slightly morbid thoughts that I have on a regular basis:

"If a car hit me right now and they had to go through my stuff to figure out who I am, what would they find and what kind of mental image would they get of me while I was unconscious?"

Well, let's see.

Carrying: one painting, rolled, in acrylic on brown craft paper, depicting a person being splashed by a large wave.

In pockets: two brass buttons (fell off the coat unexpectedly today), keys with flash drive, receipt for bottle of turpentine, bank card, metro map, napkin, 3.71 euros, Schoko-Bons candy wrapper, folded paper reminding me to check to see if I'm dreaming (unsuccessful, I consistently forget about it and so I never have it while actually dreaming).

In purse: cell phone, hand sanitizer, two pink rubber bands, 20 centimes, green pen, Navigo metro pass, photocopy of passport and visa (at least I know I'd be identified quickly), half-written letter (english) in envelope addressed to my cousin, wallet.

In wallet: receipt for various paints, 1.79 euros, Sorbonne student ID, Reid Hall ID, Louvre card, coupon for 10% off at the Galeries Lafayette.

In backpack: inhaler, ipod (no headphones), candy (same as the wrapper), red pen, nail file, paper palette, large empty plastic bag, recycled paper cahier containing art history notes, plastic bag containing jelly jar containing turpentine, plastic bag containing paints brushes palette knife linseed oil pencil and eraser, plastic bag containing six clementines, black pen, black fine-point drawing pen, hairtie (oh hey I've been looking for that), bunny-shaped pencil case containing three pencils and an eraser, digital recorder containing lectures from various classes.

Okay, for this I think you could reasonably conclude that:

1. I have too many pens and need to stop carrying them all around; it's unnecessary
2. I am a huge art nerd (particularly on wednesdays)
3. I really like clementines (true, but I do have a good reason to be carrying those)
4. I am highly flammable and it's a wonder I didn't spontaneously combust when that hypothetical car hit me

Is this a reasonable impression of me? I have no idea.

adventures in consumption: boots

On Saturday I took a Step in my Life and bought some new boots. My other black boots started to fall apart last year (though I kept on wearing them, and just avoided puddles or particularly sandy places) and now my green tennis shoes are headed in the same direction (though I continue to wear those too, and am determined to do so until the soles wear through or detach from the rest of them). In general I was in dire need of some really good walking shoes, so I found the Doc Marten's store in Paris and went to find some boots.


Actually, I went about a week ago, but they were out of my size so I had to come back later.

They are extremely comfortable, even though they rubbed holes in the backs of my feet the first time I wore them because they were laced funny and I wasn't wearing proper socks. Whenever I wear them I look at my reflection in shop windows - which I tend to do anyway - because I wonder if they make my feet look disproportionately large. But it seems fine to me.