field trips and Freud.

SUCH a productive day. I am very happy with my decision to stick with the bipolar schedule because today was my easy day and I was able to get SOO much done - I FINALLY switched cell plans so I won't be broke by the time I leave this place, I FINALLY got my books (well, some of them...), I FINALLY got my internet up and running, and I FINALLY got a gelato from the reputed best gelateria in all of Florence, Vivoli... cioccolata ricca and banana. It was PRETTY freakin' good.

Oh, and that whole school thing - not so bad either. My painting class seems like it's going to be intense but honestly, when is painting NOT intense for me, and let's face it, I'm pretty good at it. And I really like the teacher - even though the prospect of spending so much time in a studio when I could be out wandering around Florence is kind of scary, I'm really glad I'm doing this because I think I'm gonna learn a lot from her, particularly about letting go of my ego and just EXPLORING, which I think is really important for where I am right now, artistically. Plus the advanced students got our private studio spaces yesterday (there are only 5 of us out of the whole 300+ person program, which is pretty cool) and the room is divided into 5 stations so we drew straws for who got which and of course I got the biggest one with the best light and most wall space.... I'm just waiting for the bad karma to kick in, haha.

Printmaking is awesome as well - it's literally only 3 students in this amazing studio with the typical jolly male art teacher who makes us laugh and talks about food all the time (Mr. Weiss, anyone?). I can tell the class is gonna be total therapy - there is absolutely no pressure at all, and it's amazing to actually be learning new SKILLS every week, instead of just "building upon my experience" like with painting and worrying about being all sophisticated - with printmaking I am literally just playing around with various scratchy tools and ink. Very cool.

And I'm very happy about my choice for Art History - the professor is indeed awesome, SO smart and involved in the field, the reading is really interesting (and PORTABLE, thank god, unlike all my studio homework) and I'm glad that I'm getting to focus more on the later period of the Renaissance - Botticelli is indeed amazing, but I'm not particularly enthralled by most of his contemporaries; bring on the da Vinci and Michelangelo any day.

Oh and Italian is... just so necessary. Plus our professor is an adorable old lady who goes on 20-minute tangents about restaurants we need to go to, and is very intense about correcting us when we speak, which is awesome, because I get the feeling that when I talk to my host mother I am pretty much unintelligible but she is too nice to ever correct me so I would never make any progress if it weren't for my class. All in all, things are just pretty damn good. Like, in every way. Good luck getting me to ever leave this place.

So it looks like I'm going to be hitting up the Amalfi Coast this weekend.... a bunch of people are going Thursday afternoon and renting an apartment right in Capri until Sunday evening, but I can't decide if I want to go right away with them or stay on the class trip to Assisi that I signed up for on Friday and just take the train straight from there to meet them Friday night. Assisi is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL and this is my last chance to go via the school (aka for free), AND a bunch of my architecture friends are going since it's required for arch. students... but how often do you get the chance to spend three whole days on the Amalfi Coast during a heat wave? Decisions, decisions... Life is tough, huh? Ok, I need to stop procrastinating and actually do some reading. We're reading a critique of Freud's analysis of Leonardo da Vinci for class tomorrow.... An art historian trashing Freud's shotty conclusions? Sounds juicy to me...