By wink of water

Le printemps est arrivé: il fait très beau aujourd’hui et je n’ai pas envie de bosser. Mais, c’est comme ça, il faut travailler tous les jours, et j’en ai marre. J’ai raté la date limite d’ECCV (les résultats n’étaient pas encore assez bons mais je pense qu’on n’est pas loin) et donc on va essayer pour BMVC, à la fin avril. Pendant ce temps, il y a beaucoup de choses qui me rendent heureuse. Frédo est ici jusqu’à la fin août et il est en train de chercher un appartement qui soit bien pour les dîners et bien pour l’Oiseau. Je vais jouer avec YAKA à Paganello, à la coupe féminine, à Bruges, à Amsterdam, et à PRAGUE. Ma mère va me rendre visite très bientôt et on va voyager dans le sud, puis rendre visite à ma tante et mes cousins à Lyon. Et juste après la date limite de BMVC, je vais aller en Caroline du Nord avec Frédo et voir pas mal de mes amis au mariage de Su*Wu.

I was going to write this in French but I’m too tired. Two and half weeks to ECCV and it’s really nothing but work from here on out. So many disconnected thoughts…really looking forward to the latter part of March, all of April, and the long Parisian summer. Spring has begun arriving here, florists tempting me with tulip bulbs that Annemarie rightly points out are not likely to survive another cold freeze; and indeed, we ran together in bright sunshine on Saturday, and Sunday a bitter wind blew through the city and threatened to rip my flower boxes clear off the railing.

I bought peach blossoms from the very nice woman downstairs (that is, downstairs at work), who informed me that they come from Italy. Bought a vase-like device to put them in at Carrefour and brought them home. Put water in the vase and was in the midst of cutting the stems when Bird knocked it over, the better to lap up fresh water. Needless to say, he has performed this trick multiple times since, even though I no longer bother putting water in the vase. Sigh. They are pretty though, aren’t they? And he’s a handsome creature despite his evilness.

New mix for you, what I’ve been listening to lately, mainly lots of new music. Hot Chip just recently put out a great album, and I’ve been loving Mumford and Sons. Sort of cheesy lyrics but so honestly sung. The Yeasayer song is also quite addictive. Charlotte Gainsbourg is super famous here, and her album was well-received in the US. The first song is a duet with Beck. She’s the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, who duet on “Je t’aime…moi non plus”, which I had to include for completeness. Joanna Newsom is not an artist I’ve loved in the past, mainly because her voice is so weird, but I like this song quite a bit. The Elliott Smith song was in Up in the Air, a reminder of how much I love him.

Finally, Sia…well, if you’ve got that tight feeling in your chest, like you just have to cry but can’t, listen to this song and I guarantee release. Beautiful backing track to both the series finale of Six Feet Under and the best of Post Secret (which I came upon via so I saw this thing, shameless plug for a blog I contribute to). Enjoy!

1. Your Hands (Together) – The New Pornographers
2. I Feel Better – Hot Chip
3. White Blank Page – Mumford & Sons
4. Heaven Can Wait – Charlotte Gainsbourg
5. Madder Red – Yeasayer
6. Airplanes – Local Natives
7. Odessa – Caribou
8. Little Lion Man – Mumford & Sons
9. In the End – Charlotte Gainsbourg
10. Waves – Holly Miranda
11. Breathe Me – Sia
12. Angel In the Snow – Elliott Smith
13. Here Comes the Sun Again – M. Ward
14. Good Intentions Paving Company – Joanna Newsom
15. Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus – Serge Gainsbourg