Statutory Shaming

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Statutory Shaming ~

Statutary Shaming, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Back to funny old Paris tomorrow from the UK where I've been spending a few days.

Those Parisians, eh? They know how to have a laugh, look what some wag's done to this poor statue near the Canal Saint Martin.

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The statue isn't inherently funny, of course, but there are such pieces in the capital, to the extent that I've got a Paris Top 10 of saucy or inappropriate statues going on over on my Paris If You Please blog.

Statues are certainly one thing Paris isn't lacking, and there are specimens for all tastes, from the most staidly classical to the downright bizarre, anatomically improbable or even some might say obscene. I'm particularly impressed by how many busty sphinx types there are all over the place, or maybe it's just me.

Anyway, a statue's just a statue in the end, even with a silly red nose so I'll say no more and see you in the next installment. What's your favourite Parisian statue, by the way?

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

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© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Banana Skins & Bauhaus Has Beens

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Banana Skins & Bauhaus Has Beens ~

Banana Skins & Bauhaus Has Beens, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Getting an official commission for a piece of public art is about as easy as rowing across the Seine in a banana skin.

Someone got this one though, and pretty cool it is too. In a Bauhaus, minimalist, Germanic Art Deco kind of stylie, if you see what I mean.

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I'm intrigued to know how they did it, with all those lines and curves and indentations and whatnot, but this shall no doubt remain a mystery to me, being blissfully ignorant of the intricacies and ins and outs of such things.

It's on the street-side of a building near that weird green Seine-side thing in the 13th. This used to be a heavily industrialised area and in fact they are planning on restimulating commercial river traffic to take the pressure off the roads; one heavily laden barge can replace tens of lorries on the streets of the city...

And that's it. I have nothing more to say about this particular bas-relief beauty coz I don't know any more. If I'd been more observant the artist or architect's name must have been scrawled somewhere but I wasn't.

I have a dream to one day create a public piece of art. It's gonna have something to do with cubes and not a banana skin in sight; Warhol I ain't. Keep your eyes peeled - it's coming any decade now...

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

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© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Flushed With Anticipation

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Flushed With Anticipation ~

Flushed With Anticipation, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Being in the UK, the temptation, as ever, is to buy some good old UK books as opposed to all that Froggy nonsense. A Christmas book token - on a credit card type thingy no less - came in handy too.

And what did I get, you may be wondering? My 237th (or it seems like it) life-changing self-help book, of course, just like I always do.

This one's gimmick's quite a good one because it basically says to get where you want to go, forget about goal-setting, it's a complete waste of time, which is refreshingly subversive for the genre.

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The premise is, goals don't really inspire because you're always dreaming about the future instead of getting on with enjoying the present and having good, or great days today. Fine. So how do we improve our lives and get where we want to go if we don't have any goals, would be the next very valid question. It's all about standards.

You have to set standards for your daily actions without worrying too much about tomorrow. As long as they're good ones your life will improve on a day-to-day basis while you're busy doing something else as it were, and you might even attain a few objectives while you're at it. And that's as far as I've got.

What has this got to do with toilets, you may be asking. Well, not very much really, except that that's where it might end up if it's as useless - for me - as all the other self-help books I've ever read. Useless in that the principles were fine but just oh-so difficult to put into practice.

But I'm hopeful - I'll let you know what new standards I set as I get more into the book. Who knows, maybe this will be The One. Or not. What do you mean you can hear the sound of flushing..?

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Seeking Closure

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Seeking Closure ~

Seeking Closure, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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The constatation that this will be the fate of a whole bunch more businesses in 2013 is almost a given.

Fermeture definitive; the sorry state of affairs for far too many honest enterprises in 2012. Definitive closure. I personally am not sorry to see the back of this year. There was something about it not quite right. Maybe it was the crisis but maybe something more.

2012 was a transition year for me more than many others. Paris seemed to stand still and my life appeared to be on hold.

I did get one thing clear; if I'm to get anywhere I need to concentrate, and preferably on one thing at a time and seriously.

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Concentrating on one thing at a time is not my thing. I mean, I can concentrate, as I'm concentrating on writing these words now. But if it took me more than five to ten minutes to complete and 'definitively close' these thoughts I'd probably lose interest.

They call people like me butterflies, constantly flitting from one thing to another.

Yesterday I wrote two poems, almost exactly 24 hours ago. Perhaps I'll write another one now; perhaps not. And there you go. What has poetry got to do with Paris photography? But I needed that break from the intensity. Or is this piece a break from the passion of the poetry. It's hard to tell.

Which is the bread and butter, and which is the jam? What came first, and which supports which? Does a poem make a poet, or is it the other way around? Did Paris make me or did I make of Paris my saviour? Did Paris set me free, or am I begging of her to do so.

