iPod Finds Italy

Finally recovered some other scans i did of the riverbank while in italy on my ipod. There's some random things on here too from italy.

Cupid Chastised

I did stills for my friend, Eric's Production 2 film, Cupid Chastised about, oh, two years ago. I just finished photoshopping them today. sweet.

Alice Sees The Light

I just caught the last 10 minutes of the most amazing experimental/social awareness/documentary film on pbs after watching Thelma and Louise. I wish I had watched more of the other, rather than t&l. Stylistically it was so cool with lots of still frames with text coming in over in stop motion. The images were beautiful. From what I gathered, the film was about a woman who lived in the country but there had been a large commercial plant built right next to her house that had extremely bright lights. So bright, in fact, that her eyes could never switch into night vision because they were not distinguishing nightime. It was freakin cool and confirms even more my love for PBS.

I heart you PBS.





Learn more about the film here

Occupy

Since I've Been Back:





this is my design for my business card that i will eventually print. feedback?




Summer With Friends :)

The Breakdown

Black and White 120 Rolls Shot and Developed: 8
Black and White 35mm Rolls Shot and Developed: 15
Color 120 Rolls Shot: 32
Color 35mm Rolls Shot: 38
1 Polaroid

What I left Behind:

1 Loufre and 1 bottle of face wash in hostel in London my first night.
1 pair (my favorite) of Sunglasses in Switzerland
1 Water bottle in a freezer in Nice
Bag of lemon raspberry tea i bought in London, left in Florence.
Beach mat bought in Nice, left in Florence

What was lost/stolen:

1 leather wallet
120 Euros
USB cord for my ipod

What Was Returned:

Everything else in the wallet

What Needs Repair:

Bronica
35 mm Nikon
1 pair of purple sunglasses
My body

Books Brought and Read:

Naked, by David Sedaris
Catcher in the Rye, by Salinger
Nine Stories, by Salinger
The Every Boy, by Adam something

Books Bought and still Reading:

A Spot of Bother, by Mark Haddon
Photography as Contemporary Art
Philosophy of Art, by Mark Rothko
ARte d'Italia

All Cities Visited (In chronological order):

New York City
London
Paris, Montmarte
Basel
Lucerne
Nice
Florence
Lucca
Via Reggio
Pisa
Venice
Fiasole
Cinque Terre
Rome
Milan
London
Brooklyn

Museums Visited:
Tate Modern
Picasso Museum
Kunst Museum
Uffitzi
Acedemia
Duomo Museum
Biannale
Peggy Guggenheim's House Museum in Venice
Vatican
Piti Palace
PalazzioRoyale

Monuments/Touristy things Seen:

Times Square
Central Park
Camden Market
Piccadilly Market
Globe Theater
London Bridge
pretty much every thing in Paris
Lake Lucerne
Swiss Alps
Duomo
David
Golden Doors on the Baptistry
Michaelangelo's Plazza
a hell of a lot of churches
The Birth of Venus
a hell of a lot of art i can't remember off the top of my head
Colloseum
Forum
Spanish Steps
Vatican
Sistine Chapel
St. Pauls Cathederal
a famous fountain i can't remember the name of
Pantheon
Ancient Roman Ruins
Tower of Pisa
The Grand Canal
Duomo in Milano
Galleria in Milano
London Bridge
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
Big Ben
Parliament
Abbey Cathederal
Coney Island
and much much more

Strangers I Met:

