3:59pm 4/1/09
From: Mom
Thank you! Enjoy your last two months in Firenze. Take care of your brother.
7:39pm 4/4/09
From: Marissa
Hey. It's marissa. What time tonight?
11:30pm 4//09
From: Soni
I think someone is impersonating you via facebook.
1:00am 4/5/09
From: Tiffania
How long will your friends be in town?
7:55pm 4/6/09
From: Michaela
Hey johnson just said dinner is at 8 thirty
11:53am 4/7/09
From: Miki
Hey sal is alive and heading to your place be there in half hour
3:28pm 4/7/09
From: Sal's Ho
Sal sorry if i answer now..it is ok at 4?
5:14pm 4/7/09
From: Massimo
7 30 at the gallery hotel close to ponte vecchio
11:57am 4/8/09
From: Sal
Hey man where u at?
7:24pm 4/9/09
From: Bonnie
Hey im in the kitchen don't leave without saying hi!
5:49pm 4/10/09
From: Diedre
Yea it's her number and they said yes to dinner. Where how bout aperitivo?
10:15am 4/16/09
From: Johnson
Dude. Happy birthday! Just so you know. I can't remember last night. At all.
7:36pm 4/16/09
From: Cristiano
Hey mate! Happy bday. What r u up to tonite??
1:12pm 4/19/09
From: Janet
Hey, am back in london. Thanks so much for having me and showing me around florence. I had such a great time! :-) miss you loads! Ciao!
10:09pm 4/22/09
From: Sergio
What are you and your MIA brother doing tonight? Thank you for getting me drunk last night :-)
12:22pm 4/28/09
From: Anna
um maybe closer to one? u can start without me if thats too late
Showing posts with label The Surge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Surge. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
March in text messages
6:49pm 3/5/09
From: Sergio
Wanna go to dinner at around 8-8,30?
6:21pm 3/8/09
From: Diedre
No worries i could never hate you yay i’m super excited to book it
2:11pm 3/16/09
From: Michaela
Hey. So nicole is sick and cant go tonight. I dont know how to get to gonzo, would you be willing to pick me up?
9:52pm 3/18/09
From: Marissa
What time is adrian playing?
6:47pm 3/21/09
From: Cristiano
Yayy! I need the address bro. And also is it ok if i bring my friend?? Ill text francesca now.
2:51am 3/25/09
From: Mom
I am on board, see you tomorrow.
12:25pm 3/27/09
From: StudCells
Do not forget to move your clocks forward one hour tomorrow (Saturday 03/28) night.StudentCells staff
7:53pm 3/28/09
From: Emanuil
See you tonight, guys.
From: Sergio
Wanna go to dinner at around 8-8,30?
6:21pm 3/8/09
From: Diedre
No worries i could never hate you yay i’m super excited to book it
2:11pm 3/16/09
From: Michaela
Hey. So nicole is sick and cant go tonight. I dont know how to get to gonzo, would you be willing to pick me up?
9:52pm 3/18/09
From: Marissa
What time is adrian playing?
6:47pm 3/21/09
From: Cristiano
Yayy! I need the address bro. And also is it ok if i bring my friend?? Ill text francesca now.
2:51am 3/25/09
From: Mom
I am on board, see you tomorrow.
12:25pm 3/27/09
From: StudCells
Do not forget to move your clocks forward one hour tomorrow (Saturday 03/28) night.StudentCells staff
7:53pm 3/28/09
From: Emanuil
See you tonight, guys.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
I’ll try to keep this brief.
Thursday 3/12
After the last update I got home to Miles making ribollita for himself and his friend Alexis. After a rather unsuccessful (if childish) game of Go Fish after struggling with the rules and having to google them, we taught her Rummy500. Then she and Miles left, and Emo and I played two more games. I won the first, and he won the second, which was definitely more intense and enjoyable.
Friday 3/13
I feel like I’ll be writing about my wine vineyard adventures at the end of all of them because I keep putting them off. I went to dinner with Sergio, Gina, and Anita. I got some penne alle carretiera, my favorite vegetarian pasta dish. It’s a spicy tomato sauce. Johnson was there also with a bunch of people including Alexis From The Night Before. Then we hung out at a bar for a while.
Saturday 3/14
Adrian and I spent the entire day cooking and the afternoon playing rummy. He’d invited Sergio over for dinner and picked a menu. Shrimps wrapped in potato and bacon, spinach lasagne with pork Bolognese and ricotta cheese, and veal liver and onions. We took the rummy to the bar for the evening and taught Michaela and Nicole how to play. Then due to all the dance music that had been playing all night, the girls and I were convinced into going clubbing with Cristian, Marissa, and company. We got back to the bar around four in the morning and stayed after-hours for some quality time with Sergio and Adrian.
Fuori di Taste 3/15
This did not stop us from waking up the next morning and going to Fuori di Taste, a food festival that was taking here in Florence. Unsurprisingly, we ate a lot of food... tons of cheese, balsamic vinegar tasting, truffles both real and chocolate, prosciuttos, sausages, flourless egg/less chocolate cake, pastries etc. They had a little food court thing, so I got salmon carpaccio with grapefruit and arugula. But for me, the highlight was a chocolate with Darjeeling tea flavored filling.
