(Lest it be confused with the religious term, perhaps I should've left the "j" lowercase...)
So, as you've probably deduced, today was the day of our jury (and also the last day of school)! I woke up, got ready and headed to school. Almost everyone else was there, working on last-minute changes or just milling around, killing time. We were asked to bring our mannequin wearing our dress up to the top floor, so we all did that. Then Peter came in, and told the 4 of us semester students that we would be going first. I was to be 3rd, after Ashley and Liz. While waiting, I spent some time cleaning out my drawer (which, surprisingly, didn't take too long).
When it was my turn, Jen came down to call me up, and I went upstairs with my work in a couple of binders (along with the notebooks for Jen's projects). The tables were in a semicircle (well, more like a three-sided square). I was instructed to go into the open space and spread out my work. Peter was standing across from me in the open space, and asked me some questions. Among them were asking about the most challenging aspects (I said that each teachers had their own, sometimes conflicting styles, and dealing with my lack of sewing skills), and any suggestions for enhancing future classes (I said to make sure that every teacher knows about each students' skill level). Then, I showed my projects, paging through each notebook. There were some good comments made. Susan was the most vocal (of course), saying that I had a lot of curiosity "which, unfortunately, not a lot have that quality these days". She also mentioned that I wasn't afraid to do "unpopular" subjects (in response to seeing my accessories project for Jen dealing with the Space Race and retro-futurism). She also said that I worked very hard, and on seeing (for the second time) my bra photo, noted that I had "a very definite sense of fashion" and could maybe work as a fashion stylist. (I forgot to mention that in our class critique, she had said that I "had a lot of things going for me" in terms of designing.) Peter also asked at one point if I'd considered designing for theatre (specifically, costume design).
At the end, I was given my grades, first when Peter read them aloud, and then written on the official transcript. Here they are, both on the European 20-point scale and the American A-F scale:
French Language: 14.5/B+
Art History: 15/A-
Fashion Design: 17/A+
Draping: 17/A+
Sewing: 13.5/B
Flat Pattern: 17/A+
Textiles: 17/A+ (This was Susan's class, and she's a pretty tough grader. When Peter read out this one, he added a "bravo" at the end.)
Costume Research: 16/A
At the end of this, he handed me my transcript, and I was dismissed with a reminder that lunch was at 12 pm. I went back downstairs, got the rest of my things and went back to the apartment for a few hours and went back for lunch.
At first, we all sat around, drinking champagne, Peter toasting us to a good year and critiques. Then we ate some pasta and relaxed. I ate with Po-Lan, Nisa and Sharon. Susan joined us, and we talked about each of our respective summer plans. After that, we took some group pictures and I got individual pictures with each of my teachers.
After that, I went back and continued packing for about an hour or so. Then I took the metro to Galleries Lafayette to buy a few souvenirs, and came back. On my way back, two different people talked to me. One was to ask if she could follow me through the turnstile as I swiped my metro card, and then when I got on the RER B, a woman sat next to me and asked if the train stopped at Luxembourg, a fact I confirmed.
I wanted to do something that night, and decided to see a movie. I had wanted to see Iron Man, and looked up where it was playing. There was theater showing it near the Tour Montparnasse at 7 pm, so I went there after eating dinner. This theater was the biggest one I'd been to, with about 12 rooms, and 3 stories. Iron Man was on the topmost level, and I pushed open what I thought was the door to the theater. Well, it turned to be the door that led down and out into the main lobby, so I had to go back up and around to get in again. The movie was awesome, I'm so glad I saw it. It was definitely what I needed after so much work.
I got out around 9:25 pm, and since it was still light out, and decided to walk home in a different, roundabout way. I went down Boulevard Raspail to the Denfert-Rochereau RER stop, and then walked back up Avenue Denfert-Rochereau towards Port-Royal. When I came up near Jardin du Luxembourg, I saw something really cool. At a certain point, nearly the entire Sacre Coeur (which is all the way in the 18th, in the north) was visible. It's on a hill, and I've seen parts of it from elsewhere in the city, but I didn't realize how much of a straight-shot of a sight-line it was from that one spot. So that was really neat to see. After that, I came back and lounged around.
Hilary comes tomorrow!!!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday and Tuesday Leading Up to the Jury
Monday was Sewing with Muriel, as usual. I worked on my dress and wanted to get it done by the end of class. First, I finished hand-finishing the hem, and then Muriel showed me how to attach it to the front of the dress so that it wouldn't be seen. (It was the same technique that I had used on the hem of my pants.) I worked slowly, and halfway through, Muriel came to check on how I was doing. It turned out that I was doing it incorrectly (surprise, surprise). She showed that I needed to make each stitch a bit smaller than I had been doing. So that's what I completed during the morning.
Earlier in the day, Tenzin had gone around the class, saying that a bunch of people were going to take Muriel out for lunch that day and inviting people to join. I said yes, and Tenzin said that we would be going to a Tibetan restaurant that her uncle runs. So I couldn't wait to try it.
Lunchtime rolled around, and I quickly got my purse from my apartment and headed back to school. The group was Tenzin, Tu, Beliz, Po-Lan and I, along with Muriel. The restaurant was right off Rue Saint-Jacques, about a 10-15 minute walk. We sat down, and I was between Beliz and Po-Lan. We decided to try a variety of dishes. (Tenzin, being Tibetan, was of course the authority of what was good.) We got water, and Muriel and Tenzin got what looked like milk. I tried a sip of Muriel's, and was not a fan of whatever it was. (Tenzin told me that it was fermented milk, and I remarked that it must be an acquired taste.)
The food came, and it was really yummy! We had gotten a variety of dishes, and all shared. There were some breaded balls with melted cheese inside (which Tu really likes), some doughy soft shells with spicy beef inside, chicken curry (I had voted for that one), and something resembling vegetable tempura. There were different kinds of dipping sauces as well, like a yellow one that had mint in it (says Tenzin) and a red spicy one that I really liked. There was also rice, and some really good bread (I had about 3 pieces of that). It was all so good! Unfortunately, I didn't get the names of any of these dishes (save for the chicken curry), but I'm sure I could pick them out on a menu, given a description.
We walked back, and Muriel pointed out a Tibetan store that sold clothing and jewelry. It turns out that it's run by Tenzin's other uncle! We stopped in and looked around for a few minutes, and then continued walking back to school. On the way, we ran into Ashley and Liz, passing us in the opposite direction on their way to BHV. We got back to school around 1:45 pm (class usually starts at 1 pm), and looked at the interior design students' work, displayed for their jury. Then, we went upstairs and started working. I finished the hem, and Muriel showed me a way to hide the shoulder seams. So I worked on that, and after Muriel approved it, I was finished with my dress!
I had to go to Montmartre (near the fabric stores) to get a cheap suitcase. (I had packed my 2 bags so tightly coming over here, there was no way I'd be able to fit all the things I've accumulated/created into them both.) On my way out, Tenzin asked me to look in a specific mercerie for bag handles for her. I said I would, left and caught the metro up to Marche Saint-Pierre. I first looked for the handles, seeing some similar ones but not what she had specified. Then I went looking for a cheap suitcase. I looked at a couple and saw a promising one, and then left to comparison shop. I passed a place that sold postcards, so I got 12 for 2 Euro for Grandma of places in Montmartre. I also got Grandma and Grandpa Ewald a miniature Eiffel Tower in (pseudo) bronze. I also stopped in a small clothing boutique and bought a pair of long black pants, in a material similar to my gauchos (which I love). I didn't see any more suitcases that were as good as that first one, so I walked back and bought it. It's as bit as my biggest bag and only cost 25 Euro (as compared to the others being around 50-55 Euro). So I then went back, finished sewing Jen's bag (as in sewed up the hole in the lining and put in the snap by hand), and cleaned and packed a bit (a very little bit).
Today (Tuesday) was our last class before our Jury. Susan mostly looked at what everyone had done. I showed her my revised flats, and she had a whole host of suggestions, mostly centering on fixing the hands. She also talked about erasing some of the color (she has no idea how much time I spent on that part of it), as well as adding in hair and maybe an ear. There was also talk of adding shadows to the skin and facial features (so that my heads don't look like they just have red lips stuck onto them). After we talked, I worked on my pants from the first half of the semester. I wanted to add snaps to connect the overlong lengths of the gloves to the pants. I had sewed in 2 of the complete snaps (which includes 2 parts for each, which comes to 4 parts), and then tried to snap them together. After all that, I found out that I had put them in incorrectly (parts that should've been facing out were facing in, etc). (I was just glad that I hadn't put in all 4 snaps before I realized this fact.) So I ripped them out and began again, this time being more careful in my placement of the snaps when I basted them to the pants. I finished putting them all in by the end of class, and then pressed the pants, and I was done!
After class, I went back to the room, took a nap, and had lunch. I was going to start putting together my stuff for the jury, but realized I needed more plastic sleeves and another binder. So off I went to BHV, picked up those things, as well as a couple of postcards for Grandma. (I FINALLY found a postcard of the Lapin Agile for Grandma! That was the only one I'd seen, and it was the only place I'd been to in Montmartre that I hadn't found a postcard for. It was also the last one on the rack, and it was mine!) Then I went back and began organizing my work, putting stuff in plastic sleeves, rearranging the order, mounting fabric etc. I took a break around 8 pm to eat dinner, lounged around for a (well-deserved, I must say) break and then worked on my illustrations for Susan. I really didn't have the energy to redo arms and/or whole illustrations, so I concentrated on putting in shadows on the body and face. Then I worked on the hair. I was very pleased with the way the hair of my illustrations turned out. I hope Susan gets so hypnotized by the hair that she neglects to see that the arms weren't fixed. (I'm so glad this is over, in that I'm so tired at looking at these drawings. I really need a break from them.)
So tomorrow morning is the jury, and then we're done with school!
Earlier in the day, Tenzin had gone around the class, saying that a bunch of people were going to take Muriel out for lunch that day and inviting people to join. I said yes, and Tenzin said that we would be going to a Tibetan restaurant that her uncle runs. So I couldn't wait to try it.
Lunchtime rolled around, and I quickly got my purse from my apartment and headed back to school. The group was Tenzin, Tu, Beliz, Po-Lan and I, along with Muriel. The restaurant was right off Rue Saint-Jacques, about a 10-15 minute walk. We sat down, and I was between Beliz and Po-Lan. We decided to try a variety of dishes. (Tenzin, being Tibetan, was of course the authority of what was good.) We got water, and Muriel and Tenzin got what looked like milk. I tried a sip of Muriel's, and was not a fan of whatever it was. (Tenzin told me that it was fermented milk, and I remarked that it must be an acquired taste.)
The food came, and it was really yummy! We had gotten a variety of dishes, and all shared. There were some breaded balls with melted cheese inside (which Tu really likes), some doughy soft shells with spicy beef inside, chicken curry (I had voted for that one), and something resembling vegetable tempura. There were different kinds of dipping sauces as well, like a yellow one that had mint in it (says Tenzin) and a red spicy one that I really liked. There was also rice, and some really good bread (I had about 3 pieces of that). It was all so good! Unfortunately, I didn't get the names of any of these dishes (save for the chicken curry), but I'm sure I could pick them out on a menu, given a description.
We walked back, and Muriel pointed out a Tibetan store that sold clothing and jewelry. It turns out that it's run by Tenzin's other uncle! We stopped in and looked around for a few minutes, and then continued walking back to school. On the way, we ran into Ashley and Liz, passing us in the opposite direction on their way to BHV. We got back to school around 1:45 pm (class usually starts at 1 pm), and looked at the interior design students' work, displayed for their jury. Then, we went upstairs and started working. I finished the hem, and Muriel showed me a way to hide the shoulder seams. So I worked on that, and after Muriel approved it, I was finished with my dress!
I had to go to Montmartre (near the fabric stores) to get a cheap suitcase. (I had packed my 2 bags so tightly coming over here, there was no way I'd be able to fit all the things I've accumulated/created into them both.) On my way out, Tenzin asked me to look in a specific mercerie for bag handles for her. I said I would, left and caught the metro up to Marche Saint-Pierre. I first looked for the handles, seeing some similar ones but not what she had specified. Then I went looking for a cheap suitcase. I looked at a couple and saw a promising one, and then left to comparison shop. I passed a place that sold postcards, so I got 12 for 2 Euro for Grandma of places in Montmartre. I also got Grandma and Grandpa Ewald a miniature Eiffel Tower in (pseudo) bronze. I also stopped in a small clothing boutique and bought a pair of long black pants, in a material similar to my gauchos (which I love). I didn't see any more suitcases that were as good as that first one, so I walked back and bought it. It's as bit as my biggest bag and only cost 25 Euro (as compared to the others being around 50-55 Euro). So I then went back, finished sewing Jen's bag (as in sewed up the hole in the lining and put in the snap by hand), and cleaned and packed a bit (a very little bit).
Today (Tuesday) was our last class before our Jury. Susan mostly looked at what everyone had done. I showed her my revised flats, and she had a whole host of suggestions, mostly centering on fixing the hands. She also talked about erasing some of the color (she has no idea how much time I spent on that part of it), as well as adding in hair and maybe an ear. There was also talk of adding shadows to the skin and facial features (so that my heads don't look like they just have red lips stuck onto them). After we talked, I worked on my pants from the first half of the semester. I wanted to add snaps to connect the overlong lengths of the gloves to the pants. I had sewed in 2 of the complete snaps (which includes 2 parts for each, which comes to 4 parts), and then tried to snap them together. After all that, I found out that I had put them in incorrectly (parts that should've been facing out were facing in, etc). (I was just glad that I hadn't put in all 4 snaps before I realized this fact.) So I ripped them out and began again, this time being more careful in my placement of the snaps when I basted them to the pants. I finished putting them all in by the end of class, and then pressed the pants, and I was done!
After class, I went back to the room, took a nap, and had lunch. I was going to start putting together my stuff for the jury, but realized I needed more plastic sleeves and another binder. So off I went to BHV, picked up those things, as well as a couple of postcards for Grandma. (I FINALLY found a postcard of the Lapin Agile for Grandma! That was the only one I'd seen, and it was the only place I'd been to in Montmartre that I hadn't found a postcard for. It was also the last one on the rack, and it was mine!) Then I went back and began organizing my work, putting stuff in plastic sleeves, rearranging the order, mounting fabric etc. I took a break around 8 pm to eat dinner, lounged around for a (well-deserved, I must say) break and then worked on my illustrations for Susan. I really didn't have the energy to redo arms and/or whole illustrations, so I concentrated on putting in shadows on the body and face. Then I worked on the hair. I was very pleased with the way the hair of my illustrations turned out. I hope Susan gets so hypnotized by the hair that she neglects to see that the arms weren't fixed. (I'm so glad this is over, in that I'm so tired at looking at these drawings. I really need a break from them.)
So tomorrow morning is the jury, and then we're done with school!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Dimanche de Cette Week-End!
(You learned what the "de cette week-end" part was yesterday. What do you think "dimanche" means? If you guessed "Sunday", 10 points for you!
So that should mean all of you get 10 extra points.)
Sunday, I got up early (around 9 am). I wanted to get some work done before meeting up with Lauren, since I didn't know how late we'd be out. I wanted to get the rest of my croquis colored in, so I spent some time layering colored pencils to figure out the best combinations to get certain colors, such as gold and bronze. I finished them around 12 pm, and I'm really pleased with them. (Susan was right about that flat color. Inside of my black lines, they looked like stained glass. I drew some of my inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright-style stained glass, so it was very fitting.)
