Week Two: Exercise

Bonjour mes amis,

It's 10:30pm and I have to be up at 4am to dog pile into the car for a trip up north for the weekend, so this will be a short post with no French.

I was bad again, but in a different way. I worked REALLY hard Monday... which left me sore all week. In fact, my legs are *still* sore. I didn't work out at all the rest of the week, I decided I should let my poor abused body recover. But next week I've got it down. Not too much, not too little, juuuuuuuust right (Goldie Locks, anyone?). I hope.

I'll post again upon my return to share about the trip to Lake Kabby!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Mission gâteau individuel de paradis

Bonjour mes amis,

If you are not currently drooling at the image of the gâteau individuel to your left, you certianly should be. My friend, E, over at Upon A Whim has been mentioning this little bakery called Sweets Bakeshop she saw for a while now and has been wanting to stop inside. Unfortunately we weren't able to make the trip together because she left on her vacation today. I did, however, stop by with my father just a few minutes ago.

This cupcake is the one I tried, titled the "Peanutbutter Cup" quite simply, and the ones my father and brother had, "Black and White" and "Triple Chocolate" were also bluntly named. But why would you need to be creative with the name when the cupcake itself is heaven?

Now, I've had good food before, the kind where as soon as you see the chef you look to see if they're carrying the famous dish with them (alas, they usually are not). But these cupcakes have an entire league of their own. They also, unfortunately, have an entire price range of their own. Each regular sized cupcake is $3.00 a peice, and you can get mini-cupcakes for $1.50 each. As you can imagine, the mini-cupcakes are bite-sized.

This of course, has spurred me to go on a mission. I must find a way to recreate these divine wonders! The first thing I noticed was how fluffy and soft the icing (frosting?) was; it was sort of like the consistancy of whipped cream. I think I'll probably start with that.

E, when you get home, we have a lot of baking to do.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Week One: Exercise

Bonjour mes amis,

Right now it's Thursday evening, meaning tomorrow is Friday, meaning that my first week of attempting to exercise will be over. I must admit I'm rather disappointed with myself. I'm so lazy. Once I get going I'll work hard and feel great afterwards, but the problem is getting started! Monday I ran on the treadmill, Tuesday I didn't have time, last night I went for a run in the park, and tonight I did nothing even though I had no excuse. Tomorrow I'm going to run on the treadmill again, I think. Then I'll be at my dad's house for the weekend, and on Monday I'll return to starting the Slim in 6 program. I used it over spring break and it was an incredible work out!

As far as food goes, my only bad day was Tuesday. In the early afternoon a friend treated me to Dairy Queen and then after dinner, E's family served chocolate ice cream with raspberries. It was so good. Other than that I ate pretty well!

Next week I have to work harder. I promised a friend I would, which by itself should be enough motivation, but beyond that I don't want to be the last one to finish come gym (Aerobics, to be specific) in the fall. First time I've had any gym class since Freshman year. Ick. Plus, I just plain need to get in shape. I can do this!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

No "If"s, "And"s, or "But"s

Bonjour mes amis,

Be it reading poems (Wild Geese by Mary Oliver), listening to music (Taking Chances - Glee, Cave In - Owl City), glancing at the school website ("The real meaning of travel, like that of a conversation by the fireside, is the discovery of oneself through contact with other people." -Paul Tournier), or even reading Facebook statuses ("Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain), I am constantly reminded of my dream to go to school in Québec.

So I'm going to do it. No "if"s, "and"s, or "but"s about it. Where there is a will, there is a way, and boy do I have the will. If it means I don't get a nice pair of shoes or new clothes for the school year, if it means I have to continue playing my piano by sitting on my bed, if it means I have to hang out at home and save some gas money, if it means I have to skip lunch here and there... I'm going to find the money. I'm going to go to Québec for school. I filled out a few more job applications tonight and I'm going to pick some others up tomorrow.

