Newark

Yesterday afternoon Leigh and I drove to Toronto to stay overnight before my flight out of Pearson Int'l Airport. The hotel/motel was kind of crappy but we've stayed in worse (Knight's Inn of Pittsburgh still takes the cake of seedy places we've had to sleep). We watched TV, enjoyed having furniture to sit on for the first time in two weeks, and sulked a little bit about being apart and so far from one another for 3 weeks.

This morning we got up at 6am and fought traffic all the way to the airport and now I'm in Newark for my first of two layovers.

Now I get to relax and enjoy my 7 HOUR LAYOVER.

*ugh*

See, if I had this layover at JFK I could take my carryon bag and hop the AirTrain into Manhattan, or at least Queens, and do something fun. I could walk around, grab lunch (Halal, anyone?), maybe even visit a museum. That's how much time I have!

But no, I'm in Newark, NJ where all I can do is chill at the airport. I've decided to splurge and buy a 24 hour internet pass, of which I will probably use 5-7 hours, but it'll be well worth it since I no longer have a cell phone. I guess I could always window shop because this place is kind of huge and mall-like, or I could get a massage but that might be kind of weird in an airport with people walking by not to mention ridiculously overpriced. Unfortunately the book I started reading (Guns, Germs, and Steel) weighs about 2.5 lbs and had to be moved to my checked bags due to really weird and strict AirFrance baggage regulations so I'm bookless for the day.

Anyway, in 7 hours I'll be on my way to Paris and then I'll have one more short flight to Nice. I can't wait for Friday- orientation will be over and I can start to recover from jet lag in peace before starting the montage of paperwork that awaits me at my new job. On Friday I'm also planning to meet with the caretaker at the property where I will most likely be renting a studio for the next 7 months. If all goes as expected I will pay my first and last month's rent, receive keys and move my stuff in that very day!

OK, enough thinking of the next few days. For now my goal is to achieve a zen-like state of mind where I see this long ass layover as a blessing and not a huge inconvenience.

France in 3-2-1

Wow, I leave for France on Tuesday morning. Crazy!

Leigh and I have been spending this final weekend trying desperately to get her apartment packed up so she doesn't have to do too much after I'm gone. We've sold 90% of our stuff and have given away 4 plastic tubs of clothes and books. It's looking pretty good. With any luck Leigh will sell the last 10% of our stuff next week and will only have to do some minimal packing and cleaning on her own before vacating the apartment and driving our stuff to Virginia for storage.

Aside from all this mundane work, we've been trying to enjoy these last few days together before being apart for a month. On Friday we went to Niagara Falls and went on Maid of the Mist. It was my first time and Leigh's third time (she went once when her grandmother visited and again when her mother and grandmother visited last month). Even though I usually avoid touristy stuff, Maid of the Mist was seriously fun. It was $14.50 CAD for 30 minutes of boating fun. The boat tells you a little bit about the Falls, a few stories about people surviving going down the Falls, and then it takes you so close to the falls that you get seriously drenched. The volume of water and the sounds coming off the Falls are really something else. I was so happy I was able to do that before moving away from the Buffalo area.

We also saw Taking Woodstock at the $3.50 theater, which was a really fun movie. The 60's flashback aspect is fantastic, the characters are interesting, good acting, funny one-liners and the main character is a young gay Jewish man, which is cool. I really liked that the movie has a gay main character but it's not a gay movie. He just is, which is more true to life than all the movies out there about coming out and activism and stuff. For most gay people being gay is just one aspect of life. I don't lead a gay life, it's just one more thing about me that I am. I'm in a lesbian relationship but I'm also a lot of other things. Anyway, I digress....

We've also been catching up with friends before leaving town. A few days ago Leigh and I had dinner with my law school friend Bianca. It was the first time Leigh and Bianca had met, which was fun, and I always enjoy seeing her. Last night our friend Damian came over to chill out on the floor with us and visit for a while before I leave town. He's been a good friend to have and we're going to miss him. We've invited him to visit us in France and I hope he is able to do that. Then this afternoon Leigh and I had brunch with another law school friend, Jennifer, and her new boyfriend. That was fun too because I hadn't seen Jennifer probably since January.

