“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,” (Eph. 2:4 NIV)

God’s precious love is rich and all abiding for His children. Years ago while going through a troubling time in my life I was inspired to write the poem below.

HOLD ME LORD

Will you hold me today Lord?
Will you keep me from falling apart?
Will you show me the way
And mend my broken heart?

Will you hold me tight
And take away my fright?
Will you guide my shaky steps
Away from the darkest night?

I will hold you child
No matter what you do.
I will see you through the night
And always be there for you.

Your love is imprinted in my hands.
For I took your pain
And felt it on the cross
For your eternal gain.

Never fear child of God
He is faithful and true.
His love is eternal and
Will always be there for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pastor Nancy Dittert lives in a Berm home in Rural Central Iowa with her husband & soul mate Patrick. Nancy lives with Severe Fibromyalgia, Absence Seizures and Neuropathy. She is still actively involved as a Christian freelance writer and works full time in Chronic Pain Ministry through the Internet. Write Nancy at nancierose@msn.com.

According to the Daily Mail, Jodie Prenger will give her last performance as Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Oliver! on March 27th, after which former Wicked star and Award winner Kerry Ellis will take over the part.

Kerry is probably best known in the West End for playing the role of green coloured witch, Elphaba in the hit musical, Wicked at the Apollo Victoria having taken over from American, Idina Menzel.  She made her Broadway debut in the same role in the Stephen Schwartz musical the year before.

Her other musical credits include Queen’s We Will Rock You, in which she originated the role of Meatloaf. Queen’s Brian May is producing Ellis’ first full-length – due to be released next summer – for which he’s also written songs with Don Black.

Oliver! opened, with the West End’s largest-ever advance of £15 million, on 14 January 2009 (previews from 12 December) and is currently booking through to 27 February 2010 (See WOS TV, 15 Jan 2009). Based on Charles Dickens’ literary classic Oliver Twist and, beyond its theatre fanbase, Lionel Bart’s musical found legions of fans from the 1968 film version. The score includes now-famous songs including “Consider Yourself”, “It’s a Fine Life”, “As Long as He Needs Me”, “Oom-pah-pah”, “Food, Glorious Food”, “I’d Do Anything” and the title song.

I’m in Nancy, (north of Paris), jetlagged and therefore awake way too early, passing the time goofing off on my mom’s laptop. We are staying at my uncle’s house…he has pet roly-polies in the compost. He claims they don’t like oranges.

Roly-Poly= “a colloquial name for isopod crustaceans of the family Armadillidiidae”.

Similar to armadillos and roly-polies, I have the ability to make myself tiny and invisible, a skill that comes in handy for discrete people-watching.

Sneaky elevator photos in the airport…roly-poly mode.

I couldn’t resist buying Dazed & Confused for the plane ride…Lily Cole on the cover and an article on “the future of fashion and film” made this issue irresistible. I also wanted to get Nylon, but there wasn’t a single place that sold them in the SFO international terminal.

Enjoyed a cappucino and a fraise tagada. People don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here, since its an American holiday, but we are going to have a make-up Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, a la francaise.

Happy Black Friday

-Drooling Isn’t Pretty

gefunden von Dana S. bei Woolworth

I dont know how i got sick all the sudden. Feeling very sick now. bb, i wish you are next to me now..

just had a chat with james du. i told him that i m falling in love with more n more each day.. lol i told him our relationship is so miracle n i swear that i had no interested in u when we were in paris.. heheh

love you baby n miss u lots n lots

i talked to nick today which i shouldnt. I sort of agreeing with you that i doubt that nick can make decision so I was hoping to tell him so he can discuss with Ian while he is still in the office today. Ian is off work for the rest of week. Instead of trying to negotiate with him, i give him all the possible solutions. I should hv told him that i m seeking for a long term position and then he can come back to me saying that he only have a contract work for me. However, i just offered that i m willing to take up a contract work if there is one. However, he isnt sure where he is going in few mo. either.  It is a bit hard for him to make decision on my status either. O well, we will see how it goes. He just kept saying I m intelligent. I wonder if he thinks i m smart cuz i m from Oxford or he thinks i m smart cuz he sees my work. o well.. who cares.

Nu was ik zo nieuwsgierig naar dat appartementje dat Nancy heeft gevonden voor Waldek … ‘t Is in haar appartementsblok, en op dezelfde verdieping! Dus ik ben gisteren even langsgeweest.

Belofte maakt schuld! Hier zijn ze:

Nancy kan nogal poseren, hè!

En hier is de keukenhoek:

‘t Is allemaal veel kleiner dan ik verwacht had, een ruime studio eigenlijk. En donker ook.  Die grote poster tegen de achterwand van de keuken maakt dat gelukkig een beetje goed ….

Oh, en ik heb nog een nieuwtje: vandaag heb ik telefoon gekregen van mijn kennis, de journaliste. Ze gaat Femke vandaag interviewen in De Noorderzon! ‘t Is gelukt!

El Limon Children’s Home is five hours south of the Back2Back Mexico campus in Monterrey.  Since 2000, Back2Back has partnered with El Limon by helping to provide resources for the children, meeting their needs through service teams and ongoing care.  At a recent anniversary event to celebrate the faithful service of the directors of El Limon Children’s Home, several of the children from the home read letters to them, as a tribute to express their love and gratitude.  The common theme among the children’s letters was one of thankfulness for the way God had provided for them by placing Fernando and Yadira, the directors of the home, in their lives.  This heartwarming moment caused us to reflect on the things that we’re thankful for, but it also acted as a powerful reminder of the way in which God is faithfully caring for the children we serve.  In honor of Thanksgiving, we wanted to take a moment to share one particular child’s speech with you:

Real Parents, by Alejandra

A real mom and a real dad are not those who give you money to buy Sabritas (chips).  They are someone who give you advice when you have problems and help you when you are in need and if you are in trouble they will help you and pray for you because they are good parents.

Mom, Yadira, Dad Fernando and Mom, Nancy, are some of the best parents I’ve had in my life because God gave them to me and He has a plan for my life.  Thank God I’ve been set free and I´m happy.  So, thank you Lord for giving me such beautiful parents who know how to care for me and do not leave me in hard times and pay attention to me when I tell them I need to talk.  So, I want to tell them they are the best parents I’ve had in my life.

Thank you Lord for taking care of me and loving me so much.  Thank you mom and dad – I love you.

A student from Horizon Community Church plays with a child at El Limon

Some of the children from El Limon pose for a picture with students from Horizon Community Church

A few children at El Limon playing with Back2Back mission trip guests from North Cincinnati Community Church

i just woke up. i went to sleep when you went to sleep. i dont know. i feel there is really nothing i want to do except keep thinking abt you. i kept thinking abt wut would happen to us in the future.

i got up at 4 pm now. i m all tired. i really cant imagine my life without u now. why m i feel so empty. I dont know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

bb, love you!

while i was walking hm, i was thinking to tell u this.. baby! u know you are really the luckiest guy in the world. How can u have a gf who is naturally good at poing but really like staying hm and wait for you. i m definitely the type of gal who can go to living room and the kitchen- u know wut i mean ba.. anywayz.. hahah. i just had to do some self appraisal. heheh.  it’s hard to believe that i m so wonderful.. hahahah oki.. i m stoping now

i went to this asia food festival with Vivian; met couple old friends/new friends.. and saw Steph L too. He approached us first. He was like wow nancy, how’s going!? and i was like.. who is this.. lol n of course i gave him a warm fake welcome..guess wut Vivian say, Vivian was like nancy be careful, he kept staring at you like a color wolf. lol. and his friend, will,.. vivian was like. omg, he looks like he is type of guy who stays hm watches porn all the time. lol. anywayz vivian is soooOo funny! i actually like her a lot.. hehe she likes you 2. She thinks we are just right for each other. She tot it was hard to believe that we werent together at the time. hehehe. btw, i did asked her about the gay thing she was saying. Remembered she mentioned that you must be gay if we weren’t together.  she meant to say that i am such a wonderful gal if you are not going after me must be you are a gay, not because she tot i was going after you..k?

