{la petite princesse}

2007-02-16T17:19:00.000-05:00

hi!

it's been a really long time (again) since i've written anything, but i have truly missed having a forum in which to share stories, adventures, or other rather random thoughts.

{la petite princesse} didn't seem to be the right place to do so at the moment, and although i may start writing on this again at some point, i have decided to start a new endeavour in a new blog, {c'est bon!}. a lot of the style (if you can call it that) will probably be the same, but as i'm in a different place in my life (no longer a student or abroad), the day-to-day will be a little different. so: i invite you to check it out, if you like. i hope you enjoy it!

camille.

2005-11-23T00:58:00.000-05:00

i'm going home tomorrow for thanksgiving for the first time since i've started work in mid-august... i can't wait to be in traverse city with mom, dad, and danielle!! i hope everyone has a good holiday!

2005-08-27T23:24:00.000-04:00

wow, i've been m.i.a. for a rather long time-- there's so much to say, but pictures, stories, etc. are very much on the way. in the past few weeks i've moved to chicago "for good" (though traverse city with mom and dad and our family-friends will be home #1), started my new job (first REAL, expectedly permanent job, actually), explored the new city, assembled furniture (including the profound learning of names for tools and screws, etc.!), and had my 22nd birthday (today)! there's so much to tell, but for tonight, i think i'm going to go to sleep after a full day with mom, dad, danielle, the roommates (nicole and allison) and danielle b.! i hope you all are well and happy! :)

2005-07-21T17:40:00.000-04:00

i couldn't resist thinking about napoleon dynamite when i saw this little creature at a nearby vineyard/farm...

2005-07-20T15:31:00.000-04:00

i finished "harry potter and the half-blood prince" a few days ago, and have been trying to overcome an unfortunate (though, let's face it, predictable) plot twist paralleling gandalf's fight with the balrog in the "lord of the rings" trilogy. except i don't think this one will turn out quite so well. and clearly, i have too much time on my hands at the moment...

2005-07-16T01:02:00.000-04:00

breaking news: i am now the proud owner of one "harry potter and the half-blood prince" book as of 1:02am!

yes, i went to traverse city's own version of "diagon alley" as our lovely front street sectioned off for a h.p. bash from 11:30 'til now along with hundreds of moderate to fanatic readers (i.e. those who are quite sure that they are, in fact, hogwarts students/professors...yes these folks do walk among us-- i have met them and enjoyed their...enthusiasm). no, i did not dress up as harry or professor snape (though to be honest, i don't look unlike an older green-eyed version of hermione). so no broomsticks, quidditch robes, golden snitches or wands for me. just a healthy interest in literature. (just needed to clear that up). now i'm off to bed, but not before a chapter or two. or maybe the whole book... :)

2005-06-21T18:57:00.000-04:00

everyone, meet big poppa: the miracle fish (and my sister's pride and joy)!

you see, big poppa's been through a lot. here's the story according to my 19-year-old sister, danielle:

"it all started one fall afternoon when i received big fat poppa in a bowl on my birthday from two of my friends. instantly, we made a connection and big poppa and i grew to love each other dearly. we had our first fight when i tried to clean his bowl for the first time. this is how big poppa became the 'miracle fish.'

"i had not yet purchased a fish net so i simply poured him into a cup. when i poured him back into his clear bowl for the first time, i must have done it at much too strong of a velocity, for he nosedived into the rocks at the bottom of the bowl. a bloody bruise began to grow on big poppa's nose, which i guess (since he's a fish) is where the brain is. after that fateful day, the bruise began to grow, and big poppa started acting strange. he kept going to the surface and taking big breaths of air, when clearly the water was clean. (this has now become a very common ritual for big poppa. and i've found it's just his way of saying 'hello' to me).

"after a few days he began to start moving a little slow and then sat at the bottom of the bowl on the rocks. since he wasn't floating like a dead fish should, i assumed he was entering some kind of weird phase. now HONESTLY, have you ever seen a fish lay at the bottom and just lean on the glass? it wasn't 'til after he did this for a two-week period, that i realized he was just in a coma.

"he came out of the coma once in these weeks and went a little spastic, but entered back into his peaceful slumber. i don't know HOW he survived, but with a lot of love, and many visitors, he has proved to be the big poppa we all cherish.

"big popps, as we fondly call him, has truly become a member of the fam, at school and home. our relationship really is something special. pretty much, big popps ROCKS MY FACE OFF!"

danielle also adds that he has since suffered a mild heart attack, a possible stroke, and has undergone several more comatic phases since. when she went to indianapolis for an athletic training conference last week, he developed a fungal infection and swam backwards for four days until he lapsed into another vegetative state. but he has survived: miracle fish indeed.

2005-06-07T00:39:00.000-04:00

i seriously know nothing about basketball, but this news is awesome!

2005-06-02T19:53:00.000-04:00

according to current eu president jean-claude juncker (and the prime minister of luxembourg), "europe no longer inspires people to dream."

although he clearly wants to provoke europeans into action, how could europe as a whole (or asia, south america, africa, or anywhere with diversity, culture, and history) not stimulate people to investiate, explore, or imagine? i felt sad reading this. (make sure to read this iht article).

2005-06-02T11:18:00.000-04:00

it's a good time to be in michigan. GO PISTONS!

2005-06-01T22:05:00.000-04:00

zürich, switzerland (my favorite city in the world) has concocted a fabulous tourism project: a teddy bear invasion! zürich was, after all, the first city to enact the cowparade, which benefits charitable organizations and enlivens regular city streets. the teddy project is completely whimsical and swiss-- i wish i could see it! (thanks to negrito for the tip).

2005-05-31T20:13:00.000-04:00

INCREDIBLE news about the watergate "deep throat"... fellow mhs focus friends-- we've been excited and/or obsessed about/with this since ninth grade!!!

2005-05-30T21:44:00.000-04:00

happy memorial day, and infinite thanks to veterans and soldiers who have served (and currently are). i know that i don't recognize or consciously appreciate the unbelievable contributions of soldiers and others who have dedicated their lives to create and maintain the free country (and world) that we live in-- full of opportunities, joys, innovations, and creations. so thank you, grandfathers, great-uncles, neighbors, cousins, classmates, friends.

2005-05-27T13:07:00.000-04:00

i found this on a post-it note while sorting papers from my desk at school:

lauren: camille, we've just got to whip you into shape!
camille: yeah, that's right... today's the day!
lauren: actually, tomorrow's the day. it's 12.12 am.

2005-05-23T20:40:00.000-04:00

i'm a major fan of both david and amy sedaris, so after meeting david this year after a talk at the iu auditorium (he was hilarious, confident, and impressive... and said i had a "fabulous sweater" while coloring-in a mushroom stamp on the inside of his new anthology... sorry, i had to add the compliment; it was nice), i'm very happy to find a new project for amy: a "prequel" movie-version of the paradoxically brilliant and absurd comedy central show "strangers with candy." okay, the movie's not really new, and was apparently already made and released and i totally missed it. it sounds fabulous, and features stephen colbert (insane as mr. noblet in the original), philip seymour hoffman, matthew broderick, sarah jessica parker, ian holm and a plethora of others. does anyone know where to find this one?

2005-05-22T22:45:00.000-04:00

how much do i love grey's anatomy? so much, apparently, that i felt compelled to discuss plot details with the entire surgical team as i came out of anaesthesia this past friday. though i'm sure it made no sense to them at the time, they found it to be quite funny, and so did my father, once dr. s. told him in the waiting room ("she's just fine; she's talking about 'grey's anatomy' right now."). what can i say, something had to replace the painful void left by dr. carter's exit from e.r. last week. :(

i love the realistic, complex characters and the fresh take on the medical drama sitcom. it's completely enjoyable. if you watched the insane season finale (a syphilis outbreak, an unauthorized autopsy, and an AWFUL discovery in the last thirty seconds, if you're a fan of patrick dempsey, naturellement) you'll know that next season will be even better.

2005-05-19T16:42:00.000-04:00

hello from traverse city!

i'm sitting in a coffee shop (wooo internet!) with my father, and taking advantage of a wireless connection so i can email and instant message! i've spent the past week (or so) unpacking 21 years worth of memories (and the fruits of apparently undiagnosed kleptomania) and boxes from iu, and figuring out how to deal with all of it. :) i've also had fun exploring with mom and dad; this really is a fun little city! i'll post a list of highlights soon (including: learning how to fry perch with dad; stumbling upon a neighboring herd of buffalo like in a kevin costner movie-- no joke; and discovering such masterpieces from my early years as "my cat mr. cat").

in other news, i have round two of foot surgery fun tomorrow morning in clare; might be out of commission for a day or two, but i promise that i'll be back soon. have a good weekend, in the meantime!

2005-05-09T20:27:00.000-04:00

how is it possible that two of my great interests have merged together to form the delightful beverage that is diet coke with splenda? as whatevs would say, BEST.

2005-05-06T14:40:00.000-04:00

i took my final exam of my undergraduate career last night (in renaissance history), and i'm finished with the last spring semester! and wow, college. some amazing things have happened over the past four years at indiana (and some of the most profound and important have happened in the past day or two), and i am grateful for the people i've met, and the things i've learned.

mom, dad, and our good friend mrs. donberg are on their way down from northwestern michigan, and i can't wait to see them! after that, fun w/them and friends to be had all weekend. i'm heading back up to traverse city on monday or tuesday... more updates and photos on the way. until then, congrats to all of the graduates, thanks to friends and families for their support!

much love!

2005-05-01T16:13:00.000-04:00

quick, miniature post because the business economics thesis and an english paper are due at noon tomorrow:

the mini ipod is clearly the greatest invention of the past decade for many reasons, among them because i can enjoy all of my favorite songs in a rotational or random manner, and so i can crank up the volume on pete yorn's "burrito" to stifle the yapping of the gentlewoman next to me into her mobile phone (though i do respect her constitutional right to do so).

alrighty, back to work (and scaring the kind folks at starbucks because i've been here for like 10 hours now). my final finals-week starts tomorrow!

2005-04-27T19:29:00.000-04:00

i am approximately 1.5 pages from laying my delightful "l470: legal research" thesis for the business law department within the kelley school of business to rest FOREVER. i vowed to stay in my window seat at starbucks (in which position i may attain a slight signal from the university's wireless network and not have to pay tmobile for access that i could otherwise get five feet away) until this is finished, so i thought i'd take a mini-break and update you all on my progress.

over eighty citations, an (in my mind) insane number of pages given that i'm not (yet) a law student, and a beautiful title to start it all off: "defining actual injury under the federal trademark dilution act: the need for the reformation of §43 of the lanham act." at least, until i change my mind again.

do you think that the fun will all be over when it email it to my professor tonight? oh no, don't worry-- i'm putting the finishing touches on another one (that's even longer) for the business economics & public policy department.

still, i am enjoying my last week as an undergrad. although many of my friends might be at kilroy's right now, i will stay in and get these projects done, so i can finish strongly. but come next thursday at 9.15pm, you can bet there'll be a fabulous party!

2005-04-18T13:25:00.000-04:00

fabulous news from my living-sensei martha stewart: according to the news this morning, she's signed a four-year deal to host a channel on sirius satellite radio, inc. featuring 24-hour content about "cooking, gardening and entertaining programming for women." while {la petite princesse} finds gardening perplexing (beyond growing tomatoes with mom in primary school and reaping the fruits of a wild strawberry plant in a true machiavellian fashion), i love the food network (especially shows by paula deen and giada de laurentiis) and likewise cuisine devoid of refined starches and non-splenda sugar. and if i didn't live here, i would cook more often. that is to say, at all.

anyways, what i'm trying to express is how useful and enjoyable martha's new channel is going to be. and if you're very lucky, perhaps in the future you'll be invited to a gardening/cooking/small-handmade-crafts-making party!

