le halo

but i just thought about something that i just HAD to blog about because it struck me as so funny...

so i'm friends with all of my exs (except one who should be kept in solitary confinement for the remainder of his life) but there always seems to be something- one little thing about them that i'm able to snark on if snarking is necessary.

i have discovered what my mom's little thing is about my dad. my dad's family to be more specific.

they put too much garland and tinsel on the christmas tree. that's it. she mentions it every year, and this is the first time i've really put together that the overly-shiny christmas tree is the one thing that she still rolls her eyes over about my dad. and i find that hilarious.

also it's only recently that i've really thought about the fact that my dad is my mom's ex. in my head, they've always just been my divorced parents. i guess i'm growing up.

and lastly, expect to hear a lot more from me. i graduate in a week, so i should have a lot more free time. next post will be about my upcoming plans. and they're juicy. stay tuned!

today i learned a very valuable lesson. apparently, in france, sometimes it pays to fuck up. par exemple, today i stopped by the grocery store on my way home to re-up my ricola and wine supply. i grabbed a few other things, and i ended up with a total of about €18 worth of groceries. i had inexplicably left my carte bancaire at home, and i had €15 on me, so i had to apologize and have the cashier go through the complicated (and annoying, i'm sure) process of calling the head cashier to bring the key that would allow the cash register to subtract a few things. the first time i made this mistake, it was with Jurga, my all-time favorite Champion cashier. i was extemely embarrassed, i didn't really understand what she was telling me to do at first, and there was a huge line behind me. she had always been polite and she was clearly flustered that day, but she recognized that i was mortified and on the verge of tears, and she has been incredibly kind to me ever since. she even says hello and smiles at me when i see her outside of the store. the cashier whose line i went through today is normally borderline unfriendly with me- i avoid going through her line for this reason, but she had the shortest line today- she isn't outright rude or malevolent, but she's always treated me (moreso than other customers) with a sort of weary dismission. so when i realized that i'd forgotten my card, i was afraid that she was going to stab me in the face with her eye-daggers, but surprisingly she softened on seeing me in need of help. she actually SMILED at me and told me it wasn't a big deal, it happens all the time, blah blah blah. her voice was suddenly warm and comforting. normally when i fuck up stuff like that, it ruins my afternoon and i feel like a moron, but this woman showed sympathy for an absent-minded foreigner and it absolutely made my day. i'll never forget you, Alena!

the french kids on my floor are listening to 'Wonderwall' and taking turns with call-and-response style solos...

"i said maybe..." (maaaybeeeeeee) "you're gonna be the one that saves me..." (that sèèèèves meeeee) "and after all..." (affffter ollllll) "you're my wonderwall..." (wanderwalllllll.... ahhhhhhhh).

very.... gospel-y...

and now someone has broken out the acoustic and they're doing 'Seven Nation Army' and none of them know the words. and it's midnight. looks like it will be an earplugs night.

i still love france.

i have been in france for 6 months today. my hair is longer (and desperately needs a trim (not a cut), a concept that the french do not grasp), my horizons are broader, and my plans for life have completely changed, but i am still exactly the same haley you guys knew before. not bad for 6 months, not bad at all.

thanks, france. je t'aime. and i always will.

the french dude that wears berets and black and white striped boatneck shirts (whom i am obsessed with) is in one of my classes!!! i want to steal his ipod to see what he listens to.

he was on the metro when i was on my way home from my medical appointment. i entertained the thought of getting off at his stop and following him, but i decided that's way too creepy. please don't mistake this for a romantical-type fixation, because it is not. i just want to know who this beret-wearing oh-so-ironic guy is- what makes him tick. and yet i have no desire to talk to him.

i can't remember being this disturbed by an advertisement in all my life. i can't imagine the look of horror i must have had on my face as i turned to Annie to mouth the words, what the fuck?!

... good riddance.

i have not posted anything in quite a while. this is because i have been stuck in the doldrums. the phantom tollbooth-caliber doldrums. no motivation. whatsoever.

i've reallllly been hating on haley as of late. everything i do (or don't do) receives a harsh reprimand. it's vicious.

nothing really bad has happened. nothing really good has happened. (except There Will Be Blood, which you should see if you haven't). i have, however, compiled a list of the little things that have made me smile and/or frown during my absence. here you go:

-our thème professor taught the french kids a possible translation of "tu peux foutre le camp": "fuck off and die"... they abbreviate it to f.o.a.d. in the UK, apparently, which makes it seem almost polite.

-our thème professor remembered who we (carolyn & i) are and double-checked if a phrase existed in american english. he has done this each class since. it makes me want to send him a love note.

-the super-friendly man at the front desk remembered my name! he's not on duty that often, but when he is, he always seems vaguely amused by my cheeriness, which only makes me bubblier.

-i bought a refurbished black 160GB ipod with a portion of my tax return money, but i won't get it until the end of april. it will be like a little surprise.

-stephen malkus & jicks' new album = yum.

-this:

i love how reluctant the apricot is. i would be, too.
 