The rest of the day is dedicated to packing and such, of course, but tonight we're doing an at home date. Leigh bought some yummy stuff to cook for dinner (surf and turf with her famous mac'n'cheese and steamed asparagus...yum!) and we're going to watch "L'auberge Espanole," a French movie that takes place in Barcelona. I saw it once in college and really liked it. It'll be good for us to hear colloquial French and the movie depicts a few very French characteristics like bureaucracy in institutions and the French attitude about things like fidelity, work, family, etc. It'll be a good cultural crash course for us...and the movie is funny too!

Well, I should probably stop laying around and do my part. Next time I blog I'll likely be in France. Woohoo!

New Website

My website is up and running but there's not much on it yet. I plan to add a lot to it once I get settled in France and have more time to write and be creative.

Anyway the site is called Wish You Were Here and it's all about traveling and having fun experiences. I hope you'll check it out on occasion and enjoy it.

Tough Day

Today was one of those days a person can really do without. I woke up in a shitty mood and so di Leigh and Juneau the cat. We bickered a little bit this morning and mostly ignored each other while we got to work around the apartment. After a few quick errands this morning we mostly stayed home to pack and sort through clothes and to allow people to come into the apartment to consider buying our furniture and stuff. All day we only sold little things like bookcases and small tables, but it's a start. We still need to unload this living room set and some other big items or else we'll be in a real pickle when it comes time for Leigh to head south to put our stuff into storage.

Last night we were brainstorming about how to get people interested in our stuff, including smaller items like cookbooks and kitchen gadgets. I had the idea to put snazzy signs in the mailroom and the elevator. The plan worked pretty well....well, sort of. 4 or 5 people have stopped us in the hallway to ask to see our stuff, but all we sold was one cookbook for $2. I think the signs are just letting people know that we have stuff and they think it's totally OK to come into our apartment with no intention of buying anything. Harmless, but kind of annoying.

This afternoon one such person asked to see our "sales floor" and we obliged. She came, she saw, she left. About two hours later Leigh asked me if I had seen Juneau the cat. Neither of us had seen her for two hours! It's a small apartment, so we looked and looked and didn't find her. We were starting to get nervous so I looked up and down the halls on our floor, but no Juneau. Leigh kept looking in the apartment and no Juneau. At this very inopportune moment a buyer called us to come pick up some stuff, so Leigh dealt with that while I started knocking on doors all over our floor. Only one person answered and nobody had seen her.

I was frantic. Leigh came back to the apartment and we started tearing open boxes, digging into closets and making a huge mess. I thought Juneau had snuck out when our last "customer" had left and then maybe someone snatched her. Leigh was afraid she had been trapped or crushed while we were moving and packing.

At this point Leigh was hardly breathing while she searched and I was crying. Then I heard Leigh say, "Jesus Christ!" from the other room. I ran in to find Leigh crouched down looking into our old printer cabinet.

"I found her," she said cautiously.

All I could do was squeak out, "is she OK?"

"She's fine," Leigh said, to which I replied by absolutely sobbing with relief.

If there was ever any question as to how much we love our cat, the answer might be a bit too much. I cannot imagine what frantic messes we'll be like when we have children.

We figured out that Juneau had been hiding out for a few hours because she was pretty upset with the changes we had been making to the apartment. Last week we sold off "her" bed and her favorite sleeping places have slowly been disappearing from closets, etc while we pack and sell things we own. Once strangers started coming into her home it just got to be too much for Juneau the cat, so she found a good hiding spot and refused to come out no matter how much we called for her. I told Leigh that if she had an IQ above 15 she'd be in big trouble, but for now I'm just so relieved to know she's safe at home with us.

My Life For Sale & Travel Writing

Since Leigh and I are both leaving Buffalo permanently and will be moving around quite a bit, we're attempting to sell off everything we own save for our absolute favorite items. This includes pictures and pieces of art, favorite clothing items, memorabilia and a few books and DVDs. Plus we're keeping things that were pretty pricey or gifts like our pots and pans. Otherwise, everything must go.

We have essentially taken over Craigslist with our ads. So far the response has been pretty good, but a few items are really stressing us out. For one thing, we have a leather living room set that is worth a pretty penny but, even after asking a blasphemously low price, nobody is biting. Also, I'm trying to sell my golf clubs (a rather unique set) and it's been hard to drum up interest in spite of a really low price and the free Sunday bag that comes with them. Leigh says she thinks it's because it's the end of the month and nobody has any money, so we're hoping that if we hold out we'll get an OK price for it after Oct 1. Anyway, it's been a little frustrating.

