uh huh honey

J’ai la tête qui tourne, that means “I’m dizzy”

I haven’t written one of these in a while and some nights I wake up thinking “Jana why do you have a blog it’s embarrassing and no one really wants to read this nonsense” because that’s just how I am. But then I get up in the morning and go to Paris and am so affected by its beauty and its charm and its fullness that it seems I have no other choice but to write about it all. It’s like the words…

Coming to you live from the 3 star mote

I’m lying on my hotel bed, in a green and cream room, in one of those generic 3 star motels, and I can hear the whoosh of trucks and cars outside my window. In the corner are two giant overstuffed suitcases and miscellaneous bags. I packed up my whole room in 5 hours and got the fuck out. I’m eating 1 Euro discounted mini chocolate praline Easter bunnies, like some sad teenager who just broke up…

The arrival of spring threw me off. It feels like this is the first spring I’ve ever experienced. So unprepared was I for tulips springing up spontaneously out of the wet earth that I forgot to make time to write. Found myself unable to sort through the noise in my head, sat fumbling with my pen and notebook on various park benches across the city. Transfixed by the sound of the birds, by the…

Happy 3 Months 

I’m sitting at a table in a random restaurant listening to the couple next to me have a small argument about whether or not they should put mustard on their burgers. I think about how I’m so happy I don’t have to have these types of conversations. I’m waiting patiently for the caffeine to kick in from the double espresso I just downed. Everyone takes their coffee strong and without milk here. It…

Bonjour,ouais, c’est moi Djana.

No one in France can pronounce my name. I am now “DJANA.” I’m cool with that. I have to start ‘building a life’ here from scratch anyway, so why not start with my name?

French Janais experiencing so many new things that are vastly different from anything she’s ever felt before. In an attempt to not feel like she’s becoming invisible, she writes them all down. On serviettes, and the very messy…