caro

I cannot believe

2004-12-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

7 months next week i have been out here n Santa Monica and I CANNOT BELIEVE. I cannot believe how much i have enjoyed being here in California, I cannot believe how quickly how time has gone, i cannot believe how many nice and dear people (Nick, Val, Matt, Kyo, Allison, Stephen, Kaiser, Sheila, Claudia.....) i have met, i cannot believe how great running along the ocean has been, how fab it has been to see Rio grow up, how fantastic it has been to hang out with Arati and Matia.
I CANNOT BELIEVE how much i liked it, me the French sarcastic, 'i hate america' girl. I have loved every minute of it.
I think this is very ironic as i have always thought of LA as a fake, superficial town and i have found some depth with people, Marty, i never thought i would meet. It makes me smile and think about how life is full of surprises and i am so happy i have shared this adventure with Hursty, who pushed us into it.

So you may ask me, so when are you coming back....The whole relocation subject has been on our mind and doing it seems to make sense (read above), so we will see what life brings us as Marty has gone back to the UK to work but we definitely need to consider it.

It has been great!

Thanksgiving - A great holiday!

2004-12-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

Experiencing Thanksgiving in America was the best. We had thursday and Friday off, 4 days off, that's what i am talking about !!
Apparently it is about spending time with family, eating more than you can handle, cutting the turkey and watching american football, and i guess we did it all (may be not fully on the american football). We went to Arati's sister, Lopa and had a fantastic day with Sanghe, Kwame, One, and Lopa's family. We played scrabble, gosh this game is infectious, i love it. I love discovering english new words, thinking about each new game as new challenge and strategising on the triple and double word!
We also went round the table saying why we were thankful this year and even if it sounds cheesy, well it makes you reflect and it's nice to hear people's thoughts. I enjoyed it. Saturday we started again with Allison and Stephen, mor the food, more giving thanks. Fabulous time

my first attempt to put images on the BLOG

2004-11-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

a long time without writing

2004-11-27T22:35:00.000-08:00

It has been nearly 3 months i have not written but i guess that's the beauty of the blog, u can let it go and when you want it back, it is still there.....cool, no?
Anyway a lot has happened during this time, not sure where to start but let the stream of consciousness start, Mag's style.
First why am i blogging again or shall i say why did i stop blogging. I think it is a more than one thing, like time, work was pretty intense to a stage where i did not even have time to run or spend nice time with Hursty. Not nice, it was too much and i finally managed to make it come down but it was definitely a challenge and fortunately i am able to look back and see, analyse, think about what went wrong, why.....learn about myself. I think i was a bit down by it all so writing in these times, it is not great.
Another thing why i stopped blogging, i guess the newness of being in america wore off and this is now my reality. so it seems a bit boring to write about my routine.
So why blog again, well a few things, first a few exciting events have happened, well aude and franck came out, we went to san fran at the start of september, to nyc for my 30th, marty took us up in his cessna, and the funniest of it all, Hala got me a book on blogs so soon it will look so cool......u know.
But why i really decided to write again is because hursty is leaving back to London and this is quite a step. It is the end of an era. He is now qualified as a Private Pilot and Instrument Ratings but his ex company called him back and going back makes sense, even though it does break our heart. Santa Monica and its way of life has seduced us in a way i never thought. The ocean, the people we met, the pace, it has been so refreshing but right now, going back makes sense, so we will go back to sunny London. A lot of attractive stuff are coming for us in London, friends, our hourse, proximity of family, however right now, i feel sad about the end of the era. But let;s not be too melancolic and enjoy the last days and think about great of a time we have had. What a fantastic adventure, more soon.

Watching the Olympics from the USA

2004-08-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

So last friday the 2004 Olympic games started, friday 13th, good day to open (?), the opening was fun, at the European scale like my mum said, Bjork was amazing in her blue ocean dress which covered the whole of the stadium and became the globe. We watched it at Ricks bar on Main street with Brian Benkhe and we enjoyed commenting each outfit from each country....it was fun and thinking about it again that night, what a fantastic concept that all countries challenge each other in the name of sport.......anyway watching it from here is interesting. I have been watching the Olympics from France, the UK and now the USA and obviously the focus is always on the country and how great they are doing but here it seems a bit more over the top than anywhere else. I may be mistaking but my perception and impression is that if the American team is not doing so well, like at the Olympics Gymnastic the commentators still find excuses for the athletes or say at the trials the athletes did much better. They are not so humble and may be i need to go and watch it again from France or England to re-asses if it is the same there.
Another thing is the way the athletes here are expressing their joy of winning, i find it so aggressive and so linked to this winning attitude they have here,,,,,a bit too close to the corporate world......interesting.....