I ate lunch, and then got ready to meet Lauren at 2:30 pm in front of the school. I left the apartment, and approached the school. I recognized her immediately, we hugged and began talking. We decided to walk down towards Boulevard Port-Royal (the road which bisects Rue Saint-Jacques), but first we zipped into my apartment so that I could change. (I had underestimated how warm it was outside, and had been dressed in a long-sleeved tee, sweater and jeans. I changed into a short-sleeved tee, gauchos and sandals.) After that was accomplished, we walked down Port-Royal in the direction of the Tour Montparnasse (towards the 15th arrondissement). We stopped at a Starbucks close to the Tour Montparnasse to get coffee, and tried to decide what to do. Lauren wanted to see the Jardin du Luxembourg, so we headed off in the opposite direction. Once there, we walked around and talked and took pictures. It was such a beautiful day, and lots of people were out doing the same thing. We exited the garden, and walked toward St. Sulpice church. We circled the church, and then walked up Boulevard Saint-Germain. We walked along Saint-Germain until it curved north toward the river, and we found ourselves across from the Hotel des Invalides. We sat for a few, and decided to walk across the river to get crepes or find some other kind of pastry for a snack. There was a bridge nearby, so we walked over it and strolled by the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. (That was the first time I had seen the front of the Grand Palais, and anything at all of the Petit Palais. Of the Grand Palais, I'd only seen the curved glass ceiling rising from among the trees.) We walked towards Champs-Elysees, and I remembered there being a crepes place along the way. It was still there, and despite it being Sunday (the day everything is closed), it was open! We both got banana-and-nutella crepes. (For me, that was the best banana-and-nutella crepe I've had here. I think it's because of the combination of the bananas being in larger slices and the fact that the nutella was lightly drizzled onto it, instead of smothering the crepe.) We then walked up Champs-Elysees. (As we passed Laduree, I made a mental note to get a macaroon there when I come back next week with Hilary. Those window displays are just beautiful.) After that, Lauren had to leave, so we took the metro, she getting off at a station ahead of mine. I was really glad with how the day turned out. I had initially been worried we wouldn't have anything to talk about, but that wasn't the case at all. I'm so glad I got to see her!
I went back to the room, and really did nothing else the rest of the day. (To be fair, it was 6:30 pm when I got back.) I ate dinner, talked with the parentals, and did absolutely nothing else (except for write this entry).
So we have classes Monday and Tuesday, jury Wednesday and Hilary comes Thursday. Looks to be a busy one.
So that should mean all of you get 10 extra points.)
Sunday, I got up early (around 9 am). I wanted to get some work done before meeting up with Lauren, since I didn't know how late we'd be out. I wanted to get the rest of my croquis colored in, so I spent some time layering colored pencils to figure out the best combinations to get certain colors, such as gold and bronze. I finished them around 12 pm, and I'm really pleased with them. (Susan was right about that flat color. Inside of my black lines, they looked like stained glass. I drew some of my inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright-style stained glass, so it was very fitting.)
I ate lunch, and then got ready to meet Lauren at 2:30 pm in front of the school. I left the apartment, and approached the school. I recognized her immediately, we hugged and began talking. We decided to walk down towards Boulevard Port-Royal (the road which bisects Rue Saint-Jacques), but first we zipped into my apartment so that I could change. (I had underestimated how warm it was outside, and had been dressed in a long-sleeved tee, sweater and jeans. I changed into a short-sleeved tee, gauchos and sandals.) After that was accomplished, we walked down Port-Royal in the direction of the Tour Montparnasse (towards the 15th arrondissement). We stopped at a Starbucks close to the Tour Montparnasse to get coffee, and tried to decide what to do. Lauren wanted to see the Jardin du Luxembourg, so we headed off in the opposite direction. Once there, we walked around and talked and took pictures. It was such a beautiful day, and lots of people were out doing the same thing. We exited the garden, and walked toward St. Sulpice church. We circled the church, and then walked up Boulevard Saint-Germain. We walked along Saint-Germain until it curved north toward the river, and we found ourselves across from the Hotel des Invalides. We sat for a few, and decided to walk across the river to get crepes or find some other kind of pastry for a snack. There was a bridge nearby, so we walked over it and strolled by the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. (That was the first time I had seen the front of the Grand Palais, and anything at all of the Petit Palais. Of the Grand Palais, I'd only seen the curved glass ceiling rising from among the trees.) We walked towards Champs-Elysees, and I remembered there being a crepes place along the way. It was still there, and despite it being Sunday (the day everything is closed), it was open! We both got banana-and-nutella crepes. (For me, that was the best banana-and-nutella crepe I've had here. I think it's because of the combination of the bananas being in larger slices and the fact that the nutella was lightly drizzled onto it, instead of smothering the crepe.) We then walked up Champs-Elysees. (As we passed Laduree, I made a mental note to get a macaroon there when I come back next week with Hilary. Those window displays are just beautiful.) After that, Lauren had to leave, so we took the metro, she getting off at a station ahead of mine. I was really glad with how the day turned out. I had initially been worried we wouldn't have anything to talk about, but that wasn't the case at all. I'm so glad I got to see her!
I went back to the room, and really did nothing else the rest of the day. (To be fair, it was 6:30 pm when I got back.) I ate dinner, talked with the parentals, and did absolutely nothing else (except for write this entry).
So we have classes Monday and Tuesday, jury Wednesday and Hilary comes Thursday. Looks to be a busy one.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Samedi de Cette Weekend!
(That would be "Saturday of this Weekend!" See, you've learned something today!)
Saturday morning, I woke up around 9:30 pm. Realizing that I had nothing breakfast-wise in the apartment, I walked down to Monoprix, getting a carnet of metro tickets at the Sorbonne tabac along the way. I got pains au chocolat, milk and some pasta. At the cash register, the cashier handed me a little rose on my way out. (I think they were giving them out, because she had a big bucket of them behind her. I don't know what the occasion was.) I'm pretty sure this was my last trip (or near enough) to Monoprix (sniff, sniff).
After that, it was still early. I wanted to go out exploring later, so I did some work. I finished drawing up my croquis, and began coloring them in. Susan had specified that she wanted to see "flat color", so I decided to forgo my usual paints and work in colored pencils, layering to achieve different hues. I went by color, and colored in all areas that were black, red and green. I set a goal for myself to finish all that by 1:30 pm (so that I could have lunch and leave by 2 pm), but I worked a bit overtime, and didn't leave until about 2:20 pm.
I had wanted to see the interior of the Opera Garnier (that would be the old one), and decided to go see that and the Folies Bergere. I took the metro over to Opera Garnier, and it was raining as I got out of the station. I went inside, paid my reduced student rate and immediately went to the grand staircase. Seriously, it's amazing. I remember first seeing an illustration of it in a book we had at home when I was younger. (The book is "Amazing Buildings", and published by Dorling Kindersley-wow, I didn't even have to look that up, I remember it because I've looked at it so many times. It features a lot of different buildings, and has great illustrations of them. Along with the grand staircase of the Opera Garnier, it also has the Alhambra, Taj Mahal, the Colosseum and Krak des Chevaliers. Great book though, especially if you're interested in architecture.) I took a lot of pictures, but because it was a bit dark and a lot of candles were lit, some of them appeared blurry (but maybe that added to the effect). I could easily picture what it must've been like back in the 1800s, with men in suits (were there tuxes back then?) and the women in those sweeping gowns that would put our modern evening wear to shame. I also walked into a couple of the private boxes and took pictures of the performance hall. There was something going on involving a black tarp onstage, so they were probably getting ready for a performance. It wasn't lit too well, but I got some good shots. All of the seats were upholstered in red velvet, and it looked very cool, seeing the entire floor level a sea of that color and fabric. The structure was bronzeish-gold (it was a little hard to tell in the dim lighting) and very detailed. (At the time, I thought that the pictures wouldn't turn out well, but when I downloaded them back at the apartment, they look quite nice, if I do say so myself.) I think my favorite part was the chandelier the center of the ceiling. Not exactly the chandelier, but what was around it. It was in the middle of a round painting. This painting was more like many combined vignettes in different colors. Just by a cursory look at the style, I guessed it to be by Marc Chagall. I checked this fact later, and sure enough, I was correct. (I love guessing artists' work, and being correct about it. I do it pretty often, but I guess I'm constantly surprised by what and how much I actually know.)
I walked around the rest of the floor, but it wasn't nearly as exciting as the performance hall and grand staircase. So I decided to go see the Folies Bergere. The Folies Bergere is a famous dance hall in Paris, especially during the time of the Belle Epoque (1890s-1920s). It was the place where Josephine Baker frequently performed (she was an ex-pat from the 1920s onward, since there weren't many opportunities for her, and that American audiences weren't ready for her style). She also debuted her famous "banana dance" there in 1926, where she only wore a short skirt made from (you guessed it) bananas. (In "The Triplettes of Belleville", one of my favorite movies, if not THE favorite, the opening scene is a cabaret performance, with historical characters making appearances. Josephine Baker appears and performs the banana dance, which is intercut with shots of the men in the audience going wild. I'm not doing this scene justice at all, but it's great. Watch it.) I looked at the map, and found the road I needed to get there. I was confused, since it appeared to be going in the opposite direction but followed it anyway. I ended up going back towards the Grands Magasins (those being Printemps and Galleries Lafayette). I didn't think that was correct, and so checked the map. I was right, and turned around. I then got on the right path, and stayed on it, finding it pretty quickly after that. (It was interesting, but at a few points when I was walking down Rue de Provence/Rue de Richer, I could see the domes of Sacre Coeur rising about the other buildings. I checked my map when I got back, and was able to predict which areas I would've been around for this to occur.) Once there, I took some pictures of the exterior (which was pretty low-key, made of gray stone with an Art-Deco relief sculpture and a few signs proclaiming it to be the "most celebrated dance theater in the world"). I got a millefeuille (literally "a thousand leaves") pastry to eat, and walked to the nearest metro station to go back. It happened to be Bonne Nouvelle, which was right by the Grand Rex (where I had seen the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss concert).
Back at the apartment, I took a nap, ate some dinner and went out to see "No Country for Old Men". I had originally wanted to see it the previous night, but had rescheduled since I had felt way too tired. Wow, was it good. I'm really glad I saw it in theaters.
After that, it was still light out, and I decided to go see the Pantheon's hours of operation (since I was interested in seeing Voltaire's tomb there). Once there, I decided to sit there for a bit and watch the Tour Eiffel light up. (The street that the Pantheon overlooks gives a direct view to the Tour Eiffel.) So I sat and enjoyed the night, while watching the Tour Eiffel steadily light up. (I decided to stay to see it sparkle, and then retire.) Other people were there, doing the same thing or waiting to meet people. There was a group of teens there, and a couple of girls going around talking to everyone. They came up to me, asking if I was waiting for someone, but I said that I just came out to enjoy the night. (That was the second time someone had come up and talked to me that day. The first time was after I was leaving the Opera Garnier, and an older lady came up to me and asked where Galleries Lafayette was.) The Tour Eiffel started sparkling around 10 pm, and sparkled for about 10 minutes, and when it was over, I left for the room.
Tomorrow should be interesting. I'm meeting up with my friend Lauren (whom I haven't seen since 8th grade), who's traveling through Europe for her graduation present. Should be fun...
Saturday morning, I woke up around 9:30 pm. Realizing that I had nothing breakfast-wise in the apartment, I walked down to Monoprix, getting a carnet of metro tickets at the Sorbonne tabac along the way. I got pains au chocolat, milk and some pasta. At the cash register, the cashier handed me a little rose on my way out. (I think they were giving them out, because she had a big bucket of them behind her. I don't know what the occasion was.) I'm pretty sure this was my last trip (or near enough) to Monoprix (sniff, sniff).
After that, it was still early. I wanted to go out exploring later, so I did some work. I finished drawing up my croquis, and began coloring them in. Susan had specified that she wanted to see "flat color", so I decided to forgo my usual paints and work in colored pencils, layering to achieve different hues. I went by color, and colored in all areas that were black, red and green. I set a goal for myself to finish all that by 1:30 pm (so that I could have lunch and leave by 2 pm), but I worked a bit overtime, and didn't leave until about 2:20 pm.
I had wanted to see the interior of the Opera Garnier (that would be the old one), and decided to go see that and the Folies Bergere. I took the metro over to Opera Garnier, and it was raining as I got out of the station. I went inside, paid my reduced student rate and immediately went to the grand staircase. Seriously, it's amazing. I remember first seeing an illustration of it in a book we had at home when I was younger. (The book is "Amazing Buildings", and published by Dorling Kindersley-wow, I didn't even have to look that up, I remember it because I've looked at it so many times. It features a lot of different buildings, and has great illustrations of them. Along with the grand staircase of the Opera Garnier, it also has the Alhambra, Taj Mahal, the Colosseum and Krak des Chevaliers. Great book though, especially if you're interested in architecture.) I took a lot of pictures, but because it was a bit dark and a lot of candles were lit, some of them appeared blurry (but maybe that added to the effect). I could easily picture what it must've been like back in the 1800s, with men in suits (were there tuxes back then?) and the women in those sweeping gowns that would put our modern evening wear to shame. I also walked into a couple of the private boxes and took pictures of the performance hall. There was something going on involving a black tarp onstage, so they were probably getting ready for a performance. It wasn't lit too well, but I got some good shots. All of the seats were upholstered in red velvet, and it looked very cool, seeing the entire floor level a sea of that color and fabric. The structure was bronzeish-gold (it was a little hard to tell in the dim lighting) and very detailed. (At the time, I thought that the pictures wouldn't turn out well, but when I downloaded them back at the apartment, they look quite nice, if I do say so myself.) I think my favorite part was the chandelier the center of the ceiling. Not exactly the chandelier, but what was around it. It was in the middle of a round painting. This painting was more like many combined vignettes in different colors. Just by a cursory look at the style, I guessed it to be by Marc Chagall. I checked this fact later, and sure enough, I was correct. (I love guessing artists' work, and being correct about it. I do it pretty often, but I guess I'm constantly surprised by what and how much I actually know.)
I walked around the rest of the floor, but it wasn't nearly as exciting as the performance hall and grand staircase. So I decided to go see the Folies Bergere. The Folies Bergere is a famous dance hall in Paris, especially during the time of the Belle Epoque (1890s-1920s). It was the place where Josephine Baker frequently performed (she was an ex-pat from the 1920s onward, since there weren't many opportunities for her, and that American audiences weren't ready for her style). She also debuted her famous "banana dance" there in 1926, where she only wore a short skirt made from (you guessed it) bananas. (In "The Triplettes of Belleville", one of my favorite movies, if not THE favorite, the opening scene is a cabaret performance, with historical characters making appearances. Josephine Baker appears and performs the banana dance, which is intercut with shots of the men in the audience going wild. I'm not doing this scene justice at all, but it's great. Watch it.) I looked at the map, and found the road I needed to get there. I was confused, since it appeared to be going in the opposite direction but followed it anyway. I ended up going back towards the Grands Magasins (those being Printemps and Galleries Lafayette). I didn't think that was correct, and so checked the map. I was right, and turned around. I then got on the right path, and stayed on it, finding it pretty quickly after that. (It was interesting, but at a few points when I was walking down Rue de Provence/Rue de Richer, I could see the domes of Sacre Coeur rising about the other buildings. I checked my map when I got back, and was able to predict which areas I would've been around for this to occur.) Once there, I took some pictures of the exterior (which was pretty low-key, made of gray stone with an Art-Deco relief sculpture and a few signs proclaiming it to be the "most celebrated dance theater in the world"). I got a millefeuille (literally "a thousand leaves") pastry to eat, and walked to the nearest metro station to go back. It happened to be Bonne Nouvelle, which was right by the Grand Rex (where I had seen the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss concert).
Back at the apartment, I took a nap, ate some dinner and went out to see "No Country for Old Men". I had originally wanted to see it the previous night, but had rescheduled since I had felt way too tired. Wow, was it good. I'm really glad I saw it in theaters.
After that, it was still light out, and I decided to go see the Pantheon's hours of operation (since I was interested in seeing Voltaire's tomb there). Once there, I decided to sit there for a bit and watch the Tour Eiffel light up. (The street that the Pantheon overlooks gives a direct view to the Tour Eiffel.) So I sat and enjoyed the night, while watching the Tour Eiffel steadily light up. (I decided to stay to see it sparkle, and then retire.) Other people were there, doing the same thing or waiting to meet people. There was a group of teens there, and a couple of girls going around talking to everyone. They came up to me, asking if I was waiting for someone, but I said that I just came out to enjoy the night. (That was the second time someone had come up and talked to me that day. The first time was after I was leaving the Opera Garnier, and an older lady came up to me and asked where Galleries Lafayette was.) The Tour Eiffel started sparkling around 10 pm, and sparkled for about 10 minutes, and when it was over, I left for the room.
Tomorrow should be interesting. I'm meeting up with my friend Lauren (whom I haven't seen since 8th grade), who's traveling through Europe for her graduation present. Should be fun...
The Last Critique of the Week!
Friday morning dawned, and so did our critique with Jen. I got there early, as had some others, to set up. (All I really had to do was to pin the strips of paper that constituted my "volume study" onto my mannequin. So I improvised, and draped each so that it curved along the body, one on the front and one on the back.) Then, we all looked at each others' work (people seemed to like mine).
