Since I started my own blog, I’ve begun to read many other people’s. Today on Kevin Smith’s blog (www.silentbobspeaks.com), he wrote about how he had been asked to make a celebrity playlist for iTunes. At the end of his entry, he encouraged his readers to make their own 10-song playlist. We all know how I love my iTunes, but I find that every part of our lives has it’s own playlist, and it is way too early in the game to make the “playlist of my life.” So here is my playlist from France (impossible to narrow it to 10), complete with long-winded descriptions.

1) “Body Movin’” Beastie Boys
This song was essential to getting me out of bed and getting me to my stage on time. Beasties are classic, and will always make people want to dance. And you have to love boys from Brooklyn who refer to their “rhymes” as being like Chateauneuf du Pape.

2) “Jerk It Out” Caesars
A tune that makes me want to move, this song ran through my head all the time at school, keeping me on task and on time.

3) “3x5” John Mayer
This song has always been one of my favorites, but it continually takes on new meaning. No one else can have my France, and my experience will never be meaningful to anyone else in the same way. There were so many moments when I wished different people had been with me, so they could experience what I was. And then I would remind myself to soak it all up for me. Also, I constantly wanted to play this song for the photo-obsessed Asians at school. Put the Cannon down for two seconds, already!

4) “Gone” Kelly Clarkson
Ah, yes, even Kelly can bust out some angry girl music, and this song was my break-up anthem from June to…um, still going. It’s good pavement-pounding music as well. I know the pizza men really appreciate it when I belt this one out at the top of my angry girl lungs.

5) “You Could Be Happy” Snow Patrol
A sappy, post-anger break-up song. The first time I heard it, I wondered if there was a wiretap on my Skype line, it is so close to my reality. It’s a very charming, gentle song to melt the heart and justify a good cry.

6) “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” Death Cab For Cutie
In August I had to go back to the US and have seven cavities filled because making and eating a lot of pastry is bad for your teeth. My dentist has a TV in the ceiling and you can put on headphones and watch cable as he pulls your mouth apart. I was channel surfing and I came upon this video on MTV. I never watch videos, but this song drew me in instantly with its dark sweetness. I had downloaded the whole album before the Novocain wore off. It is a great stare-off-in-space-on-public-transportation song.

7) “Fix You” Coldplay
Can Chris Martin fix me? Any time I was seriously sad or frustrated here (probably four times a week), this was the go-to lift me up song. The crank-up at the end will lift anyone’s mood. And so will the idea of Chris Martin guiding me home.

8) “Helicopter” The Feeling
This song propelled me (serious pun intended) along many a windy street, and don’t we all have a long list of ridiculous wishes for an easier day? Paris is not soft, and his longing for a softer world backed up by a hard-edged guitar talks to me.

9) “Sugar, We’re Going Down” Fall Out Boy
Because this song rocks. And because there were a lot of times at school, in my stage, and in my personal life where I was going down swinging, and it felt as though everyone I came into contact with had a loaded god complex.

10) “I Hate Everyone” Get Set Go
Every ex-pat in Paris needs to listen to this song every once and awhile as a musically extended middle finger to whomever is causing us angst at the moment (Noos, the EDF, little old ladies in the grocery store). The French will have a hard time understanding the very explicit lyrics, but the cheerful melody will keep them bobbing their heads in jolly enjoyment. Laugh at them.

11) “Elle m’a dit” Calli
Another fantastic break-up song, it’s fun to imagine the enormous bitch who could say these things and to then feel better about the person you just broke up with. Plus his ultra-nonchalant reaction at the end of the song is awesome.

12) “Nowhere Warm” Kate Havnevik
This delicate, ethereal yet somehow edgy song is hypnotic. It was a late-night metro favorite. It’s a little more “Euro” than the rest of my soundtrack.

13) “Caramel” Suzanne Vega
This song is very sexy to me. The music is very strong, yet the lyrics talk only of weakness and that juxtaposition works for me. For the whole last month of pastry, we only worked with caramel and I am cheesy enough to listen to a song because it is something I make.

14) “American Girls” Counting Crows
We are feathers and cream, coming to bed so edible. Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

15) “La Femme Chocolat” Olivia Ruiz
After a year of eating fois gras, confit de canard, financier pistache, and baguette after baguette, I wish someone would take an axe to my hips. I love her gentle, feminine voice, and the fact that the lyrics are food-sex. Let’s face it: food-sex is the only action I see.