It was a good eating day. Afterwards, on the way home, I introduced the girls to Kebab Lady. So we got more food, and then went back to their apartment to play rummy on the patio. And then we got gelato and chilled at our apartment with Adrian, Miles, and Emo. Magic tricks and mind teasers. And then I had the impulse (or rather, the encouragement) to bake a chocolate cake, which we topped with more gelato. So yeah, it was a great day.
Monday 3/16
Michaela, Adrian, and I went to a wine tasting for Antinori. It was led by their very skilled enologist Mr. Cotorella. The wines were amazing and his story and wisdom were pretty ridiculously inspiring. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at the trattoria and then hung out with Sergio the rest of the night.
Tuesday 3/17
I had my professional cooking midterm, then Andrea took us a visit to the Market, where he introduced us to the stands he shops and cautioned us against certain less-reputable salesmen. The evening was pretty chilled out. Rummy with the roommates. And then, since both Emo and Miles are from foreign countries that aren’t the United States, I introduced them to the Saturday Night Live music videos for "Dick In A Box" and "Jizz In My Pants."
Wednesday 3/18
I had my Enology and Viticulture (aka Wine) and then my Tradition of Italian Food II midterms. The former I somehow miraculously passed and the second was pretty smooth sailing. That night Adrian was playing guitar for an aperitivo at a cultural association that we usually frequent later at night.
Thursday 3/19
Dessert Styling and Italian Pastry midterms. Nothing too notable except for that Dessert Styling was maybe half questions we reviewed and half questions we hadn’t prepared for at all. Not surprising. Thursday was more dessert-heavy than ever because I arrived to school to the pleasant surprise of carrot cake (from Bonnie) and cinnamon gelato (from the Advanced Pastry girls). And then on top of that, those were the only classes I had that held class after the exam. Styling was dedicated to sugar paste and royal icing. (Yeah, a lot of sugar.) And Italian pastries was dedicated to Rice cakes (not the light American fluffy kind) and Salame Dolce, a chocolate dessert. I needed real food, so I went to aperitivo and hung out with Johnson and Tommy The Bartender.
Friday 3/20
Another wine trip which wasn’t as eventual as the other one, but we went to a really big castle and then had an amazing lunch in Chianti at a butcher’s restaurant. That night, after a LOST viewing, I finally made it to one of Marissa’s dinner parties. She and Victoria pulled out all the stops: Orrechiete with a spicy seafood sauce, Sicilian-style Roasted peppers and eggplant, and flourless chocolate cake with strawberries.
Saturday 3/21
I made brunch for Adrian using some ingredients I’d picked up at the butcher shop in Chianti. Steak tartare to start with and then scrambled eggs, garlic sage potato wedges, sautéed beef, and red pepper jelly.
I don’t remember what we did all afternoon because all of a sudden, Adrian was making dinner. Roasted tomato, goat cheese, and onion frittatini. We had some extra buttered molds, so I made molten chocolate cake for dessert. We played rummy until Marissa came over for sangria. Barhopping. We wound up at Tommy's Goodbye Party, where I ran into Anita which was kind of awkward since I’d “stood her up” on our weekly dinner double date with SerGina.
Sunday 3/22
Adrian is taking advantage of the empty apartment by cooking all the time. An All-American Lunch was fettucini alfredo, pan-fried chicken with pan gravy, and some leftover salami biscuits that Emo and Miles had made.
Claudio, one of my former professors, had invited me to the post-renovation reopening of a sushi restaurant. Adrian and I went, but the event was so well-attended that despite the free wine and buffet, we didn’t stay. We got sandwiches from Kebab Lady and went home.
Later in the evening, anticipating hunger we went and had sushi at the new sushi place near our place. Then we played a game of rummy and tried to decipher LA Fattoria, the nonsensical but sexy game show that was on TV.
Monday/Yesterday 3/23
It was a very relaxed day. Adrian and I went to the grocery and restocked the fridge. I went to dinner with Bonnie, one of my Pastry classmates, and her mother at Mario’s restaurant. Dinner was amazing, particularly the breads and dessert which of course is what we were most interested in since we knew he was the source of them.
Tuesday/Today 3/24
I updated my journal and tried to keep it brief.
Thursday 3/12
After the last update I got home to Miles making ribollita for himself and his friend Alexis. After a rather unsuccessful (if childish) game of Go Fish after struggling with the rules and having to google them, we taught her Rummy500. Then she and Miles left, and Emo and I played two more games. I won the first, and he won the second, which was definitely more intense and enjoyable.
Friday 3/13
I feel like I’ll be writing about my wine vineyard adventures at the end of all of them because I keep putting them off. I went to dinner with Sergio, Gina, and Anita. I got some penne alle carretiera, my favorite vegetarian pasta dish. It’s a spicy tomato sauce. Johnson was there also with a bunch of people including Alexis From The Night Before. Then we hung out at a bar for a while.
