MOVED

I've started posting here now in case anyone is actually reading any of this!

http://waterlilylily.tumblr.com/

I dream of...

About 2 nights ago I had a dream that I met Jason Segel in a bar. Last night, Suz met Jason Segel in a bar. About a month ago I had a dream about a conversation between two friends and a few days later they had that exact conversation with each other. I can't think of any other examples right now but I know there are more. Also last week I saw a ghost outside my window.

#IranElection

What a week...and it's only Wednesday! So I started summer session 2 weeks ago and each session is only 3 weeks long. BUT somebody at my school decided that the last week of 1st session and the first week of 2nd session should overlap. Yeah so i'm in class all day every day this week and it sucks. Not only is there class to attend but also readings and a final exam on Friday. Great.

ON TOP of school stuff the Iranian presidential election happened last Friday. And unless you've been living under a rock then you should know that the election was rigged and there have been mass protests in Iran and around the world this week. I went to two of them here in Paris already.

There's a reason I am so distracted mentally by what's happening right now in Iran. I'm 30 years old and 30 years ago in 1979 was the revolution in Iran. My parents left Iran before the revolution and moved to Canada where I was born and raised with my brother. Had my parents stayed in Iran I would have been born there and possibly grown up there. A vast majority of the protesters are students and people my age as an overwhelming percent of Iranians are under the age of 35. I am under the age of 35. I could be there right now. Who knows what your life would have been like if even one thing was different. There's no way to know if I would have been a protester but I think I would have. I've seen protests before but I have never felt this way about any of them until now. I suppose the thought that that could be me on the streets of Tehran is really stuck in my head and heart right now. I want to be there with them, protesting in the streets for freedom. Obviously I don't want to get shot at or anything like that but I think what they're doing is admirable. I feel a sense of connection to the citizens of Iran even though I wasn't born there and I've never been there. My parents are both from Iran, I am Persian and this is my fight too.

There's not much that I can do right now from my little studio apartment in Paris but to go to the protests that I can go to (they're usually during class so it's hard to get there in time). One thing that has emerged through all this is the use of websites like Twitter, YouTube, Twitpic, Facebook etc. These sites have been essential for the people in Iran to spread videos, news and pictures to the rest of the world. Since I don't have a TV I can't watch any news programs but what i've heard is in the first few days main stream media barely covered the story at all. My sense is now that they are covering it but no one can expect the MSM to show the kinds of footage and photos on TV that are truly at the heart of the protest. It's amazing to see on these sites the raw footage from the heart of the situation. To see students' dorms terrorized, see people injured and dead is unbelievable. I'm grateful that the Internet has allowed others to really see the people of Iran fight for freedom.

I feel a little like a kid caught in the middle, I'm both west and east. I'm Canadian and Persian, and I'm proud of it!

So anyways...this week has been really hard and it's only going to get harder. I think I am mentally breaking down a little. Last night I passed out in the middle of my bed/futon with all the lights still on, window wide open and computer on. I was that exhausted! I still am exhausted but I can't even imagine what it must feel like for the students in Iran right now. I hope that all Iranians stay safe but keep on keeping on!

Here's a link to a video i took of one of the protests in Paris. Already has 300+ views!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itibtJg2NHA

My Staycation

Here are some shots from my Staycation!

Notre Dame Church

Musee d'Orsay

Le Pere Lachaise cemetary

Edith Piaf

Jim Morrison

Chopin

The Louvre

Sunday Funday

Today I decided to get out of the apartment and go for a walk. I thought I'd try to get lost and just explore. Of course when I want to get lost I don't but when I don't want to get lost I do!  Here are some shots from today.

Dear Tourists

This is more like an open letter to the tourists that will flock to Paris this year.  Now please don't get me wrong, I was once you, a tourist to this fine city.  And now that I live here and have been on both sides I want to share a few tips.  

1. We all know you're in a new city and you probably have no clue where you're going. Perfectly acceptable, what is not acceptable is when you pull out your map and stop in the middle of the sidewalk.  Just dead in your tracks! Not cool. When you're driving you wouldn't stop in the middle of the street to look at your map would you?  No, so don't do it on the sidewalk either.  Pull over! And if you don't pull over, don't look at me like i'm the jerk because i bumped in to you! You're the one who stopped dead in your tracks. 

