Room to Think

Today's Florence Friday   is a simple video I came across in my "research".  That's right people, I'm posting on time this time. That's not to say that I'm not WAY behind in my homework, or my job search, or episodes of my TV shows, or hanging out with all my friends, or redoing my resume for the 71st time.  I just can't seem to focus on anything right now.  I researched Search Engine Optimization last night for a workshop I'm teaching this morning, but I'm using the data this blog has generated so it's only fair that I give you all a post.  =) The video?  It's called "Venice in a Day",  Venizia en un giorno . (I wonder how capitalization is in Italy...do they capitalize all the words in a title?) And it's beautiful. Hope all your Fridays are sunny like today!

All right everyone.  Finals are over, and despite my new effort to get to bed at a decent hour (as my new schedule doesn't enable me to sleep in until noon anymore), I suppose I can pull out a Florence Friday that's more of an update.  It's about time.  =) In my last Florence Friday, I told you all that 2 of 2 emails that I sent out after Mr. Franco's response to me have been answered. Since my letter to Mr. Franco was so carelessly responded to, I decided not to put too much effort into the email to his superior in Washington D.C. Mind you, I just copied and pasted his name from somewhere else. I didn't even make the effort to insert that special symbol over the "a" in his name. I actually don't know if Mr. Carlo here is Mr. Franco's superior--in fact, I'm almost sure he isn't.  But just because I emailed someone in D.C. sure made me feel like I was contacting Mr. Franco's superior.  =P I did, however, give Mr. Carlo the...

I suppose it's only fitting that today's Florence Friday be about The Italian Carnival, as it just ended on Tuesday. "The Carnival starts 58 days before Easter and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Marte di Grasso, the day before Ash Wednesday." -Wikipedia It's been held (officially) in Venice every year since 1979.  The Italian government decided they needed to bring back Venitian history and culture, and Carnevale seemed like the best way to start. **So, Venice isn't Florence, but, it's close enough, right?** "Teatime" by Horst Raack It was voted 2012's La Maschera piu bella" (Best Mask) Supposedly this "Best Mask" contest is held in the last week of the Carnival and is voted on by a panel of international costume and fashion designers. I'm digging her hat.  Horst Raack also won in 2011 and 2009. There's also another fancy designer who won Best Mask three times as well: Tanja Shulz-Hess . ...

Roman Amphitheatre in Volterra Good morning!  It's a beautiful Florence Friday and I'm cheery not because of the weather, but because I just skipped an interview with a potential employer...on purpose.  (but that is a post for another time) In truth, I'm still in my bed, so I can't see what Bellingham looks like today, but it's certainly not sunny. And I just checked the weather in Florence... It's not so cheery there, either.  30degrees Fahrenheit and it's drizzling. (shouldn't it be snowing then?) Regardless of the weather, I'm still terribly excited about Italy.  I haven't made much progress in planning my Italy trip since last Friday, and blogging has made me acutely aware of how quickly the weeks go by.  I'm still a little disgruntled about Mr. Franco's email to me. But one of the reasons I've always been drawn to Italy (and Greece) is the ancient history built into the cities. I'm a huge fan of Gre...

Let me start out with this.                      That's right people, there are Segway tours in Florence. AND I'm over 18. So I can ride one all by myself. So I did some more research and found this pixellated lie: Small print: 1 hour=18 Euros This ad is design genius.  Because the things that really are offered "free of charge" are the maps and the helmets, and they live in the "Free of charge" oval.  You have to  pay   for the segway rental.  That's why it lives outside the "free" oval.   Pure. Marketing. Genius.   Lure in the stupid Americans like me. 18 Euros an hour isn't so much...but on a student's budget? Yeah... I'll do it someday. Bike Rentals are much cheaper.  They're 10 Euros a day for students.  I can rock yellow, can't I? On another note...I received some bad news last Friday. We all know I inten...

THIS JUST IN: I was checking my blog stats the other day, and it said I had 130 pageviews, and when I went to break it down, it showed: 129 America, 1 Germany. That's right people.  I have an  international audience.     Hallo Germany! They're probably the 2% running Linux, too.  Too cool, Germany.  Too cool. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...anyhow. TODAY IS FLORENCE FRIDAY!!!!!!  And that calls for a picture. ah! it snows it Florence too!  =D  I'm so happy!  Those umbrellas confuse me, though... The photo above is from Melinda Gallo 's facebook page.  I just googled "Florence Italy blog" and hers was right on top.  I think, perhaps, I'll start following her...if only for the pictures.  =) I ought to make a checklist of all the things I need to do before I go.  Oh wait.  I already have one...and it keeps GROWING. On the ...

Welcome to Florence, Italy Firenze, Italia Last year, I was rejected from the graphic design program at WWU.  I don't blame them.  At the time, I blamed budget cuts and the fact that I was already a Junior for my rejection.  But now I can't even open my portfolio without wanting to change something. I procrastinated, rushed, and came out with design pieces that were definitely below par.  I'm actually glad they rejected me.  Because that forced me to pursue plan B:  sending myself to an international design school in Italy.   It's called the Florence Design Academy .  And it's "50metres away from the Piazza Duomo"...which I hear is tourist central.  The school teaches classes in English... which is GREAT.  But also offers an Italian language course so  I can read my way home should I get lost  exploring...or be able to convince some cute Italian boy to walk me home. =) I chose the school because it was i...