Monday, August 28, 2006

I'm Back!

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.
- Leonardo da Vinci

Greetings All! I greatly apologize for not posting in such a long time. You know how it goes. I had my trip to Italy (which you should all be aware of) and then I had my first week of classes. That and my own laziness has prevented me from posting in so long. So, truly, I apologize. But, I have returned and plan on sticking around for a while! I’m sure that brings tears of joy to your eyes ^_^ !

The First Week
So, with that over with, I can confidently say that this past week has been a pretty good one. My first week of classes went by with virtually no hitches! I love it when that happens. I’m taking pretty much all art classes this semester. I’ve got my first graphic design course (YAY!), I’m taking a mass media/mass culture course (the study of American pop culture and how media affects it), an animation course, and a digital imaging course. The only class I’m taking that isn’t an art course is my western civilization course. So, suffice it to say, I love every single class I’m taking. This is going to be such an awesome semester! The only hitch in the week had nothing to do with school itself. It was my roommate. The one who I had been assigned before the school year started just never showed up. I never got word as to what was going on with him, but he’s not coming this semester. So they shoved some other guy in there with me. But, for the first 3 days of class, I had an entire room to myself. That was great! And as it’s looking now, I might just have the entire room to myself for most of the year because it’s been three days since I last saw my roommate. He hasn’t even returned to change clothes or shower. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but I’m fine with it. If he doesn’t show up by Monday I’m going to report it to the R.A.. Though, as of now I’m not too concerned. And that was my week!


My Trip to Italy – Day 0 and 1 (Click Here for Photo Album)
It was a long trip. Lots of stuff happened and there is a lot to report on. So rather than reporting on the entire trip in one post, I’m going to do a day or two of it with each post. It is courteous to you, the readers, and it frees up my time since I don’t have to sit down and type out a massive post. So, without further ado, on with my trip!

If you read the post I did right before this one, you can hear about pretty much most of how my day of travel went. I have affectionately labeled that day Day 0. Nothing of real importance to the week happened so I don’t really consider it to be much a part of the trip. Just know that my family and I eventually arrived in Italy with all our baggage accounted for. After we landed in Rome, we immediately rented a car and took off north towards Florence. We stopped for the night in a town called Orvietto. Thus ends Day 0.

We kicked off Day 1 by taking off in our car towards the old city. Orvietto, like most (if not all) cities in Italy was once a walled city. Inside the wall, not much of the city has changed since the Middle Ages. This is part of what makes Italy such a cool place to visit. Not only are you visiting a foreign country, but you are also visiting a living piece of the past. So cool! We didn’t stay long in Orvietto. Of all the medieval walled cities, it is not the most spectacular, but it’s duomo (“church” in Italian) is absolutely incredible! The structure itself is amazing, yes, but it’s what they put on the structure that made it so captivating. They actually put mosaic tiles all the way up the front of the building. I’m sure that in the right sunlight, the entire face of the building would glimmer as if speckled with thousands of priceless gems. Quite an amazing structure. The inside is much less spectacular and in comparison to the outside of the building, quite bland and boring.

Our next stop on Day 1 was a small city (if it can be called that) about 45 minutes outside of Orvietto called Civita. The “city” itself is perched up on top of what appears to be a peak. There are only 15-or-so permanent residents of the city. Most of it has been purchased by rich Romans and Florentines who use it as a summer retreat. There was once a natural bridge to get over to the city, but that has since eroded away and there now stands a long man-made walk bridge which spans the cavern. We spent about an hour or so exploring the little city. It was really amazing. It fascinated me that people actually lived in a place like that. Very cool. Check out the photo gallery of Day 0 and 1 to read and see a little more about the city.

From Civita we went further north to Siena. Siena is considered to be one of the best preserved Medieval cities in all of Italy, if not Europe. And, after seeing it I can understand why. It is very Medieval looking. All the streets are very narrow, all the buildings are 3 to 4 stories tall, there is a large piazza (“plaza” in Italian) at the center of town where they would have set up a marketplace. The function of that piazza hasn’t changed much either. It is still used as a marketplace and there are restaurants all around the side of it. We ate lunch at one such restaurant. Although, that is not the only use for the piazza. Twice a year it is converted into a horse-racing track and bleachers are set up all around. We were there the week of this biannual festival. There were banners set up all around the city for the 9 districts which compete in the race, there were bleachers set up, and there was apparently an abnormally large number of people in the city while we were there.

