Escape Writing

Quote of the day

2005-11-17T20:48:00.000+03:00

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information.
Oscar Wilde

Messy France

2005-11-15T15:09:00.000+03:00

While looking at different newspapers from different countries today, I noticed one thing : people over the world seem to think France is at war or something. Well, let me tell you, it's not that bad; I mean, yeah, cars burn, that's not good. But seriously, in real riots, there are deaths every day, and you count them more by dozens than one by one. In real war, the military is involved. In real emergency context, women are afraid to get out because they might get raped.
I'm not afraid. I haven't seen anymore soldiers than before. I'm very much alive, thank you. There are indeed things shocking, but it's not necessarely what you see. What is shocking is some of our politicians are all surprised about this, and pretty much saying "Why are all those immigrants mad at us after all we've done for them?" The thing is, they don't want to admit they have done nothing for those people, and that's what they're mad today. Jacques Chirac, ten years ago, went on campaign to become president, and was elected because he promised to solve the problem of the huge gap between social classes. He has done nothing, and today, all he can do is say how lucky we all are to live in such a wonderful country. Wonderful, my ass. The percentage of unemployed immigrants is a lot higher than of nice white people.
I don't really know how this is all going to end, but I'm pretty sure that when things calm down, our politicians will forget all about the current problem, and go back to helping the poor rich families, and give them another tax cut.
Thanks for reading.

Quote of the day
I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to politicians.
Charles de Gaulle

Procrastinating

2005-11-14T19:58:00.000+03:00

Did you ever wonder why it's in the moments you have the most time that you do the less? I have just spent a three day week-end (yeah, because Novembre 11th is free in France, to celebrate how Europe managed to kill a few million people in just four years) doing absolutely nothing. It's not like I don't have anything to do :
1) I have to study in general, in order to get better grades and be a little higher in my class.
2) I have to learn my part for the theater show in two weeks (yeah, two weeks, that's awfully close).
3) I have to write my book, so I can become rich anf famous, and so people might be interested in reading this blog.
4) I have to tidy up my room (did I ever mention I'm possibly the messiest person to ever walk on this planet?)
And what did I do all week-end? I read (a lot, more about that later), I went shopping with my flatmate and my sister, I called my friends, I slept, I watched TV, and especially E.R. (Carter is gone for good! I can't believe it!). All in all, my mother would say I've been a very bad girl.
Well, that just means the coming two weeks are going to be hell. And I do mean hell. As in totally not heaven. I have so much to do and so little time. I guess that's just what happens when you grow up. We I was younger, I felt bored most of the time. Now I'm hoping I have time to be bored.
Now, onto books. I read Uptown Girl by Olivia Goldsmith. You just have to read it. At least, you do if you're a girl. If you're a bioy, it might just bore you. If you're not into romance, i have nothing to recomand for you, so you might want to move on to the next paragraph. It's the story of a thirty year old woman looking for Mr Right and only seems to find Mr Wrong (surprise, surprise!). Not to screwed up the end for you, but this one more heir to the wonderful Pride and Prejudice, so you can guess yourself who she ends up with. What I love with those books is that you know exactly how they'ere going to end. I understand that to most people, that's a reason not to enjoy them, but hey! I like them.
On other matters, I think I just understood why nobody visits my blog. It's written up there my blog ID is number 15 799 843. That means there are at least fifteen million seven hundred and ninety nine thousand eight hundred and forty three other blogs out there for people to choose from. And that's only blogger. Then, there's live journal and all the other blogging ressources out there. No wonder people don't care. The one comforting thing is that since nobody reads this, I can go really crazy. I mean, it's not like anyone cares.
On this particularly happy note, I'll let you get on with your lives.

