Song of the day

Sticking with the theme of "country" music, my friend Vincent has decided he's found my celebrity look-alike in the following clip. Disregard the hair and watch the face; those are his instructions. I also council you to ignore the hands. Also a bit creepy.



Apparently the film version of my life would go as follows:

Vincent says: (12:17:11 AM)
"this summer"
Vincent says: (12:17:23 AM)
"a sleepwalker is going to find love"
Vincent says: (12:17:28 AM)
(explosions)
Vincent says: (12:18:00 AM)
"from the great minds who brought you twilight and fast and furious"

I don't know that the critics will like it, but it's sure to make a bundle.

Umm, story of my life?

I soooo want to see this movie.

I love velib'

I'm in such a good mood today! Stephanie convinced me to give the velib' (the bike rental system in Paris) another try, and let me tell you, it was WONDERFUL! We whizzed along the Seine from Jardin des Plantes to the Musée d'Orsay. Then we hiked around the 7th and 6th, finally settling in at Jardin du Luxembourg for a picnic. It was a bit chillier than we expected and had to use my blanket (a present/hand-me-down from Judith) to cover up with rather than sit on. It was still fantastic. I took the bike back to my place, only getting confused by one-way streets a handful of times. I just don't seem to notice those when I'm walking.

For those of you interested, here's just another reason why I love Obama:
Obama's garden

Ooooommmmmmmm

I went to my first ever meditation class today. A friend of mine is going to start offering them at a yoga studio in Paris, and he needed guinea pigs. Meditation instructors don't require licensing as yoga instructors do, so he needed to prove to the management he could run a class. It was actually pretty interesting.

I admit, I was a bit skeptical, but it turned out to be a positive experience. To give you an idea of what was running through my head while meditating, here's a brief recap:

Ok, breathe in, breathe out, clear your head. Hmmm, sigh, phrewwww, *honk* is that a truck? I wonder what it would be like to meditate in the countryside. It'd probably be even louder there, birds squaking, tractors rumbling, . . . stop thinking, ok, I can do this. exhale, inhale. . . . . . . . . . . . Ohh, did I just stop thinking? Crap, I ruined it. Ok, try again. Think about a soothing place. I am a monk living on a remote mountain,. . . . . . . . heeheehee, that's too funny, am I even supposed to visualize something? I know I'm supposed to let the thoughts flow through me, to simply observe. . . . my arm really itches. Can I scratch it? Try not to scratch it. Oh. my. god. I really want to scratch now. Maybe I can just take a peek to see if anyone's watching. Oh good, everyone has their eyes closed. *scratch scratch* Wow, I should have moisturized. My skin sounds like sandpaper! And why is my mouth so full of spit! I feel like if I tried to talk I would start drooling. Maybe that means I'm doing it right. My meditation juices are flowing. Look at me! I'm meditating! Woo! Calm down. Relax. Breathe in. . . . .. . . EXHALE EXHALE, what are you doing, you're not underwater. This meditation stuff is way more complicated than I though!

Elites Cosanguines

There was a bit of excitement at Sciences Po yesterday. Some students from the public university broke into Sciences Po in public demonstration of Sarkozy's university reforms. While I believe the movement's gripes are more legitimate than those of the student strike last year, the demonstration yesterday was nothing if not counterproductive.

The demonstrators' number one target was the Sciences Po student body. They interrupted classes, forcing the university to temporarily close all of the buildings, and called the students incestuous perpetuators of an elitist, bourgeois system. I guess I should blame my parents for raising me with two many privileges on the farm.

The thing that got me was that they were more interested in tearing down Sciences Po than building up their own university. I believe in equality, but not if it means holding people back. Sciences Po has been the most progressive of the "elitist" schools in terms of active recruting in depressed communities. There is certainly room to improve, but I think that has more to do with access to better schools at a younger age to prepare students for the selective admission process.

http://www.liberation.fr/societe/0101556055-reforme-des-universites-la-contestation-s-invite-a-sciences-po

Soirée fluo/bling bling

This weekend I hosted a surprisingly successful party in my 18m2 apartment. The theme was fluo (florescent) and bling bling. It was definitely colorful. Here are a few photo highlights:

Elizabeth, Sarah & Matteo
Sciences Po friends


Agathe, Sophie & Emna
HEC friends


Alexis, Audrey & Spencer
Sustainable Development Master friends (Sciences Po)


Stephanie & Elizabeth

(2/3 of the American front)

Can't get enough of this video; makes me want to dance.

Circlesquare - Dancers from Bienvenido Cruz on Vimeo.

Testing out the new camera

My new favorite Japanese restaurant

Judith

Stephanie

I found a car smaller than the Smart car

Authentic Chinese food