What If We Went To Italy

2:25pm CET

Yesterday there was a lawn party on campus, but we got there too early so we went to dinner at Mayflower. I got a non-alcoholic frozen drink with orange juice, strawberry and fresh peach. By the time we finished and went back to the party, it had started. But I started feeling sick to my stomach, drank half a can of beer and couldn’t take it anymore and went home. Skyped the family and went to bed. Finished the movie today. We’re going to present it to another class before we leave. I loved this class but I’m glad it’s over. I wouldn’t want to try to pad this out anymore. Had a gigantic pizza for lunch, but I got to take some home. I’ll update again later this evening.

 9:56pm CET

Wanted to redo the posts. Apparently I got a trackback on the design blog and I didn’t want my ramblings as a comment. Anyway, the class went really well. Got my diploma from NABA. I’m so glad it’s over. One more day of relaxing at Lake Como, then a horrid plane ride home. I was the only one who didn’t take a nap today, a lot of the others went out drinking again last night and were really hungover. I had leftover pizza for dinner. Those were the biggest pizzas I’ve ever seen. These bug bites are killing me, they’re starting to not look like bug bites. They look like really hard pimples but they itch really badly and they don’t pop. They’re starting to bruise, too. It rained a little bit. But it’ll only be more humid now. We’re leaving pretty early tomorrow for the lake, meeting at the train station at 9am. Marko’s coming with us! That’ll be fun. We love Marko. I’m tired.

 2:35pm CET

I’m really bad about accidentally closing this window before saving. Yesterday we finished shooting and editing our film. Today we put the movies together and it looks awesome. We just put it up online, you can watch it here. I’m really proud of it, we all are.

10:50am CET

Late night last night. We went to class yesterday morning and reshot some stuff and started to edit. Had some trouble with turning the photos into video because the program wants to put black bars around about half the photos. But no big deal. We decided that we were going to shoot the paper cut part that night in the apartment. The sun had to be down and the light on so it wouldn’t change frame by frame. I took a nap because my sleep schedule is out of whack. Woke up two and a half hours later and piddled around til 8 when I started getting hungry. I was going to ask if anyone wanted to go out and one of the girls came in and asked who wanted to go to a club with a bunch of the others. I decided to go and we all decided to do the paper cut animation in class in the morning. I had meant to bring a nice dress for going out but I forgot it, so I ended up wearing the same thing I did all day and put on some makeup. Everyone really liked how my eyelashes look with mascara but it was a pain to get them separated even a little. We hung out on the balcony for a bit then went to the metro. We got mildly lost on the way but picked up quickly. It was a €10 cover charge that got us two free drinks. We got our first drinks as soon as we got there, almost all of us got Long Island ice teas. I’ve never had one but it was pretty good. Extremely strong. Met up with a bunch of the others and by that time I was already mostly drunk. It was really, really strong. We danced a while before I got tired and moved out of the dance floor by myself. Was immediately picked up on by a guy who said I was "very nice" and I promptly plugged my ears with my fingers, which made him go away. After a bit the others joined me and we rested a moment, went to the bathroom, then went back onto the floor. I was very aware of people staring at us, and several guys kept trying to take my hand while moving in behind me. I always got my hand back and moved away though. We danced more and one of the girls kept putting her hand in my hair, which was odd, but she was totally trashed and I didn’t mind. Another of the girls made sure I stayed with the group, but we started to move and another group cut in front of me and I lost them. I became extremely aware of the other bodies bumping into me and I started to freak out, so I ran off the floor and sat a bit more. After a few minutes some of us decided to go home, so we got a taxi. Oddly, he had the radio on and "Everything’s All Right" from Jesus Christ Superstar came on. Italians sure love them some Andew Lloyd Webber. We were €0,14 short, but he let us go anyway. I changed and went straight to bed. Slept okay and didn’t wake up with a hangover this morning. Stuffy nose though, but my nasal spray fixed that. Fun, but not something I could do on a regular basis.

