Venice

So we're in Venice which feels a bit like 1938 except for with cell phones. Old men walk together in posses smoking pipes and dressed ridiculously well. The buildings are all ancient looking and you feel like wherever you are walking could crumble and fall into the Adriatic Sea at any moment. Its sort of a wonderful and exciting feeling actually. Visually its like what every Disney park strives to be in its "medieval" town. You can feel the history in every tiny alley that you will enivetably because lost in.

Yesterday we took off without a plan or route and decided we'd just get completely lost and wander the streets forever. This was fun until we were hungry and had to pee a few hours later. Because of there being no other tourists in most of the places we went nobody spoke English and the extent of our Italian is Buongiorno and Grazie and Alfredo.

Asking for directions is 1/5 times helfpul. Often you will be sent in some random direction because there is no logical route to anything. You sort of have to make time for getting lost at some point. We went to St. Mark's Square which was really awesome but we had to walk through the busiest and most expensive area. Once we got to the square its hugeness was a very intense feeling.






Its majesty was cheapened by all the souvenir vendors, gondola hawkers, and ROSE SELLERS! A guy who's first language was neither English or Italian walked up and tried to shove a rose into our hands. We said we didn't want to buy anything and continued to walk away but he ran after us trying to put it in our hands. We said we didn't want to buy anything and he said: "No no no!" and I asked: "You're telling me this is free?" and he was like: "YES" and shoved it in my hand. I was like: "Um, okaay..." and we akwardly walked away. He followed so closely behind us I was constantly checking my pockets and looking behind me. He started saying: "Okay, just give me a little money..." and we said: "You said it was free!" and he said: "I have no job! No money!" I took one look at his Gucci jeans and Pumas and shoved the flower back in his hands and we walked away.

The first day we walked one half of Venice and then today we walked all over the other half. From St. Mark's we walked down to the Giardini Pubblici. Joel found a bathroom and the swings and that was fun. There was this big tortoise-shell shaped swing. There was also elderly exercise equipment.

‎Indirizzo:

VENICE

More too come.
Crappy expensive internet.
















Someone almost stole the camera. No joke.




















Mario. Venice's best dressed and cleavage afficionado.

London Calling

SOOO there was some kind of mechanical failure and we had to emergency stop in Montreal overnight. They put me up in a creepy Quality Inn but whatevs. My flight left at 10:30am Montreal time and I got here around 10pm London time. It was a bit of a nightmare but I was alone and had no baggage to drop off or check so it was all good.

On the plane I sat with my Nana in 20 years but Irish. She was ancient and asked me awkward questions like: "Do you think that man will bomb us?" and stuff.

I'm in London now at the hostel. I'm so tired. We have to leave in a few hours to go to Gatwick so I'm afraid I won't see ANYTHING in London. I just had a shower and I have sent Joel out to bring me food, contact lens solution, and razors. He is so happy I'm here I'm finding it easy to make him my slave. lol. Actually, its because I'm so dead tired I can barely keep my eyeballs open

I took the tube. It was ridiculously easy. I looked into the Gap and the Gap looked into me....

Packing List

This isn't so much a meme as a comment thread from Pajiba's Dustin's Eloquent Christmas Buying Guide.

This Christmas, if money were no object, what would you buy for:

1) Your Parents
2) Your Significant Other
3) Your Child(ren)
4) Your Best Friend
-------------------------------------------------------

1. I'd get my parents a vacation place down in Puerto Vallarta or maybe a place in San Francisco for the winter. (I know it snowed there this winter, but still, it'd be beautiful).

2. Malamute Puppy! He seriously wants one of these little guys so badly. Plus it would also be a bit of a gift for me because I will get to play with it and love it and snuggle it, but it will be his job to take it out to poo in the middle of the night and feed it and train it, etc etc.

3. For children I'm going to say Annie and Meredith because they are like little sisters.
For Meredith I'd get her a really nice condo downtown where she could have everything organized to her specific way and she could also sleep whenever she wanted to and watch whatever she wanted on tv. Maybe also a sexy live in butler.
For Annie I guess I'd get her some kind of Mr. Universe pad so she'd never have to leave her room and could just live from her office chair.

4. I'd get her a full wardrobe of regency period costumes and a country house with regency period staff where she could live out her life LARPing with Laura and whenever we visit her we aren't allowed on the grounds without regency costume.

Cyborg!

This was an email to my mum in the middle of the night, but I'd like to reuse it as a blog entry as I choose to convey the same message.

Pretty much discovered the best branch of anthropology tonight.

CYBORG ANTHROPOLOGY!

It was launched as a genuine subspeciality at the AAA (American Anthropological Association) in '93 but I've never heard about it before! Here's an article about it. (converted to HTML for convenience.)

I can't read the whole thing right now, but I just came across it in that article I brought from home ("Science, Technology and Human Values") and the thought of it has been exciting me. It reminds me of Susan Calvin (from the Asimov books) who's a "robopsychologist". I SHOULD BECOME THE FIRST ROBO-PSYCHOLOGIST!!

I can't wait for robots to start developing their own cultural pratices and beliefs. My own computer likes to turn French every hour or so. Is it right of me to make it understand English, when it's obviously its second language and we both speak both? Now that technology can "outsmart" humans, are they sentient and is it possible to "own" them? ARE THEY OUR SLAVES? I'm so distracted right now.

Christmas Music

There is only one good Christmas song in the world.




You know its true!