Quote of the day
I envy people who drink. At least they have something to blame everything on.
Oscar Levant

Quote of the day

2005-11-10T16:48:00.000+03:00

The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.
Oscar Wilde

Birthadya Girl... Not Anymore

2005-11-08T15:35:00.000+03:00

I turned 20 last Saturday, and amazingly, I felt absolutely nothing. My birthdays are usually very important for me, it's the time of the year I look forward to three months in advance. I used to bring candies at school and give them to everyone wishing me a happy birthday. Well, for a start, I wasn't in school for my birthday this year, and also, I totally wasn't looking forward to it. It's weird, though not so bad, since it wasn't that fun at all in the end.
The best present is the one I bought myself. I got a brand new laptop computer, it's really awesome. One problem though is that I still don't have internet in my flat, so I'm really not getting far. I can put my lessons on it, though, which forces me to study a bit more than I did last year.
My mother got me a cooking book for students, with cheap recipes that you can do without an oven and a thousand special ingrdients that nobody in college can afford.
My father helped me in buying the computer, and my siblings got me nice jewlery.
The big surprise for my birthday is that my grand parents came (well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but I totally expected it.) It was nice to see them, but they stayed with me for three days, and in the end, it got very annoying. They're very much your typical grand parents, thinking you're still five years old, and I wanted to yell all along "Hello? You're here to celebrate my 20th birthday!" Seriously. How can they think I still enjoy them affectionally pinching my cheek? In what kind of world do grand parents live?
Plus, my grand father was being really annoying about computers. I explained him how gerat it is to have internet, and be able to communicate very fast with people one the other side of the world, and all he could answer is that 50 years ago, they were fine without computers. Hello? Fifty years ago, people died in hospital! How is that good? Plus, if in fifty years' time, they tell me I can do things I couldn't when I was 20, I'm in! For example, if, say, we can go on vacation on the moon, why would you refuse on the simple reason that you couldn't fifty years ago and were fine? That's just very stupid if you ask me.
Whatever. I'm rambling.
On another topic (which is actually the one this blog is supposed to be about), now that I have a computer, I can write all the time! Which means I might actually put another short story up soon (if I find something interesting to write about, that is).
Enough rambling for today, I've got to go in class.

Quote of the day :

Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons.
Unknown, Popular Mechanics, March 1949

Quote of the day

2005-11-02T14:06:00.000+03:00

This is one of my favorite quotes. If only everybody could live by it, the world would be a way less stressful place.

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.
Maya Angelou

Quote of the day

2005-10-30T19:46:00.000+03:00

My definition of an expert in any field is a person who knows enough about what's really going on to be scared.
J. Plauger

Quote of the day

2005-10-29T16:06:00.000+03:00

Before a war military science seems a real science, like astronomy; but after a war it seems more like astrology.
Rebecca West

Quote of the day

2005-10-26T18:39:00.000+03:00

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
Alfred Hitchcock

Birthday Girl

2005-10-25T13:15:00.001+03:00

My birthday is coming up awfully fast. I'll turn 20 on Novembre 5th, and that shall be the most depressing birthday ever.
Reasons why it will be depressing :
- that will be my first birthday with my parents divorced. Birthdays used to be a family reunion. They're totally not anymore.
- I'm usually looking forward to my birthdays. This year, I don't even care.
- My parenst are getting divorced, and are still insisting that we celebrate it as a family. We're not a family anymore. Tensions will very much arise.
- I am overloaded with work, and therefore will not even be able to onjoy the fact that it's my birthday.
- Did I mention that I'm depressed because my parents are getting divorced?

As for the good things, my father did mention that I'd be getting more presents this year, since there won't be a general present from my parennts. I guess that's good news. Not.

I am also the crappiest friend on the planet, since I don't answer to half my friends' text messages.

I have way too much work for a girl who isn't even working.

And, what annoys me most, I don't have time to write the novel which is supposed to make me very rich and world famous.

As you can guess, I'm not in a very good mood in general. Neither is my roomate, which means I get about no relief.

