ciao la côte d'azur

what i will miss about the french riviera:
- topless sunbathing/swimming. this is the #1 thing i absolutely love about living down here! men don't have to wear tops, so why should i? it's totally liberating and creates no tan lines. that's what i'm talking about.
- the beaches
- the summer months (around may to september).
- our apartment
- hanging out with the eisenhours and st. paul
- the few friends i made while living here
- feeling a healthy distance away from any media bombardment, propaganda, consumerism
- the chicken chimichangas at texas city.
- the grilled pork and rice plate at indochine.

what i won't miss about la france, in general:
- the lack of diversity (maybe i'm spoiled from being a cali girl). and, you know how back in the day in the states, white people would refer to all asians or pacific islanders as "oriental"? over here, the french continue to refer to all of us as "chinoise" (directly translates to "chinese"). that's wack.
- winter!! i'd never experienced living through a winter until moving out here, and i don't want to do it again (maybe i'm spoiled from being a cali girl).
- how everything is taken personally... but it's not personal.
- how a lot of the girls out here act bored or uninterested on a general basis.
- the language... as cool and refined and necessary, etc. as it is to know how to speak and understand french (which i'm damn proud of), it's absolutely useless if you're not in france. okay, if you're on one of the french-colonized countries like vietnam, tahiti, or guadeloupe, it's helpful to speak french... but seriously, other than that, it's a novelty language.
- the unemployment rate/lack of career opportunity for a gal like me.
- how expensive it is.

back to the positives. it's our last day here at the apartment. the weather is hot and the beaches are swarming with lots of happy, sunkissed, and swimming people. i'm gonna take that one last swim, have something good for dinner, and enjoy our last night on atoll beach. bisouxoxo

the weekend

today i went to ventimiglia, italy for the last time before heading off to spain. first, i'm bummed that my chanel accessories girls are no longer keeping post at the market. when i didn't see them in their usual spot, i looked for them all over the market just to make sure they weren't gone for good. they had such a nice variety of chanel stuff. one time i went to see them they had chanel buttons. so rare. oh well. had a great pizza and did some window shopping. some thoughts: if you're gonna buy a fake gucci, the least you could do is make sure the Gs on the bag you're buying look legit. never mind the other details. you know what i'm saying? none of these G logos that look like the numbers 69 instead. why bother? other than that, if you're looking to buy some good bootleg leather handbags or accessories, the ventimiglia market is a good one to go to because a lot of their bootlegs are genuine but irregular or flawed (usually not visible to the naked eye, unless you're a specialist) so they never made it to the shelf and instead are sent off to these vendors who sell at this market. so if you're ever in the area, ventimiglia market on fridays.

hey, it's the weekend! mark's birthday is today. happy birthday, bro. i'm sure you're having fun!

the bro and moi at eljay's birthday, originally uploaded by mjane.

this weekend is the start of those weekends of re-grouping, resting, and generating ideas which doesn't feel like work. it's just fun. anyway, for my first video post, here's hova and mjb to kick it off. i love it.

pack yo bags

sometime between last august and last night, i saved these bags. why did i think it was a good idea to save all of these empty bags? i must've thought that they'd come in handy some day? not so., originally uploaded by mjane.

mack and i have started packing this week. like every time we've moved in the past, i'm going to have to leave a lot of my clothing and shoes behind. boo! but i'm starting to get excited. this is the first time i'll be moving somewhere i've never been before. i know, can you believe it? i've never even stepped foot in spain. i'm not worried though. i've heard nothing but great things about barcelona. the best two comments i've heard are: "la ville est très cosmopolitan," and "barcelona is the center of the universe these days."

we've also been doing a little shopping before we leave france. after shopping a little bit this afternoon, mackenzie and i went to mcdonald's - the first time i've eaten it since i moved here! anyway, while we were ordering mackenzie ordered a beer with his value meal. totally surprising. you can order a beer with your value meal!? sure, and no extra charge. mackenzie pointed out the 1664 beer tap that is positioned right next to the soda fountain. and that you can order a beer from the drive-thru window. so funny.

mackenzie sipping his beer from a straw in mcdonald's, originally uploaded by mjane.

street, late night, old nice, originally uploaded by mjane.

i've been having a lot of time to myself lately. it's nice. mackenzie and i watched the motorcycle diaries last weekend while we were house-sitting in st. paul. this film is inspirational. two young inconnus really soaking in "life" and taking advantage of making each moment of it the best they could. these guys define what being high on life is really all about. amazing.

