soleilisme

Do you ever feel like you need something and have a perfect idea of how it should look like or how it should work, but you can’t find anything like it stores? That’s what happened to me when I decided I needed an earring rack. Somewhere to hang my earrings on, instead of having them all tangled in a box. It drove me nuts!

And so I started looking around in various shops and online, without finding anything that looked like what I had in mind. Maybe I didn’t look in the right places? You tell me.

Basta! (”that’s it!” in Italian) I decided to make my own. After a few concept trials (in my head) I decided to go with a simple electrical wire and small wood dowel design.

I made a basic drawing not forgetting the vital elements to beat gravity, I took some fairly small pliers, a wire cutter and on I went! Trying to figure out how the whole thing would stand and stay standing, with my tongue sticking out like a kid, stepping away and coming back to it with fresh ideas every few minutes, like an artist.

It’s far from being perfect! It’s got some funky details and is *almost* very straight.

But hey, now I can eyeball, pick up and put back my earrings neatly in seconds.
I feel like I invented something.

In the past few months I have been a little more involved in online community sites like Facebook, MySpace and Copains d’Avant.

It turns out that MySpace really turns me off. The layouts are messy, and even if it’s great for some people and even some artists, there’s just too much noise on that site for me.
However, Facebook and Copains d’Avant really have been working for me because I ended up finding a bunch of people in France I used to go to school with. From 2nd grade to college. It’s so cool!

I got into Facebook because of work. We were running ads I needed to check on a couple of applications (man what a burden!). But I wouldn’t have signed up unless I had a real purpose, like the work one. Anyhow, one day, out of the blue, one of my good high school friends writes something on my wall. And I was floored! I was jumping up and down thinking how crazy this is and how happy I am to see this girl’s face after so many years. Turns out, she hasn’t changed much.

So, I thought to myself, if she found me, there probably are many other people I know out there! It actually never occurred to me before that French people could be using Facebook. Well, they are!
I found 10 people so far… That’s 5 from elementary school, 4 from middle school and 1 from high school.

The other online community I got into is Copains d’Avant. A French site meant to link up “friends from before” or “friends of the past”. You can say which schools you went to during what years and it pulls a list of all other members with the same criteria. So cool! The interface isn’t quite as nice as Facebook (which is not that great itself), but sure enough, I found people… 9 of them.
3 from elementary school, 2 from middle school, 3 from high school and 1 from college.

Let’s do the math here. Number of people I haven’t heard from in 10 years or more and just appeared on my screen lately and who I know from:
ElementarySchool — 8
Middle School — 6
High School — 4
College — 1   Update 2/3/08: 2

All these people have played a significant role in my younger years and just the thought of perhaps seeing some of them next time we go to France, just gives me shivers and happy chills.

… apart from enjoying their wonderful company? Laying on the inflatable mattress and let my weight deflate it.
Feeling my body be consumed by this mass of moldable plastic is highly meditative. I come out of this experience refreshed, with a big smile on my face and the desire to do it again.

So please, if ever you come to our house for a night or two, let me deflate the bed, please! Or OK, I can let you try it, but I’ll have to re-inflate it to get to go on the ride again :)

… that means “my nose is a potato”.

In English it doesn’t seem to translate, but a French person would know that it means I have a cold and my nose feels like a potato because it’s raw, feels huge and ugly!

Why potato? Is it because French people tend to have big noses? I wonder.

But right now, yes. My nose is a potato.

… playing with MacBook’s PhotoBooth and imagining an alternate reality. Fun!

This is me if I were to be a camel. My favorite! Except, I don’t spit.

So, imagine Justin and I growing old and bored…

… and packin’ on the pounds

Justin takes it all in the neck!

At times, Justin is so bored he wants to punch my cheek out…

…or pull my ear, little brat!…

…but I forgive him and we still love each other…

…and it fills me joy!!!

Check out other people’s photobooth pics on flickr :)

And so after dancing, working, hiking, working, dancing, working and dancing some more… my body kinda hurts. I was starting to get sciatic pains, my right knee was killing me when I was walking even on short distances, my neck kept getting tight. And all on the right side.