Saturday 3/14
Adrian and I spent the entire day cooking and the afternoon playing rummy. He’d invited Sergio over for dinner and picked a menu. Shrimps wrapped in potato and bacon, spinach lasagne with pork Bolognese and ricotta cheese, and veal liver and onions. We took the rummy to the bar for the evening and taught Michaela and Nicole how to play. Then due to all the dance music that had been playing all night, the girls and I were convinced into going clubbing with Cristian, Marissa, and company. We got back to the bar around four in the morning and stayed after-hours for some quality time with Sergio and Adrian.
Fuori di Taste 3/15
This did not stop us from waking up the next morning and going to Fuori di Taste, a food festival that was taking here in Florence. Unsurprisingly, we ate a lot of food... tons of cheese, balsamic vinegar tasting, truffles both real and chocolate, prosciuttos, sausages, flourless egg/less chocolate cake, pastries etc. They had a little food court thing, so I got salmon carpaccio with grapefruit and arugula. But for me, the highlight was a chocolate with Darjeeling tea flavored filling.
It was a good eating day. Afterwards, on the way home, I introduced the girls to Kebab Lady. So we got more food, and then went back to their apartment to play rummy on the patio. And then we got gelato and chilled at our apartment with Adrian, Miles, and Emo. Magic tricks and mind teasers. And then I had the impulse (or rather, the encouragement) to bake a chocolate cake, which we topped with more gelato. So yeah, it was a great day.
Monday 3/16
Michaela, Adrian, and I went to a wine tasting for Antinori. It was led by their very skilled enologist Mr. Cotorella. The wines were amazing and his story and wisdom were pretty ridiculously inspiring. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at the trattoria and then hung out with Sergio the rest of the night.
Tuesday 3/17
I had my professional cooking midterm, then Andrea took us a visit to the Market, where he introduced us to the stands he shops and cautioned us against certain less-reputable salesmen. The evening was pretty chilled out. Rummy with the roommates. And then, since both Emo and Miles are from foreign countries that aren’t the United States, I introduced them to the Saturday Night Live music videos for "Dick In A Box" and "Jizz In My Pants."
Wednesday 3/18
I had my Enology and Viticulture (aka Wine) and then my Tradition of Italian Food II midterms. The former I somehow miraculously passed and the second was pretty smooth sailing. That night Adrian was playing guitar for an aperitivo at a cultural association that we usually frequent later at night.
Thursday 3/19
Dessert Styling and Italian Pastry midterms. Nothing too notable except for that Dessert Styling was maybe half questions we reviewed and half questions we hadn’t prepared for at all. Not surprising. Thursday was more dessert-heavy than ever because I arrived to school to the pleasant surprise of carrot cake (from Bonnie) and cinnamon gelato (from the Advanced Pastry girls). And then on top of that, those were the only classes I had that held class after the exam. Styling was dedicated to sugar paste and royal icing. (Yeah, a lot of sugar.) And Italian pastries was dedicated to Rice cakes (not the light American fluffy kind) and Salame Dolce, a chocolate dessert. I needed real food, so I went to aperitivo and hung out with Johnson and Tommy The Bartender.
Friday 3/20
Another wine trip which wasn’t as eventual as the other one, but we went to a really big castle and then had an amazing lunch in Chianti at a butcher’s restaurant. That night, after a LOST viewing, I finally made it to one of Marissa’s dinner parties. She and Victoria pulled out all the stops: Orrechiete with a spicy seafood sauce, Sicilian-style Roasted peppers and eggplant, and flourless chocolate cake with strawberries.
Saturday 3/21
I made brunch for Adrian using some ingredients I’d picked up at the butcher shop in Chianti. Steak tartare to start with and then scrambled eggs, garlic sage potato wedges, sautéed beef, and red pepper jelly.
I don’t remember what we did all afternoon because all of a sudden, Adrian was making dinner. Roasted tomato, goat cheese, and onion frittatini. We had some extra buttered molds, so I made molten chocolate cake for dessert. We played rummy until Marissa came over for sangria. Barhopping. We wound up at Tommy's Goodbye Party, where I ran into Anita which was kind of awkward since I’d “stood her up” on our weekly dinner double date with SerGina.
Sunday 3/22
Adrian is taking advantage of the empty apartment by cooking all the time. An All-American Lunch was fettucini alfredo, pan-fried chicken with pan gravy, and some leftover salami biscuits that Emo and Miles had made.
Claudio, one of my former professors, had invited me to the post-renovation reopening of a sushi restaurant. Adrian and I went, but the event was so well-attended that despite the free wine and buffet, we didn’t stay. We got sandwiches from Kebab Lady and went home.
Later in the evening, anticipating hunger we went and had sushi at the new sushi place near our place. Then we played a game of rummy and tried to decipher LA Fattoria, the nonsensical but sexy game show that was on TV.
Monday/Yesterday 3/23
It was a very relaxed day. Adrian and I went to the grocery and restocked the fridge. I went to dinner with Bonnie, one of my Pastry classmates, and her mother at Mario’s restaurant. Dinner was amazing, particularly the breads and dessert which of course is what we were most interested in since we knew he was the source of them.
Tuesday/Today 3/24
I updated my journal and tried to keep it brief.
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Month of October in Text Messages
Cristian 10.58pm 10/4/08: Dove siete? Shot shot
Chad 3.34pm 10/9/08: So i’m on the train now and an meant to arrive in firenze santa maria at half four.!