reminds me of an old friend tara who passed away last month. she was 27. we kicked it a lot from 95-98. our friends used to plan big all-ages parties in places like the roosevelt hotel and country clubs in the valley... pasadena, encino... sometimes we'd throw house parties planned within only hours in advance. we'd take money at the door, bouncers, drinks, d.j.s, lights, everything. and at the end of the night after cleaning and divvie'ing up the money, we'd treat ourselves to a late night dinner at denny's with the extra cash. when we weren't doing that, we were just kicking it hard. always rolling at least two cars deep to the beach, a restaurant, someone's house, the movie theather, wherever. and tara, whatever we did or wherever we went, was always chilling, going with the flow... one free-spirited homie who took life as it came and enjoyed it.

people chillin, originally uploaded by mjane.

to tell you the truth...

there is one issue i consciously avoid talking about at all costs - it's the one issue where i've really decided that my opinions on it are better kept to myself. and even as i write this, i'm stuttering. but the issue has gotten to the point where i just can't understand how certain actions can be justified, how people like me would rather hold it under our breath than say out loud: god, i can't even bring myself to say it!

fortunately, i read something from Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, some professor of political science at the Lebanese-America University, in the Guardian this morning that, in my opinion, is one fair icebreaker regarding this affair:

It is ironic, given Israel's bombing of civilian targets in Beirut, that Hizbullah is often dismissed in the west as a terrorist organisation. In fact its military record is overwhelmingly one of conflict with Israeli forces inside Lebanese territory. This is just an example of the way that the west employs an entirely different definition of terrorism to the one used in the Arab world and elsewhere, where there is a recognition that terrorism can come in many forms.

with that, i'm pretty frustrated with how "the west" has regarded resistance as terrorism... more simply, it's a joke that the rich white dude who represents the u.s. even opens his mouth in public to say things on the matter. a fucking joke.

clearly i can't find the words to elaborate on it much further in a "fair" manner. even if i did say it, it's a cliché at this point. so cliché that it's corny. in other words, this shit is getting old! meaning, die already so we can move on!

i wish it were that simple.

subsequent titles for this entry:
old dudes, small dicks (a.k.a. get over it)
does rupert murdoch own blogger.com now too?
this some scary shit right here

ms. q at sunday brunch, originally uploaded by mjane.

arthur and his heartbreaker eyes, originally uploaded by mjane.

franglais

it's been two weeks since i've returned to the côte d'azur. i've only started to concentrate on what's going on out here after having l.a. withdrawal, and a couple of hangovers.

the fam celebrating mom and dad's birthdays during our mexi-cali champagne brunch at el torito's, originally uploaded by mjane.

my cousin zach celebrating his grad from jr. high, my dad & uncle edgar celebrating their birthdays at the mendozas' villa, originally uploaded by mjane.

coco and my nephew arthur, gorgeous like his mama, originally uploaded by mjane.

my sister's porch in ventura... so cali, *sigh*, originally uploaded by mjane.

mark doing his thing in the office at lakai, originally uploaded by mjane.

lonely bike on the way out of pete's cafe with mills, deesteez, and mia (only we could pull off bluecheese fries, bread pudding, soco and soda, a shot of jack, a shot of tequila, and coffee in one sitting), originally uploaded by mjane.

quirina, peace princess warrior, originally uploaded by mjane.

this one's for mackenzie: terried sake house. it's there waiting for us to indulge in tuna sashimi, tofu steak, teba, ton katsu, butter asparagus, and lots of sake one day!, originally uploaded by mjane.

my first and last american breakfast (country-fried steak with gravy, hash browns, and eggs over-medium) of the trip which i had with mom and dad hours before i got on my plane back to nice, originally uploaded by mjane.

as soon as i got back to nice, mackenzie picked me up from the airport and when we got to the car chris lipomi was sleeping in the front seat... quel surprise! so he was in town until the weekend, and i got back just in time for the france/togo match. they won of course, and needless to say, after beating the brazilians the town is pretty damn excited... allez les bleus!

after chris took off to carrera, italy, and my nursing a couple of hangovers, it was high time to get mackenzie and me a place to live in barca. after one email from oliver referring us to the website he used to find his flat out there, we found our cute little studio not even an hour after! thanks oliver darling! we're moving in on august 1st. how exciting. until then, my lucky ass gets to enjoy this hot july in our spot at atoll beach for three more weeks. enjoy it miss mjane cuz the whip's gonna be cracking come august. and en español... ayayay!

mack and julz and our fave pub, manolans, cheering on the french. by the way, have you seen the french team? they are hot., originally uploaded by mjane.

lipomi and mack, drinks later at ghost, originally uploaded by mjane.

flo won the best trick contest at the 4 wheels skate event in antibes, originally uploaded by mjane.

mack and a miró during the le noir est une couleur opening at fondation maeght, originally uploaded by mjane.

the floor in fondation maeght, originally uploaded by mjane.

french flag chillin in traffic after the france/brazil match, originally uploaded by mjane.