If Winter comes can Spring be far behind?

These pictures were taken on Sunday January 30th. The most beautiful day, I think, that has ever existed in January. It was 77 degrees and the sky was speckled with just a few puffy clouds to provide a smidge of relief from...yes... the heat. In January. I post these pictures in remembrance because it is now around freezing and the threat of rain/sleet is imminent.

This post of happy thoughts is dedicated to the nice old man in the Wal Mart who let me cut in front of him. I only had two things and he was stocking up for World War 3, so he was nice enough to let me go first. God speed my friend.

Happy thought 1- Even though it is disgustingly cold and windy right now, it is not snowing and it will be warm again soon. I have evidence... a slight tan from my long Sunday bike ride.

Happy Thought 2- My parents are coming to visit in two and a half weeks and I couldn't be more excited. I miss them and I'm pretty sure they miss me. It's even cooler because we are going, as a family, to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at La Zona Rosa. I was boycotting this venue but have lifted it for this special occasion.

Happy Thought 3- I know how to read. It's something I think most Americans take for granted, especially this generation. But reading is amazing. You can learn so many things; consider so many ideas that you might have never otherwise considered. There's not really an excuse to be uneducated if you can read. I suggest reading The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. It's short and beautifully written and truly insightful. Right now I'm reading Oil! by Upton Sinclair.

Happy Thought 4- I get off work at 5 now which means I can go to spin class. My mother knows why this is exciting.

Happy Thought 5- Life is good to me and she's good to you too, as long as you put on the right glasses. It's all about perspective, people. You can sit around and think about how shitty your life is right now, or you can think about how much better it was at one point and therefore can be again. Life is not a downward spiral or an upward one for that matter, it's a rollercoaster. It's a majestic range of mountains with awe-inspiring peaks yet intimate knowledge hidden in its valleys. Be strong enough to climb back to the top after you've slid to rock bottom.

Love Leah

Hot damn I love this City

Every Day is Sunday

I'm not sure there is anything scarier than riding in the backseat of a mini cooper with a questionable driver (sorry dude) and the top down, zipping around 35 traffic, clutching a metal bike frame in front of me that's ready to break my fall in case of accident. Luckily, I came out of it unharmed.

We began the night at Gingerman. For those of you who don't know Gingerman, it is a bar with somewhere in the ballpark of 40 taps, I'd say. The kind of place where you get judged for ordering a Coors light. But then, I guess that's most places. Anyway they have a lovely patio, and my friends and I were just hanging out drinking various types of ales and hefeweizens and shootin' the shit. There was a beer brewed by Spaten, called the Optimator. It's double bock and is delectably sweet and malty. Worth giving a shot if you're an adventurous beer drinker.
Finally, after a few hours and a few pitchers we moved on. My Cameroonian coworker showed up right as we were leaving and told us about another bar further south. I was positive I knew which bar they were talking about because, before I left for France, there was only one bar there, Lustre Pearl. So they got in the car and I hopped on my bike ('cause I'm eco-friendly like that) and I met them there. Except when I got there, 3 new bars had popped up. That's cool I guess but I didn't know which one so I stood around and talked to the door guy at Lustre Pearl for awhile. He was a cool guy, used to be the guitar tech for Cory Morrow until he got "laid off". I wonder if he got a severance package...
Eventually, I found my friends at a bar called Clive, it was nice in there. One of those new, trendy Austin bars, a lot of 30 something ex hipsters. But the tables and benches were all solid blocks of wood, I'll hand it to their designer, it was pretty in there. My Cameroonian friend and his bud, also from the homeland, were telling some pretty ridiculous jokes and talking about Africa... I've decided that my next big trip (if I ever get one) is to Africa. Hopefully by the time I can go there it may have settled down a little bit, but I won't hold my breath.

Last stop of the night was Star Seeds which was surprisingly quiet. I got an eye opener which is biscuits, gravy and scrambled eggs and ate Every. Single. Bite. I went home (this is where the terrifying car ride came in), my friends dropped me off and I immediately went to sleep. Guess my food didn't really live up to its name now did it?

It's a beautiful day. I'm going to take advantage of it on my one day off. My last piece of advice... Listen to the Bandulus (I think their on Itunes) and turn your subwoofer up. Their bass lines are kickin' and their singer got soooouuuullll.