Molly 3.38pm 10/17/08: Heyy whats up do u know when we are meeting tonight?
Sergio 2.17am 10/24/08: I am coming to 21 with gina, anita and her sister… See you there?
Tom 10.17am 10/24/08: Ryanair fucking sucks. I want to shoot myself.
Chad 3.34pm 10/9/08: So i’m on the train now and an meant to arrive in firenze santa maria at half four.!
Molly 3.38pm 10/17/08: Heyy whats up do u know when we are meeting tonight?
Sergio 2.17am 10/24/08: I am coming to 21 with gina, anita and her sister… See you there?
Tom 10.17am 10/24/08: Ryanair fucking sucks. I want to shoot myself.
holler back
Let’s pick up as if I never stopped writing due to a lack of Internet. All the gaps will fill themselves in sometime. Since I just introduced all my roommates on our arrival, I’ll just begin with them leaving for break.
Here’s a picture of my roommates that I wish I had been around for. Adrian and I had already left to go drinking out, but we all wound up at the same club. Anyway, I figure I have enough pictures of The Super Marin Bros. Marlene is missing too, but she hadn’t moved in yet.
Here’s a picture of my roommates that I wish I had been around for. Adrian and I had already left to go drinking out, but we all wound up at the same club. Anyway, I figure I have enough pictures of The Super Marin Bros. Marlene is missing too, but she hadn’t moved in yet.
Front row, from left to right: Tanjila, Vanessa, TomStanding, from left to right: Aerie, Kyle, Diedre, Jesse, Lisa, Sal, Gerard
This picture is almost two months old, so everyone looks slightly different now.
Wednesday
My exams ended. I turned in my fashion photography “legs” assignment. See a picture below. Then I went to my wine tasting final. Wednesday night pretty much everyone took it easy and opted for a rest and relaxation night instead of a party hard night. Jesse and Sal both left that night for break. Jesse’s visiting Chad in London, who visited by the way. [We spent the 24 hours he was here drinking and dining. And luckily (?) for us, there was no casino with blackjack anywhere in site. And of course, everyone loved him, particularly Tanjila and Diedre.] When he heard she was couch-surfing a random stranger’s couch, he suggested he be the stranger so it would be a little less random. Kyle, Tom, Gerard, and I went for a walk just to get some fresh air. And then we just hung out in Kyle’s room with Tanjila, Aeri, and Diedre.
Thursday
I don’t know remember what I did all day. Tom, Gerard, and I started a game of Rummy500 in the afternoon. (Half of us roommates play it. A lot. Everyday.) Neely, who came to be with Adrian during break, Adrian, Gerard, and I went to a bar for aperitivo. We got back here and Adrian and I popped off some bottles of spumante (Italy’s version of champagne) we had bought off to celebrate midterms and break. Eventually, Aeri, Diedre, Marlene, Tanjila, her visiting friends, Gerard, Kyle and I went my favorite bar (now everyone’s favorite bar) in my old Santa Croce neighborhood. Or Santa’s Crotch, as some of us have nicknamed it. Of course, Sergio and the regular crowd were there. Molly, a friend of ours from class who lives in an all-girl building on my old street Ghibellina, was out too. Her birthday is coming up and we need to celebrate it in a fashion reminiscent of Nick’s and Vanessa’s (from class) birthdays, which were honestly kind of shit shows, in a good way. Eventually we all went to a dance club and then worked our way back home. A bunch of us were still awake, so Tom, Gerard, and I finished the game of Rummy. (We always play at the dining table in the middle of the living room, and non-players tend to sit on the couches L-shaped around the table.) We ended just in time for Tom to catch an hour or two of sleep before his flight in the morning.
Friday
Vanessa, Lisa, and Tom left for their break adventure together. It’s possibly Tom will end himself or the other two before their return. Gerard, Kyle, Tanjila, and I have all bet on the probabilities already. Adrian left, with Neely of course. What else? Aeri went to Rome to fetch her mother but came back the next day. Marlene, Gerard, and I – mostly Marlene – made the kitchen the cleanest it’s been since we got here. I met Gerard’s visiting parents. They went to the same Mexican aperitivo at Sei Divino that Kyle and I went to. He and I got back here in time to meet up with Diedre, Marlene, her “conversation buddy” Simon, his nameless friend, and Alex. We taught the two Italians how play Up-The-River-Down-The-River and Kings (the two house drinking games) and then went to the Festival of Creativity. Or Whatever. On the way back, sans Italians, Marlene and Alex, we stopped at our neighborhood enoteca (aka a wine bar… that has become our other hangout besides my old bar) to get a round of drinks and finish off the night. I accidentally got drunk because when I ordered tequila shots for the table, Christian generously poured the rest of a bottle into my mouth and opened a new one for the table. We talked about ethnic heritage for some reason. Kyle freaked out when he realized he was the only white person. We got back here, and I made drunk food for everyone. Farfalle with a simple sauce of garlic, shallots, white wine, and truffle extra virgin olive oil. We borrowed Tom’s laptop to play music to listen to. Kyle and I had a sleepover in my room because we were jealous (?) that Diedre and Marlene, and Tanjila and her visitors were having sleepovers. Drunk logic.