2:07pm CET

Bugs are out today. Woke up a little early today for no reason and hung out my laundry that didn’t finish last night. Got to class and started immediately shooting our PikaPika segment. My bouncing ball was made of fail but my mosquito was made of win so I did that instead. We got all that shot within an hour so we moved outside to shoot some of the pixellation. We have to use the same shoe for our part as the other group, but they only brought one so we have to wait to finish tomorrow. What bugs me is that they knew we’d need the shoes too but didn’t bring them both. Plus I don’t get to be the person in the film because my feet are too big. So are H’s. The shoe’s EU size 38, wich is US size 7.5. Well I’m between 11 and 12 so I’m out. Too bad. Oh well, I’ll lobby to do a lot on the paper cut part. We finished shooting early so we went back and edited the photos at the apartment during lunch time. Now we’re back, deciding what to do next.

11:52pm CET

Almost forgot to finish today’s entry. Nothing else really happened. We put together the animation for the PikaPika section and some of the pixellation part. Finish shooting tomorrow. Got the paper for the paper cut part. I took a nap when I got back. I’ve been tired for a while. It looked like rain this morning but got hot instead. These changing temperatures are really taking it out of me. I’m about ready to go home to my own crappy West Virginia weather. Ate in tonight, didn’t have the energy to go out. I’m still getting eaten alive by the bugs. And it’s hot again. I think it’s time for bed before I whine myself into insanity.

Oh yeah, I’ve gotten a few pageviews on this site that I don’t think are from people I know. If you’re someone I don’t talk to on a regular basis or I don’t know, then hi. Don’t be afraid to comment. I only bite food and my fingernails.

11:30pm CET

We saw a prostitute tonight! We’d heard that our street was frequented by them but hadn’t seen one until tonight. She had really high wedge heels, really super short shorts, a halter top that was really low cut and showed her belly and her hair was down except the front part that was up in a tiny claw. And she was chubby. It was hilarious.

Let’s see, what of value happened today? I accidentally put lotion in my hair instead of styling creme. It actually looks really good, but not something I’m going to try on a regular basis. Went to class and explained our storyboard to the teacher. He kept staring at it and saying how much he loved particular ideas in it. That’s what every artist, and I suppose everyone else, loves to hear: the person who matters most in a project loves your idea. We wrote it all down in words during class and I found all the sound effects we needed, and then it was lunch time. We got out a half hour early so I walked back to the apartment and got a sandwich that I honestly don’t know what was on it. Ham and mozzarella and mayo and I think something with tuna but I’m not sure. It was really good. Went back to class and we’re in a new room now with more powerful Macs (hah). Of course the network crashed and we couldn’t use them for a while. We start shooting tomorrow in the dark room with our PikaPika segment. It’s going to be so much fun! We went to a photo gallery where some guy had made large abstract images with photo paper. I wasn’t impressed. It was one of those things where it’s more about the process than the completed image, which is fine for performance art but really boring in galleries. Some of the girls bought some books in the bookstore (there were some about cosplay but I didn’t get them) but they were all going shopping. So I volunteered to take them back to the apartment with me. They were heavy but I didn’t mind since I was heading that way anyway. Dropped the stuff off and went to the supermarket. Got some milk, cereal, juice, pasta and some snacks. Came home and took a two and a half hour nap. I was sleepy!  Got up and Je and I went with our English roommate from India to meet some of her friends for dinner. I had some kind of pasta with duck sauce that was tasty. And a red beer. Mmmm, red beer. Haven’t had that since I’ve been here. Walked back, which took a while because it’s a long way. That’s when we saw the prostitute. I need to go to bed so I’ll be ready to shoot in the morning. Don’t want to fall asleep in the blackout room!