Then, Jen arrived and we were set to begin, but we decided to wait for others who hadn't shown yet. Incidentally, Andrea happened to be on of them. Liz asked if she was up, and I said that she had been in bed when I left. Liz went to go knock on our apartment door, and returned to say that there had been no response. Then Ashley got the idea to borrow my key, so she went over. She came back saying that Andrea was "up" (although she didn't specify as in "awake" or "out of bed".) We assumed she and some others would be coming in later, so we began the critique. We looked at both our redone Yohji projects and our accessories projects. For both of mine, people were very complimentary. Tu told me that my completely-redone Yohji designs were a lot better and looked "less Star Wars". Beliz and a couple others liked my "volume study" (which was awesome, since I just did something random and it only took me an hour). I also got praise for putting my accessories drawings on graph paper, getting told that it was "clever". After all of that, Jen said that she could see that I had really improved and had put a lot of effort into my work. With regards to my bag (that I hadn't finished), she liked that I used red thread to outline my motifs, saying that it looked more "computer-y" and more in line with my theme. (I did end up liking it more than my original idea.)
When everyone had been critiqued, Jen said we could do whatever we needed to do. Since I needed some help with my bag, I went to talk to her. She told me that I first needed to insert a wrist loop to attach, and I would attach the lining afterwards. So I made a pattern and cut out the length of fabric, looped it and sewed it in. Then Jen showed me how to attach the lining to the bag, so I did that, pressed it and was told to hand-sew in the remaining seam.
At this point, class was over, and Andrea still had not shown up. Jen told me that she needed to give her a grade on her work, and asked me to tell her so. I left, and first went to see Peter. He began looking for a hotel room for the 3 of us(Andrea, my cousin Hilary who would be visiting, and I) for the 5 nights after jury that we'd be here. He told me to come back later, and so I went back to the apartment. The blinds were drawn, and she was still under the covers. Not really knowing how to approach it, I just whispered, "Hey, Jen says that she needs to see some work from you" and she simply nodded. I was about to leave, so I said, "Should I tell her you're on your way?" Again, another nod. I went back and told Jen that I had told her, but didn't know what else to do. Having finished that piece of business, I went to go talk to Peter and iron out logistical details. I gave him what information I had, and he said he'd call around and asked me to come back around 3 pm, and hopefully they'd have something by then.
I then went back to the room and ate lunch. Andrea still being in bed with the blinds closed, I had to get out into the light, and walked down to Gibert Joseph to browse around. I stayed until I had to meet Peter, and went back up to the office. He had found a place (after calling 6 other places) that would work, and wanted me to bring Andrea so that we could all talk about it together. I trooped back to the apartment, and told Andrea what I knew. She told me her plans, I talked with Hilary, and then I went back to Peter. He reiterated that he wanted to talk to both of us, so back I went with that message. In the end, Andrea decided to change her train date, and I booked a hotel room on Port-Royal for 5 nights. Nagalinga, one of Peter's assistants, went with me to help me book it and so that I could see the location.
After all of that back-and-forth, I was really tired and took a nap. I woke up around 8:30 pm, and bummed around not doing anything particular until going to bed.
So our critiques are all done, yay! (We get our grades during the jury on Wednesday, so hopefully that will go well.)
Then, Jen arrived and we were set to begin, but we decided to wait for others who hadn't shown yet. Incidentally, Andrea happened to be on of them. Liz asked if she was up, and I said that she had been in bed when I left. Liz went to go knock on our apartment door, and returned to say that there had been no response. Then Ashley got the idea to borrow my key, so she went over. She came back saying that Andrea was "up" (although she didn't specify as in "awake" or "out of bed".) We assumed she and some others would be coming in later, so we began the critique. We looked at both our redone Yohji projects and our accessories projects. For both of mine, people were very complimentary. Tu told me that my completely-redone Yohji designs were a lot better and looked "less Star Wars". Beliz and a couple others liked my "volume study" (which was awesome, since I just did something random and it only took me an hour). I also got praise for putting my accessories drawings on graph paper, getting told that it was "clever". After all of that, Jen said that she could see that I had really improved and had put a lot of effort into my work. With regards to my bag (that I hadn't finished), she liked that I used red thread to outline my motifs, saying that it looked more "computer-y" and more in line with my theme. (I did end up liking it more than my original idea.)
When everyone had been critiqued, Jen said we could do whatever we needed to do. Since I needed some help with my bag, I went to talk to her. She told me that I first needed to insert a wrist loop to attach, and I would attach the lining afterwards. So I made a pattern and cut out the length of fabric, looped it and sewed it in. Then Jen showed me how to attach the lining to the bag, so I did that, pressed it and was told to hand-sew in the remaining seam.
At this point, class was over, and Andrea still had not shown up. Jen told me that she needed to give her a grade on her work, and asked me to tell her so. I left, and first went to see Peter. He began looking for a hotel room for the 3 of us(Andrea, my cousin Hilary who would be visiting, and I) for the 5 nights after jury that we'd be here. He told me to come back later, and so I went back to the apartment. The blinds were drawn, and she was still under the covers. Not really knowing how to approach it, I just whispered, "Hey, Jen says that she needs to see some work from you" and she simply nodded. I was about to leave, so I said, "Should I tell her you're on your way?" Again, another nod. I went back and told Jen that I had told her, but didn't know what else to do. Having finished that piece of business, I went to go talk to Peter and iron out logistical details. I gave him what information I had, and he said he'd call around and asked me to come back around 3 pm, and hopefully they'd have something by then.
I then went back to the room and ate lunch. Andrea still being in bed with the blinds closed, I had to get out into the light, and walked down to Gibert Joseph to browse around. I stayed until I had to meet Peter, and went back up to the office. He had found a place (after calling 6 other places) that would work, and wanted me to bring Andrea so that we could all talk about it together. I trooped back to the apartment, and told Andrea what I knew. She told me her plans, I talked with Hilary, and then I went back to Peter. He reiterated that he wanted to talk to both of us, so back I went with that message. In the end, Andrea decided to change her train date, and I booked a hotel room on Port-Royal for 5 nights. Nagalinga, one of Peter's assistants, went with me to help me book it and so that I could see the location.
After all of that back-and-forth, I was really tired and took a nap. I woke up around 8:30 pm, and bummed around not doing anything particular until going to bed.
So our critiques are all done, yay! (We get our grades during the jury on Wednesday, so hopefully that will go well.)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Wednesday and Thursday Critiques
Wednesday was Sewing, and the day of our critique with Muriel, where we would be graded on the sewing of our evening gown. I spent the morning finishing putting my zipper in, and then presumed that I would move onto the hem. Well, Muriel spotted the technique that I had used on my neckline and armholes, and taught me how to better do them. I redid one neckline twice, before getting it to her satisfaction. In the afternoon, I spent some time using a couture technique to do my hem, before I was told that I was doing it too big. I just can't get it right sometimes, can I?
Something funny happened, too. I had to try on my dress so that Muriel could help me assess where to place pins to mark where the hem would eventually go. So I took my dress into the closet to change into it. Muriel shut the door behind me, and guess what she did? She locked me in the closet! (I wasn't mad at all, I just thought it was really funny!) When I finished changing into the dress, I tried opening the door just to make sure, and yes, it was locked. So I knocked and she let me out. Then I stood there while Muriel pinned the dress around my ankles. When she was finished, I went back into the closet to change into my regular clothes. And yes, she locked me in the closet once more (.and it was still funny). Again, I knocked to get out, and she let me out.
Later, I tried on Tenzin's dress and it turned out to be too big in the bust (shocker). (This was also the problem with my dress, so I jokingly remedied it by stuffing my socks in. Then Tenzin brought me some bra cups, so I put those in instead, but there was still room to spare.) Muriel told her that she needed a model with a larger poitrine (as in, much bigger boobs), which is what she had told me for my dress, as well.
At the end of the afternoon class, it was time for the critique, where we had to show our dresses on mannequins. I got my mannequin and tried to put my dress on it. The operative word here being "tried", since it must've shrunk between the initial drapage and the finalized product. (More likely is that I have crappy craftsmanship and sewed too into the body, and/or draped it too tightly to begin with.) When I pulled the dress down over the mannequin's hips, one of the side seams started splitting. (Right after this, Sharon asked me if I was going to iron it-which I actually had earlier in the class. I groaned and was like, "I just got it on the mannequin, don't make me take it off!")
Since I was then the only one ready, Muriel came over to look at mine. She said that she was giving 2 marks, 1 for the idea and concept and 1 for the execution. She said that while my idea was "tres jolie", my execution was "tres mal". I said that since I knew that it was pretty bad, I didn't mind getting marked down for it. She ended up giving me a 16 (out of 20) on creation of the idea, and an 11 (the lowest passing score) for execution. She then averaged them together, and that gave me a 14.5.
After class, I did a few errands on Saint-Michel and went into Gibert Joseph (where I got my Moliere book and the macaroon cookbook) to browse around. I was in the theater section, and saw an interesting book. It was called "Theatre des Femmes a l'Ancien Regime", specifically the 17th century. I read the back, and it talked about the fact that in that time period, many women wrote plays that were published and performed in reputable, even fashionable venues. I didn't know about this, since all I'd heard about theater around this time centered around Moliere, Voltaire, Racine and Corneuille. I paged through it, and there were 9 women represented, each having a play. I'm thinking about going back and getting it. (At this rate, Mom and Dad shouldn't be surprised if I come back with an extra suitcase of books.)
Thursday was Flat Pattern with Anne, and the day of another critique. That morning, we were allowed to work on whatever we needed to finish, and I worked on my visite, the costume sample made up in muslin. I pressed it, and then added a flounce for the collar (since we had to use something that was included in our sample notebook). After I was finished assembling and attaching that piece, I sewed up the hem, put it on a mannequin and turned it in, along with my sample notebook. Since that took up the morning, I worked on my bag for Jen's class that afternoon. Since I had sewn the details on the front and back panels the previous afternoon, I began attaching the panels for the outside together. After that was done, I began work on the lining. I pinned, traced and cut out the pieces and sewed the front, back and side panels together. (I had remembered that Jen had told me to leave a hole in the bottom to "pull it through" later), so I decided not to attach the bottom. I couldn't figure out the best way to attach the lining to the facing, so I called it a day and left.
(At one point, she asked me what a good grade was considered to be in the U.S., so I explained the 100-point scale to her. I just said that if you multiplied any numerical grade on the European 20-point scale by 5, that would be the equivalent of an American grade.)
I needed to go get some bristol paper and thread, so I took the metro to BHV. Since it wasn't too hot (actually, it's been downright cool these past few days), I decided to walk back. I did go to Gibert Joseph and get that book on 17th-century female playwrights, so I'm excited to read it (and build my vocabulary). I got back here, ate dinner and bummed around, and began drawing up new illustrations for Susan for Tuesday.
Last critique tomorrow!!!
Something funny happened, too. I had to try on my dress so that Muriel could help me assess where to place pins to mark where the hem would eventually go. So I took my dress into the closet to change into it. Muriel shut the door behind me, and guess what she did? She locked me in the closet! (I wasn't mad at all, I just thought it was really funny!) When I finished changing into the dress, I tried opening the door just to make sure, and yes, it was locked. So I knocked and she let me out. Then I stood there while Muriel pinned the dress around my ankles. When she was finished, I went back into the closet to change into my regular clothes. And yes, she locked me in the closet once more (.and it was still funny). Again, I knocked to get out, and she let me out.
Later, I tried on Tenzin's dress and it turned out to be too big in the bust (shocker). (This was also the problem with my dress, so I jokingly remedied it by stuffing my socks in. Then Tenzin brought me some bra cups, so I put those in instead, but there was still room to spare.) Muriel told her that she needed a model with a larger poitrine (as in, much bigger boobs), which is what she had told me for my dress, as well.
At the end of the afternoon class, it was time for the critique, where we had to show our dresses on mannequins. I got my mannequin and tried to put my dress on it. The operative word here being "tried", since it must've shrunk between the initial drapage and the finalized product. (More likely is that I have crappy craftsmanship and sewed too into the body, and/or draped it too tightly to begin with.) When I pulled the dress down over the mannequin's hips, one of the side seams started splitting. (Right after this, Sharon asked me if I was going to iron it-which I actually had earlier in the class. I groaned and was like, "I just got it on the mannequin, don't make me take it off!")
Since I was then the only one ready, Muriel came over to look at mine. She said that she was giving 2 marks, 1 for the idea and concept and 1 for the execution. She said that while my idea was "tres jolie", my execution was "tres mal". I said that since I knew that it was pretty bad, I didn't mind getting marked down for it. She ended up giving me a 16 (out of 20) on creation of the idea, and an 11 (the lowest passing score) for execution. She then averaged them together, and that gave me a 14.5.
After class, I did a few errands on Saint-Michel and went into Gibert Joseph (where I got my Moliere book and the macaroon cookbook) to browse around. I was in the theater section, and saw an interesting book. It was called "Theatre des Femmes a l'Ancien Regime", specifically the 17th century. I read the back, and it talked about the fact that in that time period, many women wrote plays that were published and performed in reputable, even fashionable venues. I didn't know about this, since all I'd heard about theater around this time centered around Moliere, Voltaire, Racine and Corneuille. I paged through it, and there were 9 women represented, each having a play. I'm thinking about going back and getting it. (At this rate, Mom and Dad shouldn't be surprised if I come back with an extra suitcase of books.)
Thursday was Flat Pattern with Anne, and the day of another critique. That morning, we were allowed to work on whatever we needed to finish, and I worked on my visite, the costume sample made up in muslin. I pressed it, and then added a flounce for the collar (since we had to use something that was included in our sample notebook). After I was finished assembling and attaching that piece, I sewed up the hem, put it on a mannequin and turned it in, along with my sample notebook. Since that took up the morning, I worked on my bag for Jen's class that afternoon. Since I had sewn the details on the front and back panels the previous afternoon, I began attaching the panels for the outside together. After that was done, I began work on the lining. I pinned, traced and cut out the pieces and sewed the front, back and side panels together. (I had remembered that Jen had told me to leave a hole in the bottom to "pull it through" later), so I decided not to attach the bottom. I couldn't figure out the best way to attach the lining to the facing, so I called it a day and left.
(At one point, she asked me what a good grade was considered to be in the U.S., so I explained the 100-point scale to her. I just said that if you multiplied any numerical grade on the European 20-point scale by 5, that would be the equivalent of an American grade.)
I needed to go get some bristol paper and thread, so I took the metro to BHV. Since it wasn't too hot (actually, it's been downright cool these past few days), I decided to walk back. I did go to Gibert Joseph and get that book on 17th-century female playwrights, so I'm excited to read it (and build my vocabulary). I got back here, ate dinner and bummed around, and began drawing up new illustrations for Susan for Tuesday.
Last critique tomorrow!!!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Weekend and 2/5ths of Critique Week
Saturday morning, I got up early and went in to the studio. I worked on my bag, and wanted to finish it that day. (The original plan was the finish it and then do the neckline and arm-holes of my dress.) It took longer than I had anticipated, because I was using silk for the lining and it was slipping around when I was sewing it up. I eventually got that done and then worked on attaching it to the inside of my bag. The trouble came when I attempted to put the top-side pieces at a certain angle, and it wasn't working. I ended up having to do some sewing on the outside so that no raw edges would appear on the outside. I then spent a few attaching the zipper (my awesome brass zipper).
I finished the bag completely around 5 pm. I decided not to work on my dress that day, since I had been in the lab since around 10 that morning and needed a break that was longer than lunch. So I went back to my room and lounged around, not doing anything too special.
Sunday was another workday. That day, I spent my time painting my beachwear and handbag illustrations for Susan for Tuesday. Seriously. That's all I did. Well, I also put together my Art History presentation on Roy Lictenstein (he's the guy who did the comic-panel paintings, I'm sure you've seen them) coinciding with the Golden Age of comics. But I only spent about an hour on that.
I was boring this past weekend.
Monday started off our lovely Critique Week (I believe I'm the only one who's calling it that, since I'm just that creative). In Sewing, we worked on our dresses the entire time. I started off basting a side seam in preparation for putting in a zipper. Before I finished with this, however, Muriel caught sight of what I was doing and told me that I needed to sew up the side first and then put the zipper in (while I clearly thought it was the other way around). So I sewed it up until the point where the bottom of the zipper would hit, and then began basting the zipper in. In the afternoon section, I finished that and began sewing in the zipper (with my thread that matches the dress). I didn't get too far before it was time for Art History.