Saturday
Diedre and Marlene left. I woke up and went to the bathroom, where I found Pablo sitting on the closed toilet with a note “Dear Andrew, please take care of me. XOXO.” Pablo is Marlene’s stuffed animal, an ear-muffed penguin with shut-happy eyes. I put him in between the beds Kyle and I were on but didn’t fall asleep again. I finished reading Invisible Monsters, another thing Marlene had entrusted to my care. It was crazy and outlandish and freaky-deaky but all in a good way. It’s by the author of Fight Club, and its protagonist is a supermodel who gets half her face blown off. It has great twists and turns, some of which you see coming, some of which you never would, and some of those what-a-surprise-but-looking-back-it-should-have-been-so-obvious-but-it’s-crazy-enough-not-to-be.
Anyway, apparently we all slept through a cleaning lady coming (?!) who cleaned the floors. And she also cleaned our balcony’s ashtray, and by ashtray, I mean the rain gutter enwrapping our balcony.
Tanjila and her friends went out for the day, so Kyle showed me a museum with an exhibit he really liked that closed that day. He stayed to watch a film and sketch, so I picked up my jacket from the wine bar, where I had forgotten it on Friday. I went to the grocery and made myself boar pappardelle since the kitchen was clean. Kyle had fallen asleep, and the house was empty. I started to read Haunted but took a nap. When I woke up he was awake, and the girls were home, and Gerard and Aeri were both back. Gerard and I played a quick game of 500. Tanji’s visitors went to bed so roommate bonding among Aeri, Tanji, Gerard, Kyle, and me ensued. Music and dark chocolate (71%) Perugina sfoglie all around. Everyone loved how thin the slices were. Kyle suggested we put them atop these crackers he had. Amazing.
Tanjila: “You should make a movie, like Harold and Kumar.”
Kyle: “Kyle and Andrew Go to Kebab? It would be like three minutes long.”
Although now that I think about it, Tanjila and Aeri get kebabs way more often than we do. They keep our neighborhood kebab guy in business since the rest of us have gotten over our first-week dependency on him.
Sunday
Tanjila and friends left. Aeri and Gerard spent the day with her mom and his parents, respectively, and leave with each Monday and Wednesday, respectively. I spent the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and walking around the city then met up with Nick for mass. I planned on roasting a chicken when I got back here, but seeing as how both Kyle and Gerard had already eaten and I was impatient, I ended up out for dinner. After months of eyeing it, I finally sat down at Rossini, the Michelin-starred restaurant on the river. The manager, who was accommodating a party of 30 Japanese businessmen and women and a table of Russians with finicky women, seemed relieved to find out I only wanted a light dinner and not a six-course tasting menu. He kept the Chianti Classico, an awesome pairing for the meal, coming. Acqua naturale, of course, and three kinds of bread so fresh they were warm. The primo piatto was homemade pappardelle with tomato, chunks of meat, and “salty ricotta” garnished with a little arugula. Words can’t do it justice. The secondo was roast pork flavored with thyme, chicory, and balsamic vinegar over steamed zucchini, eggplant, mushroom, and peppers. Pork is almost always my last choice when it comes to protein, but this was extremely delicious... perfectly moist and right in the balance of leanness and fattiness. I also got treated to a dessert that wasn’t on the menu, a coffee-flavored semifreddo with a hint of cinnamon and topped with blue, rasp-, juniper, and straw berries all whittled to the same size. If you wash all that down with some Italian coffee, you’ve got the best meal I’ve had in Florence this season. When I got home, Kyle was procrastinating and Aeri had just gotten back from chilling with her mother, so I popped open a bottle of spumante to try Adrian’s suggestion of an “Ognissantini.” It’s like a bellini or a mimosa but instead of putting peach nectar or orange juice with the sparkling wine, you put ACE juice. It was a success. We all enjoyed them. Nick came over to discuss possible travel plans. We’ll see.
Monday/Today
Aeri left this morning.
And then there were three.
Gerard will leave on Wednesday.
The Asylum will be empty.
Wednesday
My exams ended. I turned in my fashion photography “legs” assignment. See a picture below. Then I went to my wine tasting final. Wednesday night pretty much everyone took it easy and opted for a rest and relaxation night instead of a party hard night. Jesse and Sal both left that night for break. Jesse’s visiting Chad in London, who visited by the way. [We spent the 24 hours he was here drinking and dining. And luckily (?) for us, there was no casino with blackjack anywhere in site. And of course, everyone loved him, particularly Tanjila and Diedre.] When he heard she was couch-surfing a random stranger’s couch, he suggested he be the stranger so it would be a little less random. Kyle, Tom, Gerard, and I went for a walk just to get some fresh air. And then we just hung out in Kyle’s room with Tanjila, Aeri, and Diedre.
