it smells like a man in my apartment.

I have gotten quite used to living on my own in my apartment. It is a beautiful thing, not to have to clean up after other people after a hard-working day on the job.

So, I turn the key into the lock. I push the door open. I flip the switch and turn around to close the door. There is a faint smell - something smells different in my apartment. What is that...? It smells like a man in my apartment.

The aroma of cologne is distinct, wafting through my kitchen. I'm slightly creeped out but curious. I have no idea what kind of cologne it is. I quickly walk into my bedroom and bathroom, curious as to what (or whom) would be emanating the scent.

Spotted! A dark jacket draped over the barstool. It does not belong to me. I lean over and take a quick sniff. Source of cologne, identified. It is my friend's jacket - he had left it from a dinner party I had the night before. I'm appeased. Now I'm slightly ill at ease because it smells like a man in my apartment and my apartment doesn't smell, well, like my apartment.

I know I haven't blogged in awhile - but trust me, at least I have been (somewhat) productive. I've begun working on a short story, which I anticipated to be 8-10 pages but instead has turned into upwards of 35 pages, with plenty of development and revisions ahead of me. Also, I have finished all of my holiday shopping! Things get busy when you're competing with 12.9 million greater LA residents for parking spaces at the mall.

WOTW

boon. benefit, favor.

fracas. a noisy quarrel.

Next: bracing myself for 34 degree weather.

Paris, Je t'aime.

I rented a DVD of Paris, Je t'aime. I can't stop watching it; it's charming. It is a series of short films, love stories that happen in Paris. It is the city of love, after all. Although I would never recommend for ANYONE to visit Paris while it is miserably cold in December. Kind of freezes up the romance right out of it.

New love, unlikely love, old and hurt love. Refreshing. Filmmakers and actors featured include the Coen brothers, Alfonso Cuaron, Walter Salles, Natalie Portman, Elijah Wood, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gena Rowlands.

I especially liked 'Tuileries,' by Joel & Ethan Coen. Steve Buscemi plays an American tourist, confusingly trying to make his way around the city. He flips through his guidebook while waitng on the platofrm of the Tuileries Metro station. He notices a couple making out on the opposite platform, and is spotted staring at them. The couple, offended at this peeping intrusion, gets into an argument, and by the time the story ends, Steve Buscemi's character ends up having made out with the French girl and getting beaten up by her boyfriend, all the while a small boy has been pelting him with spitballs.

Perhaps even more enchanting is '14th Arrondissement', Alexander Payne's story about a postal worker from Denver. She studied French for two years and saved up for a six day trip to Paris. She had wanted to go for two weeks but didn't want to leave her two dogs at home for too long. She wanders through Paris alone, opting instead to enjoy the city on her own rather than following a tour group, as she was an independent type. She is happy with many friends, but can't help but wish that she had someone to share all of her beautiful travels.
She finally walks into a park, on a picture-postcard sunny afternoon in Paris, and, although she is in this incredibly romantic city alone, far away from all of her family and her friends, it is in this foreign country, while she sits by herself on a park bench, where she feels most alive.