I pulled this couch out of my basement Odeon where it had been sitting, un-sat-upon, for several years. Before that it was in my living room when I lived in a nice, yet inexpensive apartment across the Street from the Uptown Pizza Luce (I was forced to move when the building was sold and the new owner raised everyones’ rent a ridiculous amount – but that’s not important right now). Some years before that it was part of a sectional in my parents’ basement (this was of course, back before they were divorced – which must have been around 1995, give or a take a year – but that’s also not important right now).

Double anyway, it’s in the driveway behind my house at 3945 Pleasant Ave. I’ll remove this posting in the unlikely event that it disappears.
Semper Fi!

The Culprit

courtesy Alex Perron

My friend, Alex would. And I am living vicariously through her right now, because last week she was in the presence of Miss Anna Wintour for CFDA’s Fashion Night Out on 7th and 39th in the Garment District of New York. She smiles!

courtesy of twitter

For those of you socially disconnected individuals that did not know about #whentwitterwasdown…

Millions were hurt by an act of social terrorism that happened last week. Someone hacked into twitter. The great social network crash, like the New York City Blackout of 1977, happened in a time of deep economic downturn. And like the NYC blackout, (virtual) disorder erupted soon afterward.

For those several scary hours after the event, I was unsure how Heidi Montag was doing with her dance practices for the Miss Universe Contest and how the Kardashian’s workouts were going.

People were considering doing actual work at their jobs, rather than just  continuing to update their statuses. 

In other news, people began to appreciate facebook again.

A pro-Georgian blogger is said to be the target of the attacks, which was timed to the one-year anniversary of the Russia-Georgia conflict.

in alissa’s finance-induced absence from keeping us regularly entertained through her blog, i know i’m not the only one feeling abandoned and short of distraction. therefore i’ve taken matters into my own, hopefully very capable, hands…and if you show enough love, i could be making a regular appearance.

summer, for me, used to be that three-month long melting of carefree days into ‘crazy’ nights (for lack of a better word to describe high school nights filled with parking lots and harmlessly trespassing on beaches with your best friends), putting off that AP english reading list until, literally, the last hour possible, and okay fine, the occasional work day involving trips to the beach with a brigade of children i spent the whole time frantically counting. but this summer, the summer after college graduation during these tough times, as every other person i talk to never fails to reminds me of, was quite different. to keep things short and simple, the biggest decision of my day became what to eat for each meal, a thought process that, at times, required list making, taking polls of roommates, and assessing the strength of the fire extinguisher underneath the sink. however, there is one thing i did this summer that i recommend you do too.

go see ‘(500) days of summer.’ just do. director, marc webb, has created something definitely worth your time and hard-earned money; i challenge you to find one person who leaves the theatre disappointed. zooey deschanel is ridiculously charming, as usual, and joseph gordon-levitt will impress you with his boy-next-door good looks and charisma, making you simultaneously fall in crush and wonder why he looks so familiar. if that’s not enough, the soundtrack is pretty impressive as well, featuring zooey’s own band, ’she & him,’ the president of france’s wife, carla bruni, and a song that refuses to get out of my head, ’sweet disposition’ by the temper trap. so go enjoy something great.

until next time,

s

p.s. just because i know you’re looking for another way to spend 4 minutes and 25 seconds looking busy and important at your job, not checking your email to see if someone decided to give you an interview, if any of your friends love you enough to even comment on your facebook status, or whatever else may be on your pressing agenda…might as well visit this link to take a look at a pretty fantastic dance video featuring the above mentioned: click here

Phelps’ coach was not happy. He was very angered at FINA (the rule-makers when it comes to anything swimming) for letting swimsuit technology get so out of hand. Heaven forbid! He also threatened to take Michael Phelps out of swimming altogether if this new fangled swimsuit technology is not banned soon. That’s like taking the cream-filling out of an oreo.

Other people also swam in other events Tuesday and won them.

In October 2006, police found & confiscated 250 rabbits in her home & 100 dead ones in her freezers and fridges. Problems started here.

Sakewitz was put on probation after this for five years & banned from owning rabbits. She was also banned from going within 100 yards of a rabbit. 

Suspicions also rose in August of 2007 when a half empty 10-pound bag of carrots was found in her home. She was in jail three days later. 

Her probation this time around will include volunteer work at a local animal shelter.

The psychedelic song was influenced by John Lennon’s son, Julien Lennon, when he brought home a picture he drew in school around the age of four. Julien named the picture “Lucy in the Sky With diamonds,” after his friend Lucy Vodden.

Vodden was diagnosed with lupus about five years ago after suffering complications from other serious health problems.

Julien has been by his old friends virtual side via text messaging since he found out about her health condition. He has also been sending her gift certificates to a nearby gardening center which he knows is a hobby she loves.

Get well Lucy.

But then it did…

My next stop will be Cafe de Flore next door for desert! After lunch I had a coconut and dark chocolate macaroon. Delicious. I am going to miss the food here so much when I head home.

Spent the rest of the afternoon listening to a couple musicains perform on a bridge over the Seine River and shopping around in Shakespeare and Company Bookstore.

Also saw this cute beagle on a small street on my walk home.

That was my lazy Monday in pictures. Unfortunately, the rest of my night will be consumed with paper writing. Tomorrow our class is going to Chartes for the day to see the Cathedral. It should be a fun day. I am going to Barcelona next weekend with 4 other friends and I couldn’t be more excited to see the city and eat the food!

This weekend we went to Bruges, Belgium. We had originally planned to go to Brussels (thank you for the suggestion not to, Kelly. We loved Bruges!) The city was wonderful. It was so picturesque and quaint. I bought a lot of chocolate and ate a lot of waffles. I have been eating a few Croque Monsieurs in France and Belgium. They are basically a a ham and Cheese sandwich with an egg on top. Delicious.

Here is a picture from Bruges:

The only Michaelangelo sculpture outside of Italy. This is in The Church of Our Lady. Very cool.

Belgian Waffle--Yes that's chocolate syrup in that little dish.

Pictures do not do it justice--it's such a cute city!

I had my first experience in a hostel. It was exciting, but stuffy. I prefer hotels. The Flemish people were wonderful and so nice. We even started speaking to them in French thinking that was the language spoke. Whoops. It’s not. It’s actually Flemish. A nice lady corrected us and didn’t even laugh at us. Embarressing moment of the trip number 1.

France has been so fun. The people on the trip are great and I love the city. My friend Becca and her roommate Nicole came and visited on their excursions across Europe. Very fun. We ended out night with them drinking wine at the Eiffel Tower.

Here’s a few pictures from Paris:

This girl was hilarious. She was razor scootering (which everyone does here) around the Eiffel Tower, fell off and immediately started meditating. They are all so calm here.

French Boy. In a nautical shirt. Riding a bike.

A few of us just booked a trip for Barcelona for a couple weekends from now. I could not be more excited. I am also planning on going to Versailles on Saturday.