but baby, guess wut.. HARRY is gay… actually i m not surprised. hahah. i mean how can a guy not be into me. lol. believe it or not.. rmb the date that we went for a walking trip. i was actually more into you than him. I guess I was just bored and wanted smt fun. I mean the only thing i like abt him is he is smart and not materialistic. He wants to be a poet.  so I tot it would be quite cool. but in fact, i mean i dont even know him.. BABY, you are the best, really the best!! btw, tell u a good news. i think my parents like you. it is really funny that my mom said that your family is not wealth but you are able to make a lot of money yourself. She even tells my sis your salary and title. I was like.. mom did u just make that up.. cuz i obviously didnt say anything. my sis was being motor and pretended she didn’t know you. She asked my parents whether you are rich or not. Guess what my dad say.. rich or poor is not really important as long as this person is a good person. Hahahahah.. my sis was like.. wtf.. why is sis’s requirement so different from mine. Lol.. anywayz, i m happy now that i think everything is going to work out! baby, i love you!

i just got hm 2o min ago and went straight to write you a blog. will be going to kar’s place in 20 min. I will make sure i come hm b4 u wake up so I can get rdy and talk to u on the phone.

the massage wasnt that good; just oki! nothing like the one we did in SG.. I didn’t feel she was doing massage. It was more like she just put lotion all over my body. I mean you can do that to me. Don’t need to pay a person to do that ba.. lol

while i was walking hm, i keep smiling i keep thinking what ppl say about us, heheh people= vivian la.. she said we have this chemistry that others dont hv.. heheh she said our type of relationship is good since we started off as friends.. it will last longer.. lol

lina asked how i finding the long distance. I told her is fine. we are doing quite good. she was quite surprised she said she doesnt believe in LD. i told her i mean i guess both me and d believe in it so that is why maybe we will eventually work out. she said we need to invite her to our weeding.. r we baby? lol

while i was walking hm, i saw a guy’s back. a guy wears the type of tan leather jacket that you have. I was hoping when this guy turning around n it is you.. heheh just a tot. miss you a lot. i kept smiling when i walk hm cuz i keep think of you.

“Fraud, Treason and Conspiracy” charges served by American Grand Jury in 2 more Courts this past week

PRESS RELEASE: November 21st, 2009 by American Grand Jury

STATE Kansas Court 18th District, Witchita, KS and the UNITED STATES District Court, Austin, Texas served

American Grand Jury has incorporated the Fitzpatrick criminal complaint and the Nancy Pelosi criminal conspiracy complaint within its Presentments.

On November 19th, 2009 the American Grand Jury Criminal Presentments were served upon the Clerk of the United States District Court, William G. Putnicki, Austin, Texas and the Clerk of the State Kansas Court, 18th Judicial District, Bernie Lumbreras, Witchita, Kansas.

The criminal charges of Eligibility Fraud and Treason (Barack Obama) and Conspiracy of Election Fraud (Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama) are now pending before these and numerous other Courts.

If acted upon, the Grand Jury Presentments would require that both Obama and Pelosi be criminally prosecuted.

American Grand Jury is actively pursuing decisions in a number of UNITED STATES District Courts in different States: District for Columbia, Western District of New York and Middle District of Tennessee.

More serves will be forth coming.

Visit http://ProsecuteObama.org/?sid=010bm for further details…

Comme récemment promis, voici le retour des tenues du jour! Je manque relativement de temps pour élaborer des tenues vraiment intéressantes et les photographier, mais je vais essayer de maintenir un rythme régulier. Celle-ci était ma préférée parmi les trois tenues du jour, puisque j’ai participé à une longue séance photo sur “les pin-ups de Nancy” pour un tout nouveau magazine local intitulé “Les Echos de la Mode”! Je vous tiendrai au courant de sa sortie, en attendant voici donc ladite tenue, et en bonus le petit reportage que des journalistes de FR3 ont réalisé au débotté en nous croisant par hasard dans les rues de Nancy!

Une broche camée sur l'une de mes robes préférées, avec mon bibi vintage préféré, très "espionne française WWII"! Je portais également des gants en dentelle chantilly écrue lors du shooting, ainsi que les Lady Page oxblood.

Je profite également de cet article pour vous signaler la mise en vente très prochaine de bibis anciens et de quelques vêtements neufs – bustier Zara, robes, jupes, combis, peut-être même (encore) des chaussures : le tri n’est pas terminé mais il y aura de tout! Stay tuned

]]> http://nancydarrell.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/one-more-didnt-bother-to-go-back-and-fit-in-2-the-last-blog/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:26:17 +0000 nancydarrell http://nancydarrell.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/one-more-didnt-bother-to-go-back-and-fit-in-2-the-last-blog/

When I said if you cant even do little things like rar and sim card, how can you do big thing like hving a family together. I said this not because I hv doubts about how much u love me and how much u want to have a family with me.  I said this just want you to realize that if you are not even willing to do small things and always feel very bothersome. How are u gonna handle when our kids keep crying everynite. I just tot of this when I was cooking and I came back to write this as an addition to the blog I already post online.

When I was cooking, I tot of hving a final draft of standard ready right after the xmas break so you can do a role play with me as if I am presenting the draft to you. Instantly I remembered you said that everything will be easier if I m next to you. You would be able to help out on my work a lot more. Baby! Do u really think it is true? Or is this just your fairytale. I have no doubt that you want to help me and you love me. It is just you get really impatient everytime when I ask u to do work related stuff.  Think about it. U always do it and complain it. Thats it, just a tot. U  tend to not response my thought lately anyway.

So.. I guess we had a big fight today. I didn’t realize it is a big flight until I know u didn’t pick up my calls on purpose. I think this is your first time ever not picking up my calls on purpose. Whenever there is a first, a second, third will always come. This is just a universal rule n no debate abt it.

I am not mad n to be honest I m more disappointed than mad. I wasn’t expecting this to happen. I always thought that u will treat me like a princess. I never would tot this would happen; I would never tot that you would not pick up my calls on purpose over such tiny little matter we were arguing abt.

I know I have told you that if next time I am being unreasonably mad at you, u don’t have to call me back so I can cool down a bit. But, this time,

1,) I wasn’t being unreasonable mad. I tried to explain but u weren’t listening or maybe cuz my motor face made u think I was being unreasonable mad, 2.) u not calling me is different from u not picking up my calls on purpose.

I was a bit worried abt u since I didn’t know wut was going on. U left without saying anything. At first, I tot you would call right back like you always do. So I made myself ready and I even called the spa to postpone my appointment. I didn’t want us to rush and not able to have a happy ending b4 u go sleep.

However, after I trying to call u couple times, I start to get worry. I wasn’t sure wut you were doing and I wasn’t sure where u went. I didn’t know whether u went to sleep or u went out or god knows what happened. I started to feel helpless. I mean really, what could I hv done. There was really nothing. I couldn’t really do anything but keep calling. I guess this is the mercy of long distance relationship. I just didn’t know what to do.

Remember I told you that I tot if either one of us die, to our surrounding people, they prob. wouldn’t know that we are each other’s significant ones. Of course I know you would say you ppl know I m ur gf but I am sure they have no idea how in love we are. It is kind of scary. I was imagining if I went to see you at the hospital, your parents or sibling wouldn’t even know who I m and prob. think what de heck am I doing here.  

