Comme du miel
"Il faudrait pouvoir inventer un mot pour décrire la beauté de la voix d'Isabelle Boulay, avec ce grain si particulier, cette douceur un peu rauque, ce velours vocal doublé de «gravelle», quelque chose comme du miel qui ne serait pas sirupeux ni trop sucré, juste naturel, bienfaisant, adoucissant."
-- Marie-Christine Blais
La Presse, 2/28/2008
Ça, c'est parfait. Isabelle peut rire mais c'est la vérité. Qu'elle soit le miel...
« March 04, 2008 6:30 AM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Nos Lendemains
Isabelle
Néanmoins l'album entier est vraiment agréable à écouter. Il semble qu'Isabelle fasse les chansons pour elle-même et pas pour la radio mais elle apporte ses fans n'importe où elle va. Celui-ci est surtout un album folk sauf trois ou quatre chansons. Ce que je trouve les meilleurs en ce moment:
- Ne me dis pas qu'il faut sourire - Jazzy!
- Coucouroucoucou paloma - Spanishy! Elle aurait été mieux sans instrumentation comme la première fois je l'avais écouté en concert mais c'est beau quand même.
- L'amour d'un homme - C'est ironique que je l'aie comme une de mes favoris, je sais...
- Juste une étoile - Folk!
- L'appuntamento - Italian easy listening!
- Vouloir t'aimer - C'est le coup de coeur sans doute.
En fait, toutes les chansons (sauf l'un!) sont très bonnes. Et c'est un album vite! Je veux dire que c'est fini avant que je le sache.
Pour en savoir plus, écouter les extraits et l'acheter: Nos Lendemains @ Archambault.
Labels: French, Isabelle, Music
« March 01, 2008 10:36 AM | Post a Comment | 1 comments »
Take me away
Time Travel Possible Very Soon? (Digital Trends, 2/11/2008)
I would name my time machine Calgon and set it to precisely the moment where my family chose the boat marked, "USA or bust!" instead of the one headed for France. I would probably cry today about not being about to speak English, but my whining would sound so much prettier. Wouldn't it?
Et si j'étais américaine...
« February 11, 2008 7:02 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Ma Capitaine Mouseketeer
Tom and Jerry need no introduction, but have you ever met Jerry's French cousin, a mouseketeer in training? C'est la souris la plus mignonne que j'ai jamais vu.
"Touche, Monsieur Jerry?" He arrives in diapers, ready for his training.
"And besides that, I'm chicken!" He gets his first mission.
« December 04, 2007 7:40 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
The same lesson
Besides all the other odd, odd issues my cat and I have in common, we both recently learned the same life lesson.
Jonas just had a dental cleaning and had to undergo general anesthesia. They shaved fur from his right arm, I mean, leg, and put this bandage on him with lots of smiley faces. He then had a tooth pulled. If the smiles were meant to distract and/or confuse him from the sheer pain, I'm pretty sure it didn't work. He's running around right now waving his fur-less leg in the air and simultaneously trying to dodge Zekey. It'd be funny if he wasn't my cat.
I'm kidding. It's hilarious.
My own lesson came courtesy of my French teacher who had enough of my smiling after every response I gave her and ran away to France for two months. She actually said to me: Just because you smile doesn't make it right. I've been getting by in this damn language on exactly just that and now what do I have left? My surliness?
Actually, I just received affirmation that I'm getting somewhere with all of this. The teacher of the summer class I'm taking to pass the time until my regular teacher returns to my surly ways suggested to the education director that I should be moved to the advanced class. Advanced! I've never been advanced in anything in my life. Slow? Yes. Confused? Ummm.... Incorrigible? Absolutely. But never advanced.
Crap. Now there'll be expectations for me to actually speak the language. Maybe I'd better off finding a "smiling" language. It's how my mom and Cylinda talk to each other.