Our last stop of the day was a small town near Florence called San Gimignano (pronounced Sahn Giminyahnoh. I hope that helps a little ^_^). It was one of my favorite stops of the week. This city was also a walled city, so I knew kind of what to expect. What made this city so interesting was the way it was built. There were tall towers throughout the city, the well they used to use was still in place (and still had water in it!), the walls were all standing and from the top of them there were some spectacular views. But, the towers are what really makes this city such an interesting place. I really felt like I was in the middle ages. I had a blast exploring this city with my dad. My mom and sister unfortunately didn’t join us on our little expedition. They decided they wanted to shop. So, we let them shop on the main street of the city while we explored. They missed out. It was an awesome place. From San Gimignano we drove to Florence where we spent the night and all of Day 2. Look forward to my next post to hear about Florence!

With that I’ll consider my post to be complete! I’m going to try to make it around to a few or your sites today. I apologize in advance if I don’t make it to yours. I hope you all have a wonderful day and I’ll see ya ‘round TheO! Sayonara!

Caesar1280's Anime Ticker

.hack//Legend of the Twilight, Air, Air: The Movie, Akira, The Animatrix, Appleseed, Aquatic Language, Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror, Beck, Black Lagoon, Blame!, Blood the Last Vampire, Bokurano, Burst Angel, Castle in the Sky, Cowboy Bebop, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express, Egao, FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala, Gankutsuou, Gatekeepers, Genshiken, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society, Gin-iro no Kami no Agito, Grave of the Fireflies, Grenadier, Haibane Renmei, Hellsing, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, Hikaru no Go, Howl?s Moving Castle, Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Jyu Oh Sei, Karas: The Prophecy, Last Exile, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Midori?s Days, Milennium Actress, Mushi-shi, My Neighbor Totoro, Naruto, Naruto: The Movie, Nausicaa, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death And Rebirth, Ninja Scroll: The Movie, Other Worlds, Paprika, Perfect Blue, Pet Shop of Horrors, The Place Promised In Our Early Days, Prétear, Princess Mononoke, Read Or Die, Read Or Die: The TV, Samurai Champloo, Samurai Seven, Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal, She and Her Cat, Spirited Away, Steamboy, Tide-Line Blue, Tokyo Babylon, Tokyo Godfathers, Trigun, Voices of a Distant Star, Witch Hunter Robin, Wonderful Days, Wrath of the Ninja, X

Anime I've Seen - .hack//Legend of the Twilight - .hack//Sign - 5 Centimeters per Second - Air - Air: The Movie - Akira - The Animatrix - Appleseed - Aquatic Language - Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror - Baby Blue - Beck - Black Lagoon - Blame! - Blood the Last Vampire - Bokurano - Burst Angel - Castle in the Sky - Cowboy Bebop - Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express - Doorbell - Egao - FLCL - Fullmetal Alchemist - Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala - Gankutsuou - Gatekeepers - Genius Party - Genshiken - Genshiken OAV - Ghost in the Shell - Ghost in the Shell: Innocence - Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society - Gin-iro no Kami no Agito - The Gokusen - Grave of the Fireflies - Grenadier - Haibane Renmei - Happy Machine - Hellsing - Highlander: The Search for Vengeance - Hikaru no Go - Howl's Moving Castle - Innocent Venus - Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade - Jyu Oh Sei - Karas: The Prophecy - Karas: The Revelation - Last Exile - Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi - Midori?s Days - Milennium Actress - Mushi-shi - My Neighbor Totoro - Naruto - Naruto: The Movie - Nausicaa - Neon Genesis Evangelion - Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death And Rebirth - Ninja Scroll: The Movie - Other Worlds - Ouran High School Host Club - Paprika - Perfect Blue - Pet Shop of Horrors - The Place Promised In Our Early Days - Prétear - Princess Mononoke - Read Or Die - Read Or Die: The TV - Samurai Champloo - Samurai Seven - Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal - Serial Experiments Lain - Shanghai Dragon - She and Her Cat - Spirited Away - Steamboy - Tekkonkinkreet - Tide-Line Blue - Tokyo Babylon - Tokyo Godfathers - Trigun - Trinity Blood - Vampire Hunter D - Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust - Voices of a Distant Star - Witch Hunter Robin - Wolf's Rain - Wonderful Days - Wrath of the Ninja - X Total: 93