Yesterday we took the afternoon off and left the house, which was so nice after days of cleaning, packing, and picture taking. We walked to Elmwood for breakfast, stopped by the library and the bank. Then we hopped in the car and went to EMS to get some backpacking supplies. $80 later and we had all the carabiners, stuff sacks, fancy socks, and other travel odds and ends that will make our time abroad that much more organized and enjoyable. After that little splurge we hit the mall to do some window shopping and ran into some friends of ours while we were there. That was kind of fun. Before heading home I talked Leigh into going to Borders to check out a Rick Steves book written specifically for Provence and the French Riviera. After flipping through it and finding that it didn't have that much more information that my Rick Steves France and Let's Go Western Europe books, for the first time in my life I chose to not purchase a travel book.... really, you should see the collection I've started!

Last night I started designing a website using iWeb but then realized I couldn't publish it until I bought a domain name or found a free website that would allow me to publish it using an ftp. I know very little about website publishing, so after some fruitless searching I gave up. Maybe I'll have the time to sit down and figure this stuff out in a few weeks. I wouldn't mind paying a little bit for it, but I honestly don't know which company to go with that won't scam me! At any rate, I'm really excited about the website I've started designing. It's my first attempt at travel writing. So far I just have the introductory pages made with maps and links so you can click on a spot on the map and it will link to a journal entry or recollection about going to that place. I'm going to use pictures from my own past travels and the trips I have coming up.

The idea came when I realized that the area of France where I'll be living has this amazing private bus system where you can go pretty much anywhere in the department for 1 euro each way. This gives me the opportunity to take tons of day trips to little villages and just walk around, meet people, take pictures, etc. Since my job only has me working about 3 days per week I could do a trip or two every week if I felt like seeing something new. I also thought it would be a nice contribution to the world of free travel websites. Since I started the application process for this job I have relied heavily on a free site developed by a young woman from Michigan who was a teaching assistant in 2006. Her information has proven to be reliable and priceless in terms of reducing my stress levels and helping me get ideas for my own time abroad. Hopefully I will be able to get my site published and can provide good information for other people trying to get out in the world and have great experiences too.

So if you know anything about website publishing or good companies to go through please let me know!

Also, since this is my first time to Europe I posted a poll asking where I should make sure to visit while I'm in Europe, so please vote too!

President Obama and Kanye West: A Pop Culture Moment

Not sure if this is obvious or not, but I do not give a shit about pop culture. I'm not above it or too cool for it and yes, I do enjoy some pop music, TV shows, etc. However, I put exactly ZERO effort into keeping up with celebrity comings and goings. If I know about something going on in Hollywood it's usually because somebody else told me. Otherwise I'm oblivious.

That being said, I first heard about the Kanye West at the VMAs thing because apparently President Obama made an offhand comment about it off the record. It seems like an amateur mistake, but we have to remember that the man has two young daughters who probably keep up with this stuff like it's their job, so he's going to be exposed to some of it and probably have thoughts about people's behavior. Besides, everyone should have a few minutes at work to goof off and lighten things up a bit, even the leader of the free world.

Getting back to the topic, I heard that the President was getting a lot of flack for even weighing in on the topic, then I saw the clip of Kanye's impromptu, self-invited declaration. I later came across clips of both Taylor Swift's video (which she won an award for) and Beyonce's video (which she did not win for) and developed my own opinion:

Beyonce's Video:

Clean, classic, interesting dancing, and a fun song. I especially liked how Beyonce didn't stand out that much from the other two dancers in the video. I think that was an interesting artistic choice on the part of the choreographer and director. The video was nice, but not overly impressive and definitely not the best video of all time as proclaimed by Kanye West.

What's more, music videos are rarely pieces of art anymore. I remember up to the early '90s videos were sometimes extremely poignant and often absolute masterpieces. The cliche examples of this are Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train" (for poignant) and Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (masterpiece). Today not only is it hard to even find a music video on MTV, but when they are played most of them are annoying or just cheap garbage productions.