Fermeture definitive; you've just reached it. Sometimes I just need a ramble. There'll be more. Tonight it was hard. You know what I mean? The End for now.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

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© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Blonde, Bike, Building, Fish

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Blonde, Bike, Building, Fish ~

Blonde, Bike, Building, Fish, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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The ultimate Paris combination, perhaps. Someone said I had him at blonde, and by bike he was positively reeling. I can understand that.

But yes, with the bike, symbol of modern and old Paris alike; the crumbling building - they're everywhere; the chic young something or other; and the enigmatic, almost secondary but oh-so significant Paris plaque... you nearly have it all.

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The fact that half of the fish in the plaque looks like a banana is neither here nor there. Well, it's kind of here because this ancient crypt, behind these nondescript doors, on the edge of the Saint Eustache church used to store bananas during one of its recent incarnations.

However, these are just old men's ramblings. The point is, history remains as times move on. And what we are living now will soon be history. That's not an easy concept to grasp, but arguably a useful one.

Whether we feel we should leave files, signs or fishes for our progeniture is a personal matter, but I'm kind of a fan of it. I'm kind of living my life for it. I'd like to think that tens or hundreds of years later one of my offspring will be reading these words, knowing I was thinking of them, with love and caring and hoping things are going well for them from an old Will way on back down the line somewhere...

So consider this a message, young'uns - keep up the good work; relate to Paris or your city as closely as you can; and above all, leave something for your future generations to hang onto. It's all they ask.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Down Time Required

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Down Time Required ~

Down Time Required, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Most January 1sts I sit around writing a huge list of all the resolutions I'm going to break in anything from five minutes' to five days' time.

This year is different. No list, no resolutions and hence no depressing breaking of them in the following few days. Plenty of sitting around though. It is the 1st January, after all.

No, this year I'm going to take a different approach. I'm going to define a (small) handful of projects and try my best to work on them and only on them. This seems obvious and straightforward but it's not as easy as it seems. There are temptations. There are distractions. And above all there are coffee breaks and chocolate bars begging to interrupt my highly focused creative flow. Tricky.

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This year I aim to keep my Paris and I photo chronicles totally up to date at the rate of one a day. I aim to write an average of one poem a week. To paint at least one painting a month. To write at least two Paris quirks and curios articles a week. To keep adding fun content to my Paris Facebook page in the form of Photos of the Night (mine), the Day (other people's) and historic old Paris shots I find scattered around the interweb.

The problem is, that's just my Paris content. My photo passion is partly covered by my Paris activities but not completely. I won't bore you by going into my plans for that. And then there are my sadly neglected English language projects over at Hotch Potch English. Oh dear. There's definitely too much going on and not enough time to do it in. And I'm supposed to be making money in between all that into the bargain. Not possible. To do all of it I mean.

Small son; teenage daughter; UK family; Spanish family; one month trip to Chile, a dog and a dozen blogs to support... Something tells me 2013's going to be a busy one.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

1000 Billets-Doux For Paris

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ 1000 Billets-Doux For Paris ~

1000 Billets-Doux For Paris, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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The New Year's here and I promised myself never to start another 'love locks' posting with the words 'Love them or loathe them', so I won't.

Something tells me, though, that 20-13 is going to be the year they finally decide to do something about these things. In many cases they are, I imagine, far heavier than the support - the metal mesh of the bridge sides, here on the Pont des Arts - they are definitively attached to.

My guess is that more and more of the panels will be replaced as the locks start to destroy the railings as they have already started to do. So if you are one of the now thousands of romantics or trend-followers who have sealed your tryst on these here shores, its days may be numbered.

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On the other hand, on a more positive note, I'm feeling particularly optimistic about this coming year. I'm not sure why, and maybe it's just because 2012 was a peculiar one for me, but I have the feeling it's going to be a goodie. I hope it's the case for you too.

That'll do for now. It just remains for me to tell you that, by chance, and not in the right order due to my getting behind, this is actually Paris and I's 1000th post!

It's hard to believe I've made it this far, pinning one thousand of these things to the fabric of my blog started just a little under three years ago. I didn't think I could do it. And that in itself gives me hope. I am able to carry something through.

Not only is it highly symbolic for me, but I've also got out a lot of thoughts and ideas into the open which would otherwise have stayed hidden or supressed or simply not have existed at all. I heartily recommend you do something similar. It's the regular small things which eventually become a precious habit which enable you to accomplish something big without even realising it.

So here's to 2013; here's to big plans tackled a little at a time; here's to satisfaction on a daily basis; here's to friendship and creativity and enthusiasm. Here's to us and a better world over the next 12 months. Here's to growth.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.