Mom: Salinnnna! :-)
Cylinda: Si! Yes! :-) :-)
Mom: Salinnnna! Eat fruit! :-)
Cylinda: Si! Si! :-) :-) :-)
And for them, that's an in-depth conversation.
« June 07, 2007 5:22 PM | Post a Comment | 2 comments »
D'elles
Enfin j'ai reçu le nouvel album de Céline. Il y avait trop d'ennuis que je ne veux pas raconter...mais l'attente, ça vaut la peine? Oui, bien sûr, c'est Céline qui chante en français. Rien plus à dire. Sauf...
Les chansons sont plutôt pop. Et ça, je m'attendais. Ce que je ne m'attendais pas, il a l'air faux comme... comme... comme... ses albums anglais. (C'est vrai, vous le savez.) Il faut que je dise plus que ça?
J'aime bien trois chansons quand même: Les paradis, Femme comme chacune, et On s'est aimé à cause. Celles sont très magnifique! En fait, si l'album entier était plus comme celles-ci, ce serait la plus grand album de Céline. Je le saurais. J'en ai tous.
Vous souhaitez que je mente? Moi aussi.
« May 31, 2007 7:19 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Je me souviens
...que la plus belle femme dans le monde m'a fait un clin d'oeil.
...que quelques choses ne doivent pas se mettre ensemble.
...que Quebec soit une vieille ville vivante!
Labels: French, Isabelle, Trips
« May 19, 2007 9:54 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Entre Matane et Baton Rouge
Matane, Quebec
Paroles et musique: Michel Rivard
© Éditions Sauvages
J'ai fermé ma valise sur cette photo de toi
Où t'étais de dos où tu m'voyais pas
J'ai jeté la clé
En montant dans l'auto j'ai mis la radio
Ce poste country que toi t'aimais pas.
J'ai monté le son
Quelque part sur la 20 ils ont joué ce refrain
Ça m'a fait du bien, ça m'a rappelé toi
Écoute-le bien
(Refrain)
Tu pourras courir tout c'qui bouge
Entre Matane et Baton Rouge
Y'aura personne à ton retour pour pleurer d'amour
Je s'rai plus ta mère ni ta soeur
Je suivrai la mer en douceur
Je s'rai partie comme une gitane
Entre Baton Rouge et Matane
J'ai rangé la voiture sur le bord du chemin
Les gars dans les camions m'envoyaient la main
Ça m'a fait du bien
Dans le vent la poussière sur la carte routière
J'ai glissé de doigt jusqu'à « loin de toi »
C'est là que j'irai
Au volant de ma vie devant l'infini
Sans aucun regret t'étais c'que t'étais
Je suis c'que je suis
Refrain (2x)
Labels: French, Isabelle, Music
« May 06, 2007 2:46 PM | Post a Comment | 5 comments »
J'y ai réfléchi
J'avoue d'aimer la musique folk depuis longtemps donc j'étais prête d'aimer cet album. La musique folk et la musique country ont des qualités similaires. Et alors c'est Isabelle...
Je trouve qu'Adrienne et Comme un jour sans amour (Isabelle a l'air tellement défait ce qui me brise le coeur) sont les chansons plus"folkie" et bien sûr, elles me fait beaucoup plaisir. Si j'étais perdue, c'est une chanson refaite merveilleuse ("If I needed you" de Townes Van Zandt).
Sans doute, toutes les chansons sont très belles. Mais sa vraie beauté c'est comme une oeuvre qu'on prend en somme. C'est presque parfait. C'est comme si toutes les chansons appartiennent ensemble, l'une après l'autre, comme une fleuve qui court du pays d'Isabelle à les nôtres.
Voici un lien à Archambault si l'on veut acheter De retour à la source. Pardon, je veux dire qu'il vous faut l'acheter.
Labels: French, Isabelle, Music
« April 30, 2007 6:58 AM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
C'est le mien
Non, elle ne peut pas faire aucun mal.
Pourquoi est-ce que tu demandes?