I mean we have been talking on the phone everyday but to people who are around us, to your crowd or to my crowd, they prob. just think me or you are just someone on the air. I am not sure if you know wut I mean. I just think it is so scared that we love each other so much but when things like this happen; no one really knows how important we are to each other.

You would prob. say that is only correct in my side. That is not right. Now, my parents know you. Even b4 my parents know you, my sis knows that I m totally in love with you and so does Jeanie. So please, don’t try to argue with me on this point. A good example would be, let say if you got a car accident, I am sure no one would prob. let me know. I would prob. be the last person to know if you were unable to talk. This is just scary. I am not just saying this would only happen to you; this would happen to me as well. What I m trying to say is.. this is just a bit scary to me.

This is especially scary to me when I was trying to call you and have no control over what’s going on at your side. Bb, I know this is not helping at all. There wont really be a solution of this, at least for now. But I just want you to know how I feel. I guess you were rite, I m too lazy. I don’t like to think so I don’t want to come up with a solution. I always like to propose a problem and hope that you can somehow figure out a way to solve the problem and in this case, try to minimize my insecurity and try to make me less scary.

Like today’s rar, I can for sure do it myself. I just feel that my life would be easier if my bf can just send me a link and all I need to do is click on that link. That is why woman always need a man, isn’t it? I am sure woman is able to carry heavy stuff but life would be easier if there is always a man there. I figure you prob. don’t like this type of woman and I always tot I m an independent type of woman too. But the reality is if there is a man who I can trust who I can always rely on who I can ask for help, why not. If there is a man who can love me and always take care of me, why wouldn’t I want that? Why would I want to be a stubborn independent bitch, isn’t it?

This brings back to the incident when I was shouting out loud to you about my sis’s nonsense. I felt very sweet when you told me to calm down and u turned off the fire just to listen to me shouting. I know I was just being a childish when I keep shouting. I wasn’t really mad at that time. Its my sis; I cant never get mad at her. I just need to shout it out to someone to release my stress. I feel extremely in love when you were laughing a bit and tell me to calm down baby. It sounds like you are telling me baby, you have me n everything will be all right. (don’t know why I feel like crying now……. Actually I m crying now..) I know baby, you prob. meant that when you were trying to comfort me n I have no doubt about it. But my heart broke when you used this as an argue point to say I was so mean to you even in the beginning. I felt my dream has broken. The fairytale isn’t there. I aint the princess. The reality is still the reality. (anyway I need to stop crying)… there was another point when I was writing, I feel like crying too but didn’t really cry n I forgot which paragraph.

Today while we were talking, while I was trying to explain to you what/how I think. I feel that there was a point you are not listening no matter what I say. Maybe it’s my tone of talking makes you not want to listen to me or maybe u just  start getting sick of me. U have heard me too much and don’t want to listen anymore.  

Anyway, life goes on. I could hv got really pissed at you n not talking to you for days because you purposely not pick up my calls. Seriously, but I really don’t feel like doing it. I was very happy waiting for you to come back home from work so I can have a long chat with you. I know you prob. feel the same I have no doubt that you love baby. So don’t keep saying I don’t trust you. If I don’t trust you I wouldn’t be with you now. I sometimes just say it so u can reassure me. Woman like to get reassure and I m sure u know that more that I do.

We chat everyday for at least an hour but I never feel it is enough. I always want to talk to you more and more. I was very exciting that weekend is coming up so I can stay hm and talk to you. After today’s incident, I start thinking maybe I am talking to you too much, maybe you need some free time, maybe I shouldn’t put u in the center of my life. Maybe that is why you didn’t pick up my calls on purpose. I feel I m the only one feel that we always not hving enough time talking on the phone. On another side, you prob. think we are talking too much so you can play a game like this.  ( a game of not picking up my calls so I can feel that u r important)- (you are prob. mad by now). Anyway, I cant really speak for you. I can only guess ur thought based on your action.

I am not trying to argue here. I just want to tell u my tot. ha like always. While I was washing dishes, I tot of what I want to write on the blog after I finish washing dishes. I then tot, maybe I tell u too much on what I think and how I think. Maybe that is why we fight; maybe that is why you get offended. I sometimes feel that I want to tell u everything. In fact, I tell you everything. I tell u what my dad, my mom, my sis, my best friends say. I treat u not only like my bf; I really treat u like my best friend.

However, I guess I was wrong. Maybe I shouldn’t tell  u EVERYTHING. (maybe I should stop here, shouldn’t really tell u what I am going to do; I should just do it.) Darrell, I don’t know if you know. Even now, I m telling you what I want to do because I want you to double check whether if this is the right thing to do. I admire (not sure if this is the right word to use) you so much; I think you are the one I can look up whenever I make a decision. Anyhow ,maybe for wutever reason, you rather me to be more independent, u prob don’t want me to rely on u too much. At the end of day, I think u prob. need more space yourself.

I guess you have your own pride, I shouldn’t keep telling you how my sis think how poor you r. How I sort of agree with my parents that girls should really marry a rich guy. However, I m only dare to say that to you cuz I want you to know that I m totally in love with you no matter what other say. But I guess I say it a bit too much, it start killing your pride. I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking, I just say it to you whenever others tell me. I treat u like my best friend. I want to tell u everything I heard, I know, and I think. Maybe this isn’t rite for our relationship. I am not just saying it. I really think this might be the problem. I didn’t think it was a problem until you complain.

You kept complaining that you don’t go poing, u keep calling me cuz of me and how can I be so unreasonable to you. I start thinking maybe u don’t want to do it; u think u have been talking to me too much n u actually need more space. U prob. think I m not making sense. I am saying this cuz I m mad. The fact is no. I m just trying to fig out the problem. If this is the problem, if the problem is that u feel that we talk too much on the phone. I think I m willing to try not to talk to u on the phone too much. Although this might not work for our relationship, I m still willing to try. I rather not hearing you complain about what you have done for me and I m not being fair to you. I rather give this a try so you would appreciate me more. So you wont always think I owe you and you wont always think you are doing me a favor by staying hm. Whether this will work or not, we will see. At least I don’t have to hear that you do all these things for me and I m not being reasonable 

Anyway, I m really not mad at you and I wont be mad at you by not picking up my calls. I tot of giving you some time and think about it. I tot of not picking your call over the weekend so maybe you can realize how important I m. but I just cant, i don’t want to sacrifice the precious weekend time to not be able to talk to you on the phone.  

I am writing here cuz I really want you to give more tot about it. What exactly were you doing? Do you start loving me less?  I mean I seriously cant imagine you just did that to me.  And btw, we hung up the phone without kissing and love you 2 today. O well! Why is our love falling apart now. If u r tired of keeping it up, let me know. I will fig something out then.

