Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The News (Notizie)

Hello Blogchums!

What's been going on, you might ask? I reckon a few things, work is always a factor, but there are many moving parts to this 'macchina' called life.

My brother drilled his first oil well, bravo. Production is a little light at around 20 barrels per day, but well done regardless! He's diving that big reef off of Australia at the moment and has plans for many more in the near future.

















My sister *still* hasn't found a job (she's 27 and lives with my mother). But, she makes good vegetarian food and smokes cigarettes more adeptly than most people I know.

As for me, I've been keeping up with my regimen of liking cookies, sculpture, mosaics, macro economics, archaeometry, reading your blogs, encryption, and ancient history. Note my use of the Oxford comma, which is a lifestyle choice much like the proper way of putting the toilet paper in which the end rests over the roll instead of under, the latter probably being the exclusive purview of of dog thieves, insurance salesmen, and Nazis.

This autumn, I'm heading to Italy to take another advanced mosaic class in Ravenna. This is brought on mostly by my desire to make the mosaic centerpiece I have planned outside appear better than stick figures. My enormous white marble deck is progressing slowly because of my other work, but I'd like to think it will be finished some day.

















Also on the to-do list while in Italy is to visit the ancient island of Sardinia. I hope that they have the kind in olive oil and not just mustard or something gross like that. Kidding, everyone knows sardines are exclusively from Norway which is what you purchase in excessive quantity when you go there...













Lately, I've purchased some art by people whose technical abilities I admire. Andjelka in Serbia sold me her eye, well, not her real eye. Just an incredibly well rendered example of how mosaics should be. But now, I am busy fabricating a custom frame for it.


I hope that you all are having a great summer so far!

10 comments:

  1. It's actually Winter here but, that eye looks pretty cool and I do love me some sardines so, you're off the hook.

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  2. YAY for more Italian travels, dude! Well done. I know you won't be excited AT ALL. While in Sardinia though, don't eat that cheese with the maggots in it. Please. Ugh.

    Also, the Oxford comma is wrong. There I said it. If I see a comma before "and" I hyperventilate and threaten to cut off people's danglies. You've been warned. I will track you down an kick you in the nuts. You've been told, warned, informed and been served. There, see? No comma. I win.

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  3. ....I totally MEANT to leave the "d" off of "and".

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  4. I will form an alliance with you against the Veg Assassin, if you like, with regard to the use of the serial comma. It is a hot button issue for me. ;)

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  5. Tennyson,
    I do like sardines too, and only about 10% of people I've met will eat them. I still haven't eaten any with the heads attached, maybe that's too much for me.

    Vegetable Assassin,
    I've spent an enormous amount of time memorizing every possible term to describe the cheese of which you speak. If, on a menu, there is any *hint* of a word that sounds like any of these words I've committed to memory (marzu, etc). I will stand up, say curtly 'Buon giorno a signori' and leave immediately.

    Heather,
    Oxford lovers of the world unite, conspire, and conquer... Does this mean I can wear Oxford shirts? I am reading a book that pointed out the famous river in Turkey called 'Bosphorus' really means Ox Ford (like oxen cross the river there).

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  6. Liking cookies = excellent.

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  7. Wow, hadn't seen you around for awhile. Glad you checked in.

    Have a great time in Italy - somewhere I've never been, but would love to go. And I definitely appreciate your use of the Oxford comma, especially because I appreciate Oxford.

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  8. I love a good Oxford comma or two! And those sardines are, strangely, aesthetically pleasing (though I am not fond of the sardine in general).

    Hope you have a wonderful time in Italy! And that it isn't as hot as it is up here in the north (it is appallingly hot) -

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  9. As a guy who works in insurance and prefers the toilet paper roll under the roll, I take offense with this post!

    You probably have more stamps in your passport than James Bond. I envy your jet setting artistic lifestyle. Some day when I get rich, I hope you will design my pool area.

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