2005-04-06T19:07:00.000-04:00

i'll admit that i have a slight obsession with anything nautical-themed. i love books about seafaring adventurers, anything navy, lakes, oceans, streams (sans leeches of course), and think a peg-leg might be kinda cool, if--through some extraordinary circumstance-- absolutely necessary. surprising that delta gamma's symbol is the anchor? i think not! evidence below:

and it gets better. this little problem might explain why i thought it acceptable to spend an entire paycheck on a sailor jacket from france over spring break.

generally speaking, i can't seem to understand which sorts of clothing choices are acceptable. this is also why i love jeans, trouser pants, and crew-neck tshirts. while at home, my sister danielle (dis)approves my outfits (i blame "colorblindness" where "bad taste" might be the true culprit), but at school, my roommates and friends are left to prevent me from social humiliation. a conversation with molly provides evidence:

cnconsta: i need your help w/deciding about a shirt-- can i wear a navy stripey shirt w/navy pants?
M1W4: hmmmm
M1W4: the little sailor one??
cnconsta: yeah
M1W4: NO
M1W4: haha
cnconsta: you sure?
M1W4: you might as well just throw on the cap and jacket as well, then
cnconsta: ok i get the point

2005-04-05T20:11:00.000-04:00

one of my absolute favorite sites to peruse these days, la coquette, NAILS the, erm, delightfully special look that many of my university-age colleagues tend to drag overseas on their semesters abroad and spring holidays. coquette wisely writes:

Everytime I pass one of these girls, I have the urge to grab her by the arms, like the imaginary illustrator in an old Donald Duck cartoon, and erase, oh, just ELEVEN of her layers. I know you, Study Abroad Girl. You are my kin. So it is with the greatest love and compassion that I say:
IF YOUR NAME BE NOT MARY KATE, WEAR YE NOT ALL THINE ACCESSORIES AT ONCE.

so true, so true. one addition: wearest thou not a trucker hat, or i shall forsake thee.

2005-03-30T17:50:00.000-05:00

just when the two theses, 500+ pages of reading each week, two part-time jobs, the fact that i apparently didn't get anything done over spring break (though it was WONDERFUL-- updates soon!), and trying to have fun during my last college semester weren't enough, my first computer, a lovely dell inspiron 8000 (c. august 2001) walked the plank.

actually, it was more of a coma: a dramatic and perplexing slumber in which frightening error messages were interspersed with "active desktop disenabled" screens in stages reminiscent of malaria hot/cold cycles. needless to say, it was not pretty. according to the good folks at indiana university's uits (composed of a secret society of student programming GENIUSES) my four-year-old pal was experiencing "software problems," which i can only assume confirms everyone's suspicions that microsoft's "millenium edition" operating system was, in fact, total garbage. (and yes, i'm the only one without xp).

but there's good news! in light of i8000's recent illnesses, it has been determined that he shall retire to a lifestyle more suited to his abilities and personal situation: he shall take his place as my mother's new confidante, and will surely be well-treated and appreciated. and not left on all the time or connected to instant messenger. starting next week, compy II is anticipated. with wireless connections, a significantly lighter weight (i8000 is the zack morris phone of laptops) and xp so that i can finally install itunes. camille's (finally) entering a new technological era (though it's been old news for you)!

2005-03-09T15:28:00.000-05:00

my lovely roommate lauren w. came back from work this morning with a hilarious letter from john cleese (presumably THE john cleese). in it, he rants about the current state of american affairs, our (mis)pronunciation of certain words (ex. american: alu-min-um/british: alu-min-I-um), and our failure to use the british "u" in "color," "neighbor," etc. here's his opener:

to the citizens of the united states of america: in the light of your failure to elect a competent president of the usa and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today. her sovereign majesty queen elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. except utah, which she does not fancy. your new prime minister (the right honourable tony blair, mp for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for america without the need for further elections. congress and the senate will be disbanded. a questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

as someone who went to a british school for a time in her youth, i can understand the agony felt over confusion between british and american words. is jelly jam or jell-o? is a boot a more substantial shoe, or the trunk of a car? what is a "lorry?" and don't you think "loo" is a little outdated? i do very much like your use of "waste bin" instead of "trash can" but i know i'll think of others.

2005-03-07T22:04:00.000-05:00

hurrah! my beloved mentor of all-things-aesthetic, martha stewart, is free from prison, and under house arrest. it seems as though martha has undergone a conversion of sorts-- or at least garnered some interesting and new perspectives on life. according to the new york times, martha told her company employees, "every person deserves dignity. every person deserves opportunity. every person deserves the comforts of a good home. that's what matters."

the times goes on to say (in a typically snooty fashion): "ms. stewart appeared determined to bury the image some have of her as a greedy, strident convicted felon. she presented herself as someone who cares deeply about everyone, not just about her own media empire, where the emphasis has long been on perfectly executed dinner parties, painstakingly decoupaged lampshades and seemingly unnecessary tasks like making marshmallows from scratch."

while i wouldn't call any of her artistic activities or even the making homemade marshmallows "unnecessary" (especially if sugar-free!), i am happy for her, and glad that she'll be able to get back to work-- and back to her life.

2005-03-07T00:43:00.000-05:00

today the new girls (almost fifty-something freshmen and a few sophomores) were intiated into our chapter of delta gamma. it was a nice, traditional ceremony (though perhaps not quite as solemn as our founders might have intended in the late 1800s), and it marked a transition point for many. the new initiates became full members, and the seniors took one step closer to ending their undergraduate college experience. at one point, each senior was supposed to share a little bit of advice with the "n.i."s, and i listened as my friends and sisters shared their ideas. "live it up," "get to know everyone," "go out every single night." i told them that this experience would bring returns equal to what they invest into it, whatever that involves. this chapter has made an incredible impact on my life, and i've made friends here that i hope will be mine for the rest of my life. i've had experiences here that i never would have otherwise encountered-- and i am grateful for every element-- the positive and negatives alike.

there are so many people in this house that i love and admire. i am constantly surprised at the accomplishments, actions, and activities of the ladies here. i adore our house mother, mom kyle. i love the bedrooms, the "warm" and "cold" dorms, cubbies in the bathrooms, the shared mailboxes, the bizarre clear shower stalls, the furniture, and even our crazy (and treacherous) parking lot. i love the nautical decor, the tea and coffee area, the dining room, and the books mom kyle keeps of every dg alum's wedding (and i love to sneak into her closet when she's not around and "borrow" her sugar-free candy, although she's famous for sharing her popcorn, pretzels, m&ms, and other real sweets). i love walking down jordan avenue and seeing the beautiful house set in it's unique location between the auditorium and opera building, completely separate from every other greek chapter. these are just some of my thoughts tonight.

as much as i may complain (or feel hurt) when my electric toothbrush or package of deli meat goes "missing," or when i'm not smiled at in a hallway or at lunch, or when i feel like it would be awkward to sit in the dining room with certain people i'm not very familiar with, this is a place i'm glad to be a part of.

there's so much i could say about this place. i want to be more sorry than i am about leaving here. i know i'll feel it more as summer approaches. warm weather and leaves on trees seem to conjure emotions and memories more than the frost we've had last week. mostly i'm just happy that i've had this chance to be part of this group, and, if only briefly, to have been an element in it's legacy.

2005-02-22T00:12:00.000-05:00

in between writing two theses (that is the plural of "thesis," right?), working at two different jobs, learning about both epidemics/diseases (which is paradoxically revolting and delightful) renaissance italy (this apparently means that i have to learn about greek/roman antiquity as well...oops!), autobiographies and conversion experiences (BEST-EVER), and spending precious time with friends, i have found the time to truly enjoy reading thomas merton's the seven storey mountain for my literature course. it's incredible.

merton was english, but grew up in france and at boarding school in england, and after his expulsion for cambridge (for activities inappropriate for such an institution), resumed his studies in the usa. he experienced a profound religious conversion (which has made him worthy of being called a "modern-day augustine"), and became a trappist monk. the seven storey mountain is his autobiography. there are so many things i'd like to write about it, but as i'm only halfway through, it wouldn't really be right. instead, i'll leave some quotations:

"souls are like athletes, that need opponents worthy of them, if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers, and rewarded according to their capacity."

"the devil is no fool. he can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. he can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. and he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows, not by clarity and substance but by dreamsand the creatures of psychosis. and men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything."

2005-02-09T08:23:00.000-05:00

one of my most beloved memories of my time in frankfurt was a visiting a little thing i like to call körperwelten, creepy professor gunther von hagen's touring exhibit of plasticized body parts and internal organs. you may remember june 9 2004, that fateful day in which i became aquainted with deceased fellow homo sapiens, horses and (perplexingly) a gorilla, and accidentally cradled a human liver. and officially swore-off foie gras, delicacy that it is.

well there's good news for my future friends in the chicago area (my new home starting this summer): körperwelten/body worlds is coming to the museum of science and industry through september 5. if you desire the company of gellified spleens and cardiovascular systems or just need an extra reason to turn vegan, this might be a good place to spend a saturday afternoon. um, actually, not really.

2005-02-08T11:43:00.000-05:00

my beloved friend and german teacher, frau buller, organized the collection of 129,303 paperclips spring of 2001 for what began as a whitwell middle school project to collect one piece per holocaust victim. frau just told me that the group received 30 MILLION clips, and created a memorial in whitwell, tenn. with an original train car that carried victims to the camp at auschwitz.

now, this amazing story has been documented into a movie ("paper clips") and a book ("six million paper clips" by dagmar and peter schroeder). frau said they are "unbelievable." i'm looking for them around the bloomington area-- hopefully the movie will be here soon.

as frau says, the power of one idea or one person is incredible.

2005-01-31T20:35:00.000-05:00

since i love completely random conversations, i'll introduce a topic that's been brought up several times among my friends: our least-favorite words. everyone has a word or phrase that they just cringe at-- for my sister, that word is "emporium" (presumably for the root "pore," which, come to think of it, isn't such a pleasant thing for it's sebaceous qualities). molly and lauren dislike "panties" and "crusty" and some others that probably shouldn't appear on {la petite princesse}. :)

after much deliberation, here's my list:

1.) "dollop" (totally because of that "a dollop/a dollop/a dollop/of daiiiiisy" sour cream commerical-- as if sour cream really would bring previously estranged family members closer together through picnics filled with seven-layer nacho dip and chili. but then again, maybe it could).

2.) "slather" (here's a marketing question for you-- would you really want to "slather" any part of your body with a lotion? i mean, SLATHER? nevermind, maybe it's just me).

3.) "pamper" (two reasons: would you really soothe yourself from your terribly difficult life through "pampering" yourself at a spa or through getting a manicure? i'm all for these processes-- definately am a proponent of things excessive and maintenance-related-- but somehow that word incinuates hardship, no? also pampers=diapers, and we all know what that involves).

4.) "pimp" (as in "you are a pimp" or "i wanna pimp my ride"; okay, for serious, these people arrange for prostituitous activities. generally speaking, not a good goal for yourself. leave that to kevin federline).

that's all that i could come up with at this point... what are yours?

2005-01-25T19:05:00.000-05:00

those of you who know me understand how much i <3 bode miller-- and you can imagine my pure delight when i saw this article in the new york times.

bode is interesting (& captivating, if you will) because of his innovative style of skiing, amazing talent, and confident/steadfast/stubborn attitude. he has an amazing life story, and an untainted philosophy about competitive skiing and being the best. and he's pretty cute.

ok, gorgeous.

2005-01-18T13:30:00.000-05:00

my procrastination abilities have reached new heights, now that i'm back at school at the deeg, immersed in classes, and already furiously tackling assignments (including two full-size thesis papers... how did this happen?!). writing for la petite princesse is something that i've enjoyed from the start, and i plan to devote much more time to it. after all, too many funny and/or bizarre things happen to leave them unrecorded.

let's backtrack: winter break blessedly started early in finals week, and i was ~~released~~ allowed to go home on that wednesday. i had much fun with mom & dad (and danielle, though she was home for no more than 14 hours before she left on a mini-vacation) playing around midland and traverse city, our soon-to-be new home. on christmas eve, we headed down to detroit to spend the day with our lovely cousins, aunts & uncles, and the grandparents on mom's side. it was wonderful to see everyone!

the next day, we made it out of the frigid (though lovely) tundra that is mid-michigan, and flew down to new orleans, where uncle mike and papere met us at the airport to bring us up to baton rouge for the day. and then it started snowing. in louisiana. for the first time on christmas day in 50 years. well, to make a long story short, ours was the second car stopped when the police decided to shut down every road out of new orleans for the day. so we spent christmas day at the hotel, but had a great time together looking around.

on december 26, we did what anyone would do when confronted with snow in a southern city that should never have to experience such a thing (though we had fortunately planned ahead with all fifteen members of the family): get on a cruise ship. we spent sunday to sunday on board the norwegian dream, and had a fabulous time in cozumel, belize city, honduras, and cancun (though we didn't actually set foot in this port because the weather was so rough). the best parts about it were keeping the entire family in one place, relaxing, playing with baby ashton (best-behaved 11-month-old EVER, by the way), and getting to know everyone even better (especially cousin steffi!). and witnessing danielle's first bud-light incident. :)

we stayed in new orleans for a few days after the cruise ended, and really enjoyed ourselves. it really is a wonderful city, and danielle and i couldn't help but yearn for a future in the south. or at least have danielle go to graduate school there so i can visit.

soon enough it was time to go home. i spent the night in midland, and immediately headed back to bloomington the next day for panhellenic recruitment activities. (i'll write more about this soon).

anyways, that's the update from here... much more to share coming up! happy new year (only 19 days late)! :)

2005-01-11T20:43:00.000-05:00

wow, was the last post really before thanksgiving? i have lots to tell, so i'll update in the next few days... after i finish 98 pages of reading for my renaissance history class... yep, back at school!

