Sunday, June 14, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
so much for good intentions
i suppose i shouldn't set such high standards for myself because i always seem to balk at the precipice if you know what i mean. i've been all over the place and back again lately, so as you can imagine, things have been pretty hectic. after napoli i went to paris and then a couple weeks later spent four days camping in the south (a bit south of salerno) and hanging around a music festival with friends. i had an amazing time.
ever since i got back it's been hard to concentrate and i've been exhausted. there's an expression in italian, non ho la faccia per...qualcosa which literally translates to, i don't have the face for...something. this is pretty much how i feel about school in general these days. i'm just trying to hold out for the next two weeks until we start our field projects at which point i'm hoping to get a second (or third) wind.
i've been thinking a lot about pete lately. i'm finding the idea that he's dead for my whole life incredibly difficult to accept. i'm not convinced that i will ever really be able to accept it. it seems more like a brutal reality that will confront me on a regular basis than something that i will get used to. i suppose time will tell really.
ugh.
ever since i got back it's been hard to concentrate and i've been exhausted. there's an expression in italian, non ho la faccia per...qualcosa which literally translates to, i don't have the face for...something. this is pretty much how i feel about school in general these days. i'm just trying to hold out for the next two weeks until we start our field projects at which point i'm hoping to get a second (or third) wind.
i've been thinking a lot about pete lately. i'm finding the idea that he's dead for my whole life incredibly difficult to accept. i'm not convinced that i will ever really be able to accept it. it seems more like a brutal reality that will confront me on a regular basis than something that i will get used to. i suppose time will tell really.
ugh.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
oh wow -
- have i been blowing off the blog. but, in fairness to me, i've barely been in milan lately.
about a week after my last posting i went to napoli and spent four days messing about in the south which was really great actually. it's really a beautiful city that oddly enough reminds me a whole lot of san francisco. a friend of a friend lives down there and he was kind enough to organize some nightlife for me so basically i wandered around during the day senza programma and at night got together with people and experienced a bit of that. i stayed at a really cute hostel right in the center of town on the border of the centro storico. i was really impressed that the hostel was actually pretty true to the photos on the website, which seems to be something of a rarity. so, if you ever go to napoli i highly recommend. the historical center of the city is quite gorgeous actually and you wouldn't believe how many little pizza man magnets can be for sale in one place. it's actually a bit terrible really. i can't imagine how the napolitani must feel about selling this absurd italian stereotypes to the absurd american tourists...oh well, a euro's a euro. here are some photos:
i also had the chance to go to capri, which is ohmygod beautiful, although it's impossible not to get the distince sense of not belonging to the club there (and by club i mean the ultra rich residents/tourists of capri club). i promise i'll add photos soon, but at the moment i have to stop doing this and start doing work, actual work that is. xo
about a week after my last posting i went to napoli and spent four days messing about in the south which was really great actually. it's really a beautiful city that oddly enough reminds me a whole lot of san francisco. a friend of a friend lives down there and he was kind enough to organize some nightlife for me so basically i wandered around during the day senza programma and at night got together with people and experienced a bit of that. i stayed at a really cute hostel right in the center of town on the border of the centro storico. i was really impressed that the hostel was actually pretty true to the photos on the website, which seems to be something of a rarity. so, if you ever go to napoli i highly recommend. the historical center of the city is quite gorgeous actually and you wouldn't believe how many little pizza man magnets can be for sale in one place. it's actually a bit terrible really. i can't imagine how the napolitani must feel about selling this absurd italian stereotypes to the absurd american tourists...oh well, a euro's a euro. here are some photos:
i also had the chance to go to capri, which is ohmygod beautiful, although it's impossible not to get the distince sense of not belonging to the club there (and by club i mean the ultra rich residents/tourists of capri club). i promise i'll add photos soon, but at the moment i have to stop doing this and start doing work, actual work that is. xo
Friday, May 1, 2009
fuori salone, armani, manifestazioni
i just finished uploading the rest of my photos from design week onto my computer. this batch is actually from fuori salone from the zona tortona area, which is pretty close to my house. i saw some pretty great things, but the actual fair itself was pretty hard to beat.
