Paris, je t'aime

Paris me manque.

Two years ago today, I left Paris.

Writing that out breaks my heart. I miss Paris so much.

I began my love affair with Paris at a young age. I have no idea what initially piqued my interest, but for as long as I can remember, I have wanted to visit Paris.

Le Tour Eiffel

My junior year of college, I finally fulfilled my dream and studied abroad in France. For three months, I lived in Versailles with a French family and took theatre, conversation, grammar, and culture classes with eleven fellow students from my school. Each Wednesday afternoon, we had a cultural field trip, like to the Musée d’Orsay or to Auvers-sur-Oise (where Van Gogh died). On the weekends, we had optional trips, but they were even cooler. One weekend we toured Giverny (Monet’s home and gardens), and another weekend we spent visiting Le Petit Trianon. I found out that recent French grads could teach English in France, and I vowed to return when I finished school.

The grave of Vincent Van Gogh.

Who I Am: A Story in Ten Words

I'm on a roll with this whole "blogging in advance and scheduling posts" thing. I doubt I'll get this whole post finished during this writing session, since I have to be at work in 16 minutes, but I think figuring out the blogger app for iPad and starting a new blog post while chowing down on a food court snack is pretty productive!

I started this post a few days ago, but then I had technical difficulties with my picture. That's what I get for trying to be creative! But I finally figured it out. 

Sell myself in ten words? I'm usually more loquacious than that, but I enjoy the challenge.

What do you think? Is my blog worth reading? Did I leave out a word you feel describes me better? Which of these ten words describes me best? If you linked up today, let me know in the comments!

Book Club Friday: V is for Virgin

I'm an adult. My adolescent years of cringe-worthy moments are all laughable anecdotes to tell at parties. I honestly don't have a single embarrassing moment that is blog-worthy. I have a few awkward sex stories that I have already told or have been penned into writing submissions outside of my blog. Thus, I am still blogging today, but I'm ignoring the prompt.

Confession: I'm not reading that much this year. I read 51 new books in 2012--that is to say, all my rereads of old favorites did not count. But I have only read 7 books this year. I blame working two jobs. Having a second job drastically cuts into my reading time.

One book I read back in March was V is for Virgin by Kelly Oram.

Y'all.

It. Was. BRILLIANT.

From Amazon: When Val Jensen gets dumped for her decision to stay a virgin until marriage, the nasty breakup goes viral on YouTube, making her the latest internet sensation.

After days of ridicule from her peers, Val starts a school-wide campaign to rally support for her cause. She meant to make a statement, but she never dreamed the entire nation would get caught up in the controversy.

As if becoming nationally recognized as “Virgin Val” isn’t enough, Val’s already hectic life starts to spin wildly out of control when bad boy Kyle Hamilton, lead singer for the hit rock band Tralse, decides to take her abstinence as a personal challenge.

How can a girl stay true to herself when this year’s Sexiest Man Alive is doing everything in his power to win her over?

There was so much I liked about this book. Like Val's reasons for saving sex for marriage. The different perspectives on saving sex for marriage and intentionally have sex with someone before marriage. The acknowledgement that some teenage girls have low self-esteem and turn to male attention for being sexy or having sex. The acknowledgement that some teenagers just want to have sex, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. 

There is a teeny tiny bit of slut-shaming, but it happens when Val is really hurt and upset about rumors flying around about her, so she lashes out. There is also sexual assault that isn't labeled sexual assault--Val is kissed against her will. She does slap the guy, if I remember correctly, but she is also mad at herself for enjoying it. As someone who is a really big proponent of consent, I felt a little uneasy about this. But overall, Val was pissed about it, so I think that is mostly in the right direction.

Does the book lack realism? To an extent, yes, but it's not quite as fluffy and outlandish as any of Meg Cabot's books (which I adore, by the way). It's also not totally predictable. Val had three potential suitors--four, if you count her ex repenting and coming back to her. I honestly didn't know until the very end how her love life would play out.

This was a quick read that I finished in an afternoon. If you're looking for something short and fun, or if you're interested in different (albeit fictional) perspectives on abstinence, I highly recommend this book!

As usual, I'm linking up with Book Club Friday!

And, of course, Blog Every Day in May!

Working From Home

Most of what I do for my first job is on a computer. Most of the time, I only need my laptop or iPad and an Internet connection. I like to work in the office when I'm later closing at JCP simply because the drive between my office and JCP is really short, especially compared to how long it takes during rush hour from my apartment. But today I called off work at JCP, and I'm doing my first job from home.

Gabby is in my lap, Bear and Moose are on my right. Guess which animal I named, and guess which animals belong to Beau...

To Thine Own Self Be True

I'm almost done writing Saturday's post. I jumped ahead, because it looks like a nice and easy short prompt. But then I got stuck trying to make it pretty, and gargh, I'm so frustrated. This whole blogging every day is HARD, y'all.

I have so much advice, y'all. Like learn a second language. Try new things. Only engage in consensual sexual behavior. Visit Paris.

But I want to offer more general advice, for all people, at any age, in any stage of life.

What's so cool about literature is how open to interpretation it is. Shakespeare wrote "To thine own self be true" in Hamlet, through the voice of Polonius, speaking to his son Laertes. (Yes, I googled all of this).

My interpretation is this:

Be honest with yourself. Saving coitus for marriage is an arbitrary line along a sexual spectrum, but saving a sexual experience for only my husband is important to me.

Do your own thing. I blog about virginity.

Listen to the counsel of others, but then make your own decisions. My youth pastor in undergrad said masturbation is a sexual sin. I prayed about it. I disagree.

Don't compare yourself to others. Everyone has so many more readers than I do... It's hard to follow my own advice sometimes.

Celebrate your uniqueness. I haven't found another blog that focuses on sexy virginity.

Acknowledge your sameness. We all just want to change the world and connect with other people through our writing.

Never lose sight of who you are. According to Beau, I'm perfect. ♥

What advice do you have for me?