Thursday
I don’t know remember what I did all day. Tom, Gerard, and I started a game of Rummy500 in the afternoon. (Half of us roommates play it. A lot. Everyday.) Neely, who came to be with Adrian during break, Adrian, Gerard, and I went to a bar for aperitivo. We got back here and Adrian and I popped off some bottles of spumante (Italy’s version of champagne) we had bought off to celebrate midterms and break. Eventually, Aeri, Diedre, Marlene, Tanjila, her visiting friends, Gerard, Kyle and I went my favorite bar (now everyone’s favorite bar) in my old Santa Croce neighborhood. Or Santa’s Crotch, as some of us have nicknamed it. Of course, Sergio and the regular crowd were there. Molly, a friend of ours from class who lives in an all-girl building on my old street Ghibellina, was out too. Her birthday is coming up and we need to celebrate it in a fashion reminiscent of Nick’s and Vanessa’s (from class) birthdays, which were honestly kind of shit shows, in a good way. Eventually we all went to a dance club and then worked our way back home. A bunch of us were still awake, so Tom, Gerard, and I finished the game of Rummy. (We always play at the dining table in the middle of the living room, and non-players tend to sit on the couches L-shaped around the table.) We ended just in time for Tom to catch an hour or two of sleep before his flight in the morning.
Friday
Vanessa, Lisa, and Tom left for their break adventure together. It’s possibly Tom will end himself or the other two before their return. Gerard, Kyle, Tanjila, and I have all bet on the probabilities already. Adrian left, with Neely of course. What else? Aeri went to Rome to fetch her mother but came back the next day. Marlene, Gerard, and I – mostly Marlene – made the kitchen the cleanest it’s been since we got here. I met Gerard’s visiting parents. They went to the same Mexican aperitivo at Sei Divino that Kyle and I went to. He and I got back here in time to meet up with Diedre, Marlene, her “conversation buddy” Simon, his nameless friend, and Alex. We taught the two Italians how play Up-The-River-Down-The-River and Kings (the two house drinking games) and then went to the Festival of Creativity. Or Whatever. On the way back, sans Italians, Marlene and Alex, we stopped at our neighborhood enoteca (aka a wine bar… that has become our other hangout besides my old bar) to get a round of drinks and finish off the night. I accidentally got drunk because when I ordered tequila shots for the table, Christian generously poured the rest of a bottle into my mouth and opened a new one for the table. We talked about ethnic heritage for some reason. Kyle freaked out when he realized he was the only white person. We got back here, and I made drunk food for everyone. Farfalle with a simple sauce of garlic, shallots, white wine, and truffle extra virgin olive oil. We borrowed Tom’s laptop to play music to listen to. Kyle and I had a sleepover in my room because we were jealous (?) that Diedre and Marlene, and Tanjila and her visitors were having sleepovers. Drunk logic.
Saturday
Diedre and Marlene left. I woke up and went to the bathroom, where I found Pablo sitting on the closed toilet with a note “Dear Andrew, please take care of me. XOXO.” Pablo is Marlene’s stuffed animal, an ear-muffed penguin with shut-happy eyes. I put him in between the beds Kyle and I were on but didn’t fall asleep again. I finished reading Invisible Monsters, another thing Marlene had entrusted to my care. It was crazy and outlandish and freaky-deaky but all in a good way. It’s by the author of Fight Club, and its protagonist is a supermodel who gets half her face blown off. It has great twists and turns, some of which you see coming, some of which you never would, and some of those what-a-surprise-but-looking-back-it-should-have-been-so-obvious-but-it’s-crazy-enough-not-to-be.
Anyway, apparently we all slept through a cleaning lady coming (?!) who cleaned the floors. And she also cleaned our balcony’s ashtray, and by ashtray, I mean the rain gutter enwrapping our balcony.
Tanjila and her friends went out for the day, so Kyle showed me a museum with an exhibit he really liked that closed that day. He stayed to watch a film and sketch, so I picked up my jacket from the wine bar, where I had forgotten it on Friday. I went to the grocery and made myself boar pappardelle since the kitchen was clean. Kyle had fallen asleep, and the house was empty. I started to read Haunted but took a nap. When I woke up he was awake, and the girls were home, and Gerard and Aeri were both back. Gerard and I played a quick game of 500. Tanji’s visitors went to bed so roommate bonding among Aeri, Tanji, Gerard, Kyle, and me ensued. Music and dark chocolate (71%) Perugina sfoglie all around. Everyone loved how thin the slices were. Kyle suggested we put them atop these crackers he had. Amazing.
Tanjila: “You should make a movie, like Harold and Kumar.”
Kyle: “Kyle and Andrew Go to Kebab? It would be like three minutes long.”
Although now that I think about it, Tanjila and Aeri get kebabs way more often than we do. They keep our neighborhood kebab guy in business since the rest of us have gotten over our first-week dependency on him.
