Camera rolling, action, cut!

And so it is... done. My first short has been screened today along with other 13 shorts. I walked out of the school with a certificate of a film maker into the possibility of becoming a Woody Allen.
It was fun... stressful, but fun. I laughed hard, broke rules, was screamed at, shed tears, screamed back, probably got some grey hair, made friends, made enemies and everything in between along the way. I ate bad, skipped running, had coffee, stayed up late, woke too early, read too little, cared too much... I forgot where is the mirror, did my nails in the metro, brushed my hair while walking and plucked my legs while having picnic by the Louvre - I multitasked and cut corners on everything I could... I didn't blog, didn't speak to my family, didn't have much time for friends... I walked the same streets in Paris, trying to steal the beauty here and there when it was on the way... I pushed for resources, for time and for vision... They yelled, I yelled back... And that's how I finished my first short. 

Daydreaming

I haven't been running for, what it seems like, ever. My obsession became my course and the new shoes, have totally screwed up my plan of arriving at the finish line of the Reykjavik marathon before the clock hit 3:15. I know I could do, it seems I won't... 

It saves up loads of time not running - I sleep longer and have some space between the things planned for the day, but I till have no time to keep my blog up to date... Is it always a choice to live life or to write about one? We should have asked Tolstoy, he should have known. 

Well, one benefit of not running, and not blogging, if we are on it, is that you could mono task and actually do something good. My recent friend Federico, could focus for a while and produce an amazing pasta only italians can cook (you better not distract him in the process). So I got into working on my script and a, soon to become, oscar-winning movie (even though my Russian friend who calls Federico - Fedya (she adds 'zanuda' most of the time) says that the Palm d'Or is better. 

My shoot was today in fact... have to wait till the editing is done to see if I can run for Oscar's. 

Becoming a Woody Allen

As I am rushing out for a second day of the workshop, I am leaving just a small logline of yesterday here: the filmmaking course has started with me being late (of course), the chairs being strangely uncomfortable (uh, strange they haven't figured it out yet), the classmates interesting (nice!), the teachers clever (for a change) and the whole thing quite exciting! 

I guess I've made a millimeter of a step towards becoming a Woody Allen (in a skirt), and so I don't blame him anymore for getting by with only one movie a year (which I am on a lookout for, and every time regret seeing it right away when it comes out, as the wait for the next one is the whole year!) - those bloody scripts take time to  develop! 

Cherries, music and a sunburn

Alors, my morning started extremely early... it was about 5 when I first opened one eye to check what the faithful clock on the sleeping next to me iPhone had to say. French people like to talk, I had no idea they liked it this much - those voices from unfinished since evening conversations kept bouncing of the walls of my tiny apartment, entering through the open window. Should I go for a run?... nah, another chance at sleeping, worked out fine. Ended up sleeping too long though and the planned 28K run  had to shrink to 8K only, as there were other adventures waiting...
Marche de Bastille was the first I picked on the way. It felt like everyone came here this morning, crowds of people trying and buying or yelling and selling. For an icelander (well, someone who lives there anyway) this all felt like a museum, the choice was intriguing. I spend an hour choosing bread and cheese, fruit and some greens, and just didn't want to leave, as it felt like being in a boiling with life pot.
I ended up joining a picnic with the people I have never met before. It was fun. And within the first 5 minutes I got a comment that made me laugh - I am so 'structured' - you could apparently see it from the way I cut the bread and arranged the cheese. Heh, hard to hide the core character traits, and you always take yourself with you, even to a picnic.
Hours later, I left the fun and set by the Seine with a book, reading, pondering about life and people. I felt a bit like a spectator in the cinema (as I shy away from speaking French which shovels me into background - cinema seat) with everyone around perfectly playing their roles, all those people I came across today - the runners, the Google intern, the Kickstarter entrepreneur, the others, who ate my cheese :), the tourists in Notre Dame, the cello player on the bridge (she looked marvelous in a white dress, I am not sure if that instrument she was playing was cello at all (or rather I am sure it wasn't), just had to call it something)...
I am finishing my last batch of cherries from the market earlier today - I still haven't figured out why some are twice as expensive as others - they taste the same as I've tried both.  My skin is itching from all that unfamiliar sun and I am happy I wouldn't be befriending a toilet (as I tend to do in a warmer climates) after spending the whole day out. Cheers to that!

Paris, je t'aime

It's been ages since I've posted here, I almost forgot how it works... But I am back for a while to document my life in Paris.
It's my first day and I absolutely love it! My window is wide open letting in the night air and some street noise - car sound and people's voices intertwined...
'I have to make it to the market!' that's the thought that kept running through my brain while I was making uncountable circles around the park. I pushed myself out this morning from the comfort of my lair into the Martin Luther King's park, which is just across from the building I now reside, for a dutiful exercise. I am training for a marathon, and, to be honest I have too few weeks to be lazy, but I still am once in a while, so today I wasn't... There were a few runners already there, the park was nice and thoughtfully planted - the trees would give a needed shadow for a sunny hot morning. I run listening to an audiobook, but more often than not my attention was with the people in the park - ladies lazily sunbathing and smoking slim cigarets, families settling under trees for a picnic, little children running, laughing the way it makes you laugh too, couples playing ping pong, skateboarders doing their tricks...
Circles later, new runners came in, a few left... I kept my drill for a while, but then I had to make it to the market, so I left too. A quick shower and I am back on the streets... The market is just around the corner, but it's covered, so I would have missed it if it wasn't for the warm smell of something baked. I entered to the view of stalls full of vegetables and fruit, nuts and sweets, cheese and olives - full of wonderful odor and color. That's the experience I was craving for. I did my shopping and went back to taste my purchases over a briskly made lunch. Next on the schedule was to passively socialize with a book I've started on advice of my sister. It kept me up all night and I was determined to finish it today in a cafe or a park. I chose a park - Parc Monceau - as a fellow couch surfer was offering his company for a shared reading experience. I didn't meet the guy, but I've made it to the park and made wonderful discoveries on the way - boulangerie, patisserie, a lot of nice little restaurants (I hope I remembered the streets so I can trace my way back and actually dine there at some point), delis, bookstores, cheese and wine stores, all casually planted in the vicinity of my hose... It would take me about a month to explore all those properly...
Le Parc Monceau happened to be a beautiful oasis full of trees, flowers, a lake and plenty of green to lay about. It was packed with people, so I got my share of socializing just by being around. I did some people watching laying on a picnic blanket under a tree, but I was mostly immersed in the book I brought with... I had to pull down my sunglasses a few times when my eyes were tearing over unfair life situations the characters were going through and I had push myself back home a few hours later.
My training wasn't finished for the day, so I took another running session when the evening brought some cool to the air.
A quick dinner by the open into Paris window, another reading session and voila the day is over...