Anime I Haven't Completed - .hack//Roots - Ah! My Goddess - Angelic Layer - Avenger - Baccano! - Bamboo Blade - Basilisk - Binchou-tan - Black Cat - Bleach - Blood+ - Boogiepop Phantom - Case Closed - Le Chevalier d'Eon - Chobits - Chrono Crusade - Code Geass - Coyote Ragtime Show - D.Gray-Man - D.N.Angel - DearS - Death Note - Dennou Coil - Desert Punk - Digimon - Dragon Ball Z - Ergo Proxy - Eureka Seven - Excel Saga - Fighting Beauty Wulong - Final Fantasy Unlimited - Flag - Freedom - Full Moon - Gantz - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Gintama - Glass Fleet - Great Teacher Onizuka - Gundam Seed - Gundam Wing - Hayate the Combat Butler - Hellsing OVA - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Ikki Tousen - InuYasha - Jigoku Shojo - Kage Kara Mamoru - Karin - Kino's Journey - Love Hina - Loveless - Lovely Complex - Lucky Star - Makai Senki Disgaea - Marchen Awakens Romance - Meine Liebe - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Mononoke - Monster - Moon Phase - Mr Stain on Junk Alley - Naruto Shippuuden - Negima?! - Negima! - Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion - Nerima Daikon Brothers - NHK ni Youkoso - Night Walker - Ninja Nonsense - Noir - Peacemaker Kurogane - Pokemon - Prince of Tennis - R.G. Veda - Ragnarok - Rec - Red Garden - Robotech - Romeo x Juliet - Rosen Maiden - Rurouni Kenshin - Saikano - Sailor Moon - Samurai Deeper Kyo - Sci-fi Harry - School Rumble - Scrapped Princess - Shin-chan - Shingu - Shion no Oh - Shuffle! - Shrine of the Morning Mist - So Long, Mr. Despair - Solty Rei - Sousei no Aquarion - Speed Grapher - Spice and Wolf - Super Milk Chan - Tales of Phantasia - Tenchi Muyo - Tenjhou Tenge - Texnolyze - The Third - Tsubasa Chronicles - Urusei Yatsura - Venus Versus Virus - Welcome to the N.H.K. - Winter Cicada - X-1999 - Xenosaga - XxxHolic - Yu Yu Hakushou - Yume Tsukai - Zero no Tsukaima - Zipang Total: 116

Manga I've Completed - Cowboy Bebop - FLCL - Manga Messiah - Manga Metamorphosis - Q*Ko-chan - Saiyuki - Shirahime-Syo Total: 7 Manga I Haven't Completed - .hack//Legend of the Twilight - Black Cat - Blame! - Chobits - D.Gray-man - Darkside Blues - Death Note - The Demon Ororon - Desert Coral - Disgaea - Eureka Seven: Gravity Boys and Lifting Girl - Fruits Basket - Getbackers - Hayate the Combat Butler - Kamunagara - Legal Drug - Love Hina - Loveless - Megatokyo - Naruto - Negima - Read Or Die - Rurouni Kenshin - Tactics - Trigun Maximum - XXXHolic Total: 26

Anime I'm Currently Watching
Samurai 7, InuYasha, Samurai Deeper Kyo,
Boogiepop Phantom, and Shrine of the Morning Mist

Manga I'm Currently Reading
Read Or Die, Hayate the Combat Butler, and Megatokyo.hack//Roots, .hack//Sign, 5 cm per Second, Ah! My Goddess, Angelic Layer, Avenger, Basilisk, Binchou-tan, Black Cat, Bleach, Blood+, Boogiepop Phantom, Case Closed, Le Chevalier d'Eon, Chobits, Chrono Crusade, Coyote Ragtime Show, D.Gray-Man, D.N.Angel, DearS, Death Note, Dennou Coil, Desert Punk, Digimon, Dragon Ball Z, Ergo Proxy, Eureka 7, Excel Saga, Fighting Beauty Wulong, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Flag, Full Moon, Gantz, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Gintama, Great Teacher Onizuka, Gundam Seed, Gundam Wing, Hayate the Combat Butler, Hellsing Ultimate, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Innocent Venus, InuYasha, Jigoku Shojo, Kage Kara Mamoru, Karin, Kino?s Journey, Love Hina, Loveless, Lovely Complex, Lucky Star, Makai Senki Disgaea, Marchen Awakens Romance, Meine Liebe, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Mononoke, Monster, Naruto Shippuuden, Negima?!, Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion, Nerima Daikon Brothers, NHK ni Youkoso, Night Walker, Ninja Nonsense, Noir, Ouran High School Host Club, Peacemaker Kurogane, Pokemon, Prince of Tennis, R.G. Veda, Ragnarok, Rec, Red Garden, Robotech, Romeo x Juliet, Rosen Maiden, Rurouni Kenshin, Saikano, Sailor Moon, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Sci-fi Harry, School Rumble, Scrapped Princess, Serial Experiments Lain, Shingu, Shuffle!, Shrine of the Morning Mist, So Long Mr. Despair, Solty Rei, Sousei no Aquarion, Speed Grapher, Super Milk Chan, Tales of Phantasia, Tenchi Muyo, Tenjhou Tenge, Texnolyze, The Third. Trinity Blood, Tsubasa Chronicles, Urusei Yatsura, Welcome to the N.H.K., Winter Cicada, X-1999, Xenosaga, XxxHolic, Yu Yu Hakushou, Yume Tsukai, Zero no Tsukaima, Zipang

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