Breaking Away From Consumerism

Living in a world, particularly in Western society, there is always a push for more. More of what? Everything!

But how much is enough? Is more really buying me greater anything, when with the way things are, a bigger, better version will be pitched to me in the foreseeable future?

For this reason, I'm thinking about getting rid of a ton of things. Things that don't make me happy, aren't contributing to my life in any way is just baggage.

At this point, experiences seem like a more worthwhile investment. How much more stuff do I need? And at this point, that's exactly what it is. Stuff, meaningless filler.

Habits Apparently I've Brought Back...

Drinking wine - just recently I realized I polished off a bottle of wine by myself this week, that never happened before

Eating Baguette and Brie - At least on the weekends, both Saturday and Sunday

Thankfully I didn't bring back the smoking

More France Observations

Things are coming back a bit, maybe now that the jet lag is subsiding...

WILDLIFE
- The only birds they have are pigeons and ducks. And both are aplenty.
- Is it just me, or nobody picks up after their dogs?
- Wild swans in Strasbourg, you mean they exist in the wild?
- Few if any squirrels
- In the cities, the trees are cut in squares

RELATIVITY
- Grocery stores there are so small and appear for emergencies only
- In fact, everything there is so small, with the exception of churches, bridges and landmarks (statues, arcs, etc...)
- Everything there is so old, I saw residential buildings there that are easily older than this country, and what's more impressive, it's still in use and fairly good condition given its age
- Certain things are dirt cheap: wine, cheese, bread, museums in particular
- Other things are way more expensive: clothing, fruits/vegetables, chocolate, water
- The cars are a lot smaller
- 30lb backpack doesn't feel heavy until you have to walk with it for over an hour on cobblestone walkways

FASHION
- The predominant fashion items for women include: roman sandals, ballerinas, heels, scarves, short cut blazers/cardigans/coats, one piece single colour short dresses, super slim jeans, small detail floral print, ponytails
- The predominant fashion items for guys include: tailored cut everything (suits, blazers, shirts, etc...), slim cut jeans,
- Trend on both sides: scarves, aviators/persols, is to tuck in your shirt at all times (that's everything from tshirts to dress shirts), belt buckles, thin horizontal stripes, navy/white, no shorts allowed

LIFESTYLE
- People there don't let themselves go, from toddlers to the elderly, everybody there is always put together
- They have 5 weeks of vacation, standard
- In Strasbourg, 30 minutes to go anywhere is really far for locals
- They live off of baguettes, people are constantly carrying one
- They dislike peanut butter
- They have a word for the inside part of the bread (meaning not the crust)
- There's no French word for awkward, they just don't get that way I guess
- You don't tip at restuarants
- They are big into their skateboarding. Not just kids either, we're talking middle aged men skateboarding outside the Musee D'Orsay
- Parks are where people pick up each other
- Couples get really close at the parks, why get a room when the park is right there
- There are no overweight people, I can't literally think of one, other than tourists
- Graffiti everywhere is the same
- There are lots of stairs everywhere
- I don't think I ever saw a gas station
- French pop music is really bad
- Tons of scooters and bicycles

GIRLS
- working at the hotel in Strasbourg
- working at the Brioche Doree in Lyon
- sightseeing at the Arc Triomphe
- the two girls from California eating dinner in Montmartre
- the Asian girl at Bernachon who unexpectedly understood English (the French don't get awkward, but apparently I still do)

France Trip by Point Form

THINGS DISCOVERED/CONFIRMED/DEBUNKED

French aren't as rude as people think, their English is much better than my French

The bread is even better than advertised

The wine can be cheap and decent (3 Euro/bottle), but you are better off spending around 6-8 Euros.

Paris restaurants are overrated

The girls are really that good looking

The washrooms are really that small

The trains are really that good

Cheese is considered dessert (I still disagree)

Coffee in France is really bad

Do NOT buy water in France (6 Euro/Litre, WTF!)

The produce is amazing, every supermarket is like a mini Niagara-on-the-Lake (bright red heirloom tomatoes at 24-hour grocery/convenience store?!)

The smoking isn't as bad as I thought, but it's still bad

Banette to Tim Hortons, is Paul to Second Cup

I can fit my windbreaker into a peanut butter jar (still need to shoot that video)

I have a weakness for girls that serve me samples/food

North Americans really wear their clothes poorly in terms of fit and coordination

We could really use an outbreak of a Canadian Revolution here

RANDOM AWESOME THINGS

Lyon has public water fountains where you turn a crank, and the water comes out of a lion's mouth. I want one. BADLY

There's a huge badminton facility in Strasbourg, and I saw a girl on the Metro in Lyon with a badminton racquet, I can officially move there.