7:05pm CET

I think I’m on the wrong train. I’m definitely headed to Milan but I think I’m on the more expensive train. But I’m in an unnumbered seat now so it should be okay. Just stay quiet. I left the beach not long after the last entry. I love the beach but in short periods. The water was nice but no one would go in with me. The sand was beautiful but too soft for castles. The weather was great but I don’t want a tan. So I got really bored and left. I went back into town with the expressed intention of getting lost. All the guides I’ve read say getting lost in Venice is great. And it really is, you see a lot of smaller stores run by artists instead off people who buy from mass producers. It’s fun til you can’t find signs anymore. I think I got lost more than was recommended. Ate lunch at a little sandwich shop; tomato, mozzarella and black olive pate on pizza bianche (means just the bread). Sat by a side canal and let my bare feet dangle over the water. Cute little girl waved at me and I waved back. Walked around some more and found a bookstore with all kinds of weird and old books. Like 1919 old. Neat stuff. Got the best gelatto I’ve ever had and some was cherry. No one makes cherry here but that place. And it was a lot cheaper than other places. That’s when I realized how lost I was. Somehow I’d gotten back to the lagoon instead of the Grand Canal. Finally found some signs pointing me to the train station. By then it was 5pm so I walked slowly. Got some balloons for our project and a big piece of panforte. I wonder how long it keeps, because I’m making it at home, no question. Hopped on the train I thought was right and am having second thoughts about but am not saying anything about. As long as I get home. Oh, and Jeanne D’Arc is really hard. My archer and healer are made of papier-mache.

12:08am CET

It was the right train. I made some pasta for dinner and now I’m going to bed. I’m so sleepy. Night. Photos tomorrow.

1:30pm CET

I’m on the beach! And I’m bored, so I’m writing. Yesterday my alarm didn’t go off at 5:15am like I’d set it to, so I was awoken at 6am with an "ERIN IT’S SIX!" Everything was already packed though. Got to the train station and got on. It was supposed to be a three hour trip but we fell a half hour behind schedule. Slept for two hours then started Jeanne D’Arc on my PSP. Weird stuff. As soon as we arrived we fell in love. It’s beautiful here. And it wasn’t too hot. We walked around to find our hotel, and we got lost when we were one street over. Found it though. They had booked the second room by the time we got there, which was a huge relief after the trouble they gave me. The hotel was nice, lots of Baroque style decorations. Except the bed was really hard. We went to explore the city and saw all kinds of pretty shops and waterways. So beautiful here. We took a gondola, which was nice but not worth the 20 euros each we had to pay for it. It was about 10 minutes. Crazy. I had a beer and pizza for lunch and they were the best I’ve had here. A while later we stopped for a rest and got a spritz, which is a Venitian specialty. Sparkling wine, orange flavor and some kind of liquor. It wasn’t great but drinkable. For dinner we went to an alley place and I had fish ravioli with shrimp and a glass of white wine. Very tasty. We went back to San Marco’s and waited for a fireworks show. Some of the fancy restaurants had bands and one played "New York, New York". Fell asleep sitting down til they started 20 minutes late at nearly midnight. They were great but lasted too long. Forty minutes is too long. Went back to the hotel and slept. The fireworks reminded me of a scene in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen when the bad guy had set up water mines all along Venice’s coast and the good guys had to find the detonator. They thought it was too late when they heard explosions, which turned out to be Carnivale fireworks. I tread carefully that night.

Woke up today and had breakfast downstairs. Bed & Breakfasts rock. Went back to San Marco and hopped a water bus to the beach. Chillin here and I’m so bored. Water’s nice though. It’s a top optional beach and there are lots of 10 year old girls in just bottoms. It’s odd.

9:08pm CET

I’m getting sleepy. The weather was nice this morning because it was so cloudy, but by afternoon it got hot again. Now it’s cool again. And I’m in the kitchen where it’s cooler. We went to class and made pixellation stop motion movies. Pixellation is stop motion with actors. We spun around and transformed into each other, snowboarded and made a shoe drive. I don’t have the animations on me, maybe tomorrow. But it was a lot of fun. We proposed our movie idea and the teacher loved it. He wants the other groups to build their movies around ours. Which is awesome. We’re going to try to do the pixellation part in the city center, in front of the fountain. It’ll be really pretty. Burned the crap out of my right ring finger making pasta. The lid kept falling off the pot and I didn’t have the towel wrapped around my hand well enough. There’s a bandage on it now.  Not a lot else happened today. I took a nap when it got too hot. I wish there was more to say about today, but that’s it. J and Je and I made some pasta and ate in and just relaxed in the cooler room. We leave for Venice extremely early tomorrow so I want to go to bed early. The train leaves at 7:25am, so we want to be there at 7am, and it’s a 20 minute train ride, and I like to be up an hour early so I’m looking at waking up at 5:40am. I’ll probably sleep til 6am though. I won’t have internet so no update tomorrow. But on the bright side there will be pictures for the first time in days. So look forward to that.

