Another video you don't have to watch per se, but should probably have projecting on the living room wall of your next house party:
16.1.10
Feels
FEELS... on a number of levels.
I've been listening to the Animal Collective album "Feels" a lot lately, one of their early-ish experimental albums/bonus discs. Here's a video to a live version of "Banshee Beats" played at Coachella 2006, which I'm not asking you to watch (it's more than 9 minutes long and poorly shot) but at least just minimize it and have a listen:
....................
I'm becoming less dexterous. As in, I'm developping mountain man hands and losing my ability to do small movements with my fingers, like untie shoes and play the violin. When in Rome, right? That's what I thought… I just hope it's not permanent.
Rock climbing + skiing + wielding hiking poles + using pitchforks = super grip, poor needlepoint skills.
.....................
Digital deformities. I've seen several people in town with missing fingers, malformed fingers (one of my teachers has a left thumb that wants to be two, badly), entire hands gone. I've probably seen about six different people in Gerardmer alone that have these… problems. Shrinking gene pool, too much wood chopping, or both?
.....................
I've been listening to the Animal Collective album "Feels" a lot lately, one of their early-ish experimental albums/bonus discs. Here's a video to a live version of "Banshee Beats" played at Coachella 2006, which I'm not asking you to watch (it's more than 9 minutes long and poorly shot) but at least just minimize it and have a listen:
....................
I'm becoming less dexterous. As in, I'm developping mountain man hands and losing my ability to do small movements with my fingers, like untie shoes and play the violin. When in Rome, right? That's what I thought… I just hope it's not permanent.
Rock climbing + skiing + wielding hiking poles + using pitchforks = super grip, poor needlepoint skills.
.....................
Digital deformities. I've seen several people in town with missing fingers, malformed fingers (one of my teachers has a left thumb that wants to be two, badly), entire hands gone. I've probably seen about six different people in Gerardmer alone that have these… problems. Shrinking gene pool, too much wood chopping, or both?
.....................
11.1.10
Proof
Some pictures that my neighbor took of me during our mountaineering trip that I would normally think of as creepy but of which I am instead appreciative because I have no other photographic evidence of my first excursion into the Vosges tundra:
before heading out
on our way to la crete (the crest)
learning how to walk sideways up the snow
practicing falling and catching myself with the icepick
dying
i'm the one in grey
a shady shot through the trees... a well-captured memory nonetheless
10.1.10
This is the first day of the rest of my life
...or at least the rest of my time in France, most likely. The snow has officially hit the Vosges enough for winter sports to be fully underway, and will probably be here until I leave in April. Some ways I've started to adapt/force myself into this below-freezing environment:
1. WWOOFing. I went back again to Susanne's farm this Wednesday and hacked at frozen piles of horse manure with a pickaxe for a couple hours. I was fed a hearty breakfast and lunch and given a half hour-long German lesson. It's a start.
2. Hiking. Some good old-fashioned marching in the snow. I went, also this past Wednesday (it was a long, cold day), on a short hike through the ski pistes with my neighbors, Isabelle and Alain, who are insanely fit, incredibly friendly, indelibly outdoorsy (okay okay...). I work with them at school and go climbing with both of them on Tuesdays at the rock wall (needless to say, they're middle-aged). They lent me a ton of equipment, since I have ni boots ni clothes ni special accoutrements, like hiking poles or a day pack. They also feed me sometimes, which is nice.
3. Skiing. I started yesterday with ski de fond (cross-country skiing), which involves very thin skis, very small hills, and a lot of balance. It's different from downhill skiing in that you start on flat ground and have your heels free (only your toes are clipped in). You kind of march/slide on flat ground, clip-clop with your skiis splayed out like duck's feet while going uphill, and ride downhill with parallel skiis. No slaloming! Or you'll eat it, like I did about five times.
