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April 9, 2002, 0900 hrs Finally up at a decent hour. Want to roll it back to 7:00-7:30, but I figure it'll have to be gradual. Still not sleeping terribly well. Maybe there needs to be a degree of mental comfort associated with sleeping well, not just physical tiredness (I could hardly call myself exhausted, even though I'm lugging a 15lb or so backpack everywhere). Mostly language books, water, a snack, etc. I leave the laptop at home - just too much weight to carry about with all its required add-ons. Woke up thinking that I am going to try and help Damien (who is confined to a wheelchair) and can really only move his head try and set up his Macs to be run with voice commands. I'm amazed that he is not already doing it (though perhaps he has tried it and it wasn't successful). Anyway, it's about the only advantage I can think the Mac has over the PC these days. It would seem to be a near ideal situation. I've noticed my phone has voice control. So I can say someone's name and it will dial it. Of course, (momentary interruption - my espresso had finished brewing on the stove top) it seems an unnecessary complication when the phone book in it is easy to use. I'm going to probably pick up a headset for it - they're available fairly cheap. One of Laura's friends (Patrizia Pistolesi) called me last night as I was exploring the city and we're meeting for coffee this afternoon at 2:30 in front of the Alliance. Of course, neither of us has seen a picture of the other so it could be quite interesting. After I got out of class last night I went by the Internet Cafe and banged out a few messages, including one to my French teacher who returned to Paris a few days before I did. With luck, she'll give me a ring and we'll get to meet here. Then I had a fairly long conversation, mixed in French and English with the son of the proprietor of the cafe. He loves California and guessed I was Californian (maybe the attitude? :>) and wanted to know the best resource for learning to speak English in Paris. Funny, him asking me. I pointed him to conversation groups like Parler Paris and Konversando, and showed him a bunch of ads in FUSAC. We ended up talking cell phones and he was quite amazed to learn the use doesn't use GSM (with the exception of a couple of cities). I explained we used TDM or even analog (both antique standards compared to GSM). I figure the GSM digital must be pretty damn efficient since I can talk to my parents in Seattle via satellite with no noticeable lag in the conversation. That bespeaks a very high level of compression and an efficient algorithm I think (for the decompression on the fly). Anyway, after about an hour and a half I set out to check out some more apartments. I am committed to looking every day until I find one. I went pretty far afield out into the 16th for my first visit. Very nice but I don't think I could live there right now. The places screams "money" and the brasseries along the street were just too expensive for me to think about eating in. Like Beverly Hills or Palo Alto, exclusivity by price. Next I went to the 15th, which seemed more agreeable (affordable). Not quite as obviously expensive, but quite nice and the prices seemed tolerable. So my leading contenders for arrondisements are now the 7th, 11th and 15th (in that order). I've got prospective apartments in all I believe, so my task today is to pop into the City early and try and go by the offices of Lodgis.com (which lists these places). They wrote to me yesterday in response to a request I made for a reservation but I had to write back and say that (1) I had checked out the neighborhood - the 3rd - and it wasn't agreeable, and (2) that I wanted to see the apartments in question before I agreed to rent it. I tried to go by their offices on Sunday and couldn't find them. I believe they must have moved or they aren't on the street level. Not far from Damien's in the 11th. Today is market day (again). Also in the 6th (where the Alliance is). I stopped a merchant polishing his brass knobs and asked him using the magic words (Excusez-moi pour vous deranger, monsieur) and he confirmed that they were setting up for a marche public today. So I imagine that I'll find my new backpack and iron this morning before running into the City. Tonight is Liverpool v. Bayern Leverkusen so I'm going to find an English or Irish bar and watch it on a big screen in real time. Tres cool. The French are funny - there are a huge number of ads around the city for a new comedy coming out tomorrow - Le Boulet. In America, this would definitely be a "B" film and most likely go straight to video. No major stars, and a comedy to boot. It looks quite funny from the previews and so I'll go to it and struggle to understand it from context. This whole region (Ile de France) seems quite dry. My lips are cracked and bleeding in the mornings and my shirts (laundered yesterday morning) were bone-dry by early evening. Good thing I'm in the habit of drinking lots of water, though I've had to temper it because of the scarcity of public bathrooms. Off to market.. 2446 am Yes, past midnight again. Got myself connected through the studio phone.. itself a miracle of wiring. Met Patrizia (Laura's friend) out front of the Alliance today (another lovely day, sunny and bright) and we had a couple of cups of coffee (good everywhere it seems in Paris). Then to class, then to the Boul' Mich (Boulevard St.Michelle, Metro:Orleans). Every address in metropolitan Paris (inside the old city walls) is accompanied by a Metro stop, for the convenience of your visitors. You are really never more than 10-15 minutes from a stop no matter where you are. Wonderful system. Anyway, I went to an Irish bar (full of Irish people) called Corcoran's to watch my beloved Liverpool lose in the quarter finals of the Champions League. Oh how I wish I could say they one. But someone has to lose, and on this night Bayer Leverkusen was the better team. Maybe not next time. Magnificent match, lost 4-3 on aggregate in the last five minutes. One for the ages. Drank only one pint of Newcastle Brown (nice stuff) because it does do to get "ivre" (drunk) in a foreign city when one is barely conversant and quite a ways from home, and not too well off either.. Bought an iron (finally!) and a bag with a diagonal bandolier to carry my stuff around in (though after using it for a day I'm not sure its better than my old-style backpack - at least it was cheap). I'm dead chuffed that I now can communicate to the Web from my studio. Lord knows what it is costing me (even with a local access point). I must read my contrat (lengthy agreement all in French) for the fine details. I may post less in the future.. I'm concerned that all this writing in English may slow down my development of French skills.. My best to all of you again! Saw this nifty shop at St.Placide (near Montparnasse). I believe that the say that they won the prize for the best "head cheese" or fromage de tête on the awning: Salut!

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