In Art History, we all did our presentations. It took longer than usual, because something was wrong with Agnes's computer. (She kept having to restart it whenever we switched using computers.) I eventually presented, and I was just about the only person who didn't read directly off of my slides. (That's partly because I had short-and-sweet bullet points instead of sentences, and I knew my subject matter pretty well, I guess.) After I was finished presenting, Agnes (who was sitting in front of me, while I was using her computer) turned around and told me that I had done a good job and asked me if I had enjoyed researching the topic (to which I replied that, yes, I had).
(Oh, I forgot to add something: That afternoon in Muriel's class, Anne came in. She had told us the previous week that she was going to be teaching draping to a group of students from Missouri, but she would be teaching upstairs. So we were a bit confused as to why she needed to come down to our room. To my surprise, she made a beeline for me at my spot and asked to borrow me for a minute, explaining that a student had asked her a question that she wasn't sure of, and she wanted me to translate. So I followed her upstairs and met the girl, who had a very burning question to ask: no, not one of fashion, but inquiring where to buy hairdryers and straighteners with the proper voltage amount. And here I had worried for a minute that I would be out of my league, not knowing how to translate technical draping terms! So I translated, and Anne answered the question to their satisfaction. Then, one of the girls asked where I was from-maybe thinking that I was European or something, since when I told them that I was American, they seemed a bit surprised. Then, when I went back downstairs, Liz asked what Anne wanted, and when I told her the question, she was like, "They're only here for 10 days, why bother?")
That night, I put together my quilting samples and then went to bed. Again, very boring for the folks at home.
Tuesday was the Susan critique, the most stressful one of the week. Amazingly, we all got to class before it started. (We also beat Susan there, but that was hardly a shock, since that happens every week.) I put my stuff out, and a couple of people told me that they liked my beachwear illustrations. Then Susan came in, and soon realized that she didn't have her glasses with her. She began asking if anyone had their (near-sighted) glasses on them, and if so, could she borrow them for class? As it turned out, she was out of luck, since everyone who had their contacts in that day also happened to be far-sighted. (In the end, she just had to hold everything close to her face and squint.) Then we did the usual thing, of going around to each person's table, looking at their work and listening to Susan's comments. After it transpired that the first couple of people didn't finish their dresses (and she nearly had mini heart-attacks for each), she calmed down since that was the case for everyone save for Ashley and Liz. For me, she wanted to me to attempt to attach the lining of my bag at the one place I was unable to. She loved my flats (as has happened before), and was not too impressed with my illustrations, saying they were too fluid and should be graphic like my flats. (She basically told me just to trace my flats and insert body parts into it, and I'd be fine. So I'll be redoing those before the jury next Wednesday.) She also looked at my dress, and amazingly, did not comment on the crappy craftsmanship. Instead, she focused on my drawing (that I had recycled from the last project, wondering why my dress didn't flow out from the knees like the drawing. I told her that Anne and I had tried to work on it, but apparently it was unsuccessful. (Ashley told me later that it could have appeared to be straight simply because I had it on a hanger and not on the mannequin, which is entirely possible.) After she was done with mine, Tu came up and to me and told me not to worry about my illustrations, since Susan's tough like that, so that was sweet.
When we were done looking at everyone's things, she sent us out so that she could figure out our grades. We ended up staying out there for close to an hour (probably because Susan had to take so many breaks from squinting her eyes). I first talked with Sophia about our French test later that day, and then sat with Liz, Andrea and Rikard for awhile. At one point, I went into the foyer and talked with Tu and Tenzin. (Tenzin had come in late and presented her stuff one-on-one to Susan, so she had seen everyone's work. She told me that my illustrations were really good, that she had seen that I had gotten a 16 or 17-out of 20.)
About 12:10 pm, Susan called us back up to class, and told us that she had taken our grades and that we'd get them at the jury (oh, the suspense...). She told us that we'd all really improved over the semester and that she was very proud of all of us. Then, after saying that we couldn't get anything accomplished in 45 minutes, she released us!
I got back to the apartment and promptly took a nap. After eating lunch, I studied some French and went to take the test. I saw some of our class studying outside, and so I joined them until Nolwenn arrived and we went down to the basement to take the written part of the test. It was pretty straightforward, since we were told exactly what would be on it ahead of time (and, lo and behold, it was all there). It was your basic definitions, writing, grammar and vocabulary. Nolwenn was walking around and looking at whichever part we were working on, and giving us hints if we had gotten something incorrect. About halfway through the test, she told us that a section she had previously told us not to do would be extra credit. This section was a written section where we used the vocabulary for love and imagined a love-at-first-sight scenario. Nolwenn had written "like Nicholas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni", so I decided to take a stab at that particular one. I wrote that Nick met Carla at a state ceremonie, and he fell in love with her while dancing with his wife Cecilia. Later, he asked his good friend Dominique Villepin (also the mayor of Paris) to introduce them, and he knew from then on that his life was changed. They got married in February 2008, but only after he divorced Cecilia. (I kind of amused myself writing this. Incidentally, while I was writing part of this, Nolwenn was reading my page over my shoulder. I wasn't sure if she was reading that section or the one before it, but I was still amused.) After we were all finished, we went outside for the oral part. We discussed the new gay marriage law in California, and some good points were brought up. Nolwenn also asked Doha the story of how she came to remove her hijab, and she told us that she had been thinking about it for awhile and then just decided to go through with it after talking it through with her husband and some other people. So that was cool.
After class, I went to Gibert Joseph, and picked up that macaroon cookbook I'd been wanting for awhile. (I was just in time, since it was the last one!) I also got a tart citron to eat for dessert. It was another boring night of work for me. I finished drawing up my sketches for Jen's accessories project. (I still have to paint in my Yohji sketches, as well as make my clutch bag.)
For those interested in keeping score at home (and winning fabulous prizes!), here's the rest of the schedule for Critique Week: Wednesday is Sewing (Muriel looks at how well-made to haute-couture techniques our dresses are), Thursday is Pattern and Draping (Anne looks at our dress, our costume sample with an added decoration, and our notebook of technical samples) and Friday is Stylism (Jen looks at our accessories project, which consists of drawings of bags and shoes, as well as our made bag. This is in addition to whatever Yohji corrections we had. For me, this includes the 15 sketches and "volume study", which is everything for that project.).
Should be fun.
I finished the bag completely around 5 pm. I decided not to work on my dress that day, since I had been in the lab since around 10 that morning and needed a break that was longer than lunch. So I went back to my room and lounged around, not doing anything too special.
Sunday was another workday. That day, I spent my time painting my beachwear and handbag illustrations for Susan for Tuesday. Seriously. That's all I did. Well, I also put together my Art History presentation on Roy Lictenstein (he's the guy who did the comic-panel paintings, I'm sure you've seen them) coinciding with the Golden Age of comics. But I only spent about an hour on that.
I was boring this past weekend.
Monday started off our lovely Critique Week (I believe I'm the only one who's calling it that, since I'm just that creative). In Sewing, we worked on our dresses the entire time. I started off basting a side seam in preparation for putting in a zipper. Before I finished with this, however, Muriel caught sight of what I was doing and told me that I needed to sew up the side first and then put the zipper in (while I clearly thought it was the other way around). So I sewed it up until the point where the bottom of the zipper would hit, and then began basting the zipper in. In the afternoon section, I finished that and began sewing in the zipper (with my thread that matches the dress). I didn't get too far before it was time for Art History.
In Art History, we all did our presentations. It took longer than usual, because something was wrong with Agnes's computer. (She kept having to restart it whenever we switched using computers.) I eventually presented, and I was just about the only person who didn't read directly off of my slides. (That's partly because I had short-and-sweet bullet points instead of sentences, and I knew my subject matter pretty well, I guess.) After I was finished presenting, Agnes (who was sitting in front of me, while I was using her computer) turned around and told me that I had done a good job and asked me if I had enjoyed researching the topic (to which I replied that, yes, I had).
(Oh, I forgot to add something: That afternoon in Muriel's class, Anne came in. She had told us the previous week that she was going to be teaching draping to a group of students from Missouri, but she would be teaching upstairs. So we were a bit confused as to why she needed to come down to our room. To my surprise, she made a beeline for me at my spot and asked to borrow me for a minute, explaining that a student had asked her a question that she wasn't sure of, and she wanted me to translate. So I followed her upstairs and met the girl, who had a very burning question to ask: no, not one of fashion, but inquiring where to buy hairdryers and straighteners with the proper voltage amount. And here I had worried for a minute that I would be out of my league, not knowing how to translate technical draping terms! So I translated, and Anne answered the question to their satisfaction. Then, one of the girls asked where I was from-maybe thinking that I was European or something, since when I told them that I was American, they seemed a bit surprised. Then, when I went back downstairs, Liz asked what Anne wanted, and when I told her the question, she was like, "They're only here for 10 days, why bother?")
That night, I put together my quilting samples and then went to bed. Again, very boring for the folks at home.
Tuesday was the Susan critique, the most stressful one of the week. Amazingly, we all got to class before it started. (We also beat Susan there, but that was hardly a shock, since that happens every week.) I put my stuff out, and a couple of people told me that they liked my beachwear illustrations. Then Susan came in, and soon realized that she didn't have her glasses with her. She began asking if anyone had their (near-sighted) glasses on them, and if so, could she borrow them for class? As it turned out, she was out of luck, since everyone who had their contacts in that day also happened to be far-sighted. (In the end, she just had to hold everything close to her face and squint.) Then we did the usual thing, of going around to each person's table, looking at their work and listening to Susan's comments. After it transpired that the first couple of people didn't finish their dresses (and she nearly had mini heart-attacks for each), she calmed down since that was the case for everyone save for Ashley and Liz. For me, she wanted to me to attempt to attach the lining of my bag at the one place I was unable to. She loved my flats (as has happened before), and was not too impressed with my illustrations, saying they were too fluid and should be graphic like my flats. (She basically told me just to trace my flats and insert body parts into it, and I'd be fine. So I'll be redoing those before the jury next Wednesday.) She also looked at my dress, and amazingly, did not comment on the crappy craftsmanship. Instead, she focused on my drawing (that I had recycled from the last project, wondering why my dress didn't flow out from the knees like the drawing. I told her that Anne and I had tried to work on it, but apparently it was unsuccessful. (Ashley told me later that it could have appeared to be straight simply because I had it on a hanger and not on the mannequin, which is entirely possible.) After she was done with mine, Tu came up and to me and told me not to worry about my illustrations, since Susan's tough like that, so that was sweet.
When we were done looking at everyone's things, she sent us out so that she could figure out our grades. We ended up staying out there for close to an hour (probably because Susan had to take so many breaks from squinting her eyes). I first talked with Sophia about our French test later that day, and then sat with Liz, Andrea and Rikard for awhile. At one point, I went into the foyer and talked with Tu and Tenzin. (Tenzin had come in late and presented her stuff one-on-one to Susan, so she had seen everyone's work. She told me that my illustrations were really good, that she had seen that I had gotten a 16 or 17-out of 20.)
About 12:10 pm, Susan called us back up to class, and told us that she had taken our grades and that we'd get them at the jury (oh, the suspense...). She told us that we'd all really improved over the semester and that she was very proud of all of us. Then, after saying that we couldn't get anything accomplished in 45 minutes, she released us!
I got back to the apartment and promptly took a nap. After eating lunch, I studied some French and went to take the test. I saw some of our class studying outside, and so I joined them until Nolwenn arrived and we went down to the basement to take the written part of the test. It was pretty straightforward, since we were told exactly what would be on it ahead of time (and, lo and behold, it was all there). It was your basic definitions, writing, grammar and vocabulary. Nolwenn was walking around and looking at whichever part we were working on, and giving us hints if we had gotten something incorrect. About halfway through the test, she told us that a section she had previously told us not to do would be extra credit. This section was a written section where we used the vocabulary for love and imagined a love-at-first-sight scenario. Nolwenn had written "like Nicholas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni", so I decided to take a stab at that particular one. I wrote that Nick met Carla at a state ceremonie, and he fell in love with her while dancing with his wife Cecilia. Later, he asked his good friend Dominique Villepin (also the mayor of Paris) to introduce them, and he knew from then on that his life was changed. They got married in February 2008, but only after he divorced Cecilia. (I kind of amused myself writing this. Incidentally, while I was writing part of this, Nolwenn was reading my page over my shoulder. I wasn't sure if she was reading that section or the one before it, but I was still amused.) After we were all finished, we went outside for the oral part. We discussed the new gay marriage law in California, and some good points were brought up. Nolwenn also asked Doha the story of how she came to remove her hijab, and she told us that she had been thinking about it for awhile and then just decided to go through with it after talking it through with her husband and some other people. So that was cool.
After class, I went to Gibert Joseph, and picked up that macaroon cookbook I'd been wanting for awhile. (I was just in time, since it was the last one!) I also got a tart citron to eat for dessert. It was another boring night of work for me. I finished drawing up my sketches for Jen's accessories project. (I still have to paint in my Yohji sketches, as well as make my clutch bag.)
For those interested in keeping score at home (and winning fabulous prizes!), here's the rest of the schedule for Critique Week: Wednesday is Sewing (Muriel looks at how well-made to haute-couture techniques our dresses are), Thursday is Pattern and Draping (Anne looks at our dress, our costume sample with an added decoration, and our notebook of technical samples) and Friday is Stylism (Jen looks at our accessories project, which consists of drawings of bags and shoes, as well as our made bag. This is in addition to whatever Yohji corrections we had. For me, this includes the 15 sketches and "volume study", which is everything for that project.).
Should be fun.
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Remaining 4/5ths of the Week
Tuesday morning brought Susan, as usual. First, she talked with everyone individually about their quilting. I showed her my 4 pieces and she OK'd them. Then, in talking about constructing my bag, she suggested that I quilt the sides, as well as add a diamante charm to the zipper. I was thinking that I couldn't possibly have time to quilt more, as well as finish the bag. I said that if I did one of the two, it would be a diamante charm. (She didn't really respond, but that might've been because she didn't hear me.) In the next round of visits, I showed her my 3o sketches for the beachwear. She told me that I was the first person she had seen who had done 'really cute" separates. She signed off on the required 8 outifts, and helped me develop some concepts further. At the end of our meeting, she asked me how long I had been doing fashion design. I wasn't sure exactly what she was getting at, so I said that I had been drawing since I was 4, informally designing fashion since I was 12, and formally studying it for nearly 3 years. She simply nodded and said nothing more (so I don't know if that was a good thing or bad or what).
In betwee, I zipped out to Gibert Joseph. Since I had seen only 2 copies left of Moliere's complete works, I wanted to be sure to get a copy before waiting any longer. Fortunately, both copies were still there, so I looked around before buying it. (The guy who was checking it out did ask me if it was for me. Maybe a lot of old-professor types had been buying the other copies.)
After that was French class. We talked about the vocabulary of friendship, an went over what would be on next week's test (vocabulary and lots of grammar). Something interesting also happened: One of the girls in our class, Doha is Egyptian and wears the hijab daily. Well, that day she came up to our table outside and I didn't recognize her. This was because she wasn't wearing her scarf, and wasn't covered up anymore. So she was wearing a bright blue top, and denim capris (showin' some leg). Her long, black hair was held back with a white headband with a bow. We all exclaimed over her different appearance, and asked why she had decided to change, and she said, "for a lot of reasons". But it was really interesting to see.
That night was the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss concert, so I got ready and went over a little after 7 pm. It was held at the Grand Rex theater in the 2nd arrondissement. (I got a little confused when I got out of the suggested metro station at Grands Boulevards, and I was in the 9th. But I followed the signs and soon enough, I was in the 2nd.) I went inside and bought some water (what was weird was that the seller kept the cap), and went to go find a seat. It was free seating, and fortunately, not too many people had arrived yet, so I was able to get a good seat in the middle, pretty far up. I just relaxed until 8 pm, when the opening act started. His name was Scott Williams, and he was from Ireland or Scotland (I can't remember which, obviously). He played some bluegrass, and some were good. He ended at 8:30 pm, and then there was an intermission.
The show really started at 9 pm! The lights went down, and the band began playing "Rich Woman", the first song off their album "Raising Sand". During the instrumental beginning, Krauss and Plant entered from opposite sides of the stage (she from stage left, he from stage right). As they crossed each other about center stage, they briefly touched hands, as in for good luck. They then took places downstage center, each at a microphone beside each other. After that song was over, Plant welcomed everyone to the show in French. (Krauss didn't talk during the entire show, and Plant explained it by saying that it was her first time in Paris.) They played most of the songs off "Raising Sand". (The only one I noticed missing was "Stick with Me, Baby".) With some songs, depending on who had a lead vocal, either Plant or Krauss would either go offstage or upstage near the band. For "Fortune Teller", it was just Plant onstage, until the chorus about 2/3rds of the way through, when Krauss came out to sing her part.
