Website

It has been a while since I have actually 'done' something to post considering the blog is called 'what I do'. Anyway, I couldn't sleep last night (or apparently tonight either) and I made a new website. This one will do for the mean time since I am still waiting for the one from Italy to be completed. Hope you enjoy... (click the image to take you there)

p.s. tell your friends

I Hope This Will Do...

This I sent to my loving mother earlier today (she has also been upset that I haven't posted much lately so I hope this will do):

so I have arrived upon a conclusion. You are ignoring me. how you might ask have I decided this. Well I will let you know that it was through much thought and problem solving. Here we go...

When I was younger my mom told me that she knew everything...'I'm the mom I know all'

well if my mom knows everything then she knows I am trying to talk to her

if she isn't there to talk to me and knows that I am trying to talk to her and isn't doing much about it then the only conclusion available is that she is ignoring me

Photos Are Up!

I'm not too sure if anyone still reads this but I did put up a bunch of photos from the past few months.  Go to my flickr page to see them.  The link is to the left.

Roma

A few pictures I took while in one of the most wonderful cities I've ever been to.  I hope you enjoy them.  They haven't been edited b/c I've been busy learning Italian so you will have to forgive me for that.  I might write more later but for now you can just look.

A Little Book Review

As I was searching the shelves of a bookstore that I frequently go to for an Italian verb book I saw a small pocket sized book that listed that it would explain the Mafia. Oh my goodness... not the Mafia. Yes, the Mafia indeed. I have been a little interested in this organization (not in a scary I am going to become part of the team kind of way) since I saw 'The Godfather' the first time. Also the Italian history in the family made me kind of wish my that my Grandpa was part of it, however Erin and I realized that his name didn't fit so well and it just couldn't be. 'Mafia Explained to Tourists' by Augusto Cavadi, let me know upon reading the second sentence that 'The Godfather' is a :highly romanticized, fictional view of the phenomenon makes for excellent entertainment.: Apparently the real Mafia is more complex. Suddenly I was relieved that my grandfather had nothing to do with the Mafia. This 55 page pocket book does a brief overview of the Mafia and answers questions that I am sure we have all asked. Cavadi also lists a bibliography in case you are wanting to do more in depth reading on the topic. It was interesting to read that this 150 year old establishment will eventually end as all things human do. When??? thats what no one knows. But for now the streets of Palermo are probably safer than the streets of London, New York, or Madrid since it is less likely to be killed there (in Palermo) than in a terrorist attack elsewhere. Also good news since I have been wanting to visit Sicily for a few years now.

Firenze

Florence is wonderful as it should be. I skipped class once but with good reason... my roommates and I took a nice walk from Piazza Michelangelo down through the countryside and then back home. Piazza Michelangelo is one of the best places in Florence to go and get pictures of the city. I think the entire walk was supposed to take an hour but we took a bus to the piazza from our apartment which was nice and then the walk back to the Ponte Vecchio took maybe 3 hours. We stopped a lot to take pictures and enjoy the scenery. The first half of the walk was along a semi-busy street but with beautiful views, and the second part was a wonderful curvy cobblestone road lined with brightly painted old houses that made you forget that you were in the city at all.

The Run Down

Little Rock to Chicago and a hot dog
Chicago to Heathrow--- London and meat pies
Extended stay
Felt up by security in London
London to Barcelona several hours later
plane to bus to train to metro to hotel
walk on around town
food market, juice, chocolate, Picasso, soap, chocolate, Gaudi building, tapas, icebarcelona, catwalk, bed
antique market, food market, juice, sandwich, chocolate, british boys 'CHALLENGE', Gaudi park, olympic park, Gaudi building, chicago pizza....
Two taxis, empty ferry dock, walk in the rain, two taxies, ferry check in, no bus, security car and broken van to ferry, Antonino, A Room With A View, 20 hours at sea, Livorno, big taxi in the rain, taxi to Florence, circle Florence, wrong apartment, another taxi in Florence, right apartment no key, new taxi, GE represnitive's apartment, doner kabab, sleep, school, taxi to apartment, move in!