(Image courtesy of Bird and Bear)

VI
Against the black
I have more fervour
than you in all the splendour of that place,
against the blackness
and the stark grey
I have more light;

and the flowers
if I should tell you,
you would turn from your own fit paths
toward hell,
turn again and glance back
and I would sink into a place
even more terrible than this.

VII
At least I have the flowers of myself,
and my thoughts, no god
can take that;
I have the fervour of myself for a presence
and my own spirit for light;

and my spirit with its loss
knows this;
though small against the black,
small against the formless rocks,
hell must break before I am lost;

before I am lost,
hell must open like a red rose
for the dead to pass.

(excerpt from Eurydice by H.D.)

chanelling

Maëva makes

tarte au sucre d'érable de la Beauce.



This is a very traditional Quebecois desert that involves boiling sugar, water and maple syrup (preferable from Beauce as this receipe states), adding a roux (butter and flour heated until they are thick and golden) and 15% cream and then baking it in the perfect pie crust.

Voilà let your taste buds imagine this delight of smooth mapley filling surrounded by fluffy and flakey pastery.

who was almost forgot;

arriving or leaving Villa Les Laurelles required climbing up or down these stairs.
Ajaccio, Corse.

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Jules.
Drummondville, QC.

I who had lived unconscious,

The ocean, foot steps away.
Plage Trottel, Ajaccio, Corse.

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Jessica Schmidt star jumps and Maëva attempts to capture it at 3am, Limoulou, QC.

I am broken at last,

Place Foch (aka a square and statue dedicated to the honour of Napoleon). Ajaccio, Corse.

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research for Iceland Residency in Sigulfjordur. Images from the exhibition Come up to my room at the Gladstone Hotel.
Drummondville, QC.

News

In the space of a week I got a job, an internship, changed some little things in my blog (do you like?) and met one of my roommates, a film maker who is moving to Hawaii. (can you say FUCKING AWESOME...)

I saw a great exhibition yesterday: Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary at Canadian Centre for Architecture. I would recommend reading it and trying to track down some of his tracks to listen to. He composes his pieces using mathematical equations, first charting them out in different variations on graph paper and then translating them into readable music.
My favourite piece is Terretektorh, where the musicians are dispersed amongst the audience in a circular formation around the conductor creating an immersion for the audience in the music and an almost 3D experience.


(Study for Terretektorh (distribution of musicians). Image courtesy of CCA)

I've been walking, riding my trusty stead, drinking A LOT of tea (I know what you were thinking), looking and listening, and revisiting my photographic experiences from two french lands: Corsica and Drummondville. (see photo posts in this blog!)

Check out this great article about Montreal by the NYTimes - They'll get you by the first sentence, if not, by the time they've stated that Montreal is the other Paris. I guess that's why I love it so much. Is there another place in the world that is the "Other Paris"? That's a pretty big thing.

Also check out my new place(s) of empoloyment/internshipment.
École de langue de l'UQÀM
La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse. On passant, La Centrale is the oldest artist run centre in all of Quebec and emerged after the feminist movement of the 60s and 70s to give a platform for women and other underrepresented artists. They bring art to the streets, that means they want to take art out of the suffocating white cube! At the end of what I thought was going to be the interview but was more like a meeting I said that I was really excited and happy to have the opportunity to intern there and be involved in an artist centre in Montreal. And they said 'you found the right address because it's fun here' (but in French, of course).

so for your arrogance

Selling sea urchins by the sea shore.
Parc Berthault, Ajaccio, Corse.

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Canoe races in the St Lawrence river in February. aka crazy people.
Québec, QC.

dead cinders upon moss of ash

chez Maëva, Villa les Laurelles, Parc Bertheault, Ajaccio, Corse.

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I wanted to live by this park. Rue Poirier meets rue Brock and rue Heriot. Drummondville, QC.

Dancing Solar Flowers

Artist Alexandre Dang created a work called "Dancing Solar Flowers", an artwork dedicated to better life for mankind. It will be exhibited at the Belgian & European Pavillion of World Expo Shanghai 2010. His works often trigger debate about issues linked with sustainable development, environment and energy.