Dopo il seno e il testo, il sesso. Tra desiderio e sesso c’è rapporto. Anzi, potremmo dire che il desiderio è il sesso. Perché divide e unisce, separa e ricolma, lascia sempre i due amanti nella individualità dei loro corpi per sé presi: ogni corpo resta straniero agli altri corpi, anche quelli desiderati. Fuori dall’estasi dell’amplesso, i corpi restano separati, è il desiderio che tende a fondere momentaneamente ciò che è e permane diviso – dice Nancy. Tanto che il rapporto sessuale – come sostiene Lacan – in senso stretto “non c’è”. Ma come – avverte Nancy – si enuncia che non c’è quel che accade tutti i giorni! Bisogna spiegare: l’enunciato significa che quell’«essere» del «c’è» non è niente di essente, non è qualche cosa di essente. Dunque, il «c’è» stesso del rapporto non è niente di essente. Nel rapporto si dà movimento, scambio: come se non fosse possibile fermare quell’attimo, fotografarlo. La parola “rapporto” rimanda ad un’azione, non ad una sostanza[1]. Per cui, continua Nancy, siamo nel giusto quando nella vita non parliamo di avere rapporti sessuali, ma di fare l’amore, andare a letto, scopare [in francese baiser, che ha una gamma di significati assai più estesa dell’italiano baciare], cioè tutti termini che designano un’azione. Per cui, infine, «il rapporto [sessuale] designa allora specificatamente quel che non è cosa: quel che non è nessuna cosa (nessuna sostanza, nessuna entelecheia), ma quel che (se si può ancora dire “quel che”: “quello”, qui, ha un altro valore che nel caso della cosa) accade tra le cose, da una cosa all’altra»[2].
Pensato così, il rapporto si riapparente con il registro logico-filosofico della relazione in generale. E difatti diciamo che tra due persone c’è (nel senso precisato) una relazione, intrattengono una relazione, mettendo così in evidenza la dinamica, le possibilità attive e narrative del rapporto.
Il rapporto (sessuale) non può essere una terza cosa tra i due – o più di due. Occorre che apra il tra come tale – dice Nancy. Ma quel tra non è niente, è il vuoto. Ed ecco la sua paradossalità: c’è rapporto nella misura in cui non c’è rapporto, in quanto cosa che non è tra le cose. Possiamo quindi intendere il rapporto sessuale come ciò che c’è in quanto non c’è.
Nancy dice: “anche il ‘mio’ corpo è straniero”[3]. Partes extra partes, spiega. Nel senso che ogni corpo è impenetrabile nella propria singolare pluralità. Quindi, «un corpo ‘dentro’ un corpo, ‘ego’ in ‘ego’, non apre nulla: è a contatto con l’aperto che il corpo è già, infinitamente, più che originariamente; è, a contatto con quello, che ha luogo questo attraversare che non penetra, questa mischia senza mescolanza. L’amore è il tocco dell’aperto»[4].

[2] Ivi, pag. 22.

[3] Jean-Luc Nancy (2008), Indizi sul corpo, Ananke, Torino 2009, pag.111.

[4] Jean-Luc Nancy (1992), Corpus, Cronopio, Napoli 2007, pag. 26.

Francesco Guarino, Sant'Agata, Museo di Capodimonte

Nell’analisi di Nancy ciò è evidente perfino dal mito di Sant’Agata. Che è meglio detto dalla tela di Francesco Guarino che non da quella, per esempio, di Francisco de Zurbarán . La Santa patrona di Catania, martire, era vissuta nel III secolo. Torturata, subì l’amputazione delle mammelle. Ma non morì. La leggenda vuole che san Pietro, apparsole in sogno, le guarisse le ferite. Fatto sta che Quinziano, il proconsole di Catania, per ucciderla dovette bruciarla sul rogo. L’iconografia classica la mostra nell’atto di mostrare le mammelle recise su di un piatto. Con il che, del seno non vi è più traccia. Al contrario, il quadro di Capidimonte di Francesco Guarino (nato tra l’altro a Sant’Agata, un destino), come anche la grande pittura di Tiepolo, restituiscono il mistero e l’assenza: «La Sant’Agata di Francesco Guarino non mostra i seni. Preme sul petto un panno insanguinato, che tiene come farebbe con il seno – in quel gesto sempre ripetuto dalla pittura e dalla scultura: la donna che copre i seni con le mani, li mostra mentre li nasconde, li sostiene, li protegge, li offre, mentre tutto il corpo sembra partecipare al ricurva mento e alla ripiegatura del seno. Ella mi guarda in un modo che mi turba: mi invita a rendermi conto che i seni sono là, proprio nel torso straziato, proprio nella traccia del sangue, inviolabili, inalterabili […]. Con la punta delle dita affondate nella stoffa, mi tocca e m’invita a toccare quella nascita dei seni che il supplizio non è stato capace di sopprimere (che nessuna ferita, che nessun cancro può sopprimere): anzi, l’ha rivelata» .

Nell’introduzione italiana ad un testo di Žižek su Lacan, Mauro Carbone discute un racconto di Milan Kundera (Il simposio, 1968) – Kundera, uno degli autori più vicini ed amici di Roth. È la storia di un microcosmo in un ospedale, composto da pazienti, infermieri e medici. In particolare Elisabeth, un’infermiera disinibita e dal fascino aggressivo, cerca insistentemente di sedurre il dottor Havel, noto tombeur de femmes, che però – tra la sorpresa dei colleghi – le resiste. Lo stesso primario ne è stupito e chiede al sottoposto come mai non approfitti della disponibilità della bella nurse. La risposta del dottore fa al caso nostro: quella donna, dice, “mostra il suo desiderio in maniera così marcata da farlo sembrare un ordine” . Il godimento sembra imposto ed il dottor Havel vi si ribella: “I suoi seni hanno l’onnipresenza di Dio”.
Siamo passati dalla presenza-assenza del seno, dal suo darsi nel vuoto dello spazio tra le mammelle, alla pienezza roboante e invadente del petto di Elisabeth, ad una presenza attuale che non lascia spazio al desiderio, ma che si offre tutta al godimento.
Ma quando il turgore dei seni toglie spazio al seno, allora il desiderio conosce una pausa, segna il passo.

Raffaello Sanzio, La Fornarina

Nel mostrare il seno, la pittura classica degli innumerevoli Donna dal seno nudo (da Raffaello a Tiziano, Corot, Manet, Gauguin) non fa che mostrare invece l’altro dal seno, quella pienezza dei seni che si danno come ek-sistenza, essere-nel-mondo della sessualità femminile (Nancy). Ma così non viene affatto colta la ricca ambiguità del vero seno, golfo, ansa, insenatura possibile: «Sguardo profondo, stereoscopico. Vedere doppio. Due colonne, due colline, due capezzoli. È impossibile. Il kolpos, tra l’uno e il due» . Più in generale, i seni esposti, esibiti dicono del godimento più che del desiderio e rimandano al tema, difficile, del rapporto tra desiderio e imposizione. La jouissance imposta come elemento costitutivo della post-modernità: saremmo per così dire condannati a desiderare, ma, soprattutto, a godere. Un punto sviluppato in particolare da Lacan e ripreso dalla scuola slovena lacaniana, attraverso Zizek – come abbiamo visto. Permanendo nella dialettica tra desiderio e godimento, passiamo ora dal seno al testo. Roland Barthes ravvede il luogo dell’erotismo nei “bordi del testo”, nella fessura che lascia intravedere: «Il luogo più erotico di un corpo non è forse dove il vestito si scosta? Nella perversione (che è il regime del piacere testuale) non vi sono “zone erogene” (espressione del resto abbastanza disgustosa); è erotica l’intermittenza, come ha detto bene la psicoanalisi: quella della pelle che scintilla fra due indumenti (i pantaloni e il golf), fra due bordi (la camicia semiaperta, il guanto e la manica); è questo stesso scintillio che seduce, vale a dire la messa in scena di un’apparizione-sparizione» .
Barthes accenna ad una seduttività del testo, paragonandola a quella delle parti del corpo intraviste tra gli indumenti scostati; l’erotismo dell’upskirt, nella forma inglese, cioè della porzione del corpo involontariamente evidenziata da una postura, da un colpo di vento, da un angolo di visuale inconsueto. Non è questione qui del godimento estetico del testo, del piacere della lettura, ma di qualcosa di diverso. Ma dove sono i “bordi” del testo? Cosa lo rende, per così dire, sexy? Sono intertestualità e metanarrazione le funzioni costitutive del sex-appeal del testo. È il contesto paratestuale, ciò a cui il testo allude, quel che non è scritto, quel che traspare dal bianco tra le righe; le diverse letture possibili, le interrogazioni e gli stimoli che il testo offre.