In about the middle of the show, they introduced a guest as by saying that he produced the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" album (which, I believe, still is the best-selling soundtrack). I guessed who it was, and got excited! Sure enough, it was T-Bone Burnett! (That guy is TALL in person. Admittedly, I've never seen a photo or any other depiction of him, so I didn't have nay preconceived notions about his physical self. But seeing him next to Plant, he has some height on him.) He played some songs with them, and hung around in the upstage area near the band for the rest of the time. At one point, Burnett said that although he didn't know French, he did know Creole, before launching into "Laissez les Bons Temps Roulez". Krauss sang "Down to the River to Pray", from the "O Brother" soundtrack, and she sang into one microphone, and Plant, Burnett and the bassist (I think) sang into the one next to it. They ended the show with "Gone, Gone, Gone", and exited the stage. There was an immediate standing ovation, and they came back on and performed 3 more songs for an encore.
I managed to get some pictures (even though I was pretty far away). In the majority of them, Kruass is turned toward her band (usually the guitarist) or playing her fiddle, and Plant is in mid-pose while singing. I got some good ones of T-Bone Burnett as he was singing, as well as some with all 3 of them. For those fashion-conscious curious to know, Krauss wore a black, short-sleeved v-neck dress with either thigh-high black boots or black tights with black heels (I was too far away to definitively tell), and Plant had a gray shirt with raspberry-colored pants. T Bone Burnett wore a suit with a white shirt. A few times, Plant almost got into some Led-Zeppelin-esque wails, but didn't give in to the urge (you can hear those on some of the songs on the album). Bottom line: FANTASTIC show, and I'm so glad I went! (In case I'm in North Carolina this summer, I know they're playing the Raleigh RBC Center on July 11th. Any takers?)
The next day (Wednesday) was Sewing with Muriel. She had me resew certain portions of my panels on my dress, as well as press it properly. I ended up spending a great deal of time ironing that thing. (Near the end of class, I had walked over to the window for a minute to get a break from the iron, and Sharon said, "Sarah, haven't you been ironing for, like, half an hour?" I said, "I've been over there most of the day, where've you been?") That took up the entire day, and that night I started drawing up some sketches and flats for Susan that were due on Tuesday.
I also talked with my cousin Hilary, who's coming to visit me
Thursday was Patterns with Anne. She gave us the period to do what we needed, so I decided to get done my technical samples (since the last class with samples was held at the same time as my French class, and I wasn't there). I got all of my samples done, and began organizing them together (attaching them to paper squares, putting them in plastic sleeves), which took most of the class.
After class, I had a lot of errands to do. I went first to Marche Saint-Pierre, for all my fabric needs. I needed a brass zipper about 32 cm long, so I was on the lookout for a mercerie, which sells more interior decorating things. I found one pretty quickly, choosing a zipper that was 35 cm long (since I like to be prepared and have more than needed). Then, I went to Reine and bought red and black canvas in preparation for making Jen's bag. After that, I headed across to Dreyfus where I got some lining for Susan's bag. Then, I took the metro to BHV, where I purchased more bristol paper, as well as black and red thread. I got a vanilla macaroon at Paul nearby, and decided to walk back since it was still early. I also stopped at Monoprix to get the requisite milk, as well as breakfast stuff. That night, I made it my goal to draw up half my illustrations and/or flats for Susan. (We have a collection of 8 beachwear things, so one thing per page for illustrations, and the same for flats is 16 pages.) I accomplished that, and then went to bed.
Friday morning, Jen had me redo my pattern for my clutch, making it larger. She explained to me how to construct it, including something about leaving a hole in the lining. It was a bit confusing to me, but she told me to get as far as I could and let her know before next Friday (when it's due) if/when I had any problems. I spent the rest of class tracing and cutting my pattern pieces out.
I returned that afternoon after lunch to work on my bag for Susan's class, Beliz and I sharing a sewing machine. Around 2 pm, Liz and Ashley came in and they asked me if Andrea had come back to the room that night. I said that I thought she had been in their room, but that turned out not to be the case. They talked for a bit about calling her, and departed sooner after, presumably to do so. (She turned up in the studio later, so she was fine.) I got most of the outer bottom of the bag finished, and layed out pieces for the top, where I'd attach the zipper. I also cut out pieces for the lining, and began sewing some of those together. My productivity was halted around 5 pm, when I ran out of thread while winding a bobbin. So I left and made another trip to BHV to get more thread, as well as plastic sleeves for my technical notebook.
(Something interesting: As in any large store, there's always announcements begin made over the speakers about deals and such. Well, yesterday, I was taking the elevator down, and saw a man in front of me, holding a microphone and speaking into it. It turned out that he was the one making the announcements while walking all around the store, as opposed to sitting in some isolated room! So that was pretty cool. I actually passed him on the kitchenwares floor while taking the escalator, and I was still amused.)
Tonight, I ate dinner and drew up the remaining 8 flats and illustrations. I'm planning to get up early tomorrow to work in the studio. Hopefully, I can get everything done (or near enough) for next week.
In betwee, I zipped out to Gibert Joseph. Since I had seen only 2 copies left of Moliere's complete works, I wanted to be sure to get a copy before waiting any longer. Fortunately, both copies were still there, so I looked around before buying it. (The guy who was checking it out did ask me if it was for me. Maybe a lot of old-professor types had been buying the other copies.)
After that was French class. We talked about the vocabulary of friendship, an went over what would be on next week's test (vocabulary and lots of grammar). Something interesting also happened: One of the girls in our class, Doha is Egyptian and wears the hijab daily. Well, that day she came up to our table outside and I didn't recognize her. This was because she wasn't wearing her scarf, and wasn't covered up anymore. So she was wearing a bright blue top, and denim capris (showin' some leg). Her long, black hair was held back with a white headband with a bow. We all exclaimed over her different appearance, and asked why she had decided to change, and she said, "for a lot of reasons". But it was really interesting to see.
That night was the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss concert, so I got ready and went over a little after 7 pm. It was held at the Grand Rex theater in the 2nd arrondissement. (I got a little confused when I got out of the suggested metro station at Grands Boulevards, and I was in the 9th. But I followed the signs and soon enough, I was in the 2nd.) I went inside and bought some water (what was weird was that the seller kept the cap), and went to go find a seat. It was free seating, and fortunately, not too many people had arrived yet, so I was able to get a good seat in the middle, pretty far up. I just relaxed until 8 pm, when the opening act started. His name was Scott Williams, and he was from Ireland or Scotland (I can't remember which, obviously). He played some bluegrass, and some were good. He ended at 8:30 pm, and then there was an intermission.
The show really started at 9 pm! The lights went down, and the band began playing "Rich Woman", the first song off their album "Raising Sand". During the instrumental beginning, Krauss and Plant entered from opposite sides of the stage (she from stage left, he from stage right). As they crossed each other about center stage, they briefly touched hands, as in for good luck. They then took places downstage center, each at a microphone beside each other. After that song was over, Plant welcomed everyone to the show in French. (Krauss didn't talk during the entire show, and Plant explained it by saying that it was her first time in Paris.) They played most of the songs off "Raising Sand". (The only one I noticed missing was "Stick with Me, Baby".) With some songs, depending on who had a lead vocal, either Plant or Krauss would either go offstage or upstage near the band. For "Fortune Teller", it was just Plant onstage, until the chorus about 2/3rds of the way through, when Krauss came out to sing her part.
In about the middle of the show, they introduced a guest as by saying that he produced the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" album (which, I believe, still is the best-selling soundtrack). I guessed who it was, and got excited! Sure enough, it was T-Bone Burnett! (That guy is TALL in person. Admittedly, I've never seen a photo or any other depiction of him, so I didn't have nay preconceived notions about his physical self. But seeing him next to Plant, he has some height on him.) He played some songs with them, and hung around in the upstage area near the band for the rest of the time. At one point, Burnett said that although he didn't know French, he did know Creole, before launching into "Laissez les Bons Temps Roulez". Krauss sang "Down to the River to Pray", from the "O Brother" soundtrack, and she sang into one microphone, and Plant, Burnett and the bassist (I think) sang into the one next to it. They ended the show with "Gone, Gone, Gone", and exited the stage. There was an immediate standing ovation, and they came back on and performed 3 more songs for an encore.
I managed to get some pictures (even though I was pretty far away). In the majority of them, Kruass is turned toward her band (usually the guitarist) or playing her fiddle, and Plant is in mid-pose while singing. I got some good ones of T-Bone Burnett as he was singing, as well as some with all 3 of them. For those fashion-conscious curious to know, Krauss wore a black, short-sleeved v-neck dress with either thigh-high black boots or black tights with black heels (I was too far away to definitively tell), and Plant had a gray shirt with raspberry-colored pants. T Bone Burnett wore a suit with a white shirt. A few times, Plant almost got into some Led-Zeppelin-esque wails, but didn't give in to the urge (you can hear those on some of the songs on the album). Bottom line: FANTASTIC show, and I'm so glad I went! (In case I'm in North Carolina this summer, I know they're playing the Raleigh RBC Center on July 11th. Any takers?)
The next day (Wednesday) was Sewing with Muriel. She had me resew certain portions of my panels on my dress, as well as press it properly. I ended up spending a great deal of time ironing that thing. (Near the end of class, I had walked over to the window for a minute to get a break from the iron, and Sharon said, "Sarah, haven't you been ironing for, like, half an hour?" I said, "I've been over there most of the day, where've you been?") That took up the entire day, and that night I started drawing up some sketches and flats for Susan that were due on Tuesday.
I also talked with my cousin Hilary, who's coming to visit me
Thursday was Patterns with Anne. She gave us the period to do what we needed, so I decided to get done my technical samples (since the last class with samples was held at the same time as my French class, and I wasn't there). I got all of my samples done, and began organizing them together (attaching them to paper squares, putting them in plastic sleeves), which took most of the class.
After class, I had a lot of errands to do. I went first to Marche Saint-Pierre, for all my fabric needs. I needed a brass zipper about 32 cm long, so I was on the lookout for a mercerie, which sells more interior decorating things. I found one pretty quickly, choosing a zipper that was 35 cm long (since I like to be prepared and have more than needed). Then, I went to Reine and bought red and black canvas in preparation for making Jen's bag. After that, I headed across to Dreyfus where I got some lining for Susan's bag. Then, I took the metro to BHV, where I purchased more bristol paper, as well as black and red thread. I got a vanilla macaroon at Paul nearby, and decided to walk back since it was still early. I also stopped at Monoprix to get the requisite milk, as well as breakfast stuff. That night, I made it my goal to draw up half my illustrations and/or flats for Susan. (We have a collection of 8 beachwear things, so one thing per page for illustrations, and the same for flats is 16 pages.) I accomplished that, and then went to bed.
Friday morning, Jen had me redo my pattern for my clutch, making it larger. She explained to me how to construct it, including something about leaving a hole in the lining. It was a bit confusing to me, but she told me to get as far as I could and let her know before next Friday (when it's due) if/when I had any problems. I spent the rest of class tracing and cutting my pattern pieces out.
I returned that afternoon after lunch to work on my bag for Susan's class, Beliz and I sharing a sewing machine. Around 2 pm, Liz and Ashley came in and they asked me if Andrea had come back to the room that night. I said that I thought she had been in their room, but that turned out not to be the case. They talked for a bit about calling her, and departed sooner after, presumably to do so. (She turned up in the studio later, so she was fine.) I got most of the outer bottom of the bag finished, and layed out pieces for the top, where I'd attach the zipper. I also cut out pieces for the lining, and began sewing some of those together. My productivity was halted around 5 pm, when I ran out of thread while winding a bobbin. So I left and made another trip to BHV to get more thread, as well as plastic sleeves for my technical notebook.
(Something interesting: As in any large store, there's always announcements begin made over the speakers about deals and such. Well, yesterday, I was taking the elevator down, and saw a man in front of me, holding a microphone and speaking into it. It turned out that he was the one making the announcements while walking all around the store, as opposed to sitting in some isolated room! So that was pretty cool. I actually passed him on the kitchenwares floor while taking the escalator, and I was still amused.)
Tonight, I ate dinner and drew up the remaining 8 flats and illustrations. I'm planning to get up early tomorrow to work in the studio. Hopefully, I can get everything done (or near enough) for next week.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday (and the Malaysian Gala!) and Monday
Sunday was another day in the fashion lab. For the first hour, I worked on the volume study that I was supposed to redo for Jen's class (it had been due with the Yohji project). I ended up cutting out two assymmetrical strips of paper, and then pinning them to the mannequin in a way that resembled stair-steps. (Incidentally, it was close to what Jen had been trying to suggest to me to do. Let's hope she likes these better than than my pinned-down attempts at paper cubes I turned in for the Yohji Project:Part 1.) After that, I spent about 4 hours pinning together and sewing up the many curved pieces my dress has. I got the entire front and back sewn up. Sharon happened to come in and was pretty impressed (since she had predicted earlier in the week that I wouldn't finish).
I finished up around 3 pm, so that I could get ready for the Malaysian Embassy Gala that night! I took a nap, showered and got gorgeous. I wore a bronze halter-neck dress, with pleating down the bust and a flounce running down the center front. I went to Nisa's room about 6:30 pm. Not only was she getting ready, but Redza and two other friends of his from LeMans, Fairuz and Changhan, were there as well. So I just sat at the table and talked with Nisa as she curled her hair, and the guys did various things. The cab came to get us at 7 pm, and it was about a 20 minute ride down to the eastern portion of the Seine, where our boat was. We walked a little way out, and finally the guys recognized some other people from the Embassy, so we all stood around and talked and took pictures while waiting to board the boat. (We were easily the best dressed people there, since everyone else was sporting the basic jeans/shorts and tee shirts. We were definitely meriting glances as people walked by.)
We boarded the boat a little after 8 pm, and were called down to the lower level (where the dining room was) soon after that. As we waited for dinner to officially start, we talked and took pictures and generally relaxed. There was a short welcome speech, and then we began with an appetizer while the boat pushed off. Our appetizer was a triangular crispy shell, with beef, spices and cut carrots inside. (It was really good, I finished the whole thing.) While waiting for the main course, we chatted with the other people at the table, with Nisa, Redza and Fairuz occasionally switching into Malay. (This is where I smiled, nodded and laughed when everyone else did.) I also talked with the guy sitting next to me, who was French and of Vietnamese origin. It was pretty interesting. Around this time, dinner came out! It was chicken in some really spicy sauce, served with coconut rice. It was all really good, but I wasn't used to the spiciness, especially since there was only orange juice and not much water to down it with. (I knew I probably wasn't going to eat the entire thing, but I was still pacing myself with a bite of chicken and then a forkful of rice. I did manage most of the chicken, though. Fairuz seemed to be especially impressed with me, since he had warned me that the food was going to be spicy. But I think I gained some respect with eating all of that appetizer. The whole time eating that main dish, I was thinking, "OK, I haven't grown up with this, so obviously I can't play at the same level in one night than they can, having done so throughout their lives".)
After dinner, there were presentations of diplomas for the graduates, who were from all over France. There was also a drawing for prizes. Fairuz and I talked, and he joked about how it was all fixed. Incidentally, he happened to win the next drawing! He came back to his seat with a gold rectangular box, and Changhan took it from him and shook it. Then he just started opening it, and it turned out to be a lamp from IKEA.
Afterwards, we were invited to the top deck for cocktail and enjoyed the view. We all hung out, joked around and took pictures. I talked with Fairuz for a bit and also Chunghan, and it was really interesting. After a while, I went to find Nisa and hung out with her while she and some friends ate some leftovers.
When the boat docked, we got off and took a taxi back to the apartment building. I hung out in the room for a bit, and then went to bed.