In Dancing Solar Flowers, see a video here each flower integrates an engine with a solar cell. The solar cell converts light into electricity that powers the engine which then allows the flower to move, or dance.

The impetus behind much of Dang's work is the need to raise awareness of the potential of environmentally friendly technologies or eco-technologies and sustainable development. Many of us man not know that the sun provides 10 000 times more energy to the earth than humans needs, yet more than 1.7 million people still do not have access to electricity. The need to address this major issue is the driving force behind Dang's work. He combines scientific approaches, environmental concern and humanism in order to address these concerns in his work which involves kinetic art using solar energy for its power source.

where dead lichens drip

Corse flora. Ajaccio, Corse.

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I've always loved this building. Drummondville, QC.

Front entrance painted International Klein Blue .

I am swept back

FLNC liberta insignia, cours Grandval, Ajaccio, Corse.

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Green orzo salad made with couscous (not a good plan) (but a good salad when made with orzo like it should be) (see 101 cookbooks for recipe) and giant corona.
Drummondvill, QC

and your ruthlessness

View of the peninsula and les îles de Sanguinaires from the Chemin des Crêtes, a hike on the edge of the mountains and the Maquis from the centre of Ajaccio to the middle of nowhere. Ajaccio, Corse.

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St-George's Anglican church graveyard. Me and my comrades wanted to break in in the night and commune with these tombstones, of folks from centuries ago.
Drummondville, QC.

list

In between baking, and feeding cats, I've been finding interesting things on the intraweb.

The Bruce High Quality Foundation and École du Magasin Programme professionelle aux practiques curatorials found via VoCA or View on Canadian Art, my favourite online art blog about the Canadian art scene (though it can be somewhat 'Toronto' biased I have to say.)

The Bruce High Quality Foundation is a group dedicated to the preservation of the legacy of Bruce High Quality, a social sculptor. Their main mission as stated on their website is "to invest the experience of public space with wonder, to resurrect art history from the bowels of despair, and to impregnate the institutions of art with the joy of man’s desiring". I think I art could use that once and a while, and the institution in particular.

The École du Magasin is in Grenoble, France (I do have a soft spot for France...) and the Programme Professionelle aux practiques curatoriales purpose is to give academic instruction that offers new perspectives on theories and practices of other cultures, within the curatorial sphere, and to engage the participants of the programme in the professional field. the program is 10 months long and I think I might die and go to heaven if I was ever able to participate in such a thing!

They even have a list of other schools that offer similar programs such as the École superieure des arts visuel in Geneva (... Switzerland!), Curatorial training program de Appel in Amsterdam and oh oh course several in New York city and San Fran. ...

One step at a time.

Onwards.
Here is an art quarterly from Texas: Art Lies and I know some of you may be skeptical of that place down south called Texas but it is a happening open minded place (in many respects) and particularly in the arts.

From Leah and then re-found today by accident Places for writers in particular their list of literary journals that accept submissions.

I also googled "art magazines list" and got this wiki page, which is of course not complete since C magazine, esse and Border Crossings are not on there, just to name three, but there are many there that I had never heard of (which is what I wanted).

MAEVE magazine which my lovely friend Beth told me about, is a little and very new online publication. It's not critical but it's sweet, and there were some really beautiful and touching articles in the new issue. I also found some great things via MAEVE (hehe!) which will now follow:

* Operation Beautiful is a project reaching out to the women of the world to spread the word that we are beautiful. It's not a new discussion but an ongoing one that will likely never cease. We are force fed how we should look and most of the time we don't fit right into that niche and therefore do not feel beautiful. Operation Beautiful has an open call for participation of women everywhere to spread the word. And I think I'm going to do it. What a great project to get involved in. Because we are beautiful, but sometimes it's hard to say and think and feel it, so why not help each other out.

*Smock is a stationary company that is totally organic. They print on paper made of bamboo, one of the most ecological and sustainable materials around, and even their packaging is environmentally friendly, made from post-consumer recycled polyester which they state is one of the easiest plastics to recycle. I like the jelly fish cards.

