gastronomenae

Today was an exceptional day for food. I had one class, then went to a number of the best gastronomic locations in Paris (and therefore the world), but no restaurants.

First, I went to Verlet to get some coffee (I've already gone through my last bag, which, to be fair, is smaller than its usual American counterpart. That said, this is the most caffeine addicted I've ever been.). I got their Columbian, I believe, and then stopped for an espresso (Panamanian). It was very good, but incredibly citrusy. Not even very coffee-y any more. A little odd, but good.

A short metro ride later, I was at Pierre Hermé, a singularly extraordinary pastry and chocolate shop in the 6ème arrondissement (Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements arranged in a spiral; I live in the 7ème.) There, I bought a 2000 Feuille, a layered pastry; and four small macarons (like two cookies of baked egg white, with a filling in between) in incredibly inventive flavors: passionfruit and milk chocolate, hazelnut and white truffle, olive oil and vanilla, and salt caramel for me. I ate the passionfruit one on the way home; it was truly magnificent.

Around the block is Poilâne, one of the best bakeries in Paris, where they make large country loaves. I got a quarter loaf and a little apple pastry. I love boulangeries because they offer such great products, but for ridiculously low prices. Mmm. Poilâne is very small, like all of them, but produces some magnificent breads.

My last stop was a little ways down Rue de Sèvres: Quatrehomme, a fromagerie (cheese shop) which packs several hundred cheeses into its small store. I bought a nice semi-soft goat cheese covered with chives to go with my bread. Goat cheese is much more prevalent here than in the US; I'd guess between a third and a half of cheese here is goat cheese. A different flavor, but one that grows on you quickly.

I haven't eaten most of these things yet; more pictures and critiques are sure to follow.

camera!

My camera finally arrived today! It is a gorgeous Sony DSC-T70 (silver), currently in need of a name (please leave suggestions in the comments). Lots of pictures will be coming shortly, once I take a few more and figure out how to best present them here. For the moment, here's one to tide you over.
For the next two weeks, I only have one class, so I'll most likely be going to a lot of museums and such, and in search of good food. More details to follow.

coffee, summer

today i bought the perfect size french press–it makes exactly one mug of coffee (three demitasses, i think). i bought it from a maison richard store around the corner. maison richard is the people that make cafés richard, which is the coffee used in at least 7/8ths of the cafés in Paris, from my estimation. so when i noticed the shop a couple down from my boulangerie (bakery), i stopped in in search of a cheap but beautiful tea cup and pot, but instead found a perfect french press for a quarter of the price of ones i was looking at last year.

of course, they also sell coffee there–a lot of coffee, and a lot of types. i asked the guy helping me which he recommended, and so i ended up with a Sumatran one. since i got home, i've drank three pots. it is simply amazing. easily available espresso everywhere in Paris is nice, but this is actually better. it is low acidity, very smooth and mellow, and needs no milk at all. lots of flavors, but none overpowering, so you get a nice smooth flavor. i am absolutely in love with it. those cups of coffee are my favorite experience in Paris thus far. completely mindblowing.

other than that, all i did today was run to the grocery store, cook dinner, watch a couple movies, and send an email to my advisor about summer research grants. i am thinking of something starting with art theory and working towards a theory of the beautiful, hopefully working with a museum or art school, plus some of the Pomona philosophy profs. i'm not sure where that means i would be living; if anyone has any museum or art school connections with people that may find this interesting, please let me know. if i could find someone at the getty or the art institute or risd or moma or somewhere, that would be completely awesome. i've got about a month before proposals are due.

it has been nice; this is the most relaxed i have been since, well, last summer. i'm in between january term and the beginning of regular classes, and everybody else is in the south of france for the weekend. (well, mostly. don't worry, i'll get there.) middlebury is serious, but not overly intense. so far i don't have to work that hard, though that will doubtlessly change some when regular classes at Paris I start. not too worried, other than the fact that i still kinda suck at french, especially speaking. oh well.