I'm going to make my dreams into reality.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Ma musique français

Bonjour mes amis,

Aujourd'hui I was going through my French playlist on Grooveshark because I hadn't looked through it for a while and didn't really like all of the songs that were on it, when I thought how cool it was that another blog I read occasionally (CF) posts playlists every so often. And then I realized Grooveshark can do that too! If you're as unobservant as me and haven't noticed yet, I decided to put it under the "About Me" section. Instead of posting short playlists every once and a while, I decided I'd be lazy and just keep that one updated. Grooveshark does it all for me, if I change my playlist on the website, it changes it here! I love it.

As for the actual musique I have posted, you can probably tell I'm a big fan of Alizée, but I'm always up for hearing new musique. If I like it, I'll add it to my playlist, so don't be afraid to comment with some suggestions.

If you want to add a playlist to your blog or website, you can go to Grooveshark and throw together some songs, and when you have the playlist selected there will be a button in the upper right-hand corner of the blue box with "Options." Click this, select "Share," and at the bottom of that window click "Export." The rest is self-explained.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Edit: In order to make things fit together more nicely, I rearranged some of the items on my blog. So no, I wasn't insane when I said the music was posted under the "About Me" section. :)

3 Hours of Sleep + 5 Hour Energy Drink + 16 oz. Cappuccino = This Post

Bonjour mes amis,

Warning: This post may leave you confused and questioning society and the world as we know it.

So, why DO they put your shoe boxes into plastic bags to carry across the parking lot anyways? I mean, it's a 3 lb box. Maybe if your hands were full.. But then wouldn't it stack better as a box? Sorry, that's been nagging me since I got my shoes this morning. Yes, I finally got athletic shoes! I haven't had any decent tennis shoes since like the 6th grade. I'm nearly set to start working out on Monday. The only thing left is to nag my parents into helping making some room in the living room.

I also discovered that nature treats me weird. Like really. We'll start with the simplest.

1) My body absolutely hates me; I'm "ill" far more than the normal person, to the point where I don't think anything of it when I actually am sick. My stomach is often unhappy and I can't breathe right to save my life (Okay, not literally, but...) and I get dizzy just from taking a quick shower. Today was no different. I was out walking around at a city get together type thing, it was hot and sunny, I was dehydrated, hungry, and running off of three hours of sleep and a 5 Hour Energy Drink. I nearly passed out on the way home. Fun times.

2) Bugs love only one portion of me; on my left leg I have six bug bites, all of which are between my knee and halfway up my shin. The other leg is the same but with less bites.

3) Only the inside of my elbows sunburned; Yeah, you heard me, the inside of my elbows were the only thing that burned today. Seriously, how do you burn the inside of your elbow??

I've had a really weird day. Before we even left to go get my upper shins bitten and the inside of my elbows burned, I was waking up by chatting with folks on the computer. My step father walks up behind me and puts his hand on my shoulder and just stands there with a smile. So I turn to him and ask, "Can I help you...?"

His smile grows as he replies, "No, just proud of you."

"For what?" Jeeze, my desk is a mess, I haven't washed the dishes in weeks, it's the middle of summer so it can't be grades...

He chuckles and says, "Just stuff," and turns and walks away.

Curiosity killed the Kat. But for now, this Kat must sleep.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Money =/= Happiness

Bonjour mes amis,

While I realize this isn't the smartest idea, ranting here on this blog, as I have a link to it from my Facebook and my family has access to my Facebook... But I promised I'd write more and this is the only thing on my mind.

My family is big on bonfires. My mother and step-dad, anyways, and they decided that we were having one tonight. So at 7:30 when the sky was still bright blue, Jeff goes out and starts the fire and then drags us (my little sister and myself) out as well. Soon enough everyone has eaten and then is getting a little bored, so the little sister whines for someone to toss beanbags with her, and of course my step father agrees. Meanwhile, my mother and I get on the topic of college.