Entre matane et baton rouge - La première chanson mets l'album dans le cadre parfait. Sa voix basse (en pleine forme) et la musique simple se font une très très bonne écoute. C'est une de la plus meilleure de l'album.
Un monde à refaire - C'est un reprise d'une chanson de son premier album. Cette fois-ci, c'est plus que la musique change. Sa prononciation en anglais s'améliore bien.
Adrienne - Sans doute en ce moment-ci, c'est ma chanson preferée. C'est un hommage à sa tante dont l'image a créée est un cadeau d'amour.
Simplement tout - Au plus je l'écoute au plus je l'aime.
Comme un jour sans amour - Toutes les chansons conviennent les musiques aux paroles très bien mais c'est surtout vrai ici. C'est mon autre coup de coeur.
Only a woman's heart - En anglais, Isabelle chante comme en français, avec tout son coeur et son âme. La seule chose qui la ferait meilleure serait si Emmylou Harris chantait avec elle. Comme ça, c'est magnifique.
Si j'étais perdue - Comme la chanson "You are my sunshine," la musique a l'air heureux qui se masque les paroles tristes. C'est une chanson refaite merveilleuse qui s'appelle "If I needed you" de Townes Van Zandt. C'est bien fait.
Labels: French, Isabelle, Music
« April 21, 2007 10:31 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Quelle belle journée
La belle Isabelle lance un nouvel album country aujourd'hui.
Comme si je n'étais pas déjà tombée amoureuse...
Labels: French, Isabelle, Music
« April 17, 2007 7:57 AM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Redheaded confusion
We saw Patty Griffin in concert last night. This was a sad, unrequited dream of Cylinda's that was finally requited. She got to hear her favorite song, which made the ridiculous parking charge all the more worth it. As for me, I knew about 3 songs and I liked two of them. That in itself exceeded expectations.
Honestly, I enjoyed the show, if only for the reason that it started in an unbelievable way. Before the lights came down, I was running on and on about Isabelle and how I wish I was seeing her and blah blah blah. Cylinda, in her never-ending cheeriness, said, "Just pretend that she (Patty) has red hair, is short and is singing in French."
Not 30 seconds later, the short, red-headed Patty Griffin came out on stage, sat down at the piano and started singing this:
J'irai la voir un jour,
Au ciel, dans le patrie,
Oui j'irai voir Marie,
Ma joie et mon amour.
Au ciel, au ciel, au ciel,
J'irai la voir un jour.
I swear, I can't even make this up if I tried.
God help me if I ever mistake one for the other.
Labels: French, Isabelle, Music
« April 15, 2007 10:16 AM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Email fever
Email is so mundane and routine these days. I do it at work, I do it at home, I do it... no, that's it. I hope I don't do it anywhere else. Anyways, I'm trying to say that it's not very exciting. In fact, I can only recall one time that I got hysterical over an email message. Michelle Marciniak (the original crush) wrote me personally for reasons I can not reveal and I literally ran around the office three times, sat down, read it again and ran around some more. Yes, it was that good.
You'll always be a Lady Vol, never an assistant coach.
Well today, I got the second email to ever make me hysterical with glee. Now, getting me hysterical may not sound like much of a challenge (just ask Cylinda), but, like I said, when it comes to email, it's rare and I must acknowledge the occasion.
This perfectly worded letter came from my French language idol, the one person in the world whose mastery of French I aspire to attain. I don't even know her, but I've read her writings for quite some time and I marvel at her ability to turn an already beautiful language into a literal work of art. So when she responded personally to something I wrote, I nearly fainted. For real, I almost passed out onto my keyboard.
Ridiculous? You be the judge. Her first sentence to me was: Ton message me va droit au coeur et je t'en remercie beaucoup. If you Babelfish that, you'll probably think that's corny and I need to have my head checked. But in French, it's simply elegant. Off to study more of her writings...
Okay, I'll go get my head examined, but only because I have a dent in the back and I think I lost some brain matter a little while ago.