Sunday
Tanjila and friends left. Aeri and Gerard spent the day with her mom and his parents, respectively, and leave with each Monday and Wednesday, respectively. I spent the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and walking around the city then met up with Nick for mass. I planned on roasting a chicken when I got back here, but seeing as how both Kyle and Gerard had already eaten and I was impatient, I ended up out for dinner. After months of eyeing it, I finally sat down at Rossini, the Michelin-starred restaurant on the river. The manager, who was accommodating a party of 30 Japanese businessmen and women and a table of Russians with finicky women, seemed relieved to find out I only wanted a light dinner and not a six-course tasting menu. He kept the Chianti Classico, an awesome pairing for the meal, coming. Acqua naturale, of course, and three kinds of bread so fresh they were warm. The primo piatto was homemade pappardelle with tomato, chunks of meat, and “salty ricotta” garnished with a little arugula. Words can’t do it justice. The secondo was roast pork flavored with thyme, chicory, and balsamic vinegar over steamed zucchini, eggplant, mushroom, and peppers. Pork is almost always my last choice when it comes to protein, but this was extremely delicious... perfectly moist and right in the balance of leanness and fattiness. I also got treated to a dessert that wasn’t on the menu, a coffee-flavored semifreddo with a hint of cinnamon and topped with blue, rasp-, juniper, and straw berries all whittled to the same size. If you wash all that down with some Italian coffee, you’ve got the best meal I’ve had in Florence this season. When I got home, Kyle was procrastinating and Aeri had just gotten back from chilling with her mother, so I popped open a bottle of spumante to try Adrian’s suggestion of an “Ognissantini.” It’s like a bellini or a mimosa but instead of putting peach nectar or orange juice with the sparkling wine, you put ACE juice. It was a success. We all enjoyed them. Nick came over to discuss possible travel plans. We’ll see.
Monday/Today
Aeri left this morning.
And then there were three.
Gerard will leave on Wednesday.
The Asylum will be empty.
Friday, May 16, 2008
pack your knives and go.
Tuesday was full of errands. The most important of which was a visit to Valentina to work out my next semester here. So much easier than the first application process! The evening started with aperitivo at Kitsch that was supposed to involve a dozen people but ended up being only Sarah, Thomas, and myself because everyone else was being lame. But we didn’t let a lack of participation curb the fun. After a few drinks and plates of food, we went to meet up with Sergio, drink some more, and play pool.
Wednesday after making lunch in an attempt to finish off my ingredients left in the kitchen, I watched Rosso Come Cielo, which I’d borrowed from Southern Anna. We had our Food Writing final exam at the school’s new cultural association and from there, I went to campus for my Italian final. Then it was back to the cultural association for the book launch aperitivo my food writing class had scheduled. I stopped by Swedish aperitivo to say ciao to Isabel, Antonio, and the regulars at the bar and then went to Hilary and Risa’s last cocktail party. But Hilary left to meet her mother as I was arriving, so Risa and I, gradually joined by others, drank the night away before going barhopping.
Thursday was the final exam of my last cooking class of the semester, Claudio asked us what we wanted to make. Chicken breast florentine and panna cotta (with a season-inappropriate chocolate sauce) won the vote last week, so we made them. He approved. Food photography was just a final review of our portfolio. My professor said he’d let me into his fashion photography class next semester if I wanted in. Hell yeah.
The farewell party was so awesome. We had it at Villa Pandolfini as guests of Count Pandolfini. Yes. We were at a count’s house. And by house I mean palazzo. And by palazzo I mean a palazzo designed by Donatello. DONATELLO. Really awesome. Lots of food, lots of wine, all the students, all the teachers, a few awards, a band. The police. (They came to check out the noise situation, so watching two of my professors talk to them similar to the way Jack and Juan did the other week was quite amusing. Different outcome though. The police just left.) It was nice to get all semiformal with all the other students and drink and relax with all the faculty. Afterwards, Ross, Nick, Sarah, and I went off to a nightclub where the unofficial after-party was. We all got home past four in the morning, so yeah. It was a fun night.
Friday was a day dedicated to the word ciao. When I got up in the morning, I went to the gym and said ciao to the owner. He’d discounted the last few weeks for me and set my day of departure as the day my membership expired. He told me he’d await my return in the fall. Then before going home I stopped by the “eat-all-you-can” sushi restaurant and said ciao to the hostess/waitress lady there. I bet she and the sushi chef threw a party after I left since I’ve been putting them out of business for a few months now. I stopped by the FUA campus to say goodbye to Francesca and Marian at the front desk and library. After a phone call with my mom and a brief nap, I woke up to Henk and Juan in the apartment. Henk had asked me if we could have a party, and I’d agreed. And now he asked me if I could prepare “some aperitivo” for it while they sanded and painted the wall. So that was fun because we actually closed all three of the kitchen’s doors for once. (Between the four burners, stove, steaming pots, and infusing olive oil the place was like a sauna!) But it was a nice challenge to take all the leftover ingredients from our pantry. This is what I came up with:
I had made appointments with some of my other beloved Italians, so I left a little earlier than Henk and the die-hards who stuck around late. I stopped by the trattoria around its closing time of midnight to say goodbye to the owner and waitresses there. They even kissed me goodbye and told me best wishes in Italian. Aw. Then it was to the bar to say ciao to Isabel but Antonio, the other bartender, was nowhere in sight. Isabel and I said we’d visit each other in Florence and Milan next season. And of course, I had to stop by the cultural association to say goodbye to Sergio and Trine. Lucky for me Domenico, Miko, and Antonio all showed up – as I’d expected – so I had a chance to see them. Dom and Mik might leave the city before I get back, but they both plan on coming to the states eventually so I’m not worried. I also got to say goodbye to a girl named Lauren I met a couple of nights ago who’s coming up on her second week in Florence and she already doesn’t want to leave. It’s nice to hand over the burden of everyday partying to someone. A few million shots later courtesy of my generous Italian friends, I went back to the apartment and grabbed my bags and met the girls to take the drunk bus van to the airport.