2004-11-23T13:02:00.000-05:00

it's been a very long time since i've updated here, but i've been out of town for practically four weeks (chicago, charlotte, portland, memphis, st. petersburg, st. louis, and indianapolis). i'm heading back home to michigan in the next few hours (after my one non-cancelled 200-level class transpires with a five-point quiz...oh, what i'll do for five points out of 1,000), and can't wait to see mom, dad, biggy/danielle and the rest of the family this week.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, everyone! we have so much to be thankful for.

2004-11-01T19:01:00.000-05:00

on the eve of election day, and just slightly before the publication of his new book, i am charlotte simmons, a great quote from author tom wolfe about one of my other favorite writers, emile zola:

"[i am] proud that I do not think any political motivation can be detected in my long books. my idol is emile zola. he was a man of the left, so people expected of him a kind of les miserables, in which the underdogs are always noble people. but he went out, and found a lot of ambitious, drunk, slothful and mean people out there. zola simply could not - and was not interested in - telling a lie. you can call it honesty, or you can call it ego, but there it is. there is no motivation higher than being a good writer."

have a good day voting tomorrow... wow, it's hard to believe that election day is here already...

2004-10-31T17:53:00.000-05:00

it's that idyllic time of year again; the leaves are changing colors making southern indiana even more beautiful than it is in the summer, the air has become cooler allowing for the pleasant integration of cable-knit sweaters into one's wardrobe, halloween gives us the excuse to disregard impending midterm exams and preparations for job interviews and instead partay on kirkwood all weekend dressed as a sailor, and thanksgiving break (emphasis on BREAK) is coming up. i love autumn.

2004-10-11T14:06:00.000-04:00

if you're like me, you grew up reading the babysitter's club, sweet valley twins, and the boxcar children, with a little r.l. stine "fear street" thrown in. and my personal hero, nancy drew. but i can honestly say, the bsc's kristy, dawn, mary ann, claudia, stacey, jessi and even mallory have a special place in my heart. so you can imagine my happiness when i saw the following on jen miller's site:

Where Are They Now: The Babysitter's Club

Stacy- Gets hooked on coke/ritalin cocktail while attending Vassar and drops out. Marries wealthy man 40 years her senior to finance drug habit. Lives in Long Island and drives a red Miata.

Claudia- Flunks out of RISD after unfortunate incident involving MC Escher replicas made of maccaroni. Becomes bitter and pretentious salesgirl at retro clothing store in St. Mark's place. Lives on Top Ramen to finance collection of vintage tap shoes.

Mallory- Majors in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence. Opens feminist bookstore in Montpelier Vermont, where she lives with her partner Julie and two cats.

Jessie- Auditions for Julliard but doesn't get in. Saves up money and is eventually able to open own dance studio in the basement of her New Haven home. Forces pupils to listen to same story, "the one time I auditioned for Juliard" ad nauseum. Drinks Boones Farm Strawberry Wine between classes.

Dawn- Moves to Berkeley, California to pursue career as aromatherapist. Lives with "life partner" Dan, their five children, and two labrador retrievers. Hobbies include, growing own granola, following the band Phish, and making braided hemp dog collars. No longer entrusted with babysitting neighbor's kids since "the frisbee incident."

Mary Ann- Majors in geography at Mount Holyoke College. Later marries stockbroker with Morgan Stanley, and settles in Darien, CT where they have three children. Enjoys quilting, the Ladies Bridge Club, and light S and M.

Kristy- Goes to Quinnipiac College on a softball scholarship but drops out after two years. Works as Sales Associate at the Home Depot and volunteers at the local animal shelter. Enjoys wearing holiday themed sweatshirts.

Logan Bruno- Majored in theater at Bennington. Moved to West Village immediatley after graduation, and began work as waiter/dancer to finance acting classes. Starred in several "films" of various sorts, rarely speaks to family or Mary-Ann. Has attended rehab at Hazeldon clinic in Minnesota for addiction to painkillers twice. Last seen wearing buttless leather chaps on Macdougal St. on New Year's Eve, 1999. Missing, presumed to be working in porno under the name Long'n Brutal.

hey, maybe they all define success differently...

2004-10-09T15:29:00.000-04:00

since i loooove online quizzes (and especially those with cute stylistic themes), i was happy to see fun links on martinis, persistence, and a smile, lawren mills' brilliant site. according to the quiz, i am:

She is a hybrid of:
Progressive Girl
Gourmet Girl
Click on the pictures below to read more:
Take the 'What Kind of Girl Is She?' quiz at CookingToHookup.com

2004-09-17T13:32:00.001-04:00

cnconsta: dude
iamsimplyme2001: dude?
cnconsta: that's my new word
iamsimplyme2001: usually one follows up said word with something
cnconsta: dude, where's my car?
cnconsta: HAHAHAHA
cnconsta: i crack myself up
iamsimplyme2001: hehe

2004-09-15T13:06:00.000-04:00

martha stewart, say it isn't so!

2004-09-07T19:39:00.000-04:00

a little request: can someone get married so i can wear this? thanks in advance :)

2004-09-03T15:56:00.000-04:00

i can't believe that it's already september-- and school has started. i am sitting in the library now (just finished orientation for my new job-- working a few hours a week shelving books in the grad school stacks-- low-key and simple, i think).

this past week has been very fun! i've caught up with old friends, met a few new ones for the first time, and also showed up for those little things called "classes." i'm taking two business economics & public policy classes: g302 game theory and g350 econometrics/forecasting/stats (whatever it's called i am scared beyond belief by it); two business law courses: l412 business ethics (incredible, best ever) and l250 law and the arts; and of course my good friend x420 with the business placement office/undergraduate career services office, which i think it calls itself now. although i kinda took care of that it's-good-to-have-a-resume-if-you-want-a-job mentality a long time ago (and three internships later), i will make use of it's resources.

well, that's it for now! i hope that you all are doing well, and i much look forward to the weekend and other fun events. :)

2004-08-21T17:22:00.000-04:00

today has been a wonderful, american saturday. despite the fact that i was up until 2am watching the olympics and reading instyle magazine, mom & dad woke me up eeearly, and we met up with our good friends uncle ken & aunt gina at "omelettes 'n more" downtown, had a healthy breakfast, walked to the farmer's market, bought michigan-grown tomatoes, squash, onions, and a bunch of zinnias, and looked at the new waterfall our friends built in their garden. then we came home, mom & dad took their daily nap, i watched jerry maguire ("you had me at hello"!!!), and then finally checked email. now we're just enjoying the quiet neighborhood, warm weather, and company. it's so nice being home. :)

2004-08-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

sofia coppola (who i have mixed feelings about after "lost in translation") just announced that she will direct a movie based off of one of my favorite books of all time-- antonia fraser's "marie-antoinette: the journey." it's a really great book-- i would recommend it to everyone! i'm sure the movie will be excellent, given coppola's aesthetic style and attention to detail. not sure if kirsten dunst is perfect for the role, but who am i to judge? either way, marie-antoinette is a fascinating character in european history, and the book truly teaches about the power of communication, position, and (yikes!) mob rule.

2004-08-13T07:56:00.000-04:00

hi friends! i'm off to traverse city on lake michigan and boyne city on lake charlevoix this morning-- mom and dad decided to go yesterday. i'm really excited about going up to northern michigan! i hope that all of you have wonderful weekends!

2004-08-11T00:35:00.000-04:00

it's that glorious season again-- back-to-school time, as target and payless shoes reminds us every time we turn on the tv. ahh, kids tearing through meijers snatching up folders, new pencils, glue sticks, and five-star notebooks. football and marching band practice beginning at the high schools. college students plotting how to fit the futon and shoe collection in the back of the ford windstar (and, of course, getting ready to learn lots and lots and have fun with friends too).

in the spirit of generosity and charity, i'd like to take the chance to help out some of my younger friends who are now preparing to attend their first year of college. after all, two years of van-trips down to bloomington and a year abroad have taught me just a little bit about how painful it can be to lug a tv, vcr, computer, dorm-size refrigerator, and two seasonal wardrobes up three flights of stairs in unairconditioned indiana weather... may i humbly present:

la petite princesse's guide to packing for freshman year

#1. let's start with the basics: your college wardrobe should be comfortable, classy, and project the image that you'd like your 30,000 new friends to recognize. although redundant, "dress to impress" is a good mantra to live by, and one that everyone should consider before talking to a professor in a scooby-doo night shirt, martini-print pajama pants, or fuzzy slippers.

#2. speaking of clothing, those high school shirts? unless you're planning on wearing them with irony, consider leaving the majority at home (whereupon reentry you can rip your new university-themed shirt off and snuggle back into the happy, safe, blissful world known as "midland high school" everytime you come back). what i mean by this is, once you get to your new place, keep springing forward instead of looking back. it will help you make friends.

#3. whatever you think you need, you need only half of it (from c.diddy)

#4. duct tape, trust me. or my sister, rather, who thinks it's very important. :)

#5. batteries for your cd player. they're expensive to buy, so you'd be better off getting ma & pa to get them for you. (mom says the best deal is at sam's club).

#6. around the residence halls, quarters are as rare and sacred as evian in a desert. seriously, $1.75 for a load of wash and $1.50 for a wimpy dry spin will eat up your cash supply very quickly. and don't forget to separate darks, lights and delicates (girls only, i assume), so you can expect to go through lots and lots of change in a few weeks.

#7. speaking of laundry, if you do know how to do it, you're in store for an excellent potential entrepreneurial venture: in my experience a few of the colleagues from certain parts of the country (long island, this might mean you, no offense, you are great & gorgeous but not always on top of this) had not yet tackled this important task before coming to college, so if you teach them how to separate their clothing and put soap in the machine, maybe they'll reward your patience. invest in a tip jar. shoot, i should have thought of this before.

#8. the usual: mobile phone, cordless phone (so you can talk in the hallway away from roommate), a computer if you can, scissors, paper, backpack, pens, etc.

oh, and post-it notes are incredibly useful. i can't explain it, but they're vital!

#9. a note on bed linen: the dorms like to send out intimidating mailings about the irregular "twin xl" bed size, but worry about it: just get some regular fitted sheets, i promise that it will work out. but since you've been given the chance to reinvent yourself, feel free to pick a set of hawaiian or animal print sheets to match the rest of the girls. guys, i would focus on a solid-color, like navy or hunter green. no flowers, probably.

#10. posters are a nice way to cover up the cinderblocks. my selections for freshman year included monet and kandinsky prints to liven up the mcnutt quad/crone hall double. my roommate also helped to make the place festive by gradually making what she called a "wall of boys" with cut-out pictures of mostly-nude abercrombie models. so pick whatever you like looking at, and hope that your new roommate doesn't put up pamela anderson or britney spears posters. not that there's anything wrong with that. :)

#11. pick up a case of atkins bars or some other low-carbohydrate products. i hate to say it, but it's impossible not to gain weight from the pancakes, fried chicken, ice cream and hamburgers served in the dining halls. i have yet to meet someone who can actually eat salad three meals a day and live to tell the tale.

as a corollary to this, i'd like to remind those who may choose to start (or continue) to consume beer and similar refreshments that most mass-increases occur from this. and low-carbohydrate beer is usually not on the menu at fraternity parties. not that any of this should stop you, but sometimes the extra 15 minutes in the gym can pay off. and the gym is the best place to meet new people, odd as it sounds.