You see, I don't really run fresh ideas through my parents, I wait until I've thought them well over and they're pretty solid first, because I generally end up fighting for my ideas. Except, you know, I figured they'd be fighting about the Québec/Canada part... not the following-my-dreams part. Yep. My mother disapproves of me wanting to be a choir director. She thinks I should choose a job so I can be rich and "support myself." I understand this worry she has about me being poor, I mean, she's pretty much lived it her whole life and I see the way it stresses her out, but I'm also not going to be nearly as irresponsible with my money as she. It makes me thankful my father was the one who raised me.

Dad always raised me saying it's all about how happy you are with the job, not about the money. He wakes up every morning, hating his job SO much, but he always goes so that he can support not just himself but his four kids, two of which live with him even though they're adults. Don't worry, they pay rent. Or at least, one does, but that wasn't always the case. For a while my mother was out of the picture and he had to raise us on his own. God bless that man, raising four crazy children by himself!

I guess what I'm getting at, is this reminds me of a promise I made myself when I was younger. I told myself I could chase after any job in the whole world that I wanted, as long as it made me happy.

"Tout le monde m'avait dit que c'était impossible; moi, je leur ai répondu qu' « impossible n'est pas français » et puis je l'ai fait." (Everyone told me it was impossible. Me, I responded to them that "Impossible isn't French" and then I did it.)

And that's exactly what I intend on doing.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Short 'N' Sweet

Bonjour mes amis,

I have been stricken with the strong urge to jump in my car and go on a road trip. I could go somewhere closer like the river, or drive into Wisconsin and kidnap my big sister for a day, or if I had my passport I could cross the border and go see Canada.

Problem being I have 1/4 tank of gas and no money or passport. Seriously though, I really want to, like I spent my morning planning where I'd go if I could just up and leave! Maybe I can get some gas money from the parental units this weekend and go nag my sister and have her fiancé foot the bill for lunch ;) I don't think I've seen her since Easter.

I can't sit still. I'll write more tomorrow.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine.

Here's the Mail, It Never Fails. It Makes Me Want to Wag My Tail!

Bonjour mes amis,

Today I woke up to the sound of shattering glass... on my carpeted bedroom. I love my kitten. I then proceeded to clean it up, get dressed, throw on shoes and grab an umbrella to go across the street in a solid downpour to check the mail for my movie. It hadn't even come yet. It was about nine in the morning. Heh. Heheheh. *Twitch* I went to bed after two in the morning. What's wrong with me? Why can't I sleep in until noon?? Je suis malade! T.T

As for the retelling of yesterday's tale:

I ran out to grab the mail again (Er, not again since it was first? Je ne sais pas.) except this time it had come, and a letter from the College Board came! I had it opened before I made it back across the street, and guess what? I PASSED!! I get college credit for World History, assuming my college of choice in Québec accepts it. I know McGill does, and that's a definite possibility right now. I just saved myself about $1-2,000.

When my mother came home, of course she asked about it and had some things to say, and then she went through the rest of the mail. Oh look, my driver's license came finally! Sweet! It had a bad picture though and I knew it, so I hadn't really been looking for it.

"And Delphine proves her dorkiness yet again! She notices her score on a test but not that her driver's license came." Thanks Mom. Love you too.

I also started my day off with listening to a Yale professor lecture about music. It's pretty cool, I found it with StumbleUpon and it's got a ton of free lectures you can look into. I also went on iTunes and grabbed a bunch of free ones from elsewhere. There was some stuff on French, but either it was really really basic or a level or two above me, unfortunately.

As for my blog, I found Blog This! It's actually pretty neat for Google Chrome users. It gives you an icon next to the address bar that you can click and it'll open up a new window with a new post, starting with a link to the page/title and whatever text you have highlighted. I tried it out with the video I posted a few days ago (and granted, you can't highlight a video..) but I did like not having to come all the way to blogger when I felt like sharing that.

