things to Know:

Allow yourself plenty of time to see things if you're going to the Louvre. If your trip is going to be long enough, try to make several visits. Know what you're going to do before you get there, and don't waste time looking at things that you don't absolutely adore.

in the event that you're ever in Paris and you're hungry:

Cafe Med: 77 rue Saint Louis-en-l'ile, 75004 Paris. Phone number: 01 43 29 73 17

Berthillon: 29-31 rue saint Louis-en-l'ile, 75004 Paris. Phone number: 01 43 54 31 61

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