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Tuesday, July 29, 2003 Le Choix “Choice is all that we have, without confirmation of our act; we never know what was right to choose.” (thecry.com) Some of the major concerns of existentialism are the ideas of choice, absurdity, and freedom. According to Jean-Paul Sartre, we become our choices; if we decide not to choose, we have still chosen, and we must take responsibility based on those choices. In essence, a brave person is one who continually chooses engage in acts of bravery; he has created and continually creates himself as brave. He is defined by his choices and must take responsibility for them. Simone de Beauvoir, on the other hand, does not excuse humanity from making choices but recognizes that choice is not always as free as Sartre believes. Yes, one always has a choice, but the options available are not just defined by previous decisions; they are also defined by social constructs and other factors. For example, she would say that women have fewer options than men, for society is molded in such a way as to give them less power. A slave may make choices, but he has less freedom to do so than his master or a free person. This is a recognition of reality that Matrix Reloaded understands--remember the scene in Zion when Neo discusses the human dependence on machines? Sure, they could destroy the machines that are the source of heat and energy in Zion, but do they really have the option of destroying those machines if they want to stay alive? The choice exists in theory but not in reality. Sometimes I think I understand exactly what de Beauvoir was talking about. Certain so-called choices seem illusory. ^ Top | 4:18 PM | | | 
Friday, July 25, 2003 Des Concerts Lots of concerts. Sometimes it seems as though my guitar decided to die on me just when I would need it more (granted, this was a few months ago, but the point still stands--I think I borrow guitars now to play shows more than I ever used my own... or maybe it just seems that way since this is much more inconvenient). At any rate, I'm playing tonight at the Plymouth Coffee Bean, opening for Penumbrae, and I played this past weekend at Mennofolk, which bears a little review. First of all, Mennofolk is a Mennonite folk festival. Yeah, I didn't know they existed either. Anna Draper, who's playing the fiddle with me tonight, needed a guitarist for the show and through a contorted list of connections ended up asking me to play (by the way, I think that was the first time anyone's ever asked me to play with them solely for my guitar skills). So we practiced with three singers (there's a story on how we got that many singers too) and a cellist for a week--another interesting turn of events since I'm used to playing my own music, Anna and the cellist are used to playing together, and the singers are used to singing with each other... it was like having three groups perform under one name--and played the festival. Perhaps a bit surprisingly, it went quite well (it helps that there are some incredible musicians in that group), even though I know I screwed up some stuff, never having tried to play anything remotely bluegrass-sounding before. Anyway, the festival featured musicians ranging from Latin to bluegrass to pop, and though I was sick of hearing twang by the end of the day there were some amazing groups there. The twang-less ones I thought were worth checking out: Brad Yoder: Hilarious. And he has some incredibly well-crafted songs, especially in terms of wordplay. Andi and I: I can still sing you the chorus of "I am Leaving You," even though I only heard it once. Ben Regier: I never thought a solo hammer dulcimer could sound that good. Radiant: Their singer has great presence and the music is fun, flavored with Latin styles. Well, it's off to practice for tonight. Hopefully I'll see you there! ^ Top | 4:02 PM | | |
Saturday, July 19, 2003 Ann Arbor et la Photographie  The annual Art Fair has invaded Ann Arbor for the last few days, and among the plethora of pottery, photography, wood, sculpture, mixed media, painting, crafts, clothes, food, and non-profit orgs, you'll find a few gems of incredible work and a large amount of work that looks exactly the same. For some reason, the majority of artists at the fair are fond of bland landscapes or colors sans people. Not that I have anything against sunsets--I love them, in fact--but the sheer magnitude of look-alike art that seems more decoration than communication is astounding. And it's difficult to be impressed by art that you figure you could make yourself without much effort (I feel a rant on the state of modern art coming on, so I'll stop here).