I think I'm going to wait until noon before I check the mail again.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Tagging: Not Just for Facebook Anymore

Bonjour, mes amis,

I was just looking at random blogs and there was one saying she got "tagged" to answer a survey thing, kind of like how Facebook does it. Except at the end she tagged everyone who read it. I guess I can, I don't really feel like posting anything else super interesting and it gives me an excuse to start adding more than boring text to my posts. Allons-y!

1.What shoe size are you? Quelle pointure êtes-vous?
Size 8 - 9 depending on the brand, but usually 8 or 8 and 1/2.

2.Where do you work? Où est-ce que vous travaillez?

I wish I worked.

3.Favorite piece of clothing you own? Qu'est-ce que votre vêtement préféré?
My fedora, of course! Excluding accessories, I'll go with my newest shirt. Black, racerback with ruffles on the chest, loose fitting with the elastic on the bottom. Makes me wish I had some necklaces to layer with it.

4.Your favorite blog? Votre blog préféré?
I love reading all of my friends' blogs, but honestly, Two Beans or Not Two Beans wins this one.

5.Do you have any pets? Est-ce que vous avez animaux domestiques?
Yep! We have the family cat, and then I have a kitten named Sir Galahad. He's adorable even though he's not really a kitten anymore.

6.How many siblings do you have? Combien de soeurs et frères est-ce que vous avez?
I have a brother (25), a sister (22), a brother (19), a step-sister (11), and a half-step-sister (17). What's a half-step-sister? It's my step-sister's half-sister, of course.

7.If you could live anywhere where would it be? *Too lazy for conditional tense*
Québec. I love you France, but right now, I'm day dreaming constantly of college in Québec.

8.What were you doing before this? *Too lazy for French*

Ironically, tagging my friends on Facebook. It wasn't a survey-type thing, though, it was Henry Thoreau's "Friendship." :)


9.Your favorite food? Votre nourriture préféré?
Perogies, hands down. The real kind though, homemade, not icky frozen ones.

10.Do you have a middle name? *Hey, I don't have to write in French*
Yes I do.

11.Your favorite websites? *Lazy*
Facebook, Blogger, Youtube, StumbleUpon, Gmail, Dirpy, and College Fashion (no particular order to that).

12.Who do you tag? *Lazy*
French Bean, E, and Kayla!

Wow, I'm much more tired than I thought. Good night blogger, tomorrow I will catch you up on today's events!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Taylor Mali: What teachers make

This is why I respect my teachers.

'Nuff said.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Bonjour, mes amis,

If I went to college in Québec, it's not really much more expensive than the schools here even though I'd be an international student. Now, if I was a resident of Québec, I could get my education for ridiculously cheap. For example, at the University of Minnesota, I could pay $18,800 a year to go to school in my own state. If I went to McGill University, I could pay $15,000 a year and that's in another country. Not even just another country, in a major French-speaking area of the world! Impressed? It gets better.

Now let's say I go to a college that doesn't have such a big name, like known across North America. But still a very good school... How about Sherbrooke University? This school doesn't just have a program for Music Education, it has a Masters degree specified for Choir Directing! If I was a resident of Québec, I'd be paying $3,888 a year. No, that's not a typo. Three thousand and eight-hundred eighty eight dollars. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it doesn't end with me being in debt until I'm 40!

From what I've seen, it doesn't sound too awfully hard to become a resident, and I have a friend in the area who could definitely help me out. I can't believe I could actually go to college in Québec for less than four thousand dollars a year! That's ridiculous! And I LOVE IT. Je t'aime, Québec! I see you in my future, small student loan debt.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

AP French Language

Bonjour mes amis!

Next year will be my first year since sixth grade that I haven't studied French in school. If I leave it be, the colleges I apply to will see "French II" and "French IV." Two years of French. Most colleges look for at least two, if not three or four. I wish I could take four years of French! I'm thinking to solve this dilemma, I may independant study AP French Language. A friend of mine who graduated this year said that on his applications, they didn't even ask for scores, just how many and which AP tests he'd taken. Granted, he took like 20 something because he's a genius, but still. Even if I don't get college credit, it could still help me get into a better college!

