The Project of a Lifetime

Every so often I get sick of having "stuff."

I would say I am a mild pack rat, mostly because I worry about needing to refer to things later and I have tons of painting and craft supplies.

I'm currently in a "sick of stuff" mode. I get into this "give it away or junk it" mode every so often where I'll throw things away or give them to D.I.. But for some reason, this time I feel like it's more of a permanent shift.

I want my life to be less about "stuff" and more about learning: expanding my mind, developing and nurturing important relationships, deepening my creativity, and making beautiful things (whether that be through painting, taking pictures, writing stories, or any number of other avenues.)

So, I started a little project for myself last week.

I am going through all of my possessions to clear out the clutter I have accumulated over my lifetime. There are several reasons why this project is cropping up now:

-I sold my house and will be moving back in with my parents for a one month transition period before I move to Paris.

-I recently read an article about clutter and excess "stuff" creating/increasing stress. Hmmmm. No, thanks.

-In Paris I will be living in a miniscule apartment* with a tiny closet. I'll basically be living out of my suitcases for 5 months. So, I think this will be a great trial run for living the pared-down life.

-Many of these boxes simply contain papers from school that I wanted to keep either 1)Because they are a testament to the fact that I was, in fact, smart at one point in my life, 2) I wanted to use them in developing my own French course curriculum (papers that fall into this category I'll likely scan and keep), or 3) Back then I thought I "might need it for something later."

So, wish me luck. It's a really difficult process for me, because I'm so much a "what if" person that I can imagine realistic scenarios for needing just about anything later. I also feel horrible donating or throwing away anthing that someone gave to me.


I'll try to take pictures of the process so you can see what I'm talking about. It's going to be quite the project, but I can't wait to feel liberated from all of my junk. (And I think my parents will appreciate having a guest room that doesn't feel like it's about to topple over onto their sleeping friends/family at any given moment.)

As a side note, there's no getting around the fact that I'm going to keep 90% of my painting and art supplies and 99% of my books. I use those. This project is focusing on the stuff that is just taking up space and not contributing to my personal development or happiness (which is, in fact, most of my stuff).


*I don't have one yet, but let's be honest... it's a pretty safe assumption to make.

Happy Thanksgiving

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusiton into clarity... It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

-Melodie Beattie

Today I am grateful for many things, but especially my wonderful family. I am truly blessed to have such good, loving, intelligent, [awesome, attractive ;)], supportive people in my life. Extended family, this absolutely includes you.

"There is No Charge for Awesomeness... or Attractiveness"

How great is this line?*

Wouldn't you love to be able to say this to someone? Be on the lookout for good times to say this. I will be looking, too. This sounds like something I would say, anyways, in one of my "I'm pretending to think more highly of myself than I actually do" moments.

Sometimes I think that people who don't know me very well think I'm a total narcissist. And I can't say that I blame them. I frequently speak very highly of myself, mostly as a tongue-in-cheek joke. But most people who don't know me well don't quite get it... so then I just look like I'm an egomaniac.

Oh, well.

Still... don't you think everyone should think of themselves as awesome? I think they should.**

Take the poll on my sidebar and tell me if you think you're awesome!! This could be a life-changing self-affirmation moment. But only if you let it be. :)

*From Kung Fu Panda
**But I think their opinion of themselves should be tempered by the realization that everyone else is awesome and deserves to be heard, respected, and supported, too. I think there are people who have unreasonably elevated opinions of themselves, and as a result, the way they treat other people is just atrocious.

"Never" Coming Back

In a recent conversation with my best friend, Happy, she said the following about me moving to France.

"You know you're never coming back, right? You say you're coming back, but we BOTH know you're never coming back."

Well, then.

I wish I could say with any certainty that that was true. But I can't. I've got a plane ticket to come back, and my visa will expire at a certain point (assuming I ever get one).

So unless I randomly decide to stay in France and do a Master's program (which apparently I can do, and they will just extend my visa while I'm still in France), I'll be back at the end of June and looking for a job.

I Also Think I Don't Have a House

Yesterday I signed a purchase contract to sell my house. Hooray!

