it all comes full circle

I love cliches so bare with me…History always repeats itself…I subsequently started to date the italian guy for the duration of my semester abroad after making out with him and his friends all on the same night…the only lesson i learned for this was to not make out with more than one person in one night…because I am still involving myself with guys and their friends…which never ever a good idea and never works out for any party involved…ever…but what can I say? I’m trying…

Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 09:24:06 -0600
Subject: another one already?…but of course!
you were probably wondering when i’m going to start my vast european travels and
random hookups…(i have been getting emails asking those specifics) well…
on saturday i went to geneva and i loved it.  its beautiful and only 2 hours
away on the slow train (so its closer to me in comparison to paris)…it was a
bit colder than an already cold lyon but i didnt mind, how could i complain in
a city filled with fancy chocolates and fancier timepieces (yes, alex
timepieces).
it was this girl’s birthday so we went back to lyon early so we could go
celebrate…we went to one of the supposed “it” places but we had a pretty big
bday group so the bouncer didnt let everyone in…we went to this other place
nearby that wasnt as cool and i along with others got bored quickly…i really
wanted to go back to the other place …i think it was all the porsches parked
outside calling my name…we went back and it was the same bouncer…but i
pulled a nora and told the guy that i do what i want, where i want, whenever i
want and walked in with everyone but minus a few from last time…i quickly
latched onto this really hot guy who turned out to be italian…we danced a bit
and to my pleasant surprise he had a table stocked up with absolut and
redbull…he had two other guy friends who were also very cute, a german and a
frenchie…i somehow managed to make-out with all 3 (separately of course) by
the end of the night…since i vowed celibacy in europe and basically in life
in general and i didnt want to look like too much of a slut in front of my new
friends by going home with a(the) guy(s)…i crashed at the birthday girl’s apt
instead….
the next night i went to an irish pub that was playing the eagles vs falcons
football game…i wandered off to the georgetown table and talked to a kid whom
ive never met before (he goes to lyon 3 and i go to lyon 2) he was very nice and
nicer looking
oh lyon i am proud to call you home now!

and what would [one of my] email[s] be without a completely bizzaro story?
on my way to the football game, i saw this like all out brawl between a
couple…at first i thought it was a sorry attempt to be a kung-fu like subway
act but as i got closer i heard all of the french profanities they were hurling
back at one another (vulgarity…one thing in french i am really good at, thanks
mialy) i realized they were an EXTREMELY disfunctional married couple…you ask
why i didnt look away and mind my own business? there is this mile long
escalator in the vieux lyon metro stop and they were at the top of it so i
couldnt avoid looking ahead at this spectacle…i also have to admit i found it
mildly amusing…i mean at times they took breaks and then like started
wrestling or whatever again…

love always

ps-ive finally found a culture that embraces 80s/techno/dance music the way i
do…i love it, i love it, and love it

 

back to my memoirs de franceeeeee

For your viewing pleasure, please see below:

 

Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 05:48:09 -0600
Subject: more escapades

yo!
i’m back in lyon now and pretty much settled in my apt…i got some stuff on
“soldes” from l’occitane to make the good old room smell good…there is some
sort of phenom going on in france right now called the soldes period
(everything is on sale) from what i hear there is a law that only allows stores
to mark stuff on sale in jan and again in aug…so in short its like black
friday and the day after xmas…but this lasts for 2 weeks…people are going
absolutely bonkers…
thanks to all the bday wishes and to all those who wanted to know, my address is
as follows:
9 rue ney
c/o B. Boissier
Lyon, France 69006
my landlord and his wife are really nice, they got me a box of chocolates for
moving in…of course i have a random funny story involving him…i asked him
if i could have guests come over and he respoded: “um, what you do in your own
time is your personal business, but keep in mind you only have a twin bed” my
response: “thats not exqactly what i meant, i mean like if i have friends from
out of town come and visit me can they stay here” we both laughed and he
offered to let me use his air mattress when the time comes…
back to paris for one more moment…i went to this dept. store called “le bon
marché”…i dont know how to describe this exquisite, ethereal, edifice (pardon
my assonance)…and wait, i just descibed it…its like barneys, bergdorf,
and/or henri bendel…but better…i went to this place next door called “le
grande épicerie de paris” (like a fancy whole foods) also owned by “le bon
marché” and not to my surprise it was also rive gauche…i got a box of
chocolates for the professor i stayed with in the beginning of my trip…
on my way back from paris, i went to this wal-mart like place called carre
four…i thought that i’d save a euro or two by getting some stuff there…but
i am retarded…i got lured in by the get a bottle free if you buy this 6 1.5 L
pack of evian…it was almost impossible to lug this around without losing the
feelings in my arms…so i sat on this bench in the mall besides 2 gypsies…i
proceded to unpack the bottles and shove them into my overnight duffle from
paris…5 min later security comes over and says to me that i “can not stay
here the mall is not for staying” i guess he was implying that i was homeless
or something!!?? it was more funny than embarassing…#1) i wasnt dressed like
a bum and #2) my duffle is Tumi…i’d like to conclude with the outrageous
detail that diet coke or coca light as its referred to here costs more than
evian…Not okay…but i like lyon a lot more now, in fact i can say that i do
like it…ive met some cool kids and i have a place to live…not bad at all.
for the first time in my life i feel like an adult…i dont live 2 feet away
from my friends, i live alone, and i have to commute to school…its
enlightening.