But no matter what the ultimate goal of the Olympics is, why does it make the most nationalistic side of us come out? Is it insecurity? sense of belonging? I keep questioning myself but at the same time enjoy watching the dedication enthusiasm of the athletes, How inspiring are they?
Since Arati and I have been swimming feeling like we were there......not the same butterfly style but close!

Reverse surprise - a new Concept

2004-08-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

So last week as we were spending the afternoon at a modern furniture exhibition, Arati asked us if we knew about the concept of Reverse Surprise. I listened and quickly understood that there was more to this little concept than this random thought something was on her mind, as we know she does not like surprises, (but actually i think she does really, she does not like being surprised but she likes surprising but anyway .... she explained that a reverse surprise was basically surprising the person who thought about surprising you and i guess it may sound a bit complex and deep but it makes sense and the great news was that Mag was coming to town . GREAT NEWS and what is the great about this concept is that both parties are excited in anticipation of the 'surprise' but you have to be quite smart and intuitive about the surprise coming and if it is a good surprise well you should not know anything....anyway we all went to the Bowling and waited for Mag who thought she was going to pick up Matia at a team event when really all of us were waiting there........we had a sign a cake, white elephant presents but
Mag was so jetlagged that she did not seem that surprised....funny!

Dancing in Delhi

2004-07-29T03:42:00.000-07:00

So i have always loved dancing, ballet was the start but ever since i have always loved the dance floor . I have to tell you that my experience of dancing in Delhi is one of the best. First i went out dancing on Saturday night to F Bar which was so much fun, i totally gave it all even though i did not know any of Sundeep's mates but u know dancing is a form of communication.
This week so far i have had 2 team events with my team here and honest to god, they do not need any push to get out there on the dance floor....they're there before me......never in a team i have seen it....you always have the Jon Reay of the group but a whole team. They give it all to the music, it's wonderful, no shame, no second thoughts, fully genuine with one aim only have a good time....none of this nonsense, i need a drink first, i am tired, i don;t like the music, no whatever it is they are out there and enjoy, I am in my element!!!

I am also loving the whole dancing in a circle, punjabi style.....bring it on baby!
I find the ladies so beautiful with their graceful arms and subtle heads moves, the lads really go for it! Brilliant!
I cannot wait till saturday for more.......

2004-07-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

Blogging from Delhi

2004-07-26T23:53:00.000-07:00

So I am in Delhi….the place I have been dreaming to come to for a while, since school actually, I remember looking at a post card, in Sandrine’s bedroom, of the Taj and promising myself I will go there. (with her, this and Ayers Rock!)

I got exposed a little bit more to India when I arrived in the UK with the food ‘indian curry’, the corner stores but I guess my sensitivity towards India increased when I met my lovely friend Arati. I listened to some of her tales about her family country, her trips there, tasted some of the food with her (Cerritos in LA for Masala Dosa), went to Nepal with her, Mag and Marty, and then our company opened the office in Delhi where I tried to go work for a long time.
I guess Arati and Matia’s wedding helped me discover more of the culture, the traditions, the people with sharing some of the Indian experience like Mendhi, and also Usch and Dix’s wedding made me love it and wonder even more about it.
I was so proud of my first sari, kindly bought from Arun at work……and now no more wonders, imagination, I am here in Delhi for work which is a shame on one hand as I do not have as much time as I wished to discover but on the other hand, working here is another view on the society rather than being a tourist, a view which gives me a bit more insight on how the people live, interact, where they go…….so all in all I am very very happy.

Somehow it is everything I expected, the traffic is a bit more but the food stalls, the people, the cows on the street, the beggars, the ladies in sari….it’s all there but the most amazing is to be here. I love it and I have even mad dreams about Marty and I coming to relocate here and live the expats life for a little while, why not?