Taylor Swift's Video:

I do not like Taylor Swift's music. I find her lyrics to be decidedly anti-feminist and degrading to teenage girls. Her lyrics suggest that girls' happiness and self-worth should be based on whether their crush notices them. "Teardrops on My Guitar" is just disgusting all around and the "He Belongs with Me" song isn't much better because it suggests that the typical Alpha female type in high school is the only girl who will get noticed. I don't know about the rest of you, but many girls I knew in high school, including myself, wore t-shirts and sneakers and did just fine in terms of dating. However, Taylor Swift is just a teenager and seems like a nice girl so I try to not judge her too harshly. Plus it's very likely that she has little to no control on her songs or image because she's an American Idol with a contract akin to indentured servitude.

As for the video, I don't know why it won. It was pretty cliche and nothing interesting happened. In fact, Beyonce's very vanilla video kept my attention more than Taylor Swift's video could ever hope to. In all they were both really unimpressive so who knows what all the fuss is about.

Kanye West:

Unlike Taylor Swift, I really like Kanye West's music. He's is extremely talented without question and he is being rewarded handsomely for his artistic efforts.

However, my above comments regarding these music videos and their artists' abilities have absolutely no bearing on my opinion of Kanye West's behavior. Taylor Swift could have won in spite of having the worst video ever made and I would still agree with President Obama that Kanya West behaved badly and is a "jackass." In fact, there's an entire website devoted to expressing how big of a douchebag Kanye West is.

Besides what Kanye said in public, on stage, on TV, in front of Taylor Swift and Beyonce (who looked horrified), he also had a total meltdown backstage claiming that MTV never let's him win awards that he seems to think he is entitled to and they never pick the right winner. He even claimed that MTV won't let a "black man" win, which is just plain stupid.

Kanye West, you fail realize that 1) awards ceremonies are supposed to be fun and should not be taken so seriously, 2) it is an honor to be nominated at all, winning is just an extra bonus, 3) you picked on and embarrassed a girl who is half your age in front of millions of people, 4) your mother must be humiliated, and 5) you are not entitled to win every award just because you think you are better than your peers.

You are a sore loser and a big baby. I haven't seen temper tantrums like yours since grade school and those kids didn't have any friends because they always ruined it for the rest of us. You are setting a bad example for young people in constructively dealing with adversity.

Grow the fuck up, seriously.

Lazy Girl

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I have not worked or had to be anywhere in over two weeks. It's starting to feel a little odd.

Mild Freak Out

I feel like I've been updating a lot lately, mostly giving myself pep talks to stay focused/get pumped for the looming flight to France.

Honestly, I'm getting really freaked out. Aside from language barriers and the unknown, money is becoming a big issue due to my many plans, hopes and dreams. In spite of having saved up all summer and worked my ass off during August to build my savings after spending most of my summer studying for the bar exam, I'm still not completely confident that I won't find myself running low on cash for essential moving expenses like security deposits on apartments and such. I may have been a bit overly optimistic in my abilities to live off of next to nothing based on my tendencies to not care about buying a lot of stuff and my ability to take really amazing trips on shoestring budgets.

I realized today that going away for a week or two on a shoestring budget is very different from relocating abroad on a similar budget. Also, When I took said amazing trips I always had a fair amount of available credit in case of emergencies and knew if things went terribly wrong I could always just camp out in my hostel or whatever until I could get back home. On the other hand, when I move to France I will live in France and I'd damn well better be able to pay my bills, feed myself, and make the most of my time there.

Sure I could always cancel my trip to Italy. One of my dreams would die, Leigh would be crushed, and I'd be skipping one of the primary purposes of taking this crazy job in the first place! Would that really be worth it in the end? I think not. Besides, I must constantly remind myself that I have been preparing for the worst (i.e. most expensive) case scenario, but that is not necessarily going to be the reality. I could very well find myself with a small nest egg of savings after all is said and done and feel very silly that I did so much worrying.

So for the moment I'm trying to scheme ways to make my dollars stretch unnatural lengths for the next two weeks but also buy the things I need to stock up on before I hop the pond. I also need to use this time to get organized and send out applications for jobs for NEXT year, which is also going to cost money. Add to that a lovely list of little extra expenses that keep popping up and you have a very unhappy Emily. It's just been one of those days.