Due to popular demand (not), here is the quote of the day :

Hapiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.
George Burns

Crazyness

2005-10-20T16:11:00.000+03:00

My life has been absolutely insane for the past month. From vacation time, during which I had pretty much nothing to do, to college life, which is, I heard, the busiest time of your life, transition is very hard.
First of all, I'm having big problems with my new apartment. You might not be aware, but in France, you're pretty much left on your own to get a place to live in when you're a college student. It's extremely hard to get a room in a dorm, which means that when you don't have much money, or when you encounter personal problems (like I am right now), you end up living far away in a crappy apartment. For instance, as of two days ago, my window was broken. This is illegal, of course, and the owner was supposed to change it. He had been saying for three months that he would do it, but we pretty much understood (we meaning me and my flatmate Lola) that he never would, so we ended up doing it ourselves. Ditto for the phone, which we are going to take care of ourselves. That takes a lot of time.
Then, college life is killing me (though not as much as it is killing Lola, who is getting nearer every day to a nervous breakdown). I have meetings all the time, or have some photocopies to make (that's because I'm communication secretary for my school's Office of arts).
Finally, there is this tiny little thing college is supposed to be about in the first place : work. I had not noticed till this week that I was supposed to be working, since most of my classes hadn't started yet. You can imagine my pain now, if you are (or have been) a college student. I also have to get ready for next year (yes, I know, already), which is supposed to be my year abroad. I want to spend it in Italy, which is very much possible, but I also want to do an Internship in an embassy or consulate the summer before, which is very much less possible. Whatever. I'm sure it only takes believing in it. Or not.

On others matters, I just finished reading Ready or Not by Meg Cabot, and I have to say I loved it. It's nice to have a book that de-dramatizes sex a bit. Just a bit, though, since Sam freaks out during most of the book.
I also read Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen, which kind of disappointed me. However, it's true that when you start reading Pride and Predjudice, and then read her other books, Jane Austen can only disappoint you, P&P being one of the best books on the planet.
I read many other books this past month, but it would take too long to write about them all. I did read The Hitchhiker's guide to Galaxy, but will only comment on it when I've read the four other books of the trilogy.

Thank you for reading about my immensly interesting life. I'm deeply sorry about the crappy writing, but college is taking my brain away, and I can't think of funny catch lines.

Juliette

Sorry...

2005-09-27T19:43:00.000+03:00

I'm deeply sorry for not updating this blog. My computer at home went completely down, and then I had to move to college. Since I don't have a computer in my room, I have to use the university's, and there a permanent fight between students to get access. You have to stay pretty late in order to use a computer without having other students look at you like you're completely wasting their time.
That problem will last as long as I don't have a computer and Internet in my room, which is probably a long time... Wait and see.
I just want you to know I am not giving up this blog.

Boring Life

2005-09-15T23:20:00.000+03:00

I spent half my day yesterday and today in the train. I will again tomorrow, the day after, and then on Monday. I haven't been so busy since I'm on vacation. My summer job ended, and I thought I would get some well deserved rest, but I just don't.

Anyway, being on the train all the time, I don't have time to check out the Internet, or write, since I don't own a laptop. My life therefore gets pretty boring, and the best part of my day today was getting a question I asked answered by Meg Cabot on her "Ask Meg" forums. She is one of my favorite authors, but still, that is pretty pathetic.

So, before I bore any of you to death, here is the quote of the day :

The saying "Getting there is half the fun" became obsolete with the advent of commercial airlines.
Henry J. Tillman

We could say the same about trains. Except trains don't have this tendency to crash in the middle of the ocean.

Bad Day

2005-09-13T20:35:00.000+03:00

You know those days when, for no specific reason, you're feeling bad, tired tec? I'm having one of those days. No comment.
On a side note, I won't post for the ext two days, due to visiting my grandparents, who don't own a computer, so no Internet for me.

Quote of the day

2005-09-13T20:33:00.000+03:00

The scientific name for an animal that doesn't either run from or fight its enemies is lunch.
Michael Friedman

The Meatrix Again

2005-09-13T11:09:00.000+03:00

I sent the link to the Meatrix to many of my friends, inlcuding one whose father is a vet. She asked her father about more details, and here is what he had to say :

Becky,

They sure present it as everyone who eats meat, are really bad, stupid people. It isn't that simple.

Do you remember when we had chickens and biggest roosters would keep the rest of the hens and smaller roosters from eating and they would peck at each other? That is the way nature is. Our chickens were not overcrowded nor raised in bad conditions. But in an intensive raising facility they would have been debeaked them as day old chicks, so they wouldn't be able to peck at each other. Cannibals are what they are! The dominant male wants to control the group and reserve all breeding rights.

