Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Shoo.
I would just like to say...
I don't WANT to blog. You can't make me, je suis en GREVE. Freaking capitalists. I'm going to join the rest of France as we domino-effect our way to a general strike. Down with CPE! Down with blogging! Down with people *cough*Noah*cough* taking my weekly dosage of Scrubs for ransom! Strike strike strike! Vive le Quebec libre!
I'm with these guys:
Anyway, I haven't been blogging because I'd been feeling particularly crap-tacular the last couple weeks. It's one of those personal things I probably shouldn't post to the world, although if you've talked to me lately, you probably know why I've just been so darn sad.
I'm slightly happier now, though. I hope it's not just because of my favourite weather again. As soon as it stops being windy and sunny, I just might crawl into bed, never to be seen again.
Too bad I haven't been blogging, too. Lots of rather particularly interesting moments took place, including kidnapping Kenzo for his birthday, running into protesters, and randomly taking a bus an hour out of town to sit on a hilltop city and ponder modern art for the sake of saving 9 euros. Sigh, I'm just not motivated. Go look at the pictures, shoo.
I just need time to HEAL, people. When and if that time comes, you will have your blogs. For now, OMG THERE'S ONLY 1.5 MORE MONTHS LEFT OF SCHOOL. And my sejour in France will be coming to an end... Freaking about time. Spent about half of it being depressed.
I don't WANT to blog. You can't make me, je suis en GREVE. Freaking capitalists. I'm going to join the rest of France as we domino-effect our way to a general strike. Down with CPE! Down with blogging! Down with people *cough*Noah*cough* taking my weekly dosage of Scrubs for ransom! Strike strike strike! Vive le Quebec libre!
I'm with these guys:
Anyway, I haven't been blogging because I'd been feeling particularly crap-tacular the last couple weeks. It's one of those personal things I probably shouldn't post to the world, although if you've talked to me lately, you probably know why I've just been so darn sad.
I'm slightly happier now, though. I hope it's not just because of my favourite weather again. As soon as it stops being windy and sunny, I just might crawl into bed, never to be seen again.
Too bad I haven't been blogging, too. Lots of rather particularly interesting moments took place, including kidnapping Kenzo for his birthday, running into protesters, and randomly taking a bus an hour out of town to sit on a hilltop city and ponder modern art for the sake of saving 9 euros. Sigh, I'm just not motivated. Go look at the pictures, shoo.
I just need time to HEAL, people. When and if that time comes, you will have your blogs. For now, OMG THERE'S ONLY 1.5 MORE MONTHS LEFT OF SCHOOL. And my sejour in France will be coming to an end... Freaking about time. Spent about half of it being depressed.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Can't think. Let's blog instead!
In the name of procrastination! I give you
my favourite colour (above). It's the bottom one.
Last weekend was pretty interesting.
Randomly went for a 6 hour hike to find the observatory, and finally found it at dusk. It was closed. But hell, after a whole day's journey, you don't just walk away, defeated. Kenzo and I used our ninja-like wall-scaling skillz and found those freaking coupoles, sans incident. The view was quite nice, but the last bus down was at 7h45, so no star gazing, unfortunately.
Sunday, I happened upon a canadian girl on the way back from church. She was looking for her hostel, which turned out to be 2 blocks from my place. She was travelling alone, and had no plans, and was really nice and friendly, so we went to the beach!
And now I have to focus on school again?? Damn this fine weather ;)
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
The Sacred Practice of Jogging in Winter
Went for a jog this morning on the promenade. I've been trying to keep up my New Year's resolution to do some cardio at least 3 times a week... two months later, I figure once a week is pretty good too.
I actually take my jogs as an opportunity to visit my favourite colour. I've only ever seen her in two places in the world - actually, three.