#12. also important: bring a camera so you can document your good times with new friends. make it a digital, and with lots more time, brilliance and creativity, maybe you could make the next bryan house, like josh claybourn did.

well, that's all i could come up with (with some help from danielle & dad). friends, i can't wait to see you back in bloomington! and, o wise upperclassmen, feel free to add extra tips in the comments, and i'll update as they come in. :)

2004-08-03T15:31:00.000-04:00

i am so happy to be home with my family. (x∞)

2004-08-02T09:51:00.000-04:00

i'll be honest, this surgery thing isn't half-bad... complete immobility means breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed served on a tray, lots of television, dvds of my choice, videos, pills that make me really, really happy, time to catch up with good friends via instant messenger and telephone, and no expectations on the part of the family regarding household chores, making bed, etc. i could get used to this... good thing, i guess, since i will have a cast on for the next three weeks and the fact that i literally can't go anywhere.

dad and i left at 4:30am on friday to go to the hospital in grand blanc, and by 5:45, i had snuggled into my hospital bed in a very stylish patient gown. i mostly behaved myself while the nice nurses stuck the i.v. in my hand (let us remember that i basically passed out twice at two different medical centers giving blood a few days before), and felt good going into the surgery. i woke up only once during the procedure, and discovered that i was strapped down to the table, but thankfully didn't care because of the relaxing medicines they gave me. i also felt great afterwards, and got home safely. but around 1pm, the nice numbing thingies in my foot wore off, and unbelievable, instense agony set in.

and by agony, i mean incomprehensible, throbbing pain.

which of course was remedied the next day by a little friend i like to call "apap/hydrocodone 500-5mg" (also known as vicodin).

so now the foot feels more tolerable, and i have been hobbling between my bed and my parents' room with a cast the size of a yacht. but apparently i say craaazy things too... a conversation from last night, as my sister returned from "the manchurian candidate," as reported by danielle:

camille: (incoherant mumbling)
danielle: camille, are you awake?
camille: where's the twinkling? why is there twinkling?
danielle: whaaaa?
camille: i heard twinkling... is your cell phone in my room?
danielle: um, it was in my room with only one missed call...
camille: how was the movie?
danielle: it was good, but what did you say it had to do with hillary clinton?
camille: millary. millary. millary streep. meryl streep... is supposed to be hillary.
danielle: uhhhh okay... does your leg hurt?
camille: yeahssss huurrrrt
danille: do you need to take some more medicine?
camille: pilly, pilly, pillyyyyyyy

oh gosh, just a few more weeks of this silliness... surely much fun in store for the family!

2004-07-30T15:58:00.000-04:00

hi friends! well, even though i promised to have updates on all of the european and (lately) texan/air force base adventures by now, it seems that unpacking three suitcases, two shipped boxes, one hiking backpack and the biggest "purse"/bodybag possible to bring as a carry-on has occupied me more than i anticipated. yes, unpacking and trying to figure out how i acquired so many tshirts and shoes. that, and spending time with wonderful midland friends (bidding farewell-- temporarily-- to clarey). and weeding the flowerbeds in the yard. and watching glorious ameican tv. and fainting twice at the doctor's office having blood drawn. clearly, it is a good thing that i chose a business major over anything medical-related.

and now, i have a surgery eeearly tomorrow moring (on my foot, will be in cast for three weeks & unable to run for another few months), and due to anaesthesia and other Super Fun chemical cocktails i get to enjoy, i have a feeling that posts may have to wait for this weekend. until then, much love to you all!

2004-07-19T22:15:00.000-04:00

hi friends! i'm so happy right now; i just came home to michigan today after a fun two weeks of travels after internship... i am thrilled to be home. i'll update soon on what's been going on since the end of june and of course switzerland/germany/france/uk stories, but as i'm on my 24th hour of awakeness (craaazy jet lag has made me forget sleep entirely...up until right now) coherant thoughts had better wait 'til tomorrow. much love!

2004-07-08T15:53:00.001-04:00

hi again from frankfurt! tomorrow nick (who arrived here safely this morning) & i are flying on luxurious ryanair to london to see the city, museums, the famous jack the ripper tour (as if it wasn't horrifying/disgusting enough the first time around), and ultimately the elusive filthy mcnasty's, i have been assured. more lata as well as switzerland updates. :)

2004-07-05T17:33:00.000-04:00

hi friends! a quick update from the road... vacay has officially started after internship ended and i moved out of my apartment (i'm now staying with family-friends in frankfurt suburb); july 2-5 was spent in interlaken and zürich, switzerland (my favorite place in the entire planet) with molly and sarah. really, the best time of my life. updates online soon, of course. :) am in münich right now visiting my friend norman, and will head back to frankfurt again tomorrow. everything's going well, hope that everyone is enjoying the summer!

2004-06-28T06:09:00.000-04:00

today is the last day of my five-month internship in corporate finance/mergers & acquisitions. it's been wonderful-- one of the best experiences in my life. i have learned a lot about the industry, german, people, and work in general, and felt fortunate to have been able to work with so many talented coworkers for 13+ hours a day. i'm really very grateful to have been here.

that said, i thought i'd reflect upon some of the little lessons intern life has provided over the past 150-odd days. may i present:

la petite princesse's guide to being a good intern

#1. always work hard and stay busy. (corollary: write posts for website at home the night before and not when you should be putting together presentations or doing financial analysis. like right now, i'm in my apartment).

#2. don't smoke in the office. when a semi-obscure '90s artist sang "cigarettes will kill you" he failed to mention that coworkers might kill and/or inflict pain of some kind if you partake in this pointless habit (no offense meant to smoker friends!).

#3. seek feedback. ask for your supervisors' opinions about your performance. learn from what they tell you instead of feeling insulted if there's something you could work on (and there's always something you could work on).

#4. play well with others. hey, napoleon, try not to devise plans to take over others' projects or take a more-than-just-curious interest in fellow workers' activities. along with that, there should be no reason for an intern to check up on or ask the status of another's (unrelated) work. (p.s., nothing, NOTHING, annoys me more than this).

#5. don't date your coworkers. don't consider dating your coworkers. george clooney might make office-soulmates sound glamorous, but really, you're probably just setting yourself up for embarassment. (this isn't something i have experience in, by the way, just passing on some ancient wisdom-- there's nothing more unprofessional than hearing which other interns are "supercute!!" just keep it out of the workplace.)

#6. speaking of romance, don't talk to your boyfriend or girlfriend or life-partner or whomever on the phone all day. i love boys too, but limit your luuuurve convo to a minute on your cell phone in the spare office down the hallway. just a thought.

#7. don't let other people use your computer. they might just surf the web under your account information. :)

#8. lunchtime dining etiquette: don't eat pizza (and all other foods, not inclusive of hors d'oeuvres) with your hands. knife + fork = not caveman.

#9. also, lunchtime doesn't need to be a production. pick a place to eat food, consume said food, and walk back to the office. in the us, i was used to 15-20 minute lunch breaks, with maaaybe another 10 minute break for coffee around 4ish. in germany, however, the standard is a full-hour, and they'll think you're crazy if you don't use it. it was hard for me to adjust to a more leisurely pace for 60 minutes each day, but sometimes one has to turn the ambition-o-meter down, eh?

#10. when i first started this internship, i was pretty ashamed of my german abilities (somedays, i still am). but communication, not perfection, is what's important. see, that's a healthy attitude, right mom & dad? :)

#11. don't cry at the office. whatever you do, don't cry at the office.

#12. might i suggest some appropriate suiting options? (they should give me a discount or a commission or something).

#13. as cdiddy always taught us, a firm handshake and eye contact are always important. actually, vital.

#14. be on time. or if you will be late (as you, like me, might be at the mercy of public transportation) call the office and tell them that the s4 to kronberg forgot to stop at the hauptwache today, thereby disabling you from being the first in to turn on all of the lights, put the hot water on for coffee and smile pleasantly as everyone comes in after you.

#15. be flexible. company cultures vary just as in different countries. don't get easily annoyed by little things. at the same time, though, stick to your standards.

#16. ask for help. ask questions. be humble. don't be afraid to turn to other interns or supervisors to find out a better way of doing something. again, as cdiddy says, "people like to help other people."

well, that's all i could think of for now... feel free to add any insights in the comments! it's been a great five months!!

2004-06-28T05:27:00.000-04:00

i try and abstain from junk food, but i know two danielles (sister & dg) who are getting these for their respective birthdays, if they are, in fact, for real. :)

2004-06-25T06:32:00.000-04:00

well, it's official: one day of work left on monday. i'm leaving in a few minutes as i've taken a half-day off to go to beautiful sasbachwalden for the weekend to visit my favorite german family!

reality that this internship (five months!) & time over here is ending is setting in...

i hope everyone has a lovely weekend! more on monday...

2004-06-22T03:54:00.000-04:00

i usually try and keep politics out of this site because i feel that i am hardly a source of up-to-the-minute, credible news and information, nor do i possess an extraordinary political mind. but this article is too good not to pass around: christopher hitchens writes in "unfairenheit 9/11" (courtesy of slate, by way of anti-climacus). this isn't about partisanship, by the way, or about anything other than good-filmmaking and presenting the truth to people who expect education and enlightenment. so go and see the movie-- wait in line for three hours, and pay your $8.50, and leave angry, hurt, infuriated that the world has come to this. you should feel that way, but not because of this film. if only in an effort to view situations from different angles, keep this article in mind, and remember that things aren't as simple as they seem-- and that conveniently-packaged rhetoric isn't enough of a basis from which to make decisions. hitchens writes:

If Michael Moore had had his way, Slobodan Milosevic would still be the big man in a starved and tyrannical Serbia. Bosnia and Kosovo would have been cleansed and annexed. If Michael Moore had been listened to, Afghanistan would still be under Taliban rule, and Kuwait would have remained part of Iraq. And Iraq itself would still be the personal property of a psychopathic crime family, bargaining covertly with the slave state of North Korea for WMD. You might hope that a retrospective awareness of this kind would induce a little modesty. To the contrary, it is employed to pump air into one of the great sagging blimps of our sorry, mediocre, celeb-rotten culture. Rock the vote, indeed.

although a very talented filmmaker, in the sense that he can successfully conjure strong emotions from people like a snake charmer, michael moore has provided another opportunity for citizens of the world to vent their anger about the state of the world, feel outraged at the present situation, to try to stick-it-to-the-man. he makes it easy. too easy, in fact. moore compacts images, sounds, and tasty half-truths into a microwaved tv dinner, and by the time you've devoured the last crumb he's put in front of you, you feel satisfied and grateful, but what you might not expect is, you're still malnourished; the fact is, the spliced shots and courageous-sounding rhetoric and bonus-cookie at the end aren't enough, and shouldn't be enough, for any of us.

2004-06-21T04:52:00.000-04:00

while mom, cdiddy & danielle were in baton rouge for nana & papere's 60th wedding anniversary (congratulations!!) and seeing the fam & uncle dane, i stayed in frankfurt for my last full weekend in town. flore, a good friend from last term in reutlingen, visited & we played tourist-- walked all through the city, dodged the rain, discovered a nutella-themed restaurant, got threatened by a homeless man, looked in pretty stores, went in the frankfurt cathedral, and, in an effort to absorb european culture, watched the germany-latvia europameisterschaft soccer game in a downtown sports bar.

in said establishment, during all 94 minutes of the game (including four minutes of extra play for some reason) + halftime and commerical breaks (which i estimate to have been approximately 130 minutes), i came to several realizations, the most profound of which is: i know absolutely nothing about european ~~soccer~~ football. sure, i played like a champ on my first through third grade teams (coached by our very own cdiddy) and lend support during sports matches by shouting "hustle!" at players, but my education in this area has been insufficient. i tried really, really hard to pay attention, but seemed to zone out once or twice. that or i was hypnotized by the patterns on the green fields, or meerly captivated by this guy.

a small sampling:

#1. how do they get the field to look plaid like that?
#2. who is this "schweinsteiger" and why does the announcer keep shouting his name?
#3. i would not like to have any sort of confrontation with the german team's goalie. no i would not.
#4. this water really is much better with a slice of lime in it. in fact, everything tastes better with lime in it.
#5. ouch! that must have hurt.
#6. pretty uniforms! i mean, handsome. whatever.
#7. the crowd just yelled, something must have happened...
#8. how can there be 60 minutes left in this game?!

in all, it was a good match, ending unexcitingly with a 0-0 tie. just like the last game. however, i did participate in a cultural event, enjoyed two glasses of mineral water, and have a new boyfriend (but don't worry bode, you're still my favorite), so i considered the day a success.

after flore left, also had best talk ever (even if part of it involved powdered deer blood) last night with "roommate," who just got a great new internship (congratulations!) and has also generously offered to throw a 21st birthday party for me on august 27 or 28 at her new apartment. so if you're in bloomington right before fall term, let me know... i can guarantee that it will be fun :)

2004-06-18T08:48:00.000-04:00

it's my second-to-last friday of work! just six days left, at sundown tonight! i've absolutely loved this internship (been five months now in m&a) and coworkers, but i think some change is in order. i'm working on closing the apartment at the end of june (which will be sad-- i've loved the "chateau-deux"), finalizing travel plans (switzerland, uk, france, and a little more in germany), trying to figure out how to get out of my mobile phone contract, and generally seeing how far a paycheck can be stretched. flight back to michigan is in mid-july!

the 5.6k jpmorgan chase thing was very fun on wednesday-- almost 52,000 people showed up to stampede through downtown frankfurt. (p.s. nothing will keep you running like knowing that if you so much as slow down or stop, you will be trampled by the 500 people directly behind you). i think i over-did it, though, by jogging the distance back as well; not good for my achilles tendon problem. that said, it was an intense but fun adventure, and ended with a swank rooftop party thrown by company (i only wish i hadn't come directly from a workout). i met a lot of people in different departments, spent time with teammates, and had a great time-- until i wore out and went home at 10pm. :)

also, flore, a french friend from reutlingen last semester is arriving tonight, so i'm staying in frankfurt again this weekend, and plan to play tourist and enjoy what might be my last full weekend in town... i can't believe this is all winding down...