I just feel there is so much to see and to discover, the culture of the people, the people, the religions, the town itself, the food, the places to go out…….tonight Sundeep took me for a ride around town and I never cease to be fascinated by watching the side of the road, there is so much happening. We passed by the Indian gate at Sunset which was so beautiful and went up what really looked like the Champs Elysees except instead of having shops at the side of the street, it was grass and people having little promenades…..so pretty. We also went to grab a ‘Spicy’ Kebab in Khan market with Anand and Manob, two friends of Sundeep. In the car I loved hearing the chill out Punjab mix music and the more traditional stuff. It’s so cool I could totally live here, I wish Marty was here to share.

A few Hindi words : Dilli is delhi, buk buk is blabla, a guy is a cow so u can say what’s this guy doing in the middle of the road, J, tika is ok, okji is yeah yeah whatever, and whatever is west Punjab.

Blogging or not blogging?

2004-07-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

So last night at Madame Moselle and Nick Moselle's party, we (Hala, Richard, Matt, Marty and I) had a debate about blogging. Hala is totally against it and i guess i understand her point but i still argued over it. (well arguing is fun.....right?, it makes you think through and develops your brain.....)

Her point: why blogging when you have nothing to say, who cares if you write you went for a p. at 3am, and you had a great night with so and so. Stop blogging at work and work instead, why do you think your life is so interesting and why do you think it should sound like a film, why do you think you are Carry Bradshow. Has our world and its reality show pushed all of us to feel like we are 'somebody'?
My point : let them blog, if people need to express themselves, let them be. I even used an analogy (but it did not work very well) around brothel and sex, blogs are a bit like brothel, they enable people to have sex and may be less aggression.......

Hala was getting really angry about it as some people send her links to their uninteresting lives but to Richard's point, why does she open it.....According the Hala, some people introduce yourself as a blogger at a party, it is a bit much but some people write very well, like Kai. His blog is very well written! and i enjoy it and if i did not i would not read it, so leave people alone and leave them live their lives the way they want to.

As far as I am concerned i guess my blog is a souvenir of LA times and how it felt to be in America. I don't want to forget, it's too good!

Automobile industry - pros and cons of SUV

2004-07-12T18:58:00.000-07:00

So not sure you know but my current client at S* is Nissan, the car manufacturer. It's all new to me and certainly very different from my last health project.

Anyway i am learning about the Nissan range of cars, about the love the Americans have towards their cars (i never realised but it is a real relationship, identification to an image, it appears to me even stronger here than anywhere in Europe, but may be it is because living in London, where a car is a NONO, i never was sensitive to it all)
So i am getting great by the day recognising different models, especially on the freeway (see how i get the lingo and say freeway instead of motorway) i can spot an Xterra from a Frontier from a Murano, if you want more details please go to www.nissanusa.com (great publicity, isn't it?) anyway, where was i, yes murano is actually my favorite of them all, a stylish SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) but let's talk about SUV, i find them quite attractive and fun but are they really necessary? well they are really robust but do people really need them in town, in the city of London Ken Livingstone wants to get SUV owners to pay a tax on them and i have to say i share his opinion: SUV make sense in mountains or in the countryside but does 'the mother of three' need it to bring her kids to school, especially since they probably are not environmental friendly and consume a lot of gas. Well i have found the answer to 'SUV or not SUV, that is the question'last week, while driving with Matia. As we were on our way to the house to bring back some delicious caprese (from Bay Cities) to Arati and Survana auntie, this massive SUV bumps and crashes it into us. Gosh how solid, strong and powerful it was against our little Toyota.
My conclusion is an SUV makes sense in town, cos the girl's (yes it was a girl) car had not even a scratch on her car but Matia's car had no left side left ......Matia reacted very well and was very calm, the girl annoyed me a bit, she did not even ackowledge she was wrong when she crossed double yellow line but i guess i am derailing....the conclusion is buy an SUV, NIssan preferably but i guess there is so much influence i can have!!!