« April 11, 2007 9:37 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Easter violence
"My butt hurts."
"What?"
Labels: French
« April 06, 2007 12:21 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Bizarre, yet boring
While I was going down the escalators yesterday, a man got on the up escalator with his two kids behind him. His young boy didn't get on, though, because his shoelaces were untied and his sister wouldn't help. I had this overwhelming urge to tie his shoes for him when I reached the bottom, but I ran through these thoughts in succession:
- Don't smile at other people's kids (unless they want you to smile at them, like small, small babies).
- Don't touch other people's kids...ever. Ever.
- Don't touch other people's shoes...cause that's gross.
- Don't touch other people's kid's shoes...for your own sake cause who knows what kids do to themselves and their shoes.
That makes sense, right?
What doesn't make sense is:
- me giving tech support... (Okay, not that uncommon for me.)
- in French... (Why not? Just translate all the words literally, like mouse = souris.)
- to someone in France... (There are ID10T users all over the world, right?)
- for free. (WHAT?)
The nerve of some people... No, just kidding. It was bizarre, though, because I kept having to say "right-click" in the special French way and I can't get the phrase "make a click right" out of my head.
Maybe I should just make an exit left stage now.
« February 20, 2007 6:03 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
How ridiculous are those frogs?
Orthographe : les collégiens de cinquième sont tombés au niveau des élèves de CM2 de 1987 (Le Monde, 2/09/2007)
Yes, it's come to this: little French 5th graders are now spelling at the level of 2nd graders of 20 years ago. It's actually not that surprising, considering the way we type online and SMS and all that other crap I don't know about. But the geeky part? The French have been tracking this for 20 years. They...care. They care enough to do studies and pay people to do these studies.
Even better, they have an annual televised national competition on spelling and writing. It's called, "La Dictee," or something equally self-important and people play along at home. The contestants are adults. Not little children in spelling bees. This is a major sport in France. Yes, a sport. That's what they call it.
I have no idea why I love this language and these people. Maybe I'm a little ridiculous myself. Maybe.
« February 09, 2007 10:35 AM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Top 10 2006 ...things
 | 10. Cross-country trip: In January, I was dragged, I mean, I gleefully went along on a trip across the bottom half of the USA with my family. We had a total of four CDs, three of which were Celine. There was also a bird in the car and, oh yeah, everyone had to put up with me. It was, in a word, awesome. |
9. Black Friday: This was the first experience of my life shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Actually, it was more the night. And more actually, it was the last experience of my life shopping like that. Insane in the membrane. | |
8. Teaching myself piano: I've always wanted to play Fur Elise and since I've received a keyboard for Christmas, I've learned this Beethoven mega-hit. My recital is at 4pm this Saturday in the cafeteria. I come on after the kindergarten class. Bring the camcorder. | |
7. Other French music: After focusing a little scarily on just Celine and Isabelle for about two years, I branched out and realized that there are more of them and they're almost as good (but not as hot). In particular, Chimene Badi and Patrick Bruel (who are really French and not the fake Canadian French) are quite talented in their poppy pop-star ways. | |
 | 6. Living in Atlanta: I've been here for...1,2,3...how many years?...and this past year was one where I was actually proud to be here. With the world's largest aquarium opening and the Louvre collaboration at the High Museum of Art getting off to a great start, it felt like Atlanta was being recognized by others (ha, take that, NY MOMA) as a real city. When I was watching the July 4th fireworks at Lenox (the largest fireworks display in the Southeast) I felt very small, but at the same time...very wet. It was raining. |
5. Celine's Vegas spectacular showtacular: When we were in Vegas for a week in the Spring, I saw Celine not once, not twice, but THREE awesome times. It was awesome. The first night, when no one else would come with me (losers), an official Caesars Palace dude upgraded me to orchestra level seats where I sat beside French people making fun of the Americans. It was awesome. And then, at the third show, we had second row seats and I was this close to Celine. But I kept cool, man. It was awesome. | |