2004-06-16T09:16:00.000-04:00

if (and it's a big if) i can get done with my projects on time, will run in the jpmorgan chase corporate challenge, a 5.6k through downtown frankfurt with 51,140 runners from 1,831 companies. concurrently, also races in nyc, boston, chicago, sydney, london, and even claire's "rochacha" (rochester, ny). should be fun! am excited for it (already got my company's team tshirt), plan to run with two other interns and my team director, and just hope feet can hold up for one last little event before surgery this summer. :)

2004-06-15T12:39:00.000-04:00

just so you know: after 13+ years of struggling to learn the german language (the first four years of which involved a whimsical dialect known as swiss-german or schweizerdeutsch; if you've heard it, you know why it's so much fun), i have given up on the official verbalage of germany, austria, switzerland, and lichtenstein.

that's right-- the white flag of surrender had been raised, and despite the facts that #1 i must speak german all day at my job, #2 i live in germany right now, and #3 i study german (among other things) in college. i've tried-- i've really tried. i have always loved german classes, novels, poetry, fellow students, excursions, teachers (best ever), and the general spirit of the language. when spoken correctly, it's beautiful. but right now something's amiss.

here's how i see the current situation: my grammar is um, unencumbered by rules and restrictions in general (as some of you know der/die/das/den/dem/nominativ/genetiv/akkusativ/dativ/etc. is a killa), my accent horribly anglicized (despite true efforts to integrate local phrases and dialects) to the point that even the turkish guy who sells döner kebaps on the corner speaks english to me, and my overall abilities rival only those of a four-year-old. a non-german four-year-old.

you might wonder, what caused this sudden change of heart? after all, german and i have had a great relationship--nay, friendship-- for a long time. i'll tell you... yep, just "enjoyed"/caused a little scene that ranks up there in my "top ten very most embarassing moments at work" list. ooo was it super! maybe it will be funny tomorrow.

in the meantime, am looking for a new language to take german's place during his... sabbatical. could anyone recommend a good chinese tutor? 再見暫且，德國人，喂中國人！

2004-06-14T07:23:00.000-04:00

even trips made on a whim, booked last-minute, and devoid of solid lodging arrangements can be the most incredible. in this sense, a long weekend spent in italy with four great friends would have made even (my hero) bill bryson proud.

several weeks ago, a three-day weekend was to take place, thanks to "christ goes to heaven" day. i had originally planned to meet up somewhere prague-ish with molly and her famous brother alec, but didn't hear of any plans until wednesday (vacay starting friday after work). apparently, molly & alec would arrive in venice friday night, and she said she hoped to meet up with stefanie (who was studying in florence for the summer) and me. then another very pleasant surprise: danielle b. was also in italy for the summer (who knew?!), and could meet us too!! to make a long story short, after tens of panicked emails, two phone calls to the german railway, and one discounted online flight reservation, italy was going to happen.

on friday night after work, i took the night train from frankfurt, direction milan. i enjoyed a, erm, cozy sitting berth with five other people (which was fine-- i was just so happy to be going in the first place), and awoke at 5:30am to see the incredible mountains and beautiful towns of northern italy. we arrived at milano centrale 11 minutes after the connecting train to venice was supposed to depart, and i made a fine spectacle while sprinting through the entire station with a hiking backpack (have you met "big blue" yet? you should) and three hours of sleep in a chair to make the connection. luckily, being italian, this new train was also (20 minutes) late. hey, at least they're consistent.

the regional train to venice presented a sightseeing tour of beautiful cities: verona, something-a, and others that sounded pretty and probably were. at 11ish, the train pulled into venice (venetia, more accurately), and, after thrwarting an intended fright from alec (who was instructed to approach and jabber in fake-italian, undoubtedly terrifying me), reunited with molly & danielle! soon, the detomonster (stef) arrived from florence with another surprise: three other dgs in tow! how incredible to all meet up in italy!

we prowled all through the town, had lunch canal-side, caught-up, took pictures, watched alec pose for pictures with a sampling of europe's best beverages, almost took a dive into the ocean, peeked in stores, took the requisite gondola ride, contemplated recreating the heist scene from "the italian job" film, got lost a trillion times, and had a wonderful day. i would list all of the attractions, but will instead direct you to venice's home page. :) we stayed overnight in a pensione just outside of town (and sang incomprehensible songs with french people on the train going there, must mention that, d, m, & s). the next morning, said a sad goodbye to danielle, and trained to florence.

florence is the city i had always wanted to go to, and the one family trip i missed while living in switzerland years ago. it is an incredible, lovely city. beautiful, friendly, and, well, rather perfect. stef led us through the town to her so-called "pensione" (which should translate to "castle" or "mansion-e," har har) at the piazza santo spirito. um, she & the other 30-some iu students who live here for eight weeks have perfect chambers, dining rooms, the biggest balcony terrace ever & THE view of the city. even photos won't do it justice... i just kept screeching, "you LIVE here!?" uh, good choice on overseas study, stef!

alec, molly & i found a more modest but very cute address for the evening near stef's place, walked all through the city, had a great dinner at the piazza, then walked through the entire town at dusk. the duomo/cathedral was incredible. the square with statues was incredible. even kiosks selling postcards were incredible. it was just overwhelming. at that time, it was too late to see the uffizi or accademia (which holds THE david), so instead we saw everything from the outside and ate gelato. sorry, mom! :)

i know i'm missing a lot of detail here about venice & florence-- add any details, etc. in comments, if you want!

although i would have preferred to be "stranded" in florence with friends, a little thing called "internship: the key to not becoming homeless in future" pulled me back to frankfurt. molly dropped me off at the florence station on monday morning, so i could take a train to bologna, another train to forli, and a bus to the forli airport to catch my thrilling but economical germanwings flight to köln/bonn, followed by a bus to köln, another train to frankfurt, and a subway to the apartment. phew.

the travelling was more than worth it: this weekend was amazing-- i had an incredible time, friends! many thanks to alec, molly, stefanie & danielle! can't wait to see you again!

2004-06-09T08:11:00.000-04:00

while most of you were grilling hamburgers, enjoying a quiet evening home with the fam, watching tv, or doing something equally productive (therefore making the most of summer) last night, i spent three hours of Quality Time with the other corporate finance interns, a warehouse, and about 102 dead people and internal organs.

o yes, silly me, i had agreed to go to professor gunther von hagen's körperwelten ("body worlds" in english) travelling "exhibit" (and by that i mean "freak-nasty meat festival"). as it turns out, it was not so much an "engrossing insight into the human body" as a "gross insight into a human freak." honestly, what posessed this professor von hagen to do such a thing? actually, let's not think about that... but as i unhappily discovered last night, it's a massive collection of skinned, dead bodies, vital organs, and-- surprise, surprise, unborn babies, preserved with a plastic polymer and filleted for all the world to "enjoy." very hannibal lector.

i know what you're thinking: "camille, you barely made it through the two-month rat dissection in eleventh grade! 'the ring' gave you nightmares for months! let's face it: you're a 20-year-old wuss. why o why would you pay money to see such a thing?"

an excellent question, my friend. i am asking myself the same thing. but i'll tell you what happened: simple, old-fashioned peer pressure and insecurity. you see, in an effort to be social/fun/cool and also not totally squander the evening with my dvds, three fellow praktikanten invited me along to this famous & popular show (just in frankfurt for three more days), and i said yes (my boss mercifully sent us home at 8pm since we had been working nonstop forever). i guess i learned nothing from that d.a.r.e. program in elementary school (except about crack). so i thought i'd hang out with the cool kids, act brave, and succumb to temptation.

and what fun it was: inside this warehouse of fun lurked hoardes of former-humans, several babies, a horse, and a gorilla (thrown in for good measure), which stood plasticized on pedestals and in display cases for eager audiences. i won't get into too much more detail because you might be dining on pâte right now.

the highlight of the evening (besides almost fainting in front of 2,000 people) was meandering up to an inconspicuous-looking display case to examine a gray-colored specimin. before i had even identified what it was, an attendant had rushed up, unlocked the case, and -- get this -- plopped a human liver into my hands. o yes he did. i screamed bloody murder terrifying the poor man, jumped about 30 feet in the air, and only upon crash-landing saw the sign next to the display case: "touch a real human organ!"

now, you could argue that the whole experience was educational. indeed, it was: i learned a whole lot about the whims of the human body, and also some bonus tips to life-prolongation such as:

1) don't smoke, your lungs will turn black and won't look nice and spongy like the healthy set lying next to it at a warehouse in frankfurt;
2) don't drink too much alcohol (same reason, just with liver);
3) don't let social insecurities and a lack of plans for the evening give you justification for spending said evening with the deceased;
4) if a mysterious german professor invites you into his laboratory for a "check-up," whatever you do, do NOT go in there.

the whole thing was a bizarre blend of quasi-scientific insight into the human physique/life cycle and psycho-death-circus-freak-show. it was pretty traumatizing, to be honest. so naturally, i'm sharing the fun with you all.

but eventually, all four of us made it out alive. significantly educated, freaked-out, and €9 lighter, we stumbled out of the building at 11pm and headed our separate ways. despite differing opinions as to it's scientific value, we all have körperwelten to thank for one fun lifestyle change: strict, devout vegetarianism. and for goodness' sake, never, ever, EVER again liver-and-onions for dinner.

2004-06-07T15:42:00.000-04:00

it's my 15th straight hour of work today, and there's still more m&a fun to be had this evening! just had to tell someone, because i'm the only one left on the floor right now... ironically, 15 days of internship left! :)

2004-06-07T10:35:00.000-04:00

am back in f-f-f-frankfurt (making it musical makes it prettier, no?) after spending saturday & sunday visiting friend sarah from wales in heidelberg for the weekend (p.s., nicest german city EVER & only 50 minutes away...who knew!?). work is craaazy right now (a good thing; means there's lots of projects going on), so i will post a run-down if anyone is interested (?) this week, and will finally get around to writing about the best ever italy trip from two weekends ago.

in other news, mom & dad celebrated their 36th anniversary, biggy got an a on her chemistry test, nawar & qaisar left to go back to saudi arabia (i'm thinking about you two! can't wait to talk!), clare's come down with the lsats but is brilliantly fighting it off, cousin annie started a new job (congrats!), matt & laura sent awesome photos from geof & kate's wedding, brittany and whitty are in london now, had a great convo with roommate/nicole yesterday, friend nina might come to visit this weekend, and if the corporate finance gods look favorably upon me, might be able to go with danielle b. to prague this weekend! we'll see... hope everyone's doing well. :)

2004-06-04T08:44:00.000-04:00

something to think about: a powerful story from fellow iu hoosier josh claybourn-- summing it up here just wouldn't do it justice-- seriously, what a great guy.

2004-06-04T04:55:00.000-04:00

HAPPY 36th ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!! i love you & am so incredibly proud of you!

