Oh, Nicolas Sarkozy. What is WRONG with you? This is not how a head of state should behave!
First, he was drunk at the G8 conference:
He also walked out of a 60 Minutes interview in the US:
He insulted a guy at the Salon de l'Agriculture (the famous "casse-toi, pauvre con" incident)"
He totally swiped a pen while meeting with the President of Romania:
After which Angela Merkel totally called him out on it by presenting him with the pen - during the conversation, they explain that it was the same pen that Sarko had signed the documents with, and you hear the Germans being all, "Oh, do you um...collect...pens?" and Sarko is all, "Yes, I collect them."
And then, at a state dinner with Israel, he was totally checking out the cleavage of Bar Rafaeli, the Israeli model best known as Leonardo DiCaprio's arm candy:
Dude, that's not cool! Okay, maybe the first two incidents are sort of excusable. I mean, what with hanging out with Vladimir Putin, and he's probably a very sneaky guy and totally drank Sarko under the table, so he was really drunk by the time he came out for his press conference. And okay, so maybe he was miffed about being asked about his wife. But you don't insult your people by telling them to "get out, you stupid jerk"! And you don't swipe expensive pens at a press conference/official paper-signing ceremony with the president of another country! What, Sarko can't afford to BUY a nice pen, what with his salary hike and the fact that he doesn't pay any expenses??? And then ok, so maybe the Israeli model is hot and has crazy cleavage, and maybe she is so tall that her boobs are like, right at Sarko's eye level, but still, I mean, does he not KNOW that he's being filmed????
Hmmmph! Good going, France! And all you French people who keep making fun of me because I'm American and Bush is the president - shame on you! His antics are just as embarrassing, if not more so, than that time that Bush practically assaulted Angela Merkel by hugging her.
All I can say is that at least I managed to convince the H to turn in a blank ballot! The same cannot be said for my other in-laws, all of whom voted for Sarko only because they couldn't stand Ségolène Royal. Except for the SIL. She voted for Sarko because even though she can't stand him, she thought he was going to win and she said she "wanted to be on the winning team."
Don't even get me started on that one.
I sincerely hope that should Barack become the next president, he will not do anything to embarrass us in manner of Sarko (swiping pens, checking out boobs, being drunk, insulting passerby, marrying supermodel/wannabe singer who talks rather than sings), or Elliot Spitzer (involvement in prostitution ring).
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Conspiracy Theories
Hahahaha. I know it is very mean and uncool of me, but I could help but think this was really funny. And this too.
Poor Marion Cotillard. Now that she has her Oscar and she's all psyched to become an international A-list celebrity (which are admittedly rather rare in France) she's all regretting everything she said about the conspiracies, and has fallen back on the old "My words were taken out of context!" excuse.
Then again, I don't know if it's just the kind of people I know in France or what, but it seems to me that a majority of French people are really into conspiracy theories. The H and the in-laws are definitely no exception.
So this was a recurring conversation for awhile:
(Entire family of in-laws, plus the H and I at dinner)
FIL: (ranting after several glasses of wine): Blah blah blah...and everyone KNOWS that 9/11 is a conspiracy too!!!!
Me: Um, no it's not. It was totally real. I was in NYC when it happened.
FIL: Well, yes, it HAPPENED, but everyone KNOWS that it was done by the US government.
Me: Um, no it wasn't. It was done by Al-Qaeda.
FIL: (snorts) Why would you think that? Everyone KNOWS that the US government planted bombs in the bottom of the WTC!
Me: Uh, because Al-Qaeda was like, "HEY EVERYONE, WE DID IT! WE TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY! WOOOOOHOOOOOO!"?
FIL: Don't be silly! That was faked too! You can tell because the building collapsed from the bottom.
Me: No it didn't. It collapsed right under where the 767's crashed. All that fuel and everything created a lot of structural damage what with the intense heat.
FIL: Haha! Or so the US government says...! I'm telling you, because I KNOW, that it was all planned out by the US. Like Pearl Harbor. So you would have an excuse to attack Iraq.
Me: Oh, man. Well, first of all, Pearl Harbor wasn't planned. Because what happened was that the US intercepted all the messages, yes, but they were short on codebreakers, so most likely, the message about Pearl Harbor was sitting in the inbox of some tired and overworked codebreaker by the time Pearl Harbor happened. In addition, the waters of Pearl Harbor are quite shallow, which is not very conducive to a bombing, as everyone thought that the bombs would go "Plop! Fizz! Splat!" in the mud. Moreover, the US had not wanted to get involved in WWII as we were into our isolationist policy and coming out of the Great Depression. In fact, the US was about to sign a non-aggression pact with Hitler, but then we got roped into the war when A) the French were brutally defeated by Blitzkrieg in 1940 and despite their deep hatred for the Brits were suddenly all, "Merde, we 'ave lost; you come 'elp us now, non?" and then B) the British, what with all their territories and being the largest empire ever, were totally cracking under the pressure because they had to help France and set up the French Resistance, and so they were all, "Blimey, could you help us, mate?" to the US, to which Congress replied several times, "Um, no, but we'll give you money," and then...
