July 26, 2006 Archives

out of control

posted by catherine / July 26, 2006 / 5 comments /

i just realized my potential travel plans for the next year are kind of insane. insane in an awesome way. on the radar and most likely if not definitely happening:

  • the outer banks
  • assateague island (admittedly these two locations are not all that exotic or travel-y, but still! beach and sand and sun!)
  • charlottesville (admittedly not that exotic or travel-y either, but still the prettiest college town ever, even if charles does think jefferson was a dandy)
  • san diego to see the soon-to-be-deployed brother

    a little more sketchy but still really want to do!

  • maybe hightail it to london and drop in on the aventinis?
  • the amalfi coast?! mrs. gray brought this up in conversation the other evening and i nearly started hyperventilating. if i could get back to that area of italy i'd be one happy camper. one because it's absurdly beautiful, two because my favorite restaurant in italy is located there, and three because it might mean a chance to see naples again. i was reminded of how much exactly i love that city while reading eat, pray, love, a book my dad passed on to me recently (as one third of it is set in italy and i am automatically the repository of all books remotely related to italy, whether they're actually good or not). the book is funny but slight, not mind-blowing but an enjoyable read. and it had a passage in it that reminded me distinctly of everything that is awesome about the city. to wit:
    Immediately, just a few hours later, we are on the train, and then - like magic - we are there. I instantly love Naples. Wild, raucous, noisy, dirty, balls-out Naples. An anthill inside a rabbit warren, with all the exoticism of a Middle Eastern bazaar and a touch of New Orleans voodoo. A tripped-out, dangerous and cheerful nuthouse. My friend Wade came to Naples in the 1970s and was mugged...in a museum. The city is all decorated with laundry that hangs from every window and dangles acoss every street, everybody's fresh-washed undershirts and brassieres flapping in the wind like Tibetan prayer flags. There is not a street in Naples in which some tough little kid is not screaming up from the sidewalk to some other tough little kid on a rooftop nearby. Nor is there a building in this town that doesn't have at least one crooked old woman seated at her window, peering suspiciously down at the activity below.

    the author also goes on to note that "The people here are so insanely psyched to be from Naples, and why shouldn't they be? This is a city that gave the world pizza and ice cream."

    word.

    naples and my trip to southern italy here.

  • a thousand times yes!

    posted by tom / July 26, 2006 / 8 comments /

    Some things about Pavement that I fully endorse. Well, okay, not fully-fully — Crooked Rain really does have their best songs. On the other hand, it also has "Hit The Plane Down".

    Brighten The Corners is a bit more consistent, I think. And Stereogum is also totally, totally right in defending Malkmus's much-maligned eponymous debut — I really think it's the best of his solo efforts. I guess there are two camps of Pavement fans: those who liked the band for its scraggly pop, and those who prefer its ponderous low-fi noodling. I belong squarely in the first category, and so does that album.

    Anyway, sorry for the lack of blogging recently (although Catherine's been picking up the slack admirably). We're moving into a new office, which has given me the opportunity to waste a lot of time playing with our new phone system and, uh, trying to make a company-themed skin for the softmodded xbox I'll be contributing to the new digs. Constructive uses of my time, as you can see.

    grandissimo

    posted by catherine / July 26, 2006 / 1 comment /

    one of my favorite stupid things about the el in chicago would be that when you were riding the red line downtown and approaching the grand station, the disembodied announcer voice would inform you that, "this...is grand." and i always said to myself, "yes, yes it is!"

    but apparently that's now changed, sadly, and when i found out i wept a little tear.

    life in the foreign service

    posted by catherine / July 26, 2006 / 1 comment /

    the past two mornings npr has had a couple of interesting pieces on life in the foreign service. having heard stories growing up from my grandparents and mother (my grandfather was a career foreign service officer and ambassador, from tunisia to saudi arabia to colombia to kuwait), and being friends with KG, i know the work of a foreign service officer is not always as romantic as it may seem to outsiders. and it can be particularly hard on children and spouses. anyway, i recommend listening.

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