*They had a few blogs about girls who make and post pretty things, which I like. Ashley Meaders makes stuff, and much of it is cute. I really like some of the decorations she's invented for weddings, although I don't like that they are related directly to weddings. But I do like the little hand made touches that endow her pieces. There was also Simply Hue, which has great photos and cute collections of things. However, there is a soundtrack of terrible music that plays when you open it, which I'm not a big fan of. And some of it's a little too cutsey for me. But easy on the eyes.

Lastly Beth inspired me with many new links and pretty things:
* San Francisco Bay Area girl who likes bohemian living style - what's not to like about that?
* {frolic!} = all the things that will one day fill my house. (but why the exclamation point in the title? bad taste in punctuation.)
* tartlette , who posts hawt photos of hawt recipes. I'm still totally partial (always) to 101 cookbooks , but I dig this chick and her eats too.

Rainy Sundays

1) submission to make/shift = done.
2) submission to Front = done.
3) made Golden Tomato sauce with tomatoes I bought at the marché Jean-Talon earlier this week.
4) going to make (another) Peach upside down cake, or maybe the Ginger Peach Upside down cake that was featured on Thimble two days ago. mmmmm. baking on Rainy sundays.
Yesterday was the first time I ever made a Peach upsdie down cake, and it was very delicious. Moist and fluffy cake with perfectly carmelized peaches in a big concentric circle, garnished with almonds. I didn't even have trouble getting it out of the pan! Success.

Rainy day music = the following.


(Bicycle by Gary Louis and Mark Olsen)

I've been having such a great few days. I don't know many people here in Montréal but those that I do are wonderful souls and we have been having many adventures. Cookie making, bike rides in the night/in the rain, beer and cider on tap at L'escalier - a great little bohemian bar, great music, hikes up Mont-Royal in the sunshine with fabulous views of the city, nights out on the town, markets (jean-talon and atwater), bike repair lessons (when my inner tubes on both tires exploded and me and David had to go and get some more in St-Henri, and then I learned how to replace inner tubes!), and other great adventures.

so for your arrogance

under cloud and dusk, the Îles de Sanguinaires are still beautiful and mysterious. Ajaccio, Corse

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graf on de Massionneuve, Montréal, QC

at last

Le festival de la sainte-vierge, Ajaccio, Corse.

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summer skies, St-Michel des Saints, QC.

discovery: Emscher Island

Emsher Island, in the Rhur region of Germany was at one time home to coal and steel industries, and one of the biggest producers of these materials in Europe. But as the economical landscape changed, and these industries lost importance, the region fell apart and had been mostly lost to terrible pollution anyway.

The government of the Rhur region created an initiative called IBA or Industrial Building Exhibition which undertook to revitalize and restore the area. This project is now one of the largest renaturation projects in the world. To coinside with this renaturation and restoration, EMSCHERKUNST.2010, a very large scale public art project, will take place on the island that stretches out for 34 km between the Emscher River and the Rhine-Herne Canal.

More info here .

I who could have slept among the live flowers

Christmas decorations among the palm trees. Ajaccio, Corse.

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Poutine at 3am, heart attack at 4am. Late night eats in Limoulou, QC.

Flowers fly from ships' foghorns and land on women's skirts and stick to them. If a woman is strong - tempered, loud - cloured flowers fly to her. If she is calm, mild and earth-coloured. If she is fun, giant open flowers. If she is quiet and stay-at-home, the forget-me-nots sneak up to her while she
is asleep. And she wakes up wearing a nightdress with blue flowers. Gladiolas when a woman is mad. Pennywort if she is mean and clever. Every woman's time for roses will come if she waits. And fly-traps if she keeps a close watch on herself and her nearest. Wildly in love, women are covered with orange lilies, but if a woman is a girl who is a woman who is a girl who is always thinking about sex for the first time, mayweed settle on her skirt, comfort her/scare her, comfort/scare her, comfort/scare her. Flamingo plants come when a women is growing old.
Flowers fly from ships' foghorns.

THE FLOWERS of WOMEN'S SKIRTS by Kristín Ómarsdóttir.

above the earth

chez paul-andré. Ajaccio, Corse.