until next time,

 

who the F formulated this? “minority + grandpa = success”

I’m usually apathetic when it comes to politics.  The more and more I live life, the more and more disenchanted I get with politics and life in general…in order to prevent hours of argument and frustration, I have taken the stance of not caring…BUT at the same time – as I grow older, I can’t help be get “old people syndrome” – that is the need to voice your opinion when nobody cares about it anyway.  But I would love to have someone explain to me how “The Man” came up with the grandpa + minority campaign strategy?  Was it something like, “it will be so easy to suppress people’s true feelings about how old people, women and minorities can’t do anything anyway - issues aside – everyone likes to think they respect old people because they have so much experience and the idea that you just should respect an old man anyway…and anyone who has sentiments of guilt or the need for fairness in society would love to vote for a historically disenfranchised race/sex to even the score.”  I’ll just call this the marionette campaign for both Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin tickets…Thank you for making these two tickets seem so historical and revolutionary when in actuality it is the complete opposite.  ”The Man” is meerly showing us how easily manipulated old people and minorities can be when you mask their eyes and ears with a perceived opportunity to make change.  I am interested to see how this pans out – will either tickets actually have ideas and voices of their own apart from “The Man”?  Or are they just pawns out to do the work of the “The Man” like everyone else?  I’m inclined to side with the latter and that’s because “The Man” is the one who picked the tickets, “The Man” always wins…and who is “The Man”?  He is all of us.  

Also, I’d like to end this post with this statement to Sarah Palin’s daughter – Are you serious?

 

immaturity and relativity

Although 3 years may not seem like a long time to some…but time along with many other things, is relative…i’ve lived 12.5% more of my life since 2005 and i’m also no longer in college…so please keep that in mind while reading the below passage from my past.

Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:35:26 -0600
 Subject: i’m shorty its my birthday…

yo, i’d like to start this email off with telling you all that i am typing on an
american keyboard finally…

i think the people here think i go AUP (american university in paris) i use
their labs and show up randomly at AUP events…hahaha

yesterday…we went on this aup tour on a boat…it was like -5 C so i think the
coldness outweighed the beauty of the city on water…afterwards nora and
gillian booked it home and alex and i and a bunch of kids went to dinner…i
sat across from the most obnoxious kid in the world…it must have been his
BRACES cause he was trying to be funny in an 8th grade boy kind of way…his
parents must have played some sick joke on him because he is a little BEHIND
THE TIMES on his dental work and social behavior…his presence offended me and
my dining experience…also after dinner the gross waiter kissed my hand and
gave me the heeebeeegeeebees….

after after dinner…we split up and alex and her friends and i went to this
like pub sort of place that played american football…the patriots versus
whoever…it was full of men, which i liked very much, i stared around got a
round of tequila shots for my birthday at midnight and alex licked my neck…we
bounced that joint and went to a latin bar where we met these two dudes that
just got back from AMSTERDAM…they told us they had brought some quality goods
back from there…we quickly went back to this austrian girl melanie’s apt who
goes to aup…after like 15 minutes of smoking i had to pass out… i somehow
managed to randomly spend the night at melanie’s…can we mention the fact that
i have not slept in “my own bed” since i have gotten to europe?? hahahaha i am
such a sketchball….i walked back to alex’s apt this morning and got lunch
with her…and yeah, i dont know how i managed to understand how to get from
melanie’s to alex’s but that’s just me….then i got a second lunch like 30
minutes later with nora and gillian…the waiter overheard us talking about my
day of birth and brought me over tiramisu!!! which was delightful because i
love tiramisu like its my job…

bisous-bisous,

 

The Bizarro as a result of being a constant wanderer…

I am a magnet for bizarre occurrences.  At times it’s because i do a lot of random things that I know will probably draw negative effects…so I can’t blame anyone or anything other than myself because I am the one that is bringing it on…but sometimes…actually a lot of the times bizarro shit just happens to me! 

From looking back at these old emails, there are a lot of recurring themes…it’s interesting to look back on them now because I have grown and changed yet stayed the same in many aspects…one of the many things that I did in france and in the past that I don’t really do that much anymore is WANDER!  I suppose I did and still do sometimes wander because of my:

a) extreme ADD

b) curiosity/endless quest to explore the unknown

c) anything that becomes remotely familiar to me bugs me out

See below for more of my France 2005 experience.
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 09:59:47 -0600
Subject: france(part deux)

