I code AND I cook (and I live in France) » 35 things http://www.jennybeaumont.com/blog a personal weblog by Jenny Beaumont Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:13:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 26. Sleep less http://www.jennybeaumont.com/blog/2008/08/26-sleep-less/ http://www.jennybeaumont.com/blog/2008/08/26-sleep-less/#comments Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:10:53 +0000 jennyb http://localhost:8888/blog/?p=130 Continue reading →]]> There are only so many hours in a day, and so much pressure to maximize every minute if we want to be respectable, productive people. Work long hours to be materially successful. Prepare fresh, balanced meals to eat right and be healthy. Exercise to stay in shape. Have a hobby to fulfill needs or desires otherwise unmet in the workplace. Spend quality time with your loved ones. Stay abreast of world events, latest trends, contemporary art and literature to stimulate your intellect. Attend social events to feel connected to the world.

I’ve seen reports on television about people who get up an extra hour or two early to get in their daily workout before going to work. Or people who start their work day at like 5 a.m. so that they’ll be done by early afternoon and have the rest of the day to go sailing, do yogo or whatever. I have a Facebook friend who regularly reports on his status bar the inability to sleep and that he is up at 4 a.m. writing poetry or a script or doing something otherwise artistic and productive before then going off to work.

I get insomnia too from time to time, and have even been known to get up and read or write in those early hours until sleep takes over and forces me back to bed. But then I sleep, and am generally more than a little late for work and not entirely productive the next morning. I’ve tried, but it just comes down to one simple fact: I NEED SLEEP. I can’t do without it. I get cranky. I can’t think. 6 hours is just not enough. 8 hours is a bare minimum. I easily sleep from 9-10 hours every night, but not without a certain sense of guilt.

Unfortunately, the fact that I sleep so much does not keep me from being tired all the time. “So, how are you doing?” the common question. “Oh, well, you know, I’m a bit tired, but otherwise I’m alright.” the typical answer.

It has been suggested to me that the sleeping so much might be directly related to the being tired all the time. There’s a thought, except that, if I don’t sleep my wonderful 9 hours, I am not only tired the next day, but verging on dysfunctional.

“Mais tu trouves ça normal ?” (Do you find that normal?) I asked my friend Val over lunch the other day.
“Yeah, I think that’s great,” she said, “I’d sleep more if I could. I think if you sleep it’s because your body reclaims it.”

We can only do so much, at least in a day. So I am letting go of the idea of sleeping less, and simply letting my body and the night decide. With my waking hours I will spend them as wisely as I know how, and as my energy will allow. And that will have to be good enough.

]]> http://www.jennybeaumont.com/blog/2008/08/26-sleep-less/feed/ 0 12. Improve my Spanish http://www.jennybeaumont.com/blog/2007/10/12-improve-my-spanish/ http://www.jennybeaumont.com/blog/2007/10/12-improve-my-spanish/#comments Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:29:58 +0000 jennyb http://localhost:8888/blog/?p=86 Continue reading →]]> I have been visiting Mexico every year for the last ten years. Mas o menos. I generally stay for 3 weeks to a month, and this year I spent a total of 3 months over two visits. Every year for the past, well, maybe not 10 years, but every year I tell myself, “I’m going to study Spanish so that next year when I come back, I’ll be able to speak it better.” And a year goes by and I haven’t studied a thing, and my Spanish is pretty much where it was the year before. I’ve even learned to tell that story in Spanish (…y todo año yo retorno y no hablo mejor el español). I generally pick up a little bit while I’m there – a word here and there, a new expression, a new verb – but mostly I’m socializing with Americans, the merchants have enough English that we all get by, and basically I have all the excuses I need.

When I ended up getting “stuck” in Mexico for the month of May while I waited on my visa to come through and a flight to become available, I decided to make good use of my time and signed up for group lessons with a private teacher. And it was great! I loved it and felt like I could accelerate in no time at all. Until I ended up having to miss a couple of classes and ultimately had to leave. :(

The Mairie de Paris (Paris city hall) has a wonderful program offering continued adult education in a variety of domains, from language study to computer skills and more. You (or someone willing to go for you) have to show up (line up) at 8am on September 6 to your neighborhood mayor’s office with your form filled out and proof of residence, then validate your inscription by sending it in by mail and cross your fingers that yours gets there in time. Places are limited of course, and very much desired because the cost is minimal. Classes that normally would cost 30-50€ an hour in the private sector only come out to around 5€ an hour through this program.

Tonight I went in to the école maternelle in the Marais district where my classes will be held and took a placement test that was a lot harder than I was expecting. Although I’ll be a little embarrassed if I end up in the beginner’s class I am happy to say that this year I really am going to improve my Spanish. :)

And hopefully je ne vais pas commencer hablar como este.

]]> http://www.jennybeaumont.com/blog/2007/10/12-improve-my-spanish/feed/ 0 35 things http://www.jennybeaumont.com/blog/2007/08/35-things/ http://www.jennybeaumont.com/blog/2007/08/35-things/#comments Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:40:50 +0000 jennyb http://localhost:8888/blog/?p=79 Continue reading →]]> The other day I discovered a blog turned photoblog called Momster, kept by an extraordinary woman named Irene Nam. In it she keeps a page called “30 things”, a list of 30 things she wants to accomplish in her 30th year. I hope she doesn’t mind be borrowing on her idea as I try to come up with my own list of 35 things I’d like to do in my 35th year:
  1. Forgive myself
  2. Complete at least one book project
  3. Buy a house
  4. Visit my home town
  5. See an old friend
  6. Write a new song
  7. Travel to a new place
  8. Forgive someone else
  9. Lose 5 pounds and keep them off
  10. Learn to knit
  11. Make a new friend
  12. Improve my Spanish
  13. Make 5 new clients
  14. Start a new business
  15. Be generous with someone who isn’t expecting it
  16. Join a choir
  17. Volunteer some of my time
  18. Learn to meditate
  19. Finish two projects that I have long been procrastinating on
  20. Read The People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
  21. Register to vote
  22. Go to the gym regularly
  23. Discover Paris and learn to know it well
  24. Find a hangout/second living room (café)
  25. See more sunrises
  26. Sleep less
  27. Discover a new author
  28. See more concerts, go to the theatre, and why not to the opera
  29. Learn one new recipe each month
  30. See my cousins as often as possible
  31. Learn to be more patient
  32. Read more
  33. Write more
  34. Love more
  35. Lâcher prise
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