Friday, April 11, 2008

From Firenze with Amore

'Sup Taters. I find myself in Florence, the city of art and flowers. How I got here is a long and fascinating story, but they're not paying me by the word, so I ain't gonna get into it.

Also, Italian keyboards are a puzzling thing for an American. Many of the keys that I'm used to aren't where they're supposed to be, replaced instead by letters with funny squiggles on them. So my flow is like, seriously challenged.

But still: The city is truly beautiful. Narrow streets, red tile roofs and all the rest: motor scooters, large public piazze, gelato, funny-shaped cars, balmy weather. Magnificent architecture all around; the façade's of those massive churches are something to behold.

I've been storing up some piercing insights to lay on the web, but none of them is coming to mind right now.

I will say that it's an incredibly romantic place, and if you come here with any longing in your heart, you'd better be prepared to fend off loneliness. That, or start hitting on chicks pronto. You can go either way, and their aren't any guarantees. I'm still settling into the groove, reading A Moveable Feast, which is a wonderful companion to have when in Europe. There is much time for doing, and little time for reflecting, and so I leave off with that.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Check It Out...

A great story in this past week's New Yorker...interesting mix of tones and genres, with a prominently displayed funny bone. Fun, mind-tickling stuff.


http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2008/03/24/080324fi_fiction_galchen

Friday, March 21, 2008

So Now Then...

But seriously, what is this all about? An opportunity? A blunder? Another chance to write a check my butt can't cash?

As a person for whom discipline is occasionally a challenge, I hope to make posting on this baby something of a regular occurrence. That being said, I've designed the experiment in such a way that I can get away with completely dropping the ball and have nobody's judgment but my own to face up to.

My intention is to introduce various materials, self-generated or referential to other internet phenomena, gradually over time. It may start with random musings about the US economy's impending collapse.

It may be political in nature.

It may involve gastronomy. It may involve astronomy.

More likely, it will involve films, filmmaking, and my uniquely narrow and often self-contradictory (not to mention long-winded) views on those subjects.

In addition to film, it will involve other kinds of "motion media." (Like TV, and Internet-based video.)

Music may come up from time to time.

I hope to post photos as well.

It's by me, for me, and will exist, I suppose, as long as it is in some way useful to me. If other people become part of it, that will be the icing on the cake (and as we all know, sometimes it's the icing that makes the whole thing float).

The point is, I expect this thing to take shape as it grows, and to suppress, to the best of my ability, any excessive judgment or other impulses of control. I don't know if this is the beginning of a major enterprise, or of a casual diversion, or of a constructive habit.

As I've heard on more than one occasion, the Internet is Big. Here's me testing the waters.

The Birth of Monfreese

Hi folks.

I thought I'd like to start a blog, and according to the Committee, we've finally reached the critical threshold, as it were, for the motion to go forward. The yeas, apparently, have won out over the nays.

We mark this historical occasion with a few words about cheese:

Keep it wrapped in porous material - cheese is a living organism, like your pet flea. It needs to breathe. Don't seal it in plastic.

You can afford to let your cheese get a little moldy, depending on the color. Green and blue are O.K., red and black are NO WAY.

Let your cheese get to room temperature before you start spreading it all over the place. It's like wine: it takes a little while to reveal the subtlety of the flavors.

Thank you.