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Erin meets Bonhomme. Carnivale. Québec, QC

oh, yes

Just applied to this!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

*fingers double triple crossed*

Maëva = future groupie for Klô Pelgag .
Probably the best thing to yet happen to me.
I want to play for them, or a similar band.
Do they have a cellist? YES they do.. La reine Elysabeth!

ohhhhhh le swooooooooon!

the good, the bad and the anarchy

1) the good was my decision that I would look really classy in White linen pants, black knit top and funky punk girl shoes from Top Shop in NYC for my job interview. I probably did.

2) the bad was my not so great decision of wearing the white linen pants strapped around my shins with MEC straps that kept falling down on my bicycle.. which of course incured... BICYCLE GREASE MARKS. ... Maëva, my God, get a brain!

3) the good was the invite to have pizza with boy who rides Magenta Miele tomorrow chez lui, and i suggested beer to celebrate summer's of unemployment, among other things.

4) the bad was OSAP headaches incured by the unreasonable amount of democratic paperwork that is required for someone who wants to study outside of the province.

5) the good was the nap I just took after tea, reading some of the paper and eating ginger snaps on the couch.

and last but not least:

6) the anarchy was riding my bike the wrong way on one-way streets. yessssssssss!

I who could have walked with the live souls

Cheese. Marché publique.
Ajaccio, Corisca, France.

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Edaname soup garnished with almonds and olive oil and loose leaf jasmine green tea, Drummondville, QC.

So you have swept me back

Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de l'Assomption d'Ajaccio.
Ajaccio, Corisca, France.

discovery: Martial Bourdin

Ever heard of Martial Bourdin? He was a French Anarchist who on 15 February 1894 was killed. How was he killed? Bourdin, who had been living on Fitzroy Rd (also former residence of Sylvia Plath many many many years later) was killed by the bomb he was carrying as he walked through Greenwich park towards the Royal Observatory in London, UK.


( Royal Observatory, London. Photo credit: http://carolineld.blogspot.com/)

Exactly what he was going to do with this bomb, or where, is unknown, though most assume it was meant for the Royal Observatory.

The Art Council Collection has just acquired a new work concerning this event. Greenwich Degree Zero is an extensive multimedia work that invites the audience to piece together clues in order to discover the artists' interpretation of this event. When the audience is the detective and involved in the creation of the work, well this is the best kind of work. The piece by Rob Dickenson and Tom McCarthy is on display at the Longside Gallery on the grounds of the Yorkshire Sculpture Garden in Wakefeild, West Yorkshire, UK aka my old stomping ground.

fucking FANTASTIC day!!!!

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Dusk, rue Jogues et st-edgar, Drummondville, QC

*thinking today of my grandparents who would be (are maybe...) celebrating their wedding anniversary and my grandfather who would be celebrating his 99 birthday today if he were still alive.

John Colleary 17 August 1911 - April 2005
Barbara Colleary 4 November 1919 - September 2002

rock reminisce

remember this?


I had totally forgotten about Joydrop until one day, I was driving my friends Laura Slone and Angie to the bus in Victo and she said "guys don't you know my sister was the lead singer of Joydrop!" and then started singing this in the car. Classic. Awesome. Never a dull moment.

The bad side of Classical music.

I'm sure you never imagined there could be a "bad side" to Classical music. But note, it is not the "Bad Ass" side of Classical Music, just the bad, as in the rotten side.

And what is that side?
It's the CBC.
Yes (you read me correctly). Many readers out there are most likely aware of the fairly recent changes that were made to CBC radio 2's programming, notably their slashing of a) amazing DJ's (VJ's?), b) good quality music and c) impeccable programming.

Then they decided to change all the was good for all that is bad.
Then my heart died a little.
Then they decided to give the Asinine Julie Nesrallah a 5 hour time slot and call it Tempo.
Then the once wonderful Tom Allen sold his soul to the devil (aka CBC) in order to keep his job and program a terrible morning show of horrible music. It actually pains me to say such things about Tom, I really really enjoyed his broadcasting, but it's the terrible, and painful truth.


