Francisco de Goya

Today I had the chance to visit one of the finest exhibits of Renaissance art in Madrid's Museo del Prado. The most striking collection to me was that of Goya's "Black Paintings". The images are horrid, yet true to the time in his life.

The following is an excerpt from a website describing the "Black Paintings" and then following that is a link to the site which has more information and also a virtual tour of the paintings.

"Executed in oil directly on the plaster walls, these so-called "black paintings" represent the culmination of Goya's artistic efforts. They combine the freedom, or "Capricho", and eerie imagery of his etchings with the scale and decorative purpose of the tapestry cartoons he executed early in his career. After almost two hundred years, they retain their capacity to reduce the viewer to shocked silence."

-http://www.artchive.com/galleries/goya/notes.html

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Thoughts I've had so far while in Spain...

Spain is not quite as technologically developed as the USA, but the quality of life here is so much better...I feel like the US is just part of a big technological test now, if that makes any sense at all. It's like we're taking every bit of new electronic knowledge and pushing it to its limit, all the while creating more work, more multitasking, more isolation and more things that humans weren't supposed to go through. It might be a mistake to have developed things so much.

Here in Spain, most of the people live within close range of the city. There are plenty of cars, but walking is much more emphasized. Since people walk more...naturally people are much more healthy. Smaller businesses thrive here, and if you see a friend on the street you don't just say hello and keep walking, you stop and have a meaningful conversation with them. That is something much less likely to happen in the cramped up suburbs we have where it takes 20 mins to drive in to the huge supermarket, drive in circles waiting for the closest spot possible, buy your groceries and get out of there as fast as you can, and then drive the 20 mins back home.

I am not going to like America as much when I get back. Don't get me wrong, I love the democracy and voting priveledges, the freedom to worship and all that America was built upon. It's still a great country, and I would still fight for it...but it won't be the same. Not when I know what life could really be like....and perhaps what life is supposed to be like.

Adventures in Spain

First of all, let me say this before I go any further: Jet Lag is very awful. We arrived in Madrid at about 9:00 am, Tuesday (Madrid time. For the US time, subtract 7 hours from that.). My family kept me awake the whole day to help with the lag, so that meant fighting to stay up after a sleepless 7 and 1/2 hour trip on a packed out 7 passenger plane. I'm not sure why I can't sleep on planes too well, just can't.

After sleeping for 14 hours last night, we woke up and went back into the city. Most people walk around here, it's great! You see very few overweight/obese people and that is more than likely the case. Not only do people walk, the food is a great deal more healthy as a general rule. It's delicious too :)

Life is simple, and it's a joy to just get out and see how people spend time here. Most of them hang out with their friends talking, shopping in the hundreds of little shops, drinking coffee in cafes, etc.

We are taking the train into Madrid tomorrow, and I am going to take lots of pictures with my sister's digital camera (a Canon Rebel...mmmm). The best ones will end up on my photoblog. We hope to visit the Prado while in town as well, and art is always a pleasure.

Bad thing that happened today: my electric razor burnt its motor up. Great.

Good thing I've found out so far: Coke with lemon is a great combonation.

more to come later this week...

I forgot

Sometimes you forget just how great and how true to life some of the things from your youth are. One of those things for me is The Sound of Music. Channel 2 has it on right now and it's wonderful. Now that I've experienced some of life for what it really is, I enjoy this a million times more.

These days, I find many great things through StumbleUpon, an ingenius program for your web browser of choice (mine being FireFox...and it should be yours if it isn't already). It's an informative way to waste your time.

Joseph Addison and Richard Steele were both genius writers, and their work on the Tatler and the Spectator during the 18th century helped to bring about a revitalization of manners and combat the lewdness of the "Restoration romp" play writers. I stumbled upon a page of famous last words, and much to my suprise the last words of Joseph Addison came up:

"See in what peace a Christian can die."

It is said that he summoned his wayward stepson, Lord Warwick, while on his deathbed and challenged him with his dying words. I found it interesting, and it fits Addison's lifestyle and his goals. And to think...I'll have the privilege of meeting him one day :)

[http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/6537/realidx.htm]

Escape from heroin

Yet another great article from Slate.com:

The End of My World as I Knew It

my favorite line:

"I'd cry during Toyota commercials because the notion that a father wanted to buy a car that would keep his daughter safe on trips to soccer practice seemed overwhelmingly poignant."

T-minus 3 days

Just an article

I really enjoy this, and the reason I read it is because there is a hard copy that is lying on my desk right now...

Check it out: Is is possible to live in America without a car? Uh, sort of.

I saw Unwed Sailor last night, and I liked it a lot. They're one of my favorites now.

somebody SCREAM!!!!!

It was approximately 4:31 am this morning when I woke up to the sound of screaming.

Needless to say, I was alarmed. The sound, as it turns out, was my roommate having a night terror...I think. Some people have them chronically, but Lance commented that it almost never happens with him, so it may have not been. The thoughts that go through your half-awakened mind when hearing a scream are scary...I thought it might be a monster or maybe that someone was going to just kill me. Lance is a perfectly normal guy too (he's one of my favorite people and...he's single ladies!), so I don't know where this came from (if it indeed was him, still not sure). Possibilities of what Lance was dreaming about: someone broke up with him, he dropped a delicious ice cream treat, or he had more English papers to do.

I told him never to scream like that again just to be safe.

A new take on being single...

I have decided to take good advantage of my time as "just a friend" of many girls and spend some time living my life so that I have some good stories to tell the girl that I get into a relationship with next. Stories are nice to have for situations like...car rides and dinner time.