America and its rules

2004-07-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

I cannot get over how many rules there are in this country and if i was not surrounded by people in the know, i wonder how i would find out about it.....the hard way i guess.
What am i talking...i am taking about a few things. For example jay walking: i mean why would u be fined for walking when the light is red, everyone understands the risk of doing so and the fine is ridiculous in my opinion, i guess it is a cone from the state to make more cash, there is also the whole ID before you enter a bar: firstofall creating this 'forbidden' places to go probably raise the interest for the youngsters which otherwise would not care and think it is cool to hang out there cos' it is not forbidden, they wanna go. Then if they entered the bar they would not necessarily drink alcohool and even if they did one beer never killed anyone. I mean if i chose to go in a bar and not drink why would i need my ID? I guess then the bouncer would not have a 'raison d'etre' anymore....right?
But the worse of the rules i encountered yesterday was in Camarillo, by Lopa and Reid's house there is an outlet. So as you do in Amercica, you go and shop at the outlets, so off we go, i get into my first shop and decide to buy for 2 pairs of shoes (2 i know is a bit much but this is not the point i am making). When i get to the counter to pay and give my card away the lady tells me she needs my ID....why? I say WHY? She answers it is the store policy, i reply that i am actually spending money in her shop and she should just take the money and let me go with the shoes, then i have the impression i am actually talking to a robot.....IT IS THE STORE POLICY, ...i ask to talk to the store manager and there again i meet another robot: IT IS STORE POLICY....angry, annoyed, i leave the shop in a strop swearing......
30 min laters i go back to the car tell Matia about the story. He laughs and hands me over his card and ID and tells me to go and try to buy it. We laugh about it and even if i think it is a ridiculous suggestion, well i do it.....you need to have fun, right?
Anyway choose the same shoes (thank god for that) and go back to the counter where another girl takes my purchase. The previous lady looks at me, recognises me and apologises, the new girl looks at Matia's ID, look at me and take his credit card without a blink. Matia ends us paying for my shoes....bingo....can you believe it?
I guess i should just add for people who read this but have never seen my friend Matia, first he is a man, he is black and he has dreads....how does he look like me i don't know but i can tell you i am not sure i believe in America and its rules! Do you?

4th July - Get your flag out?

2004-07-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

4th of July weekend...what does it mean i ask to an american friend...'bbq, fireworks, chill, beer, sometimes family'

We started friday night with a few beers with shirley and butter who paid us a visit from Seattle. Saturday we chilled all afternoon with the Desai family, played scrabble (Arati won again, but she is coaching me for my coming back to the UK to meet the other big rival : Mag Leahy, you know her she used to call herself the IICG : Innocent Irish Catholic Girl)
Sunday, after another chilling afternoon at Moonshadows which, to be honest, is one of the best places to hang out, lounge music, oysters, great view of the ocean, we went to the Waterfront (as it was a cleear view) and the fireworks kicked in, The atmosphere was fun, beer, sand, drum circle, silhouette on the beach, waves crashing on the sand and in the background, fireworks on a palm trees landscape. Never seen anything like it. In the whole bay, we could see ' Ze finale'
Monday bbq at Claudia and Lino where i played handball with the crazy (but very sweet) Sheila Darcey (rime).
But the whole weekend we pretty much loved being close to the chilliest baby in the whole world, little Rio and i think yes we are part of this family. Don't they say the family of the 21st century are friends?

- bbq, fireworks, chill, beer....i think we have done it all.
oh no, we did not do the flag thing.......is this too bad, not patriotic?

Airport - How fascinating are they ? NOTanymore!

2004-07-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

So I have always found airports facinating.....i mean....since my travelling Imation days...where i flew a lot (from Minnepenis to Milan, going by Schipol, Heathrow...), i had a lot of time to think about how the true nature of airport. Gosh i do think i am at time truly French, trying to understand the existentialisty of airport....anyway airports are these impersonal, big, nearly inhumane buildings blocks but atthe same time there are so full of emotions, feelings which are stronger than any public places....people arrive from destination(excitement, happiness, anxiety), people go (sadness, tears)....all these feelings that really you would never share in public but there you totally make abstraction of where you are cos' the people who count are there or not......it must be interesting to be an airport wall.....Si les murs avaient des oreilles (ah sorry, that's something else)

There are also so diverse, you have the business people, suited up, smart little suitcases with laptops on their mobile working (not waisting time!!), the families with 100 suitcases, the baby chair on top of the trolley and the 3 kids playing around with the mum breastfeeding, you have the honeymoon couple whose first time to go travelling who cannot stop kissing (and these 'mains balladeuses'), the 'we are going to the sun' destination with their sunglasses, straw hats and shorts(usually Brits), the 'we have the best suitcases, red Lancel, or Longchamps' people (usually French), the 'readers'
...so rich and diverse, it is fascinating.

