home bodied

it's st. patrick's day, you say.
the holiday when everyone's irish, you say.
you're in ireland, you say.
why are you home posting a blog entry?! you say.

because I'm a home body. Never been much of a party-animal... social butterfly... none of that. I'm sure it would be an experience, not a 'real irish experience' though, so I think I'll pass.

to celebrate, I went to the parade this morning, went out for a guinness and a burger (in an american bar, mind you, because all of the irish pubs were packed to the doors), did some travel research, did some dance/yoga in my room, took a show, and am now going to bed.

I really do love St. Patrick's Day. Really. But I have it every day, the music, the rain, the language.
Why spoil it with some drunken blaggard?

more on my home-bodied-ness to come, I'm sure.

moods

do you ever feel like the only way to get out of a mood is to surrendur yourself to it?

I find that I can often survive the world's ups and downs by simply going for the ride. Now this may not be rocket science, but I've realized that beyond just 'going with the flow' there are times where I need to indulge in particular up or down.

Perhaps I'm feeling a bit melancholy... I watch a particular movie that you would think perpetuates m melancholiness but give me a little while and I'll be on the up-swing again. Or maybe I'm feeling completely elated (probably from something very small) and I can listen to the same song over and over again until I come down a bit and stop giggling.

Some people may need to completely distract themselves from their moods... I have go hand-in-hand with mine, I think.

At times, though, it can be too much. The music touches me too much or a movie pulls too much or a conversation causes too much thinking... and I get the point and move on.

I recently banned listening to Greg Brown for a while. I love his music, down-home blues and feel-good songs. But I listened to it so much that it got me in this painful cycle, imagining things that are wonderful to imagine but way too far in advance to think so much about. So I'm taking a break from Greg Brown (whom I like so much he's probably in my Top 5) for a little while...

it will be good for me. I've got two videos on the way. I haven't had much time because my internship began this past week, but they will be up soon enough.

obscure but not too far out, right?

an italian view: explained

here's a brief overview of the things I did in Italy, by way of my video:


1. Antonello (the owner) took us to see this guy Bernardo, who runs the horseback riding with Antonello's guests. He likes to lasso people, loves Johnny Cash, and memorizes old cowboy movies. Quite a character.

2. On the same trip (t0 the waterfall) we were driving down this road when Antonello stopped and said to this guy tending to his horse, "hey I know you" and then they went through all the possible ways they could know each other (ended up being from school). The guy invited us for some vino (second time that day) and a chat. Matilda, Jay, and I took the vino, not the chat.

3. We drove up into the Abruzzi mountains to play in the snow... it was quite a lot of snow and quite a lot of playing.

4. We went to this pensione where D. H. Lawrence once stayed... nothing really amazing... that's his bed there and they even have his shoes.

5. We had tea at the D. H. Lawrence place, not very Italian... but then we topped it off with all sorts of cheese. Mmm...

6. Exploring ruined houses that were abandoned more than fifty years ago... I found this beautiful tile too... sweet...

7. We went to see this shepard who makes cheese the traditional way, with the lamb stomach enzyme and everything. He makes pecorino and ricotta, both delicious but maybe not at 5:30 in the morning...


and that's the brief overview! It was such a crazy trip but it was really good for me to be away from the city and do some honest hardwork.

ciao bello.