Monday was a public holiday, but not for me. It was all about the embroidery. I had 4 panels to do, and I had left those for last because the method they required was a lot less time-consuming than the one used for the first 2 panels. I ended up finishing around 3:30 pm, so I decided to go see the Tour Eiffel! (This was to balance out the fact that I had seen it at night, but not by day.) I took the metro there and walked around the side that faced the river, as well as Trocadero in the 16th arrondissement. (Now I've seen it from both sides!) I walked under it, and up and down the promenade, getting pictures of it as well as the Ecole Militaire, which it faces. I then strolled back along the Seine, stopping in Monoprix for some groceries. That night, I drew up some sketches for Susan. I drew swimsuits (since we're doing beachwear), dresses/cover-ups, shorts, pants, skirts and tops. I had 30 sketches, when we only needed 10, of which we'd (or rather, Susan would) choose 8.
More updates to come, as usual...
I finished up around 3 pm, so that I could get ready for the Malaysian Embassy Gala that night! I took a nap, showered and got gorgeous. I wore a bronze halter-neck dress, with pleating down the bust and a flounce running down the center front. I went to Nisa's room about 6:30 pm. Not only was she getting ready, but Redza and two other friends of his from LeMans, Fairuz and Changhan, were there as well. So I just sat at the table and talked with Nisa as she curled her hair, and the guys did various things. The cab came to get us at 7 pm, and it was about a 20 minute ride down to the eastern portion of the Seine, where our boat was. We walked a little way out, and finally the guys recognized some other people from the Embassy, so we all stood around and talked and took pictures while waiting to board the boat. (We were easily the best dressed people there, since everyone else was sporting the basic jeans/shorts and tee shirts. We were definitely meriting glances as people walked by.)
We boarded the boat a little after 8 pm, and were called down to the lower level (where the dining room was) soon after that. As we waited for dinner to officially start, we talked and took pictures and generally relaxed. There was a short welcome speech, and then we began with an appetizer while the boat pushed off. Our appetizer was a triangular crispy shell, with beef, spices and cut carrots inside. (It was really good, I finished the whole thing.) While waiting for the main course, we chatted with the other people at the table, with Nisa, Redza and Fairuz occasionally switching into Malay. (This is where I smiled, nodded and laughed when everyone else did.) I also talked with the guy sitting next to me, who was French and of Vietnamese origin. It was pretty interesting. Around this time, dinner came out! It was chicken in some really spicy sauce, served with coconut rice. It was all really good, but I wasn't used to the spiciness, especially since there was only orange juice and not much water to down it with. (I knew I probably wasn't going to eat the entire thing, but I was still pacing myself with a bite of chicken and then a forkful of rice. I did manage most of the chicken, though. Fairuz seemed to be especially impressed with me, since he had warned me that the food was going to be spicy. But I think I gained some respect with eating all of that appetizer. The whole time eating that main dish, I was thinking, "OK, I haven't grown up with this, so obviously I can't play at the same level in one night than they can, having done so throughout their lives".)
After dinner, there were presentations of diplomas for the graduates, who were from all over France. There was also a drawing for prizes. Fairuz and I talked, and he joked about how it was all fixed. Incidentally, he happened to win the next drawing! He came back to his seat with a gold rectangular box, and Changhan took it from him and shook it. Then he just started opening it, and it turned out to be a lamp from IKEA.
Afterwards, we were invited to the top deck for cocktail and enjoyed the view. We all hung out, joked around and took pictures. I talked with Fairuz for a bit and also Chunghan, and it was really interesting. After a while, I went to find Nisa and hung out with her while she and some friends ate some leftovers.
When the boat docked, we got off and took a taxi back to the apartment building. I hung out in the room for a bit, and then went to bed.
Monday was a public holiday, but not for me. It was all about the embroidery. I had 4 panels to do, and I had left those for last because the method they required was a lot less time-consuming than the one used for the first 2 panels. I ended up finishing around 3:30 pm, so I decided to go see the Tour Eiffel! (This was to balance out the fact that I had seen it at night, but not by day.) I took the metro there and walked around the side that faced the river, as well as Trocadero in the 16th arrondissement. (Now I've seen it from both sides!) I walked under it, and up and down the promenade, getting pictures of it as well as the Ecole Militaire, which it faces. I then strolled back along the Seine, stopping in Monoprix for some groceries. That night, I drew up some sketches for Susan. I drew swimsuits (since we're doing beachwear), dresses/cover-ups, shorts, pants, skirts and tops. I had 30 sketches, when we only needed 10, of which we'd (or rather, Susan would) choose 8.
More updates to come, as usual...
Monday, May 12, 2008
End of the Week and 1/3 of the Weekend
I've been stalling updating because I've been pretty boring lately. A lot of work and not too much play.
Thursday was another public holiday. (The previous one had been the Fete du Travail, where everyone got off work and school. I think this one was supposed to celebrate the end of WWII in Europe, so to mark it...everyone got off work and school. It's hard to keep track of these when they're marked in the same manner, as well as not having a clear idea of what we're celebrating in the first place.) All I did was work in the fashion lab. Seriously, that was it. (I wasn't alone in this, since Beliz and Ashley were there too.) Tuesday in class, after I told her that Muriel wanted me to outline each and every seam line, Sharon had let me in on another way to get that done: just trace each line so that it appears on the outside (or right side, rather) of each piece. So that was the majority of what I did then, just traced each and every seam line of each and every piece. I got the little ones done first and then the big ones, which took a lot of time, and required me to move them around quite a bit. After that was all done, I started sewing pieces together. By the time I ready to leave (about 5 hours after I had began), I had sewed the top parts of both the front and the back.
Friday was class with Jen. Since I had emailed her earlier in the week with internship interview questions, she asked me how that had went. When class started, she walked around and talked with everyone about how their pattern was coming along and their designs. With my drawings, she approved all of the newer ones, except for the weekend bag. She finally said, "Think of a suitcase". (If she had just said that at the beginning of the project, I would've gotten it that much sooner. Geez, why wait until now, 2 weeks before the project's due date, to bust out that helpful term of identification?) She also had me go down the street to make copies so that I could more effectively (and accurately) make my pattern. I worked on my pattern for the rest of class, cutting out pieces to make the mock-up Jen requested for the next week.
On my way out, I stopped to talk with Peter in the office, asking whether the studio would be open during the weekend (affirmative). Jen was there, and I was asked to tell the others that we'd have class starting at 8 am the next week.
I also got an email from the lady who had interviewed me, saying that they wouldn't be hiring me since they needed someone for May (impossible for me, with a dozen school projects to get done). I was a little upset about it, but oh well.
I spent the rest of the afternoon getting some work done but more relaxing, since I had something big to do that night...go to the ballet!
I had bought a ticket online , and the program was 3 short works, one each by Balanchine, Nuryev and William Forsythe. (I didn't recognize the last name, but I was sold when I was saw Balanchine and more so with Nuryev.) I got dressed up (which I equate with showing respect to the performers), and took the metro to the Opera Bastille, the Opera Garnier's sleeker, more modern younger-generation sister. Since I had reserved a ticket online, an usher directed me to where I needed to pick it up. I found it easily, got my ticket and program and went to take my seat. (My seat was great; it was the last row on the bottom level, against the wall, facing center stage. When I was looking at the plan for buying tickets, I thought I'd be way up in the back, not being able to see anything, but I was in a fantastic area.) While waiting for it to start, I read through the program. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I could read about all of it (save for a couple of unfamiliar words here and there)! I did notice something interesting here (and have previously): The way that the names are written are tweaked a bit, presumably to aid the French population in the pronunciation. For example, Rudolf Nuryev was the choreographer for the middle pieces. In the program (and every piece of publicity I've seen), his last name is spelled "Noureev". His section of the program also mentions Alexander Pushkin (Russian writer with a notoriously beautiful wife), and his name is Alexandre Pouchkine. No surprises on the first name, but I was little thrown off on the last name. I did figure out who they were talking about, but with the Nuryev biography, I had to read through it to make sure it was the same guy. (It kind of reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer buys a car that he thinks was previously owned by Jon Voight-the actor, but was instead owned by John Voight-the nobody.) Balanchine and Forsythe didn't get changed, though. Maybe it's just the really Eastern-European/Russian names. (Then I guess that Anna Pavlova would become Anne Pavlove, or something like that.)
The lights went down, and the usual announcements were made about flash cameras, cell phones, etc. (Again, I was happy to discover that I knew what they were saying. This was big since hearing is not my best way of absorbing and comprehension.) The curtain went up to show 2 dancers, one male and one female, center stage against a blue backdrop. They looked at each other and gracefully ran offstage, and then the curtain went down. I thought it was all part of the act, but then the same announcer came back and said that there were some technical difficulties and that they'd be resuming shortly. After about 5-10 minutes, I guess that everything had turned out OK, since they resumed performing. The piece was Balanchine's "The Four Temperaments" (though I'm pretty sure that all of the temperaments were performed). The dancers performed primarily in formations of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10. It was pretty interesting, but not my favorite. (Clearly, it hasn't stuck that well in my head, since I'm writing this 3 days later). The second piece was a series of extracts from the ballet "Raymonda", choreographed by Nuryev. Apparently the ballet is Eastern-European, or at least set there, given the clues of the music (which sounded a bit like the Mother Russia dance from "The Nutcracker", or the Casse-Noisette, as it's called here) and costumes (lots of red and gold, with the company wearing pleated skirts and boots). The set had a platform running across upstage, with chandelier lights hanging above. This middle section of the 3 favorites was my favorite. The dancing was great, the music was very lively and I really liked the costumes. Another thing was that the program said specifically that it (well, the dances) was/were of Hungarian origin. Being Hungarian and very interested in my heritage, I thought that was pretty cool (since I feel like it's kind of under-represented). I'd love to go to Hungary (and the Ukraine) sometime for a visit and learn more, that'd be so cool. I don't know if I'd be able to find out much about my family, but still, I'd love to go. (I think we were pretty much peasants/farmers/poor folk before coming over here around 1900 or so. I know we have the equivalent of Smith in Hungarian-which would be "Novak", Grandma Homzak's maiden name-running on our side, so I'm not sure how likely it would be to find ancestors. I found that out because when I was about 12, I asked my mom if we were related to Kim Novak, and that entertaining thought was shot down pretty quickly. One thing I do know, if I have kids, and I have a daughter-or more than one-, the one or one of them is getting named something really Slavic. I think Nadia's a good one.)
(My program tells me that "Raymonda" was created specifically for the Opera National Ballet of Paris back in 1983. A homecoming, very cool.)
Then, after the intermission, was the "Artifact Suite", by William Forsythe. This one was easily the most avant-garde. It opened with the entire company standing outlining 3 sides of the stage (except the one that faced the audience), following arm motions made by a woman standing downstage with her back to the audience. In the space between them, 2 couples danced, but not synchornically, which made it a bit hard to follow since I wanted to look at both of them at once. Oh, the dancers were all wearing nude leotards too (although some of them switched to light blue later in the act). There were 2 large lights on stage, shining into the center. There were a bunch of little vignettes, with the dancers changing positions and the lighting changing, sometimes shining through like light through blinds' slats. The dancing here was very kinetic and angular. The whole mood seemed very dystopian and bleak, especially with everyone following a leader.
So, in order of favorite to least of the pieces, my thoughts were the "Raymonda" extracts, "Artifact Suite" and the "Four Temperaments".
I love going to the ballet, and I wish I could more often. (Until now, I hadn't gone for almost 4 years, the last time being when I saw "Coppelia" in Raleigh.) I still wish I'd continued with dancing when we moved to Charlotte, but the 'rents decided to place me in softball (thanks a lot). From what I'm told, I was really shy as a kid (well, I remember that), but when I got on stage for ballet, I wasn't shy at all and did pretty well (which was not exactly the case with softball, the doing-well part) . I wonder sometimes how good I would've gotten had I been allowed to continue. I doubt it would've been principal dancer or anything, but still.
Saturday, I went in to work more on my dress. I actually got the entire front and back finished (which was a feat, considering it was a bunch of sewing curved lines together) after a good 5 hours of working. Afterwards, I went to ask Peter something, and he asked about my interview. I told him that it turned out that someone was needed for May. He then asked me if I thought I'd be able to work AND get all of my work done, and I replied that that was not too likely. He also told me that Muriel was talking with people at Lanvin and Givenchy, so not to totally give up hope here (but it's very cautious hope). So, as always, we'll see what happens...
After that, I went to Monoprix to get food and stopped in Gilbert Joseph to look around. I saw that they one had 2 copies left of the book of Moliere's complete works that I wanted, so I decided to go Tuesday on my lunch break (since it's a public holiday Monday and won't be open). Sunday night was the Malaysian Embassy Gala, but it's getting late, so I'll update that later. (I'm sure you guys are hungrily anticipating reading about it!)
Thursday was another public holiday. (The previous one had been the Fete du Travail, where everyone got off work and school. I think this one was supposed to celebrate the end of WWII in Europe, so to mark it...everyone got off work and school. It's hard to keep track of these when they're marked in the same manner, as well as not having a clear idea of what we're celebrating in the first place.) All I did was work in the fashion lab. Seriously, that was it. (I wasn't alone in this, since Beliz and Ashley were there too.) Tuesday in class, after I told her that Muriel wanted me to outline each and every seam line, Sharon had let me in on another way to get that done: just trace each line so that it appears on the outside (or right side, rather) of each piece. So that was the majority of what I did then, just traced each and every seam line of each and every piece. I got the little ones done first and then the big ones, which took a lot of time, and required me to move them around quite a bit. After that was all done, I started sewing pieces together. By the time I ready to leave (about 5 hours after I had began), I had sewed the top parts of both the front and the back.
Friday was class with Jen. Since I had emailed her earlier in the week with internship interview questions, she asked me how that had went. When class started, she walked around and talked with everyone about how their pattern was coming along and their designs. With my drawings, she approved all of the newer ones, except for the weekend bag. She finally said, "Think of a suitcase". (If she had just said that at the beginning of the project, I would've gotten it that much sooner. Geez, why wait until now, 2 weeks before the project's due date, to bust out that helpful term of identification?) She also had me go down the street to make copies so that I could more effectively (and accurately) make my pattern. I worked on my pattern for the rest of class, cutting out pieces to make the mock-up Jen requested for the next week.
On my way out, I stopped to talk with Peter in the office, asking whether the studio would be open during the weekend (affirmative). Jen was there, and I was asked to tell the others that we'd have class starting at 8 am the next week.
I also got an email from the lady who had interviewed me, saying that they wouldn't be hiring me since they needed someone for May (impossible for me, with a dozen school projects to get done). I was a little upset about it, but oh well.
I spent the rest of the afternoon getting some work done but more relaxing, since I had something big to do that night...go to the ballet!
I had bought a ticket online , and the program was 3 short works, one each by Balanchine, Nuryev and William Forsythe. (I didn't recognize the last name, but I was sold when I was saw Balanchine and more so with Nuryev.) I got dressed up (which I equate with showing respect to the performers), and took the metro to the Opera Bastille, the Opera Garnier's sleeker, more modern younger-generation sister. Since I had reserved a ticket online, an usher directed me to where I needed to pick it up. I found it easily, got my ticket and program and went to take my seat. (My seat was great; it was the last row on the bottom level, against the wall, facing center stage. When I was looking at the plan for buying tickets, I thought I'd be way up in the back, not being able to see anything, but I was in a fantastic area.) While waiting for it to start, I read through the program. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I could read about all of it (save for a couple of unfamiliar words here and there)! I did notice something interesting here (and have previously): The way that the names are written are tweaked a bit, presumably to aid the French population in the pronunciation. For example, Rudolf Nuryev was the choreographer for the middle pieces. In the program (and every piece of publicity I've seen), his last name is spelled "Noureev". His section of the program also mentions Alexander Pushkin (Russian writer with a notoriously beautiful wife), and his name is Alexandre Pouchkine. No surprises on the first name, but I was little thrown off on the last name. I did figure out who they were talking about, but with the Nuryev biography, I had to read through it to make sure it was the same guy. (It kind of reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer buys a car that he thinks was previously owned by Jon Voight-the actor, but was instead owned by John Voight-the nobody.) Balanchine and Forsythe didn't get changed, though. Maybe it's just the really Eastern-European/Russian names. (Then I guess that Anna Pavlova would become Anne Pavlove, or something like that.)