Anyway why do u i talk about airport, i guess last sunday experience 'inspired' me....not sure inspire is the right word....but anyway let me tell u the tale....
Marty (coming back from the Bowen's stag in Vegas) and i had discussed the possibility of my going to pick him up, so i had arranged my plan accordingly (yoga with madame moselle) and planned to go and pick him up. I tried to call him saturday (twice) with no answer and finally Arati mentionned to me she had the details of his flights and he would be arriving at 1pm so i would have plenty of time to go to the 10:45 class and not the 9am. At 9.45 am that morning, Hursty calls 'i will be there at 10.30' then the call cuts. I got very very emotional, angry and swore a lot, shouting i was not at his disposal, his maid, his mother or any of the kind. Arati said a very profound sentence' you will not teach a 30 year old man a lesson'....which convinced me to calm down and go....and guess what: i know the airport by heart....he turned up at 1pm saying he was too ill the day before to call me and his phone had cut off and the plane was delayed.....how angry was i ...he was in the tit house, and airport did not seem not that fascinating anymore, especially not LAX.

RIO est arrive

2004-07-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

Monday 28 appeared to be like any other Mondays at work....u know, busy, a bit intense, and around 5pm, Matia passes by my desk, on the way to the tennis table room (it's a ritual). I follow him, convinced it's gonna be another one of the 'i kick his arse' day but it turns out to be different....he tells me Arati is gonna have the baby today....i am like ....no way, she has time....and then he adds, she has just come back out of the doctor's who said she is 8cm....and it's time to go to the hospital....between the excitement, the surprise we forget about ping pong and i come back to my desk shocked that, that same day the desai wagabaza family will count three. And as Matia disappears from the earth (well the office) Marty calls me to ask me when i will be done and explains he took Arati and Matia to the hospital. At 7pm, i speak to Arati who sounds really calm and happy. Her tranquility made me admirative. She was very down to earth, not panicky with what was ahead of her and said the doctor estimated that in 1hour 30 min, they would have a baby.
How wonderful and accurate cos' that night at 8.20, little Rio joined our world.

All went well....and Marty told me about his afternoon with Arati who was in labour on the sofa but did not seem to worry about it too much as cups of tea, chat and ice cream were much more exciting. They even planned to go to the Ivy the following day.

Tuesday at the first hour, Marty and i went to meet Rio and how perfect, tiny was he....so cute....unreal. Arati looked the happiest, ever, and Matia was on another planet, they were on a cloud. It looked right.

I am so happy for them and cannot wait to hang out with our little Rio.

Fun in Hollywood......surf in the BU -

2004-06-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Not sure where i should start but may be i will start with Sevia....i have met the girl who inspired this blog.....on thursday night, Matia and I drove all the way to Hollywood (where the real rock happens u know, not west Hollywood which is a bit more flaboyant/gay party places...) to see Nick Moselle play. Nick is part of Single, a very english looking rock band and we had a great time watching and listening to them.......and there i met Sevia....the blog lady.....it's nice to put a face to a name and sevia, if you read this, jolly lovely to meet you. And listen, miss, i have another little story for you....my blog inspired a friend of mine, reid, who started a blog too. He thinks i inspired him but he in fact you inspired him ......so reid, you should change one word in your first blog title : from French to American ....(http://stromph.blogspot.com)...it spreads like SARs as Nick would say......

Talking about Nick Moselle, i had such a lovely day with him and Madame Moselle today......we went surfing in the Bu (short for Malibu, but the Bu for the one in the known), staircases...this little beach on the North of town......such a pretty drive, by all this multi millionnaire houses, we even saw the house of Britney (used to belong to Cher). The sea was fab, pretty, blue, glassy....i body boarded and loved it, i caught a few waves and i so loved it.......i would love to go again. Miss Moselle was so sweet and shouting when a good wave was coming my way...........i loved the speed, the hanging out in the water, the sound of the waves crackling under you, the fear (gosh it can be pretty scary, some waves were big), the adrenaline rush in your body, so cool, the sun....a perfect Californian moment.....especially since on the way back we stopped at bay Cities.

La famille Moselle is a very lovely couple and hanging out with them was 'all right' (loved it)....the only thing is Nick polishes his nails.....horizontally as well.....his explanation, the fishes in the sea probably love the silver colour when he is on his board.....

Material for blog......for real this time.......

2004-06-26T00:13:00.000-07:00

Well may be if i was a real writer, a journalist, a movie reviewer that could be good blog material but i guess this is gonna be only thoughts, impressions, feelings after watching the famous 9/11 Farenheit movie and wow, what a film....food for thoughts, well certainly.