2004-06-03T07:46:00.000-04:00

um, washington post, you're kinda freaking me out here... writer libby copeland gushes in her sorta-scary three-page ode to the olsen twins, exerpt below:

No dollmaker could have designed a better mold for the nation's maternal instincts...Even now, their huge blue-green eyes, enhanced by sooty makeup, recall those big-eyed waif paintings of the 1960s. Their hair -- layered and styled into starlet fullness -- seems too big for them. They are both less than 5 feet 2 inches tall -- in their recent movie, "New York Minute," Mary-Kate stood on apple boxes for her kissing scene. This smallness helps reinforce the notion that two little Olsens make one big Olsen, which is, after all, the basis of their career. Who is Mary-Kate without Ashley? Who is Ashley without Mary-Kate? And who are we without them, making unity from the division in our souls?

mk & ashley uniting the division in our souls? erm, no judgement, libby...

2004-06-02T02:25:00.000-04:00

am in the office early this morning & as i am waiting for an assignment to come my way, decided to catch up on current events: heard-tell on the hoosier review (with a hilarious article by karl born) and whatevs.org that both the coca-cola company and pepsi are launching new low-carbohydrate colas. sounded good to me (certainly good news for cola-chugging amis), but upon closer inspection noticed this: "c2 ... contains 12 grams of carbs, compared to regular coke's 27 and diet coke's 0."

the new "low-carb" cola is made with a confusing blend of splenda artificial sweetner (recommended by atkins) and HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP (um, not recommended by anyone).

whawhat, my diet coke with lime isn't good enough for the atkineers?

2004-06-01T12:30:00.000-04:00

i have to add this too, or i might take my frustrations out against something (or someone) more vulnerable than a website. i am not a complainer, but i will be for the next five minutes. :) this might be a classic case of good friends/fun/warm weather/italy/vacation withdrawal, but today has been really tiresome. two of my colleagues are smoking rather potent cancerettes in their office again (causing violent allergic reactions to my system), the city auslandsamt is sending me cryptic letters again (which will require me to pay even MORE money to the city & bring more forms explaining that i am just a harmless student), i just want to be home with my family in michigan and friends in indiana, i can't understand what the new intern is saying because of her regional dialect (she has to literally repeat every sentence 2x... not good after my 13+ years of german), people keep talking too loudly, it's cold outside, and i am still here working when it was a declared half-day (it's a frankfurt anniversary fesitval thing of some sort so the company announced free time) and the other interns and several coworkers have left.

okay, i'm over it, now back to work. :)

2004-06-01T11:09:00.000-04:00

oh, and the trip to venice & florence this weekend to see stefanie, danielle, molly & alec was incredible. best weekend ever & italy was fun too-- the full story tomorrow, hopefully :)

2004-06-01T10:51:00.000-04:00

i'm glad to read that the man behind the raunchy spam messages that have flooded my inbox for the past month is going behind bars. may his punishment include the mandatory reading of 10,000 emails offering body parts enlargement possibilities or pharmaceuticals to enhance other activities Each And Every Day throughout his sentence. or hopefully longer.

2004-05-28T11:21:00.000-04:00

office hours all over germany were cancelled last thursday ("christ goes to heaven day"), so i took friday as vacation (which was good-- needed an extra hour of sleep after fun with dan & dominik in darmstadt followed by the tour-de-frankfurt with norman & partybus thurs. evening) and took the train to berlin on a whim. four hours later, arrived in the zoologischer garten bahnhof armed with a only a handbag filled with clothes and a mini guidebook, which would soon prove a lifesaver.

overly optimistic and very naïve, i had assumed that i would be able to easily skip into one of the city's 200,000 (my estimation) youth hostel berths (you see, i travel in style), but, apparently, this slightly chilly weekend was the pinnacle of the tourist season. no hostels free. no pensions. no budget hotels. no slightly shady nicer hotels. no nice hotels. and a very nice hotel was simply out of the picture.

i then found out, it was election weekend in germany. oops.

both on the train and outside in the berlin rain, i had dialed every possible hotel phone number. dreading the prospect of sleeping in the train station (as if i would actually do this) and, more likely, a defeated trip directly back to frankfurt, i suddenly found a name in the book that i hadn't called: the interestingly named hotel christophorus house. the woman on the line said a room was available (!!!) and that the hotel was just a bus ride away from berlin. thrilled to have an address for the weekend, i found #145-direction johannesstift, and hopped on. it drove past the schloss charlottenburg, several museums, and into a town called spandau, to the west of the city. we went past the city's town hall, and then swerved right into. the. woods. moving down a narrow road through this rainforest, (images of m. night shyamalan's upcoming the village in my mind), #145's driver finally stopped at a small clearning. and turned off the engine. never one for girl scout camp, i stumbled off expecting to be promptly claimed as the blair witch's next victim.

but first, facing my fears, i rounded a corner of hedges and walked straight into johannesstift. it was... adorable, welcoming, perfect. a two long rows of handsome brick houses and a majestic church at the end; far from a campground. this little town was apparently a planned evangelical community run through the protestant church. i trotted into the hotel, which was nestled between the "brother-and-sister house" and the "welcome center" and was simple and charming.

and thus began my evening in the evangelical community. i took a nice walk around the town, walked a few feet down several hiking trails (and turned around thinking better of adventures in strange forests in germany), and had a lovely dinner in a cozy restaurant run by cooks-in-training. just as i was settling in my room for the night, aunt judy called, which was wonderful!

the next day, i left my little hamlet and ventured into the Big City. after quickly realizing that it wouldn't be possible to see berlin on foot (or in a day, for that matter), i found a tour bus & after talking the driver into giving me a "student rate" (for children 7 and under), embarked on a three-hour german safari. we saw the bundes-/reichstag, alexanderplatz, what's left of the berlin wall, the bellevuehaus (equivalent of the white house), and just about everything else there is to see. although more intimidating than münich, amsterdam, london or paris, berlin is magnificent. and it's growing more each day-- construction sites are at every corner. it's current state is even more impressive given that it was completely demolished during wwII.

besides election day, it was also apparently "turkish-european day," and hundreds of thousands of turkish berliners paraded through the streets (starting at humboldt university) towards the brandenburger tor, where they held a festival and turkish rock concert. this was definately interesting to see, as symbolized the changing country: it's largest (and most swiftly growing) immigrant population hails from turkey, and is a controversial subject for many germans.

after a full day in town, i was very ready to come back to johannesstift. but not wanting to be the wuss going to sleep at 5pm, i went to the huge berlin zoo, which was right near the bus stop. hoping to see a flock of mini ponies, i entered through the lion gates and became a 7-year-old again. polar bears, tigers, seals, cow-looking animals, and a couple of raunchy apes (p.s. am traumatized for life-- survived only after text-messaging therapy session with allison)-- the collection was impressive!

i took the bus back and walked to a cute restaurant in the outskirts of spandau & had another very nice and simple dinner. the best part was, though, listening to the toasts and conversations of the huge family having a dinner hosted by the grandparents. sixteen relatives, young & old(er), laughed and chatted all evening. even though i wasn't sitting with them, it was a little piece of home for me. and a comfortable reminder too, that while i was having european adventures now, and all of the triumphs and challenges that come with new independance, i would soon be home. it was such a warm thought. and it'll hold me over until the big day-- july 19!

2004-05-28T09:23:00.000-04:00

guess what? after a little lunch break internet fun (link courtesy of friend & newyorkish), a new revelation: i'm the olsen twin who at least eats one meal a day!

2004-05-26T13:26:00.000-04:00

so this morning, i figured that i would probably spend the long weekend in frankfurt (monday is a holiday). go running, see a movie (or several), cook more spargel, and maybe finally get around to writing an entry on my last weekend in berlin. but then around noon i received a frantic email from molly saying that she was going to fly into venice friday night with her brother, and that she would be in florence for the rest of the weekend. the news gets better: stefanie d. is studying in florence for the summer, and i also learned only this very morning that another great friend, danielle b., is in nearby florence! it is the one major city in italy i have never been to, and i have forever wanted to see it. naturally, i freaked out at this opportunity-- have booked night train to venice via milan (12 hours... o my goodness) and cheap flight back to the frankfurt "region" (i.e. köln/bonn). this will certainly be an adventure!

venice & florence for a weekend with three best friends? i think danielle's email pretty much sums it up:

VENICE VENICE VENICE
CAMILLIZZLE STEFFIE AND D °(me) !!!

2004-05-26T06:25:00.000-04:00

re: the day after tomorrow, does anyone (in the usa) really want to see new york city (or any other city for that matter) destroyed again, special effects or not? the nytimes says relatively positive responses to the film signal a new era for, especially, new yorkers: "...it seemed as if a kind of moment, minor but worth noting, had passed in the city's post-9/11 history: new yorkers were finally ready to watch roland emmerich destroy their city again on the big screen." even so, i think i'll save my $8.75 to see something more uplifting... like, the prisoner of azkaban, because at least there, the protagonist can win.

2004-05-24T12:04:00.000-04:00

CONGRATULATIONS to geof & kate!! i wish i could have come to the wedding on saturday, but i heard the full report and everyone says it was perfect & elegant!

2004-05-19T08:50:00.000-04:00

although he left frankfurt for michigan on monday morning (with like 7 hour delays, thanks united airlines, keep up tha good work), daddy and i had a wonderful time during his visit! am now suffering acute c.diddy-withdrawl (symptoms: strong urge to make frequent phone calls to the usa at all hours; inability to cook and clean; lack of current events knowledge). but we did have a wonderful time!!

weekend update: i took last friday off of work and dad and i drove to the alsace region (route du vin) of france. technically in france, but sandwiched into germany, this region is famous for it's beautiful architecture, winding hills, castles/old buildings, a cabbage & meat dish called "choucroute" and an extensive selection of grape-based beverages.

we drove first to baden-baden from frankfurt to visit a former colleague of dad. we had a lovely lunch and hit the autobahn again. we arrived in strasbourg late afternoon, drove around, and found a hotel a ten-minute walk from the big baroque cathedral. this city is beautiful! it had locks and canals like amsterdam, but a german-french feel to it. dad and i took a boat tour through the city, and went past the european union centers. we spent the night, and the next morning went into the cathedral. also incredible. afterwards, we headed back to the car, and drove on to obernai.

obernai was wonderful. the weather was perfect and the town wonderful. we walked all over, and even stumbled upon a parade/ceremony honoring soliders of the second world war. later, in the sun, we even had a picnic!next, we drove through the woods (basically up a mountain) to the closter/chateau of mont sainte odile, which first became a monastery in the year 685. this place was incredible. the castle (well, that's what i call it) is perched on top of a mountain and offers an incredible view of the towns below. the weather was perfect, and we enjoyed the sun. this & obernai were certainly some of my favorite places i've visited. good job planning, dad!

after seeing the mount sainte odile, we drove on through barr, sélestat, and ribeauville, among other towns. all very nice! it's amazing driving through such beautiful countryside with vineyards all around. by then it was mid-afternoon and we drove to riquewihr, north of colmar. we found a hotel just outside of the little walled-in town. the entire town was charming, and is straight out of the middle ages. although somewhat touristy, it was very comfortable, and we enjoyed it! we spent the rest of the day in the town, and went to sleep early.

the next day, we walked quickly through the corner of a vineyard and the town, then got back on the road. we had been invited to lunch with some very good family-friends in sasbachwalden, germany, near achern. after a great visit with the witt family, we drove back to frankfurt, and arrived in the early evening. since dad had already packed for the next morning, we went to a movie, then had dinner at a great mexican restaurant in town. and the next morning, drove to the airport...

it was SO wonderful having dad here-- i hope he had as much fun as i did! i love it here, but am getting ready to come home for a while... will be back with family in exactly two months... counting down the days. :)

2004-05-18T12:14:00.000-04:00

overheard in office #3.41:

(a german coworker on the phone, in english)
"... and so i'm afraid to say that we will not be able to talk on thursday as it is the national ... [searching for the translation for the word 'holiday'] ... 'christ goes to heaven' day..."