4. Alpinisme (mountaineering). The nuttiest seasonal adaptation of mine thus far. Today was my first official outing with le club alpin francais des Vosges -- the same club that I do rock climbing with every Tuesday. In short, mountaineering involves a helmet, ice picks, crampons, multiple layers of Gore-Tex (thanks Scott! I was mad warm out there today), and some ropes. We went to the highest point in the Vosges, Le Hohneck, and started out by descending into a small (but steep!) valley. After a few exercises -- practicing falling down and catching yourself with your ice pick, practicing going uphill, downhill, etc. -- we started climbing up the other side of the valley, using our ice picks as crutches and digging our crampons into the ice and frozen shrubbery. I'm more exhausted than I have ever been in my life; my muscles are sore to the touch, and I'm spattered with bruises (mostly from skiing yesterday, though). And I didn't take this picture, but this is really what it looked like today, just with some trees:
More than anything, these sports have made me realize what we -- humans -- can do when we have no choice. Exhausted, but you're halfway up a mountain? Too bad; keep climbing. Scared to death to scamper down that slope? Oh well, there goes everyone else. Of course, I didn't want to be a chochotte (wimp) so I didn't say anything, but I was pretty scared most of the time. Yet being scared combined with exhaustion makes for a goal-oriented animal, you know? Maybe by "goal-oriented" I mean "desperate."
Finally, some food for thought (thanks, Danny): colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
1. WWOOFing. I went back again to Susanne's farm this Wednesday and hacked at frozen piles of horse manure with a pickaxe for a couple hours. I was fed a hearty breakfast and lunch and given a half hour-long German lesson. It's a start.
2. Hiking. Some good old-fashioned marching in the snow. I went, also this past Wednesday (it was a long, cold day), on a short hike through the ski pistes with my neighbors, Isabelle and Alain, who are insanely fit, incredibly friendly, indelibly outdoorsy (okay okay...). I work with them at school and go climbing with both of them on Tuesdays at the rock wall (needless to say, they're middle-aged). They lent me a ton of equipment, since I have ni boots ni clothes ni special accoutrements, like hiking poles or a day pack. They also feed me sometimes, which is nice.
3. Skiing. I started yesterday with ski de fond (cross-country skiing), which involves very thin skis, very small hills, and a lot of balance. It's different from downhill skiing in that you start on flat ground and have your heels free (only your toes are clipped in). You kind of march/slide on flat ground, clip-clop with your skiis splayed out like duck's feet while going uphill, and ride downhill with parallel skiis. No slaloming! Or you'll eat it, like I did about five times.
4. Alpinisme (mountaineering). The nuttiest seasonal adaptation of mine thus far. Today was my first official outing with le club alpin francais des Vosges -- the same club that I do rock climbing with every Tuesday. In short, mountaineering involves a helmet, ice picks, crampons, multiple layers of Gore-Tex (thanks Scott! I was mad warm out there today), and some ropes. We went to the highest point in the Vosges, Le Hohneck, and started out by descending into a small (but steep!) valley. After a few exercises -- practicing falling down and catching yourself with your ice pick, practicing going uphill, downhill, etc. -- we started climbing up the other side of the valley, using our ice picks as crutches and digging our crampons into the ice and frozen shrubbery. I'm more exhausted than I have ever been in my life; my muscles are sore to the touch, and I'm spattered with bruises (mostly from skiing yesterday, though). And I didn't take this picture, but this is really what it looked like today, just with some trees:
More than anything, these sports have made me realize what we -- humans -- can do when we have no choice. Exhausted, but you're halfway up a mountain? Too bad; keep climbing. Scared to death to scamper down that slope? Oh well, there goes everyone else. Of course, I didn't want to be a chochotte (wimp) so I didn't say anything, but I was pretty scared most of the time. Yet being scared combined with exhaustion makes for a goal-oriented animal, you know? Maybe by "goal-oriented" I mean "desperate."
Finally, some food for thought (thanks, Danny): colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
5.1.10
COTW
I already ate the whole thing, but it was good enough to document: Tourteau Fromager de Poitou:
It's really a gateau made with cheese, but since I found it in the cheese section of the grocery store, I'm counting it. It's a special kind of cake made in the Poitou-Charentes region of France that's eaten on weddings or special occasions, though the instructions on the box tell me I can eat it whenever I want!
