une nouvelle vie de boheme

Que Faire?

In July of this past summer, I learned that I would be moving to Paris in the fall. Understandably excited, I ran right out and told everyone I knew. That was until I started getting the question.

The question:

Oh! How lovely! But what are you going to do there?

And no matter how many times I hear this question (and oh, it’s been a lot of times now), I never fail to be dumbfounded by it. It’s not because I naively thought my life would somehow end the minute I got to Paris — it’s just that I have no idea what kind of answer people are looking for.

All I can think is that they must want to hear about my job. But well, just because I’ve moved here doesn’t mean I’ve got permission to work. Besides, I’m generally lazy and lacking in any useful talent or skill, so regular jobs and I have never really gotten along.  Perhaps I could be a student? Well, sure, but… enh. I survived 16 years of hewing to the arbitrary desires of teachers and professors — can’t I have a few years to hew to my own arbitrary desires?

No, I am neither gainfully employed nor am I a student. So what exactly do I intend to do with my days? A wee list:

1) Write
I know I haven’t mentioned it before, but I’m a writer, in the sense that I type words onto a screen and then try to make them look pretty. Not, however, in the sense that I am being paid for this work.

Still, I would very much like to be paid for this work one day, which is why I have spent the last *not quite three years* of my life writing a novel. I’m currently in the process of trying to get people to A) read this novel, B) like this novel, and C) give me money in exchange for this novel. Sounds simple, but it’s actually rather challenging.

Over the course of this year, I’ll be sending out queries, fielding responses, and revising like mad until I’ve produced something that someone, somewhere (with some money) thinks is not too bad.

I’ll also, God willing, be writing some new stuff, too. I have a few ideas.

2) Read
In my last few years of arduous writing, I haven’t had the time or inclination to read much. I hope to change that, as well as to take advantage of this year abroad to read French books, an activity which I find entirely draining when in America, and will hopefully be less so here.

I’m currently reading Madame Bovary in paperback, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses over here (join us!). Once finished, I hope to tackle the second volume of A La Recherche de Temps Perdu, and that will probably take me the rest of my life.

3) Look at art
Paris has a lot of art museums. It also has a lot of galleries. I have a digcam, which means you will see what I see. Hopefully I’ll think of some things to say about the art, too.

4) Eat
And cook. And shop for food. This has to happen no matter where you live, but in Paris, it’s a lot more entertaining. Expect pics.

5) Other
Including, but not limited to, sleeping, breathing, walking, worrying moodily about my future, running into friends unexpectedly, drinking beer in cafes, surfing the web, sprinkling my French with faux-amis, screwing up metric/english conversions, and avoiding dog poo.