FIL: (interrupting my fascinating lecture about American involvement in World War II) Whatever! That's all bull! We all KNOW that the US government is behind every single conspiracy! Like, that flight were SUPPOSEDLY the passengers kept the terrorists from crashing into like, the White House.
Me: That would be United 93. Also known as UA93, via the IATA designator...
FIL: (interrupting my fascinating lecture about IATA designator codes) Whatever! It was totally a FAKE FLIGHT. Like, the government MADE UP those transcripts!
H: Or, I bet you the flight was SHOT DOWN by the US MILITARY.
Me: Oh, please. It was a real flight. With real people. Why would the government spend all that time and money to make up a flight with transcripts?
FIL: Because. Duh! That's what the US government does. EVERYONE KNOWS IT.
Me: I don't know. I mean, how do YOU know? It sounds REALLY far-fetched to me. I mean, they would have had to be planning all this stuff for like, 10 years. And I know there were real people on United 93 because the brother of this girl I used to vaguely know when I was a kid was on that flight.
FIL: Oh, you Americans are so NAIVE! You believe everything people tell you!
Me: (thinking in head, "Well, I don't know, I am not believing anything YOU are saying...")
FIL: You people have no idea how the world REALLY works. I mean, everyone knows that accidents don't just "happen".
Me: Um, yes they do. It's just that in the case of really big disasters, they are always freak accidents and there are always weird anomalies that no one can figure out. That's why they are freak accidents. Like you know, back in the 1980's when Pan Am 103 blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, or the Tenerife incident, which was like, the biggest accident in commercial aviation, when those two 747's crashed into each other on the run...
FIL: (interrupting my fascinating lecture on commercial airline disasters) Whatever. My point is that the world is full of conspiracy theories.
H: Yeah, like those two French guys who just so happened to be filming a documentary about firefighters and they just so happened to be at a firehouse when 9/11 happened? You know they knew about it.
Me: I don't know. Why would 2 random French guys know anything in advance.
H: Duh. Because they are like, rich, so they know everything.
Me: What?! That doesn't even make any sense.
FIL: Yeah, and like, people think that the US actually LANDED ON THE MOON.
Me: But they did!
H: No, they didn't. EVERYONE KNOWS that it was all filmed in a TV studio because there was the Cold War going on so you had to beat Russia to the punch. Why else has no one ever set foot on the moon since the 1970's?
Me: Maybe because you can't actually LIVE on the moon. There's like, no oxygen. So it must be very expensive to suit up and head over to the moon. And you can't do anything on it except you know, leap around in an unwieldly space suit and be all attached to oxygen.
H: (snorting) Whatever. That is so stupid. The US government totally faked the moon thing.
FIL: Yeah, and JFK was totally assassinated by the US government.
H: Or the mob.
FIL: Yeah. You Americans just don't understand ANYTHING. You are all so innocent and naive and easily gobble up all those excuses your government tells you. I KNOW.
Me: Um. Okay. You people are weird and are freaking me out. I can't believe you all believe all this crap. I have to go smoke now.
Poor Marion Cotillard. Now that she has her Oscar and she's all psyched to become an international A-list celebrity (which are admittedly rather rare in France) she's all regretting everything she said about the conspiracies, and has fallen back on the old "My words were taken out of context!" excuse.
Then again, I don't know if it's just the kind of people I know in France or what, but it seems to me that a majority of French people are really into conspiracy theories. The H and the in-laws are definitely no exception.
So this was a recurring conversation for awhile:
(Entire family of in-laws, plus the H and I at dinner)
FIL: (ranting after several glasses of wine): Blah blah blah...and everyone KNOWS that 9/11 is a conspiracy too!!!!
Me: Um, no it's not. It was totally real. I was in NYC when it happened.
FIL: Well, yes, it HAPPENED, but everyone KNOWS that it was done by the US government.
Me: Um, no it wasn't. It was done by Al-Qaeda.
FIL: (snorts) Why would you think that? Everyone KNOWS that the US government planted bombs in the bottom of the WTC!
Me: Uh, because Al-Qaeda was like, "HEY EVERYONE, WE DID IT! WE TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY! WOOOOOHOOOOOO!"?
FIL: Don't be silly! That was faked too! You can tell because the building collapsed from the bottom.
Me: No it didn't. It collapsed right under where the 767's crashed. All that fuel and everything created a lot of structural damage what with the intense heat.
FIL: Haha! Or so the US government says...! I'm telling you, because I KNOW, that it was all planned out by the US. Like Pearl Harbor. So you would have an excuse to attack Iraq.
