American “you-can-do-it-ism” vs French debate…ism

Last week an article from Slate caught my eye about cultural differences between Americans and the French that just might explain a few things..

You can do it !

In the U.S. it’s true (admit it!) that we’re raised with a certain American dreamish “you can do it” attitude. Not everyone is raised the same way and there are certainly circumstances in which children are discouraged, but growing up in the U.S. has definitely made me appreciate our spirit that is willing to try. Why else would someone have thought it was a good idea to try and reach the Pacific Coast? Or build a giant highway system just in case of a Cold War. But I digress..

World peace, hugs, and the #140Conf in NYC

Sometimes everybody just needs a hug. And no, I promise, I will NOT get all squishy gushy on you although I very well could so WATCH IT

**for first time visitors, I have been known to be mildly schizophrenic. It’s what brings the goodness**

In any case, every since I moved to Paris and realized :

1. How cold Paris can be sometimes — and I’m not talking about the temperature
2. How much I miss the physical and yes, spiritual warmth that you get from a hug

I have become convinced that if there were more hugs in the world…it just might be the answer to world peace.

Jumping around (literally) California ;)

2 weeks spent in California simply flew by… and apparently some are better at jumping than others. But let’s not let that get us down. We all have our own special talents. Like…making snow cones… or testing fire extinguishers..

It makes you realize though that sometimes Americans just really do work too hard..for that matter, any people of any country can work too hard..

I’ve got some new projects in the works, and new ideas for videos being filmed this weekend, so stay tuned, take some time for yourself, get some sun, and have a great weekend 🙂

psssst while waiting you can take a look back at the other “day in a life” videos 😀

Tuesday cool thing geek – Move over Flip, the Kodak Play Sport isn’t dead yet

Hello!!!

Well, back from vacation and into the swing of things. I posted a couple of videos last Friday here in case you didn’t get to see the California wine bus,  the radio station that knows no end, tumbleweeds in Arizona, (SUPER FUN), and suicidal baby ducks. They weren’t really suicidal…but it did look like it..

AND! upon looking back I also wanted to write a note about the Kodak PlaySport I got to test out on my vacation. It was the first time I ever got SENT something “just to test”, and so I wanted to thank them (because what video blogger DOESN’T want to test every camera that moves?) with an objective post of what I liked, what I didn’t and why.

On vacation :)

Sorry for the so-ish quality what can I say…I was charging my camera because we are OFF to CALIFORNIA

Have a great weekend everyone and see you in a couple weeks 😉

the rest of a day in the life videos are here 🙂

Spending a night at the Shangri La Hotel in Paris

Hello! and Happy Friday

Sorry I didn’t have time to put sub-titles yet, I can do it this weekend, but in the meantime you might understand why (this was filmed this morning before our 38€ Continental breakfasts at the Shangri La Hotel in Paris – thanks LinkedIn!)

Who knew? I thought you got a job with LinkedIn, not a night at the most beautiful hotel in Paris. Goes to show, expect the unexpected 😉

The other day in the life videos are here 😉

Photos after the break

A day in the life : who needs a fancy vacation in Paris?

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a little bit of vacation. Winters last too long, and last I checked it was Carnaval this past week in sunny, sunny, sunny sunny Brazil. Unfortunately, not all of us have enough vacation days and/or money saved up to go on vacation, but I say : why complain?

There are solutions right next door :

What’s your nearest vacation spot?

PS I wanted to mention that (obviously) this is just for fun, and you can DONATE to Emmaüs so people like me can stop just storing their Coke cans in their fridge and using up their extra toilet paper.

Just like you can donate to the Salvation Army, Emmaüs is a really great organization that you can visit for furniture, dishes, clothes, etc. but you can donate or also become a volunteer for them to help them with their humanitarian actions.

The rest of the day in a life videos are here 😉

Comments below 🙂

and happy weekend !!

A day in the life – Where are the fire extinguishers in Paris ???

So this is something that’s been bothering me for a little bit and I’m not sure why other than having fire alarms around is something like being told to buckle your seat when you get in the car. When I was little it was just assumed. ….or else the car wouldn’t go…
In elementary school you have fire drills, and you always have to check the fire alarm when you move into an apartment. In Paris, though, old buildings don’t (yet) have fire alarms in all of them and apparently fire extinguishers aren’t required in every building.

A day in the life – how to become a domestic goddess in Paris

Hello !!!! And back again this week, sorry about last week.. in fact I almost didn’t post again this week since I just haven’t had the best luck in terms of health.. sick twice in 2 weeks is pretty crazy, but luckily I did this at the beginning of the week so :

Are you ready to become a domestic god(dess)?

Serious business here, folks! Serious business
There is one key step to becoming a domestic goddess. Like my friend Matthieu B says, “to make a good cake, you have to have good ingredients”. So, to be a good chef, you …have to have good ingredients.
Here’s how I have. It’s pure genius. Pure. Genius. Special thanks to Rémi Gaillard.

Comments below 😉

PS I should mention : I cut that part out, but I also intended to mention that Picard is 10 times better than Schwan’s. Bam. I said it.

PPS Step 3 : HIDE THE EVIDENCE

Tuesday cool thing geek : video blogging materials

Seeing as I rarely do a post about what I actually use for filming and editing my videos but spend a lot of time looking at what other people do, I thought I’d finally write a post about what I use (that may get added to the “about” page after the request of a reader 🙂 and also thank all the other vloggers for their help. I’m just in the beginning and learning so much all of the time from all of the video-making/podcasting/directing/filming/etc experts that I get to meet and chat with. So here goes on my side, just to get yours after 😉

First things first : SOUND.

Both Cedric and Cyrille said, “there’s no point in making a video if you don’t have good sound. No one will watch it”
Thank you for that advice. Since then I invested in an Azden SM-2 and Zoom H2 thanks to

Steve Garfield – great test of the Azden SGM-2X shotgun microphone — unfortunately I found out AFTER ordering that you have to order the cable and/or the wireless set-up directly from Azden or you’ll end up walking a half hour in central London during a conference trying to find a cable…my bad..
Matthieu Blanco – his test of the Zoom H2 microphone convinced me in a second that it was my microphone to be