 | 4. iPod: It sounds stupid to say that a little music playing device changes your life, so I'm not going to do it. But...it's so pretty. And pretty things (usually women-like) can change your life. So if my iPod (the I stands for Isabelle) is a woman and I'm...no, wait, I'm still me and you're....HEY! Who the hell are you? |
 | 3. Montreal: With my dear friend Britton, I had one of the best vacations of my life in this city. I know, and it was in Canada, too! When I was younger and even more naive than I am now (yes, it is possible), I wanted to live in so many cities in the world, but now that I'm old...er, I really only like to be home. When I was in Montreal, though, I felt I was already there. |
 | 2. Seeing Isabelle Boulay in concert: I know her shows are really part of the Montreal trip, but this experience is separated in my head. I honestly connect with Isabelle's music like no one else's and her voice is the most wonderful thing I have ever heard in my life. I also think (and you might not know this about me) that she is one of the most prettiest things I've ever seen in my life, including iPod. Wow, right? Wow. |
 | 1. Learning French: Applying myself to learning this ridiculous language (I say that with respect because I believe it's the most beautiful sounding language in the world) tops my top things of 2006. I went from not knowing how to ask questions (it's more complicated than necessary) to having a third of the people in Montreal respond back to me in French (an accomplishment in a one-third English city, I think) to reading Harry Potter en francais (up to Azkaban now). It's been quite a process and the more I learn, the less I think I know. But that means I'm learning, right? Or is it the other way around...Anyways... |
Bonne Annee! Happy New Year! | |
Labels: Celine, French, Isabelle, Music, Trips
« December 31, 2006 7:28 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Conversation killer
I just completed my first year of taking French classes. A year ago, when I was taking the oral placement exam, I couldn't even tell the pretty, pretty teacher testing me what I did that morning. Now I can tell anyone who's willing to listen what I did, how I did it, and what I'm going to do tomorrow. Of course, I'll say it fairly slowly and with awkward pauses...but that's just how I talk anyways. All in all, I have to admit that I'm making some progress.
I "admit" because I think it's easier to deny any ability to speak another language. To own up to it would involve having to prove it to somebody someday and I'm not into pop quizzes like that. But there's other kinds of pop quizzes that I...uh, nevermind.
Saying I speak Teochew isn't the same, though, because I never learned it through study. I just know it, but not really know it. I could never teach another person how to speak it because I don't know the grammar rules or the correct tones or anything other than how to talk to my family. They, incidentally, are the only people in the world who speak Teochew. If you speak it, I'm related to you. There's a small town in China where everyone speaks it. They're all my cousins. All of them.
Anyways, with French, I took three group classes before my patience (and, you know, my ego) ran out. Private lessons with my charming and cute teacher (let's call her LB) have been immensely helpful. LB's a super-teacher. She has the ability to re-word any phrase until I understand her without having to fall back on English. She'll wait for me to speak awkwardly and respond to me as if I'm a brilliant conversationalist. You'd think she'd also have to be delusional, but she's not! I don't think so, anyways...
Here are two snippets of a brilliant conversation we had recently. It's translated so that you won't be irritated at me (for this, at least):
LB: Do you have TV5? <--This is a French TV channel
Moi: No, I can not receive the satellite. <--that word was definitely said in English
LB: Because of trees?
Moi: Uhhh... <--my most commonly uttered French "sound"
LB: Because there are trees?
Moi: Uh, yes.
LB: Move.
Moi: Uhhh...
LB: Mooove. (Day-mayn-nah-jayyyyy.)
Moi: Oh. Hahaha.
Moi: Next year, I'm going to France for the first time.
LB: Your first time? You have to go to Normandy. <--That's where she's from.
Moi: Well, I'm going -
LB: No, you must go to Normandy.
Moi: But I'm going in the month of -
LB: Normandy is like Wisconsin. We have fairs.
