alex.polvi.net

The last leg of our trip is in Rome. We’ll be going there later this afternoon. After spending a little time there we will be flying back to Oregon (should be there by 23:30 on the 22nd).

Yesterday we went to Slovenia to have lunch and play in a castle. It was pretty cool! Trieste has been awesome. Andrea has given us fantastic hospitality and tours. He even shared his friends with us! Gooooooooood times.

Oh, and, for you gentoo infra fan boys: polvi <3 lcars

… here

A metro, bus, airplane, and train ride later, we are now with the ever hospitable Andrea Barisani in eastern Italy. Going to check out Venice, Slovenia, eventually ending up in Rome at the end of the week.

Right here.

Took a crazy 8hr bus across Spain. Going to end up in Italy sometime at the end of this week….

Ahh, internship is over and now I’m in Spain with Johnny and Katrina.

In fact, I’m sitting right here, in Segovia Spain. Yup, under a Roman aqueduct stealing wifi.

Sorry for being terse…

In a stint of creativity and angst, I created this last night: http://socialrecession.com/

In other news, I realized last night that I can go from idea to product in less then 4 hours… this includes registering the domain, setting up the webserver, mail, graphics, copy, and the actual HTML. The barrier to entry on the Internet is very low.

There is just so much to do!

This week has been no exception. I got the opportunity to meet up with my Aunt Margaret and see the Hambletonian.

George Forman was there too

The Hambletonian is the most prestigious harness horse race in the country. Aunty M was traveling with a friend who was the mother of the favorite driver, Brian Sears. While he did not win the big race ($1.5mil pot!), he won another very prestigious race. We got to go in the winners circle!

they are taking a photo of us!

It was a very unique experience!

Things got even unique’r when Apple decided to use its SoHo store as a venue. Dri and I saw “The working title” (a name which I think is hilarious).

work’n the $1 horn

Then just to top off the night, Dri, Eric, Chris, Adam, and I all went to a crazy roof-top on 5th ave.

Chris, he has a sweet accent

This is the largest single unit of beverage I have seen.

folks, yes, that’s a liter

I am holding it up like that so you can compare it to the size of my head.

The next big thing was McCarren Pool, Bloc Party’s venue.

that’s a big pool

Blurry photo time!!!

Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke

It was a little warm… but still a good time.

I’m over a week behind and the stuff keeps piling on. This is going to be a very rushed blog post, please don’t hate. Here we go.

Got some awesome cds from katrina, I think she is the first person to use my wish list (hint hint wink wink).

Sufjan Stevens and John Vanderslice

Then Fred visited from OSU

Google took us on this boat thing

Rux and Dri danced it up

Then the day went to Oregon

In Oregon I met up with most of my family to put my Uncle Al to rest. It was sad, but it was right. A lot of the family was there together… I’m very glad I went home.

RIP Kitty Pal!! I know I’ll never forget you!

From there I went to Corvallis.

Deck caught on fire, neighbors put it out… close one! Lucky nobody got hurt

We had a great BBQ. Good friends from the Corvallis crew all showed up. It was wonderful to be able to see those folks — made me realize how much I like Oregon!

Closing note:

Oregon mass transit is much more pretty than nyc

… as the bright red text reads on my drivers license.

The theme of this post is tradition.

Coney Island
What is the most traditional place in the world to celebrate a birthday!? A theme park, of course! A group of folks including Kim (Brandon), Rux (fellow intern), John (my host), Suzanne (co-worker) and some of her friends came along to the Siren Music Festival at Coney Island. I did not intend to go to a theme park for my birthday, it was just a venue, but it worked out.

Coney Island is known for it’s hot dogs and amusement rides (among other things). So, we made sure to check that stuff out.

Whee, I’m getting spun around and shot in the face with water! Ahh..

Ruxandra on top of the Wonder Wheel… we call her T-Rux for a reason.

Kim eating light/healthy at Nathan’s Famous (hotdogs)

Post-minor activities
Suzanne and I had a good conversation last night. She asked if I was excited about turning 21 in the city. See, I’m the sort of person that wants to experience all those traditional things. For that reason I really wanted to make sure I had a good time on my 21er. I ended up taking the option for the summer that put me in a completely new place, with zero friends, with no idea how I would celebrate. NYC complements all of that with an EXTREMELY robust nightlife.

Anyway, it worked out. The pictures can talk.

The wild Kimbo randomly decided to join the festivities. It was great to have such a close friend there!!

Steven and Eric enjoying fancy Belgium beer at a quiet bar (whispering only!! seriously!)

John, my host, and I seem to get along

Cake!
I live 3 blocks away from a cupcake store! A cupcake store!! They have those!!! For that reason I had a cupcake with Kim before she took off.

Mmmm

It tasted amazing!!!

Closing notes
I sort of feel like this is the last birthday that is worth noting. Not that I plan on passing away or anything, but the birthday era (0-21) of my life was satisfying. I’m sure I’ll have some awesome times in the future… after all, in theory I’ll be 21 most of my life.

Things always work out. One thing I was wondering about was what I going to do the actual night of the 16th. Well, it turns out that Steve’s parents are in town and want to take Eric and I out for dinner! Woohooo, I even get a birthday dinner! What more could I ask for?

My blogging pattern has been really weird lately. Sometimes I blog about stuff that is only relevant to school and my life, and other times I am blogging about work stuff. I’ll be honest, the fun in blogging about work is that a lot of people read it (people even translate and repost them!).

But, ya know, I have other things to talk about.

My music listening pattern is just as weird as my blogging one. It goes something like this: Find a new artist, get a new artist’s album, find particular song on artist’s album, listen to song over and over and over until all my roommates hate me and I think, walk, breath to the beat of the song.

So here it is folks! Find / buy these songs and make sure repeat is on!

* The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??
This is my current song. I’ve listened to it enough that roommate Mike hates it, but I’m still hooked. In particular, I really like the part where he says, “The sun going down is just an illusion caused by the world spinning around.”

* Say Hi To Your Mom - Super
I hope he is not making fun of people. It could be that he is just mocking some folks — but I really hope and think his positive message is true.

* Stars - Don’t Be Afraid To Sing
Title is enough. Skip the secret track after this song, it’s not worth it.

* Billy Corgan - The CameraEye
“Close enough to die a time… or two or three”. Billy! Come back to us!

* 13 & goD - Soft Atlas
“Without a universal law there is no gravity, without gravity there is no atmosphere, without atmosphere there is no chance at life…” Men Of Station was almost the song I listened to over and over, but Soft Atlas ended up taking over — per suggestion of Neighbor Emily.

* Bloc Party - Like Eating Glass
Makes me wave my hands in the air, even while in an office chair.

* Arctic Monkeys - Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But…
Catchy overload. Only listen to this one if you want to be caught up in massive catchyness. The lyrics don’t even matter — it’s f’n catchy.

* The Faint - Birth
Sort of gross, but very well put together.

* Snow Patrol - Set The Fire To The Third Bar feat. Martha Wainwright
I love this song. I love Steven Garrety for sharing it with me. If you only have time to pick two songs out of this list, pick the flaming lips one — and this one. a. m. a. z. i. n. g.

* Ratatat - Noose
This song is new to me, and I’m not sure if it should be on this list… but I have listened to it about 20 times.

* Tegan & Sara - Where Does The Good Go
Seriously, where does the good go? This song is the reason tenant emily hates tegan and sara.

OK — that’s all I got. If you need any help finding any of these songs, let me know. They are all worth your time.