Faces from New York

New York And Faces

NY subway

Let's the music play !

Homework for Linda's class Oct 18th

In the chapter 6 of the book Affluenza called “Family convulsions”, the authors state about how family values has changed. How family members nowadays live together without really communicating with each other. How people work more and more versus spend less and less time at home, which become a place of arguments that they run away in spending more time at work.

Authors state although about how the attitudes that people got towards things are bit by bit running into the attitudes in relationships. This is the point I chose to discuss about.
When I was in France (or “in my country” --> private dedicate to Niel who like so much this expression…), I noticed a progressive changed in relations between people. At first I thought that it was me… I mean I’m becoming older and relationship start to be different as long as people approach 25 years old, right? Nowadays young men prefer dying than having a serious relationship which means for them engagement and in extreme cases jail! Right? But now that I’m in US, in NY, wahoo… I watch around me and notice that even for my 17 years old best friend (read: Morgane…) things are going like this. People consume each other and when they have taste once or few times, they get bored and throw this person away, all like they do with obsolete stuff. In French the word “consume” exists but means “burn up”. For me it’s exactly the point, people take what they find interesting in the other person and when they get it they throw him or her away, that's human consumption. It’s a very dangerous behavior I think, and I don’t really understand how people can be so unemotional… That’s why I decided to give up with relationships… just kidding :)
No, seriously… We have so many choices now, even choosing my yoghurt at K-Mart is an assault course. I mean it’s the same with people, everybody seems to be available, “open”… but I think it’s only illusions… For me relationships are precious because people are precious, and I don’t belong to any kind of church if you are wondering, just… I don’t know, I think I don’t understand how it works now, I should had been born 50 years earlier maybe, maybe not… The world was less open 50 years ago… but on the other hand people seemed to know the real values… pffff… don’t know ‘cause I think now people assume more what they want and what they think, while in the past everything was a taboo… so maybe it was the same mess but hidden…

Is that not too confused…? Yes it is… just like my feeling about this fussy subject which passionate me, hope one day I'm gonna end up to understand…

How many cell phones do you see...?

For this essay I choosed to talk about the "new necessities" state on page 28.

Excuse me in advance for the formal style I choosed for this post...

In the chapter III of the book Affluenza, the authors (John De Graaf, David Wann and Thomas H.Naylor) explain how the necessities had changed these last 50 years in America. They think that, nowadays people can't live without extra stuff as cell phone, washing machines and cars for example, and feel deprived when they don't have it.

And proves are here ! I mean, everybody has a cell phone and if unfortunatly you forgot it on the desk of a shark :) :) :) (see last post) you fell lost... In the same way as we can't imagine a family in industrialised country without a washing machine. And fortunatly I think ! Wouldn't be stupid to ignore modernity and refuse comfort that new inventions can offer ?

However, taking advantages of modernity must not rhyme with wasting energy in over-using these stuff and excess. And that's the real problem I think. People don't know how to use it in respect for the nature and are also trapped by "the dogged pursuit of more"... Why having only one car when I could have three...? You see what I mean ?

The authors wrote "Invention is mother of necessity ". Yes ! Of course ! Since inventions give new possibilities in life and life is precisly built on these new possibilities. Nevertheless, I think we must pay more attention of the real meaning of stuff rather than their appearence.

Hello everybody !

Sorry for the delay... but last week was my first week in my new room, with my roomate and I had a lot of home work, I need to strike the balance... Appologize...

This amazing grey cat you can see above, is called "Le Roi" which means the king, I cat-sat him during my first tow weeks in NY in exchange to stay in the appartement, while his parents were in China. Good memories... I miss him a little, well actually, he's a pain, meowing every night to awake me for consideration :) goddamn him ! I was sleeping ! Sometimes I tried to give him care and sleep at the same time... How could you sleep and be awake at the same time??? Wathever. I miss him anyway, he seems to be right from a cartoon... and so proud...