Me: Oh, man. Well, first of all, Pearl Harbor wasn't planned. Because what happened was that the US intercepted all the messages, yes, but they were short on codebreakers, so most likely, the message about Pearl Harbor was sitting in the inbox of some tired and overworked codebreaker by the time Pearl Harbor happened. In addition, the waters of Pearl Harbor are quite shallow, which is not very conducive to a bombing, as everyone thought that the bombs would go "Plop! Fizz! Splat!" in the mud. Moreover, the US had not wanted to get involved in WWII as we were into our isolationist policy and coming out of the Great Depression. In fact, the US was about to sign a non-aggression pact with Hitler, but then we got roped into the war when A) the French were brutally defeated by Blitzkrieg in 1940 and despite their deep hatred for the Brits were suddenly all, "Merde, we 'ave lost; you come 'elp us now, non?" and then B) the British, what with all their territories and being the largest empire ever, were totally cracking under the pressure because they had to help France and set up the French Resistance, and so they were all, "Blimey, could you help us, mate?" to the US, to which Congress replied several times, "Um, no, but we'll give you money," and then...
FIL: (interrupting my fascinating lecture about American involvement in World War II) Whatever! That's all bull! We all KNOW that the US government is behind every single conspiracy! Like, that flight were SUPPOSEDLY the passengers kept the terrorists from crashing into like, the White House.
Me: That would be United 93. Also known as UA93, via the IATA designator...
FIL: (interrupting my fascinating lecture about IATA designator codes) Whatever! It was totally a FAKE FLIGHT. Like, the government MADE UP those transcripts!
H: Or, I bet you the flight was SHOT DOWN by the US MILITARY.
Me: Oh, please. It was a real flight. With real people. Why would the government spend all that time and money to make up a flight with transcripts?
FIL: Because. Duh! That's what the US government does. EVERYONE KNOWS IT.
Me: I don't know. I mean, how do YOU know? It sounds REALLY far-fetched to me. I mean, they would have had to be planning all this stuff for like, 10 years. And I know there were real people on United 93 because the brother of this girl I used to vaguely know when I was a kid was on that flight.
FIL: Oh, you Americans are so NAIVE! You believe everything people tell you!
Me: (thinking in head, "Well, I don't know, I am not believing anything YOU are saying...")
FIL: You people have no idea how the world REALLY works. I mean, everyone knows that accidents don't just "happen".
Me: Um, yes they do. It's just that in the case of really big disasters, they are always freak accidents and there are always weird anomalies that no one can figure out. That's why they are freak accidents. Like you know, back in the 1980's when Pan Am 103 blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, or the Tenerife incident, which was like, the biggest accident in commercial aviation, when those two 747's crashed into each other on the run...
FIL: (interrupting my fascinating lecture on commercial airline disasters) Whatever. My point is that the world is full of conspiracy theories.
H: Yeah, like those two French guys who just so happened to be filming a documentary about firefighters and they just so happened to be at a firehouse when 9/11 happened? You know they knew about it.
Me: I don't know. Why would 2 random French guys know anything in advance.
H: Duh. Because they are like, rich, so they know everything.
Me: What?! That doesn't even make any sense.
FIL: Yeah, and like, people think that the US actually LANDED ON THE MOON.
Me: But they did!
H: No, they didn't. EVERYONE KNOWS that it was all filmed in a TV studio because there was the Cold War going on so you had to beat Russia to the punch. Why else has no one ever set foot on the moon since the 1970's?
Me: Maybe because you can't actually LIVE on the moon. There's like, no oxygen. So it must be very expensive to suit up and head over to the moon. And you can't do anything on it except you know, leap around in an unwieldly space suit and be all attached to oxygen.
H: (snorting) Whatever. That is so stupid. The US government totally faked the moon thing.
FIL: Yeah, and JFK was totally assassinated by the US government.
H: Or the mob.
FIL: Yeah. You Americans just don't understand ANYTHING. You are all so innocent and naive and easily gobble up all those excuses your government tells you. I KNOW.
Me: Um. Okay. You people are weird and are freaking me out. I can't believe you all believe all this crap. I have to go smoke now.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Damn you, La Poste!
Argh! Where are my boxes????
About a week before I left, I went down to the post office near our apartment in the 16th arrondissement and mailed myself a bunch of boxes of crap. Most of them (well actually, I only mailed out 2 boxes - one of wovens and one of knits) contained fabric scraps and balls of yarn that I am using for my portfolio. They told me it would all arrive in about 2 - 3 weeks, as I was sending them Economy rather than Priority.
Well, it's been at least 3 weeks now and I STILL have not received my boxes!!!!