my host family is gone for the weekend (thus the dinner-cooking), which has actually been very nice. i forget just how happy i am by myself. just me, some food to cook, coffee, tea, adobe illustrator (i've been working on some ornamental designs; maybe i'll post some up here eventually), music, a movie, a book. i like big cities, but i like to be independent in them. i know that means i am at least mildly antisocial, but i have accepted that, so i can appreciate my life more without constantly trying to change myself. moving to a new culture has pushed me to conform, but i am now beginning to reassert my personality, which makes me much happier. copying other people all the time in an effort to fit in is only good when it still allows you to be yourself.

oh, and i did run into two pomona people on the street that are in the IES Paris program. it was nice; small world.

my theory of art and other collectanae

what follows is a transcription of notes i wrote in my pocket notebook (everyone should have one; along with a good pen, completely indispensable) today, starting during my less-than-amusing art history class (only for the month of january; not my choice), and continued on my bus ride home. it is some of the best thoughts i have had regarding aesthetics. (i plan on writing my thesis next year on aesthetic ethics, but as yet lack formal training in aesthetics.)

it is completely unorganized and unpolished, but it is good.

on a semi-related note, i'm looking into starting a publication or blog, very likely through Pomona, if it requires money, with snippets of ideas (visual, textual, or possibly audio or video) donated by people, for artists (a term i take to include not only painters and sculptors, but also photographers, writers, musicians, cinematographers (vaguely; there is beauty in movies), and any other creator of beauty through whatever medium) to use as inspiration or further develop. if you're interested (even if you're not in claremont), please let me know. my tentative name is pomarium.

_____________________

I like art. I hate criticism of art, and therefore art history. The theory of art is good and interesting–dynamics of color, texture, shape, light, movement, etc.–and to some extent the history behind a work of art can be useful, but for any great work of art, it is useless. The greatness and beauty of any work of art is not dependent on an individual's interpretations or thoughts or history, but comes instead from an ordinary person's reaction, independent of conditioning. [Beauty is how art lets us discover our own souls.] It is not something that must be deciphered. Deciphering art is the glose* of which Montaigne so disdainfully speaks. This definition of art is in no way limited to painting or visual arts, but extends facilely to music, literature, design, movies, etc.
Art theory is good because it helps create beautiful art. Art analysis is trash, because it tries to claim that the theory itself is what is beautiful, not what allows the beauty to be created or displayed. Down with glose, viva beauty.
++++
Beauty that is not self-evident, but which only becomes clear through use is design. Frank Lloyd Wright's form and function, architecture, engineering.
++++
Symbolism not self-evident is shit.
++++++++++++++++
Kierkegaard's imaginary beauty** is inferior to its real equal. (Why? Permanence?) These fantasies are the beautiful ideas that when realized become art. Unfortunately, Kierkegaard, like most of us, lacked the artists ability of realization.
Perhaps this "realization" is more "permanization". If Kierkegaard had written (very well) his fantasies in a book, how would that compare to his actually experiencing the fantasy (note: not what he actually did experience)? Perhaps permanization is what allows us to share fantasies with others. True realization can never be shared, and though superior, is alas, impermanent and transitory.
This is the point of living a beautiful (i.e. realized) life.
++++
Fantasy, Permanence, Reality: a trinamic (or maybe just double dynamic, but it could still be either a-b, b-c; or a-b, a-c, b-c) yet to be fully explored.
Why is reality really preferable? Is it that it allows us to enter more deeply into the beauty of something? I know it is better, even if transitory, but I don't fully know why.
++++
Am I here assuming a theory of the beautiful?
++++
and thank you to the beautiful girl facing the other way on the bus. I, unlike Kierkegaard, would have rather seen your face, but at least you did inspire some productive thought.***

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* My neologism from Montaigne's gloser, the French verb "to gloss", technically, but in this context it really does not translate well.
** Referring to a woman, his fiancé, I believe, of whom he discovered he would rather imagine and write letters to than interact with directly.
*** Namely, this second part.

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and for the heck of it, some other collectanae from my pocket notebook. this next part is truly weird, i know, but still interesting.