Wednesday after making lunch in an attempt to finish off my ingredients left in the kitchen, I watched Rosso Come Cielo, which I’d borrowed from Southern Anna. We had our Food Writing final exam at the school’s new cultural association and from there, I went to campus for my Italian final. Then it was back to the cultural association for the book launch aperitivo my food writing class had scheduled. I stopped by Swedish aperitivo to say ciao to Isabel, Antonio, and the regulars at the bar and then went to Hilary and Risa’s last cocktail party. But Hilary left to meet her mother as I was arriving, so Risa and I, gradually joined by others, drank the night away before going barhopping.
Thursday was the final exam of my last cooking class of the semester, Claudio asked us what we wanted to make. Chicken breast florentine and panna cotta (with a season-inappropriate chocolate sauce) won the vote last week, so we made them. He approved. Food photography was just a final review of our portfolio. My professor said he’d let me into his fashion photography class next semester if I wanted in. Hell yeah.
The farewell party was so awesome. We had it at Villa Pandolfini as guests of Count Pandolfini. Yes. We were at a count’s house. And by house I mean palazzo. And by palazzo I mean a palazzo designed by Donatello. DONATELLO. Really awesome. Lots of food, lots of wine, all the students, all the teachers, a few awards, a band. The police. (They came to check out the noise situation, so watching two of my professors talk to them similar to the way Jack and Juan did the other week was quite amusing. Different outcome though. The police just left.) It was nice to get all semiformal with all the other students and drink and relax with all the faculty. Afterwards, Ross, Nick, Sarah, and I went off to a nightclub where the unofficial after-party was. We all got home past four in the morning, so yeah. It was a fun night.
Friday was a day dedicated to the word ciao. When I got up in the morning, I went to the gym and said ciao to the owner. He’d discounted the last few weeks for me and set my day of departure as the day my membership expired. He told me he’d await my return in the fall. Then before going home I stopped by the “eat-all-you-can” sushi restaurant and said ciao to the hostess/waitress lady there. I bet she and the sushi chef threw a party after I left since I’ve been putting them out of business for a few months now. I stopped by the FUA campus to say goodbye to Francesca and Marian at the front desk and library. After a phone call with my mom and a brief nap, I woke up to Henk and Juan in the apartment. Henk had asked me if we could have a party, and I’d agreed. And now he asked me if I could prepare “some aperitivo” for it while they sanded and painted the wall. So that was fun because we actually closed all three of the kitchen’s doors for once. (Between the four burners, stove, steaming pots, and infusing olive oil the place was like a sauna!) But it was a nice challenge to take all the leftover ingredients from our pantry. This is what I came up with:
- Tris of crostini: mixed jams, cannelini bean spread, egg saladPenne with red and green onions, garlic, and herb butter
- “Meat and potato” tortellini with rosemary infused olive oil
- French fries with honey garlic aioli
- Tropical trail mix
- Fresh strawberries and dark chocolate
- Gianduja torte and layered
petitfours - And of course beer, wine, and sweet liquors.
I had made appointments with some of my other beloved Italians, so I left a little earlier than Henk and the die-hards who stuck around late. I stopped by the trattoria around its closing time of midnight to say goodbye to the owner and waitresses there. They even kissed me goodbye and told me best wishes in Italian. Aw. Then it was to the bar to say ciao to Isabel but Antonio, the other bartender, was nowhere in sight. Isabel and I said we’d visit each other in Florence and Milan next season. And of course, I had to stop by the cultural association to say goodbye to Sergio and Trine. Lucky for me Domenico, Miko, and Antonio all showed up – as I’d expected – so I had a chance to see them. Dom and Mik might leave the city before I get back, but they both plan on coming to the states eventually so I’m not worried. I also got to say goodbye to a girl named Lauren I met a couple of nights ago who’s coming up on her second week in Florence and she already doesn’t want to leave. It’s nice to hand over the burden of everyday partying to someone. A few million shots later courtesy of my generous Italian friends, I went back to the apartment and grabbed my bags and met the girls to take the drunk bus van to the airport.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
TGI Tuesday?
Yesterday was pretty uneventful until I finally took Julia’s advice on “the best aperitivo” and went to Kitsch with Anna, Alison and Liane tagging along. It was good. We liked the drinks, the bartender, the food, the place, and even the slideshow projection on one wall. After that, we went back to Liane and Alison’s to drink vodka and play Thumper and Buzz. Liane made a comment about how she wishes she’d birthed Mindy, and I made a similar one about wishing I’d fathered her. Then she and I also contemplated what our child would look like if we ever had one. We settled on Mindy. We also realized it would be a very messed-up child, having a pothead mother and an alcoholic father and all. But it would be damn good at foosball, with both her offensive and my defensive skills. After that, we went “barhopping” several times between our favorite cultural association and my favorite bar, beginning with all the girls except Liz and adding Agata, her friends, Sergio, his friends, Domenico, Morten, and Thomas to our party in the process.
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