And now I find that desperately I need those stupid fabric scraps as I have redone my portfolio (well, I redid the collage and edited down my croquis, but as I used spray mount to put my croquis in, I have managed to un-stick and re-stick everything in nice manner. But I need those fabric scraps so I can recut out little squares to go with my croquis!
Hmmmph. Why is it that sometimes things arrive quite quickly via La Poste and sometimes they take forever? Like a month before I left, I mailed a box of books to my mom's house and it got there in a couple of days!
One could say that I could just go out to Mood Fabrics and buy a bunch of 1/4 yard scraps of fabric to use for my portfolio, but it's just the principle of it. I am not going to be using those Frenchie fabric scraps for anything else other than portfolio use.
Argh. Now I am off to Career Services with a half-done portfolio. I am sure I will receive some sort of mini-lecture about how one's portfolio needs to be presentable and COMPLETE.
Oh yeah. And while I am in the whole "damn you!" mode, damn you, Apple France! Where are my 97,50 euros????? They STILL have not reimbursed me! And I have left the country! Well, at least I left my computer's serial # and all other pertinent info for the H, who has already called once and been told that I should have been reimbursed by now (duh) but that he needs to call back another day to speak to someone else. Hmmmmmph!
About a week before I left, I went down to the post office near our apartment in the 16th arrondissement and mailed myself a bunch of boxes of crap. Most of them (well actually, I only mailed out 2 boxes - one of wovens and one of knits) contained fabric scraps and balls of yarn that I am using for my portfolio. They told me it would all arrive in about 2 - 3 weeks, as I was sending them Economy rather than Priority.
Well, it's been at least 3 weeks now and I STILL have not received my boxes!!!!
And now I find that desperately I need those stupid fabric scraps as I have redone my portfolio (well, I redid the collage and edited down my croquis, but as I used spray mount to put my croquis in, I have managed to un-stick and re-stick everything in nice manner. But I need those fabric scraps so I can recut out little squares to go with my croquis!
Hmmmph. Why is it that sometimes things arrive quite quickly via La Poste and sometimes they take forever? Like a month before I left, I mailed a box of books to my mom's house and it got there in a couple of days!
One could say that I could just go out to Mood Fabrics and buy a bunch of 1/4 yard scraps of fabric to use for my portfolio, but it's just the principle of it. I am not going to be using those Frenchie fabric scraps for anything else other than portfolio use.
Argh. Now I am off to Career Services with a half-done portfolio. I am sure I will receive some sort of mini-lecture about how one's portfolio needs to be presentable and COMPLETE.
Oh yeah. And while I am in the whole "damn you!" mode, damn you, Apple France! Where are my 97,50 euros????? They STILL have not reimbursed me! And I have left the country! Well, at least I left my computer's serial # and all other pertinent info for the H, who has already called once and been told that I should have been reimbursed by now (duh) but that he needs to call back another day to speak to someone else. Hmmmmmph!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Busted!
Good God! How embarrassing, the whole Elliot Spitzer debacle!
Even more embarrassing is that Elliot Spitzer went to my high school (though he graduated like, before I was born or something). Hmmmph. When he was elected governor, he was practically on the cover of the Alumni Magazine - he got a massive article dedicated to how his greatness and it most likely discussed how he got to where he was because of the fine education he received during his formative years at our high school. (I didn't actually read the entire article). I suppose he will not be featured in our illustrious Alumni Magazine any time soon, considering that his career is totally over.
I passed in front of his apartment building on Fifth Avenue this afternoon. Not because I wanted to, but because I was stuck in crazy Fifth Ave traffic jam due to massive camera crews camped out in front of his building. I mean, even the CW11 had their camera crew too! (I have always thought of the CW as a not very newsworthy-serious type channel due to programs such as "America's Next Top Model", that Pussycat Dolls reality show, and "Gossip Girl"). Though it was all rather non-exciting because Spitzer was not even outside.
Jeez. As my friend Annie pointed out this afternoon, either you crusade against the hookers, but don't do it with them on the side, or you do it with the hookers on the side, but don't crusade against them.
This whole thing merely serves to reinforce my unfounded belief that all politicians are creepy, megalomaniac liars.
(Photo from NY Times). I think it's absolutely priceless, the way his wife is glaring at him. He's all giving his speech like, "Oooh, I resign, and now I will work towards healing my family blah blah blah" and she's all, "Dude, I am so going to kick yo' ass!"
Also, here is the link to the SNL skit where they make fun of the Clinton-Obama debates. I'd been wanting to post it since last week, but couldn't figure out how to link to it, so yay me! I finally figured it out! Anyway, it's really hysterical:
Even more embarrassing is that Elliot Spitzer went to my high school (though he graduated like, before I was born or something). Hmmmph. When he was elected governor, he was practically on the cover of the Alumni Magazine - he got a massive article dedicated to how his greatness and it most likely discussed how he got to where he was because of the fine education he received during his formative years at our high school. (I didn't actually read the entire article). I suppose he will not be featured in our illustrious Alumni Magazine any time soon, considering that his career is totally over.
