All I would like is that Photoshop might not be so compicated to me... I know it is not, but in a foreign language, believe me it is; you can see it on my poor first collage...

Family

My brother Christophe, my mum Monique and my dad Robert visited me last week. It just was awesome to see the three of them in America. Actually we even hardly meet all together in France, because my parents live in the south of France, my bro lives in Paris and I study in Lyon.
The simple fact to have a breakfast together was great; and I felt I was a little girl again. They have not changed, I hope I haven't either...
We were here at Emigrant Lake, Ashland, and they are right now in San Francico taking I hope a toned of pictures.

Where in the world in Carmen San Diego?

International week will start Monday with a food fair. I'm really excited about it, because it is THE event for all the international students, and I hope it is just a big event on campus for everybody also.

I am a scriptwriter for the international show, which will take place on Friday.

I never heard about this Carmen San Diego before I became a "stage director," but now she is the criminal I have to find.

Bravo to my friend Steve who draw this picture!

Picturing the others

This is the person I wanted to photograph for this assignment, because even though I know her, she is a person who is worth knowing and paying attention to. Kana is from Tokyo, Japan. I know she is humble and was not a little embarrassed to be photographed, but I'm really statisfied by the result, and I hope she was, also. It is a new experience to catch a friend for pictures, because the camera is directing everything. I tried to pay attention to the light, to Kana's feelings and to the people around us, but we were also dependent on chance, if I may say so. The chance it could work out, or not.

She is an exchange student like me, so we have in common the experience of living in a different country and we are sometimes shocked, amused or amazed by the same things. But French and Japanese cultures are obviously totally different; I'm glad I know different people like Kana because you can learn from them a lot.

Alphabet Soup

Sugar cane "J", P.Diddy and streetlights "E"; a "P" from my sofa and a "C" on the carpet...

Kanye West! I love this picture. The bear and the glasses don't fit together at all, but I like it anyway. It is maybe because Kanye West's sounds have an atmosphere that is not common from my point of view, so we can agree that he chooses uncommon pictures to represent his work...

I know, I know, everytime I talk about something French, but I love Daft Punk also... The robot you can see at the bottom. "Stronger" is a remix of a song of the French group.

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger!

It may be so common for you. American people probably don't really pay attention to hamburgers as much as I don't pay attention to croissant for my breakfast.

But believe me for me hamburger is just a myth. In France you will hardly find one in the menu (I don't talk about McDonald's and KFC... this is all we have). Some hamburgers in (real) restaurants are delightful (yes it is an experience to me) but it is the kind of food I will eat once a year (so I'm done for 2009). Simply because it is too much for me. Apparently it is for my mother too, who ate a hamburger in a restaurant in Ashland "since she was in America..." I took pity on her since she didn't digest her menu until late at night...

I chose the smallest picture because it represents the connection between French food and American food (it illustrates the culinary experiences of a French family...) I miss croissant, but it's only when you try other kind of food that you start caring about your traditional food.

The second picture is jus hilarious to me... Two symbols of the American culture. It was actually a real Nike ad.

I think I would like to see this monument in red for a minute. la Rotonde is the main fountain of Aix-en-Provence, my hometown which I love so much. It is a romantic city from my point of view, and the monument at Christmas is full of lights. But a red landscape would be the landscape of couples and lovers. Maybe I am in that mood because I miss him a lot.

This is an image of plum blossom in Japan. My friend Kana from Tokyo inspired my post when I saw one of her pictures about blossom she took in California. I wondered therefore how much she missed the beauty of Japanese landscapes.

This blossom is just a myth for me; something you look through traveling agency pictures that gives you a stereotyped glimpse of Japan. But this is a part of her life. She told me she spends a lot of time outside with friends and family and goes for picnics during the blossom.
One of my goals in life now is to discover this country. I never really thought about it before. But now, I know very interesting and humble people from Japan, who make me know a little bit more about their culture, and I am thankful for that. I would like to be emerged one day by these cultural differences and I am sure I would not be disappointed.

I really like the colors and luminosity of this picture. It totally reminds me my friend Kana and her patience and loyalty. Japan looks to be a country of tolerance, serenity and imagination. This is what I associate to this image. It is a kind of window I open that transports me to a world I don’t know. Or a world I know at least through green tea dishes I share with my friend.

www.flickr.com

It may not be my country but I am very touched by the earthquake in adjacent Italy. At least 250 people died and thousands are homeless. Around 300 tremors happened yesterday. Silvio Berlusconi refused to accept the international aid, because Italy has “a proud people and has enough money to overcome the situation.” But beds or tents to help the new homeless were impossible to find the third night.
Let’s note nevertheless a miracle of the drama: a 98-year-old woman had been evacuated after she spent 30 hours alone.
I think this image is not like the others we can see about the disaster. The guitar contrasts with the ruins with its colors, its beautiful shape, and above all its message, which is to me a message of hope. The evocation of music is cheerful in comparison with the mournful atmosphere. It gives hope to find some survivors before the deadline -48 hours- given to rescuers. The guitar is damaged but totally recognizable; it makes me think that reconstruction is possible and that these people, some of whom lost everything, can have a fresh start.

www.rmc.fr

I drew this in class after I spent some time reading magazines, which didn't really help me have a better consideration of myself (whereas you are supposed to feel absolutely wonderful once you close it). You have to wear this one-shoulder dress like Jennifer Lopez if you want to be transformed as a goddess. You have to be slim like Heidi Klum to be glamorous, but if you don't have curves "you are not a real woman" (cf. Beyoncé.) So I guess... you are not glamorous.

While I was drawing random shapes, I had the idea of this big belly. Even pregnancy has become a must-have of the summer season.
I realized that Angelina Jolie, even though she is the most awaited star on the red carpet, smiles pretty rarely. Maybe she doesn't really care about the flashes. And that is nice to me. Stop making me think that fashion, photographers and people judgement are incontrovertible to exist.

I was in this shop in Los Angeles when I took this picture. As always when I see something in America that reminds me of France, I have to capture my thoughts in a photograph. Maybe because I am afraid I will forget, or because I want to show my experiences to my friends when I come back to my country. It will always be interesting to observe how another nation defines my culture. I can’t imagine my life in America without a camera and all the memories it allows me to conserve.
This shop was very unusual. The clothes were cute, and expensive, but what I noticed first was this fake array of French bread. I saw, between a blue dress and a white shirt, a kind of reconstitution of my French kitchen, with fake baguettes, bottles of wine and olive oil. I felt I was the only one in the shop to be amazed. For a minute I wondered where I was exactly.