clairehelene7

I'm a daydream disaster.

I'm a grad student in urban planning, who almost has a masters in new media as well. I'm interested in community - digital and tangible. I love the communities I both interact in and flirt about the edges with online and in real life. I'm interested in sustainability and good design. I believe in the goodness of individuals and in good manners.

I recently moved back (or near at least) to the city I grew up in to go to grad school. It's a surprising turn of events, but one that is so far working out.

I see this blog as a place for me to rattle on about the things going on in my head and the world around me. I guess that's what everyone has blogs for... We can't all be original and witty, can we?

I suppose my blog name is a bit misleading. I am neither French nor a particular francophile. I speak very poor French, and figured out too late in the game that it wasn't the language for me to study. I tend to be a loud individual and I can't yell in French. I should have studied a language in which I felt comfortable being loud, like Spanish (much more helpful in general) or German (less helpful but possibly fun to yell). Because I never felt totally comfortable speaking French, I never progressed very far. This was sad only to my Grandmother who had wonderful dreams of my cousin and I studying together in Paris. Oh well. I went to Prague and my cousin went to Florence, and we both had good experiences. Long story short: gotta love idioms, regardless of the language.

Two Charles Simic quotes that have always resonated with me:
"My life was a beautiful mystery on the verge of understanding, always on the verge! Think of it!"

"The lovely emptyhead is singing the same snatch of love song over and over..."