My computer is BROKEN

It froze, I restarted it. When I did a circle with a diagnol line came up on that grey start-up screen. That was there for a while, so I restarted it. Next time a folder with a question mark came up, and continues to come up any time I try. This does not seem like a good thing to me.

If you know anything about this kind of thing, let me know. I don't want to go talk to an apple guy about my computer in French.

I will try to update as much as I can, but most of the time I am in the library I am trying to work (like right now...) and though we can change the keyboards here to English if we like, they are very different.

I'll type this sentence two times, once with the English keys and once with the French keyboard!
=
Iùll type this sentence tzo ti,es; once zith the English keys qnd once zith the French keyboqrd1

WISH ME LUCK!

Something to Punder

So I love puns and I never miss an opportunity to make one, even in French, like I did yesterday in class. And in case you don't know, I even have an entire Twitter account dedicated to punny boat names:

http://twitter.com/LetsNameBoats

Anyway, today in class during the break right before our test we were talking about this bar Pop-In which is near Popincourt. Pun, okay, fine. After talking about this particular pun in more detail, someone posed this question: Do puns exist in nature, even when not recognized?That is just the kind of question I love to ponder and discuss, so I tried to keep the conversation going.

Most agreed that puns exist in nature, I was the only one who eventually disagreed, and so I eventually gave up because I couldn't deal with what was growing to be not discussion, but argument. In thinking about it more today (and getting a little worked up about it during my test), I am positive I am correct.

Puns do not exist in nature if not recognized by humans.

A pun must have intention. Most of the time puns are supposed to be funny or to make one ponder. A pun is literally a play on words and 'to play' is an action. That means there is inherently intention behind it. A pun is a concept, an idea, something entirely created. The same can be said of written language in general, and without language, alas, no puns.

Someone very aggressively asked me if before humans discovered the liver, if it meant we did not have a liver. This is when I decided to concede, because the argument is entirely different. A liver is physical, a pun is conceptual.

We could get really messy and start to talk about metaphysics, but do we really want to in a blog post? I sure don't.

Happiness

Happiness because I love my apartment. Happiness because I got a bike. Baguette tradition happiness. Maybe a little to much wine happiness too often.

So pretty much we walk through two doors with codes to get into the courtyard, it is very well protected. Not to mention, the courtyard is almost entirely ours. We walk in our door pictured above, and up our private staircase to those second story windows you see.

There is one other door that might be residential in the courtyard, and another bike, but we have not really seen anyone. I have decided to believe that the other doors in the courtyard are some sort of racing auto parts supplier, but that is also maybe entirely my imagination. On the weekdays there are men in uniforms and they sometimes cart things out. They don't seem like drug dealers, but if they were this would be the perfect safe house.

The other night my roommates and I had about 6 friends over, they all brought a little something to eat or wine, we made pasta and just sat there at our little table in the courtyard for hours. Truly perfect. I hope it happens very often.

Yesterday I wanted to get my glasses fixed and buy a bike, so I got out my old French book and made sure I knew everything I would need for those interactions. Then when I got to the glasses store, he wanted to speak English! So i learned "petit tournevis" (little screwdriver) for nothing...

Then there is my bike! Right around the corner is a second-hand store that had a bunch outside. I tested a lot out, and this one was not only in the best condition, but I think it is cute. The seat is white = double cute. I actually have not ridden it yet, I need to get a lock and a helmet before that can happen. Safety first for Mr. Evan!

That is the bell, it is a froggy bell.

That is cute Evy that has nothing to do with this post. See her drool!?

Jardin du Luxembourg

As I was ordering my noix de coco (coconut) scoop of ice cream, 2 little boys were tormenting the 3 girls also buying snacks. They were all laughing and yelling in French and running around and loving every minute. When I started to walk back towards the fountain I was the happiest guy in Paris. The sun was out, the perfect temperature, there was laughter and happiness and general contentedness everywhere around me.

The Luxembourg Gardens is one of my favorite places in Paris. It is perfectly manicured with beautiful flowers, a palace and potted palm trees (?!). The park is pretty large, with so many activities. It is what a park should be: pony rides, playgrounds, carousel, old men playing boules, tennis courts, statues, fountains and flowers.

It seems so very friendly, and it allows for you to sit among the trees if you like, go to the children's play areas, or sit down at a little cafe in the park. Something for everyone. The park is filled with these olive green chairs that anyone can take to their preferred place to sit and read or talk or people watch. Absolutely perfect. See these people enjoying them above?

I made a friend who was a duck by feeding her a little bit of my ice cream cone. And as I tossed more in, I noticed fish swimming up from the bottom! Strange to have so many fish in a man made fountain, especially when one can't really see them most of the time. Carp, but fish nonetheless.

And this place is a 5 minute walk from my house. I HAVE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS WEATHER WHILE I STILL HAVE IT.

Today was also our placement exams for our preliminary French course for the next two weeks. At the metro station on the way there this morning I was running a little behind and then I had no change to buy a ticket. I had to run into a pharmacy and buy the cheapest thing so I could break a ten euro bill. So now I have a new toothbrush. The end has a funny toothpick thing on it. Like a rubber cone with a very pointy end.

Anyway, I knew I was either going to be devastated or surprise myself on the test, and luckily it was the latter. I found the listening portion incredibly easy, but only because the woman spoke slowly and repeated it all again and again. Grammar was harder, I forget the little things (les, des, aux, leur, de, du) that are so important. I was able to sort of figure out the answers even if I couldn't always understand what they were saying, so then for one section I kind of gave up because I didn't want to be in a French class that was above my level. I need to review and relearn these first two weeks. For an essay question, which was "How did you feel about the points of view in the article you just read?" I wrote in French "I didn't understand the article enough to have an opinion."

In other news, I bought lavendar scented toilet paper on accident. It is my own fault for wanting purple TP, I should have figured color was not the only selling point. I have not yet used it, but I am a little skeptical for many reasons. One being that I hate those tissues with lotion in them and I am fearful of the paper having a similar texture. Plus I think using scented toilet paper implies that I am trying to cover up a stinky butt. I just want to say that I am in no way self-conscience of my bum, it is in no way smellier than any other average Joe. I see no need for scented toilet paper because something weird is going on anyway if there is a nose close enough to my butt to enjoy the perfume. So that's that folks. Bon weekend!