From the looks of it, the test is challenging, but I think if I really studied and took up the offer to practice avec mon ami en français, I could probably pass it. I'm still waiting to get the letter in the mail regarding my score on the AP World History exam I took this May. It should be coming soon! A few of my friends were thinking about studying AP European History but I don't think that is going to happen, and I don't think I could handle the course load of two AP history courses on top of the challenging math and science courses I'll be in next year.

But I could keep my open period that I signed up for and just do independant study so it shows up on the transcript, and then take the AP test in May. Unfortunately, the school isn't going to pay for it since the AP French Language exam isn't offered here, so it would be the full price, around $80 or $90. Comparing those prices to the prices of a college course, however, makes them seem much nicer. Not to mention it'll be coming out of my parents' pockets, not mine!

What do you guys think? Should I add a third year of French to my transcript? I do want to go to Québec for college, and I'm going to France after I graduate. I adore the language. The passion is there.

À demain et merçi beaucoup,
Mlle Delphine

My Friends are my World

Bonjour, mes amis!

What a day! This morning I finally was able to spend an hour or two chatting with a dear friend of mine who's having a rough time, and I feel so much better. I was pretty stressed out and worried for a while but I do believe all will be well again in due time. :)

Afterwards, I rushed to go pick up E, as I'm visiting the cities this weekend, so we could enjoy our day. It was supposed to be brunch, but I don't think I got there until a little after noon because I really needed to speak to my troubled friend so I could relax. I've known E since the early years in elementary school so it's always nice to get together with her. We ate at The Neighborhood Café (Hmm... Does that count as un mot francais?) and chatted about how stupid boys can be. Afterwards, we stopped at Jamba Juice, which by the way, is the best smoothie place ever, and then headed for the river. I love the Mississippi River.

It was quite peaceful... until we were disturbed by a bee and both decided it was time to leave.

We hung out at her house for a while and fixed up her blog situation so that her personal life doesn't get mixed in with her obession over Doctor Who. Alright, I'll give her that David Tennant is pretty cute! I haven't seen the newest doctor though. If you're interested, you can keep up with her at http://sonnetscrewdriver.blogspot.com/ (DrWho) or http://ere1414.blogspot.com/ (Whimsy).

While we were chatting, we ended up reminiscing about the different French teachers we've had over the years. I've never had the same one for more than a full year. In fact, I've only had two for full years and I've taken four years of French! Those were the two teachers we both shared, and it was agreed upon that our first teacher was the best we ever had. Asseyez-vous, levez-vous, asseyez-vous, levez-vous, asseyez-vous dans la poubelle. He was really awesome, I can't do him justice just by writing about him, but I can say that I owe it to him for my passion of the language! And then we found him online. We emailed him, and I do hope to hear back from him soon.

We also visited a local store and such but I had to head back home for dinner. It was definitely a de-stressing day and well needed! Merci beaucoup, universal powers that be, for giving me something in return out of all of the worrying I've done the last few days.

À demain,
Mlle Delphine

EDIT: Monsieur C replied! And remembers us! Today is a good day.

Red is Bad, Green is Good

Bonjour, mes amis,

So... I still haven't gotten around to looking at any colleges in southern California yet (yes, that's a possibility) but I've looked at a handful in Quebec or nearby. So far? Nothing dream-like, but I'm making progress. The other day I realized my notes were getting far too messy and unorganized, so I put the main categories I'm looking at into a spreadsheet. Once I get more colleges I'm actually liking the sound of, I'll go into more details. Here is my college search thus far:

Yeah. See that big red block? That's the schools that don't have decent (or any) Music Education programs. I won't be going there, but I figured I'd keep them on the list just so I know what I've already been through. The U of MN is my backup college if all else fails, but so far it looks like McGill University and Laval University are doing the best. But still not very strong in some areas, either, unfortunately! I need a school that's cheaper than $30,000 a year, has a decent Music Education program, and is around Montreal/Ottawa. You wouldn't think it's that hard, would you? But I'll find one, just you wait and see. Even if it's not super close to either city, if it's within a three hour drive I could do that.