While I'm on the topic of exciting dairy news, let me introduce you to thiakry, a Senegalese dessert that I discovered on my last day in Paris at an awesome West African restaurant. I liked it so much that I asked the owner what was in it, and then I made it myself:
It's normally made with a type of black Senegalese couscous that's of course impossible to find in Vosgien grocery stores, so I made it with a quinoa/white couscous/bulgur mix, and sweetened it with honey instead of sugar.
Sure it's great to cook new things, but what I really want to be doing is THIS:
It's really a gateau made with cheese, but since I found it in the cheese section of the grocery store, I'm counting it. It's a special kind of cake made in the Poitou-Charentes region of France that's eaten on weddings or special occasions, though the instructions on the box tell me I can eat it whenever I want!
While I'm on the topic of exciting dairy news, let me introduce you to thiakry, a Senegalese dessert that I discovered on my last day in Paris at an awesome West African restaurant. I liked it so much that I asked the owner what was in it, and then I made it myself:
It's normally made with a type of black Senegalese couscous that's of course impossible to find in Vosgien grocery stores, so I made it with a quinoa/white couscous/bulgur mix, and sweetened it with honey instead of sugar.
Sure it's great to cook new things, but what I really want to be doing is THIS:
3.1.10
Eff that.
I didn't make a New Year's resolution this year because I think they're silly. Instead, I'm making a list of all the very seriously excellent things that have happened in my life since last January (in no particular order). We'll figure out this upcoming year later.
1. Graduated college
2. Moved to France
3. Saw awesome live music (Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective, Busy P, Armin van Buuren, The Roots)!
4. Went on some great roadtrips (Potsdam, Caravan)
5. Fell in love!
6. Became a vegetarian for realz
7. Saw the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama
8. Visited the Mediterranean coast
9. Changed my beauty/body lifestyle -- started making my own shampoo, abandoned lotion, let my hair grow out…
10. WWOOFed (more serious WWOOFing adventures to come in February)
On a smaller scale, I've had other successes in the past year as well, like taking up some new hobbies (rock climbing, hiking, cycling), starting to learn another language (German), reading all the books I've been meaning to read for years, getting my first paid piece of writing published. And there are all sorts of things currently in the works -- graduate school, living in New York, a reunion with my friends from Australia (Brussels in April!), a halfway-crocheted alpaca scarf that's been sitting on my desk waiting to be finished. 2009 was awesome, en effet!
It amuses me, makes me happy, and allows me to realize the inevitable mutability of the human mind that, after each passing year, I'm convinced I've had the best year ever.
1. Graduated college
2. Moved to France
3. Saw awesome live music (Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective, Busy P, Armin van Buuren, The Roots)!
4. Went on some great roadtrips (Potsdam, Caravan)
5. Fell in love!
6. Became a vegetarian for realz
7. Saw the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama
8. Visited the Mediterranean coast
9. Changed my beauty/body lifestyle -- started making my own shampoo, abandoned lotion, let my hair grow out…
10. WWOOFed (more serious WWOOFing adventures to come in February)
On a smaller scale, I've had other successes in the past year as well, like taking up some new hobbies (rock climbing, hiking, cycling), starting to learn another language (German), reading all the books I've been meaning to read for years, getting my first paid piece of writing published. And there are all sorts of things currently in the works -- graduate school, living in New York, a reunion with my friends from Australia (Brussels in April!), a halfway-crocheted alpaca scarf that's been sitting on my desk waiting to be finished. 2009 was awesome, en effet!
It amuses me, makes me happy, and allows me to realize the inevitable mutability of the human mind that, after each passing year, I'm convinced I've had the best year ever.
2.1.10
Thoughts, by Rachel
I've wasted a lot of money discovering things. I mean, I've learned a lot.