Today I did 2 interesting things... I mean even if I thought all day long of my late homework for Linda (So sorry Linda... it's coming in the next post...).
After class I went to an interview at a modelling agency. My friend Morgane saw the ad last week in Village voice, she called up right away and they gave us an interview... I'm suspicious with agencies which post ads in free magasines and then give interviews so easily... And listen everybody I was right ! It's so funny, you know, 'cause I'm aware, I worked in the business in France, even if it's different here, when you are in front of a shark, you feel it straight away ! Morgane and I, listened to his speech, I really wanted to stand up and say : "Mister I don't know your name, and I don't care actually, but I hate to waste my time, adieu". But I just looked at him straight in the eyes with a smile which tells a lot and I forgot my cell phone on his desk. No, that's not my way to show my discontentment ! It was just a stupid default... I found it out in the subway and must go back to the charming building, I wasted half an hour in more... It pissed me off ! (Sorry Eric I know it's not in the dictionnary).
I went back to my appartement in East village, I talked with my roomate and, just after he told me that it's too late for me to hope loosing some weight, I decided nethertheless to go to the gym ! And I had a wonderfull moment there. I mean... everybody is sweaty running in front of a TV ! I love it ! :) I'm gonna come everyday ! After 15 min of running on a wierd machine I went to the swimmingpool... That's happiness... I loved it... I will defenitly keep my hopeless aim to loose some weight... :D

My friend Morgane and I last WE in Rockefeler Center... Wahoo Morgane what a smile !

Hello,
I published this picture since I think that each trendy people need to have a picture of Bjork if they want to be taken seriously...
Now I'm a real trendy person ! :D

If I could change my life ... Who I'd prefer to be...? where I'd prefer to live ...?

(exercise for Linda's class sept 20th 2006)

I can't imagine how bad must feel the unlucky people who don't like their lives, and where they're from.... It must be as hard-living as beeing a women and wanting to be a man... (the opposite is easier, surgically speaking I mean...).

But ok let's try... If I could change my life only one time and forever, I would choose to be born in a country where freedom is the most important value, maybe not France although I love my country.
Yes that's true french people are what they are but I think every people has his typical imperfections and if you only pay attention to that I'm pretty sure You gonna miss opportunities of meeting interesting people... yes I see you seem sceptical.... but trust me. Wathever.
I wouldn't choose my country only because it's not funny, I already know it, too easy, I like challenges...

I would probably choose Sweden... For different reasons :

- first they are fucking good in foreign languages ! It's true ! Actually they can only speak swedish in Sweden and amongst them... honestly who, exept the swedich, speaks swedish ? Oh... actually my cousin Sophie does (sorry Sophie if you read these lignes...)... she married a swedish guy, she has 2 cute sons and she's been living there for 5 years, maybe longer... she's the "exception which confirm the rule" (it's a french's idiomatic expression, I'm not sure it makes sense in English...) anyway... which leads me to my second point.

- Swedish people are very often fucking beautiful !... And that's really true ! And I mean life is more pleasant when you are tall, thin, blond-haired, w/ a sweet face... and when I went in Stocholm for Sophie's wedding (I was 13 and so hang ups, as you can be when you are a teenager w/ pimples, no breast (actually I still have all these problems and I'm 24... but mom told me that I had to be patient... that my boobs would get bigger one day... mom ? Did you lie to me ?... you can say it now I wouldn't be angry at you...)). So, yes... when I went in Stocholm I saw more of these creatures in the streets than in Paris or anywhere else... then my cousins became mad !... :)

- Sweden is a country where it's pleasant to live, to grow up or bring up your kids... There are many green spaces, forests, parks... I mean, I understand my cousin, it seems nice living there, even if the winter is a pretty hard season... It's dark most of the day and very cold...

- And last point it's a european country and it's easy to travel through Europe, and even study where you want, learn many differents languages and discover many different cultures.

So if I could change my life, one time and forever, I would prefer being a Swedish guy (nowadays it's still an asset to be man...), tall, blond-haired, handsome... who has access to education and most of all , free. Free to speak, free to choose his life, his wife, his studies, free to express himself through art or as a journalist, free to travel and write reports letting people know what's happening elsewhere, how people live and if they are luckier or not than us, which are their issues in their daily life...

But if I could change my life many times and after a while return to my own life... I really think I would like to take risks, to be a woman in India, in Africa, in Asia, in America, in Russia, in Maghreb, everywhere in fact... just to understand better, to have a global view of women's status in the world and yes, try to understand why women are still considered in the world (at different levels of course ) as inferior to men.

Marion

PS_ and if you were wondering... no I do not work at the swedish's office center...