____________

I sit at a table in the Smith Campus Center courtyard, reading Nietzsche (Twilight of the Idols).
Drinking a bottle of Perrier I got from the Coop store, not because I wanted to look uppity (the courtyard was crowded), not wholly anyway, but because I had a canker sore, and my stomach was uneasy, and it was hot, and I was thirsty.
Finishing the bottle, I sit, reading Nietzsche, stressed out over my late paper, but enjoying the perfect day and taking in the sun and the noise of the people around me as I sit on my surprisingly comfortable wood slatted chair, one leg up on another one.
I perspire lightly in the heat.
I feel an impulse to throw the Perrier bottle high into the air, to let it crash down onto the concrete of the plaza.
People would stare. They would jump. They would not comprehend. Perhaps someone would get hit by a piece of the glass.
Does it matter? If they stare? If someone gets cut? If someone has to clean it up?
Ultimately, this action as irrational loses all its value if the impulse is not obeyed, but instead considered, or worse talked about (as I proceeded to do), or written about (as I am doing here).*
The value is the irrationality. The beauty of the green glass flying up, hovering, crashing and fragmenting in a beautiful explosion. The value is purely aesthetic. When we talk, or write, we inherently defile this irrationality, because our language and thoughts are so inherently rational.
In the end, I did not throw the bottle. I think I will always regret that, regardless of the social impropriety.
_______________

* Thus why I never previously attempted to publish this (in addition to it making me look mildly insane...w/e).


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Every word you speak,
every word you write,
about my art
defaces my art.

...or something like that, except less shitty sounding.

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the possibility of post-logical systems

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also, i hate the sound of "pocket notebook". if you have a better term for it (or a name for mine in particular), please post it as a comment.

the undecided

i am the design editor of The Undecided, a vaguely political student publication at Pomona. today i received the prompts for the february issue from the editor in chief. i present them here, because frankly, we can always use more good articles. i suppose this is mostly intended for Claremont students, but we'd probably accept a good article from anyone, if one interests you. no pay, just resumé props.
-edward
______________________

Here are the prompts from the upcoming issue of The Undecided. If you're interested in writing on one of these topics, please contact the editor responsible. As always, feel free to forward this email on to anyone else you think might be interested in writing for the issue. Each article should be somewhere between 600 and 900 words long:

Prompt 1:
Editor: Gregory Carter (Gregory.Carter@pomona.edu)

The American economy is, in the view of many economists, heading towards a recession. This has already had an impact on the 2008 American presidential election, with candidates on both sides of the aisle pushing various economic stimulus packages. The candidacies of Mike Huckabee and John Edwards seem to indicate that a sort of economic populism, relying in large part on helping the middle and lower class and putting up protections to staunch the flow of jobs overseas, may be taking hold in America. Even Hillary Clinton, whose husband enacted the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and led the charge for globalization, has questioned some provisions of that agreement. This change in the national economic dialog raises several questions. Is globalization flawed, or is this just an expected bump in the road as the economy is forced to shift its focus? Are these candidates for president merely pandering to anti-freetrade interest groups, or is this shift away from free trade the beginning of a new era of American isolationism? Finally, should America embrace this populism or continue to subscribe broadly to a free

trade agenda?

Prompt 2:
Editor: Brittney Andres (Brittney.Andres@pomona.edu)

The recent violence in Kenya over the result of a disputed democratic election has unfortunately come to mirror the violence endemic in many other African nations. Almost more disturbing than the violence itself is that it occurred in a country that the international community generally believed to be a model African democracy. Do the examples of Kenya and other arguably failed elected governments such as Nigeria prove that certain intrinsic features of African countries cause them to be inherently incompatible with democracy? If not, what steps need to be taken to encourage the development of sustainable democracies in Africa?

Prompt 3:
Editor: David McCormick (David.McCormick@pomona.edu)

American forces in Iraq have battled against an urban insurgency since the occupation. Last January, President Bush called for a dramatic increase in the number of U.S. troops serving in Iraq and the augmented force began conducting military operations in June. Since this "troop surge," suicide bombings, partisan violence, and US casualties have dropped dramatically. Is the troop surge the cause or are other underlying factors at work? Has the increased troop size had a beneficial and lasting effect on Iraq that will continue after the surge or will the recent gains disappear as soon as the surge troops are recalled? Does the success of the troop surge suggest an end to the war in the near future, or will the U.S. continue to have a presence in Iraq for years to come?