Referring to the above-mentioned language barriers, I have not been studying my French much at all. Am I a glutton for punishment? Do I subconsciously want to have extreme culture shock upon arrival and appear a fool to my superiors at the lycee? I certainly hope not, and I hope even more that I get out of this funk sooner rather than later so avoid further problems and unpleasant surprises.

Now is the part where I pledge to make tomorrow a new day. I will wake up refreshed in the morning and will spend my day at the library and the law school getting shit done. That's the plan. Now I'm just going to spend the rest of my evening trying to adjust my own attitude.

*sigh* latent adolescent moments, how I loathe thee.

Buffalo Again

The long trip has finally ended and I'm now enjoying a brief period of stationary living before running off to France. Last week Leigh and I had a really nice time seeing our parents, relaxing and eating too much. My parents even threw me a mini Christmas party complete with gifts and an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (one of my favorites!). It was really nice and I felt very loved. After a whirlwind visit in Grundy and coaxing Juneau the Cat out from under a couch to get her in the car we were on our way back to Buffalo. We got back to Buffalo late on Thursday night.

On Friday we took a trip to Niagara Falls so I could replace my favorite jeans with a pair that aren't falling apart. I wore my favorite pair almost every day this summer and one month of that time was spent working at farmer's markets, so it's safe to say they are a little worse for wear. Today we got up early and walked down to Elmwood Village to check out the Buffalo version of farmer's markets. The weather was perfect for walking and we found some really great vegetables and other treats at the market. Our healthy morning did not last, however, as we then stopped off at a local bakery for some completely unnecessary dessert items. This evening I cooked pesto spaghetti for dinner. I made the sauce from scratch using the pesto Leigh's mom brought back from Italy and the tomato we bought at the market today plus some seasonings made on my grandparents' farm in Washington State. It was really tasty, even Leigh said so and she rarely likes my attempts at cooking!

It's nice being back in Buffalo with Leigh and Juneau the Cat. It's funny, I've never actually lived in this apartment with Leigh because she moved in while we were broken up, but it feels very homey and welcoming for me. I think it's seeing familiar furniture and being surrounded all the odds and ends we've collected together over the past 7 years that makes the difference.

The task of checking items off my To Do List is in full swing. My work visa came in the mail yesterday (yay!) so I can relax a little bit now. I need to sit down and work on my clerkship application materials soon and I have a long list of unpleasant phone calls scheduled for Monday (life insurance, property insurance, student loans etc......being a grownup really stinks sometimes!). In more fun news, we're putting finishing touches on our tentative Italy travel plans, though I anticipate learning a lot more about our plans upon arrival in Europe. Hopefully I'll find a way to shave a few bucks off our estimated budget. Even if the trip to Italy is massively expensive, it's going to be a ton of fun and we can always head home early if it becomes downright irresponsible. My only real concern is that we might have to adjust our Christmas travel plans if Italy gets the best of us.

In all it's been a really fun weekend. Hopefully tomorrow I will sit down and write my applications for judicial clerkships and take care of other odds and ends that can be handled outside of business hours. I'd also like to enjoy this beautiful early fall weather some more and maybe even do something fun!

PS: An Horse played two gigs in eastern Ontario this week. Unfortunately I wasn't on top of things and missed my chance to see them play live. What's more, they played The Drake in Toronto, which is this really cool small venue that I've been dying to go to. Oh well, I can't have everything. Maybe the Indie Music Gods will have mercy on me for missing out and make it possible for me to see Tegan and Sara in Berlin : )

TEGAN AND SARA IN EUROPE!!!

That's right kids! Tegan and Sara posted their UK + Euro tour dates. They're mostly touring in November and most of their dates are throughout Germany, but also Paris and Brussels.

I'm HOPING to be able to attend the Berlin show near the end of November, but that depends a lot on my class/work schedule. Anyway, Leigh and I are really hoping to get to go to Germany for that weekend to see T & S and do some quickie tourist stuff. Flights to Berlin are fairly cheap and quick, especially compared to taking the train. We both wanted to visit Germany and this gives us a good excuse to go. Plus a friend of mine from high school is interning in Berlin this year and it would be fantastic to see her again.