2. You're probably visiting Paris with someone, that's great! But if you roll with a large crew, don't take up the whole sidewalk.  The sidewalks in Paris are small enough as is, sometimes barely big enough for one person to walk on, let alone two in passing.  So think about that when you and your crew are walking down the street, it's ok to walk in pairs or even single file.  We all know you're a tough gang ok? You don't need to own the sidewalk, share the sidewalk please.

3. It's ok to ask for directions! Yes, I know I look scary and mean (moi?!) But if I can help you, I will point you in the right direction, even though most of the time I have no clue! But the point is that most Parisians will actually help you with directions, they're a lot nicer and friendlier than people think. 

4. Yes, I know most North American cities don't have an underground metro system and figuring out the Metro can be tricky at first.  The ticket buying procedure can also be challenging for first timers so please do us all a favor, if you and you're posse could just take up one of the stalls and leave the others open for us who have places to be that would be great, thanks!

5. Don't tip! I know, it sounds crazy especially from those of us North Americans who are used to tipping.  The tip is included here and it's absolutely not necessary for you tip.  IF you want to tip a few coins, like your change that's fine but none of that 15-20% stuff here.  That's a rip off, don't get ripped off.  Do however, tip your bell hop if he brings your bags up.  Don't tip the waiter or the cab driver unless they were awesome.

6. If you're near the Champs de Mars (the grassy area by the Eiffel Tower) or on the Champs Elysee and some woman comes up to you and asks you if you speak English, say NO.  You'll think they're asking YOU for directions or something but they're not.  They will show you a picture of some kid who is "sick" and "needs surgery".  This is a scam, they will try to get money from you either by your guilt or my stealing it while you're distracted. 

7. Also, if some guy is walking towards you and suddenly bends down to pick up a ring off the ground then comes to you and asks you if you dropped it, say NO.  First of all these guys are idiots, if they are walking towards me and see a ring on the ground IN FRONT of me then how did I drop it?  Did I throw it? No, these are scammers stay away.  

8. If you visit the Montmartre area (the artsy area & near Moulin Rouge & Sacre Coeur church) if some guys want to show you a "trick" with string, say NO and walk away fast.  Their trick is to tie up your hands somehow and while you're mesmerized by their magic they rip you off. 

(None of these things have actually happened to me {knock on wood} but i've seen them)

9. Pointing to order food is perfectly acceptable! Don't be afraid to try to speak French but throwing in a point to the food or the menu won't hurt either.  At least there's no confusion!

10. Meat is not fully cooked here! I got sick one time from a hamburger at a restaurant because i'm not used to meat being so rare.  It's ok to ask for it well done (Bien cuie) It's better to have the meat cooked than be sick after, at least in my opinion it is!

11.  ENJOY Paris!  Eat lots of bread, cheese and chocolate! Drink lots of wine! Go shopping! Explore! Smile! I promise I will try to do more of these things too ok? 

Bon Voyage!

SWEEP!

Yes, the Canucks swept the Blues in round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! What a wonderful feeling to see your team play so well.  I am NOT a bandwagon fan.  I have been a Canucks fan for as long as I can remember.  Being born and raised in Vancouver, the Canucks are my team, my boys.  And my boys won!  The challenge I face living here in Paris is that the games are at ungodly hours.  Well they start fine, like 1 or 2am but they go on for 3+hours.  This means I don't sleep till 5 or 6am.  Thankfully they won in 4 which means they're off for 10 days which means I get to rest for at least the next 10 days.  And my friends will be happy since I won't be tweeting about the game for the next week and a half!  I told them sorry but it's the playoffs and I LOVE my team!  So they'll just have to put up with my twitter updates about the #Canucks for a while!  So happy it's playoff time! It really doesn't get any better than playoff hockey!

South of France Road Trip

Here's some stuff from the road trip to the South of France...more to come.

PS: I'm exhausted! I drove the entire way (because I wanted to) but still, i'm done!

Grasse

Marseille

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Nice

Cannes

Provence

The "Run & Jump" picture (I took the video)

PPS: These are all out of order!

The trip went: Provence, Grasse, Cannes, Nice, Monaco & Marseille

In The Metro

There's one metro station that has this long people mover thing which I love!  We were on it the other night and I took video.  I'm not in the video but you can hear my voice so that counts!