2004-05-17T06:21:00.000-04:00

so the new york times (p.s., strangely devoid of a fashion & style section-- can anyone explain this?) just reported that troy was the big film this weekend, second only to eminem's ode to detroit's shadiest road, 8mile, in the r-rated, non-sequel category.

as a public service to all three (or four?) loyal readers, i will give you a rundown of the film. :) it stars: my good friend orlando bloom, eric bana (remember last year's the hulk? no? i don't either), some old(er) guys playing disgruntled / raving mad kings, german model diane kruger, and brad pitt and his thighs.

i should first say that the film boasts several truly finessed details: for example, many famous actors modeling this year's miniskirt collection in pleather, rustic wool and assorted animal hides; the glistening skin of brad pitt (i get the feeling that director wolfgang petersen really likes it, no judgement); a complete lack of admirable or strong female characters; perfectly applied eyeliner; and the mysterious wailing woman in the background (whose voice-over "songs" consisting of vowels-- iiiieeeeeaaaaoooooooooeeeeiiiii, etc. -- are meant to convey agony, sadness, deep emotions in any "ethnic" film. watch it any you'll hear what i mean).

a note on costume design: this film has almost as many togas than the fraternity party i went to sophomore year and more tie-dyed fabrics, hair braids, and seashell accessories than cancún during high school spring break. obnoxious metaphors aside, the filmmakers did a great job of giving the greeks and trojans lots of pretty things to wear. the armor looked ... metallic, and the even the boots and sandals seemed to fit in with the era. i didn't pay close enough attention, but i swear that they even put kruger's helen in high-heels during one scene, which i imagine weren't actually invented until about a thousand years later. but then again, i also don't study apparel merchandising.

muscles: lots and lots of them. pints of creatine for everybody!

acting: ummm it was there, probably. eric bana and sean bean actually did good jobs, i feel, as did peter o'toole as the king of troy. the others were convincingly power-hungry, meek, or not-that-bright.

speaking of, this might be the most chauvinistic film i have ever seen. i am not, in any stretch of the imagination, a feminist. rather, i like to think of myself as a humanist. petersen has directed a film with no redeeming female characters. kruger's helen speaks in monotone semi-sentences appears dimwitted, and we are led to believe that she singlehandedly caused the great war for nothing more than paris's toga (petersen could have woven a love story out of their "relationship"). actually, rose byrne's weepy briseis had some very good moments, but she allowed herself to fall helpless and be easily manipulated. also, i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but saffron burrows's best contribution to the film as hector's wife andromache is staring into the camera, feigning sadness/fright/any emotion whatsoever and sort of shaking like the taco bell chihuahua. of course, it might have been the botox. and finally, at the film's conclusion, all three women and paris try to escape troy through a secret passageway. paris decides to stay and fight, but wants to pass the "sword of troy" onto a survivor. all three women pass him by (including helen), but according to the writers, none of these (royal) women are capable of leading themselves. so he passes it off to the next 13-year-old who comes along. because a man-- any man-- would be a better leader than any woman, apparently according to petersen.

am i being too harsh with troy? after all, it's just summer eye-candy. but i do think that when viewers expect to be lifted-up by a blockbuster, at least there should be some equality, no? these characters make the olsen twins look like queens of the world. and that's a scary thought.

2004-05-11T08:13:00.000-04:00

one of the great things about travels through europe is the abundance of museums. from the louvre and musée d'orsay in paris to the cheese-making museum in gruyère (it's really cool, i promise), there are lots of neat things to see. sometimes, however, my fellow travelers might find themselves confused about appropriate decorum in said halls of knowledge. for these friends, i humbly offer:

la petite princesse's guide to appropriate museum behavior

#1. so as to make the experience of other patrons of the arts more pleasant, please keep comments and insights to a minimum. for example, if you were perusing a collection of the late works of claude monet, it would be best to keep breakthroughs such as "his paintings look, like, fuzzy" to yourself. as in, inside your head.

#2. that pink terrycloth sweatsuit must have cost you a fortune at neiman marcus, but let's face it: even j.lo would look scruffy wearing that in the british museum. how about a nice pair of trousers and a pressed shirt? or, even better, something from the special occasion collection at jcrew? very nice!

#3. an appropriate amount of time to enjoy, say, a painting is approximately one minute or less (emphasis on the "less" when it's crowded-- friends, remember, we can all share in the fun if we work together).

#4. let's also work on the emotions... no crying or laughing hysterically, if possible, pls. (try and stay in the middle-range of potential emotional extremes). i admit, i'd be the happiest person in the world if i could pitch a tent and set up camp in a renoir collection, but even i have managed to contain myself. and this means it's more than possible for the rest of you to attain. :)

#5. i like to bring nutritious snacks along as well, but try not to tuck into the trailmix or crack open the diet coke inside the gallery-- it's not good for the paintings.

#6. don't touch the paintings!!!

#7. don't pretend to touch the paintings!!!

#8. if the person on the loudspeaker in the sistine chapel says to be quiet in fifteen different languages, you should listen to him or her even if "vær rolig! ikke åpner deres munn!" isn't recognizable.

#9. no running through the hallways. you might slip and crash into a priceless fifteenth-century botticelli fresco. or a granny. and that would be bad.

#10. this one is the most important-- do not, under any circumstances, do any of the following:

a. pose in the same stance as the venus de milo in front or to the side of the actual statue
b. take a picture of the mona lisa. i promise the 50 cent postcard will look much, much better
c. use your video camera (even michael moore knows when to shut it off. probably.)
d. stare at the naked people. it's ART.

well, friends, that's all i've got. i feel that with mutual respect and admiration for both fellow art enthusiasts and the works before us, we can all have a fun, safe, and satisfying time in the galleries. :)

2004-05-11T04:15:00.000-04:00

yikes! if the madras war wasn't traumatic enough, here comes the paisley invasion (see this and this)!! escape with normal clothes while you still can-- before you get sucked into the 1960s, or worse-- you're forced to start shopping at abercrombie...

2004-05-10T07:42:00.000-04:00

what can i say about amsterdam? it was a great weekend in the city-- it is beautiful, friendly, multi-faceted, and great fun with diddy!

we arrived from frankfurt via train at about 5pm, checked in, and immediately went to one of amsterdam's suburban areas to see cirque du soleil's "dralion" performance. it was fabulous! (can i just say, i did not know the human body was capable of such contortions... bizarre: this one girl could balance herself on one hand, and bend her feet backwards over her shoulders and touch her feet to her ears... and live to tell the tale!) anyways, was a cool show.

the next day, we left early to see the rijksmuseum (home of four of 30 vermeer paintings and many rembrandts. a great collection of dutch masterpieces, second only, perhaps to what lies in the hague. after that, we hit the van gogh museum which was very nice (as you'd imagine a museum devoted to van gogh would be) and also devoted a full floor to dante gabriel rossetti, who helped reinstate medieval and renaissance era themes into victorian painting. after that, we walked around for a bit and took a boat tour all through the canals of amsterdam. the townhouses, bridges, boats, streets are all so unique and beautiful (and to my delight, many people live in boats docked in the canals-- new life goal: live in houseboat). after that great tour, we went by the anne frank house, and discovering a line four-hours long, decided to come back later. we took a rest back at the hotel, went swimming, and at 7pm headed back to anne frank.

the annex: this one place was worth the trip to europe alone, though i don't think such a price tag could honor the experience. there's not much i can say about it in writing... you just have to see it for yourself. to walk through her little room, where she had pasted magazine cutouts and photographs of celebrities or postcards, is incredible. to see The Diary, and all that is left of a bright girl who has connected with so many people worldwide, young and old, from all backgrounds and cultures. to be there is to visit the home of an old friend, to go one step further and see how she lived. she would have been 75 years old this june.

the rest of the day was great. it's hard not to have a great day when you see how fortunate you are.

on sunday, the clouds cleared up quite a bit, and we walked around some more, had breakfast, and took the trolley to the original heineken factory for the heineken experience, a festive tour through the beer-brewing process with 3x samples and other surprises. it was fun, though we partook in no more than a sip and instead shared the voucher wealth with some other thirsty tourists, sorry brittany & adam. :) after that, we walked along the canals, enjoyed the view from a parkbench, and looked at collections of tiles and paintings in shop windows. soon it was time to catch our 4.55 train back to frankfurt... we were sad to go, and it was certainly lovely to be there with dad!!

2004-05-10T06:28:00.000-04:00

many congratulations to cousin geof (george IV) for his new position in miami's new world symphony!!! more congratulations in order for his & kate's upcoming wedding! :)

2004-05-07T04:31:00.000-04:00

i'm in tha office for a half-day and then @1.00 i'm off with c.diddy to amsterdam! thanks to brittany & nitin for suggestions (p.s., nitin, i don't think some of your proposals fall under my personal guide to ethics & acceptable behaviors, but thanks anyways, buddy!). mom even found out that cirque du soleil is in town for the weekend, so dad & i will see the performance tonight!

i had a great evening with dad last night-- he made a great dinner & i convinced him to watch the "kill bill vol. 1" dvd that he brought for me from the us (because there's nothing like father-daughter bonding over a tarantino film). i had forgotten, incidentally, that i had only seen the film in GERMAN before, and apparently didn't understand some of the side-plots and the dirty words... at ALL. here's a short sample from the first half-hour of the film:

hospital warden guy: *** content not appropriate for this site ***
other guy: *** " " ***
hospital warden guy: *** " " ***
me: hmmm this is different from when i saw it the first time...

and before i forget, as a final grateful send-off to my replacement friends from approximately summer 1996 to winter '97 (before i met the cool midland people), DORK ALERT!

2004-05-06T11:26:00.000-04:00

YAYYYYYYY C.DIDDY IS HERE!! :)

2004-05-05T02:46:00.000-04:00

all-out wars against madras suits aside, i am very excited that daddy (a.k.a. c.diddy) is coming to frankfurt tomorrow! i am taking friday afternoon off and we are going to amsterdam for the weekend to see the rijks museum, the anne frank house (secret annex) and the beautiful architecture and to enjoy the lovely spring weather! i have only seen amsterdam from the airport before, and am looking forward to seeing the city with dad! brittany & adam were there last weekend and had a great time and i unfortunately couldn't work out a trip there with nitin & neel, but i'll report back to you on monday :)

worked until 10pm last night researching financial information on bloomberg, stumbled back home at 11, woke up at 6:30, sprinted to the subway stop just in time to fling myself into a train, ran like crazy through packs of grannies and suits in the hauptwache station to catch my connecting subway to work, and would have arrived here early but... Every Single Train was a half-hour late. anyways, it's fine, by pure chance i was still the first one in, but i will be thankful every day next year for living only five minutes (okay, three, at a run) from class...

iu friends: good luck on finals, michigan friends: congrats on graduating, rouen friend: bonne chance on the français exams, and rochester friend: i don't know when you officially finish this term, but i hope all goes well!

2004-05-03T05:51:00.000-04:00

now, i love jcrew more than most girls (for their rather perfect, simple clothing at less-than-chanel prices), but i don't know how many guys would wear any of this from the new may men's collection besides snoop dogg at the beach. and probably not him either. this is worse than the plaid-pajama-pants phase of 1996 (may it be forever forgotten). sorry, but i think it's a "miss."

