I love Craig!

Can I just say how much I love Craigslist? It’s seriously the best Web site on the internet. I just spent about an hour looking through all the stuff people are giving away for free in Sacramento. If I were home right now I’d be able to get myself a sofa, a washer and dryer and a box of candy canes. How fab is that? When I come back I’m for sure furnishing my house with secondhand stuff. Hopefully it will mostly be from the “Free” section.

Oh, and did you know you can get your teeth cleaned for free at Western Career College? If you don’t have dental insurance, you should check it out. I’m definitely going to when I get back. They even do your x-rays for $10 if you want them to.

I think my next goal in life is going to be seeing how much stuff I can get for free or super cheap. Maybe I’ll become one of those professional housesitters so I’ll never have to pay rent again….seriously, how amazing would it be to be able to live without money? I’d be SO happy.

Although, I don’t think I can get wine for free unless I start writing wine articles again…

 

Mannequins, Hummers and Little Glass Jars

We’re talking Excessive

For the most part, people here drive small cars. They do this because a) there’s not space and b) gas is really expensive. The smart car, above, is one of the smallest cars I’ve seen here, but even the regular four-door cars are really compact. So today when I saw TWO Hummers on the road I was a bit pissed off. In California we think Hummers are a bit excessive. They’re completely unnecessary for both around town and freeway driving. And they only get, what, like 8 miles per gallon of gasoline. Yesterday I filled up Red’s tank and it cost me 52 euros. So I’m guessing a hummer would cost about 120 euros to fill up, if not more (my tank was only 3/4 empty). That’s roughly $165.

It’s not only that though. I don’t think a Hummer can fit down most streets here, considering I feel cramped in my little car. And where do they park??? One of the Hummers I saw today was parked half on the sidewalk and half in the street just so it wouldn’t be blocking traffic. And I bet it doesn’t fit in any of the parking garages here. In Paris, a Hummer is more than excessive. It’s Excessive (with a capital E, in case you didn’t get that).

Little Glass Jars

Can I just say how much I love that glass jars are used for just about everything in France? I don’t understand why we ever stopped using them in the U.S. I know they’re still used for some things, but I think in most cases (olives, peppers, etc) it’s because they’re imported. In the U.S. I think we moved away from using glass because it’s more expensive to produce than plastic, which is made from oil (coincidence? I think not). Also, I think people prefer plastic because it is less breakable than glass.

BUT glass is far more environmentally friendly than plastic. It is the only thing besides metal that can be reshaped over and over again without losing it’s strength. Plastic, on the other hand, can only be reused if there aren’t too many other chemicals mixed with it (chemicals that give them color and texture, for instance). And many plastics aren’t even recyclable, despite having the cute little chasing arrows on the bottom. Again, it’s because they’ve had too many chemicals added to them. It would do more damage to the earth to melt them down because they release noxious fumes into the atmosphere, than it does to chuck them in the garbage. Water bottles however are one of the two types of plastics that are easily recyclable. Still, wouldn’t it be better to not be so reliant on something made from oil? Just saying.

So anyway, I love these little glass jars. I was going to buy a toothbrush holder the other day but then I remembered I had some yogurt at home in a glass jar and I could use that as my toothbrush/toothpaste holder. And I have to say it works quite well. Also, my nutella glass is almost ready for use. I just finished the nutella and have the glass soaking in the sink right now.

Mannequins

Last thing, I promise. I just wanted to share a little something that makes my heart smile, and that is the French word for models. In France super models are nothing more than mannequins. That makes my heart smile because it makes it so much easier for me to remember that a model’s body isn’t as real as we all are persuaded to believe. Hearts for that!

 

Champagne Campaign, FREE books take 2, and Book 6

The Champagne Campaign

I went out to R15 last night for a friend’s birhtday and learned of a new marketing ploy they have. It’s called the Champagne Campain, where if three girls come in together on a Tuesday night they get a free bottle of champagne, complete with ice bucket. I already loved this bar before, mostly because it’s only about three blocks from my house so I never have to worry about a designated driver, but this makes me love it even more. Seriously, it doesn’t get better than free alcohol. So anybody up for going out with me next Tuesday night?

