back to america
After a big airport fiasco (hint: never fly Alitalia) I finally got back home yesterday evening. It was a fantasic trip and maybe I'll get some pics posted soon. Even so, I'm glad to be back home.
Every single day was of course incredible, but here are the top few things:
1. St. Peter's and the Vatican
2. Alexander Platz--one of the top jazz clubs in all of Europe
3. riding down the Grand Canal in Venice
4. the Borghese Gallery
5. Michaelangelo's David in the Accademia
6. the gelato and the wine. well, food in general I guess
And an expansion of #6...after sampling a huge array of flavors, these are the best (in no certain order):
1. pear
2. almond
3. coconut
4. banana
5. miele, which is a honey flavor
6. rice (sounds gross but is actually delicious)
And finally, here are the top things about being back home:
1. I can read anything and genearlly speak to anyone with whom I come in contact without a considerable amount of effort
2. not having to pay to use public restrooms
3. I can actually drink Diet Coke instead of Coca Lite, a mostly disgusting but slightly respectable foreign "equivalent"
And in the interest of lists, after my day at the beach today here's my list of top priorities here in NYC:
1. get friends
2. find a job
3. find a church
4. unpack
5. find some fun community activities, like take a dance class with Faith. In my head this is similar to the one Jodie takes in "Center Stage," but I'm sure ours will be about a zillion skill levels below that.
sunday in roma
Today has pretty much been a perfect day. I got up early to check out this church nearby with Benini's "St. Theresa in Ecstasy." It was awesome. This sculpture caused a HUGE outcry when Bernini completed it. St. Theresa has just been hit with God's flaming arrow, and a cherub with a sly knowing smile is pulling it out of her chest. The sculpture was extremely controversial because both St. Theresa's posture and facial expression are very erotic. Bernini was making a huge statement by portraying her spiritual experience in an orgasmic way.
After that I went down the road to the Cappuccin Crypt, or Church of Bones. This place is crazy. The crypt under the still-used church is literally full of and decorated with the bones of 4,000 monks who died from the 1500s-1800s. It's wild. There's literally rooms filled with piles of skulls, leg bones, other bones, and full skeletons laying there still dressed in monk robes. Even the wall decorations are made from human bones. The chandeliers are made from bones too. The last room has an inscription that says "We were what you are...you will become what we are now."
After that experience, I made my way up to the Villa Borghese. It's a huge park, sorta like Central Park. There were families out picnicing and all sorts of people. In the park is the Galleria Borghese, which is an unbelievable art museum. I really think it may be my favorite museum in Italy (so far). The Bernini sculptures are out of this world. I don't even know how to begin describing them. There's also several Carravagio paintings. They were fantastic. You kind of think these things are overhyped, but once you see them you understand that they are tottaallly not at all. It was an amazing experience. I'm so glad I'm learning more and more about art history and how to truly appreciate it. I honestly think it's really enriching my life. Also, I met this couple from Sydney and hung around with them while at the Borghese. They were really interesting, and just arrived here in Rome from a 3 week stay in Turkey. Man, the Borghese was incredible.
Another definite highlight of my day was going to the ballet at the Opera House. I've only been to 2 or 3 other ballets before, but this one was the best. Maybe I was just too young to appreciate it then, I don't know. There's just something so beautiful and affecting about movement. It's understated in a way, but still so powerful and very present. I figured out during the ballet that perphaps this is what I like about sculpture...it has the same sort of quality. Ballet or dance or whatever shows the beauty and emotion in movement, and a good artist can do the same with sculpture. It's like capturing all of that in one still, freeze-frame moment. I love how a sculpture's single pose can communicate so much about an entire set of circumstances.
Anyway, so it was a pretty full day today. Lots of other little things and interactions in between, but that was the major stuff. Tomorrow I've got a private tour at the Vatican to see the things usually off limits to tourists, thanks to a Swiss guard friend of a friend of a friend (thanks for the hook up on that one Linds). And maybe I'll hit the Pantheon or something. We'll see.
Ok. I'm going to bed now. Ciao.
when in rome...