Da Tutto quello che avreste voluto sapere sul sesso e non avete mai osato chiedere, di Woody Allen

The Breast, il petto, e non il seno, è la prima delle novelle in cui compare David Kepesh. Non è tra le più riuscite di Roth e forse è tra le sue meno tipiche, fin troppo influenzata da Swift, Gogol e Kafka. A differenza che nella mosca kafkiana, il protagonista – un professore di letteratura comparata, trentottenne –  si sveglia un mattino trovandosi trasformato in una gigantesca tetta di ottanta chili, provando tutte le sensazioni ed i “turbamenti” di una poppa femminile – del seno, come vedremo adesso, in termini à la Nancy, qui non si dovrebbe parlare. Una poppa tondeggiante ad un’estremità come un cocomero, e dall’altra culminante in un capezzolo sensibilissimo, attraverso il quale David “la Tetta” Kepesh vede, parla, sente.
Da questa identificazione proiettiva assoluta coll’oggetto del desiderio, si passerà ne L’animale morente ad una dimensione in cui il desiderio ha ancora a che fare con un oggetto ossessivo (sempre il petto femminile), ma anche con il desiderio dell’Altro, con un desiderio meno narcisisticamente centrato e non affisato ad un oggetto-corpo, ma alla persona.
Ma anche se in italiano il romanzo di Roth di cui stiamo accennando si chiama proprio Il seno, con il seno il libro ha poco a che fare. Perché?
Il desiderio è il seno. Quello vero, ciò che divide e unisce, sinus, o come il greco kolpos. È la nascita delle due mammelle della donna, il punto di attacco, il solco tra le due imperfette e perfette metà della sfera femminile, quel sollevamento, lo spazio che separa e rimanda però sempre al due, alla coppia dei seni – una doppia elevazione, invio perpetuo dell’una all’altra, scrive Nancy. Nell’ambivalenza del seno (si sa che è dove non è, è infatti l’attaccatura, la scollatura, il décolleté e non le mammelle che pure chiamiamo seni nel linguaggio corrente) si può sentire il desiderio che, come il seno, è un vuoto che dice del pieno.
Forse è da intendersi anche in questa luce l’affermazione di Freud “Io sono il seno”[1], riferita al bambino, per il quale l’avere succede all’essere: sono quella attaccatura, quella nascita, quel senza-oggetto.

Jean-Luc Nancy, ovviamente. La naissance des seins (2006)[2], ma con un distinguo. “Seno” è una parola che fa difetto, nel dirla, sbagliamo. Seno non si può che dirla male. Il seno è propriamente ciò che di per sé non ha alcuna presenza, è nel senso che appunto divide e unisce, rapporta le due coppe del petto: «La nascita è l’apertura di uno spazio, inventa la spaziatura che essa stessa è e attraverso la quale un luogo nuovo prende posto. La nascita dei seni li spazia l’uno dall’altro, tra essi si trattiene il loro segreto: la loro gola, la loro svasatura, il loro raccoglimento»[3].
Il loro essere plurale, dice l’incommensurabilità. Non c’è metafisica della ripetizione, non si danno “globi gemelli”, non c’è un due che sia la somma di seni eguali: la loro unità sfida piuttosto la simmetria: «C’è differenza dei lati, come c’è differenza dei sessi. L’occhio destro non vede come il sinistro, e il seno sinistro non cade come il destro. Il petto [poitrine] perfettamente duplicato è una rappresentazione povera, ossessionata da una metafisica della sazietà [réplétion: attenzione, la traduzione italiana qui è in errore evidente, traducendo réplétion con ripetizione]»[4].

Allora, si può ricorrere alla parola seno per dire il desiderio, il solco, lo spazio – mentre la parola al plurale dice invece ciò che il seno non è, appunto, perché se nel primo è la mancanza e la tensione, nei secondi è la pienezza. Ma “proprio nella mancanza, nel vuoto del décolleté lo sguardo dell’uomo percepisce ciò che immagina. La nascita deve essere perfetta per invitare a vedere di più”[5].
Perciò il seno è il desiderio: perché è ciò che non è essente ed è relazione, è un rapporto tra il vuoto ed il pieno, è riferimento ad altro. È insieme mancanza ed eccedenza, penìa e pienezza. Il desiderio si affaccia in questo rapporto tra la mancanza e l’eccedenza, siamo noi quando siamo presi da questa relazione, quando diventiamo questa tensione. Per lo stesso motivo, difficile dire che il desiderio sia solo metafora dell’assenza o – al contrario – dell’eccedenza. È in quella nascita che dalla mancanza accenna all’eccedenza, e che non si acquieta né nella prima né nella seconda, ma che certo è favorito, si alimenta più nella tensione che nel possesso.

[2] Jean-Luc Nancy (2006), La nascita dei seni, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Milano 2007.

[3] Jean-Luc Nancy, La nascita dei seni, cit., pag. 45.

[4] Ivi, pag. 59.

[5] M. Brossard-Le Grund, Le sein, ou la vie des femmes, Renaudot et Cie, Paris 1989, pag. 159, cit. in J-L. Nancy, La nascita dei seni, cit, pag. 17. È in fondo un commento a questa affermazione, la seguente di Nancy: “Rimane sempre da sapere se è la bellezza che strazia oppure il suo desiderio, o se è la stessa cosa, e se la bellezza è di per sé il desiderio della bellezza, sempre più e meno di essa, sempre fuori da essa, strana incongruenza” (J-L. Nancy, ivi, pag. 36).

i m taking tmw off. very happy!

while i was walking down the street back hm, i tot of wut i m gonna do tonight and i actually say it out loud.

i will.1.) cook, 2.) watch TV, and 3.) wait for my baby’s phone call..

bb, i love you!!!

Darla Huie ran a great restaurant, Dizzy’s Grill and Bistro, in Benton for a number of years. It was classy, beautifully decorated, yet still had an air that welcomed the casual diner. It was perfect for meeting someone for a business lunch or taking your bride out for a romantic evening.

When I heard last summer that she had decided to move her establishment to Little Rock, I was excited. I knew Saline County residents weren’t looking forward to losing it, but working in downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock made it good news for my co-workers and me.

Huie and staff opened their doors Nov. 3 as Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro at 201 Commerce St., where the old Vermillion Grill was located. It is a great-looking place, complete with a new vertical neon sign on the corner and an outside eating area up front.

The result is a good one. A menu already diverse with soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta, burgers and great desserts has been expanded with steaks and seafood.

My wife, Nancy, and I met a friend for dinner there Nov. 6, eating on the veranda or whatever they have chosen to call the open-air area. I had to try the steak and they delivered — the prime rib was perfect. Nancy loved her pasta and Joyce liked her salmon.

Last week, I met a work associate-friend for lunch and we both enjoyed “The Wedge” sandwich and fries. Excellent.

The food is wonderful, the atmosphere is great, the staff is friendly and the service is good. What more do you want from a restaurant?

One more thing: Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro is close enough to reach on foot, which is good for my health.

18 de noviembre

WARNER CHANNEL a las 22:00 hrs, SKY 205, CABLEVISIÓN 210

Trauma NBC 2009 / Warner Channel

Los problemas maritales de Boone pasan a segundo plano, cuando un hombre armado comienza un tiroteo en una oficina. Esto obliga a Rabbit y Nancy a trabajar juntos por primera vez en un año, con muchos rehenes heridos. Mientras tanto, Marisa se entera de que tiene más en común con Rabbit de lo que pensaba.