2004-04-30T10:55:00.000-04:00

it's friday again, and you know what that means: there's a train trip coming up tonight! true to form, i am taking advantage of free time and travelling with my friend dan (who is also an intern here) to her university in bochum (pls. see the red dot on the map of deutschland). i am taking a train after work tonight to essen (nearby) where i will meet up with her and a bunch of her university friends. not totally sure what the plans are for the weekend, but i'm sure they'll be fun! have a great weekend as well, and, especially for my favorite iu students, good luck on final exams next week! :)

2004-04-29T11:33:00.000-04:00

CONGRATULATIONS BIGGY! one full year of college completed with grace & brilliance! great job! varsity softball, anatomy, statistics & even that stephen king book class, the sib sorority, and...yeah, lots of other accomplishments! i'm proud of you danielle! :)

2004-04-28T03:30:00.000-04:00

one of the best things about going to a huge university is that there's always something to do: having fun with friends, running through the fountain in front of the school of music quickly without being caught by iupd, strolling through campus, studying at the third-and-indiana starbucks (seriously, this is the only place i can learn anything...maybe it's the coffee fumes), and visiting other... um... beverage-ing establishments... but sometimes one needs to be entertained in a formal setting (i.e. not including sake-bombing), and conveniently, at those times, mom usually decides i need some more culturing and generously donates some extra funds to buy a ticket to a musical performance at the iu auditorium, which just so happens to lie directly next to the dg house (note: the three dave matthews concerts i went to last summer were not classified as "cultural material"). the last time i was at one of the shows during sophomore year, david copperfield called me up onstage with several others to "portal" my picture from bloomington to bali or someplace. but i digress.

now i'll be the first to tell you that i am not exactly best-friends with musicals in general. "sunday in the park with george" in high school just about did me in, i fell asleep in both "annie get your gun" and "rogers & hammerstein's cinderella," and i think "oklahoma!" might terminate my existance. the problem is either the musicals or bernadette peters, not sure which. now, granted, "the lion king" was really good (great costumes, etc.) even with an over-exhuberant rafiki, i loved "mamma mia!" (although it kinda was more of an abba concert), have always loved "phantom of the opera" (in sixth grade i liked it so much, i read gaston leroux's original novel... or tried to...), and the un-toppable is obviously "les miserablés" (or as we amis like to say, "lay miz").

and so when i opened my email this morning, i found an email about the auditorium's 2004-2005 season. and NOT ONLY is les mis playing for like a week, but david sedaris, one of my favorite authors/comedians EVER, will be there too, just in time for me to graduate!! and i might even go to "jesus christ superstar" too since the music is decent andrew lloyd webber-style, (and the plot, a lite-version of some of the Bible, with a respectable message and much more of jesus's actual teachings than in "the passion of the christ") and "contact," which the new yorker said was great. but clearly, "the full monty" would NOT be appropriate for me.

p.s. mummsy, itzhak perlman, the violin-playing guy you like so much (at least, i think you do) will be there on september 18: do you want to have another cultural event? my treat this time :)

oh, and "oklahoma!" is also playing right around the most-revered iu holiday of all time, little 500... but i don't think you'll catch me at that show, i'll be with the dg bike team. :)

2004-04-27T06:38:00.000-04:00

hi friends! i will take a few moments to write to y'all before lunchtime :) i had a wonderful and busy weekend; on friday, friend sarah from last term in reutlingen (originally from wales, uk) arrived via train in frankfurt and dan and i met up with her and then dan's boyfriend. the four of us bought tickets to the 11pm showing of kill bill vol. 2 at the english-language cinema, and, still having several hours beforehand, went to moschmosch, a favorite restaurant just off goethestrasse (i.e. near chanel). we had a great dinner & great conversations (victory: in german!!) and then scurried to the movie.

i have to say, i liked it. actually, i really liked it. it was bizarre and not even remotely plausible, but somehow very satisfying: excellent acting, colorful characters (word to pai mei), perfect (really, PERFECT) cinematography and directing, and the feeling that there's always something embedded in each scene that i'm just not getting (always an inside joke for hardcore samurai movie fans). and the ending... it was really... nice. :)

the next morning, i did errands around my neighborhood, and then sarah and i went to the train station to catch a three-hour bus tour of the city. not five minutes in, i realized that for the entire time i've been in frankfurt, i have apparently only been in 1/5th of the city... i have always loved frankfurt, but had no idea how NICE it actually is. we drove all over the town, saw several historical buildings, went along both sides of the river main (hence, frankfurt-am-main-- p.s. this is pronounced "mine") and eventually ended up at the main tower, the second tallest skyscraper, which happens to have an amazing viewing platform. from that height, it was incredible to see the city from such a view. the largest department stores looked mini, and one could even see low mountains in the distance. (naturally we took many photos before my camera ran out of batteries... photos coming soon!). it's such a funny experience to realize that a city i thought i'd mastered actually has so much more to it.

afterwards sarah and i walked to the old opera house, ran back to my apartment quickly to get the tickets i'd left there, and then met up with dan and her boyfriend at the konstablerwache so we could all go to the nacht der museen together. on this evening, 50-some museums all over frankfurt were open with special entertainment, snacks and beverages, and with a ticket, one could go to all of them from 7pm-3am without restraint. we had fun hopping from exhibit to exhibit, listening to african drumming, perusing the dinosaur collections, looking at photos from thailand, and watching an...erm...unique modern dance performance. my favorite part was walking in frankfurt's unbelievable botannical gardens at twilight. once nobly determined to shut the place down, sarah and i were too tired to see any more brontosaurus bones or expressive dances, and left at 11:45, and very happily went to sleep after a great day in the city.

the next day we took the train to willy brandt platz to see the european central bank (you can't miss it: it's a HUGE skyscraper with a gigantic euro symbol in front of it). afterwards, we walked all along the river on both sides, and caught pictures of the skyline from a far-off bridge. we had a nice brunch in sachsenhausen, a cute area on the south-side, and then took a break before heading to the train station so sarah could go back to heidelberg, where she is interning. it was a really fun visit, and i think both of us enjoyed (re)discovering the city!

and that was my weekend...now for a friends update: my good friend frau b. went to the pro-choice march in washington, dc; ciddy is taking two classes (just for fun) about herbs and "wood-identification" since his retirement; aunt judy and uncle mark are celebrating their anniversary soon; biggy will be done with her first year of college this friday (congrats, danielle); ashley k/kess kess had her junior recital in opera-singing at iu's prestigious music school; nick is coming to europe this summer; nitin hopefully will (or else we'll have a showdown in bloomington); detomonster defeated the mcats; roommate/nicole finished her washington, dc internship successfully; and minny, stef and i have a great room not too far from ashley l. and danielle b.! phew, lots of great things happening...

2004-04-23T09:09:00.000-04:00

hi! i only have a second right now at work, but i will leave a quick note... going to see "kill bill vol. 2" with visiting friend sarah from wales, fellow intern dan, and her boyfriend. sarah and i are taking a city tour of frankfurt tomorrow (i've been here for over three months but still haven't actually seen any historical sights) and then all four of us will go to the "nacht der museen" on saturday evening (50-some museums and attractions open from 7pm-3am partay-style-- it's the place to be, apparently), which is partly sponsored by the company i work for. frankfurt, bring on the swank!

ooo, almost forgot: am working on uploading all of my pictures from the past year onto ofoto.com, since apparently i have to pay some €€s to put them on this site (will give in once back in the us), so pls. send a quick email to cnconsta@indiana.edu if you want the link, probably early next week! :)

2004-04-22T13:29:00.000-04:00

can i just say that german compound-nouns are amazing: one can combine any multitude of nouns together, and it makes sense. i invented a new word just now:

"hochfrequenzelektrochirurgischegeneratoren"

it might not be correct, but, hey, it sounds great, no?

2004-04-22T05:30:00.000-04:00

good luck at your recital tonight, ashley k. (though you are too talented for just luck)! i wish i could be there, but will be in spirit! :)

2004-04-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

i have finished my projects at work for the moment, so have the chance to write about my wonderful weekend with elke and her boyfriend timo in oldenburg! i LOVED seeing the two of them-- was a very special & important trip for me! we'll get to that in a moment though. let's start with friday, also known as the night of german railway DRAMA... :)

so on friday i left work at 7pm, arriving at the frankfurt hauptbahnhof just in time to scurry onto a train headed to köln ("cologne" for the amis). it was a pleasant journey, and i was excited to see the kölnerdom (cologne cathedral) and other sights from the train station. and then the problems started: 1) although i double-, triple-, and quadruple-checked my itinerary, i headed to the wrong track initially. i quickly noticed my mistake, and still had four minutes to spare when i ran to the track the train to bremen was actually leaving from. just as i had sprinted onto the track, the doors slammed shut. so i tried to open them. and tried. and tried. and tried. two full minutes of yanking on the doors, first politely, then like a crazy person. and then the train started moving, with me hanging on to it. and the deutsche bahn people didn't find this to be amusing (well, neither did i), and i was lectured by a rather stern official. i explained where i was trying to go, and how i needed to catch the very last train (12:15 that night) from bremen to oldenburg. they took pity on me, and instead had me hop on a train to dortmund. i figured they knew best and did so, even though i had no idea (and still don't) where this "dortmund" was. one frenzied ride to dortmund later, i found the track at which the train to bremen would arrive. but it was late...10 minutes late... and my connection time would have been exactly 9 minutes assuming we were on time. so it appeared as if i would miss the last train for that night and have to sleep underneath the statue of the brementown musicians (though elke later said she would have kindly picked me up). i told the ticket guy on board of the problem and seemed tired & uninterested in my pflight... and then disappeared for an hour. once we arrived in bremen, i had one choice: sprint like marion jones or find a comfy bench. :) so i ran the length of a football field through the bahnhof and hopped up the stairs and lo and behold: the last train. waiting. for me. and apparently a bunch of other people too, who had chosen to stroll calmly to the track (which is why they held it). i threw myself into the first cabin i saw and took a nap, the whole way to oldenburg, arriving at 1:15am. and there, elke and timo were waiting! was so happy to see my long-lost sister!

we drove through the town and to their awesome apartment-- both were wonderful hosts & we talked for an hour or two and then all went to sleep. the next morning, we had a great breakfast and rode bicycles into town. the weather was beautiful, flowers blooming, birds chirping, etc. etc. elke had an extra bicycle, and i managed to embarass myself 20 times or so by either falling off or not getting on it correctly in the first place, as i was a liiiiiiittle bit too short for it. eventually mastered the art & we arrived in town-- it was the easter festival still, and we walked through the small carnival and streets filled with outdoor displays. after an ice tea in a café, we rode our bicycles back home (this time camille managed to stay on, though i had a few close calls). on an aesthetic note, oldenburg is beautiful-- if you ever find yourself in northern germany, you should certainly make a point to visit it.

once back, we took a break, then drove to elke's university, which was very impressive. we also drove through the rest of the town, which was very nice, and had our first ice cream of the year. back at their apartment, timo prepared chicken with paprika while elke and i peeled the top layer off of several bundles of white asparagus. (if you are new to germany, asparagus/spargel season is important here, which makes me quite happy as my favorite vegetable is available in abundance! we had a lovely dinner, had great conversations (i amused the two of them with my german and newly-acquired love for words like, "super" or "schön"-- minny, you know what i'm referring to), watched the german version of american idol, and played a card game. after a busy and exciting day, we went to sleep early.

on sunday, i sadly had to leave... we had another nice breakfast (gotta love the brötchen) and drove to the university again, this time walking all over campus, and then to a shopping mall that was open on sunday due only to the easter festival. we ran into some of elke and timo's friends, who were very nice, and then headed to the train station.

i was very sorry to go, and would have much preferred to stay with the two of them, but had a wonderful visit, and greatly appreciated them spending so much time with me! elke & i hadn't seen each other since before my senior year of high school, so this was a lovely reunion. i was so glad to see that she was doing so well and so happy, and it was great meeting timo. i took two effortless trains back to frankfurt, going through hannover, and arrived back in town at 8:00 on the dot. back at home, talked with nicole & nana, and went to sleep, exhausted after much fun! the end. :)

2004-04-20T06:24:00.000-04:00

the FUNNIEST thing i have seen in a long time: check out subservient chicken, or the link on the right. who thinks of these things?

2004-04-19T05:17:00.000-04:00

yay yay yay yay yayyyy room 317 v. 2.0 with minny & detomonster (i.e. molly & stef) fall term at dg. lauren, ashley l., jarvis & co., pls. live closeby!! i will just be so excited for senior year back in bloomington! speaking of iu, had lovely convo with roommate/nicole after i arrived back home last night! (p.s., we are planning several fêtes, including a festive "welcome back from the european union" party... all invited! just act like you were an exchange student!)

and just for fun, a, ummm, perspective-giving email from our chapter housing coordinator:
"Remember there are people dying of cancer, fighting in Iraq, and starving in Africa... so don't complain about living in a mansion in the middle of campus with AMAZING WOMEN!!!!!!!!!"

indeed.

2004-04-19T03:51:00.000-04:00

want more proof that michael moore is anti-american? read this analysis (courtesy of right-thinking from the left coast and a link from andrew sullivan). hey, i liked "roger and me" too, and feel that moore is talented and a great communicator, but i think that these days, he's off-base much of the time. i am also sick of him spewing out extremely manipulated messages to the world both because i am living overseas and can see the large effect his oratory has on people in Europe, specifically, and because i believe that citizens should be as informed as possible and recognize the complexity of issues that can be made out as simple or one-sided... his rhetoric does have strong effects on people (i.e. some europeans) for whom it is all too easy to believe every word he says... how many people believe every sentence of "stupid white men" and finish the last page feeling horrified and indignant at some of america's leaders? i'm not challenging the validity of individuals' feelings, but rather the source that stirs up these emotions.

comments?