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.