“I tell you: it is some shit. It is not a neighbourhood, it is absolutely nothing,” nervously yells an elderly woman. Raja, a 25-year-old student at the University of Nancy, calls it Alcatraz. “When we were there, we had only one urge: to escape,” she says.

“If I had to associate a word with it,” explains Zakkaria, a Nancy resident. “It is a word which disturbs me, a word rather negatively connoted, it would be “ghetto”. It is a cliché. You can go there whenever; it is no more dangerous than somewhere else.”

“It” does not leave one indifferent. It is the Haut du Lièvre, the banlieue (suburb or outskirt) of Nancy – a French city of more than a hundred thousand inhabitants, where about ten thousand people of fifty-six different nationalities live.

What really characterizes the Haut du Lièvre the most for a Nancy University Professor is “its gigantic size. The horizontal rod of building (barres d’immeubles) are really the first things which come to my mind because they are the biggest of Europe.”

Indeed in the late fifties, to face the Baby-Boom and welcome the refugees from Algeria, the city of Nancy launched a gigantic urban project. The architect Bernard Zehrfuss – who also realized, among other projects, the “Palais de l’Unesco” in Paris – is in charge. He thinks big, he thinks “great collectives” (grands ensembles). The Cèdre Bleu will be 400m long and 15 storeys high; the Tilleul Argenté will be 300m long and 17 storeys high. Other buildings would come later on.

View of the Haut du Lièvre from the University of Nancy

Sky. When Didier Houppy – a photographer and inhabitant of Nancy – thinks about the Haut du Lièvre, he thinks ‘sky’. “It is the memory of climbing it by bike. I was looking at the sky to see if I was soon arriving at the top. It is true that at the top you are in the highest point of Nancy.”

In opposition to the historical Nancy which is in a basin, the Haut du Lièvre is on a hill. Due to its geographical position and not helped by its bad reputation, the neighbourhood seems to be disconnected from the city center of Nancy.

The Sunday Market: a bridge, a place to meet

Nonetheless, each Sunday between 9AM and 1PM, lots of people from Nancy take their car or the single bus-line that connects the center to the Haut du Lièvre. They all go to the Sunday Market.

“When you are from Nancy and you go to Haudul’s market… It’s like you were in France and then using the Stargate. It is another world. It is great! It is eclectic; it is a mix of all the cultures: from the Maghreb, Africa, Asia, mixed with French people,” explains Zakkaria.

“Salam Alaykoum; Alaykoum Salam”. “Bonjour”. A lot of languages are spoken: Arabic, French, Turkish, and Polish – according to their origin but also to their age. Mainly, older people speak a foreign language; young people speak in French.

“When you attend moments like that, you wonder how the National Front or Sarkozy manage to make big scores for the presidential elections,” Zakkaria adds.

It smells of mint, olives, roasted chicken, a little of everything. Prices are competitive yet rather cheap, especially when we know that France has problems of purchasing power. €1 for a kilo of bananas or onions; €1.50 for tomatoes.

Women warmly embrace each other numerous times; so do men. They see old friends again Young people come in groups. More than a selling point, the Sunday Market is a meeting place on the Haut du Lièvre.

The Sunday Market with the Cèdre Bleu in the background

André, out for his groceries, has been living on the Haut du Lièvre for 24 years. “With the market on Sundays, it makes a little animation. It’s good. But except that…” the neighbourhood still faces a bad reputation.

A living and complex melting-pot

For Hervé Marchal – an urban sociologist at the University of Nancy 2 who worked on the identity of the city-dweller and the processes of fragmentation in the city – “it works globally well on Nancy. The Haut du Lièvre is heterogeneous; it is a cultural melting-pot – melting-pot which implies that it works.”

If the neighbourhood is associated to negative representations, it’s mostly due to fantasies. “Those people do not live there,” bitterly explains Élise who has been living on the Haut du Lièvre since 1960. “I also think that you can find worthless people everywhere. And so can you with good people. The problem is that as soon as there is something, a random outcome, it is amplified and you have gossip; while a good action will never be shown. Never, never. The media coverage is in question. Then, you obtain a district which has a certain reputation, but people are wrong,” she says.

“The less you know about the other one, different from you, far from you, the more you categorize him,” adds Marchal. “You confine him into labels, stereotypes, fantasies. These processes are more or less racist.” It is called “to other somebody”.

“It is a neighbourhood,” he goes on, “but it is much more complex than that. The Haut du Lièvre has micro-districts which make sense for their inhabitants; it is not a completely homogeneous area.” People living in a building, the Tilleul Argenté for example, don’t feel the same as people living in another building, he explains.

A bad reputation? “It can be on the side of the Cèdre Bleu. But we have lived in the Tilleul Argenté for four years, and we find that it is quiet,” says Binda, with her son Junior. Gossip also appears within the neighbourhood itself. It is parochialism, a typical French distinctiveness.

Met at the market with his 2-year-old daughter, Saïd Merzouk has been living on the Haut du Lièvre for almost three years and has already adopted the neighbourhood. “It is mutual. You adopt it, it adopts you,” he says. “This neighbourhood has a soul. The Haut du Lièvre is my second “home”, as Kabylia”.

“The inhabitants are attached to their neighbourhood, some feel well there,” explains Marchal. “What we notice is that the neighbourhood is more and more an identical support which is going to count in their life and to intervene in their definition when those inhabitants have no work or not many identical resources.”

Not “la vie en rose”

Everyday life on the Haut du Lièvre is not paradisiacal. “It is neither an El Dorado nor the Champs Élysées,” concedes Saïd Merzouk. “If I say that I like the district it is also because there are problems, and people surpass themselves to reach a certain level.”

The most important problems, which the Haut du Lièvre faces, like many banlieues, are unemployment, inactivity, and precariousness. “There is a concentration of people who have big problems,” says Vincent Delprior, director of the Local Mission for Employment on the Haut du Lièvre. “All the social indicators are in the red in this district”. It’s no wonder then that the Haut du Lièvre is considered as a Sensitive Urban Zone (Zone Urbaine Sensible – ZUS).

“There is an important unemployment rate here, nearly the double of what we can notice on the rest of the town. Indicators of poverty and inactivity – there are a lot of non-working population, in job-search, people which are not registered – are also in the red; we are not in the orange anymore,” explains Delprior.

According to the last official statistics on the neighbourhoods compiled by the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE) in 1999, the proportion of non-high school graduates in the neighbourhood reaches 27%, while only 15% on the whole of Nancy; the unemployment on the Haut du Lièvre is above 24%, while on the whole city this rate is under 14%. The middle income per inhabitant on the Haut du Lièvre is € 8,330 a year, while this same middle income is € 15,627 a year for an inhabitant from the city centre.

The Local Mission for Employment, for which Vincent Delprior works, focuses on young people. Its aim:  bring youngsters to the durable employment and the creation of activities. The unemployment rate among young people from the banlieues always flirts with the 30-40%.  On the Haut du Lièvre, 35% of the active people between 16 and 26 years old are unemployed.

“We have young people today who have never seen their parents working,” says Delprior. “There are thus a certain number of customs which are not acquired yet. These young people, consequently, are very far from the behaviour companies require with regard to delays, vocabulary, or clothing code.” How competent the young people can be on the technical point of view doesn’t matter, “if the “how to behave” is not there they don’t have any chance to end in a situation of stable employment,” he concludes.

To inculcate some habits, to work on the youngsters’ social skills, the Local Mission used the driving licence as an incentive to put the young people in a situation in which they were mobilized and motivated. The experiment was tried on five young people with big problems of justice, big problems of behaviour. And according to Delprior, “It gave unhoped-for results”

Associations present on the field: Nancy’s political will

Besides the Local Mission for Employment, and another public organism called “L’Atelier de Pédagogie Personnalisée”, the Haut du Lièvre Association welcomes a number of non-profit organizations: the Maison de la Jeunesse et de la Culture (MJC), Le Buisson Ardent, La Clairrière, La Baleine Bleue, Les Francas, among others.

