WEBVTT 00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:07.530 What a light. What a night, Paris. Took Katie 00:00:07.530 --> 00:00:10.769 safely home at 4 a .m. from the monthly 1920s 00:00:10.769 --> 00:00:14.250 dance night at La Coupole, and with that, the 00:00:14.250 --> 00:00:18.969 reprise is complete. This time is even better, 00:00:19.070 --> 00:00:22.530 thanks to less resistance from my ever-evolving 00:00:22.530 --> 00:00:26.390 mind and, most importantly, the drunk green curry 00:00:26.390 --> 00:00:31.850 on the sofa, judged by a cat. The reprise is 00:00:31.850 --> 00:00:35.590 done, and I am still in love with you, Paris, 00:00:36.729 --> 00:00:39.969 against some people's advice, people who have 00:00:39.969 --> 00:00:44.469 lived in Paris, mostly the sober ones. But I'm 00:00:44.469 --> 00:00:48.409 not known as one who listens to advice, though 00:00:48.409 --> 00:00:53.049 I'm sober most of the time. Like before, a lot 00:00:53.049 --> 00:00:55.850 of my friends, old and new, were there to exchange 00:00:55.850 --> 00:00:59.179 well-deserved compliments, love. dance pose 00:00:59.179 --> 00:01:03.420 and smoke outside in the cold with. And when 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:07.040 they were not with me, in my traversing moments 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:11.879 round the ball, I could watch them, peacefully, 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:16.760 from a distance, with motherly and childly joy 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:21.980 at once. And when they were not with me, in my 00:01:21.980 --> 00:01:25.659 solitary moments, I could tend to my solitary 00:01:25.659 --> 00:01:32.590 heart, my large, solitary heart, very tenderly 00:01:32.590 --> 00:01:35.950 before one of them would find me and tell me 00:01:35.950 --> 00:01:39.030 everyone was looking for me again. I would tell 00:01:39.030 --> 00:01:42.829 them I'm thinking or to tell everyone I'm in 00:01:42.829 --> 00:01:47.049 the men's toilet or give in and rejoin when I 00:01:47.049 --> 00:01:53.750 wanted to. It felt as light as my first, though 00:01:53.750 --> 00:01:56.150 this time I was drinking since the afternoon 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:59.659 albeit clean drinking, like a civilized over 00:01:59.659 --> 00:02:06.900 40, champagne only. I felt as free. What a night, 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:11.840 Paris. And what an air to take into my creative 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:16.599 lungs. My recent wet days in London have been 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:20.060 redeemed by your fresh post-snow atmosphere 00:02:20.060 --> 00:02:25.460 filled with dreams old and recent. My post 00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:28.300 -run walks along the Thames by Battersea Park, 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:31.860 facing the famous Albert Bridge in London, have 00:02:31.860 --> 00:02:35.740 been washed by delicate tears as I surrender 00:02:35.740 --> 00:02:41.419 to the beauty of everything I see. And now, it 00:02:41.419 --> 00:02:44.099 is time to cash in on those cathartic little 00:02:44.099 --> 00:02:47.120 drops and be the beauty I keep wanting to see. 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:51.759 To be the life of the party, because I am life 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:57.460 itself. I am life, and I am love. All right, 00:02:57.580 --> 00:03:00.460 maybe the champagne wasn't all that clean, and 00:03:00.460 --> 00:03:03.699 I'm actually still delicate. I could blame it 00:03:03.699 --> 00:03:06.419 on the edible glitter mixed in the coupe at Katie's 00:03:06.419 --> 00:03:08.939 birthday pre-party party in the late afternoon, 00:03:09.219 --> 00:03:13.080 or on the extra compliments spiked into my flutes 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:16.639 by the adorable Japanese-Italian bartender as 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:22.319 an appreciation for the tip. All the same, I 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.870 feel such... tenderness toward everything and 00:03:25.870 --> 00:03:32.189 everyone these days. Yes, even you. Especially 00:03:32.189 --> 00:03:37.849 you. I feel that I understand them and I want 00:03:37.849 --> 00:03:40.370 them to feel seen so that in turn they can see 00:03:40.370 --> 00:03:45.409 themselves. All that good and all the goods. 00:03:46.550 --> 00:03:50.689 I feel that I understand you and I want you to 00:03:50.689 --> 00:03:53.810 feel seen. so that in turn you can see yourself, 00:03:54.169 --> 00:04:01.550 all that good and all the goods. More friends 00:04:01.550 --> 00:04:04.770 have offered their place for me to stay, either 00:04:04.770 --> 00:04:08.330 for myself or to share with them, just as I have 00:04:08.330 --> 00:04:10.210 stopped wondering about where I'll be staying. 00:04:11.569 --> 00:04:15.069 I have stopped wondering about where I'll be 00:04:15.069 --> 00:04:17.449 staying as I've figured out where I'll end up 00:04:17.449 --> 00:04:22.259 with myself, who is now focused on more yeses 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:25.699 than noes, who sees more wonders than mediocre 00:04:25.699 --> 00:04:29.120 creatures in my surroundings, who breathes in 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:33.139 deeply, every step I take,the air of expansion 00:04:33.139 --> 00:04:36.079 I craved since I was trapped in my little body. 00:04:38.220 --> 00:04:44.860 Little girl. My little Dina. I'm setting you 00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:50.480 free. You can walk. You can run. You can sit 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.560 down and write your heart out. You can tell everyone 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.180 you love them all and that love is all you are 00:04:57.180 --> 00:05:00.879 and all that you can give. You can see whatever 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:04.519 you want to see and you can feel whatever you 00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:09.800 want to feel. No more punishments from your parents, 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.740 from their gods and from their neighbour's pain. 00:05:14.569 --> 00:05:17.730 No more crying in the dark on your own, for you 00:05:17.730 --> 00:05:21.990 can always come with me wherever I go, and I'll 00:05:21.990 --> 00:05:29.009 tend to you so very tenderly, like the most precious 00:05:29.009 --> 00:05:36.829 thing, like no one has ever done. I'm holding 00:05:36.829 --> 00:05:42.459 you right here in Paris. where your little self 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:45.339 was told you just randomly dreamed of living. 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:52.639 I'm holding you like this light is holding me. 00:05:54.259 --> 00:05:59.319 Oh, what a night it was, Paris. What a light! 00:06:01.579 --> 00:06:05.339 Paris. Le 11 janvier 2026.