Italy is awesome!!! I have practically no time left to type, but wanted to post a quick blog message that Italy is fantastic! I have had half a day in Rome, a whole day in Venice, and just arrived for two days in Florence before heading back to Rome for a few more. Everyone should be able to come here at least once during their life. It is incredible! I will post some pictures and stuff when I get home, but for now I am just focusing on eating my weight in gelato!!
almost there
It's about 1 o'clock, and I'm stopped for lunch at Panera about 70 miles outside NYC. Here's some observations so far:
1. Panera has a new salmon salad that looks unbelievable. Today I'm just eating a quick bagel, but I've got to try that salad soon.
2. Pennsylvania really is nice this time of year. The air smells very clean.
3. It's not really that fun driving a UHAUL. It's a little hard to get used to only having side mirrors and no rearview mirror or over-the-shoulder visibility.
4. "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders are GREAT songs to sing in the car.
5. Truckers can be really creepy sometimes.
6. This is the first time I've stopped and noticed several people having a thick New York accent. It sounds pretty cool, but I don't think I could pull one off.
7. A few hours ago a passed a sign advertising the "World of Pigeons." I'm pretty sure it was just on someone's private farm because the sign was hardly professional quality. I sorta wish I would've stopped to check it out.
All right, back to the road I guess!
it's friday
1. I can't believe Paul Wolfowitz resigned from the World Bank yesterday. All along his camp has been saying he wouldn't. Now if only Alberto Gonzalez would do the same.
2. Moving is exciting, but packing sucks.
3. I'm about to watch last night's "The Office" season finale. Hope it doesn't disappoint.
4. I'm selling my car in about 2 hours. Feels so good to give up that dependence.
5. Life is good :)
the top few...
I was really bored at work tonight, so I made some "top few" lists. At first they were top 5 lists, but I quickly realized I didn't feel like coming up with 5 in every category. All of these lists are in no particular order.
tv season finales:
1. Alias, season 1-Sydney's assumed-to-be-dead-former-Russian-spy-murderer-bad-guy mom is actually alive and is revealed to be the mastermind ("The Man") behind the big bad guy group.
2. Alias, season 2-Sydney defeats her best friend look-a-like (actually bad guy Alison Doran who took appearance altering drugs to pose as Sydney's friend Francie) in Los Angeles and then passes out. In the next scene she mysteriously wakes up in Hong Kong, finds out two years have passed and she had long ago been pronounced dead, and her love interest has married another woman.
3. Friends, season 5-Ross said Rachel's name in his vows when he was marrying Emily. Oops.
4. Gilmore Girls, season 6-Lorelai calls off her marriage to Luke and sleeps with Christopher. I always liked him better. Although I know some find her character annoying, Lauren Graham is a very talented actress...maybe one of the most under rated.
5. The Office, season 2-Jim confesses his love to Pam
6. Grey's Anatomy, season 1-Dr. McDreamy is married!!
things about summer:
1. sundresses
2. cookouts
3. being tan
things i learned the hard way:
1. double check that you have taken the gas pump out of your tank and put it back on the machine before you drive away. otherwise you will pull the hose completely off the pump and have an agitated gas station worker come scream at you. plus it will count as a "collision" and your insurance will go up.
2. never just assume that every door is automatic. if you do you will find your self marveling at how sensitive the sensor is, and then a split second later walking full speed right into the door.
places I'd rather be right now:
1. california
2. italy
3. portland
4. outer space. wish i was rich so i could go on one of these civilian trips to the moon. maybe i'll win a contest or something one day and be able to go.
old school Nickelodeon (or Nick Jr.) shows that have unfortunately fallen into obscurity
1. Salute Your Shorts
2. Hey Dude
3. David the Knome
4. the one with that girl Sandy and the 2 koalas that lived in the tree outside her window
old school Disney shows that have met the same fate as above:
1. The Torkelsons (because bay windows like Dorothy Jane's are WAY underappreciated)
2. Kids Incorporated (where Fergie got her start)
magazines
1. McSweeney's Quarterly Concern
2. SEED
3. The Believer
what am i doing????
