day 175

hey, i need some votes.
check out the link below and send some votes my way. it could mean getting the image published in the next issue of JPG Magazine, which i would not complain about.

http://www.jpgmag.com/photos/2000461

day 174

i don't necessarily like to post links to other neat internets-stuffs, but this is one i could not resist.

http://progressiveboink.com/archive/peanuts-by-charles-bukowski/

fucking brilliant!

(oh, and the pic doesn't really have much to do with the link, but i just felt the need to post a pic. this was taken at tommy's park in portland, me)

day 173

i had a 26 hour layover in paris on my way home from florence. before my flight split i took on a quick walking tour of paris just to take in a few sights and stretch the legs before boarding the plane. along my walk, a vendor was selling off t-shirts, which is where i snapped this image.

the image is fairly popular. i have seen it many times over the last...shit, 10-11 years. i have even seen it framed and for sale in bed, bath & beyond stores, etc.

for me, the image will forever remind me of you. i remember the poster, which you brought back from paris, hanging on your wall. and from there, my memories spider-web out. wow, that is all i can say, wow. being woken up by your ex standing over us while you and i slept on an extremely hot denton summer night. your pigtails, the big black "x"s on the back of my hands while we hit red square retro. your leather whip and perfect breasts. the amazing image of walking into your apartment to find you painting. i always loved your work, and i especially loved the fact that you would paint in a shear and lacy bra.

i don't have any way of actually contacting you now. but i think you check this on occasion, so i figured i would share here. i just wanted to share with you how along my walk i see this image. literally stop dead in my tracks and get overwhelmed with a rush of memories from a decade ago. the best part, it left a grin on my face as i continued my parisian stroll.

hope you are well and i hope you are still turning out beautiful art

day 172

well this kinda blows. there is no wireless internet access at the hotel in Rome. they have a puter downstairs, which i am using now, with the internets. but, i can't use this one to add photos from the days trek's. so, looks like i will have to add an ass-load of photo and words when we return to florence. there, i know we will have internet access.

either way, Rome is pretty neat. and pretty darn old as well.

day 171.3

like i said, short legs ain't shit with stairs!


listen closely to the short legged one's breath

day 171.2

might as well introduce the players.

the short legged one - mom

the "i smell art near" - dad

day 171

and we're off!

hazelnut and pistachio gelato. funny story about this gelato. when i went to pay, i handed it to my mother to hold while i juggled a camera and money and change, etc. i had bought it, and conveyed this, to photograph THEN eat. when i turn around, my moms is onto her third or fourth bite. then after about 4 bites of my own, my dad turns around to point to something old and knocks it to the ground. it was the first good tast of the day and this was around 6:30 pm. i love my parents, i really really really do.

needed an ass load of this shit to keep the hunger pangs at bay and to keep up with the short legged one i call mom



okay, another day down.

lotta walkin' around, which is to be expected. the weather was amazing. sunny and cool with a great breeze.

i am actually pretty damn exhausted at the moment. my mother has the energy of a 13 year old girl on a cocktail of speed and soda. i don't know how her short legs carry her so fast. it is like she is sprinting constantly. i can't keep up! the majority of the views i have had of my parents have been from behind. notice the pics.

i did start my day with a run. i went early enough and found a safe walking path so that i didn't have to dodge too many crazy drivers. i was able to get 8.29 miles in, so it was a nice start to the day.

after that, it was pretty much following the parents around from museum to museum to any other shiny object my mother became fixated on along the way.

i have to admit, my parents need to learn about good food. i love the south, and i love the food of the south. but i will admit, it doesn't exactly breed a cultured palette. on top of that, my father is on a special diet of nothing but meat and greens. this makes finding a place to eat a bit more difficult when one person in your party (the one with the biggest appetite) can't eat any past or baked goods.

it also doesn't help that they are rarely exposed to food good enough to make you yearn to eat, instead of eat to simply sustain. so i want to be gluttonous and have some amazing fresh pasta and homemade sauces and dig in to scrumptious-ness i can't readily find in maine. give me the real shit!

in fact, i didn't care too much about the museums. i don't plan on shopping for any italian fashions. the main indulgence for me on this trip was to be food, and photographing great food.

the trip has been nice, but i definitely wish my parents were more into their food. maybe, after my father heads back to germany, and my mother and i split for rome, i can take more control over the food situation. maybe even create my own version of a pallette re-education camp.

so my moms may be sprinter on the flats, but she can't do steps for shit with her short little legs (it was over 400 steps to the top for her. listne closesly for her breathing)

day 170

just a quick note. i wlll write more a bit later when i have more time and energy.

i landed in Florence earlier today...luckily. i missed my connecting flight out of paris and was told that there were no more available seats for the remainder of the day. then, without question, a ticket and seat number landed in my hand.

so here are a few shots from a quick hour or two of wondering around Florence. more to come.