Prompt 4:
Editor: James Dee (James.Dee@pomona.edu)

As a result of the release of the Nintendo Wii and the Sony Playstation 3, video game sales were at an all-time high in 2007. 2008 promises the release of many long-awaited titles for these platforms, such as the controversial Grand Theft Auto IV. Taking advantage of new technologies pioneered in console gaming as well as in the PC platform, such games will undoubtedly be more graphic than ever. These new technological developments revitalize the decade-old debate concerning violence and sex in video and computer games. Now that ultra-realistic violent games are even more widely accessible to young children than they were ten years ago, should the government take a more active hand in restricting the games' availability and content? Perhaps more importantly, is it time to acknowledge that the prevalence of violent and sexual content in video games causes psychological harm? Or, is this belief misguided?

If you need some examples of previous Undecided articles, check out the website at pcundecided.com. If you have any general questions about the magazine, please contact me at Tgs02004@pomona.edu

best,

Tom

bigthink.com

so ironically i ended up going on a bateau mouche instead of going to the Courbet exhibit, but this post is not about that.
i recently discovered (via a stephen colbert clip, but don't judge yet) bigthink.com, a curious new site trying to foster dialogue and present new points of view on interesting issues. every day it features youtube-like clips by "experts" on an issue, providing radically different positions. it is still very new (about a week old, i think), so i am not sure exactly where it will go, but is worth checking out. there are some pretty radical viewpoints (such as the American Enterprise Institute woman who claims that Iran will fire nukes at Israel first thing after it gets them (so much for deterrence theory)) so it helps to have at least a little knowledge of the subject being addressed beforehand.

noctilien

in paris, the metro runs till 2 am weekends, but the RER (the train lines that run out into the suburbs, but also across paris) apparently does not run that late. last night, this led me to take the metro to a st. michel to transfer to the RER to go home, but regrettably left me stuck. there does exist a night bus (not as cool as the Knight Bus; see Harry Potter) that runs through the night, which is called the noctilien.

the problem with the noctilien is that it has practically no documentation. at the stops, it tells you the name of the other stops, but has no map of where they are, like the regular bus lines. thus, you have to kind of guess from your knowledge of paris geography where it goes. it is also difficult to find an entire map of the noctilien system. i actually have one, but unfortunately neglected to bring it last night.

consequently, i found a few noctilien stops, but they did not go where i wanted to go. so i walked. st. michel is the stop right by notre dame and the latin quarter. my apartment is by the eiffel tower and the champ de mars. so i walked halfway across paris, perhaps two miles or so. the nice part was that this was all right by the seine, so the walk was pretty, with the exception of the huge lit "bateaux mouches" (the tourist boats) sign. i could have taken a taxi, but it was a nice walk, and i was not tired. the moral of the story: take your noctilien map when you are out late.

***************
just a note: i've got a huge pile of emails/facebook messages to sort out. if it's you i haven't gotten back to in a timely manner, sorry, i'm not ignoring you, i'm just behind a bit.

rodin museum

today i went to the rodin museum. it was fantastic. they've got some nice gardens with sculptures spread throughout, which is nice, plus a gallery which is just the right size. they also have some really famous paintings by other people there too, just kind of around: renoir, van gogh, monet, etc.

mostly, though, it is a museum very centered around rodin. not everything is great, but some are truly spectacular. there are the well known ones, like the penseur (thinker), the burghers of calais, and a number of others, but some of his less famous ones are even better, i think. throughout his sculptures, there is a clear dynamic between the weight of conscience and the pull of desire. there's lots of very passionate sculptures, lots of people embracing, kissing, etc., but they are all a little dark.