Video includes Ashley, Amy, Leanne, Jenn, Megan, Kasey & my voice!

Protest in Paris

Today as I was out around the Montparnasse area I witnessed my first ever French Protest!  This one however was different than the usual ones you hear about.  Usually you hear about the French protesting job wages or something like that.  This one was about genocide in Sri Lanka.  I couldn't understand what they were chanting but they were loud and they had signs with some horrific images on them.  The line of protesters went on and on.  They were marching down the street where I was waiting for the bus and since the bus wasn't coming anytime soon I decided to snap some photos and I took a video of the protest.  

A few more pictures from Paris

This whole display is made out of chocolate!!

We had a picnic on the Champ de Mars (that's what the grass area by the Eiffel Tower is called in case you were wondering)

Bonjour!

blah blah blah

I'm sick.  I don't feel like talking to anyone.  I just want to stay in my little hole in the wall and just be by myself today.  I have a shit load of laundry to do. I have a shit load of reading to do. I have no food at home and the stores are closed on Sundays.  Ok? So can we all agree that Nilo gets to be in hibernation today?  Thanks!

It's bad, but it's not Armageddon...yet!

My friend Sam sent me this article http://adage.com/article?article_id=135440

He asked me what my response was to it and I ended up writing more than I thought I was going to!  Here's what I wrote to him:

Ok so of course right now everything seems dark and horrible, and yes, things are awful right now in this economy but I don't see it being AS bad as they say.  I think or I should say I hope that Obama has what it takes to turn this around!

Yes, the consumer can now be a producer.  We see it in Youtube, Facebook etc...but that doesn't mean that the only things people will watch from now on are youtube videos.  No way!  We will still want all of our professionally produced programming.  

Now in terms of Newspapers, in the old fashion sense is dying.  Reading a newspaper is as much about the content as it is about the ritual.  The people who grew up reading the morning paper with their coffee are no longer the main consumers.  Now, with digitalization and the increased speed at which we live our lives, waiting for a newspaper to be printed and sent to our front door seems ancient.  

I could touch on each type of medium but the story is pretty much the same across the board. Yes, it's bad but it's not Armageddon.  

We are all playing catch up to the "Digital Revolution".  The internet seems like it has been around forever but really the advancements in this technology have evolved in the last 20 years in overdrive.  And now, as a society we are playing catch up.  The people in charge of the business models did not take advantage (in an acceptable way) from the beginning so now when the general public is charged for something online they don't feel like they should have to pay because up until now they haven't had to.  If you're used to getting something for free there's little chance you'll now start paying for it. I think the bottom line is that the people in charge, the CEO's of all these major corporations dropped the ball about 20 years ago.  

The internet was developed on an open mentality, the people who really invented and revolutionized the Internet were not the CEO's, they were the geeks in the basements, all working on the same programs together, posting what they've found and building off of each other's works.  It's what we call today "Web 2.0"  If, now strictly from a business side, the CEO's had payed attention to what was going on from the beginning I don't think we'd be in such trouble as we are now.  If from the beginning we were charged for email accounts we wouldn't know any different today.  Of course I don't want to pay to use gmail or hotmail but imagine if we never knew we didn't have to pay for it?  We would pay.  Then the newspapers that are strictly online now maybe wouldn't feel such a tight pull on the purse strings if we just knew that to read a full article we had to pay for it or to access craigslist we had to pay for it, the same way you pay to place an ad in the paper.  

So, as an entire society we have to figure out a way to monetize the Internet.  I think it can be done, we just need the right person or group to figure out how to do it.  I agree with the article that we can't rely solely on advertising, people do not respond to online ads in the same way.  So how exactly will we come around on this? Not sure, but i'm not ready to bury my head in the sand yet.  I still think there are enough creative people out there to figure this out.  There are a lot of obstacles and a lot of people to convince but I think someone out there somewhere will figure this out.  And if they don't, well at least it was fun while it lasted and hopefully I won't have to pay back any school loans!  

A walk in the garden

The other day I thought I would go to the Tuileries gardens and read for class.  I DID read for a little bit but it was too cold to sit any longer.  It was about 40 degrees!! When you move from 10 years in "Sunny" San Diego, 40 degrees is below freezing!  Ok, it wasn't below freezing but it was too cold to just sit there.  So I took a little walk through before heading back home and took some pics...