02.20.2012     16h37
filed under [   friends   joie de vivre   music   relationships   video   ]

It's Monday again, and this time, I haven't forgotten about my Monday music segment.

Let's start off with a recent and very catchy song. Here's Pitbull featuring Chris Brown singing "International Love". Every time I hear this song, I think that I shouldn't like it as much as I do ... but they play it on the French versions of MTV all the time, and it always gets stuck in my head. It's upbeat, and that's always a good way to start the week.



Now let's go back in time a bit. Back in high school, I was dating Mike, and he suggested that we go to a Dave Matthews Band concert. They were out promoting their new album, Crash, and we got tickets through my dad. It was June 1997, I think, because I remember listening to that album on repeat during a school trip to Italy that summer. I *love* old school DMB, and this song has to be one of my favorites. Here's a live version of DMB singing 'Ants Marching.'



Mike and I broke up during my freshman year of college, and I took it pretty hard (although we're still good friends to this day!). In May 2000, some friends and I went to a Guster concert in Portland, Maine, and Howie Day was the opener. I think I might've cried at the concert when I heard this song, and I've been a fan of Howie Day ever since. Here's Howie's official music video for 'She Says'.



And because I don't want to leave you on such a sad note, let's end with an upbeat song. Barenaked Ladies was another group that I got into while dating Mike, and their music has always put a smile on my face. This is a catchy song that I've used as an English teacher to teach the second conditional (= "if I had, I would"). Here's Barenaked Ladies singing 'If I had a million dollars.' Watch out, it'll get stuck in your head!

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I am a 30-year-old American living in France since Sept 2003. I became a naturalized French citizen in April 2009.

I live in Vichy with my conjoint Damien, and I teach English at a university in Paris, but I will be teaching at Université Lumière Lyon 2 as of September 2012. I am doing a doctorate in American civilization and history at Université Lumière Lyon II in Lyon, France.

In my spare time, I also run a small website design company based in the United States.