DON'T FORGET TO VOTE TODAY!

My readers, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for two reasons: first of all, I'm sorry because I haven't written for more than a month. But maybe the second reason is more important: I'm sorry because I'm going to start writing in Italian.

In reality, I haven't written anything for this blog because I was thinking about writing in Italian. It was a difficult decision since it's very hard for me to write in Italian, but also because the majority of my readers will not understand me. This will be a problem.

I thought about this idea for a long time. But at the end, I decided that it would be better to write in Italian since that I'm here in Italy. I always try to communicate, to listen, to write, and to speak in Italian. For the most part, the students at the Stanford center don't speak Italian with other students and not even with me, so it's difficult to learn the language when I'm there every day. I always speak Italian with professors and the staff at the center, and also with my host mom. I changed the main language of my computer, my iPod, and my new cell phone all into Italian. I've already written an essay in Italian, and I will write another few in Italian as well; as such, it's natural that I write in Italian also on this blog in order to improve my Italian since I write a lot on here.

There's another problem: I don't write in Italian too well, and as such there will be mistakes if I write in Italian. What to do? I don't want to give all that I write here to the language resource person who could correct them. But it's also not good to leave the errors where they are without me recognizing them.

But at the end, I decided to write in Italian anyway (as I said earlier, and as you can see, obviously). One of the most important reasons why is that this blog is above all for me, not for you. I put my thoughts into words, to better understand what I feel and what happened. It's true that sometimes I directly address you, but let's say that's a formality. This blog is like a journal that you have the privilege to read.

So here's the scoop: when I write, I will write in Italian. But when I have time and when I want to, I'll provide a translation of some of the paragraphs. If what I write is short, I'll translate the whole thing. And there's always Babelfish.

Understand? Great.

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I realized that I usually really like songs that are very "heavy" -- that is, there's a very heavy or low instrument in the back of the song, like an electric guitar. For example, I really like "In the Shadows", by "The Rasmus"; I don't know what instruments are at the beginning, but one of them has a very low tone but is very loud. Other examples are "Lucky Kid" by Sheryl Crow, and "Trouble" by Bonnie McKee (which was free on the iTMS a few weeks back). Maybe it's not that I like heavy songs, but that I really like songs with a good beat, which these definitely have.

It's also a little strange because before, songs with "suggestive" lyrics or even lyrics I didn't like in general would really turn me off to the song. I was really particular about my choice of songs when dealing with the lyrics. I still like lyrics like those in "In the Shadows" which aren't too obvious, but which talk about a feeling with which I can identify. In contrast, the lyrics of "Trouble" are very suggestive, and I can't identify with them at all. Actually, it's quite obvious what the lyrics are talking about, but I like the song nonetheless. Even the lyrics of "Lucky Kid" are a bit suggestive.

Heh heh, my choice of music has really changed since a couple of years ago. One can really change in a small bit of time!

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Speaking of music, I found another song which I really like. It's called "Everybody's Changing", by "Keane". I really can identify with these lyrics, for sure.

I was out last night until 3:30 AM, and I had to get up at 8:30 AM since I had a class at 9:30. Since I was really tired, I listened to this song on repeat on my iPod as I was walking back home this afternoon.

What I saw as I was walking was like a music video. There's a guy who's walking home in Firenze. The music behind the music video is, obviously, "Everybody's Changing". This guy walks without waiting for anything, without stopping, even when he almost bumps into a guy with an umbrella. Everybody else walks very slow, while this guy is walking much faster in comparison. It rained very recently, so all the streets are wet and the sky is gray.

Everybody else is very different from him. He's a stranger in a different country. He doesn't speak the language very well. Maybe he's dressed differently. He doesn't walk slow like others, but he walks fast. He doesn't care about anybody else. He feels lonely since he doesn't know anybody in this country. He's not here for the same reasons that everybody else is here. He doesn't do much with any friends here, so he walks alone. He feels small, especially when walking by big monuments in the city.

In the middle of this walk, he starts to sing along with the music. At the start, he sings softly especially when there are people nearby because he's very self-conscious. He can't sing very well since he's out of breath from walking so fast. But slowly he starts to sing more and sing louder. He walks under a bridge and he starts singing loudly, but nobody can hear him because the sound of the cars drowns his voice out.

Maybe there's a scene of him walking over a river after the rain. Maybe there's one where the camera goes around him as he's standing in a piazza. The song is a bit edited so that it's a bit longer. And maybe there's a scene or two which are sped up so that the music video isn't 30 minutes long.

Heh, the Stanford center has videocameras. Maybe I'll make this video while I'm here. I AM taking a film course, and I DO have iMovie on my computer.... hmmm. :)

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Here are some photos of some things that I've done and places that I've been while here in Italy. Now that I have 200 MB of iDisk space, I can publish some photo albums. This first album is of marble from Carrara... we went to Carrara to see the marble mines, and to see how it's cut and transported from where it's found in the mountains. This second photo album is of the agriturismo where we stayed for two days, and the city and church of Siena. (Yes, I now have a digital camera which my parents gave me as a gift.)

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Other funny stuff:

"IQ Prerequisite Comic", "Bush's Word", "Homestar vs. Little Girl 2" (click on "Puppet Stuff", and then on "Homestar vs. Little Girl 2" -- it's REALLY funny!), "Undecided Voters".

That's all for now... I'll write soon (I hope)!