The Haut du Lièvre “is a neighbourhood where there is a strong associative tissue. Many associations have their seats at the feet of two big rods of buildings. It works rather well,” affirms Hervé Marchal. “What it is necessary to say, it is that there is money [from the city of Nancy] for those associations. There are also schools. It is important, it is not a ghetto.”

“That has always been a great surprise for me since I have been here,” says Aurore Thiebaut who works for the “Buisson Ardent” – a non-profit organization that was almost born with the neighbourhood, as it was created in 1965. “The city generally finances almost more than a half of the operating budget of the numerous associations. The city is also very present on projects of social cohesion. A lot of money has been invested; it is surprising – you could say – for a right-wing city.” A right-wing-owned municipality which does a great job? Indeed, a banlieue can also be a showcase; and no one at the Haut du Lièvre will question if it is an end or a means in itself.

A little Marshall Plan on the Haut du Lièvre

For Martial Delavis, holdings’ director of the OPAC of Nancy – the public owner of the social housing, in which seventy-seven percents of the inhabitants of the Haut du Lièvre live – “it is a political will to occupy the field.”

Recently, this political will has been translated into a large-scale urban renewal project (€ 220.5 million for the period 2007-2011) on the Haut du Lièvre. “There is a will to change the neighbourhood image while doing at the same time a useful rehabilitation of the apartments,” says the OPAC holding’s director.

Some construction sites, the Tilleul Argenté in renovation, the Haut du Lièvre is being face-lifted

The two long horizontal blocks of buildings – the Cèdre Bleu and the Tilleul Argenté – will be refurbished: woodworks, windows with double glazing to improve the insulation and the thermal exchanges. Electric installations are redone, toilets and bathrooms are changed where needed. The façade is also being cleaned.  “And there will be no repercussions on the rents,” Delavis specifies.

“If you disregard their massive size, their density, and finally their completely uniform side, you have accommodations built in the ’50s within the framework of the modern movement (read: functionalist movement), very well distributed, and ordered. Plus, you have an impregnable view on Nancy,” he says.

The objective of the urban renewal is on one hand to renew the buildings, and on the other hand to fight the problems connected to the functionalist movement which generated outside spaces without legibility of usage. “We don’t know much about what that is, as soon as we go out of the building there is nothing more,” Delavis says. “The idea it is to make of Residentialisation”.

“Residentialisation” is a French neologism.

“The idea it is to create a visible space with a defined usage,” Delavis explains. “That can be a walk, or trees, or whatever (at the feet and along the buildings). We want to have a qualitative treatment, so that the inhabitants can appropriate the external space. We want to improve the spatial appropriation by the inhabitants in the purpose of fighting incivilities and the other-one waste. When people appropriate a territory, they respect it.”

Beside the residentialisation, the Cèdre Bleu – from entrance 1 to entrance 9, or 337 apartments – and two other star-buildings will also be destroyed within the urban renewal plan. New apartments will have to be built because “within the framework of the urban renewal, we have the obligation to reconstruct an accommodation when we destroyed one,” Delavis explains.

A prison that blurs the message

30 new accommodations are built just at the foot of the Tilleul Argenté, but most of the new constructions will be built on the other side of the neighbourhood’s main road. There, on the former Solvay Quarries, 2200 accommodations will be built – 700 public housing, 1500 private. The aim is to re-enforce the social and economic diversity, which as of yet does not really exist, of the neighbourhood.

Globally, inhabitants are quite satisfied about the work going on – except the ones who have to be relocated to the center of Nancy during the refurbishments. Companies, which want to settle on the Haut du Lièvre, are happy too: business estate will be created by the urban project and the area already benefits from tax-cuts (Zone Franche Urbaine).

Still, there is a fly in the ointment: the construction of a prison in the middle of the neighbourhood. For inhabitants and social workers, it is a strong and rather negative message.

“I do not find it is very logical,” says an upset Aurore Thiebaut. “What do they want to say through that to the local residents? Usually, the city pays at lot of attention to the messages it delivers.”

But more than a symbol, the prison can have some concrete consequences on the neighbourhood. According to a scholastic work about the Haut du Lièvre conducted by Zahra Ait el Hanafi, a sociology student, inhabitants who lean on the district to define themselves reject the construction of the prison violently. Other inhabitants, who are in the beginning of their urbanistic career, are going to move.

The Haut du Lièvre, is a stop-and-go for somewhere else. The construction of the prison will just accelerate their departure.

Children, the future and hope of the Haut du Lièvre

The Haut du Lièvre: a field of possibilities

Is the Haut du Lièvre a half full or half empty glass? Most of the inhabitants, workers, sociologists, cultural or political actors here see the glass as half full. People who know the Haut du Lièvre are rather optimistic.

When asked to associate a single word with the Haut du Lièvre, Vincent Delprior from the Local Mission for Employment says: “a fallow. Because there is a great deal of talents and skills on this district which are slightly neglected or underestimated. Or worse, which suffer from a negative image. As in any community, any social group, there are individuals who exhibit deviant behaviour, or even delinquency. But the big error is to associate the local residents to these few individuals who can be counted on the fingers of one hand,” he concludes.  The Haut du Lièvre is not worse, nor better. It just needs to recover.

Slam poetry, classical poetry, improvisation theatre, and music were performed around one theme: the speech.  From April 28th to May 2nd 2008, the Festival “Sur un Plateau” had been taking place at the MJC of the “Haut du Lièvre” – Nancy’s local banlieue.

MJC’s (Maisons de la Jeunesse et de la Culture – Youth and Culture Centers) were created to bring youth and culture together.  On its side, the Festival “Sur un Plateau” (On a Plateau – due to the up-hill position of the neighborhood) was created and organized by students from the University of Nancy to bring the people from the city and its banlieue together, to build bridges, to help the city speak with its suburb and vice versa.

“The purpose of this festival was to promote a maximum of culture and to brew the several populations,” explains Penelope Lange, student at the University of Nancy and Chief organizer of the festival.

“Concretely on the ground, it was a lot of communication and public relations. But the promotion of culture also passes by price rates,” she says. For example, the slam and poetry evening were free; while the two other evenings cost € 2-3. “The access to culture is also a question of money” she adds.

Fighting stereotypes

But why on the Haut du Lièvre? Why there, when you know it was the fourth time that students, helped by their Professor Gilles Losseroy, were organizing a festival taking place on the Haut du Lièvre?

“It is a district which is considered as sensitive in the city of Nancy,” Lange explains. “But because of this bad reputation, there are no events taking place there. So we wanted to implant the festival on the Haut du Lièvre to bring down prejudices.”

Gilles Losseroy, mostly teaching performing arts at the University of Nancy, adds to the thought. “It is a district already geographically isolated, and constituted of a population largely stemming from immigration. Consequently, it is a district where we meet a certain number of social difficulties; it is what we call a ‘cité’,” he says. “There are cultural infrastructures which exist, but it is not if people would frequent those cultural structures. Now I am persuaded that culture that remains an essential cement of communication and thus understanding between the individuals.”

A cultural demand difficult to determine

Losseroy’s involvement on the Haut du Lièvre is nothing new. He arrived to the district, almost 20 years ago, well before being involved in its cultural aspect. He worked in a formation and training center called “L’Atelier de Pédagogique Personalisée” (the Personalized Pedagogical Workshop).

