finally

got the keys.

now to find a bucket of bleach and some furniture.

small graces

Things like, the right magazine at the right time. And, est-ce que ça te dérange? And knowing what to say. And taking care of lists (enormous ones, with heavy components like and find apartment and get insurance and residency status?! on them).

And taking the train at night.

And knowing when the station's coming up.

And packages from home, including new business cards from Brian.

And beginning to write again, and knitting in the evening, and thinking of ideas for more books (and feeling I can do them!), and getting back to the place that lets me love where I am, and red dotted swiss curtains for my kitchen when I finally move in, and 11 days' vacation after only 4 days' work, and finally, inevitably, the sound of rain on the roof of the old convent I have been living in (lo these four long weeks).

Now I feel like I should say 'amen.'

studio idéal

...but the thing I forgot to put in is that I would share it with this guy, who just finished a complete revamp of his website, and of whom I am so proud. Hey, B., thanks for taking care of Mr. Fish while I'm gone! Don't let him get into the inks...

synchronicity

A friend back home knits grey and yellow.... Several thousand miles away, I am in the yarn store thinking about buying these lovely Katia wools, using to make fingerless gloves. I deliberate. Rusty-red and grey? Red and blue? This yellow, which is almost chartreuse, and that ashy light grey? Or none? I don't receive my first paycheck until November. Should I really spend €9 on yarn?

What a question. Of course, I do it. And then go home to read this post.

Nice to know we think alike even over long distances.

When I feel lonely I think about how really things are not so different, we are not so far, and time is not so long. And today I noticed the smell of fall come creeping up from the edges of the town.

yes, it's like this

It's like this: getting up, going to the baker's, buying a chocolate croisant for breakfast, walking around the medieval town I live in, window shopping, taking the train, speaking and learning French, meeting really kind and interesting people. But some days it's the random person who tells me people who support a smoking ban are the next thing to Nazis, being incapable of communicating my ideas in the ways I'm used to, and seemingly endless paperwork, none of which seems to end or go anywhere.

I know I'm lucky to have this chance, but some days it is harder to love it, that's all.

well put, duchamp

C'est tellement vrai.

I had such a nice birthday, better than I would ever have thought. Thank you for all your nice wishes.

Today I looked at an apartment (I am in provisory housing, one small room I share with another girl, and it is not great) but it was not so good--no light. But if I don't find anything else, I will take it.

Everything gets better every day. I love this object I found in the hallway of a classroom building here. I'm going to steal the idea (and the quote).

Did look for M-C Idées here, but didn't find it. Also MILK. Maybe this weekend, if I go into Besançon (big town nearby). I have been making little things (no using the machine yet, might disturb the roommate), but that's for another post. Saturday, probably.

Bon, à plus tard.

ici

The homesickness was the worst last Friday; I'm feeling much better now, and the grobbeldy sounds have coalesced into words and phrases I can understand. And my own mouth occasionally produces things to which the locals nod their heads in response.

I have a German roommate (until I find an apartment), a strong grasp on the names of the English teachers here, and a passion for croissants beurres au chocolat. And, lucky me, a couple of friends.

That's my school. More photos eventually, like later this week? Oh, and tomorrow is my birthday, the first one I will have ever spent away from home. It's strange.