Today, I finally treated myself with a long over-due therapeutic massage. Jeff, who dug his fingers into my muscles, knew what he was doing. It wasn’t one of these relaxing, mmm, oh yes massages. It was more of an ouch, woa, man it kinda hurts in a weirdly great way massage, from a Filipino technique. He found all the spots I’ve been aching, all the muscle chains that were pulling onto each other. Sometimes it almost felt like he was digging below a group of muscles to reach other muscles. Wow!
Now, I feel opened and a little sore. We’ll see about tomorrow :)

But that’s not the end! I thought to myself… well, while I’m at it, why not get a manicure? And so I did. It’s been a year I haven’t had one. Felt sooo good! I love watching my hands now.

Look… this is me forgetting how to spell words typing this blog post with beautiful nails.

I don’t feel like I have a lot to say lately. Wait, that’s not true, I feel I have many things to say, but I’m lazy. Wait, that’s not true, I’m not lazy, I am just allowing myself to breathe. Yes, that’s right.

Many things are going on in my life, but I have no desire to spend a lot of time reporting them. Since dance slowed down, I’m allowing myself to daydream, take naps (sometimes 2 hours long!), fart around (sometimes literally) and not worry about how I didn’t get such and such accomplished.

It’s been a long while since I’ve let myself have mellow nights.

Hurray for nothingness! Hurray for ups and downs!

What is Blog Action Day?On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

So, here’s the topic I’d like to bring up about the environment:

Smoking in National and State Parks

Justin and I just came back from a road trip in Utah, visiting many breathtaking National parks. We stopped at many overlooks and vista points, went on hikes, took pictures, sat down and had snacks, camped. Why did we do this? To appreciate the great works of nature. To feel like an ant in the middle of a giant rocky landscape. To remind ourselves how important, precious, delicate and strong nature is.

Apparently, intentions or appreciations weren’t the same for everyone. Practically in every short hike (or longer as a matter of fact), or highly trafficked vista point, there was someone smoking. Even while hiking! I thought to myself “How can anyone smoke in such a scenery?”

And I’m an ex-smoker. I smoked for 10 years! I know what it’s like to feel like you gotta light a cigarette as soon as you step outside the car, or while you’re waiting for anything. But never, NEVER would I have smoked in the wild or in obviously preserved lands. I have too much respect for nature to even pollute its air. Not even talking about polluting other people, just the air.

Ok so even if we skip the “polluting the air” part of the disgrace. Once you’re finished with the cigarette, where does go, huh? Where? That’s right, on the ground or flicked behind a bush. And what is that called? Littering, polluting!!! I don’t know any smoker who would put out the cigarette and save it for the next trash can. Why? Because the cold ash smell stinks too much even for a smoker to bear. Do you think the land and animals can bear it better than you? Grrr.

PLEASE NEVER SMOKE IN NATIONAL AND STATE PARKS. They are parks for a reason! And do yourself a favor… hike with clean air and keep the air clean for others.

Today was the official first rainy day since I got my Vespa (in May). I actually am really happy it rained, nature really could use it.

The only thing is… riding in the rain. It wasn’t that bad this morning, as I was mentally prepared not to ride too fast, not to go in between car, not to turn on painted areas and just to be extra-cautious, as I know some drivers freak out when there’s water on the road. Drivers, think about it, you’re protected! I’m on 2 wheels, with no roof or windshield wipers and still on the road!!!

The only uncomfortable thing was getting my legs wet. I need to get some rainproof pants. My thighs got wet on top and my jacket was dripping right into my crotch… the wind made everything so cold that I felt like it was burning!

Luckily, I was smart enough to bring a change of pants to work, so I could ensure being dry all day. Yipee me!

PS: “Flic Flac Floc ” or “Flic Floc” is apparently a French only way of referring to rain or puddles… how is it in English?

This picture is an old picture I took on my cell phone of the dryer we use at the laundromat around the corner (I finally found out how to get my cell pics onto my computer!).

Do you see that red rectangular thing in the middle? Yep, that’s fire! The dryer heat is apparently created by a fire chamber in the back and controlled by a little vent that opens and closes depending on how much heat is needed… When the door opens, we can see the flames!!! When Justin and I saw that, we were in shock!

Is it just me, or does look like a 19th century dryer mechanism? I wonder if somebody’s in the back with a shovel feeding the furnace with coals…