his other sculptures are even darker, but still often very sensual. one of these is the caryatid à la pierre (the fallen caryatid with stone), which is of a caryatid (a woman sculpted into a pillar) who has fallen under her burden. it plays a part in one of my favorite books, robert heinlein's stranger in a strange land. it was very nice to see it in person.

he shows desespoir (dispair, but literally lack of hope) very well. his subjects are very torn between their urges and their morality. there was a model of a work never cast called la tour du travail (the tower of work), which is a spiral tower leading up to two angels at the top.

rodin does angels incredibly well. most of his sculptures are of bodies, so their bodies are very human, but their wings are incredible–very beautifully feathered, with gorgeous lines, not that show motion like bernini, but that are just beautiful for their pure shape. a few times he has a similar effect with women's hair blowing over their faces. truly amazing.

one gorgeous little one was his Derniere vision (Last Sight), which is a piece of marble with a woman's face in it, with a hand around it, and a mans face with a hand over his eyes, but mostly it is just rough marble, like they are fading into nothingness. very nice.

many of his sculptures are very dante-esque, including the one that is by far my favorite, Le Porte de l'enfer (the gates of hell). it is outside, huge, bronze, and fronts what looks like a huge marble tomb. the gates themselves, though, are magnificent. they are covered with sculptures of people of all sorts as they descend to hell, including miniatures of some of his other works, including the thinker, paolo and francesca, the fallen angel, etc. it is truly incredible; you could spend all day looking at its scenes and shadows.

tomorrow i'm going to see the courbet exhibit at the grand palais. more on that later.

sanwiches, crêpes, and such

the french déjeuner (lunch) is an odd institution, not particularly in what it is, but in what it is not. the french are delightfully obsessed with food. it is fairly difficult but not impossible) to find bad food in Paris.

for instance, the french have taken the initially german and then principally american* dish, the sandwich (said sondweesh, one more frenchification) perfected it a bit, and generally made it very french. the french sandwich consists of half a good crusty baguette, sliced halfway through lengthwise, a bit like a sub (its closest american counterpart). from there, the staples are some variety of meat (usually ham, but more like cappacolla ham than american ham), cheese (a good french soft cheese, with rind, usually), and crutités (tomato and lettuce), and perhaps some sort of mayonnaise or sauce.

these are sold everywhere at lunchtime (but not after about 2:00, annoyingly–don't be late to lunch). what is so remarkable is the lack of diversity in french sandwiches. the classic sandwich au jambon is exactly the same, at all seven or so sandwicheries (actually a word) within a block of my school, and throughout the city. there is a little diversity; sometimes you can find sandwiches on a different type of bread, for example (pita, for a sandwich suédois; a heavy wheat sometimes, too), or half-cooked baguettes which are then turned into paninis. i have seen a few variations on this theme. a sandwich americain for example, is a baguette with a hamburger patty cut in half height-wise, tomato, lettuce, and some sort of thousand island/big mac-ish sauce. it is not particularly wonderful. i also saw a sandwich bresilien one time, with roast beef and banana, i believe, though i didn't try it, regretfully.

aside from that, parisian sandwiches are incredibly invariable, and are very universal. it is quite strange coming from a place where every restaurant tries to differentiate its sandwiches (or food in general) somehow. even fast-food restaurants do this (with bacon!/blue cheese!/a buttered bun!/etc!), but nicer restaurants also tout their arugula, sprouts, fresh mozzarella, etc. in france, this does not happen, and i have no idea why. perhaps it is part of the french mentality. perhaps it's also due to the fact that both my school and my apartment are in two of the most expensive and white areas of paris.

the french mentality is a strange thing, though; they are incredibly disorganized (though somehow everything functions, defying comprehension a bit), but love rules, particularly in naming and defining things. the academie française, which is the official governmental body that determines what is and is not a part of the french language, is the paragon of this. it is also very history dependent. the french like to talk a lot about their equality and liberty, while in fact their culture still is very dependent on social status in everyday interactions. i think they're a bit confused about their politics; they all adore louis xiv, are a little hushed but positive about the french revolution, kind of like napoleon i and iii (but not i's architect hausmann, who busted through paris to make its broad avenues), adore the trente glorieuses (the thirty years after WW2 when france became very socialist and built itself up under du Gaulle and Mitterand), and now complain that their economy is not going anywhere, while still not comprehending the idea of a crossdisciplinary program of a sort which would likely help them in a globalizing world. in other words, french politics is almost as messed up as american ones.