The first time was in Austria in 1999, as my family drove along a high, winding mountain road and spotted a crystal lake glistening in the sunlight. Blue. No, green. Not quite that gaudy turquoise... it's hard to explain. The second time was in a Ben Moss jewellery flyer, in a beautiful gemstone embedded in a gold ring. I'd excitedly showed my favourite colour to Jimi, although by the look on his face, I think he took it wrong and thought I was hinting at engagement. Oops.
The third time was here in Nice, when I wasn't feeling to hot but decided to go for a jog to clear my thoughts. The waves were high that day as I approached the seawall. The lighting was perfect, the water just right. And then I saw my favourite colour again! It's like seeing an old friend again! Wow! Unfortunately the conditions have to be just right, so she's not always there when I pass by on the promenade. But I always look.
Afterwards, I turn my attention to the people I jog by. This morning, I was delighted to see an older, Polonaise-looking woman and partner walking peacefully down the boardwalk. The woman had the most pleasant look on her face, with happy eyes wrinkling at the corners, and a upturned yet reserved smile. You don't see that often in Nice, I thought to myself. People here are usually so grumpy! But maybe the whole "Nice people aren't very nice" thing isn't that true, after all! And I continued jogging.
It was only till I reached my landmark and turned around to jog back that I realized why she looked so happy.
Actually, the sun was glaring in the other direction so harshly, you couldn't help but squint. Which actually pulls up your cheek muscles, producing a FAKE SMILE.
But then a construction worker taking down the Carnaval tribunes waved at me and said Bonjour. That's nice.
I actually take my jogs as an opportunity to visit my favourite colour. I've only ever seen her in two places in the world - actually, three.
The first time was in Austria in 1999, as my family drove along a high, winding mountain road and spotted a crystal lake glistening in the sunlight. Blue. No, green. Not quite that gaudy turquoise... it's hard to explain. The second time was in a Ben Moss jewellery flyer, in a beautiful gemstone embedded in a gold ring. I'd excitedly showed my favourite colour to Jimi, although by the look on his face, I think he took it wrong and thought I was hinting at engagement. Oops.
The third time was here in Nice, when I wasn't feeling to hot but decided to go for a jog to clear my thoughts. The waves were high that day as I approached the seawall. The lighting was perfect, the water just right. And then I saw my favourite colour again! It's like seeing an old friend again! Wow! Unfortunately the conditions have to be just right, so she's not always there when I pass by on the promenade. But I always look.
Afterwards, I turn my attention to the people I jog by. This morning, I was delighted to see an older, Polonaise-looking woman and partner walking peacefully down the boardwalk. The woman had the most pleasant look on her face, with happy eyes wrinkling at the corners, and a upturned yet reserved smile. You don't see that often in Nice, I thought to myself. People here are usually so grumpy! But maybe the whole "Nice people aren't very nice" thing isn't that true, after all! And I continued jogging.
It was only till I reached my landmark and turned around to jog back that I realized why she looked so happy.
Actually, the sun was glaring in the other direction so harshly, you couldn't help but squint. Which actually pulls up your cheek muscles, producing a FAKE SMILE.
But then a construction worker taking down the Carnaval tribunes waved at me and said Bonjour. That's nice.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Flattered
David Amar is this amazing jazz saxophonist who plays regularly in the Nice music scene, either in various combos or with his spectacular trio Sashird Lao. He can imitate a string bass précisément with his vocal cords and doubles on flute traversiere and a billion other instruments.
He also is the chef (leader) of the University of Nice Jazz Ensemble, which I joined a couple months ago.
And last Monday, he got my number so I could give HIM some lessons on flute sound quality.
*fans self frantically* What the hell do I know??
can't stop thinking about...
He also is the chef (leader) of the University of Nice Jazz Ensemble, which I joined a couple months ago.
And last Monday, he got my number so I could give HIM some lessons on flute sound quality.
*fans self frantically* What the hell do I know??
can't stop thinking about...
Friday, March 03, 2006
Good 'ol research lab convivialité
can't stop thinking about...
