Lucky Strike

Today, despite a rather late start (8am!) I got myself around and did a good morning jog. Funny that just yesterday I was writing about finding treasure that lifts your spirits and makes your day because on this morning's run along the Tiber I found my attention drawn to a bright colored pile of fabric in the mud along the trail. Curious as I am I went over to investigate. Small zipper... Rainbow ringed sleeve? As I cautiously picked up my find I was shocked to find out it was a cycling jersey! Dirty of course, but a cool find none-the-less. I decided it would be mine, yet I wanted to continue my exercise so that I can be in maintained form for when I can actually ride a bicycle again, let alone don a jersey. So, after carefully setting the prize on the side of the trail (making sure it wasn't super noticeable - it is mine now after all and I don't want someone else stumbling across it) I continued on my way. Despite my attempt to clear my head as I ran on down the trail, my thoughts were continually pulled back to the jersey. "What size is it?" I wondered, "what does it actually look like minus the muck?". I forced myself to continue until the usual turn-around point and as I came back to my new prize I was relieved that it was still there. I figured out a sort of awkward but effective way of holding it and maintaining my ability to run, and made the rest of my exercise while clutching the treasure. Once home I attempted to clean it up so that I could find my answers. To my delight it is a medium, and it appears to be a world-champion look jersey but with a large print in the middle that is some man and words (his name maybe) and 1996. I would like to find out what the words actually mean, but it will have to wait. Anyway, I threw it in the wash to ensure cleanliness before putting it on, bit I am definitely excited. Obviously, this is just a cool coincidence, but to me it felt like a sign that cycling misses me too.

Speaking of cycling, I recently added NYCBikeSnob to the blogs I follow (a pretty widespread and popular blogger) and this it will be nice to gather news from his point of view (urban) as well as from bicycling.com which keeps me up to date on the racing side. I can't wait to be back to riding, and am intrigued to see how my riding life changes with the relocation to Seattle. Now I just need to find a good place to buy others jerseys such that I can gather more for myself as well and for gifts. Still, psyched about my find today and can't wait to see it all cleaned up!

Finding Fun

This week has been a lot of cold, hard work time, making the start of my final project count. Part of the reason I am really trying to get this work going is that I went to our first meeting with just an idea in hand. I honestly didn't think I was supposed to be loaded with sketches and pre-work, so I strolled in with my proposal and was ready to talk, and while I guess I convinced them that it would be good, the professors seemed a little worried that I didn't have anything they could look at. Oh well. So here I am, spending some good hours in the studio, but I think it will be worth it. Yesterday I gathered a lot of the rough information I needed and even got to work with the first of my boards (yeah, that probably won't make sense yet). Also, despite the constant blowing of the fuse that works the light in our studio, I actually got the Latin inscriptions carved in (a bit more work than I thought, since I am using found wood and the grain is a little rough). And then again today, spent quite a lot of time working on school stuff (although today was drawing work rather than my project, but still took up most of the day). It just occurred to me earlier today on our drawing/exploratory walk that the way that one makes it through these longer, work-heavy days is by finding those little moments of fun. The time you notice a little treasure (a marble, pen, or dropped money perhaps) on the ground and pick it up, or the joking around you do with friends while catching a quick lunch. It is these little moments that really let you relax and make it through our world of stress. I hope you can find some little treasures in your own life.

A quick outline of my project is this:
I am using a selection of differing sized pieces of wood that will be carved and painted to create a little travel-shrine kind of thing, much like you'd find in small chapels or churches. The big difference is that instead of being religious, my piece is supposed to be a document of scientific enlightenment. I hope it works out well, and will let you guys know as things come together.

Finally, I talked to my parents yesterday and was glad to hear they made it back from their travels alright. They had traveled down to San Diego and then were back for a day before going to Guatemala for a little while! They are finally settling back into the house and I guess my cat is back there now too, so he will no doubt be up to his usual antics. Only a month left before I am home too. I will be sad to leave Rome, but I will definitely be happy to be back in Washington. Alright, thats it for now. Ciao

Weekend Craziness

This weekend I went to Napoli (Naples) with our group. The days were pretty open, with only one big event each, yet I felt that everyday we were just spent, and some of this might have been from exploring a new big city, but I also think some of it was just that Napoli is a tough place. When we showed up we were ushered through the station and onto the subway (a personal first) which took us most of the way to our hotel. The hotel was a small place, and I think that we took it over with our group of 25. Rooms were given out sort of haphazardly, and I was lucky to be paired in the only double room with Ben. Anyway, we quickly ran off and ate at an alright pizzeria before checked out a large sculpture museum which was the result of the Farnese family collection. The evening was spent eating pizza again, this time at a better restaurant and with less hassling from the staff. The evening included a little gelato and walking before everyone crashed early. The next morning the stories were everywhere! People had complaints about the toilets not flushing properly, bed bugs, and no hot water. After the drama, and with the hotel promising to get things taken care of, we left on the train to Pompeii. This ruined city was awesome to explore and take in. The preservation of a city from ~80AD was breathtaking, and it was nice to wander around and see the magnificent ruins while also breathing in the sweet country air. After the day of ruins we continued the train ride out to the coastal city of Sorrento and watched the sunset over the bay and also played down by the water. After a little walking through the shopping areas we took the train back to Napoli and enjoyed a nice dinner with the professors and again ended the day with gelato and a walk. The third day started better, although I was still not completely satisfied with the hotel (but it was good enough to deal with). After a short bus ride (packed!) and some walking we explored a large collection (again Farnese) of artwork that was also the site of a Louise Bourgeois show. It was interesting to see the collection of her work set up in the same areas as classic works of art, but it was executed nicely. Once we regrouped, a small group and I went to a little family pizzeria and ate the best pizza I have had to date in Italy. It was the perfect crispness and the wood-fired flavor was just right. We then walked down the hill, across town to the hotel where we took a short rest before walking out to the coast and again watching the sunset (sort-of, it was behind a large building, but the colors were still there) and sit by the water. This evening took a seriously sour turn when we went to dinner at a place that some of the group had raved about the night before. Food was ok, but service was terrible and food showed up cold or late, or in the case of my friend Ben, the wrong dish! To top it off the waitress tried to get us to order things we didn't want and watched us count out the bill to make sure we didn't stiff her. Ridiculous! This morning things didn't get much better as my friend Sarah was the site of an accidental spill of hot coffee! Despite her injury she toughed through some church visits (with the help of delicious cinnamon gelato!) and the trip to Madre (the Napoli modern art museum) before we came back home to Roma. (Madre was a ton of fun, and included a large cast of famous artists including a big Rauschenberg show)

A crazy weekend, I am glad to be done with it. I hope Sarah feels better soon too