10:10am CET

Teacher’s late. His train is "late", which apparently means he missed it. And I can’t find the stupid apostrophe on this keyboard! I had to copy and paste it from Wikipedia! FRUSTRATING!

10:21pm CET

OMG we did stuff today! We watched some more videos and then we went to the photo studio and made our own PikaPika movie. PikaPika is making a drawing with light using flashlights and cameras set to take photos on long exposure. It’s a really cool technique. First we saw how to do it, then we spelled out NABA SUMMER SCHOOL 2009. Then we made some random moving shapes and some circles getting closer to the camera and then Pac Man. It was so much fun. Here are some examples of what we did. After break we talked about our project. We broke up into groups of three and we’re going to be making a one minute animation using various stop motion techniques. My group, composed of the three of us from WVU, are going to propose an animation starting with a PikaPika animation of a ball bouncing and landing on a tack, therefore deflating it. Then we plan to switch to pixellation (stop motion using a live actor) where one of us picks up the now-real flattened ball which is actually a balloon and blows it up. Then we switch to paper doll style cutouts of the girl floating away into the sky. We all like the idea and hope the teacher will too. Came home and took a nap. It broke 100 degrees today. It’s just so hot. Almost all of us went out at 7pm to the same bar we went to the first day because we had coupons for 3 euro drinks plus free bar. I had a strawberry margarita and we chatted for a while when Marko, our teaching assistant, dropped by. So he joined us and we talked for a while when the fashion photography class’ TA came. She joined us too and we all talked. They asked us about American stereotypes like they see in the movies. If high schools have the cheerleader vs. everyone else rivalries, if we’re nuts about football (which has no right to be called football because you only kick it maybe 10 times per game), how easy it is to get guns and how smokers are treated. It was all fun stuff. The best part was when Marko said "wazzuuuuup" and I was almost in tears laughing. He’s from Slovakia and speaks all kinds of languages, but it was just so funny to hear him say that. Came home and now I’m sweating on my bed. I can’t believe how hot it is. You have no idea.

9:09am CET

Blogsome went down yesterday and I couldn’t update. Second time since I’ve been on this trip. Oh well, it’s up now. Yesterday I went to class and we sat around for 40 minutes. No kidding. I don’t know what happened. But then we started watching more Youtube videos. Of course. It was a different teacher, too. But he eventually told us what we’d be doing today: making a stop motion movie using Google Maps Street View. Which was cool, but would be after the break. He let us out a half hour early on the condition that we be back 15 minutes early. So I went back to the apartment for the exercise and got a roast beef sandwich from the restaurant across the street. It was really good. Then I walked back with plenty of time before class started and had to wait a half hour. Then we pulled up Google Street View in groups and took screenshots of every jump. Took a couple times because Morgantown was too full of one-way streets and when we moved to Charleston we kept getting lost. But we got it and!… We don’t have Quicktime Pro to make the video sequence. Only his computer has the Pro version. So we just gave him our screenshots and left. Went back to the apartment and SLEPT. It’s been hitting 95 degrees here daily. It’s the heat of Arizona with the humidity of West Virginia. Made some dinner here and then we were supposed to go out to find Harry Potter in English in town. There are a couple theatres that play English movies. Well some of the girls hadn’t eaten yet so they went out. For three hours. It was 8:30pm by the time they got back and we all said there’s no way, we won’t be back til after 11 and the subway will have stopped. So instead a couple of us went for gelatto. What we didn’t know was he had to go through a sketchy neighborhood to get it. Lots of guys staring at us. One group started getting up and turning towards us as we passed so we crossed the street very quickly. The gelatto was wonderful though. When we were walking back some guy whispered something to me as he passed, but it was in another language and I didn’t understand. I’m glad I didn’t. Got back, Skyped my dad and Grandma and went to bed. The post for today will be a separate post.