9/26 Journal

                Today, the sky is so blue it makes me want to cry. The weather is just too cool for school. I was early to rise, awoken from another Perugian sunrise. Last nights rain had left a fruitful refreshment to all lfe including us, because today I feel great! I slept well, and ate well today as always. Today's breakfast was Cocoa Puffs and coffee. Lunch was an cultural meal of beans and thick but stout noodles into a broth; tasting as delicious as I could've asked for. It's been an easy day, with nothing but art history, food and sunshine the whole day. We were about to have class outside today too because Mark is cool like that! Too bad the sun was just too bright for us to be able to depict anything on the projector outside. Alas we resumed the lecture inside the classroom, but the lights were out and the soothing breeze from the big bay windows was a pleasant compromise.

               This is still the best semester I think I've ever had, or will ever get. This experience is everything I needed, and more. I had a great conversation with Mark today about life, and what life's fruits should mean to us, and how we should use them. Whether that luxury is abused, or not can be a thin line in perspective. Conversation about life is a thin sheet to wrap around such a big structural topic in of itself. Though, it's nice to contemplate life in good company from time to time, and what better place to do so than in the sunshine of the Italian countryside? Between classes today, I've been blogging and jamming out to the great American hero Stevie Ray Vaughn and I don't know how the Italians would take to  that if they heard it? Talking about all these monuments today in art history makes me think how happy I would be if there was a temple erected dedicated to the blues gods, and a statue for the one and only Stevie Ray. At any rate, I'm glad to be here and I'm learning lots. Not only about photography, watercolor, and art history; I'm learning about who I am and what I value, what I need in my life, and how I get there. I've learned that it's not about how big you live, but what you keep in your life that makes life a big deal; that's what's worth while. You can see a million pictures, but until you take some of your own a memory will never evolve from a dream.

Go out there, live your life big.

LS