Moi: But it'll be -
LB: Oh, yes it'll be cold.
Moi: But I want to go to Normandy...someday.
LB: Someday?!
Moi: Actually, in two years.
LB: Two years?! <--I stopped talking after this.
I wrote that all wrong because it seems like she's cutting me off a lot. She doesn't. LB's one of the politest people I've ever met. But the real reason is, being a super-teacher, she can read my mind and (bonus!) is also very good at charades. Because, you see, while I'm speaking at my incredibly slow pace, I'm also miming half the words.
Labels: French
« December 14, 2006 12:09 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
I knew it
Your Inner European is French! |
 Smart and sophisticated. |
Labels: French
« October 06, 2006 3:08 PM | Post a Comment | 2 comments »
Bart est mon héros
In the Simpsons episode The Crepes of Wrath, Bart goes to France as an exchange student and is forced to make wine with anti-freeze. This is based on a kinda-true story. Anti-freeze is tasty! Near the end of the episode, as he's trying to get a police officer to help him, Bart berates himself for not learning the language and suddenly French just rolls off his tongue. In that instant, he gets how to speak French.
It would be a financial tragedy for language schools and instructors if students could experience this epiphany on his or her journey of language study. Since it probably never happens at all, I'm content to lower the bar and be really happy when I understand more than two sentences of French at a time.
I call these my Bart Moments. It happens when:
- I hear several French sentences and comprehend the meaning as it's being said.
- I respond to a question in French without having to think of it initially in English.
- I use proper grammar the first time around. This rarely happens in any language I speak so, for me, this is going for the gold.
Bart is my hero.
Labels: French
« September 13, 2006 4:58 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Pen pals
Since going bonkers and falling in love with Celine nearly two years ago, a whole host of events have occurred in my life that I can directly and indirectly attribute to the frenchy drama queen. One of the more pleasant surprises is a friendship I've developed with a woman who lives in France. She's my pen pal (shut up I'm not too old to have a pen pal).
I used to have a pen pal back in high school because of an unmentionable connection from my dark past. We wrote actual letters for two years and then just faded away. But one day in college, I got a wedding invitation from him and that broke my heart. Not that I wanted to marry him, but he symbolized a time that was gone for good and...
Yeah ok anyways, I write my Frenchy pal in French and she writes me in English and we laugh at each other's ability to mangle two similar languages. When we started, she said she was using a dictionary, but I think she's since lost it. For real, though, her mad English skillz endear her to me so much more. She is the cutest person I've ever communicated with.
It's not fair, really. I wish I could speak French badly (I do) and be thought of as endearing (I'm not)... But noooo, the French think we're idiots if we don't speak their language perfectly. Damn French and damn their cuteness.
P.S. She's not a Celine fan. I think I may have implied that above, but I'm un-plying it now. I normally don't mind misleading omissions and/or lies, but I don't think I ever want the wrath of a French woman on me.
Labels: French
« July 26, 2006 5:27 PM | Post a Comment | 0 comments »
Montreal
I was just in Montreal recently with my dear friend what's his name. It's on the tip of my tongue... Anyways, we had a grand time even though we had to fend off mooses and beavers. Just kidding. There were only beavers, but a whole lake of them!
We walked a damn lot around the city and up the damn mountain and stalked, I mean, saw, the prettiest woman I have ever seen in my life. What's his name would agree, except he was ogling her guitarist. I must admit, he is a beau type.
Martin Bachand
There were beaucoup amounts of attractive people in Montreal. I normally don't look but I think all the French made me notice, #1, people, and #2, people who spoke French. It was all very enlightening. And incomprensible. No, for real, I know some French. No one else in Montreal seemed to understand my "dialect" of French, though. Snobs. But really nice snobs. They were really nice and friendly people.
For more on our adventure in this very foreign city, please see these award-winning pictures on this award-winning website.
Labels: French, Isabelle, Trips
« June 17, 2006 1:08 AM | Post a Comment | 2 comments »