Yes, chickens and pigs are raised in small pens, which keep them fromhurting each other. Ventilation is good, or they will get pneumonia and die and that isn't profitable. Happiness is measured by rate of gain and production of eggs. If animals aren't healthy or content, they don't have the best production.

Antibiotics are fed to dairy cattle today for a specific reason. We recommend one called monesin. It is an ionophore (antibiotic) that isn't absorbed thru the stomach or intestine. But in a ruminate, it changes the bacteria populations that digest the forages in the ration in the rumen. It will inhibit some bacteria and encourage others, so the cow will have more 3-carbon structures available to absorb thru the rumen wall, which is healthier for the liver and the cow and encourages more milk. It also inhibits a endemic parasite that causes diarrhea called coccidia. Approved in the US for use, only after decades of studies to prove safety and efficacy. It is interesting to note that imported food products, have few or no rules as to products used in production. While this product was studied here, it was used internationally.

Free range animals as left to the forces of nature, won't produce enough protein to feed the world. Success in western culture has come because of the successes of American agriculture. We only spend 11 cents of the dollar on food, so we have lots of cash left for everything else.

I don't know of any factory farms, all of the farms locally are owned by families. They all have a human element.

Enough rambling?

I know nothing about this whole subject. I linked to the Meatrix, because it is, wether truth or lies, a really well done movie.

I know my friend Becky's Dad, and he's totally not a liar, and doesn't support any huge factory. He lives in southern Wisconsin, and belive, there are indeed not factory farms out there (or if there are, they're well hidden, since I have yet to see one, and I was there just a couple month ago).

So there. I'm not saying the Meatrix is telling lies, more like not the entire truth. As usual, the world is not entirely black and white, there are lots of shades of grey.

PS : and before you ask, I have no idea what the part with the ionophore was about. I gave up science class over a year ago, and I'm proud to say I managed to forget all I learned in that space of time.

Bad choices

2005-09-12T16:57:00.000+03:00

This is what happens when politicians want to put their friends in high positions : they get caught when a bad disaster strikes.

You've got to love the NYTimes columnists. My favorite is Maureen Dowd, but you would have figured that out by the number of times I have linked (and will do it again) to one of her columns, but then I do that because I'm just as liberal as she is.

I don't really know what newspapers are more conservative. Could anybody tell me so I can try not to be so biaised?

Peaceful Dawn

2005-09-12T16:40:00.000+03:00

This is a piece of Harry Potter fanfiction I wrote a few weeks ago. I thought any Harry Potter fans out there might enjoy it.

Disclaimer : Harry Potter and co. all belong to JK Rowling. I'm not making any money out of this story.

It wasn’t at all what he had imagined. He thought that after the victory, he would feel terrible about killing someone. He thought the Order would be counting its dead, and that there would be no rejoicing, just more funerals. He had been wondering how many of his friends he would bring to the grave. This wasn’t it at all.
The morning was peaceful. Just last night, he had found Nagini. She had been fourth on his list of Horcruxes to destroy before going after Voldemort. He hadn’t expected Voldemort to go after him right after finding his pet snake dead.
What Voldemort hadn’t counted on was that Harry had destroyed four other Horcruxes already, and that by that time, he was mortal again.
Voldemort had cornered Harry right when he arrived in Godric’s Hollow, where Ron and Hermione were waiting for him. Harry was exhausted and in no state to fight. He had thought he was over and done with, when Ron had managed to come behind Voldemort and kill him, just as dawn came. Voldemort had died as the day began, by the hand of Ron Weasley. It made sense to Harry, now. The prophecy was just that, a prophecy. It wasn’t the future, it was what people made of it. Harry had, in one sense, killed Voldemort by going after and destroying five Horcruxes. The final touch had been Ron’s.
Harry knew that the war wasn’t over yet, there were still too many Death Eaters at large, but he felt at rest when Hermione approached Voldemort’s body and confirmed that he was dead. Their part was over. The ministry could deal with the others.
Harry had one thing in mind, as the sun rose. There was one person he wanted to find.