-and this:

-one of my professors is a fellow mac nerd who has no clue how to work a slide projector. technology...

-got a fountain pen for 1,50€. it's niiiice.

-my grandparents always ask me if i've got a french boyfriend when i call, which really kinda depresses me as no one, male or female, has given me a second glance since i've been here. i make flirty eyes at this one vendor at the marché, but i'm pretty sure he's just wondering what i want to purchase from his table. that was not meant as a double entendre.

-i had a video chat for a couple of hours with balin, and it was the most fun i've had in a long time. video chat kicks phone call's ass. there were screenshots, oh yes:

-i've been watching Dexter. brilliant show. i'm only 4 episodes in, so don't give anything away... if you have anything to give away.

-our money for march got lost somewhere between the international relations office and our banks, and it took them a week to resolve it. (technically 2 weeks from when they supposedly sent the funds). almost made me regret the 2nd and 3rd viewings of There Will Be Blood. almost. but not quite.

-i saw a preview for a movie called August Rush before each viewing of TWBB, and by the third time, i was saying really, reallllly mean things about the people in the preview. i officially hate this movie. not as much as that Alvin movie that i won't name, but if i have to look at Robin Williams in a cowboy hat one more time, i'm going to unleash my unchecked aggression on my fellow moviegoers... and that's not cool. i'm crossing my fingers that they will have changed up the previews when i go back for viewing #4.

-i have learned that the french title for Be Kind, Rewind is "Soyez Sympas, Rembobinez". Rembobinez is now my very favorite french verb.

-i'm looking forward to seeing the new Guillermo del Toro movie, though it's going to be an interesting challenge seeing it in spanish with french subtitles.  might have to watch it twice.

-i am addicted to ricola pastilles tendres (menthol flavor). i like to bite them into tiny tiny chunks and swish them around in my mouth. better than being addicted to sleeping pills, i suppose. (a habit which i have completely kicked. go me.)

-i've been having rather unsettling dreams as of late. people from my past whom i'd rather not think about have been resurfacing. i'm glad i'm not weak enough to be controlled by people like them anymore.

-one of my dreams involved peeing uncontrollably and i was terrified when i woke up that it hadn't been a dream. luckily, it was :) just another weird-ass dream, typical of my nighttime wanderings.

-listened to Jesus Christ Superstar again for the first time in a while the other day. lesson: jesus was really pissy, judas was bad-ass and pilate's totally my type (GAY.)

-i'm giving a presentation by myself on william kentridge in front of the class next week. i'm fucking TERRIFIED.

so there you have it. february. a month gone by and my laundry basket is still full.

guess what! David Sedaris has a NEW BOOK coming out on June 3!!! i just pre-ordered the book & audiobook, so it will be waiting for me at my grandparents' house when i get back to the states :D

i haven't posted anything in a while. it's not that i haven't been doing anything, i've just been super busy. but i have been writing down little blog-worthy things in my trusty rhodia notepad. here are some highlights:

-the other day i saw a 50-something couple making out in public. they weren't drunk, just crazy about one another. it almost made me not want to give up. almost.

-i had my medical appointment for my carte de séjour. i had to sit in a room topless, alone with a strange man, but now i have a rad x-ray of my chest hanging in my window.

-my friend carolyn gave me the french version of Me Talk Pretty One Day on Valentine's Day, and it made me super-duper happy.

-during the holiday break, someone decorated the campus library with graffiti reading (in english) 'i need a fat girl'.

-one of my professors looks and sounds uncannily like Bricktop from the movie Snatch. he's a funny little old man though- not so much a cold-blooded gangster.

-saw No Country For Old Men. twice. because it was amazing.

-saw Juno. it was very cute.

-i've seen advertisements lately for a car made by Renault called 'Twingo', which i think sounds like the name of a villain's sidekick from a Disney movie.

-i saw a dude walking down the street the other day wearing his pants below his buttocks so that people could see the extremely important brand name written across the back of his underwear. i wanted to pull his pants down and set his underwear on fire. that or tell him he looked really fucking stupid.

-i am trying to take care of my insomnia issues without using drugs. i got a new mattress and a board to put beneath it, which i still haven't gotten used to, but my back already feels better, and i have a new rule: no laptop in bed after dark.

-i've decided to go back to a mostly vegan diet. i will still have a few meals a week that involve dairy, especially when i go out, but since i cook for myself so much anyway, i don't think it will be difficult at all. and since i'm being a good girl and taking my vitamins regularly these days, i won't have to worry about calcium. don't worry, i won't pass up any opportunities to taste new cheeses.

-my grandpa is in the hospital. he had a blackout last week and this week he went to the hospital feeling really weak. he's getting a pacemaker and should be home on wednesday, so he should be fine, but i'm still really worried about him.

-my grocery store is remodeling and it's messing with my head. it is looking much nicer now though.

-my hair is now long enough for two small pigtails! the top isn't long enough to make it into the pigtails yet though, so i wear pigtails with my scarf over the top. it's cute, i promise.

that's all i can think of at the moment. i will try to post more often as things happen.