Unbelievable, i feel totally angry, manipulated, powerless in front of this fake (but so real), political world where money is everything, conspiracy is a lot of it. I have always believed in ....education, culture, knowledge but this proved to me, in this world it does not matter if you know 'stuff', it's all about connections, power, lobbying and cash (but are they happier for it, well i truly believe they are not) . The way Moore presents it,is very witty and so many references make it fun but at the same time, very compelling....

Words which come to mind, false, manipulation, lie, scandals, propaganda, controversial, populism, even stronger against war....... and one thought......when kids play allegiance under the flag at school, may be they should watch the movie as a 'must do'.......

I am not one to believe everything i see or hear, but in this film, there are a lot of facts, questions that have not been asked by mainstream media.......i think that made it good.

Surprises - are they really good? or are they just a NOGO

2004-06-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

So Monday 21 (solstice of summer) - Sheila decides she is gonna throw a SURPRISE party for her fiance Micah......for his birthday....
Why a surprise : Cos' it is his birthday, it is summer solstice, he will be surprised, people will enjoy it....

So the plan is to get everyone there first.....at Moonshadows in Malibu (which is so pretty, romantic, by the ocean....perfect setting, i guess need another blog to discuss the virtues of the Waterfront as opposed to the Moonshadows....Matia please comment and discuss) and get Matia to call Micah and offer him to go there for a drink.....perfect!

Except that night Micah does not fancy a drink....so everyone is there and the birthday boy does not want to turn up......reminds me of that Surprise leaving party in London that Mag organised.....and Marty did not make it out.....that's the worse which can happen.

Anyway the conclusion or the debate i am opening is : are surprises good? do people who organise surprises (the surpriser) get a high from it and their selfishness is higher than the surprisee's sake?

I am not sure.....any comments, ideas, thoughts are welcome.
Personnally i love surprises (well as a receiver and an organiser), i mean our surprise when we were travelling round the world and decided to change our itenary through LA to visit Arati and Matia was good. However again it was not perfect as Matia had to leave that same day....he had guessed as well.
Would it have been better to just set the expectations (reminds me of work, but may be that's why PM like surprises cos' setting expectations is their daily role and they like to throw a bit of spice now and then)
and get the alledgely surprisee to look forward to it?
However the best surprise which was played on me was Mag and Australia....gosh that was so good......even though Aine nearly threw it with her email in Sydney Airport.....

But these 2 latest incidents make me ponder if i am such a surprise fan anymore.....i am not sure. May be i am not......until the next surprise.

Nancy vs Britney vs Marty in LA

2004-06-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

So Marty has made it finally in LA....he arrived on Friday 18 and Arati and i took him directly to the Waterfront, whereelse?

I think he thinks (famous sentense which is always good to use to confuse people, say : i think u think he thinks that i think') that i am a changed lady from an american friendliness perspective.....first my vocabulary has evolved and then my willingness to immerse myself into their culture shocked him (but in a good way). Everyone changes and evolves. Il n'y a que les imbeciles qui ne changent pas d'avis.....

Anyways, saturday matia and marty saw Britney and that created a competition of star spotting....now Marty thinks he is a better man cos he saw her against my modest Nancy Reagan. However, like i pointed out to him, Britney vs Nancy, is there really a competition? they are not in the same league, one is very light, pop music, entertainment against a political lady which has marked the history and i guess the analogy between them 2 and marty and i works, cos' he is much more light and political adverse than i am......

Anyways, (like the americans say), i wonder who will spot the next star......makes me think of Rachel at work who scratched the neck of Jason Biggs the guy from American Pie on Saturday night....she is out of our league....too good for us, but something to aspire to i guess....

It's a cleear view going down the waterfront

2004-06-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

Going down the Waterfront....it is a cleear view.......such a good song from the Phoenix, this French group which had already seen sing in Camden Town a few years ago.....Matia needs to post a question on the Phoenix website to find out whether they were referring to the Waterfront.....