other news: i had a fantastic crêpe today with crême chantilly, which is basically very high quality real whipped cream. positively orgasmic. much better than my last crêpe, with citron (some sort of lemon jam, which is horrible). i've also had one with a french hot dog (very different, very good) and cheese inside, one with smoked salmon and greens, and one with ham, maybe potatoes (i forget), and sauce bêchamel. the french eat a lot of crêpes.

i also had rabbit for the first time, which was not bad; kind of like chicken, to be a little cliché.

also: i detest french keyboards. there's a reason few french people can type very fast.

_________________

* i believe. i am by no means a food historian.

alcohol and language

perhaps i'll try and document my brief history later; right now i just have some ruminations on the effect of alcohol on one's ability to speak a foreign language. this came up today during a tour of paris' passages (the very narrow/covered streets left over from before hausmann opened up broad avenues through paris) with my animateur Raphael and a few other students. in his case, it was about speaking english, but it works the same: alcohol substantially helps people speak foreign languages better. he claimed that he needed substantial amounts to speak english well. in my experience, 2-3 glasses of wine makes communicating with my host family much more pleasant. it takes me from sitting and listening during dinner to actually taking part a little more in the conversation.

for me, this raises two questions:

1. to what extent does alcohol help? despite what raphael claims, i don't really believe a keg will help anyone speak a foreign language. obviously the precisely most helpful amount depends on the person and their abilities an inhibitions, but finding the most helpful amount may be difficult to find, because your judgment of your own abilities is doubtlessly somewhat impaired with alcohol.

2. is this dependent on personality? both raphael and i are somewhat reserved. is this effect the same as the overcoming of ordinary inhibitions, or is it in any way specialized to foreign languages? i feel like it may be actually different, but i suppose people's ordinary vs. foreign language inhibitions are also different.

essentially, this is just a reinforcement of something not unusual: that when speaking a foreign language, one must be confident and unafraid to make mistakes if one wants to get better.

****************

hmph. this is not as exciting as i'd hoped. i promise to write something better later.

and so it begins

with hope of not sounding hopelessly narcissistic or letting this be one more annoying email for you to deal with, i am hereby announcing the commencement of

collectanae alistairien: thoughts, journalage, snippets, scrivenering, and tidbits from my current semester in Paris(a blog).

yes, i'm in Paris till june (apologies if you didn't know; i'm quite terrible at keeping in touch, but that by no means means i don't like you). on that note, send this to anyone i forgot, which is quite a number, i have no doubt. so instead of (or in addition to) facebook/aim stalking/keeping track of me, you should go to http://alistaire47.blogspot.com and subscribe to the RSS feed. if you don't know how to do that, look in the help files of your browser. firefox, safari, probably even IE7 have RSS support, which is much more convenient for both of us than me sending you lots of emails.* you may also check out bloglines.com if you're feeling very wired.

i promise to try and keep my blog less narcissistic journaling and more curious musings stemming from experiences in Paris, primarily, hopefully supplemented with lots of nice pictures, once i get my camera. i shall also do my best to keep it updated regularly. nevertheless, if this is completely not of interest to you, please disregard this message, with no guilt whatsoever.

that is all.
edward

* if you REALLY WANT lots of emails, let me know, and i can probably arrange that, too.

et voila

et alors, voila mon blog. i have quite a lot to write, which will hopefully get accomplished soon. we'll see.

as for now, if you feel so inspired to contact me in whatever manner you prefer, here's some possibly useful information:

Edward Visel
chez Mme Jacqueau
12 bis avenue Elisée Reclus
75007 Paris France

cell: 06.20.09.05.28 (French. From the US, call 011.33.62.009.0528.)
aim: alistaire47
email: alistaire@gmail.com
facebook: self evident
other: exists, ask.