The lights went down, and the usual announcements were made about flash cameras, cell phones, etc. (Again, I was happy to discover that I knew what they were saying. This was big since hearing is not my best way of absorbing and comprehension.) The curtain went up to show 2 dancers, one male and one female, center stage against a blue backdrop. They looked at each other and gracefully ran offstage, and then the curtain went down. I thought it was all part of the act, but then the same announcer came back and said that there were some technical difficulties and that they'd be resuming shortly. After about 5-10 minutes, I guess that everything had turned out OK, since they resumed performing. The piece was Balanchine's "The Four Temperaments" (though I'm pretty sure that all of the temperaments were performed). The dancers performed primarily in formations of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10. It was pretty interesting, but not my favorite. (Clearly, it hasn't stuck that well in my head, since I'm writing this 3 days later). The second piece was a series of extracts from the ballet "Raymonda", choreographed by Nuryev. Apparently the ballet is Eastern-European, or at least set there, given the clues of the music (which sounded a bit like the Mother Russia dance from "The Nutcracker", or the Casse-Noisette, as it's called here) and costumes (lots of red and gold, with the company wearing pleated skirts and boots). The set had a platform running across upstage, with chandelier lights hanging above. This middle section of the 3 favorites was my favorite. The dancing was great, the music was very lively and I really liked the costumes. Another thing was that the program said specifically that it (well, the dances) was/were of Hungarian origin. Being Hungarian and very interested in my heritage, I thought that was pretty cool (since I feel like it's kind of under-represented). I'd love to go to Hungary (and the Ukraine) sometime for a visit and learn more, that'd be so cool. I don't know if I'd be able to find out much about my family, but still, I'd love to go. (I think we were pretty much peasants/farmers/poor folk before coming over here around 1900 or so. I know we have the equivalent of Smith in Hungarian-which would be "Novak", Grandma Homzak's maiden name-running on our side, so I'm not sure how likely it would be to find ancestors. I found that out because when I was about 12, I asked my mom if we were related to Kim Novak, and that entertaining thought was shot down pretty quickly. One thing I do know, if I have kids, and I have a daughter-or more than one-, the one or one of them is getting named something really Slavic. I think Nadia's a good one.)
(My program tells me that "Raymonda" was created specifically for the Opera National Ballet of Paris back in 1983. A homecoming, very cool.)
Then, after the intermission, was the "Artifact Suite", by William Forsythe. This one was easily the most avant-garde. It opened with the entire company standing outlining 3 sides of the stage (except the one that faced the audience), following arm motions made by a woman standing downstage with her back to the audience. In the space between them, 2 couples danced, but not synchornically, which made it a bit hard to follow since I wanted to look at both of them at once. Oh, the dancers were all wearing nude leotards too (although some of them switched to light blue later in the act). There were 2 large lights on stage, shining into the center. There were a bunch of little vignettes, with the dancers changing positions and the lighting changing, sometimes shining through like light through blinds' slats. The dancing here was very kinetic and angular. The whole mood seemed very dystopian and bleak, especially with everyone following a leader.
So, in order of favorite to least of the pieces, my thoughts were the "Raymonda" extracts, "Artifact Suite" and the "Four Temperaments".
I love going to the ballet, and I wish I could more often. (Until now, I hadn't gone for almost 4 years, the last time being when I saw "Coppelia" in Raleigh.) I still wish I'd continued with dancing when we moved to Charlotte, but the 'rents decided to place me in softball (thanks a lot). From what I'm told, I was really shy as a kid (well, I remember that), but when I got on stage for ballet, I wasn't shy at all and did pretty well (which was not exactly the case with softball, the doing-well part) . I wonder sometimes how good I would've gotten had I been allowed to continue. I doubt it would've been principal dancer or anything, but still.
Saturday, I went in to work more on my dress. I actually got the entire front and back finished (which was a feat, considering it was a bunch of sewing curved lines together) after a good 5 hours of working. Afterwards, I went to ask Peter something, and he asked about my interview. I told him that it turned out that someone was needed for May. He then asked me if I thought I'd be able to work AND get all of my work done, and I replied that that was not too likely. He also told me that Muriel was talking with people at Lanvin and Givenchy, so not to totally give up hope here (but it's very cautious hope). So, as always, we'll see what happens...
After that, I went to Monoprix to get food and stopped in Gilbert Joseph to look around. I saw that they one had 2 copies left of the book of Moliere's complete works that I wanted, so I decided to go Tuesday on my lunch break (since it's a public holiday Monday and won't be open). Sunday night was the Malaysian Embassy Gala, but it's getting late, so I'll update that later. (I'm sure you guys are hungrily anticipating reading about it!)
Friday, May 9, 2008
Wednesday's Interview
Here's what happened:
I had discovered the previous day that getting to the place alone took 40-50 minutes, and when I factored in getting ready and allowing for unforeseen circumstances, I decided to skip class Wednesday morning in favor of my 12 pm interview. So I got up an hour later than usual (which would be 9 pm), asked Andrea to tell Muriel I had an interview, and took a shower and got gorgeous. (Actually, I just got pretty. Gorgeous is for attracting the guys.) I then got my stuff together and took the RER and metros to the 19th and the apartment complex. I got there and there were a few different buildings (that all looked the same), and I didn't know which one to go into. I asked a man working in one of them, and he, thankfully, pointed me in the correct direction. I got there and went up to the 2nd floor, as specified by the address which I had jotted down before leaving. None of the doors had numbers, so I resorted to ringing doorbells and inquiring within. Nobody with the interviewer's name lived there. Feeling a bit confused (and panicked), I went back down to the ground floor. I walked through it until I saw another elevator at the opposite end. I took that up to the second floor and did the same thing. Again, no luck. At that point, I passed some mailboxes. I backtracked and began studying the nameplates, hoping one of them matched up. Fortunately, one did, so I pressed the button, and introduced myself, saying that I had an appointment. I got buzzed in, and the apartment was on the ground floor. (It turned out that what I was reading as the level was actually the building number.) I went inside, and there was a table set up with lots of little trinkets of jewelry, with bags hanging underneath. She was helping a couple of girls as I came in, so I hung back and looked at the jewelry. I really liked the fact that at a first glance, it seems really sweet and dainty, but a second glance reveals that it's pretty naughty and subversive. (One example is a bronze chain with a cameo-esque oval. Within the oval, delicate script spelled out, "fuck you".) I also really liked the macaroon jewelry (macaroons as pendants, earrings, bracelets and keychains). Once the girls finished shopping and left, we sat down and she asked me questions. First, I was asked about my French experience and then about my design background. I showed her some of my jewelry and shoe designs from Jen's class, and she seemed to like them, calling the space-inspired ones "cute". Then, she explained that I'd be mostly responsible for making the jewelry and helping with sales. She asked if that sounded interesting, and I told her that it sounded great. I was then told that I'd hear an answer by then end of the week. Since it went pretty well, I felt confident.
Oh, did I mention that this interview was conducted ENTIRELY in French? Yeah, it was. Well, except for one part, where I didn't recognize what a word was and she told me in English. Later, though, I thought about it, and realized that I knew the terms she was using, so I felt like an idiot.)
The interview lasted about 45 minutes, and by the time I got back to my apartment, it was already after 1:30 pm. I ate lunch, and then went out to do errands. While leaving the building, I ran into Redza, Nisa's boyfriend, and we chatted for a few minutes. Then, I ran into Peter and Agnes on the street, and I talked with them about how my interview had gone. Finally getting back to my mission, I went to Reine to get some canvas samples for the future clutch, as well as Berty's to get a couple of display books so that I could start drawing up my (revised) Yohji and (new) accessories sketches.
So yeah, that's how that went.
I had discovered the previous day that getting to the place alone took 40-50 minutes, and when I factored in getting ready and allowing for unforeseen circumstances, I decided to skip class Wednesday morning in favor of my 12 pm interview. So I got up an hour later than usual (which would be 9 pm), asked Andrea to tell Muriel I had an interview, and took a shower and got gorgeous. (Actually, I just got pretty. Gorgeous is for attracting the guys.) I then got my stuff together and took the RER and metros to the 19th and the apartment complex. I got there and there were a few different buildings (that all looked the same), and I didn't know which one to go into. I asked a man working in one of them, and he, thankfully, pointed me in the correct direction. I got there and went up to the 2nd floor, as specified by the address which I had jotted down before leaving. None of the doors had numbers, so I resorted to ringing doorbells and inquiring within. Nobody with the interviewer's name lived there. Feeling a bit confused (and panicked), I went back down to the ground floor. I walked through it until I saw another elevator at the opposite end. I took that up to the second floor and did the same thing. Again, no luck. At that point, I passed some mailboxes. I backtracked and began studying the nameplates, hoping one of them matched up. Fortunately, one did, so I pressed the button, and introduced myself, saying that I had an appointment. I got buzzed in, and the apartment was on the ground floor. (It turned out that what I was reading as the level was actually the building number.) I went inside, and there was a table set up with lots of little trinkets of jewelry, with bags hanging underneath. She was helping a couple of girls as I came in, so I hung back and looked at the jewelry. I really liked the fact that at a first glance, it seems really sweet and dainty, but a second glance reveals that it's pretty naughty and subversive. (One example is a bronze chain with a cameo-esque oval. Within the oval, delicate script spelled out, "fuck you".) I also really liked the macaroon jewelry (macaroons as pendants, earrings, bracelets and keychains). Once the girls finished shopping and left, we sat down and she asked me questions. First, I was asked about my French experience and then about my design background. I showed her some of my jewelry and shoe designs from Jen's class, and she seemed to like them, calling the space-inspired ones "cute". Then, she explained that I'd be mostly responsible for making the jewelry and helping with sales. She asked if that sounded interesting, and I told her that it sounded great. I was then told that I'd hear an answer by then end of the week. Since it went pretty well, I felt confident.
Oh, did I mention that this interview was conducted ENTIRELY in French? Yeah, it was. Well, except for one part, where I didn't recognize what a word was and she told me in English. Later, though, I thought about it, and realized that I knew the terms she was using, so I felt like an idiot.)
The interview lasted about 45 minutes, and by the time I got back to my apartment, it was already after 1:30 pm. I ate lunch, and then went out to do errands. While leaving the building, I ran into Redza, Nisa's boyfriend, and we chatted for a few minutes. Then, I ran into Peter and Agnes on the street, and I talked with them about how my interview had gone. Finally getting back to my mission, I went to Reine to get some canvas samples for the future clutch, as well as Berty's to get a couple of display books so that I could start drawing up my (revised) Yohji and (new) accessories sketches.
So yeah, that's how that went.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The Weekend, Monday and Tuesday (again)
(Blogger tells me that I've used the title "The Weekend, Monday and Tuesday" before, hence the usage of "again".)
Saturday morning, I got up (relatively) early and began work on my embroidered bag. Of the 6 panels to do, 2 use a more time-consuming method. I wanted to get those done first, and so I began on one of those panels. I did that until later in the afternoon, when I needed a break and decided to go out and explore. I decided to go to the Place des Vosges, since I hadn't been there yet. (When Harlan was here, she had gone and really liked it, so I was excited to go.) It is REALLY pretty. It's this square surrounded on all sides by a connected building (that I think used to be a palace for one of the many Louis). The square itself is cut into 4 diamonds, and each has a fountain, as well as a larger fountain in the center of the square. The entire square is bordered by arborways, that were nice and cool to walk in. I took a lot of pictures there. After that, I decided to visit the Opera Bastille, which is the newer opera house with much more modern architecture (as in curved silver steel walls). (I'm going to the ballet there for Friday night, and wanted to see where exactly it was.) Next on my list was going to see the Hotel des Invalides, so I took some connecting metros there (and got excited about going on lines that I hadn't been on yet in the process). I got out at the metro stop, which faced Invalides, and walked across the grass towards it and took some pictures. I decided to stroll back (since I was feeling the weight of work undone on my mind), so that was really nice. I actually got asked by someone as I was leaving Invalides for directions (shocker), prefaced by asking if I spoke English. Ha, I'm being mistaken for a native (and it's awesome)! I decided to stop at Monoprix to pick up a few things, and about a block away, while waiting for the light to change, a lady turns to me and asks me where Monoprix was, in French. (Blending in twice in one day...nice.) Aside from a little more embroidery, I didn't do too much else.
Sunday, I did about the same: work, play, more work. I embroidered more, and then went out. Since the Orangerie museum is free the first Sunday of each month, I decided to go there. I took a metro there, and after taking some pictures of the Concorde obelisque (which has hieroglyphics on it), I went into the Tuileries gardens and got in line. I was only in line about 20-25 minutes before being allowed inside. I first saw Monet's "Nyphaes", where 8 very long paintings, curved around the walls, were displayed within 2 rooms. Then I went downstairs and looked at the rest of the collection, as well as hit the gift shop.
After I was done, I decided to walk back by way of the Tuileries gardens (an idea that half of Paris shared, it seemed). I did discover something really cool, though. At one point, I looked back towards the Concorde obelisque, and was surprised to see the Arc de Triomphe directly behind it. I didn't know that the obelisque was directly in line with the Arc, so that was cool. I remembered that La Grande Arche from La Defense is also right in line with the Arc, so I angled a little and saw part of it peeping out. I attempted to take some pictures of the 3 lined up, and when I downloaded them later onto my computer, I could certainly see all three. I also stopped by the Palais Royal since I hadn't seen them in bloom yet. Then I walked back nearly the same way, except on the other side of the Seine. When I got back, I embroidered more (and I'm sure you already guessed).
Monday, I worked more on my pattern pieces, placing, tracing and then cutting out the back pieces. Near the end of class, Muriel showed me how to sew a contrasting thread onto the seam line of a piece, and then pin it to another piece which has the same. I understood that I was supposed to do this with all of them, and then was overwhelmed, thinking that I'd never be able to finish the dress (along with everything else). In the midst of all this, Art History was starting, and we were visiting the Centre Georges Pompidou an hour after class started. I ran down to ask Agnes where I could meet them, saying that I was certain I could make it by 4 pm (the time our group had reservations).
I actually worked with Muriel until almost 3 :30 pm, so I booked it to the metro station, after dropping my stuff in the room. I got there at about 5 minutes before, and walked around the building. No Agnes, no group. On my second trip around, I ran into Josephine, another girl in our class who's in interior design, and we waited together, along with another interior design girl that she knew. Again no Agnes. We waited until 4:30 pm, and then left. I felt bad, since I had told Agnes I'd be there and then I couldn't find her.
Not much else happened that day, aside from even more embroidery and some sketching for Susan.
Oh, wait, no, something else DID happen! I had sent out more resumes and letters of motivation to a bunch of places through FashionJob.fr Sunday. Monday, I got a response from a place called The Fashion Factory (a place that makes jewelry and bags), from the designer herself, saying that she had looked at my documents and was interested in talking with me. We set a time for Wednesday at 12 pm to meet.
Tuesday was Susan day, as usual. And it was the usual, where we discussed out projects with her. She liked my embroidery, and told me to do more sketches for my beachwear.
After class ended at 1 pm, I went back and had lunch. The phone rang at around 1:40 pm. Andrea picked it up, and handed it to me (apparently the person had asked for me). It turned out to be Anne, telling us that we'd have class from 2-5 pm that day. So I quickly finished lunch, and headed over. We began more samples, and I quickly (and easily) finished three before I had to leave to go to French at 3 pm. In French, we talked about friendship and the differences between that and love. It was a pretty lively discussion. After class, I decided to go on a recon mission and find out exactly where the place I needed to go for Wednesday was. It's all the was up in the 19th arrondissement, but I didn't realize how far until after my 50-minute metro ride was over. I found that the address given was a residential apartment complex, so I started getting a bit apprehensive. Going back, I took a different combination of metros (this time, throwing in an RER ride, just for kicks), which reduced my time to 40 minutes.
I did some work that night. I'll update about the interview (which occurred today) tomorrow.
Saturday morning, I got up (relatively) early and began work on my embroidered bag. Of the 6 panels to do, 2 use a more time-consuming method. I wanted to get those done first, and so I began on one of those panels. I did that until later in the afternoon, when I needed a break and decided to go out and explore. I decided to go to the Place des Vosges, since I hadn't been there yet. (When Harlan was here, she had gone and really liked it, so I was excited to go.) It is REALLY pretty. It's this square surrounded on all sides by a connected building (that I think used to be a palace for one of the many Louis). The square itself is cut into 4 diamonds, and each has a fountain, as well as a larger fountain in the center of the square. The entire square is bordered by arborways, that were nice and cool to walk in. I took a lot of pictures there. After that, I decided to visit the Opera Bastille, which is the newer opera house with much more modern architecture (as in curved silver steel walls). (I'm going to the ballet there for Friday night, and wanted to see where exactly it was.) Next on my list was going to see the Hotel des Invalides, so I took some connecting metros there (and got excited about going on lines that I hadn't been on yet in the process). I got out at the metro stop, which faced Invalides, and walked across the grass towards it and took some pictures. I decided to stroll back (since I was feeling the weight of work undone on my mind), so that was really nice. I actually got asked by someone as I was leaving Invalides for directions (shocker), prefaced by asking if I spoke English. Ha, I'm being mistaken for a native (and it's awesome)! I decided to stop at Monoprix to pick up a few things, and about a block away, while waiting for the light to change, a lady turns to me and asks me where Monoprix was, in French. (Blending in twice in one day...nice.) Aside from a little more embroidery, I didn't do too much else.