The Waterfront - according to Matia, the best place on the universe and he has the point given this pub is in the perfect spot, by the sea, perfect place to watch the sun go down on the Santa Monica mountains (beyond Malibu), nice crowd, perfect people watching at all times in the day, good beer, smelling of sage, (which we will go and pick up in the desert some time with arati and marty - if he does not fly that day) ... and out of loads of place i have been from my very early cafe days (la Choppe, le Cafe de La Paix in Lavaur, le Tex Mex, le Dubliners in Toulouse, to my English days at the Queens Head in Chesham to my hometown local which i only discovered much later, Chez Dede in St Sulpice, to the Dutch days in the Baja Beach Club in Rotterdam, to The Duke of Wellington, or the Packhorse in Chiswick, the Northgate on Southgate Road in Islington, the Garage in Southfields, the Arbitrage or the Abacus in the City, the Waterfront is also a shared name with the famous Streatham pub...it was meant to be, i guess :)

Stress and adrenaline - are they related? (17 June)

2004-06-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

Today, i have been through different levels of stress and adrenaline.....
1 Adrenaline 'http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=adrenaline'
n : a hormone secreted by the adrenal medulla in response to stress (trade name Adrenalin); stimulates autonomic nerve action

Got that from running this morning along Venice, along the Pacific....how cool and how high do u feel when u have finished running or even when u run. I love the feeling of the endorphins kicking in and making u feel high as a kite .

However if you look carefully at this definition, you see stress is a component of it.....interesting, even though stress is associated with a negative, often work related concept. You could also feel stressed when watching football,(FRance Croatia for example, your belly feels funny, under strain, u feel emotionally disrupted....) what causes it and is it stress or adrenaline. What separates the two?

And when you are under pressure at work, why do you feel stressed? what causes it?

any ideas?

Another exciting day in LA (16 June)

2004-06-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

So you know the way you get up, get ready, have breakfast and think of your day ahead.....and unconsciously u are not that excited about that day of work ahead of you but here in LA, u switch on the telly and fall on Good Morning LA programme and what do we hear : today 16 June in Venice, the Olympic Torch will be carried by Sylverster Stallone.....so Matia and I jump in the car (to find Arati had taken the Phoenix CD out.....Cheeky) and get out there.....and there it's all going on.....camera, police, flags, singers " the beach toys", all you can imagine....it's all going on there....... well i guess that another exciting start of the day in LA

The rest is a bit more boring, work u know....but it cannot be always great cos' otherwise if it was always great, u would not appreciate it anymore.....ponder that one for a while :)

Tonight we met a few people (a doctor, the australian ladies, some sheilas and hubbys, Rajiv and the raggard boy) in the Worlds Cafe, on the corner of Ashland and Main. It was fun......a few highlights : birth delivery vs. cunninlingus, circumcision vs non circumcision (that's an old one) with some fun sentences such as ' so are u expecting a boy or a girl ' from this 'autralian girl'.........
Now watchin' the highlights of the Euro 2004......thinking of Richie and his wife as Greece drew against Spain and focussing for tomorrow's game France Croatia.......very important!! Matia is trying to work out how we can skive off work.

How i first heard about Blogs

2004-06-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

I have to say i am new to the whole blog thing and probably not very good, anyway, i could not keep on blogging without paying a tribute to the guy who introduced me to blog.....Nick Moselle for some (the entertainment world) or Nick Fogler (for the rest of us, but please do pronounce his name right, otherwise call him moselle)

Anyway as we were walking to lunch with Matia, Nick, Lino, Nick was telling us about his neighbour who wants him to help her set her blog (this blog word is so awful.....u could imagine having conversations saying blogs but thinking other things.....) anyway, where was i, the stream of consciousness is killing me....anyway, Nick's neighbour wants to set up a blog to post her dog pictures and talk about her dog and i think that's cool and as Lino and myself said to Nick, u should help your neigbhour cos' u never know how she / or her dog could help you some days....just ponder that for a moment...ok?

Lovin' blogin' , are u ?

Time with Arati

2004-06-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

So coming to America was mainly about Marty's big pilot dream and even though i wanted to support him, having some friends close by was a big help to motivate my little self.....and arati is a very very dear and special friend, a big hep for Marty's argument : 'yeah but u can hang out with arati' was always his sentence. He knew how to win my heart. He still knows how to......

Anyway being with her again is very very special....not only she is arati i knew before but now she is ze pregger arati - it took me a while to realise this bump on her was for real. Even though i had seen picture, seeing it and being there with her is (La Palisse) is real and i am so happy for them.