My sisters are the coolest people on the planet.
Go see Max et les Maximonstres ("Where The Wild Things Are")!
I don't like places that pride themselves on luxury.
…………….
Aside from the tooth affair in Strasbourg and the brief food poisoning episode in Paris (fennel or pizza, we'll never know), les vacances were a success. I made it to the City of Lights on time and with all of my wisdom teeth intact, and promptly began what is thus far the most stereotypically touristic, ridiculous family vacation of my short little life. The highs were high (group hug atop the Arc de Triomphe, family dogpile, sister soirees), the lows low (the after-dinner cheese incident, tearful mother-daughter misunderstandings, pathetic New Year's Eve), the French mispronunciations severe.
But the "bon-swahs" aside ("is it 'soir' already? Damn" - Emily), the trip was a wonderful time warp that effectively threw me back into city mode and suddenly made the serenity of the Vosges seem tiresome (and so cold!). It all comes down to diversity -- diversity of age, color, size, shape, expression, style, culture, cuisine. I miss seeing people my own age; I miss hearing different kinds of music and smelling exotic smells; I miss feeling like I'm part of a community.
Mais pourtant, there's nothing I can do about it except continue to make the most out of my surroundings and not turn into a puddle of self-pitying sludge. There's still something awesome about eating locally, having mountains in my backyard, and living the slow life, since I almost certainly won't have access to any of these things once I return stateside. And that's how this whole thing works, right? Have something great, lose it, learn something, turn what you have into something else great, become a better, stronger person? Alchemy.
…………………..
Highlights from Strasbourg, la capitale de Noel:
And from Paris, city of lights, city of love, city of lost tourists -- the major attractions:
…the art:
…the fam:
Here goes France part two!
My sisters are the coolest people on the planet.
Go see Max et les Maximonstres ("Where The Wild Things Are")!
I don't like places that pride themselves on luxury.
…………….
Aside from the tooth affair in Strasbourg and the brief food poisoning episode in Paris (fennel or pizza, we'll never know), les vacances were a success. I made it to the City of Lights on time and with all of my wisdom teeth intact, and promptly began what is thus far the most stereotypically touristic, ridiculous family vacation of my short little life. The highs were high (group hug atop the Arc de Triomphe, family dogpile, sister soirees), the lows low (the after-dinner cheese incident, tearful mother-daughter misunderstandings, pathetic New Year's Eve), the French mispronunciations severe.
But the "bon-swahs" aside ("is it 'soir' already? Damn" - Emily), the trip was a wonderful time warp that effectively threw me back into city mode and suddenly made the serenity of the Vosges seem tiresome (and so cold!). It all comes down to diversity -- diversity of age, color, size, shape, expression, style, culture, cuisine. I miss seeing people my own age; I miss hearing different kinds of music and smelling exotic smells; I miss feeling like I'm part of a community.
Mais pourtant, there's nothing I can do about it except continue to make the most out of my surroundings and not turn into a puddle of self-pitying sludge. There's still something awesome about eating locally, having mountains in my backyard, and living the slow life, since I almost certainly won't have access to any of these things once I return stateside. And that's how this whole thing works, right? Have something great, lose it, learn something, turn what you have into something else great, become a better, stronger person? Alchemy.
…………………..
Highlights from Strasbourg, la capitale de Noel:
And from Paris, city of lights, city of love, city of lost tourists -- the major attractions:
[inside Notre Dame]
[the Louvre]
[la Tour Eiffel]
[Sacre Coeur]
[Moulin Rouge]
[cimetiere Montparnasse]
…the art:
[@ the Louvre]
[@ the Museum of Modern Art]
[@ the Louvre]
[inside the Arc de Triomphe]
…the other cool stuff:
[close-up fleur-de-lis]
[Foucault's pendulum, @ the Pantheon]
[driver's view in the metro]
…the fam:
[the treeeeeee]
[the sisters]
[the Smuckers do Paris, '09]
....................................
Here goes France part two!
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