Love Leah

I'm alive

I'm bringing back the blog. I haven't touched it since I got home from France and a lot has changed since  then. I suppose I can give you a quick rundown, my life in a bulleted list if you will. Here goes:

•  Came home from France. Ate lots of Mexican food. Discovered I was Lactose Intolerant
• Lived with Mom and Dad. Got job as bartender (it was the best job ever)
• Went to Austin. Got hired at a computer company. Moved back in with Sarah in Austin. Was very happy
• Mathieu came to live with me. Broke up with Mathieu. Mathieu moved back to France
• Learned to camp and snowboard. Survived.
• Still work at said computer company. Am single (and content with that). Decided to apply to nursing school. Made Mom very happy.

So I guess that is the very quick version of my life from May 2010 to January 2011. The one good thing about this job at Computer Place is that I have a lot of time to ponder while waiting to have 2 minute conversations with people. Its interesting how much you can learn about someone in a two minute phone conversation about technical support. One, you can quickly assess what region the person is from based on accent (obviously) but also, more comically, word choice. I can pick a Canadian out faster than he can say zed. Two, you can learn a lot about their patience level. They are calling because their computers are broken and their businesses aren't running. That can piss a lot of people off, not to mention the less than 5 star service Computer Place is known for. So, I also commend people on not speaking to me like I'm an idiot. Some people, however, are ignorant and rude for no reason. I think they've just gone through life getting their way by being belligerent (sadly it often works). I was raised with a thick skin, thankfully, so they ain't rufflin my feathers. I mean come on, don't bite the hand that feeds, you know?

Anyway, I still speak French everyday with my coworker who's from Cameroon. I still have a lot to say about things so I figured I should dust off the old blog and see if she still fits. 'Spose she does.

Should I change the name?

Leah

Je ne sais quoi

I thought about describing to you my doings of late. My trip to Montpellier (which was the best weekend of my life), my trips to Paris or even my mundane daily activities of... well...nothing. Instead I think I might just talk about random things.

Have you ever seen the movie or read the book the Outsiders? I like it because it talks about what it actually means to be an outsider. It seems at some point or another everyone in the book feels like they don't belong in either their own group or the other cliques that exist. I've been thinking about this situation a lot lately because lets face it I am an outsider in many ways. Then I realized that its ridiculous. It's a weird defense mechanism. Protecting yourself from being judged by giving others something to judge on purpose. That way what they are judging isn't you its your fake image. Brilliant. Now though, not only are you protecting yourself from the people that aren't in your "group" but those who are in it as well because once you step outside your house wearing a mask...you have to wear it all the time. Its not like Ross's british accent where you can slowly, sneakily get rid of it (it didn't even work in tv world). So en gros I shouldn't be afraid to talk to people just because I'm afraid they won't like me. Because that's stupid. The end.

Next I'm coming home on Monday and I've been thinking about lots of things lately.
Notably:
Dos XX
Refried beans
tortilla chips
baked beans
the 4th of July
outdoor swimming pools
ceiling fans
orange dogs that breathe in peoples faces

Last. All you LOST haters should just be quiet and let those of us who like it bask in the glory of the sweetest ending ever. Sure it didn't answer all of the questions that were ever posed on the show but hey, when in life do you have all the answers? Exactly. AND the show wasn't even about the questions it was about the people and I think the ending was perfect and open leaving you the viewer to interpret how you see fit. RIP Lost.

Love Leah

Do Ré Mi

Hello world,

I did two things this weekend. I went to a cute little island on the Atlantic coast called Île de ré and I finished Sarah Palin's book. Let's start with the island.
It was ADORABLE. Cute little white houses and flowers everywhere it was out of a picture book. We rode bikes everywhere on Saturday and saw all kinds of animals like baby lambs and a llama. Finally we got to the beach which was deserted but beautiful. The beach was huge, the water was a crystal turquoise color and the sand was pristine-no trash at all, and all along the coast you could see Blochauses, you know those concrete stations that the germans used to fight us off. It was really cool from a historical standpoint and as my friend Anne put it, "How could anyone fight a war on this beautiful beach?" We also saw the hugest jellyfish I've ever seen in my entire life. I mean seriously. So the water was a little cold but I had my ridiculous amount of excitement to keep me warm. I really love the  beach. So I went swimming and Mathieu attempted haha. All in all, a lovely weekend.

