Tricoquine in the land of the stinky cheese

Secret Pal 8 questions

Our secret pal coordinator asked us to respond to a few questions... here is a little info about me.

1)  What is your favorite season of the year?

I like the Fall, around October.  Especially on the East Coast of the United States. The first sweater, the smell of a wood-burning fire place. The crispness in the air. I remember my first Fall in Philadelphia, driving out towards Valley Forge with all of the foliage in shades of reds, oranges, browns.  It was spectacular.  In Oregon, it was green year round with Douglas Fir trees. 

2)  Where is your favorite vacation spot?

Italy, for the people, the food, the blue water.

3)  If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be?

I've always wanted to go to Japan -- Mt Fuji, the richness described in the novels by Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto, the history, and the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

4)  If you could pick any job, and be paid well, what would it be?

The one I have right now...

5)  If you were going on vacation for 1 week, and had to take ONLY one project with you, what would it be?

My Orangina -- a perfect portable project, intricate enough to be interesting, simple enough to knit without a chart or accessories (other than a crochet hook). It is coming with me on vacation next week.

6)  If you won a shopping spree to your favorite Yarn shop, what would you get??

Fleece Artist/Handmaiden, Rowan in all colors, textures, gauges, and Socks that Rock

Forget me not

So I've been tagged by Flare to do a "J'aime mon quartier" meme which I think is a really cool idea.  If only I had the time to take some funky pics of my neighborhood (and trust me, there is some funky stuff going on). Hopefully this weekend.

In the meantime, I'll refer you to a post I did last year on the Canal St Martin in response to an article in the NYT.  For this upcoming meme, I plan on introducing you to the cosmopolitan Belleville side of my neighborhood.

And as a reward for your patience, here are a couple of must-do things in Paris at the moment

• the Musée Jacquemart-André, an off-the-beaten-path museum housed in a sumptuous hôtel particulier in the 8th arrondissement. The collection consists of French, Dutch and Italian classics as well as a vast collection of furniture and objets d'art.  The dining room serves lunch in a decor fit for royalty.  Through September 14 the Museum has an exhibit of celebrity photographs from the Paris Match magazine.

• the open-air cinema festival at La Villette: from July 4 until August 13, weather permitting, the La Villette park hosts movie nights under the stars. Parisians stake out spots early and picnic until the film begins on the big screen at dusk.  The entry is free and this year's theme is "Beasts and Men". 

• Brave the lines at the Musée de l'Orangerie: after what seemed like an eternity of renovations, the museum has reopened and showcases Monet's Nymphéas in all their glory.

MEME: Four things

What is a meme?  I have been trying to figure this out for the better half of the morning.  I know that it is something like a blogging chain letter but from where did it originate?  I consulted wikipedia on the subject, as I often do when these cultural phenomena fly over my head.  It appears the meme (rhymes with "theme" although I have a tendency to read it as "même", as in "same" in French) is a way to track cultural/social evolution (not in the Darwinian sense, or perhaps in this sense depending on what you read.)  The definition I can best understand is that a meme is "some sort of a self-propagating unit of cultural evolution having a resemblance to the gene" (as in genetics). So is it hard science or sociology? Make any sense to you?

In any case, Tina tagged me with this meme:

Four jobs I've had

• waitress at a Mexican restaurant
• professional student
• clerk for a government agency regulating usage of nuclear materials
• glorified legal translator (french -->english)

Four movies I could watch over and over

• Manhattan
• Happy Gilmore
• La Haine
• Clerks

Four places I've lived

• Portland, Oregon
• Philadelphia
• Washington, DC
• Paris
• and many many more

Four TV shows I love (but don't watch since I've moved to France)

• CSI: Las Vegas
• Scrubs
• anything on the Food Network
• Sex and the City

Four favorite places I've vacationed

• Lisbon
• Dubrovnik
• Florence, Siena, San Gimagnano
• Hawaii

Four of my favorite dishes

• Chirashi
• coucous méchoui from le Vieil Alger in Paris
• matzo ball soup and brisket
• grilled Caribbean lobster with mango salsa

Four sites I visit daily

• The New York Times
• People because everyone likes trashy magazines
• Yarnstorm because of the beautiful things she makes and the hilarious things she writes
• Bloglines

Four places I'd rather be right now

• New York City--I miss my friends, and a good romp in the snow would be a nice change to the winter gray in Paris
• Atlanta, GA, with my parents
• Boston, MA with my sister
• somewhere warm, where my toes won't get cold

Four people I'd like to tag...

I think everyone has done this one...so I'll just wish you Happy Valentine's Day!