Fanfiction #2

I thought I should talk a bit about how the writing's going... As you may or may not know, I have been a member of HarryPotterFanFiction.com for a little over a year now and I currently have two stories on the site. They are, of course, related to Harry Potter. I find that writing fanfiction is a great way to improve as a writer, as I can have instant feedback on what I write. There are also some pretty darn good writer on the site, and being able to tell how good they are, or make suggestion is cool. Of course, most of them are just bad. Like really bad. But then, more than half of them are teenagers... I must say that I have already read stories written by 13 year-olds, and they were captivating! Some of them have a real potential :)

As for me, I don't update my story much, but I think it's quite good. By the way, it's been read by someone who owns another website: The Ultimate Storylist, and they mentioned it, and even marked it as a "Must Read"! I have to say that I was thrilled the day when I saw that :)

I realize that this post is all about me, myself and I, and how good I am, but believe when I say that I am not like that, and can't quite believe it when other people say that they like what I write!

Anyways, I have to finish my story on Tom Marvolo Riddle and how he became Lord Voldemort (very dark fic), and then, I'll write something short about Merlin and the knights of the round table, but I'll try and make it a bit lighter, although, seeing what I already wrote, I don't think it'll be that much lighter... Oh, well, you never know!

Right, I'm starving, and have to go and buy some food :) If anyone wants to read what I write (that is, if you are not allergic to Harry Potter), here is my author's page: http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/viewuser.php?showuid=71139.

And if you do read it and like, or even see room for improvement, please, let me know, and leave a review, that would be much appreciated!

Of course, I am not going to write fanfiction for the rest of my life, but I think I still need to improve my writing skills (a lot)... And I'll also let you know when the "real" writing is going anywhere!

New Year is in May this time

Hi folks!!

Ok, I have decided that in 2007, New Year would be in May. I have actually noticed that important things always occurred in May. Thus, I thought that I should have New Year resolutions. I never do them in January (what with hangovers and all, not the best time of Year to do that kind of stuff):

I solemny swear (that I am up to no good, dixit certain Marauders) that I want:

1- to eventually, some day, maybe, stop smoking

2- to start writing for real, like, maybe some day, even do it for a living or something

3- to find (not that I am looking or anything) a not-scared-of-commitment-kind-of-guy

4- to say to myself every morning: I am good, I am the best, I even look good, and those who don't agree are selfish / wasting my time / they quite frankly don't know what they are losing

Right. Let's see how long they last. My New Year resolutions usually last long enough for me to say them aloud... Most of the time anyway. But then, this is my own personal New Year, so it might work!

Happy New Year to me! (and only to me, sorry to everyone reading this)

The French Coffee Shop

I also wanted to write about the singing lessons I now take once a week. A cool place opened in Rennes quite recently: The French Coffee Shop, which is coupled with the "Mini-Conservatoire de la Chanson", in reference with Mireille's mini-conservatoire, if you've heard of it. The teacher is Aude Brenner, singer and actress, and who knows what else. Régis Simon is the pianist. The lessons take place in the café every thursday and friday evenings (from 6 to 9). I go there on Fridays. Aude is an excellent teacher, and in two lessons, I have already improved a lot.
She is also Gilles Paquet-Brenner's sister. He is a movie director (UV, with Jacques Dutronc, will be released this month), and he also directed 'Les Jolies Choses' with Marion Cotillard (Aude played her mother in the movie). Aude wrote UV's soundtrack (and sings in it). So you see, she is a professional!
She sings in the café on Thrusday, Friday and Saturday nights, and anyone can come and sing. Marion (my friend, not Cotillard) of course sings everytime and, gosh, that girl can sing! I have sung there a few times too, with a little less success, but well, I don't really care, I sing only for my own pleasure :) I'll take a few photos and post them here.

Art Déco

Here I am again. I thought that I'd try and publish new entries a bit more often. It's not as if I had anything better to do, after all :)
I took the first pics of the flat yesterday; they are only of Abel's bedroom, but the rest will come soon. As you can see, he's got a cool bed! I wish I had had one like that when I was a kid. And, believe me, he loves it! He spends all his time on the bed, acting as though he was a pirate on his ship, looking for Treasure Island. Of course, I took the picture after cleaning the room, and putting away all the toys, because it isn't usually like that, even right now, there are Playmobils and trains all over the place (he's currently playing at "Pole Express").
As for the rest of the place, I want to try and give an Art Déco touch. The building was built in the thirties, and you can kind of see it in the flat. So, even though I have very limited financial means, I try and use that Art Déco touch, and I think it won't be too bad in the end. What I do involves mostly painting things here and there (painting furniture, I mean). But that will be done little by little. I'll post photos to show how things are going.

Living near the UMP's office

definitely isn't that much fun. As you probably all know,the second round of the French presidential elections took place on Sunday (yesterday). Nicolas Sarkozy (right wing) won. He is described by many as far-right, and it is true that he certainly took many of Le Pen's ideas. Anyway, I am not going to enter that debate, I'll just add that I didn't vote for him, and I don't like him much.
I have recently moved to the Boulevard de la Liberté, and the UMP (Sarkozy's party) is literally round the corner. Yesterday evening, after the results of the election, some people began demonstrating (wonderful French tradition). They, of course, soon arrived in my street, and things started to get pretty violent, as you can see on the pictures. They didn't make much material damage, apart from burning all the dustbins and breaking a telephone booth. Well, that was some show. I watched some of it from my balcone, until I got some tear-gas in the eyes. Not smart, I know.
The surprise came from the fact that they did it again tonight. It actually ended just now, after maybe 30 minutes, when it lasted for over 2 hours yesterday evening. Not much damage once more, and the show was quite unimpressive this time, apart from the few times when the CRS was throwing their kind of tear-gas bombs. They make very nice fireworks when they explode :)
I am of course being ironic when I say that it is nice and that I enjoy it, but, well, the people who were in the streets tonight and yesterday were only there because they were looking for trouble. I am not pleased to have Sarkozy as a president, and I can't wait to leave France again, but going in the street under that pretence when all they want is actually causing damage and fighting is still pretty lame. At least, I don't own a car anymore, because I wouldn't fancy being one of the people who had parked on the Boulevard tonight.