I have good news to tell you all!! i finally found an apt!!! after fudging
around every real estate place in lyon everyday after class i was getting very
discouraged…everything was either in east jabib or too expensive…BUT
One day in oral class we were asked to do a 5 minute speech about what we
thought about lyon so far and i talked about my homeless situation…after
class my prof. was like ‘did you make that up or are you serious?’ i said i was
serious…and he took me to the university of california housing office and i
met with a very nice lady who hooked me up! thanks UC. [note i did not go to UC]
I met some cool kids and some not so cool ones…
I am in paris right now to celebrate my bday…last night we went to a place
called Man Ray(much larger than Man Ray in NY)…i kinda wandered off for a
bit…but then my satelite radar found nora, gillian, and alex again…[In my time off wandering alone, I met some Persian man named Peyman who will show up again and again and again from my time in france].

a bientôt,

 

Live life like it’s TV

TV was a huge part of my upbringing as a child and I strongly believe it played a huge part in how and why I act the way I do today…I remember a Simpsons episode where Bart, Lisa and Maggie hug theTV because it was like another parent to them…I pictured myself in there with them doing the same thing…

With that said, I hope this blog will gain in popularity just like a tv series…the first few episodes, or in this case posts, are pretty “eh” but always leave the feeling that it will “get there soon”…so hopefully I will “get there” before I jump the shark.  I’ve finished reading my France emails and they definitely fit the mold…so bare with me as I post them…they get better…I promise.

 

Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 05:15:20 -0600
From: me
Reply-To: me
Subject: france …iguess

yo…sorry for the mass email, i wish i could email you all individually but
these keyboards suck enough as it is…along with my life…i am in lyon right
now staying at my professeur’s apt until i find a place of my own…yes, i am
off to a sketchy start in france already…and yes tallie i am in a completely
separate room!!!!!
but paris was fun…
my trip started off with a 2 hr delay at jfk, there were mechanical difficulties
on the first plane prob. due to gremlins or tallie’s voodoo cursing me to stay
or crash…anyway, i went to duty free to get a small btl of absolut to waste
time being wasted…but the lady was like you cant drink it here or on the
plane…i told her not to worry and that i would just look at it…needless to
say i drank about the whole thing with nora’s friend from home jillian took 2
nyquil and passed out…onto charles de gaulle
i was in limbo ’cause nora and jillian had their school pick them up…so i
managed to find a carte telephonique and called cat’s friend from college who
lives in paris…she gave me directions via metro and i miraculously found the
place…ps the people in paris are so nice…i had so many people offer to
carry my bags for me in the metro because the metro is so freakin handicap
unfriendly meaning a million stairs…so i stayed at ida’s (cat i owe many
dinners and my life) and found out nora, alex, and jillian were staying just
around the block…chilled with them for the weekend…and then left for
lyon…
i knew my luck had run out when the tgv (train) announced that a freaking tree
fell on the tracks and delayed the train by an hour…i asked this dude sitting
next to me if this was common and he said he hasnt heard of it happening
ever…just my luck (running out quickley) …it was a sign from god as i was
pulling up to the Lyon Part <DIEU> train station. my prof. was there to pick me
up and then showed me campus…then we went to housing…the normal dorms near
the cool and not ghetto and nice part of town are full…so they decide to put
us in a migrant worker shack-like crackhouse…i took one look at my box-like
so-called room and then looked at the community unisex bathroom with maghrebain
men in it…then looked at the turkish watering hole “toilettes”…and ran out
before i passed out from the odor of transients…thus i am homeless…but
optimistic…cause it can only go up from here…
cell phone : 011.33.6.98.38.27.33

 

what is a blog? – jan 2005

I’ve been quite restless for the past few weeks…preoccupied about anything and everything in my life…primarily my relationships with family, friends, and lovers.  I’ve done a lot of thinking and self-reflection and thus have decided to start writing this blog…after avoiding it for many moons (or probably since the conception of the idea of a blog) I have finally taken the initiative to share my thoughts and experiences with anyone willing to read them.

I never really kept a journal of any kind growing up…I was always too lazy to write anything longer than a sentence down on a piece of paper…but I managed to have enough discipline to regularly record a pretty detailed account of my life in France in 2005 by mass emailing my friends and family…I have fond memories of writing about my experiences abroad – which I think has precipitated the existence of this blog…I of course being disorganized and lazy never kept the emails…the other day I asked Carlos if he kept them and luckily he did…I will share them in the upcoming days.  

Since Carlos had/has gmail, he keeps everything and forwarded this ancient conversation…apparently I didn’t know what a blog was in january of 2005!!!

ahmnicient1 (15:47:22): want to be added to my journal listserve
Carlos (15:47:26): why did u change ur username
Carlos (15:47:28): yea
ahmnicient1 (15:47:29): i was homeless
Carlos (15:47:32): is that a blog?
Carlos (15:47:35): my mom says hi
ahmnicient1 (15:47:40): i changed it cause i cancelled aol and it took
the screen na,e with it
ahmnicient1 (15:47:44): say hi to her too
Carlos (15:47:45): ooooooooo
ahmnicient1 (15:47:51): what is a blog
Carlos (15:47:54): y didn’t u think of something better
Carlos (15:47:56): omg
Carlos (15:47:58): a web log
Carlos (15:48:05): where people update their web page everyday
Carlos (15:48:08): with uselsess info