FREE Books, take 2

My last attempt to pawn my books off on you guys only succeeded in getting rid of about 14 books. Since that time I’ve found about 20 more to add to the list, which means there are new books on there for you to check out. They are listed here. Just message me which books you want and I’ll send them to you for FREE!

Book 6: “No Longer at Ease” by Chinua Achebe

First, can I just say I can’t believe I’m only on book 6 for the year? I feel like I’ve done a ton of reading and it only amounts to six actual books? A quarter of the year is already passed so I better get crackin’ if I want to reach my goal of 52 books.

Now on to the book review…

Chinua Achebe is most well known for his award-winning book “Things Fall Apart,” which is about a Nigerian tribe before and after missionaries showed up in their country. It shows the struggle between the old values and the new values brought upon the people of the tribe and how they react to those changes.

“No Longer at Ease” is about the second generation of Nigerians under white rule. Obi Okonkwo, the main character, receives a scholarship from his tribe so that he can study law in England. The hope is that he will return and be able to help them gain some ground with the government.

He instead studies English, but still receives a high post with the government upon his return. However, even with a well-paid job (at least for a Nigerian) he finds it is not enough to repay the tribe for his college tuition, help his sick mother, and prepare for a wedding. As the book goes on we see Obi becoming less comfortable among his own people and with the traditions of his people. He sees nothing wrong with wanting to marry a forbidden woman and he eventually gets caught taking bribes, something he is adamently opposed to when he first returns from England.

I found this book to be an interesting look at the effects of imperialism and how it changes the people it’s meant to help. Chinua Achebe’s books show imperialism from the imperialized’s point of view rather than the conqueror, which I find to be a more realistic point of view. The author grew up in Nigeria in the 1930’s when the country was experiencing these changes so he has a first-hand knowledge of what imperialism did to his country.

This book got me thinking about the imperialism still going on today, although we prefer the much less threatening name of “globalization.” It makes me sad that as Americans we can’t just visit other countries and enjoy their culture. Instead we want all of the conveniences of home to follow us there, thus forcing our culture onto other nations. It was a sad, sad day for me when I saw the first Starbucks built in Paris. I wonder how long it will take for Wal-Mart to arrive abroad.

 

Grounds for your garden

There are a lot of corporate giants out there that people love to hate — Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Starbucks — and it’s for good reason. These big chains flood the market with their product and make it nearly impossible for small retailers to compete.

But recently I’ve decided Starbucks really isn’t that bad. See, the thing about Starbucks is that even though they’ve taken over the coffee market just about everywhere, they at least try to be responsible about the environmental consequences of that. Unlike McDonald’s, which had to face a great deal of protesting before getting rid of styrofoam (which they still use outside of the U.S.), Starbucks uses recycled cups and encourages their customers to be earth-friendly. The other day when I was in there I saw a new FREE product of theirs: “grounds for your garden.” They were giving away their used coffee grounds for people to use in composting or as soil, rather than just dumping them in the garbage out back.

I realize this is probably because they have more environmentally conscious customers than some of the other corporate giants. Perhaps environmentalists are just finally getting through to people. Maybe I’m just making excuses for my chai latte habit because I hear Wal-Mart is going to start carrying green products too. And they have provided bag recycling for some time but I don’t plan to start shopping there anytime soon…

 

Free food?

Okay!

There is nothing more comforting to a starving reporter than the idea of free lunch. I skipped lunch today because I’m poor. Lo and behold, one of our features reporters had to do a restaurant review. They gave her food to photograph and she brought it back for all of us to enjoy. Ah, the joys of my job.

Things are definitely looking up.

PS Thanks to everyone for taking the time to comment. I really do appreciate it. Sometimes I just don’t like to think so much.