This girl Elizabeth I met in Marseille from Cincinnati, talking about food and french culture.

Everybody goes for lunch outside and has picnics, we're talking everyday.

France Trip by the Numbers

There's a ton to write about the trip, so I decided to break it down into two posts, one by stats and one by point form.

FOOD
10 Baguettes
7 Bottles of Wine
5 Wheels of Cheese (Brie, Chevre x 2, Munster, Camembert)
1 Litre of Trail Mix
1 Michelin rated restaurant
1 Picnic by the Eiffel Tower
Food had includes Escargot, Creme Brulee, Onion Soup, Spatzle, Fois Gras, Quiche Lorraine, Croque Monsieur, Tarte Flambee, Macarons, Moules et Frites, Crepes
Infinite Boulangeries, Patisseries, Chocolatiers, Wine Shops and Restaurants

TRAVEL
15+ Hours on the Plane
5+ Hours of Layover
13+ Hours on the Train
3+ Hours on the Bus
100+ Hours of Walking
1 Detour to Germany

SIGHTS

1500 Photos

5 Notre Dames

1 Mediterranean Sea

Uncountable amount of girls

MISHAPS

1 Missed Train

1 Broken Tooth

1 Accidental return to Germany

1 Lost travel lock

1 Lost bag of food

"It's the fuckin' law"

"Scottish people are not allowed to rap. It's the fuckin' law"

- Fran Healy from Travis

I feel the same way about people making out during a concert. It's a concert! Or anywhere other public domain for that matter. I mean a kiss, even a long kiss fine. If you want to maul each other like wildebeasts on the animal planet, save that shit for home. At the very least, find yourself some secluded corner.

Clients, don't come to me and be like "yeah I don't know what I want". Today I had a client go to me "something's missing", so of course I ask what to they feel is missing or could be better, they reply "I don't know". If you don't know, how am I suppose to know? What do you take me for, some kind of fuckin magician?! And a really shit paid magician at that?

Don't make work for the sake of making work. I'm really here to complete my work as efficiently as possible so that I have free time. What's the point of making me fill the whole I just dug out, only so I can dig it out again from the other side.

Yeah I'm in an ornery mood. Dave! Out!

Impatient - Part 2

From writing the first part of this post, the thoughts below kept coming up. It also deals with Impatience, just in a different way. Probably because it's very fresh in my mind.

I've had a recent string of first dates, and I have to say, it's been increasingly annoying and frustrating. I am definitely losing my patience with it. I've had 3 dates in the last week and a half, having the last of the three a few hours ago. Of the 3, 2 have sparked my interest. I suppose 2 out of 3 isn't bad, BUT of those 2, neither appear to be particularly interested. And what really confuses me, is that during those 2 dates, things seemed to be going really well, at least from what I could tell. But I suppose reading situations has never been my strong suit.

It also doesn't help that I seem to go through spurts of dates, where within a week or two, I'll have a bunch of first dates, then go quite awhile without any. So there are long periods of just nothing. I guess I'm due for another period of nothing for awhile.

I've been actively dating again for approximately a year now, and have 15 first dates. You could make the argument, that things could be worse, I could've had none. Which reminds me, from what I can remember (because I try my best to block it out) I have also had a handful (by my count, 5) of turn downs as well. Back to my original point, of the 15, only 3 have turned into second dates, and only 1 into some form of relationship, which as stated above, was pretty crap in the end. I mean, a dude can only take so many blows to the ego here!

Am I doing something wrong in all of this? Maybe I'm too eager, or have unreasonably high expectations. Though knowing how rewarding and fulfilling a relationship can be, I suppose I feel like I have reason to be eager. In reference to my previous post about the fleeting nature of excitement and happiness, a fulfilling relationship is the only thing in my experience, to provide a constant and sustainable flow both.

My best friend, of recent (and not so recent) has been contemplating breaking up with his girlfriend. Another close friend got divorced from her husband after her experiences with incompatibility. While I see the incompatibilities in both situations, in one way, I can't help but think "WTF, make that shit work dude!" To my current eye, how do you throw something like that away? I have to admit though, after remembering spending so much time being disgruntled in my longest relationship, I can see how people would want to get out. But being in the situation that I am now, I am somehow partial to trying to see the positive in the relationships.

Anyway, I'm getting totally mindfucked by the situation. It's a combination of frustration, despair, anger, sadness, and to be completely honest, of rage. Seriously, thinking about it gets me almost to the point of breaking down. I mean it's not that I feel like life's shit on me totally, but it's the question of why it has in this domain being unanswerable fuels it even more.