Now it just has to appraise for enough and the inspector needs to not surprise me with termites or mold or something like that.

The plan is to close on the 10th. Wow, that's so soon! Two weeks from tomorrow!

Jessica and I are moving the 6th of December (she to a new house, me to my parents').


Goodbye, tiny townhouse.

Hello, even tinier apartment in Paris.
I'm not going to lie... it's a tradeoff I would make 10 times out of 10.

I think I Have an Apartment

So, my friend's sister in Paris called today to report on her visit to one of the two apartments I've been deciding between.

At this point, I don't really think it's even a contest. Unless something miraculous happens with the second apartment, I will probably take this one.



It is:
-apparently good sized, and my room is quite large for Paris
-very secure--there is an outer gate and a digital code I have to enter to get into the building
-15 minutes by foot to the Arc de Triomphe
-15 minutes by foot to Montmartre
-5 stops by RER away from the Eiffel Tower
-one Metro transfer away from school, Notre Dame, and the Louvre
-in a very nice neighborhood
-with a 45-year old lady who is rarely there on the weekends
-550 Euros a month (right now about $720) with no extra charges (includes internet, unlimited international phone calls, washing machine, use of the kitchen, etc.)







Not bad, eh?


There is also a farmer's market twice a week on a nearby street.

Now, if only the consulate would answer my emails so I could get my visa...

Russell Peters...

... is sooooo funny. Oh, man.

His parents are from India, but he was born and raised in Canada. The guy is just hilarious. I laugh out loud every time, and I don't think I've laughed so hard I actually cried in a LOOONG time, but I did when watching some of his clips.

Disclaimer: He does say some things that are wildly inappropriate. And he bases a lot of his humor around cultural differences/stereotypes, so if you are offended by things like that he's probably not the comedian for you. He does swear once or twice in the first video below.

My Musical Horizons...

... need some expanding.

So, I'm going to ask for your help.

Please leave a comment and let me know five (or more if you want to) musical recommendations you would make. They can be songs, groups, or artists.

Keep the following in mind.

1) If the lyrics include big-time swears, let me know in advance so I can try to track down an edited version.
2) I am not going to tell you what kind of music I listen to normally, because I don't want you to be influenced by what you think I would like. I want to know what you listen to.
3) If you recommend an artist, I will listen to at least three of their songs to get a feel and go from there.
4) If you recommend a song, I will listen to that song and then look up the artist and listen to three more. :)
5) I'll let you know what new favorites I discover.

I would also love if it you tell other people to come to my post and comment. The more recommendations, the better!

Hopefully you will also learn about more artists, songs, and genres that interest you through this group effort.

Twilight Movie: Yes or No?

The Twilight movie opens today. Are you going to see it?

I will, but probably not this weekend. Unless there is a showing tomorrow that magically isn't sold out when I feel like making my way to the theater.

I might wait even longer because I don't want to be in a theater full of screaming girls in "Team Edward" shirts and the like. (Not that everyone going to see it is such a superfan... I'm just saying. It's like when we went to the new Star Wars movies and we found ourselves in line with a Sith Lord, Princess Padme, and other characters. What??)

I have mixed feelings about seeing the movie--I enjoyed the books (the last one FAR less than the previous three, unfortunately), and I'm curious to see how they translated some of the aspects of the book onto the big screen. I just hope I don't walk away from the theater wishing I had just saved my money and reread the books. :)

The IPA

I took a French linguistics class a couple of years ago where we had to memorize* the International Phonetic Alphabet.

You might not think it is interesting, but I am completely fascinated. It's a great resource for linguists because it allows you to understand how a word should be pronounced in another language, even if you have no experience with the language outside of the IPA.

Singers also use it according to Wikipedia (which I had never thought of before, but it totally makes sense). (Hello, Josh Groban??)

We also used this a little bit in an English Language class, in which we also learned about different regional dialects and pronunciation patterns in the US.

This NPR clip highlights some examples of these differences, focusing on the Northern states in the US.

So fascinating.

Maybe when I'm back from Paris I'll do a masters in linguistics and travel around the world gathering "research" on the way words are pronounced in different places.

*I don't remember it anymore. I wish I did.