Saturday was filled with two goose chases for us: Daniel was determined to find the rollerblades that hurt the least/fit the best, were under $100, and had something other than plastic attaching the wheels to the boot; I, on the other hand, was determined to find “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead” on DVD. And on both fronts, success was ours.
I even bought new rollerblades, too, ones with a “training” brake that makes it easier to slow down or stop. (Not that this means I’m now *good* at either, only that it’s — in theory — easier to do with these particular skates.)
The DVD I found at a Borders store on Preston & Royal in Dallas. Even though I’ve got the 10% discount card at Barnes & Noble (and thus tend to shop there more often), I have always held deep affection for Borders — far more so than any of its competitors. One of the many reasons why was clear on Saturday: I was able to search the inventory of selected local (or nearly local) Borders stores and find one that I knew had a copy of Ros & Guild in stock. Brilliant! (Why, pray tell, isn’t B&N doing this??)
But perhaps the most exciting thing I find about Borders is that they consistently outperform other bookstores in their International music selection. (Granted, I probably have the best luck of all at Tower Records, but the only one in Dallas is all the way down on Lemmon…) Saturday, I dared to pick up an unknown French singer/songwriter’s album, Carla Bruni’s “Quelqu’un ma’ dit” — and by the way, “unknown” only means I personally had never heard of her before.
I popped it into my car CD player Sunday and was extremely impressed by its initial playthrough. Today’s Monday-morning-commute second playthrough was equally impressive, and it’s now part of my work computer’s iTunes library.
Clearly (see blog name), I have a genuine love for most things French, and having a new French CD in my collection is *fantastic*. Carla has a very quiet musical style with strong emphasis on her lyrics, which are gorgeous. I only wish my French were better so I could understand while listening, instead of having to rely on the printed lyrics (which, mercifully, were included).
My particular favorite so far is a song called “Le toi du moi,” which essentially means “the way you are to me.” It is a very lyrics-intensive song that is almost entirely comprised of phrases that go like this: “I am the ____, you are the ____.”
E.g.: Je suis l’iris, tu es le pupille (I am the iris, you are the pupil); tu es la main, moi la caresse (you are the hand, I am the caress); je suis l’oreille de ta musique (I am the ears for your music) … and so forth.
Gorgeous!