The second thing I did was read Sarah Palin's book. Before you judge me let me preface this with the fact that it is important and responsible to understand everyone's ideas even if in general you don't agree. Since we as an American public really didn't know Sarah Palin, I felt obligated to get to know her... even if it is too little too late. What I found out was that she did some things in Alaska, things that no other governor has done. I also found out that it wasn't her that ruined John Mccain's campaign, it was the campaign itself who decided to stifle her which is why only the bad shit got out which she admits was some pretty dumb stuff. They made a lot of mistakes in regards to how they dealt with her, even choosing her was a mistake but whatever. I also found out (well already knew) that the media is a horrible source of information. Finally, I found out that the people most to blame for how that election was handled is us. People who swallow disgusting rotten pieces of trash like pigs, instead of forcing our news to report things that are A) true and B) important. On both sides. Sure its my fault that I didn't do enough research before I voted, but I'm really disappointed with the picture that was painted for me of both sides. I always admitted that I liked John Mccain it was Sarah Palin that ruined it for me... I still would not have voted for her even after reading her book..
Yes we do need change in America but from where I'm sitting it doesn't look like we're getting a whole lot of it. Or maybe I'm just guilty again of listening to hearsay. I'll tell you one thing... I never realized just how free we are to do whatever we want in America until I lived here.

Love Leah

I do not heart Paris

Well hello,

Seems to have been a long time since I last wrote. I'm not really sure whats was going on last time I was here but lets see if I can bring ya'll up to speed. Lately I've been helping Mathieu move to Paris, well sort of helping him. We finally got all of his stuff into his new apartment which is cute and pretty large considering its Paris. Its in the 17th arrondissement and the area is pretty calm. But, even if these are all positive things I've been saying, I still get physically ill when I enter the Paris city limits. The more I go there and the longer I stay the more I realize I hate it, ok maybe not hate. You see, even though I'm not from the country , in Texas even the cities are the country compared to the dense metropolis that is Paris. Geographically its not that big but its like hundreds of thousands of people stacked on top of one another living in tiny apartments for hundreds of dollars. Sure its Paris, there's the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe but after awhile you get tired of going there, not to mention that it probably takes an hour on the metro to get there anyway. Everyone tells me, "but Leah theres so much to do in Paris." Yeah there is, like seeing the sights and looking at art in one of Paris' many museums. But I can't take advantage of that if I have a job, which I'll need to pay for the 6 euro beer.
Ok, ok  I know I'm being harsh, its just resentment because its a lot of change at once. Not only am I thinking about moving to place I never wanted to live but I'm wrestling with the fact that I might stay indefinitely across the ocean from my family and friends. I don't know if I can  handle it.
On a related note, this is the last week of work for me. I'm coming home in about 1 month. May 31st I'll be getting on a plane and setting foot in America for the first time in months. I want a steak, a baked potato, and some yellow squash. I want my phone back with my unlimited phone calls and text messaging. I want my sunday softball games and my breakfast tacos, my pure, untouched nature AND my right to sit on the grass anywhere I want to.

Anyway its springtime and I will say that France is absolutely beautiful in the spring. And I'm lucky enough to have someone who really wants me to be happy so I'm going to be happy. I'm going to try. If Paris is the sacrifice I have to make, then its totally worth it.

Love Leah

ps. I'm reading Sarah Palin's book.... ha ha

Pass the Courvoisier

Ah the sun, le soleil. J'adore. I had the best weekend. First Mathieu, Amanda (my roommate) and I drove to her house which is in Cognac country. Practically everyone that lives there works in the cognac industry. Whether it be growing the grapes, distilling, bottling, what have you. We stayed with Amanda's family who are the most friendly welcoming people, even though her dad was a little hard for me to understand because he has a thick accent and talks really fast. But anyway we walked around and went to a distillery and tasted some cognac...ok a lot of cognac. Amanda's family has a big ole Saint Bernard who is 6 months old and weighs over 100 lbs. He was so cute. And I got to play with Amanda's nephew Hugo who's so adorable I could have squeezed him to death... good thing I didn't.
So then, Mathieu and I said goodbye to her family and moved on down the road to Bordeaux which is a beautiful city, if not a little old looking. I really liked it, lots of flowers and its super sunny.So we spent about a half a day there and then we went to hang out with Mathieu's dad next to the ocean. Man I wished it were warmer I wanted to go swimming so bad. So it was beautiful and we drove forever to get home but all in all it was a perfect weekend really. I'll put some pictures up when I think about it.

Also, I'm gonna stay in France. I'm looking for a job, and even if I don't find one I'm coming back here. So, I'll be home in a month and a half, say goodbye to me then and hopefully it won't be the last time you see me.

Love Leah