I'm speaking WAAAYYY to soon because I don't even know what days of the week I'm teaching, but it's nice to know that Tegan and Sara are playing several dates that might just work out for me to attend. Woohoo! I was hoping to get to attend a concert while abroad and particularly hoping to get to see T & S while they're touring since I missed their special Seattle concert.

So that's my most recent bit of excitement regarding the next few months. Leigh and I spent a few days at my dad's house in Ferrum to have a visit before not seeing them for 7 months. It was nice, very relaxing and low key. Leigh and I went to Roanoke for an afternoon because we love Roanoke so much. Today we drove to Grundy to visit Leigh's mom briefly and pick up our kitty cat. Next stop is probably Buffalo to get started on such tasks as applying for judicial clerkships, making sense of my finances and selling everything we own.

More later.

East Coast

My flight from Seattle to BWI was uneventful but long. I was very happy to land and to see Leigh waiting for me near the baggage claim. We had a nice dinner out and then I collapsed and fell asleep. The next day I had my appointment for my work visa in France. Let me just say that I really, really hated that entire experience. The people working at the consulate were so very rude, even more so than I expected from the French. I have met French people before and I have never had anyone be so short tempered and presumptive of my ill intentions. For some reason I looked as though I was attempting to circumvent their very important zoning regulations for which consulate one must use for one's visa.

At any rate, my 10:00am appointment took me until nearly 1pm to complete and included an emergency trip to CVS to have my headshots retaken because the guy at Kinkos in Murray Hill didn't size my picture properly... Dumbass. I might write a letter or make a phone call about that.

After my appointment Leigh and I went to lunch at Metro 29 in Alexandria, VA. It's one of our favorite places to eat in the DC area. We had made plans to do some touristy stuff in DC, but after fighting traffic in Georgetown all morning and afternoon and my exhausting and demoralizing experience fighting for my visa, I just wanted to take a nap!

So I did.

The next day we did some outlet shopping in the morning, hit up Costco and then headed to Appalachia for a few days visiting my dad in Ferrum. We've been here for a few days and have really enjoyed our new found routine of sleeping in, snacking, taking leisurely walks around my father's property, drinking sweet tea, sitting on the porch, eating more than necessary, playing with the dog and cats, and watching a lot of bad TV.

Needless to say I haven't made any progress on the "To Do Before France" list in my head and I've declared the need to have a Raw Food Day or two upon return to Buffalo in addition to regular exercise.

Leigh and I are driving to Grundy on Wednesday morning to pick up our daughter, Juneau the Cat, and then finally return to Buffalo. Our plan is to use the remaining few weeks before I fly to France to sell off our belongings and pack up our sentimental items so Leigh can be out of her apartment by early October. I also need to finish applying for Alaska clerkships as well as handle such nuisances as deferring student loan payments, double checking my budget, buying traveller's checks and insurance.

*sigh* And I thought this whole moving to France thing was going to be a vacation of some sort! All I can do now is hope that my passport and visa are returned to me sooner rather than later AND that this will, in fact, turn out to be a relaxing experience once I'm settled in Antibes and have started my job.

Sugar, Cranberries, and Airplanes

Today is my last day in Seattle. I finished up last week working Pike Place, Lake City and Bellevue markets. All in all this has been a really great experience. I've really enjoyed meeting new people through the farmer's market social circle, eating good food, hanging out in Seattle and reconnecting with family members.

Today I'm hanging out downtown doing the coffee and See's Candy ritual while I watch True Blood on my computer. The barista at Seattle's Best just gave me a free sample of a coffee milkshake, too, so I'm pretty sugared up! After this I'm heading down to the Seattle Art Museum for a bit and then heading home to pack.

I talked to Leigh yesterday who informed me that The Cranberries are reuniting and touring!!! AAAHHHH!!! Anyone who knows me AT ALL knows that The Cranberries early music was a defining aspect of my adolescence. I saw them live once when I was 14 and simply MUST see them again now!!! They're touring the US in late 2009 and Europe in 2010. Luckily I will be in Europe until May of 2010. Hopefully they'll be somewhere within a stone's throw of southern France. If not I'm willing to fly to Germany or the UK to see them.

EEK! EXTREME HAPPINESS!!!

Well, I fly out tomorrow and own too much crap to pack so I should probably get a move on. At some point tonight I need to go through my things and seriously consider getting rid of as much of it as possible.

That's all for now...