I have no idea what I am doing right now. More accurately, I have no idea why. It's 2:24 AM Sunday morning, and instead of sleeping (also, only got 4 hours last night) I am doing a puzzle and watching season 2 of "The Office." Definitely both worthwhile activites, but it just suddenly occurred to me what an awful use of my time it is. I have SO MUCH to do. I shouldn't be spending free time doing anything other than:
(1) packing. I'm moving to NYC in exactly one week, and haven't packed a thing. To be fair, I have weeded through my clothes and made my gigantic "get rid of" pile, but haven't actually packed anything at all.
(2) preparing for Italy. I'm heading out in exactly 9 days. While I have all the majors taken care of, I still have tons to do...reading through restuarant and wine reviews, estimating my budget for each of the 3 cities I'll be seeing, mapping my route of museums/activities so I can maximize my time and not have to backtrack, educating myself with crash courses of Renaissance art and Italian history, doing some more Italian language learning, and getting some light shopping done.
It's going to be a very busy week. I'm soooo glad I now only have 1 full time job instead of 2. Hopefully I'll be able to get all of this done. I'm going to bed now.
operation hydration
I know it's a cheesy name, but I've decided to get Operation Hydration started. Basically, all this means is that I'm going to make a concerted effort to drink water. This may not sound like much, but it will be a HUGE thing for me. I almost never drink water. The only time I might ever really have a sip is when I am exercising. Besides that, my liquid intake consists entirely of diet coke/pepsi, coffee, and various alcoholic beverages. To be clear, I'm not cutting these things out of my life, I'm just bringing water into it. Hopefull I'll be able to do it :)
indiana
I don't really know why, but I'm not a huge fan of Indiana. However, driving completely across the state 4 times in the last two weeks has afforded me plenty of time to come up with this short list of redeeming factors.
1. speed limit is 70 mph.
2. Jimmy Chitwood and the whole "Hoosiers" gang...there's always a soft spot for them.
3. multiple 24-hour Starbucks drive though locations have popped up along I-74.
4. Radio Disney 98.3 FM.
thoughts from small town Illinois
1. I was at Wal-Mart making picture printouts from the digital camera Saturday night, which happened to be prom night. While there for maybe an hour, we saw several people come in dressed up in their prom gear. It was so strange. These girls and one guy were totally done up with dresses/tux, corsages, shoes, hair, jewelry and everything. What in the world were they doing at Wal-Mart? I just can't figure it out. And maybe I could understand seeing one or perhaps two people, but it seemed we were seeing prom kids everywhere we looked.
2. The local grocery store has jacked up the price for the outdoor soda machines. It now costs 60 cents for a 12 oz. can of soda. That means the price has almost doubled since I moved away 7 years ago (it used to be 35 cents) and has gone up considerably since the last time I was here in the fall (when it was 45 cents).
3. For the life of me I cannot find the local NPR station. It's crazy. Surely there is one, but so far no luck finding it. I should just look online, but I keep forgetting. Maybe I'll do that now.
he's finally here!!
Yesterday evening my nephew, Aiden, was finally born!!! He's pretty much a beast, coming in at 22 inches long and 10 lbs 8 oz.
Here's the scoop...My sister-in-law was told on Saturday that she was in early labor and would probably have him on Sunday. Well, Sunday and Monday both came and went without a baby. At 6 am Tuesday she was induced and an hour later the doctor broke her water, but by 4 that afternoon she was only 3 cm dilated (she was 2 cm on Saturday). So they ended up doing a C-section...which was a great choice considering he was more than 2 pounds heavier than they were told he was going to be. So basically, watching her go through this is further cementing my previous feelings that I do not want to ever bear my own child. Adoption is an option I have been very drawn to for quite awhile, for reasons other than pain avoidance. I suppose though if it comes down to it there's always surrogacy. I just can't imagine putting my body through the pregnancy/childbearing experience.
Anyway, back to Aiden. He's perfect. My mom says he's got a great temperament. He was letting everyone and their dog hold him and was alert and smiling and moving around, and not really crying much or anything. He has curly blond/reddish hair with blond eyebrows and eyelashes so light and fair you can barely see them. I can't wait to meet him this weekend!!!