Yesterday was my first day at I3S, the research lab "Informatique Signaux et Systemes de Sophia Antipolis" out in Sophia Antipolis. Now Sophia Antipolis, the "Silicon Valley of the French Riviera" is a good 45 minute bus ride away, but we're talkin' coach-class comfy seats with those little elastic mesh pockets on the seat back in front of you to hold your water bottle. The stop bell is overhead, so it feels like you're calling the stewardess each time you approach your stop. Ding!
can't stop thinking about...
So why the heck am I out in the land of valleys and hills? Well, I suppose I need to backtrack a little.
The 3rd year Computing Science program I'm taking requires a semester-long research project. There are various topics you can choose, from comparing the unix environments Gnome to KDE, to reporting on the state of the art in Bioinformatics, to PARTICIPATING IN A EUROPE-WIDE AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER ROBOT COMPETITION. (btw the competition site is down)
Hel-lo, no brainer.
My part would be creating supporting software to guide the robot. The only thing is, there's 9 (nine!) students from my class working on the logiciel, which makes for an organizational nightmare. Plus, all the students are at la fac (university campus at nice), not all working together 45 minutes away with the team leaders at the research lab. Quelle horreur!
So, I took it upon myself to invade the salle de stagieres a couple times a week at the research lab and keep up the ties between Joao, the amazing computer engineering prof who's dedicated her life to underwater research like SAM, and Laure, the doctorate student who has the unfortunate task of being project manager to 5 teams of a gazillion students from 4 different programs.
cant stop thinking about...
By the way, I always wondered what french people do with their 2 hour lunch breaks. Yesterday I found out. First, you eat at the Resto Universitaire (45 minutes). Then you trek back to the lab, grab some coffees, and seat yourself in the common area couches and chat. I had the oddest feeling of familiarity... oh yes wait! It's like the CSSS Common room, but without the laptops, and cappucino instead of Frutopia!
My goodness, I'm home. :)
can't stop thinking about...
Yesterday was my first day at I3S, the research lab "Informatique Signaux et Systemes de Sophia Antipolis" out in Sophia Antipolis. Now Sophia Antipolis, the "Silicon Valley of the French Riviera" is a good 45 minute bus ride away, but we're talkin' coach-class comfy seats with those little elastic mesh pockets on the seat back in front of you to hold your water bottle. The stop bell is overhead, so it feels like you're calling the stewardess each time you approach your stop. Ding!
can't stop thinking about...
So why the heck am I out in the land of valleys and hills? Well, I suppose I need to backtrack a little.
The 3rd year Computing Science program I'm taking requires a semester-long research project. There are various topics you can choose, from comparing the unix environments Gnome to KDE, to reporting on the state of the art in Bioinformatics, to PARTICIPATING IN A EUROPE-WIDE AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER ROBOT COMPETITION. (btw the competition site is down)
Hel-lo, no brainer.
My part would be creating supporting software to guide the robot. The only thing is, there's 9 (nine!) students from my class working on the logiciel, which makes for an organizational nightmare. Plus, all the students are at la fac (university campus at nice), not all working together 45 minutes away with the team leaders at the research lab. Quelle horreur!
So, I took it upon myself to invade the salle de stagieres a couple times a week at the research lab and keep up the ties between Joao, the amazing computer engineering prof who's dedicated her life to underwater research like SAM, and Laure, the doctorate student who has the unfortunate task of being project manager to 5 teams of a gazillion students from 4 different programs.
cant stop thinking about...
By the way, I always wondered what french people do with their 2 hour lunch breaks. Yesterday I found out. First, you eat at the Resto Universitaire (45 minutes). Then you trek back to the lab, grab some coffees, and seat yourself in the common area couches and chat. I had the oddest feeling of familiarity... oh yes wait! It's like the CSSS Common room, but without the laptops, and cappucino instead of Frutopia!
My goodness, I'm home. :)
can't stop thinking about...