Actually, some of the music they play isn't so bad. For instance once I was driving to the library and heard Great Lake Swimmers. Another time my mom and I were driving up the escarpment and they played Sealion covered by Feist.
But what is bad is the programming. What was great about the CBC was the classic feel, the feeling of being at home with those familiar kind, knowing voices and the great music they played. That has all gone.
I think it all started when they canned Danielle Charbonneau, after demoting her to the middle of the night program from 11pm to 3am or something ludicrous like that. (*apparently she "retired", probably because she was given the worst slot in radio history to host.)

The CBC was a popular station among the young and the old. Now I don't know who it is popular with. But every time I hear Nesrallah call Mozart "Wolfie" or say something cringe worthy such as "Don't you just love Bach? He's totally my man, you know?" I cannot do anything but turn the radio off and stop myself from tossing it violently out my third story window. On their webpage describing Tempo they call it a "fresh, spontaneous and insightful look into the world of classical music." ... Not "do they" but can the people who wrote that really believe that? Maybe it's just that they are clinically insane.
I can't decide which is worse: the change in programming or the change in personalities. But even when I hear Feist or Great Lake Swimmers or whomever else, I think it feels out of place and whatever is said afterward, makes me wish I didn't even like what I had just heard.

Sure, they put in a classical music slot, and Nesrallah is there, day in and day out, playing classical music. And now even Tom Allen is too, but it's their personalities and their lack of creativity and thought in their programming which has made the big difference. Where Peter Tongi puts his heart and mind into what he plays, Nesrallah's choices feel like the Pop version of classical music. Nothing original, nothing off the beaten track, just the regular old stuff, that you've heard a million times, that you might really enjoy, like Dvorak's Symphony no. 9, or Debussey's Au Clair de Lune.

Simply put, there is something missing, and I think it might be soul.

I grew up on CBC radio 2. However, my children (if/when that happens...) won't even know it exists and they will grow up on Radio-Canada Espace Musique and Première Chaine. The VJ/DJ's whatever they are called are more interesting, and probably just as knowledgeable but they are missing all that makes the new personalities on the CBC make me want to hurl something across the room.

Voilà, my scathing review of the CBC.

wish list

aka essentials of life.

1) garlic press .

2) to see this film.


3) The Architecture of Happiness . mostly for the title. and the idea of it.

4) a retreat here .

in other news: my bicycle might be arriving tonight, or Thursday morning! Oh joy, I will finally be reunited with my lovely bicycle! and I have a job interview on Wednesday at 11h50. and, even though I like the sound of rain hitting the skylight, i would like it to stop, so I can go home and do somethings. on my BIXI.

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Driving home from sugar shack party and other party in St-Ferdinand, QC, caught behind two snow plows. Plessissville, QC

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Cross and car lot, St-Cyrille de Wendover, QC

Dimanche or day 4 in Montreal.

Plan:
1) read La Presse in bed (only for a little while) or at Parc Lafontaine (not accomplished today!)

2) due to sore feet, walk only as far as BIXI station at Marie-Anne et de la Roche or Rachel et Marquette. BIXI to Canadian Tire at St-Laurent and Beaubien Est.

3) buy garbage can. ... (haven't figured out how to get it back to my apartment on a bixi bike...)

4) after no 3 query is solved, BIXI to Marché Jean-Talon.

*bring cookies, water and apple for snacky purposes.

reasons.

Reason to walk places = keep you in shape, mentally and physically.

Reasons to ride your bike places = keeps you in shape, mentally and physically, but allows you to save your feet much pain and blistering as well as getting you to your destination faster.

I can't wait for Rashleigh Peugeot my trusty steed (see photo below) to finally arrive in Montréal!!!!!!

89

chez Maëva in the spring, Drummondville, QC

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The Canada cookie, Drummondville, QC

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blueberry, buttermilk scones!
brunch chez Angie, Victoriaville, QC

game plan saturday edition

5.38am open window for Minou. Marvel at the stillness of the world.

10am get up; make tea; read The New Yorker June 7th in Bed. In particular Fiction "Extreme Solitude" by Jeffrey Eugenides and "No Secrets: Julian Assange's mission for total transparency" by Raffi Khatchadourian. Read to the Bach's Fugue en si mineur performed by Glenn Gould on Espace Musique's livestream.

11am call mom; call lady who wants to see the car.

Noon make more tea; earl grey loose leaf; Parisian pain toast with plum butter, strawberry jam and other such accoutrements.

TO DO:
- buy garbage bin
- find Canadian Tire or Home Hardware in the direct vicinity
- buy clothes line things that hold the clothes line together
- get ingredients and tupperware for Sparkling Ginger Chip Cookies
- make Sparkling Ginger Chip Cookies
- buy La Presse
- read La Presse at Parc Lafontaine. with cookies.
- make long awkward black skirt into cute little black skirt.
- watch the end of Gainsbourg

re: family

Family: a group of people related to each other by blood or marriage; a person or people related to one and so to be treated with a special loyalty or intimacy. (oxford American dictionary definitions)





or, Family: a group of people who love and support you unconditionally; adoption for life into a group of people who care for you. (maëva definitions).

H.D. is god(dess).

re: happiness

After posting about happiness (below) I started to whittle away at the 157 e-flux emails in my inbox, that I've been neglecting for, oh, two months. Yikes. Well I got it down to 41 and stumbled across this exhibition: Glück... happens , featuring some pretty amazing artists such as Mona Hatoum and Runa Islam. The gallery, Kunstpalais in Erlagen, Germany, has just undergone two years of renovations and is open for the first time again.


(Alejandro Vidal, One second burns for a billion years (still), 2007, video projection
Image courtesy of e-flux.)

And the premise of this exhibition you ask? Happiness. How coincidental. According to the press release, happiness is not the kind of subject matter that generally turns up in art oeuvres. The 15 artists in the show, 10 of which made new pieces expressly for this exhibition, exhibited work that regarded the perception of happiness. We so desperately seek happiness that often we just lead ourselves to unhappiness. The works in this exhibition state hard questions as well as easy answers.

Check out the Kunstpalais and also the interesing work of Runa Islam, one of my tutors from my time in Leeds! She also has a show currently at the Musée d'art Contemporaine de Montréal (see side bar for website).

Day 2 in Montreal is opening on a good note.
Tea and cereal for breakfast with Simon and Garfunkle, and then some truly revelatory ideas and words from my lovely friend Juju played to Aretha's gold.

We all experience lonliness, confusion, sadness sometimes. as well as euphoria and happiness too. It's hard to know how to balance the two and when you are in a place of darkness, how to come back to the light.
Being in a new place with few connections around me, this is something I'm more afraid of then I've as of yet experienced.

But Julie sent me some great articles full of wisdom we could all use when we are feeling afraid or sad, ideas to come back to in those moments.

First, Maeve Haran (! ironic?!), in her article Revealed: the secret to true happiness states, among other things, that connections are a great way to unlock happiness. Connections with strangers, with old friends and new, with family and loved ones. I think it's true. And this reminds me of a beautiful performance piece by Toronto based artist Diane Borsato , where she touched a 1000 people, in response to a study she read that suggested when people are subtly touched it affects their well being. I feel that this number of connections, subtly, and secretly, must have also affected the happiness of Borsato as well. How many times have you spoken to a total stranger and felt your spirit lift? this happened to me just last Saturday when I finally arrived home after 11 hours of traveling. I was standing outside the Giant Tiger (family favourite...) and a lady walked out turned to me and said 'Have a lovely day now'. I wasn't sure what to think, and maybe our society is pre-programmed to think anyone who steps outside the bubble is a bit off their rocker, but I don't believe so myself.

Second, this great video by filmmaker Andrea Dorfman, illustrates the greatest way to enjoy being alone, and in other words, enjoy your own company, probably the best company you'll ever have.


This is my kind of project. right here.
knitting, script, birds, falling hearts, bunting. and dancing. enjoy it.

Third, an article from "Seth's blog" entitled The Places we go describes how are emotions are like rooms. Sadness is a room we may frequent, but why do we, if it makes us feel the way it does. Why don't we frequent the happiness room more often?

Thanks to Julie for all the great articles and videos!

to zine or not to zine

In between my bouts of massive cleaning today (bathroom, kitchen FRIDGE, airing laundry stored in bags for two months...etc) and my walk around LE PLATEAU Mont-royal (eep!) I contemplated the fact that I've been musing over the idea of making a zine.

I'm not sure what the concept will be. (that I think is the first thing I need to discover)
I'm not sure what the content will be. (that's important to discover as well)
But I'm hoping with discovery and organic movement, that something will soon come to me. Maybe during my further cleaning bouts (... the lime green stairway needs some work...).

New found interest: psychogeography.
Looking for possibilities in which to psychogeographicize my life.

train musing

During my 6 hour train ride to Montreal this evening (8 if you count the trip from Grimsby to Toronto), not much popped in and out of my head except for this one intelligible snippet.
something that's been bugging me for months in fact, since working at Polyvalente Marie-Rivier in Drummondville, QC.

Talking one day with one of my former colleagues, who had just rented an apartment by the St Lawrence river, I said and I quote in English "Oh is that the apartment by the river?" and she said "The fleuve."

And I didn't answer, though I should have with the following response.
"Fleuve and rivière have the same meaning in English and there is only one word to describe both of them and it is river."

I'm sure other readers out there, who have been learning, learned a little or a lot of another language, know all about the intricacies, delicacies and missings from one language to another. That is why it's called lost in translation. There are such wonderful nuances in every language that cannot be translated to another fully. That's part of the joy of learning and being able to speak another language. Not just speak it as you would your own language, but to speak it as if you inhabit it.

Et voilà.

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my favourite four year old's beach toys, St-Michel des Saints, QC.

1) review of Inception in The New Yorker. Why don't they make movies like they used to? I haven't seen it yet, I'm curious, yet skeptical. I'm too easily won over by effects and music, but I wonder where the talent is anymore. I think I will always just be more partial to those classic Audrey Hepburn and Greta Garbo films. The review was not scathing but it was critical about the fact that Nolan was far too into making crazy effects rather than building character and story line. I could feel myself already falling into oblivion, being sucked into a cavernous world of twists that my brain might not be able to handle. I may go see it first, as long as I can find a theatre in Montreal where they play English films in English.

2) Not everyone believes me, but I'm telling you, and I hope you believe me, that the new hot nail colour is antique green, or mint green. I think it can go by both names, I prefer antique green myself. I also recently found out through an article in NOW magazine's Ecoholic chronicle that the polish teams on the up and up with getting rid of toxic chemicals in nail polish are Revlon, L'Oreal Paris, Rimmel etc. It also mentioned that there are even ORGANIC nail polishes out there. Can you imagine it?! You can read the entire article here . Back to this seasons colour - antique green -I've seen it on several girls who were definetly hipster fashionistas ergo my conclusion. I'm certainly not a trend follower or fashionista myself, but I do believe in sharing the news about this nail colour, and I also do really love it. The official name of the colour with Revlon in Jaded, and it's a new shade, and it's on sale now at your local Shoppers Drugmart or Pharmaprix, depending upon which province you reside in!

3) I have a thing for bags. I have many bags of many colours (not just black, surprisingly), of many shapes and sizes. Bags from Texas, New York City, and Paris. Bags from anywhere and everywhere. I recently was given a really sweet grey handbag that was in bad shape and I had to throw it away in the end. However, just prior to this incident, on my last trip back to Montreal on the (dreaded and beloved) Megabus, I saw a girl with THE BAG.


(image courtesy of Urban Outfitters)

I believe this to be the perfect bag for the season. It's part vintage, part classic, part chic, and part utilitarian. What more could you want in a bag than utilitarian design partnered with all time classic chicness? Nothing more, I would have to say. The fact is also that this is the perfect bag to use on your bike. Useful and cool at the same time. voila.

So now, as I'm heading back, once again, to Montreal, this time via VIA rail and their AWESOME seat sale. And on this trip, I wear my new polish on my toes and plan to head at once to UO to pick up a new bag, and on the way back stop by the cinema to fill my ears, eyes and nostrils with some incredible movie mindblowing effects.