Paul and Lesley
3 boys from Santa Rosa, CA
Frederica, a mime artist
Marianita, an anthropologist
Ammie, a French actress
Samy, a cartoonist in Montemarte
an old man who can write poems on the spot
Ibrahim, a Sudanese refugee who was extremely kind, helped me find a phone place, and wanted to take me to coffee. i said no.
Fabian and roomates, a swiss man who works for the Suisse Bank
The Pink Lady, ran the hostel in Nice, turned out to have a nasty temper
Edwardo, manager of the hostel orignally from Guatemala
Anna, from the Netherlands and Edwardo's temporary girlfriend
Paul, a gorgeous South African man who moved to Nice to be a sailor and sometimes lives at the hostel
Olga and Elsa, sisters from the Netherlands who are very sweet and the life of the party
Maissa and Duanna, from King's College in London. We got off to a bad start, but ended up being very sweet girls. Duanna is originally from northern ireland.
Another incredibly gorgeous south african man who took my place in the hostel.
An Albanian man who I never wrote down the name or email address he gave me, but was frustrated with the racism in France.
5 boys from San Diego, CA who came to Europe for their highschool graduation, and to get drunk.
Christian, our waiter at the restaurant below our apartment in Florence.
Andrei, the fruit stand boy who was adorable and gave me free fruit
Giovanna and Stefano, my religious hosts in Milan
Ilahim, a man from Algeria who spoke no English but wanted to walk around the park with me
An old man sitting next to him that was keen on interpreting for us
Giam, a black guy from Lyon, France in a cast and with a lisp that I met in a park in Milan that wanted his picture taken and a little more than i was willing to give him. He ended up being a serious jerk.
Giovanni, the gorgeous Jewish man in Milan who used to be a Nazi, but now attends temple and the Christian church. A graduate student in architecture who thinks Harry Potter leads you to the devil.
Jay, a guy from Seattle that also couchsurfed in London with Paul and Lesley
Amy, a girl from Brooklyn (couchsurfer) that was getting ready to go back to NYU for law.
Another guy from Brooklyn in London.
Lewis Thorwaldson, the first guy i stayed with in Brooklyn who knew a lot about the place for only being there for 3 months. Really into couchsurfing.
Liam, bike-enthusiast biologist who brews his own beer in Brooklyn apt. Stayed with him my last night in Brooklyn.
My cab driver, originally from Brooklyn, used to be in the restaurant business, retired, and has now been a cab driver for 5 weeks. He knew I was getting to the airport super early so he took me the long way and gave me a tour of Brooklyn for no extra cost and gave me an earfull of stories. he was awesome.


Days Gone: 52
Days I Sweated Profusely: 52
Panic Attacks: 7
Times I Ran Out of Money: 2
Days I Had My Camera On Me: 49
Most Visible Bruises At One Time: 6
Revelations: somewhere around 10
Complete Days That I Was Focused On Nothing Other Than What Was Right In Front of Me: 11
Days I Missed You: 51
Regrets: 0...well maybe that I had had more money.


Coming Soon: A Dissertation Blog about the reflections of the trip overall.

Finale

London was amazing. Fall weather, wonderful people, and the comfort of not having to photograph it, but just sit in a cafe and be apart of london. I loved it and i want to move there. So did my hosts. They offered me a rooming spot for September. I obviously turned them down.

I barely made my flight, though, which was not fun. I got to the check in counter minutes before they were about to close check in for my flight. good. then i had to ruuuuuuuuuuuun to the gate...which was gate 42. I also had to check my camera bag which was terrifying. They only let you have one carry on for unknown reasons, so the one with my money and entertainment was the choice for the plane.

I was running with an eight pound bag and in flip flops and a sweatshirt. I beat the golf cart though. I was pretty proud of that.

Don't ever watch scary movies on a long flight.

Since I have been so cinema deprived, the plan on this flight was to watch as many films as possible. First: The Lives of Others. awesome german movie about the GDR. Second movie: Vacancy. Bad bad bad very bad idea. Im sitting next to a stranger and all i want to do is scream and hold on to her. I did not do this obviously, but when the flight attendants came around to ask for drinks I was biting my pillow, jumped suddenly, and threw my pillow in the air. When she handed me the drink I could barely hold on to it I was shaking from being so tense. I will never watch a scary movie on a plane again. So to change this mood I watched The Pursuit of Happyness. I cried. I was all over the place on this plane ride.

It felt so good to be able to turn on my own cell phone and have service. So great. American soil. I never e ver dreamed I would say this, but I am glad to be back in America.

Couch surfer picked me up from the airport, which was awesome. I slept in his bed and he slept on the couch, though, so that was kinda weird. Especially since he hadn't changed the sheets and when I went to put my head down there was some sort of critter to welcome me home. I thought i was in america?

Last night I stayed with another couchsurfer, Leif, who is pretty cool. We had some beers and went to Coney Island for fireworks night. It was fantastic, even though I was completely exhausted, 1) from dragging my luggage around the mta for an hour, and thank you new york for not having any lifts or escalators. 2) it was 3 am on my body time 3) these guys are the fastest walkers i have ever been around. i am a fast walker, and usually ahead of everyone else. they were in tennis shoes and me in flip flops but still, i was literally jogging to keep up. i have blisters on the pads of my feet from walking so fast in flip flops.

OH and i do love new york. I get it now. There is a certain energy about it. Very different from Chicago, and i think i still like chicago better, but new york is alright. And i do not know why they are tearing down coney island. Its fantastic and i am glad i got to photograph it before they do tear it down.

Today I will take a cab from Leif's apartment, seeing that the roller handle of my new suitcase broke off yesterday and dont really feel like squating over all through the subway to roll it. I shall arrive in Chicago tonight at 6:14.

I cannot wait.