***

Ginny Weasley was watching the sun rising. She had to get to work soon. Some people might think that working for her brothers would mean less hard work, but they obviously did not know Fred and George Weasley.
They had hired her when she told them she was bored beyond sanity at the Burrow. Hogwarts hadn’t re-opened for her sixth year, and since she was the only Weasley still underage, she was spending her days with her mother. There was only so much cleaning that could be done in a house inhabited by two people, which meant that Ginny spent her days with nothing to do.
The twins needed to hire someone. Their business being one of the few in the Wizarding world to extend in those times of darkness, extra help was very welcome. That was how Ginny had found herself working in Diagon Alley every morning for the past few months.
She had expected it to be more interesting. Working in a joke shop seemed like fun, but she discovered an entire new side of the twins, the one with which they had made Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes so successful. They were business driven, and made her work hard.
Ginny didn’t mind, though. It took her mind off things. She could stop wondering where Ron, Hermione and Harry were off to, for a few hours.
They had stopped a couple times at the shop, to get stuff she had no idea what they used for. It didn’t look at first as if Puking Pastilles would be of any use to kill Voldemort, but they seemed to think it did.
Those visits always overjoyed her. The Trio rarely came to the Burrow, it looked like they spent most of their time in Godric’s Hollow, or went off to places known only by them.
The first time they came, Harry had somehow managed to get Ginny alone and had kissed her senseless. He hadn’t talked to her after that, just smiled and left. She had spent the next month wondering whether it had really happened, when he came back and did the same thing all over again. Each of the Trio’s visits would finish with a wonderful snogfest.
She never really knew if she was angry at Harry or elated after those few minutes spent together. She just found herself waiting more and more for the next visit, when they would come back from wherever they had gone.
Ginny had been wondering exactly what they were doing, since they were supposed to be trying to kill Voldemort, but Tom Riddle seemed very much alive. She wanted the war to be over just like the next person, but even more because so many people she loved were deeply involved.
The sun was completely up. The sky had lost its pink, and there wasn’t a cloud to see for miles. The air was pure, and she could see the next town from her bed.
She moved away from the window to get dressed, and then get to work. There was something peaceful about that morning, and she was eager to get going.

***

Harry Potter arrived in Diagon Alley two hours after Voldemort’s death. The street was gloomy. Half the shops were closed. Harry felt shivers walking by Florean Fortescue’s, remembering the summer before third year, and all the free ice creams he got. He hoped that wherever Florean was now, he was happy that the war that had cost him his life was over.
People were walking fast, not yet knowing that there was much less to be afraid of. Hermione had sent a report only to the Ministry to announce the death, and where to find the body. They needed the Wizarding community to learn the good news as fast as possible, and they knew the Ministry would announce it faster than you could say Quidditch. Scrimgeour would take good news any day. The Minister wasn’t exactly popular at the moment.
Hermione and Ron had taken off for some alone time right after that. They needed to talk a lot, and hopefully, Harry thought, do more than that. Ron was shaken from killing someone, but had no regrets whatsoever.
The joke shop had just opened. Harry first noticed Ginny when he saw her red hair clashing with the purple and green window. He had been dreaming of that moment for months, the moment he would tell her it was all over.
She had been so mad when Hogwarts had closed before she could even sit for her O.W.L.s. She had been pretty angry when Harry, Ron and Hermione took off after Fleur and Bill’s wedding. However, no matter how mad she was, – and deserved to be – she hadn’t minded when he told her, in more actions than words, that she was still the one he was thinking about when he went to sleep at night.
Harry opened the locked door with his wand. Without turning around, Ginny said, “We’re not open yet. Please come back in ten minutes.”
Harry didn’t answer at first, waiting for her to move from her task. When she didn’t, he looked closer, and saw her tense up and slowly move her hand towards her wand. Idiot, he thought. She thinks I’m a Death Eater.
“Ginny,” he said simply, to calm her down.
She turned around suddenly. She took her time taking in his appearance. He still had some blood from Nagini on his cloak, his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and he had dirt on his face from the moment Voldemort had cornered him. She smirked.
“Well, someone looks like shit.”
The sound of her voice was all it took. In a few strides, he covered the distance that separated them and kissed her.
It was very much like their first kiss, unexpected, but so much awaited. They kissed as if their lives depended on it, until they were rudely interrupted by George.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”
He had a huge smirk on his face that made it impossible to know whether he was thinking of endless teasing or simply just happy for them.
“Are you celebrating something?” Fred asked, joining his twin’s side.
“No,” Ginny answered, just as Harry said “Yes.”
She looked at him quizzically.
“Voldemort is dead,” he answered. “It’s all over.”
Fred, George and Ginny stayed quiet for a minute pondering this news. Harry watched them going form disbelief to realisation. Then, Ginny said, “You’re wrong, Harry. It’s not over.”
It was his turn to look at her quizzically.
“It’s only the beginning.”