She suits the bump, she still has no arse :) and has only put weight on that front part....funny. She looks fab, healthy and even though she may be a little cranky at times (well she can be, she is preggers), she is lovely

Very quickly i realised again how special and inspiring she was (to me!!!).....her telling me of her picture project was indeed very original and i love the idea....i may want to do something similar (as a tribute to her idea of course) . The gist of it is for her to compose pictures involving the bump in a sport. So she wants to dress the bump as a football, a tennis ball and basket ball and take pic....how cool is it? Imagine how inspired, proud, Rio will be when he understands, discovers these pictures.....he will be one of the few lads of his time with a real cool, creative mum.

Other special times with my miss, are 'our quiet time'.......my favorite so far was one night on the bed (now now, stop these thoughts.....she is pregger) was chatting in morse with Rio....it was really like communication......i have never felt a little guy so close.

Her way of living the pregnancy is also quite nice......very relaxed and real , in their own way.....i like it.

What makes America a movie

2004-06-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

one week and i have to record what for me makes me feel like in a movie

1 Baywatch
The Baywatch look is the beach look in LA, the huts, the lifeguard, the lifeguard yellow pickup.....gosh....they even have the red thing to save you. C'est comme dans Baywatch ou Alerte a Malibu.

2 Ze Police
Police here are chilled, or look chilled cos' i reckon they could be mean if you jay walked or other stuff (there are so many rules in this country, it is untrue) anyway, the car looks like the cars in Starsky and Hutch.
Also the police have quads they ride on the beach....not sure they really are working....looks like a lot of fun to me ......

Finally the Chips look really exists.....it does not take a lot of brain power to come up with it when u 're here but u never realise this before u make it to LALALAND.

3 Ze school buses, so american, the schools themselves. We saw the school where Grease was shot......

4 well i guess i should tell u about the first full day in LA....walking into work was our start, along the beach all the way to Broadway and walked up the street....passed the Beeze suites and as we chat, we see helicopters above our heads, to which Matia comments these could be the tv cameras for the service funeral for Ronald Reagan who had just died that weekend....and out of the blue, totally ramdomly, without even planning it, we fall onto this huge group of journalists, TVs and people and manage to catch a glimspe of Nancy, their son during this 'sad' time....unbelievable, 1 day in LA and already living an historical moment....how mad is that.......Mad!

5 The take away box.....we had thai last night and it's like being on Friends.....we had the same boxes as they do on telly...it's like being in a movie, for real......

Chats with Tia

2004-06-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

Metaphysical discussions on life with Matia:

I think these started on our first day with the perpetual watch motion and the dogwalker which brought us onto the american precariousness employment market vs the french (as u're being taught in class, english class that is).

Another day: Politics, the surface is clean and pretty, not nailing down the details, Rob Lowe & Schwartzeneger.

One night : Mademoiselle Moselle made us laugh for a long time.

During a walk home : Habitat humanity community with Jim Carter (democrat) being part of this charity organisation and helping building houses

Driving to work and passing Ze 10th, i find out about ZE 10th going all the way to Miami...if u take it East, otherwise u head straight to the sea....how cool is that. I loved that fact........quite cool, dude!!

Who would win the match of the day (Euro 2004) - Spain greece tomorrow.

When you give directions to someone, is there a way, an order to give the name of the streets, do you start with the one perpendicular and then the other one......i guess not cos' it depends where you are......

The bets :
- a leek To Be or Not To Be an onion - won bet
- the perpetual watch motion, do they exist, yes they do - lost bet!
- precarity is not a word, but precariousness is - lost bet!
- Is England part of continental europe vs The UK is part of the Continent of Europe - won bet!

NB: in all cases where u will read won bet, matia did try to turn the story round to sound like he was right also....so cheeky!!

Caro et l'amerique

2004-06-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

So i should keep track of all my cultural shock in the good old us of a.

I have been here a week and i have to say i am lovin it.
I think i might have underestimated how cool it is to live by the sea......so refreshing, calming, real.....people running, cycling, pushing prams, walking, basket ball playing and walking....the kite, the surf, the body board, the swimmers, the castle builders, the loungers, the Waterfront (makes me think of Phoenix song....i love that song) so many people....i want to go everyday.

But the best is for me to be with my long time mates: Arati and Matia.....they make it feel like home for me....first i am living with them, cooking with them. they take me places.....Cerritos, the indian quarter, Circuit City, the expensive computer shop where the salesmen are arrogant and semi ignorant, Fashion show, with Matia's sister, sara taking us to VIP places......and last but not least Hollywood......driving down the sunset boulevard, cruising...cool dude, hella cool.