milan often gets a rap as the crappy city of italy: industrial, hurried, grey, crowded, business-minded. a lot of that is true. milan is dirty; there is graffiti and trash everywhere; there are huge, charmless financial districts; it's home to the most nuclear mosquitos in the world; and it rains a hell of a lot. i hated the city when i first moved there and wished that i had found a school in almost any other part of the country.

but by the time i left, i was enamored. milan is not without its charms and beauty, though it might take some searching to find them. i was reminded of that when i came across these lovely photos, taken by naomi when she spent a weekend in milan. i miss the city.

i'd like to give props (that is a super lame term even though i use it all the time) to kriston, justin, matty and others in defending not only the right of gays to marry, but also the constitution, so eloquently and correctly over at this discussion. rock on. i've removed myself from the brouhaha because that guy makes me so mad that i'd just explode into a ball of incoherent rage if i tried to explain my views.