Sunday, I did about the same: work, play, more work. I embroidered more, and then went out. Since the Orangerie museum is free the first Sunday of each month, I decided to go there. I took a metro there, and after taking some pictures of the Concorde obelisque (which has hieroglyphics on it), I went into the Tuileries gardens and got in line. I was only in line about 20-25 minutes before being allowed inside. I first saw Monet's "Nyphaes", where 8 very long paintings, curved around the walls, were displayed within 2 rooms. Then I went downstairs and looked at the rest of the collection, as well as hit the gift shop.
After I was done, I decided to walk back by way of the Tuileries gardens (an idea that half of Paris shared, it seemed). I did discover something really cool, though. At one point, I looked back towards the Concorde obelisque, and was surprised to see the Arc de Triomphe directly behind it. I didn't know that the obelisque was directly in line with the Arc, so that was cool. I remembered that La Grande Arche from La Defense is also right in line with the Arc, so I angled a little and saw part of it peeping out. I attempted to take some pictures of the 3 lined up, and when I downloaded them later onto my computer, I could certainly see all three. I also stopped by the Palais Royal since I hadn't seen them in bloom yet. Then I walked back nearly the same way, except on the other side of the Seine. When I got back, I embroidered more (and I'm sure you already guessed).
Monday, I worked more on my pattern pieces, placing, tracing and then cutting out the back pieces. Near the end of class, Muriel showed me how to sew a contrasting thread onto the seam line of a piece, and then pin it to another piece which has the same. I understood that I was supposed to do this with all of them, and then was overwhelmed, thinking that I'd never be able to finish the dress (along with everything else). In the midst of all this, Art History was starting, and we were visiting the Centre Georges Pompidou an hour after class started. I ran down to ask Agnes where I could meet them, saying that I was certain I could make it by 4 pm (the time our group had reservations).
I actually worked with Muriel until almost 3 :30 pm, so I booked it to the metro station, after dropping my stuff in the room. I got there at about 5 minutes before, and walked around the building. No Agnes, no group. On my second trip around, I ran into Josephine, another girl in our class who's in interior design, and we waited together, along with another interior design girl that she knew. Again no Agnes. We waited until 4:30 pm, and then left. I felt bad, since I had told Agnes I'd be there and then I couldn't find her.
Not much else happened that day, aside from even more embroidery and some sketching for Susan.
Oh, wait, no, something else DID happen! I had sent out more resumes and letters of motivation to a bunch of places through FashionJob.fr Sunday. Monday, I got a response from a place called The Fashion Factory (a place that makes jewelry and bags), from the designer herself, saying that she had looked at my documents and was interested in talking with me. We set a time for Wednesday at 12 pm to meet.
Tuesday was Susan day, as usual. And it was the usual, where we discussed out projects with her. She liked my embroidery, and told me to do more sketches for my beachwear.
After class ended at 1 pm, I went back and had lunch. The phone rang at around 1:40 pm. Andrea picked it up, and handed it to me (apparently the person had asked for me). It turned out to be Anne, telling us that we'd have class from 2-5 pm that day. So I quickly finished lunch, and headed over. We began more samples, and I quickly (and easily) finished three before I had to leave to go to French at 3 pm. In French, we talked about friendship and the differences between that and love. It was a pretty lively discussion. After class, I decided to go on a recon mission and find out exactly where the place I needed to go for Wednesday was. It's all the was up in the 19th arrondissement, but I didn't realize how far until after my 50-minute metro ride was over. I found that the address given was a residential apartment complex, so I started getting a bit apprehensive. Going back, I took a different combination of metros (this time, throwing in an RER ride, just for kicks), which reduced my time to 40 minutes.
I did some work that night. I'll update about the interview (which occurred today) tomorrow.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Wednesday was class with Muriel, where we worked on our evening dresses. In the morning, Muriel showed me how to pin down the pieces to ensure a consistent grainline. There was some confusion since she told me to pin them with the grainline straight, and Anne had previously instructed me to cut my pieces on the bias. Muriel told me that since my pieces already had 45-degree-angle curves, I didn't need to turn them sideways. So I got too much fabric (I had originally gotten 5 meters, thinking I would need it all), but I figure that I can use some of it for my bag for Susan's class. It took me the entire afternoon to get all 10 of my pieces for the back laid out and cut out with my fabric.
I stayed after to work on some of technical samples for Anne's class. Before Muriel left, I asked her when I should reasonably expect to hear back from companies. She replied, "In about a week or never". So I was a bit down about that for the rest of the afternoon.
That night was Redza's birthday, to which Nisa had invited Sharon and I. We walked to an Italian restaurant on Saint Germain for dinner. I had salmon pasta and profiteroles for dessert. We had a great time, all talking and joking around. After I got back that night, I applied for 10 more jobs on FashionJob.fr, so hopefully something will work out.
Thursday was a public holiday, so no school for us! I slept in a bit, and decided to visit La Defense, which is the area right outside of Paris with a lot of business buildings. On one of the metro stops, a guy who smelled really bad got on, and so I got off at the next stop and got on the next one. (I know, it was juvenile, but some other people-older than me-did the same thing.) I got on the next metro and took it all the way (without incident) to La Defense. The station let out right under La Grande Arche, so I had a great view of the underside of it. I then saw that there were capsule elevators going up to the top of the Arche, so I quickly bought a ticket and went up! It was really exciting, since the elevator was made all of glass (except for the floor) and we were afforded a great view. (I kept thinking about one of my friends who's afraid of heights, and how much he would have hated it.) Once we were on top of the Arche, I went and took pictures of the view, attempting a panoramic shot (as much as I could, seeing as we were only allowed on one side). I got a clear, straight-shot view of L'Arc de Triomphe, and took some pictures specifically of that. I also spent some time in the gift shop, getting 10 postcards for Grandma of places I had been. After coming back down, I wandered around La Defense, basically being a photography geek and got some shots that I really liked.
I eventually tires of La Defense as a photography subject, and decided to go to Parc de la Villette. (I'd wanted to go there for awhile, to see a Claes Oldenburg sculpture I had seen in a book that looked really interesting.) It was really modern, and was near the Cite des Sciences. In the parc itself, there was a lot of green space, dotted with red, angular sculptures. I succeeded in finding the Oldenburg sculpture, which consisted of a wheel, bicycle seat and one pedal sticking out of the ground, as if it had been tipped over and submerged into the ground.
(When I was uploading my pictures to my computer that night, I was really surprised to see that I had taken close to 200 pictures-191, to be exact, just that day! Go me.)
After that, I was tired, and went back to my apartment to rest. I had originally planned to go to the Musee d'Orsay (Thursday nights are free for students), but it wasn't open due to it being a national holiday. I decided to take a walk down there to see how long it took. I made it there in about 40 minutes. I was going to walk further and go to the Hotel des Invalides, but decided it was too far since I didn't want to be walking back in the dark. I stopped for a croque-madame (ham-and-cheese sandwich with an egg on top) for dinner at Cafe Sufflot on my way back.
Friday was Stylism with Jen. She asked to see our work and I was first. She approved of my revised sandals (completing my shoes category), and picked one of my clutches for me to make. (Incidentally, it happened to be a drawing that I had doodled during class last Friday when I was feeling particularly uninspired.) She then showed me how to make a pattern for it, and that took some time. Jen checked it for me when I was finished, and had me redo it since the measurements were a bit off. So I did that again, and she approved it the second time.
Since we didn't have Jean-Pierre for Hats that afternoon (and wouldn't for the rest of school), I decided to get started on my evening bag for Susan. Tenzin, Po-Lan and Tu were in there when I came in after lunch, and Tu and I talked about getting internships and learning French for a bit while I cut out some pattern pieces. I cut out pieces for the center panels and the side flares, which came to 8 pieces. (The bag will be made of 14 pieces, and these will be the most difficult, so I wanted to get them done first.) I traced in the lines for the center panels in chalk, and debated doing so for the side panels before deciding against it.
I finished at about 3:15 pm, dropped my stuff in my room and took the metro up to Montmartre. I first went to Dreyfus where I got a half-meter of green jersey to go with my bag. (It'll be a layer which I'll quilt through.) After that was done, I decided to go around exploring for a bit! I first walked down to the Moulin Rouge and took some pictures. Then I discovered something really cool. In the movie "Amelie" (which is one of my favorites), the titular character works at Cafe des Deux Moulins (Two Windmills Cafe). I happened to find it completely by accident! (I saw it, and was like, "That cafe sounds familiar...", and then it came to me.) So if anyone's interested, it's on Rue Lepic, about a block north from the Moulin Rouge.
I took Rue Lepic nearly all of its winding entirety. It was uphill a lot of the way, but totally worth it. I turned onto Rue des Saules in hopes of finding the Lapin Agile, famous cabaret from way back. I finally found it, and while I was taking pictures of its outside, I hear some raucous singing going on. (They must have been preparing for the show they put on every night of the week except Monday. I think it'd be really fun to go to.)
I then wandered into Place Tertre, the artist's square. I was surprised to see that there was an open-air cafe set up in the square's center, since that wasn't there the last time I had been there. (But that had been in winter, within the last few weeks at December.) One corner of the square opened up and there was a balcony that gave a great view of the entire city. I was able to pick out the golden dome of Hotel des Invalides, the golden-winged angles of the Opera Garnier, and the dome of the Pantheon. The Tour Montparnasse and Eiffel Tower each towered over everything else.
Then I decided to walk back down. I didn't look at a map beforehand, but reasoned that if I just kept going downhill, I'd eventually be where I wanted. (Sure enough, when I finally pulled out my map to see how much further I had left to go, I was only a street away from my intended destination.)
I needed to go to BHV to get some embroidery thread for the evening bag (just in case I ran out), and ran in there quickly, also picking up Grandma's scarf. I went to Paul a couple doors down and bought a vanilla macaroon to eat. I had originally planned on walking to the Place des Vosges from there, but got a bit confused on the directions and decided to leave that for another day. So I went back and relaxed, and talked to my parents on Skype.
I think that tomorrow I'll go to the Place des Vosges as well as the Hotel des Invalides, and then come back and begin work on the good ol' embroidery. I might apply for more internships as well.
I stayed after to work on some of technical samples for Anne's class. Before Muriel left, I asked her when I should reasonably expect to hear back from companies. She replied, "In about a week or never". So I was a bit down about that for the rest of the afternoon.
That night was Redza's birthday, to which Nisa had invited Sharon and I. We walked to an Italian restaurant on Saint Germain for dinner. I had salmon pasta and profiteroles for dessert. We had a great time, all talking and joking around. After I got back that night, I applied for 10 more jobs on FashionJob.fr, so hopefully something will work out.
Thursday was a public holiday, so no school for us! I slept in a bit, and decided to visit La Defense, which is the area right outside of Paris with a lot of business buildings. On one of the metro stops, a guy who smelled really bad got on, and so I got off at the next stop and got on the next one. (I know, it was juvenile, but some other people-older than me-did the same thing.) I got on the next metro and took it all the way (without incident) to La Defense. The station let out right under La Grande Arche, so I had a great view of the underside of it. I then saw that there were capsule elevators going up to the top of the Arche, so I quickly bought a ticket and went up! It was really exciting, since the elevator was made all of glass (except for the floor) and we were afforded a great view. (I kept thinking about one of my friends who's afraid of heights, and how much he would have hated it.) Once we were on top of the Arche, I went and took pictures of the view, attempting a panoramic shot (as much as I could, seeing as we were only allowed on one side). I got a clear, straight-shot view of L'Arc de Triomphe, and took some pictures specifically of that. I also spent some time in the gift shop, getting 10 postcards for Grandma of places I had been. After coming back down, I wandered around La Defense, basically being a photography geek and got some shots that I really liked.
I eventually tires of La Defense as a photography subject, and decided to go to Parc de la Villette. (I'd wanted to go there for awhile, to see a Claes Oldenburg sculpture I had seen in a book that looked really interesting.) It was really modern, and was near the Cite des Sciences. In the parc itself, there was a lot of green space, dotted with red, angular sculptures. I succeeded in finding the Oldenburg sculpture, which consisted of a wheel, bicycle seat and one pedal sticking out of the ground, as if it had been tipped over and submerged into the ground.
(When I was uploading my pictures to my computer that night, I was really surprised to see that I had taken close to 200 pictures-191, to be exact, just that day! Go me.)
After that, I was tired, and went back to my apartment to rest. I had originally planned to go to the Musee d'Orsay (Thursday nights are free for students), but it wasn't open due to it being a national holiday. I decided to take a walk down there to see how long it took. I made it there in about 40 minutes. I was going to walk further and go to the Hotel des Invalides, but decided it was too far since I didn't want to be walking back in the dark. I stopped for a croque-madame (ham-and-cheese sandwich with an egg on top) for dinner at Cafe Sufflot on my way back.
Friday was Stylism with Jen. She asked to see our work and I was first. She approved of my revised sandals (completing my shoes category), and picked one of my clutches for me to make. (Incidentally, it happened to be a drawing that I had doodled during class last Friday when I was feeling particularly uninspired.) She then showed me how to make a pattern for it, and that took some time. Jen checked it for me when I was finished, and had me redo it since the measurements were a bit off. So I did that again, and she approved it the second time.
Since we didn't have Jean-Pierre for Hats that afternoon (and wouldn't for the rest of school), I decided to get started on my evening bag for Susan. Tenzin, Po-Lan and Tu were in there when I came in after lunch, and Tu and I talked about getting internships and learning French for a bit while I cut out some pattern pieces. I cut out pieces for the center panels and the side flares, which came to 8 pieces. (The bag will be made of 14 pieces, and these will be the most difficult, so I wanted to get them done first.) I traced in the lines for the center panels in chalk, and debated doing so for the side panels before deciding against it.
I finished at about 3:15 pm, dropped my stuff in my room and took the metro up to Montmartre. I first went to Dreyfus where I got a half-meter of green jersey to go with my bag. (It'll be a layer which I'll quilt through.) After that was done, I decided to go around exploring for a bit! I first walked down to the Moulin Rouge and took some pictures. Then I discovered something really cool. In the movie "Amelie" (which is one of my favorites), the titular character works at Cafe des Deux Moulins (Two Windmills Cafe). I happened to find it completely by accident! (I saw it, and was like, "That cafe sounds familiar...", and then it came to me.) So if anyone's interested, it's on Rue Lepic, about a block north from the Moulin Rouge.
I took Rue Lepic nearly all of its winding entirety. It was uphill a lot of the way, but totally worth it. I turned onto Rue des Saules in hopes of finding the Lapin Agile, famous cabaret from way back. I finally found it, and while I was taking pictures of its outside, I hear some raucous singing going on. (They must have been preparing for the show they put on every night of the week except Monday. I think it'd be really fun to go to.)
I then wandered into Place Tertre, the artist's square. I was surprised to see that there was an open-air cafe set up in the square's center, since that wasn't there the last time I had been there. (But that had been in winter, within the last few weeks at December.) One corner of the square opened up and there was a balcony that gave a great view of the entire city. I was able to pick out the golden dome of Hotel des Invalides, the golden-winged angles of the Opera Garnier, and the dome of the Pantheon. The Tour Montparnasse and Eiffel Tower each towered over everything else.
Then I decided to walk back down. I didn't look at a map beforehand, but reasoned that if I just kept going downhill, I'd eventually be where I wanted. (Sure enough, when I finally pulled out my map to see how much further I had left to go, I was only a street away from my intended destination.)
I needed to go to BHV to get some embroidery thread for the evening bag (just in case I ran out), and ran in there quickly, also picking up Grandma's scarf. I went to Paul a couple doors down and bought a vanilla macaroon to eat. I had originally planned on walking to the Place des Vosges from there, but got a bit confused on the directions and decided to leave that for another day. So I went back and relaxed, and talked to my parents on Skype.
I think that tomorrow I'll go to the Place des Vosges as well as the Hotel des Invalides, and then come back and begin work on the good ol' embroidery. I might apply for more internships as well.
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