Thinkings
Paris, you so Gaie
12:28
“All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, ‘Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!’ This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
I reiterate: “All children, except one, grow up.”
(Louvre seen from the Seine Side under crazy storm lighting)
As a boy, subjugated to my parents sense of fashion, i wore brown corduroy overalls, kangaroo suits and sported a fetching bowl cut/penis cap haircut. School dress up days inevitably led to another leafy peter pan costume.
I thought Peter Pan might be the dorkiest character that existed. Too 2 dimensional, too goody goody.
however i am begining to feel i am Pan, in that i am the boy that never grew up. Pan wasn't simple. he was naive and innocent, craved adventure, feared nothing and believed that there was no thing that he could not achieve. These are things all children believe, until the pressure of life inevitably replace them with 'experience' and cynicism.
(image from l'oisel's Peter Pan, french comic that i cant recommend enough. really expands on the story and the images are beautiful)
The length of my journey i have met people obsessed with age. the most heart breaking phrase i hear again and again is "i'm too old".... i still dont really understand what that means. At what point do you throw in the towel and succumb to acting your age?
In this field, no one person inspires me than Rod K, a charming gentleman with keen eyes and a cheeky laugh, that i met at FlipClub. Amongst all the ego and noise of young bodies showing off and flipping about, 64 year old Rod impresses me more than they. Ive seen him conquer manouvers that people scores younger than him can't achieve. When i asked him how and why, rod quoted Bernard Shaw to me, and these words have haunted the back of my mind since:
"we do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing".
Rod you are an inspiration, thankyou.
Aside from living and working a very typical life as an engineer, i made a point to never take myself too seriously and to look for fun wherever i could. as a result i found myself a lot of carefree and energetic friends that felt the same way about themselves and hence life. This attitude takes some effort, and can depend on where you are in life and what is happening around you.
Rediscovering old friends under new circumstances has been a moving experience for me. In my mind, i am true to myself and will always 'just be me'. we all have this internal monologue. alas, we all change and its always more apparent on others. back to this in a minute...
I love Paris.
I really love Paris.
I dont know what makes it so different to other big cities. London for example, for me is a miserable city full of miserable english and young australians living cliched cramped lives. In very much the same way the french are so intriguing and their charm difficult to define, Paris has me wooed.
Maybe like all good french girls, Paris is wearing delicate lingerie underneath that big winter coat. you'll put up with her cigerette breath and charming defensive; there something in her eyes that makes you want to keep undressing her... keep exploring... it will be worth it.
(the romance of paris as the rest of the world pictures it)
Meet Wendy
In Paris i stayed with a great friend from a past life. Two years ago, in a dreamy summer haze, Segolene and I drove across the width of Australia in a beaten up 400 dollar camry. She is a strong girl, beautiful with a fierce streak, the bretons are known for. In the circumstance, she was a real free spirit, someone that rose above petty day to day nonsense.the clock rolls forward: Segolene is as charming as ever,but she has left neverland. In fact she is doing very well, working a job she loves, studying hard and has a really nice guy. Segolene grew up. and maybe i will to, but it was an experience that rocked me. None the less, it was great to see her, and she showed me parts of a beautiful city i did not know, i wish i had more time to spend with her.
(Sego and Hugo - Reveilon/ New years eve)
(i know my place - shaking drinks new years eve)
(segos beautiful housemate Noura, many thanks to you two!)
Meet the Lost Boys
On the flipside, there are those people that will never change, and for which you love them. I extended my time in Paris to see my old primary school friend Romain, aka. Boubou.
(moody - Romain, paris in winter)
Anyway, like young boys, Romainand i explored Paris, climbed things, looked at pretty girls, talked about the meaning of life,played petanche and drank a few beers.
And finally, Neverland
With my good friend Timmy i started a photo project called "50/50". the plan was simple: shoot one photo a day with the 50mm for 50 days. (something i have not been very diciplined with recently but plan to restart). Its very hard to shoot non touristic photos in a touristic place like Paris, but this photo project and a little effort produced some photos i am quite proud of:
(Tims blog is well worth a look, beautiful photos and poigniont text, find it at http://whenileftmybed.tumblr.com/)
(love locked - cadnas passerelle des arts)
(*unamed)
(old and new - man they got this right)
(trying to get a fresh view)
(the bridge that ended Diana)
(French charm- New years day)
(midnight skate session)
(meet meat)
(local markets)
(jumeaux)
Yes its been wordy, i feel like i owe you substance after ignoring this for so long. As always, i will miss Paris and the beautiful people i have met and re-met there. and would love to see it when its not bitterly cold
-TT
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