I passed in front of his apartment building on Fifth Avenue this afternoon. Not because I wanted to, but because I was stuck in crazy Fifth Ave traffic jam due to massive camera crews camped out in front of his building. I mean, even the CW11 had their camera crew too! (I have always thought of the CW as a not very newsworthy-serious type channel due to programs such as "America's Next Top Model", that Pussycat Dolls reality show, and "Gossip Girl"). Though it was all rather non-exciting because Spitzer was not even outside.
Jeez. As my friend Annie pointed out this afternoon, either you crusade against the hookers, but don't do it with them on the side, or you do it with the hookers on the side, but don't crusade against them.
This whole thing merely serves to reinforce my unfounded belief that all politicians are creepy, megalomaniac liars.
(Photo from NY Times). I think it's absolutely priceless, the way his wife is glaring at him. He's all giving his speech like, "Oooh, I resign, and now I will work towards healing my family blah blah blah" and she's all, "Dude, I am so going to kick yo' ass!"
Also, here is the link to the SNL skit where they make fun of the Clinton-Obama debates. I'd been wanting to post it since last week, but couldn't figure out how to link to it, so yay me! I finally figured it out! Anyway, it's really hysterical:
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Lack of motivation
Arrrggghh!
What is it about working at home that makes me want to procrastinate like crazy?
I am faced with massive indecision re: my portfolio. I cannot decide which direction to go. I have great ideas, but all requiring massive execution and just do not feel like doing it. Would rather spend all day doing useless things like Facebooking.
Though, re: portfolio, I am also completely unsure of exactly how to go about it all. Luckily I have a meeting with my former professor tomorrow afternoon, but fear she might not like my ideas (mostly in that a) do not want to do full figures with complete outfits; i.e. jacket, shirt, skirt, shoes); and b) do not want to do flat sketches (loathe flats!) I much prefer just drawing each individual piece of clothing on my girls and then omitting the rest. Then again, this is probably due from when I used to work, hardly anyone ever spent their time doing complete head to toe outfits.
I wonder if this is not all due to the fact that whilst in my depressive funk, I merely got comfortable. Not happy, mind you, nor even satisfied - believe you me, was quite unsatisfied with direction of life - but eventually was just comfortable where I was. Like, comfortable with my dissatisfaction. I wonder if this is what typically happens to French people - knowing that so many factors and decisions in your life are so not in your own control, but rather in control of nasty fonctionnaires, cruel HR people, and whether or not your contacts are feeling inclined to "pistonne" you. I mean, I look at the H, who is obviously not happy with his career but is also comfortable because it is all familiar and also because there is not much that is in his control. Luckily I have managed to convince him that change and adventure are most excellent things in life that one should welcome with open arms. Except that I may have been overzealous because he is wondering why, since I have been home for exactly one week, I have still not found a job yet.
Anyway, it's not like I haven't done anything. I have resketched some of my stuff (as had ripped all pages out of last portfolio in fit of rage after having been rejected by all-important luxury conglomerate group, which was quite unfortunate as portfolio was in pretty notebook) and I am waiting for a size 4 dress form to free up from a particular website so's that I can take pictures and start draping - perhaps will get the creative juices flowing more if I can drape. Have also halfway completed a cute skirt which shall go into portfolio as well. However, the massive indecision attacks I am having have further prevented me from continuing on and would rather not start flat sketches. (I really despise flats, as flats in general and as a whole are boxy, rigid, full of rules, and demand precision and mad skillz with an array of rulers).
Hmmm. Well, hopefully will have a clearer picture after tomorrow. Just wish the H would lay off a little bit, though he is right, I am lacking motivation. It is just really hard to suddenly re-adapt to the U.S., in manner of "I can achieve ANYTHING I want!" when am so used now to being completely bogged down by opposite school of thought (i.e. "You will get nowhere in life and career because you are not a famous daughter of VIP").
Bugger!
What is it about working at home that makes me want to procrastinate like crazy?
I am faced with massive indecision re: my portfolio. I cannot decide which direction to go. I have great ideas, but all requiring massive execution and just do not feel like doing it. Would rather spend all day doing useless things like Facebooking.
Though, re: portfolio, I am also completely unsure of exactly how to go about it all. Luckily I have a meeting with my former professor tomorrow afternoon, but fear she might not like my ideas (mostly in that a) do not want to do full figures with complete outfits; i.e. jacket, shirt, skirt, shoes); and b) do not want to do flat sketches (loathe flats!) I much prefer just drawing each individual piece of clothing on my girls and then omitting the rest. Then again, this is probably due from when I used to work, hardly anyone ever spent their time doing complete head to toe outfits.