In related/unrelated note, take a look at 200 Photographs, courtesy of Patrick Jones, who took them all with my digital camera in the period of one day. Most of them turned out well. And yes, that picture on the top is me (on a rare day--I never have my hair up). ^ Top | 5:59 PM | | |
Thursday, July 17, 2003 Des Grenouilles It's incredible to think of how much sleep I haven't gotten this week thanks to the day camp, but it definitely breeds some funny stories. Today two girls (remember, they're between 5 and 8 years old) caught frogs during recess; the little hoppers were only about an inch long apiece. Realizing that their new pets would need to eat, the girls happily caught a lightening bug as well. The bug was about the same size as the frogs. Another addition to the list of interesting translations: "I have a frog in my throat." In French, this translates to "J'ai un chat dans ma gorge," or "I have a cat in my throat." Cats, frogs, it's all the same, right? (Watch out, those cats can be dangerous, especially when they get stuck in throats and have to claw their way out and the throat gets all bloody and full of cat hair... ok, that was more than a little wierd.) Though I do find it amusing to discover that expression exists in another language. Perhaps English (or as the British like to say, "American") isn't so strange after all. ^ Top | 11:59 PM | | |
Monday, July 14, 2003 Les enfants sont amusants. I'm working as a teacher assistant this week at a performing arts day camp (rather entertaining considering the oldest kid is eight and most are five or six); sometimes the kids say the craziest things. The following conversation actually took place between myself and a six-year-old girl: Girl: Do you have a husband? Me: No. Girl: Do you have a boyfriend? Me: No. Girl: Are you going to make a boyfriend? Me: How do you make a boyfriend? Girl: You grab a boy and kiss him--then he's your boyfriend. It's so simple, why didn't I think of it before? ^ Top | 11:36 PM | | |
Thursday, July 10, 2003 Danse Swing! I didn't realize just how much I missed swing dancing until getting back into the swing of it. (Terrible pun, I know, but fully intended.) Tonight was the first time I've ever stayed for the entirety of the open dance, and wow did I do a lot of it. When I went last week after not dancing for the month and a half I was in Paris, I could tell I was rusty (can you believe it? me, who had only spent a couple of months really getting into dancing); this week was much better. Anyway, since I can't give you any brilliant insights spurred by tonight's jazz (although I did see Singin' in the Rain for the first time at the Michigan Theater yesterday--brilliant), here are a couple links so you can join in on the fun: Swing Ann Arbor Swing Detroit The Ann Arbor site has links to regional sites from around the world (there's one for Paris, even though I never had the time to go), so if you're not an Ann Arborite, take a look anyway. If anyone thinks the French blog titles now that I'm back in the US are a little silly, let me know. Otherwise I might just keep this up. ^ Top | 12:41 AM | | |
Monday, July 07, 2003 Aux Etats-Unis Almost a week with nary a blog, what's going on? I've been taking time to catch up with everyone back here (well, not everyone yet, but I'm working on it, ok?) and look for a job for the next school year (yay)... not to mention the hours spent staring sadly at photos from Paris (ok, not hours, and yes, I'm being melodramatic). In all seriousness though, I do miss the city, and I can't wait to go back. Not that being in Ann Arbor again hasn't been good--it has--but there are things I'd gotten used to, like eating good bread. I'm going to have to hold off eating bread for another week because what once passed for decent (ie freshly baked at the grocery store) just doesn't hold up anymore. So inspired by Patrick, who asked me what were the five best and worst things about being back in the States, not including people (in order words, cultural differences, not just "I missed my cell phone"): Five of the Best Things About Being in Ann Arbor (in no particular order) 1. Wide availability of cold drinks, including coffee drinks like iced mochas. 2. Decent bathrooms. 3. Accessible pianos. 4. Free internet. 5. Seemingly-wild forest space (the Arb). Five of Best Things About Being in Paris 1. Incredible architecture. 2. Amazing bread. 3. A love for the arts and culture that the US often lacks (we're not just talking the latest pop song or Hollywood blockbuster here). 4. A better sense and knowledge of history and current events. 5. Time to linger over dinner without feeling like the waitstaff is getting mad (having been on the other side of the equation, I can tell you it's annoying to have a table sit for hours on end). ^ Top | 9:06 PM | | |
Tuesday, July 01, 2003 Statistiques, le Deuxième Well, I'm back in Ann Arbor, Michigan at last, after making my way through three security checks (Paris and two in Chicago--yeah, go figure, they do exactly the same thing each time but you just go through more screeners--and this being normal security) and the airport's indeciveness about which gate my flight to Detroit was leaving from (B1; wait, we changed the gate to B7; I'm really sorry, we've changed the gate back to B1). Anyway, it's been great catching up with everyone and seeing people from home again. Some random stats from the time in Paris: Number of crepes eaten: 17 (most within the first two weeks) Euros spent on laundry: 21.60 (on a grand total of 4 loads of laundry) Strikes in Paris: 6 specific ones, not to mention the ongoing transportation and mail strikes through most of the five weeks Holidays when French people didn't have to go to work: 2 Number of people who almost (or did) get stuff stolen: 5 (including me, once) People I know or saw get pooped on by pigeons: 7 ^ Top | 12:30 PM | | |
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