while on my way over there i met a couple of kids from the netherlands, eindhoven actually. apparently this city is not only the location of a very famous design school but apparently is the center of the design universe in the netherlands. i hear they'd like to give milan a run for the title vis a vis organizations like brainport they were here with a group of students and alumni exhibiting at fuorisalone. their space was called jewels and joules . it was one of the best things i saw over the entire week. the two people that i met were the "food designers" which is a totally new concept to me. basically they experiment with different flavors of food and design dishes. as chefs have been doing this since the dawn of time, it's not a particularly revolutionary concept. the twist in this case is that the people doing it are not chefs so they come to it with a different perspective on how food mixes and functions socially - interesting indeed. in this particular project they were using foods that are typical of south-eastern holland such as white asparagus, purple potatoes and smoked eel (totally delicious i swear to god). the eel is hanging above the table in this photo, along with bundles of asparagus.
while on my way over there i met a couple of kids from the netherlands, eindhoven actually. apparently this city is not only the location of a very famous design school but apparently is the center of the design universe in the netherlands. i hear they'd like to give milan a run for the title vis a vis organizations like brainport they were here with a group of students and alumni exhibiting at fuorisalone. their space was called jewels and joules . it was one of the best things i saw over the entire week. the two people that i met were the "food designers" which is a totally new concept to me. basically they experiment with different flavors of food and design dishes. as chefs have been doing this since the dawn of time, it's not a particularly revolutionary concept. the twist in this case is that the people doing it are not chefs so they come to it with a different perspective on how food mixes and functions socially - interesting indeed. in this particular project they were using foods that are typical of south-eastern holland such as white asparagus, purple potatoes and smoked eel (totally delicious i swear to god). the eel is hanging above the table in this photo, along with bundles of asparagus.
the following photo is of a lamp that is currently in production that is made up of small foam oil drums. the number of oil drums that make up the lamp when the customer receives it depends on the price of oil at the time of purchase: the higher the price the fewer drums and thus the smaller the lamp, the lower the price the more drums and the bigger it is.
much of the show was about sustainability, gardening and food. here is my absolute favorite thing that i saw at the salone del mobile. it's a cultivation cabinet in which one can germinate seeds and grow small plants. it could comfortably live inside of the house and is a really beautiful structure. i'm going to ask bill to build me one.
here are some other assorted photographic highlights from zona tortona:
all of the preceding fuorisalone business happened last saturday. i had had all kinds of grandiose plans for sunday, but ended up doing basically nothing because i was exhausted and the weather was rainy and shitty. the weather remained rainy and shitty through wednesday. ugh. milan. wednesday night some girls from my program invited me out to an aperitivo and then we went to armani prive. i know it sounds super exclusive, but it's basically just like an other club, except it really is guest list/table only and the drinks are 20 euro! wtf man?! i did really have a good time, drunkenly dancing all over the place and being appalled by all of the incredibly scantily clad women bouncing about. i definitely can't see going there regularly, but every once in a while it's fun as evidenced below.
i know that this is the longest post in history, but it's mostly images! i'm trying not to tax all of your brains too intensely with lots of reading, just visual stimulation - yeah!
today, may 1st, is a holiday in italy. i honestly have no idea why and i don't really feel like researching it (but conveniently you're already on the internet and can if you feel so inclined). i went to my friend yael's house to interview her for a project and ended up staying and having lunch. we went out to meet up with a friend of hers and decided to go to the center, since it's the only part of the city that's open on holidays - if you're lucky. our tram driver made an announcement that it couldn't reach the center due to a manifestazione. we decided to walk since it wasn't really that far. about two blocks closer to the duomo, we found ourselves in the middle of this:
in case you were wondering, yes, that huge black thing is a wall of speakers that was blasting out fantastic reggae music and all of those people around us were dancing up the street behind it as it drove towards the center of the city. it was truly fantastic, particularly in a country with no open bottle laws. we were drinking beers and dancing up the street and the weather was amazing!
Friday, April 24, 2009
salone del mobile
the inauguration of salone del mobile, which is probably the most important design fair in the world, was a few nights ago. the trade show is accompanied by fuorisalone, literally translates to outside the salon, all over milano, during which time showrooms, galleries, studios and stores and open until all hours of the night and the city teems with designers, industry people and enthusiasts from all over the globe. i've been looking forward to this week since i arrived in italy and thus far i have not been disappointed.
my school scheduled our class on management of design-based companies to coincide with design week, which was quite brilliant on its part. tuesday night, after an abysmal attempt to go out with some friends to check out opening cocktail events, i ran into anna, a friend whom i've been thinking about for some time. a friend from the mafed and i ended up hanging out with anna, her boyfriend and some fantastic friends of theirs until late. one of the best things about italy (or really the world outside of the united states) is that there are no open bottle laws here, so i went to the kebab shop, spent 3 euro on a large bottle of beck's, and enjoyed it outdoors in the company of about 500 other people. it was fantastic, really.