Thank you to PythonBlossom for beta-ing!

Quote of the day

2005-09-12T16:26:00.000+03:00

If you're holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.
JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

9/11

2005-09-11T19:12:00.000+03:00

I know I've linked to this blog before, but you really should check out today's entry. It's very sad, but represents excactly what happened four years ago.

I suppose everyone remeber where they were four yuears ago, and what they were doing.

I was at school when it happened, but I only found out about it when I came back home. My sister called and said "There was a terrorist attack in New York and Washington". Due to time changes, this was in the afternoon for me. I spent the rest of the day watching TV, not quite believing what I was seeing. I cried. I was thinking of all the people who had died, not having a clue why they died. I was shaking. I called my friend Stéphanie, and we spent half an hour wondering who could have done something so horrible.

Some idiots said that America deserved it, the same idiots who are saying the US doesn't deserve our help with Katrina today. That's all they are. Idiots. I may disagree with how the war on terror is lead, but I certainly don't disagree that we need a war on terror. The people who organized this need to face trial. Everyone who died that day, the one who died in the falling of the building, the ones who burned to death, the ones who jumped through the windows to escape the heat, the ones who went in there to help and were rewarded by dying, they deserve justice.

This is sad entry, but I needed to make it clear. When countries like France don't go on war with the US, it's not because we disagree on war on terror, it's because we disagree on how it's done. We've had terrorist attcks. We know what it is to be afraid to leave your home. We're on your side, believe me.

I love America...

2005-09-11T14:52:00.000+03:00

... and it seems that despite websites such as the ones I linked to in the post"Getting Worried", America kind of likes us too. This is most likely politics, but it makes my heart a lot of good, after reading what French haters had to say about us.
It goes to show the diplomacy is not overrated.

The meatrix

2005-09-11T14:36:00.000+03:00

Do you want to know what it is?

Quote of the day

2005-09-11T01:41:00.000+03:00

Here is one of my all times favorite...

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
Douglas Adams

Life with Lucy

2005-09-10T22:43:00.000+03:00

As promised, this is the preview to the sotry that I just thought of. It's translated from French, and I suck very much at translation, so please forgive anything that might not make sense...
The title for this story should be Life With Lucy, though right now, it won't make much sense.

I got the phone call in the middle of the night. I was to go to St John hospital right away. A stupid accident. Liliane was coming back from her first date with Martin, and the other guy was drunk. he had deviated, and came crashing into Liliane's car.
When I arrived in the hospital, Liliane was in an artificial coma, and the other guy was hungover. The police was waiting for him outside the room, but that didn't lessen the fact that Liliane was in danger of death, and he was very much alive.
I wasn't allowed to see her, she was in intensive care. They had only called me to sign papers, since they couldn't find Liliane's relatives. they asked me if I knew where they were, and I said they were dead. Or at least, they were to Liliane. I had never met her parents, but Liliane didn't seem to think I was missing much.
The doctors decided I was the closest person to the patient (they never stopped calling her "the patient" and I want to scream "Her name is Liliane!"), and therefore, I was to sign all the papers. I seriously dopubted that was legal, but I didn't really care since I thought I really was the closest person to her emotionally, if not for the law.

Quote of the day

2005-09-10T22:17:00.000+03:00

I hate television. I hate it as much as I hate peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts.
Orson Welles