Postcard Collection

I've been home sick for three days and have been too tired to do much. I am tempted, with all this time, to bind books, organize shelves, bake cookies, got o the store. Then I fall asleep instead. Today I sat on the floor and sorted through postcards, mostly stuff I brought back from Europe, though also from friends and things I've had for a while. I but a bunch of things together but now I am too tired to hang it on the wall. But here is a glimpse of images that inspire me.

Lazy Days

the baptistry at Pisa 

Here's a secret: I am an unambitious traveller right now. Ok, my ankle has been freaking out a little and I overpacked and that combination makes long walks unfun. So , I got to Pisa, sat in front of the tower and thought, yup, it leans. It is actually neat to see, so I sat in the grass in front of it, listening to Amps for Christ and not worrying about anything. Then came the grey cold weather that is not a part of summer in my head. My favorite place in in Pisa: the post office in Piazza Victor Emmanuel. Beautiful and helpful. And not very far from this Keith Haring mural that is in this city for reasons unknown to me.
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Keith Haring was here

 My second day in Pisa I thought I would try out Lucca, the prettier sister to the north. Really I wanted to go back to the beach but since I was in Pisa...the rain has been following me like a gloomy omen. I try and not let it spoil my day which is how I walked in circles around Lucca, half limping, half in the rain. I know better than to complain. Because it is still beautiful. I sat in a cafe, ordered coffee and a cookie and drew. The waiter told me that they say "cappucio" in Lucca too (as opposed to cappucino) that it isn't a Milanese thing. Still, I might stick to espresso in Rome till I figure it out.

lonely bench in Lucca

 

view from the wall surrounding Lucca

Padua/Padova

Again, the places I expect the least from always impress. I went to Padua to visit the Scrovegni Chapel because I somehow missed it two years ago. I allowed myself a few hours in town before catching a speeding train back to Milan to return to school. The Chapel is well worth the trouble of a reservation, arriving early, sitting in a pre-visit chamber all to stand for fifteen minutes in the middle of a chapel covered entirely by frescoes completed seven hundred years ago. I don't have any photos because 1)you can find photos online and 2) the photos always look too small. It was amazing.

The chapel is in the middle of the former Roman Forum, ye olde center of town, which is now a public garden. Padua is built on layers and layers of time. They even seem to stack up the plants. Spring is very kind here when it is not raining.

There is also a sculpture garden, which, echoing the theme of the city, piles old and new all together in haphazard harmony. I don't know why it works. But the 1960's style office buildings and old venetian style houses stacked up together made for a nice afternoon of walking the wrong way over and over.

Florence, part I

I had two days off of school this week so I took the train to Florence to visit some of my art history lessons. I went two years ago, but this time there were no crowds, no heat, and short lines. It was supposed to rain, but it held off for 2 days while I walked up and down hills at the edge of town and sat for a long time on ledges overlooking tuscan hills that are famous for a reason.



On the second day, I waited at a bus stop while ominous clouds formed overhead. I stepped on the bus and it began to pour. The bus sped through the city center and then up the backside of a hill, up a twisty road lined with glittery wet trees and huge fancy houses. It dropped me off in front of a beautiful church. The clouds were clearing, the sun was setting and lights turned on all over Florence. I sat inside the church to listen to vespers sung by Benedictine Monks before walking home in the dark.

Game On!

Phew! After a whirl-wind weekend trip to Tennessee to see my 95 year-old grandma, I am back. I sold out of two datebooks in two days before I left but my etsy shop is back up, online and stocked.



Along with getting ready for my show (less than 2 weeks!), and eating meals with Andy, I have been getting things together for my 4 months in Italy. There will be postcards from Italy so if you have a subscription to Keep Writing, you will continue to receive postcards. I am working out exactly how it will all work, but there will be some letterpress, and some other media. As of February 1 I will no longer have a "permanent" address but my sister has so graciously agreed to let me use hers. Stay tuned. I am going to try to focus on the present while eating candy cane oreos. Thanks to Daniel for this photo of his room displaying his collection of Keep Writing postcards!



Also, if you were looking for past postcards because you missed out on the first few years, Ms. Valerie Park Distro has purchased all the remaining cards and is selling them in assorted packs of ten. I assembled them so I know you get ten different cards in each pack!

"So, How's School Going?"

No joke, this is how I feel. Even after a day or two off for pumpkin carving, fancy cocktails, napping, and casual, meandering bike riding, I'm back to this. No complaints though. Trying to make time for friends, keeping things in perspective and remembering that in February I am going to Milan for 4 months of school! How's that for a last semester of undergrad. Of course, at the moment I should be studying for an Italian midterm. But it takes me so long to update y'all. Here it is:



These are posters I screened for an upcoming show in Baton Rouge. I will be there indeed. Even if I have to drive straight back from the New Orleans Bookfair, which I will. Andy asked me to do these before Circle Takes the Square was added to the show even though it looks like I should be getting parital credit in from them this semester.



But here are the goods. A detail from one of the panels I have been working on. Lovely. The image is something Lorraine sent me. I love it. Now back to conjugating verbs.

Ciao!

Turns out, I have forgotten most of the italian I may have learned last summer. This morning while trying to pick up a packet for school at the copy shop, a man asked me what language I speak. Since Mumble is not an international language, Gesturing would suffice.

I made it to Frascati, just outside Rome, in good time only to get lost looking for the hotel. I suspect it is good sport for locals to watch us try and get around. I wonder if this is an indication of what it will be like to get around Rome.

I have photos for you but I can't get them onto the computer yet.

Tomorrow we start wandering the city as part of my art history class. While this is not the most economical way to visit Rome, I should know a lot about medival Roman architecture when I leave.

This town is small, on a hill, just ourside Rome. My roommate and I have counted no fewer than five gelati shops. Yesterday in the main piazza there was a group of people of varying ages playing drums and singing. The only word I could read was 'yoga' and there was something like the laying of hands going on. Italian New Agers? Maybe. For now I am sticking to coffee and walking in circles.