last night (thursday) after taking it easy wednesday, read: going-out-light, i went to an aperitivo at strafbar with a couple of friends from school and friends of friends. then we went to the kartell store, drank a couple glasses of free prosecco and then to g lounge, where i danced the night away surrounded by (mostly) gay men. i scored ten additional points when i spilled someone's drink straight into one of my favorite ankle boots - yes, my foot was in it at the time. another excellent night.
today really kicked ass.
woke up hung over, sleep deprived and shall we say, slightly disoriented. i managed to break through the hangover by the time i was in the shower and got myself out the door on time, dry hair, looking decent (save your applause please). after a few minor hiccups and a very crowded metro, i arrived at the rho fiera complex where the salone del mobile is held. words cannot describe how incredibly, unbelievably, amazingly ridiculous this show is. it is chock-full of the most important design companies in the entire world. i was awestruck.
you would've been too...i promise. this afternoon we went on a couple of tours of the showrooms of some pretty amazing companies: b&b italia and boffi which were utterly amazing. so, at the end of a long long LONG week, i'm happy - and lying in bed. here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.
my school scheduled our class on management of design-based companies to coincide with design week, which was quite brilliant on its part. tuesday night, after an abysmal attempt to go out with some friends to check out opening cocktail events, i ran into anna, a friend whom i've been thinking about for some time. a friend from the mafed and i ended up hanging out with anna, her boyfriend and some fantastic friends of theirs until late. one of the best things about italy (or really the world outside of the united states) is that there are no open bottle laws here, so i went to the kebab shop, spent 3 euro on a large bottle of beck's, and enjoyed it outdoors in the company of about 500 other people. it was fantastic, really.
last night (thursday) after taking it easy wednesday, read: going-out-light, i went to an aperitivo at strafbar with a couple of friends from school and friends of friends. then we went to the kartell store, drank a couple glasses of free prosecco and then to g lounge, where i danced the night away surrounded by (mostly) gay men. i scored ten additional points when i spilled someone's drink straight into one of my favorite ankle boots - yes, my foot was in it at the time. another excellent night.
today really kicked ass.
woke up hung over, sleep deprived and shall we say, slightly disoriented. i managed to break through the hangover by the time i was in the shower and got myself out the door on time, dry hair, looking decent (save your applause please). after a few minor hiccups and a very crowded metro, i arrived at the rho fiera complex where the salone del mobile is held. words cannot describe how incredibly, unbelievably, amazingly ridiculous this show is. it is chock-full of the most important design companies in the entire world. i was awestruck.
you would've been too...i promise. this afternoon we went on a couple of tours of the showrooms of some pretty amazing companies: b&b italia and boffi which were utterly amazing. so, at the end of a long long LONG week, i'm happy - and lying in bed. here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
i just watched a youtube clip of susan boyle singing on britain's got talent and i spontaneously burst into tears about two seconds after she started singing. i've never seen anything like it. every single person's face who was listening to her had the eyes of a child. it was one of the most amazing things i've ever seen.
i was talking to a friend the other night and she reminded me that i have a blog that - embarassingly enough - i had completely forgotten about. i'm sure i would have remembered eventually on my own, but the reminder certainly didn't hurt.
so. it's been about two and a half weeks since i wrote my last entry. i don't even remember what it was about. maybe i'll go back and read it. i actually somehow feel like a different person again. my state of mind has completely changed since before bill came, which is quite strange considering that it was less than two weeks ago. i am so so glad that we had a break from school. i was on the verge.
bill came on wednesday april 8th and it was really amazing to see him. when i first saw him at the airport, he looked kind of strange and unfamiliar to me. it took a little while before he just started looking like him again, about 45 minutes i'd say, so not that long really.
it was funny to be together after so much time. we, of course, know each other well but there was also something a bit foreign about him that was great. we didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing or running around really. i introduced him to my couple close friends here, which was lots of fun. otherwise we basically just talked and spent time together. it was really nice to catch up with him more than anything, and to have him in my space here. i was super-entertained by the fact that i had him in my apartment. funny.