Alright, now you're wondering, "Why Montreal/Ottawa? I thought she said Quebec." Yeah I said Quebec, and I meant Quebec. But I don't really want to be on the other side of the continent in Quebec (the city) and I do want to be near a big city. I think I'd die without being able to make weekend trips to some place fun! Plus I know a couple people in the region, it'd be nice to have them help me get used to living in a totally new country without any family around.


Now I'm just rambling because I'm tired and all sorts of other things, so bonsoir, mes amis.



À demain,
Mlle Delphine

Un peu de tout

Bonjour mes amis!

Je néglige mon français! Ce message sera en français, complètement. (This post will be in French, entirely. Desolée, my anglophone friends!) Et desolée, mes amis francophone, pour mon mauvais français.

Ce matin j'ennuyais, allors j'ai décidé chercher l'internet pour divertissement! Voilà, mon matin.

Premièrement j'ai vu la film Amélie. Mon beau-père a Netflix et j'ai voulu voir P.S. I Love You mais je n'ai pu pas la regarde sur l'ordinateur. Et ensuite j'ai vu "Amélie: Vous devez voir!" Pourquoi pas? La film est très bizzare! Mignon, mais bizzare. "Vous devez voir" comprendre.

Deuxièmement j'ai écouté à Éric Lapointe. Mon ami a dit il est bon. Je pense il est comme si comme ça. Sa voix, c'est trop âpre pour moi. Ses chansons lente sont bon; j'aime cette chanson. Vraiment? Il a l'air effrayant.

Enfin, j'ai regardé à plus d'universités en Québec. Je suis déjà regardé à Université Laval, l'Université de Montreal, l'Université de Québec, McGille Université et autres, mais maintenant je regarde à Carleton Université et l'Université d'Ottawa.

Et.. ouai. Je ne veut pas écrire en français maintenant, allor ce message est finit!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

College... in Quebec?

Bonjour, mes amis!

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

Wouldn't that be SO AWESOME?! Okay, here I go trying to explain to my evil councilor why this is a good idea and why he shouldn't talk me out of it like he does to all my other friends and their ideas. Also, for my friends who are now panicking about me going away to Canada. *Clears throat and the screen does the wavey fade out and in again to another scene*

I want to major in Music Education and become a choir director. French, however, is something I could never give up, and so every time I search for colleges, I have to look for a music program and a good French program. Realistically, I know there are some out there, but they tend to be very expensive or in remote areas I'm not so fond of moving to... and to be honest, I want to go to a decent school, not some random place in a town of 400 that conveniently is affordable. No, money is not my primary concern, but it is a concern. I expect to be in debt until I'm forty and I want to make sure that every single dime was spent on me enjoying my one life. My father will be taking me to France after I graduate from high school for a couple weeks, and as much as I'll love it, I know I would never be able to afford to go to school there. So, I guess I could study abroad for a semester or two. But then I had a better idea:

Why not go to school in Quebec?

Think about it, I'd be doing all of my learning in one school so I wouldn't have to be uprooted every 4-9 months. It's a major French-speaking area in the world and most any college I look at will be taught in French, and they have programs to assist the students whose native language isn't French. I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not there is a good French program all while being pretty immersed in it, and I know my ability to speak the language would increase drastically. Then I would be able to focus my actual classes on getting my major and it would save me money in the long run since most language classes are a handful of credits.