I wonder if this is not all due to the fact that whilst in my depressive funk, I merely got comfortable. Not happy, mind you, nor even satisfied - believe you me, was quite unsatisfied with direction of life - but eventually was just comfortable where I was. Like, comfortable with my dissatisfaction. I wonder if this is what typically happens to French people - knowing that so many factors and decisions in your life are so not in your own control, but rather in control of nasty fonctionnaires, cruel HR people, and whether or not your contacts are feeling inclined to "pistonne" you. I mean, I look at the H, who is obviously not happy with his career but is also comfortable because it is all familiar and also because there is not much that is in his control. Luckily I have managed to convince him that change and adventure are most excellent things in life that one should welcome with open arms. Except that I may have been overzealous because he is wondering why, since I have been home for exactly one week, I have still not found a job yet.
Anyway, it's not like I haven't done anything. I have resketched some of my stuff (as had ripped all pages out of last portfolio in fit of rage after having been rejected by all-important luxury conglomerate group, which was quite unfortunate as portfolio was in pretty notebook) and I am waiting for a size 4 dress form to free up from a particular website so's that I can take pictures and start draping - perhaps will get the creative juices flowing more if I can drape. Have also halfway completed a cute skirt which shall go into portfolio as well. However, the massive indecision attacks I am having have further prevented me from continuing on and would rather not start flat sketches. (I really despise flats, as flats in general and as a whole are boxy, rigid, full of rules, and demand precision and mad skillz with an array of rulers).
Hmmm. Well, hopefully will have a clearer picture after tomorrow. Just wish the H would lay off a little bit, though he is right, I am lacking motivation. It is just really hard to suddenly re-adapt to the U.S., in manner of "I can achieve ANYTHING I want!" when am so used now to being completely bogged down by opposite school of thought (i.e. "You will get nowhere in life and career because you are not a famous daughter of VIP").
Bugger!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Settling in
It's kinda cool to be back in NYC. Well, more precisely, I am in Westchester, chez Mom, while I wait for the H, who will join me in mid-April, and while I wait for the guy who is currently subletting my apartment in the East Village to clear out in May.
I haven't really gone out much; I'm still kind of tired and adjusting my body clock, so I spend a lot of time thinking about how I want to rework my portfolio. I also need to go and get a dress form soon, so I can really start working on stuff (my dress form back in Paris has indeed been requisitioned by SIL).
I did go to Whole Foods with mom on Sunday. It was really nice to see all the stores open on Sunday. It was also really nice and exciting to be able to actually buy stuff at the supermarket and be able to eat it. I love Whole Foods.
I've been taking it easy, just trying to relax this week before I settle down and start working on my portfolio and job hunting and all that. In mid-March, I have a meeting with one of my former professors at Parsons, so I'd like to have my portfolio at least started so I can get feedback. I've also pretty much finished my resumé (in English, and it is nice to not have to put my age, nationality, and marital status, and photo on it), so I can drop that off with Career Services so they can take a look and make any necessary changes. I'm ever so slowly coming out of my depressive funk now and I'm feeling much better these days (stomach and skin-wise - I haven't had any major stomach pains since I've been back and my skin is even starting to clear up).
In other news, Hillary Clinton won Ohio and the Texas primary (but we are still waiting on the Texas caucus results, which for now has Obama with a very thin lead). Argh! Is it me, or does it just seem like the Democratic primaries have become a never ending soap opera?
I haven't really gone out much; I'm still kind of tired and adjusting my body clock, so I spend a lot of time thinking about how I want to rework my portfolio. I also need to go and get a dress form soon, so I can really start working on stuff (my dress form back in Paris has indeed been requisitioned by SIL).
I did go to Whole Foods with mom on Sunday. It was really nice to see all the stores open on Sunday. It was also really nice and exciting to be able to actually buy stuff at the supermarket and be able to eat it. I love Whole Foods.
I've been taking it easy, just trying to relax this week before I settle down and start working on my portfolio and job hunting and all that. In mid-March, I have a meeting with one of my former professors at Parsons, so I'd like to have my portfolio at least started so I can get feedback. I've also pretty much finished my resumé (in English, and it is nice to not have to put my age, nationality, and marital status, and photo on it), so I can drop that off with Career Services so they can take a look and make any necessary changes. I'm ever so slowly coming out of my depressive funk now and I'm feeling much better these days (stomach and skin-wise - I haven't had any major stomach pains since I've been back and my skin is even starting to clear up).
In other news, Hillary Clinton won Ohio and the Texas primary (but we are still waiting on the Texas caucus results, which for now has Obama with a very thin lead). Argh! Is it me, or does it just seem like the Democratic primaries have become a never ending soap opera?
Sunday, March 2, 2008
L'espace affaires
Yesterday I headed back home for NYC permanently.
I was very excited, as I had booked a business class one way award ticket on KLM. I have a special love affair with KLM, mostly because in my experience, they have always been very efficient (and of course, there was that time when the flight attendant offered me bread then doubled back 5 minutes later to apologize profusely about it when he realized that I had a gluten-free meal).
My original itinerary was a 14h25 departure on an AF/KLM codeshare flight (on AF metal) to Amsterdam and then an 18h10 departure from AMS to JFK. I have always been curious about KLM biz class - this is because I have always found the coach service on KLM to be quite good, compared with AF and UA (whereas, which is quite normal, AF and UA biz are really quite excellent). So, for me, it was an opportunity to: a) connect in Schiphol airport, which I quite like because ground staff are very helpful and I think it's very cute that they have a tulip shop, a casino, and a mini Rijksmuseum in the terminal; b) check out the KLM lounge in AMS to see if it is really as good as people say it is; and c) see if KLM biz is worth its price (because I flew Alitalia biz not too long ago and all I can say is that it is SOOOO not worth the price of the ticket).
So I was obviously VERY upset when the H and I arrived at terminal 2F only to be greeted with the departures board that said "KLM 1234 delayed until 17h55". Argh! Then H and I went past the L'Espace Affaires check-in desk and had to double back and walk another 10 minutes back, where there was a short line, but a long wait, as there was for some reason only 1 gate agent checking people in. Finally, it was my turn, and I had the misfortune to get someone who was obviously very new to her job, given how she panicked when she saw that I was headed to AMS (she kept turning to the gate agent next to her and asking her what she was supposed to do). Turned out that AF decided to rebook me onto a direct flight, CDG-JFK, because there were terrible storms in Amsterdam, so many flights headed in and out of Schiphol were being cancelled or delayed, and AF did not want to take the chance of my JFK flight getting cancelled and me being put into a hotel at their expense. So the GA left us standing there for a good 20 minutes as a huge pile of people started gathering in line behind us, and came back with my ticket. "But," I protested, "this means that my gluten free meal will not be on board!" The GA then started calling all over the place to see if she could secure me a gluten free meal for the 15h55 flight to JFK (mind you, it was 12h30 at this point) and finally said that it was not possible, as she was unable to get in touch with Servair (the caterers). She then checked me in and then directed me to terminal 2E, with her apologies (and as a side note, she was shocked that the CDG-JFK flight was 8 hours, 25 minutes - she was all, "For real? I thought the flight was 6 hours!" and I had to point out that when flying west, you go against the air currents, so it takes longer). At this point, I was convinced that this was an AF conspiracy to keep me from reuniting with my true love, KLM, and made a nasty speech to the GA, the gist of which was "I know this is totally not YOUR fault and you have nothing to do with it, but frankly, I loathe AF and I love KLM."
So, alas, while I was miffed about the whole thing, it wasn't such a bad journey home. The GA had assigned me one of the best seats on the plane (an A-340), in 2B, which meant I had no one in front of me. Also I found that the plane had been reconfigured with the new L'Espace Affaires seats, which were more or less lie flat (that is, they are lie flat, but at a weird angle, so one has a tendency to slide down your seat until your feet block you when they run up against the seat or the wall in front of you). Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the helpfulness of the AF staff when I boarded and explained the meal problem - they told me not to hesitate to ask any questions, and then even took me to the galley and showed me all the dishes so I could have first pick of what I could eat (I went with the fish, steamed veggies, and rice, which barely had a hint of a vinagrette sauce; although the beef and pommes de terres dauphin had no sauce at all, I thought the potatoes were a little dodgy, as potatoes dauphin have melted cheese and sometimes have some sort of cream sauce). As usual, I didn't really sleep on the plane, but dozed for an hour. The flight was completely booked - literally, every seat on the plane was taken, but I later found out this was because an earlier AMS-JFK flight had been canceled and they had rerouted a bunch of those people to Paris and put them on our flight - which had obviously resulted in a bunch of op-ups for some of those passengers - and they were pretty evident because they kept taking pictures of themselves stretched out on the lie-flat seats and eating their meals - so the camera flashes were a little irritating. (Also, I think some guy who was supposed to be in biz got downgraded to coach, and he was understandably very upset about it, especially when the flight crew were all "Um, we can't do anything about it. Maybe you should write a complaint letter to AF management?")
Arriving at JFK, I was even more surprised when my priority-tagged luggage actually came out before everyone else's - this is actually the first time this has ever happened to me when flying AF!
All in all, it was a good flight back home, and left me with a good memory of AF (to replace all those crappy ones). I'd also definitely recommend shelling out the $$$ for AF business if you can - definitely much better than Alitalia biz, and so long as there are no irregular ops. The food is not as good as it used to be, but the new seats make up for it all.
Now that I'm back in the US for good, the process of job hunting and a new life begins...
I was very excited, as I had booked a business class one way award ticket on KLM. I have a special love affair with KLM, mostly because in my experience, they have always been very efficient (and of course, there was that time when the flight attendant offered me bread then doubled back 5 minutes later to apologize profusely about it when he realized that I had a gluten-free meal).
My original itinerary was a 14h25 departure on an AF/KLM codeshare flight (on AF metal) to Amsterdam and then an 18h10 departure from AMS to JFK. I have always been curious about KLM biz class - this is because I have always found the coach service on KLM to be quite good, compared with AF and UA (whereas, which is quite normal, AF and UA biz are really quite excellent). So, for me, it was an opportunity to: a) connect in Schiphol airport, which I quite like because ground staff are very helpful and I think it's very cute that they have a tulip shop, a casino, and a mini Rijksmuseum in the terminal; b) check out the KLM lounge in AMS to see if it is really as good as people say it is; and c) see if KLM biz is worth its price (because I flew Alitalia biz not too long ago and all I can say is that it is SOOOO not worth the price of the ticket).
So I was obviously VERY upset when the H and I arrived at terminal 2F only to be greeted with the departures board that said "KLM 1234 delayed until 17h55". Argh! Then H and I went past the L'Espace Affaires check-in desk and had to double back and walk another 10 minutes back, where there was a short line, but a long wait, as there was for some reason only 1 gate agent checking people in. Finally, it was my turn, and I had the misfortune to get someone who was obviously very new to her job, given how she panicked when she saw that I was headed to AMS (she kept turning to the gate agent next to her and asking her what she was supposed to do). Turned out that AF decided to rebook me onto a direct flight, CDG-JFK, because there were terrible storms in Amsterdam, so many flights headed in and out of Schiphol were being cancelled or delayed, and AF did not want to take the chance of my JFK flight getting cancelled and me being put into a hotel at their expense. So the GA left us standing there for a good 20 minutes as a huge pile of people started gathering in line behind us, and came back with my ticket. "But," I protested, "this means that my gluten free meal will not be on board!" The GA then started calling all over the place to see if she could secure me a gluten free meal for the 15h55 flight to JFK (mind you, it was 12h30 at this point) and finally said that it was not possible, as she was unable to get in touch with Servair (the caterers). She then checked me in and then directed me to terminal 2E, with her apologies (and as a side note, she was shocked that the CDG-JFK flight was 8 hours, 25 minutes - she was all, "For real? I thought the flight was 6 hours!" and I had to point out that when flying west, you go against the air currents, so it takes longer). At this point, I was convinced that this was an AF conspiracy to keep me from reuniting with my true love, KLM, and made a nasty speech to the GA, the gist of which was "I know this is totally not YOUR fault and you have nothing to do with it, but frankly, I loathe AF and I love KLM."
So, alas, while I was miffed about the whole thing, it wasn't such a bad journey home. The GA had assigned me one of the best seats on the plane (an A-340), in 2B, which meant I had no one in front of me. Also I found that the plane had been reconfigured with the new L'Espace Affaires seats, which were more or less lie flat (that is, they are lie flat, but at a weird angle, so one has a tendency to slide down your seat until your feet block you when they run up against the seat or the wall in front of you). Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the helpfulness of the AF staff when I boarded and explained the meal problem - they told me not to hesitate to ask any questions, and then even took me to the galley and showed me all the dishes so I could have first pick of what I could eat (I went with the fish, steamed veggies, and rice, which barely had a hint of a vinagrette sauce; although the beef and pommes de terres dauphin had no sauce at all, I thought the potatoes were a little dodgy, as potatoes dauphin have melted cheese and sometimes have some sort of cream sauce). As usual, I didn't really sleep on the plane, but dozed for an hour. The flight was completely booked - literally, every seat on the plane was taken, but I later found out this was because an earlier AMS-JFK flight had been canceled and they had rerouted a bunch of those people to Paris and put them on our flight - which had obviously resulted in a bunch of op-ups for some of those passengers - and they were pretty evident because they kept taking pictures of themselves stretched out on the lie-flat seats and eating their meals - so the camera flashes were a little irritating. (Also, I think some guy who was supposed to be in biz got downgraded to coach, and he was understandably very upset about it, especially when the flight crew were all "Um, we can't do anything about it. Maybe you should write a complaint letter to AF management?")
Arriving at JFK, I was even more surprised when my priority-tagged luggage actually came out before everyone else's - this is actually the first time this has ever happened to me when flying AF!
All in all, it was a good flight back home, and left me with a good memory of AF (to replace all those crappy ones). I'd also definitely recommend shelling out the $$$ for AF business if you can - definitely much better than Alitalia biz, and so long as there are no irregular ops. The food is not as good as it used to be, but the new seats make up for it all.
Now that I'm back in the US for good, the process of job hunting and a new life begins...
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