we went down to reggio emilia which is a pretty small city in emilia romagna (a food famous italian region, the home of parmigiano, prosciutto, culatello and balsamico). we basically just hung around the mile wide downtown area of which our hotel was in the center. we got out saturday night to eat dinner at a fancy restaurant in parma. the food was good, but i don't know why we keep trying to do the fancy restaurant thing. we've been over it for a while - maybe nostalgia? so, it's time to cut it out. otherwise we just spent really good quality time together...surrounded by delicious food...in italy. not so bad really.
since he left on wed, i've mostly been hiding out in my apartment. i've left a couple of times to run errands and get together with friends, but for the most part...hibernation. it's been great actually. tomorrow more me-time and then maybe a drink with a friend.
i really have a major urge to start blog posting in italian, but seeing as how approximately 100% of the (i'm thinking five or so) readers of this blog don't speak italian...it wouldn't really make sense. it occurs to me that i could start another, but let's be honest; if i'm not keeping up with this one, do we really think that i'll write two? no we do not. so - english. for now.
i was talking to a friend the other night and she reminded me that i have a blog that - embarassingly enough - i had completely forgotten about. i'm sure i would have remembered eventually on my own, but the reminder certainly didn't hurt.
so. it's been about two and a half weeks since i wrote my last entry. i don't even remember what it was about. maybe i'll go back and read it. i actually somehow feel like a different person again. my state of mind has completely changed since before bill came, which is quite strange considering that it was less than two weeks ago. i am so so glad that we had a break from school. i was on the verge.
bill came on wednesday april 8th and it was really amazing to see him. when i first saw him at the airport, he looked kind of strange and unfamiliar to me. it took a little while before he just started looking like him again, about 45 minutes i'd say, so not that long really.
it was funny to be together after so much time. we, of course, know each other well but there was also something a bit foreign about him that was great. we didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing or running around really. i introduced him to my couple close friends here, which was lots of fun. otherwise we basically just talked and spent time together. it was really nice to catch up with him more than anything, and to have him in my space here. i was super-entertained by the fact that i had him in my apartment. funny.
we went down to reggio emilia which is a pretty small city in emilia romagna (a food famous italian region, the home of parmigiano, prosciutto, culatello and balsamico). we basically just hung around the mile wide downtown area of which our hotel was in the center. we got out saturday night to eat dinner at a fancy restaurant in parma. the food was good, but i don't know why we keep trying to do the fancy restaurant thing. we've been over it for a while - maybe nostalgia? so, it's time to cut it out. otherwise we just spent really good quality time together...surrounded by delicious food...in italy. not so bad really.
since he left on wed, i've mostly been hiding out in my apartment. i've left a couple of times to run errands and get together with friends, but for the most part...hibernation. it's been great actually. tomorrow more me-time and then maybe a drink with a friend.
i really have a major urge to start blog posting in italian, but seeing as how approximately 100% of the (i'm thinking five or so) readers of this blog don't speak italian...it wouldn't really make sense. it occurs to me that i could start another, but let's be honest; if i'm not keeping up with this one, do we really think that i'll write two? no we do not. so - english. for now.
Monday, April 6, 2009
on and on
ever since a friend told me about a completely amazing streaming tv site, i've been hooked. something about dark comedy has been deeply satisfying lately. i watched four seasons of weeds in two weeks. now i'm onto dexter. it's completely amazing in a totally sick way and i'm in love.
school's going fine. time is passing, and i'm managing to somehow pull good work out of my ass. i have no idea where it's coming from, but i'll take it. bill's coming in two and a half days. i can't wait to see him. i can'hardly believe that it's been three months already. time is flying by.
i started thinking about work today. i'm dreading the job search. i've actually been musing about california a lot lately. i don't really know why but it keeps jumping into my head. who knows? maybe we'll move back there. i certainly wouldn't say no to the land of no winter. after this past one (not really) in milan, i don't think i can go back to chicago for another freezing ass seven months of indoor sports. it's just too damn cold and too damn grey.
school's going fine. time is passing, and i'm managing to somehow pull good work out of my ass. i have no idea where it's coming from, but i'll take it. bill's coming in two and a half days. i can't wait to see him. i can'hardly believe that it's been three months already. time is flying by.
i started thinking about work today. i'm dreading the job search. i've actually been musing about california a lot lately. i don't really know why but it keeps jumping into my head. who knows? maybe we'll move back there. i certainly wouldn't say no to the land of no winter. after this past one (not really) in milan, i don't think i can go back to chicago for another freezing ass seven months of indoor sports. it's just too damn cold and too damn grey.
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