Later, he says, “I went on the stage and decided to implant my theatrical company (La Mazurka du Sang Noir) more strongly on the district and to have a cultural impact on it. Not by bringing pre-formatted and quite made things, but to see how with the theater I could answer and meet a certain demand.”

That demand is not evident to determine for Losseroy. “I meet people of the neighborhood, the associations, the inhabitants,” he says, adding that  “this demand is not still formulated in clear terms. We see that there is a need on behalf of the local residents, a demand of animation, meeting,…”

Author of a book called “La culture des cités”, the French ethnologist Marc Hatzfeld shares this point of view. “The people of the banlieues, in particular young people, are extremely eager for cultural meetings,” he said in the French newspaper Le Monde.

“With the theatrical company I try to answer that eagerness, to impulse a dynamic and in the end to make myself useless,” responds Losseroy. His aim: to set up practices which continue without him.

One of the actions Losseroy and his company took, helped by other organizations, was to introduce children from schools of the Haut du Lièvre to the magic of Opera. Hard work on the field was necessary to sensitize children. In the end, the goal was to make these children to their take relatives with them to see the performance. “And it worked,” says Losseroy enthusiastically. “We had more or less 170 people for the representation.” Afterward, one of the schools involved signed an educational contract with the Opera. “Since then, children assist repetitions, go to premieres, musicians and singers come in the classes,” Losseroy adds.

“La Liberté Guidant les Peuples”, a Humanity masterpiece, appropriated by the banlieues

Without locally-based work: you’ll face a failure

Sometimes intentions are good, yet they raise questions. Losseroy’s intentions are to “bring up the level”. Almost fifty years ago, in the same vain, the famous French writer and Minister of Culture André Malraux was creating the Maisons de la Culture (Culture Centers, which are different from the MJC) to bring Paris’ culture to the country side or as Malraux said himself: “To make masterpieces of Humanity accessible to everybody.”

But when the public is not responding, you might see a form of new paternalism.

“It is true. There is sometimes a paternalistic side, what was used to be called “patronage”, to propose things which do not come along with an educational or educational approach, with grassroots work,” responds Losseroy. “You cannot do anything in this district without a deep work on the field. Otherwise, you take the risk that there will be nobody.”

In the end, the fact is that at the Festival “Sur un Plateau”, inhabitants from the banlieue did not show up. “It was my biggest regret. Finally, the only persons from the neighborhood who came stayed outside of the MJC rather than inside. They did not participate. It is a pity,” concedes Lange. “I think that we should have been able to improve the communication on the Haut du Lièvre.”

“The work on the ground was not made in the same way as usual,” recognizes Losseroy.

As opposed to previous editions, no students from this year’s festival’s organizing team live in the Haut du Lièvre. Before the festival, Lange – the President herself – didn’t know anything about the neighbourhood; she hadn’t even been there once.

For Gérard Tien, an artist who came to the Haut du Lièvre for the festival, “the solution comes from the field. The difficulty is not to play, but rather to fill the theatre.”

Working as a cultural animator in Vandoeuvre – another “sensitive” neighbourhood of Nancy -, Gérard knows what he is talking about. “If you work on a local basis,” he says, “if you integrate the youngsters in projects which interest them – in improvisation, theatre, sport, etc. – it creates emulation. They say “Dude, I did that this week. Come to see”. There will be an effect on the group, a snowball effect. The young people are going to be more and more interested.”

The festival didn’t achieve its good-will goals because it did not work on the Haut du Lièvre itself. The MJC succeeds in its every day missions thanks to that local work. That’s the difference.

Most of the time, urban forms of art come from US inner city areas better known as the ghettos. It develops there, it crosses the Atlantic Ocean, and then it settles in Europe. Hip Hop, Rap, Graffiti, name it. But each time, these forms of art are modified and tamed by European artists. It is especially true for slam poetry.

“In the people’s slam, we bind ourselves and we rhyme because here we love where that rhymes and that lies. But if we splendidly lie to it, this is because we look there for a brightness of diamond verb. The people’s slam is a tiny and alive treasure with sight on the invisible. Simple.” Mourad, the master of ceremonies or MC, gives the start of the local slam session in Nancy (France) with these few rhymes.

This time, the session takes place at the “Haut du Lièvre” – the local banlieue, city outskirts, or as it’s more regularly called: poor suburb.

Several slammers came to the MJC (Maison de la Jeunesse et de la Culture – Youth and Culture Centre) tonight; their aim is to tell you a story, to share some rhymes. Slam is modern poetry and Rap’s little brother. The French Hip Hop movement has always been a strong message carrier, and political or not, those messages come from the most disadvantaged French citizens – most of whom live in banlieues.

A popular means of expression

It’s no coincidence if, in a banlieue like the “Haut du Lièvre”, local non-profit organizations propose Hip Hop dance lessons, graffiti lessons, or open studio sessions. It helps people – especially children and teenagers – to express their feelings, and release both anger and happiness. In other words, these activities help them channel their energy.

Aurore Thiebaut, working for the “Buisson Ardent” – a non-profit organization that was almost born with the neighbourhood -, explains that a tremendous work of assertion is done in those workshops. The youngsters “express many things in their songs,” she says. “These are songs which carry a lot, which tell not to get discouraged, which give advice. It is there that you realize that they are proud and motivated to fight against the problems met in everyday life.”

Tonight at the MJC, Zakkaria – a social working student and young father – is ironic in his slam. “I’m a racist”. He, the French citizen with Maghrebi roots, is a racist. “I hate the Italian, the Spaniard, the Pole, but I love the Frenchman. He is like I”. The public laughs. Salomon pays a tribute to Rap music for all it has been giving to the people who live in the banlieues. “Our art, engraved in the cement, is invincible to the Karcher”.

French slam is not playing by the rules

In the last five years, Slam has become more and more popular in France. Two major artists have emerged from the underground slam scene: Fabien Marsaud, under the alias Grand Corps Malade, and Régis Fayette-Mikano, under the alias Abd al Malik – the name of the 5th Umayyad Caliph who built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Both developed their art in the banlieues; both have a message of hope that fights stereotypes.

On the first song of his first record, Grand Corps Malade says: “If we are there today, it is just that we didn’t give up. We looked for the light of dawn by knowing that it had the colour of hope. We armed ourselves with our pens to write our own continuation of all these stories. We have beautiful ones to tell you, even if I imagine that it will be certainly far from your TV news.”

“Even if one of these days in Neuhof [the banlieue of Strasbourg], I become again an emcee at the MJC, criticizing the society, my soil, my feeder country; exceeded to find neither work, nor profession because of a pigment in my skin which I would have, is saying, in excess. Even if it is true that it is strange to feel as a foreigner at home, to feel burning on you the cold of indifference or hatred, to the choice; that all the city’s alleys become again the Stations of the Cross, kinda “Sir: your papers! Sir, what do you want?” Regardless, I know that in the apartment’s room of my tower I would continue to call upon Love…” claims Abd al Malik in one of his most powerful song, “M’effacer” – Erase Myself.

Though, French Slam is not playing by the rules. Slam poetry is supposed to be a cappella, it is supposed to be organized as clashes and competitions with a jury, declamations have to be three minutes long. French artists are breaking the rules by introducing instruments, choruses, or even background noises.

But who cares?

Words that make sense and develop serenity

There is no obligation: a bass, a drum, and a rather funky guitar in accompaniment, or a cappella… Fewer “bitches” or “bling bling” in French Hip Hop and fewer battles or clashes in the French Slam.

A story-teller, a speech that softly lies down, words which make sense. A text shared, a glass offered. An artistic form coming from the urban underworld and adapted by French performers, the Slam performed in Nancy in particular, in France in general, is like that. Simple.