As for the actual going to school in another country, I think it would be an incredible opportunity. I've always loved seeing new places, but visiting them on vacation is never the same as actually living there. Simply moving cities was an intense culture shock to me because my hometown was all I ever knew. Now I know the surrounding metro, but I feel like I'm still missing out on so much. I know it won't be easy to move to a place so far away, and I know I will miss my friends and family, but I don't believe that life is about living inside of your comfort zone. I also know, from experience, that I will be able to stay in touch with anyone who truly cares about me and that I'll make amazing, new friends while I'm there! I have learned so much about the way other people work, about other places, but most of all, about me. Going to a university in Quebec would be another opportunity to keep learning about the world while still moving onwards and upwards in my life, and I think I would be a fool to not take this opportunity.

*The screen wavey fades out and back into real time* What do you think? Somewhat convincing? The wording and rambling is going to happen no matter how much I edit this paragraph because I'm not the best speaker, so I figured I'd leave it as is. I'm actually really excited at the prospect of going to college in Quebec! I've been doing some research on it but know I still have more work to do before I can prove to my councilor that I know enough about the difference in systems.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Odd Dreams

Bonjour mes amis,

It's 5:27 am. I went to bed at midnight. I cannot sleep... So here I sit, with me, myself, and I. I had some sort of weird dream last night that made me really solemn and I don't really know why. The only part I can remember is talking to a girl from my school named Mary, about another girl who seemed to be completely made up, but had committed suicide. Mary told me that the other girl stole her phone, she knew it because they found it in her things, and the guilt was just too much. I asked how they knew she stole her phone. She said she guessed they didn't.

There's absolutely nothing I can connect that to right now. There was more to the dream I can't remember, though. My Canadian friend, Ryan, was somehow in the mix. I don't remember. Dreams are funny things... it's my third one this week. Kinda odd how you can have no dreams for months, and out of no where have them again. People say that when you stop dreaming it's because you've lost your soul. Does that mean I've found mine?

I'm not particularly religious. I believe in science over faith in these sort of things. But still, one can't help but wonder, because there will always be more questions and science will never have all the answers.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

The Perfect Guy

Bonjour, mes amis,

It has been brought to my attention that I've never had a decent date.

Or present.

I've had three boyfriends... None of them even paid for the first date. I've never gotten a flower. I've never gotten a teddy bear. I've never gotten chocolate. Nothing. Nada. Zip. How does that work?

It made me sad.

Until I daydreamed up my perfect boyfriend! He'd be really fun to be around and a funny guy, but when it came time to be serious, he'd be a total sweetheart and listen, and he'd talk to me when he needed someone too. He'd be very intelligent, smarter than me (this may be my dork coming out, but.. smart guys = hot guys). That said, he'll of course be cute. He'll have an open mind, and he'll have a wide taste in music. He can pla- I mean, *could*- play the piano and the guitar.

And then he'll ask me to dinner and he'll bring me a rose. He will refuse to let me pay, and I'll only let him because 1. I'm flattered and 2. It's the first date and no one's ever spent money on me.

Some day. ♥

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Ratchet (& Clank)

Bonjour, mes amis!

This is a ratchet:

Er, at least that's the only ratchet Google Images decided to come up with. I'm actually talking about the tool here! Last night I got to help mon beau-père (C'mon, you can remember this one!) travaille (work) en la motorcyclette de mon père (If "Beau" père is step father.. Père would be?). I've never done anything mechanically related before, but I've been nagging him for a while about oil changes. I don't want to have to depend on a man if I don't want to, you know? Plus it's kinda fun. We were changing the buttons and the grips on the handle bars, so I got to use a ratchet to undo the screws and all that.

Ours doesn't look quite like this, but it's close enough to get the idea. It's basically a screwdriver with movable parts. In theory, the movable parts help you to get screws that are in interesting places. In practice, the movable parts meant I had a lot of trouble using it on normally-placed screws.

The motorcycle is pretty much finished so I only got to see some of the cosmetic ends of things, but Mom has been nagging my step-father for a while about getting the Honda an oil change. Yessss! It's bound to come eventually, right? Plus as soon as I clean my desk, Jeff agreed to show me how to wax my the car that I'm using for the next two years.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine