Merry Christmas

My first Xmas blog goes something like this:

I'm bored. And in withdrawal. And frustrated. And lonely. And confused.

I am on the computer on a cold Christmas Eve, spending money that I don't have yet on books that contain knowledge I didn't learn in college and should have. Like drafting, interior design and film. Very expensive books. Also, spending the Eve working at Olivia Village, and NOT at home, with my dog, watching movies while waiting for Santa [who I hear DOES NOT exist]. Sigh. But I am glad I am not at home with my brother. He is irrationally violent when he is angry. And it pisses me off.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about learning to do these things. I'm also excited about the difference in my style of drawing. It's a lot easier now. And it just flows, without being too derivitive and without being too overdone or underdeveloped. So now, I can be comfortable with expanding to the other aspects of the craft like landscape, architecture, interior design, color and all of that cool stuff. I really hate being entry-level. How the hell am I supposed to get experience? I looked around online for chapters of the IATSE and the Art Directors Guild and found that they don't really seem to be taking people under their wing to learn the craft of production design. I don't know how to do this.

I also feel like my parents don't understand what I am trying to do. I show my mom my sketches and drawings from Rome and she says to me, "so you don't do faces anymore?" WHAT THE HELL. Firstly, portraits are the EASIEST things to do; takes about five minutes to do a decent one. I just wish that the people whose opinions I want to know didn't have such a limited, overclassical view on the art world. There's more to it than portraits and paintings. I've moved passed it. I know I can do those things...and so I'm moving on to learn more.

So I can get out of here again. And become something.

And that's where I am.

Merry Christmas.

Selena & Craig

OMG....SO ENGAGED. Rome is amazing. And so are these two. Congratulations. :)

America the Beautiful

And so it is…we leave as we came, and our time was good.

But the moment Roma leaves the big picture, the problems begin to snowball. An explosion in London delays our flights, rerouting some people and just leaving some of us to wait and sleep at the terminal. Mid-escalator, my laptop bag slips from my grasp and proceeds to roll halfway down the ramp, stopped only by the violent kick of a stranger below. Does it still work? Hopefully. My luggage was lost by the airline: a roll of paintings constituting my entire semester’s worth of work, one of which I was hoping to sell to alleviate the financial burden of not having any money save for the 60 euro in my pocket when I re-enter the United States. Currency exchange was CLOSED, so I couldn’t turn euro into dollars. I am stuck in Philly with nothing but luggage and 60 EURO. My lack of a way home from Philly International Airport to State College forces me to lug around five FIVE heavy bags and all of my layers of hot clothing around the airport to someone who could lead me to the pickup spot for a reluctant stay at an expensive Days Inn miles from the airport, to where I must return in the morning to take a taxi to the Greyhound station downtown. I had forgotten, in a drunken stupor days ago about the kit kat that had melted in my front pocket and the pixy stick that had broken in my back one and decided to wear these pants in transit across the Atlantic. Genius.

Some good things. At the Days Inn, I watched MTV as I sorted through my luggage to rearrange and reassess travel damage. Luckily, before I left the airplane, I stole one of those socks/toothbrush packs to replace what I threw away in Rome before I left. So I had fresh, clean socks and minty minty breath as I slid into one of the most comfortable and satisfying sleeps I have ever experienced. And then…. an American medium-rare steak and eggs breakfast in the morning. See you all soon. Arrivederci.

PS. These snow-topped mountains are so beautiful. And I already can't stand my brother, had to say.

Homecoming

So, I'm at school using the Wi-Fi for the last time from Rome. The Penn State gang (above) posed for this picture last night before we all went out to a great party and then a club. We're all ready to come home and be Americans again.

Rome has been beyond amazing. I can't possibly articulate how thankful I am that we had this opportunity and so happy to be able to say, "I lived in Rome." I was here.

Tomorrow, I go home. But today, after an awesome night at the Architecture house party and then Lost & Found, I'm ready to spend a day alone walking the city, getting ready to face these people for the last time at a great Last Supper at some Italian restaurant and possibly some good ol' Karaoke.

This is Donelisio D'Aguillo broadcasting from Rome, Italy....over and out.

Current Music: The Long Day Is Over, Norah Jones

Compromise

Such is life; the part of the semeseter where you learn to build that psychological brick wall and re-evaluate the nature of your relationships has arrived. And you look back at all the pictures and words and meals and trips and ticketstubs and memories and you decide…do you want to be the kind of person that pushes people away because you are convinced you’ll never see them again…or the person that ultimately compromises themselves in order to learn to say goodbye and recognize that the time you’ve spent together was worthwhile and precious.

And you decide it’s worth the pain never to forget.

Joe is leaving town.

Kate and Brendan are going to move to Denver.

People will have graduated when I return.

We’re leaving Rome. And each other.

And this spring is the time for my generation to graduate. Class of 2006 will leave me behind.

So I am sitting here writing this entry bathed in the harsh fluorescent lights of a drawing room that overlooks the Tiber River. And there is a beautiful sunset outside. And there is great music playing in here. And the drivers are still honking their horns. And the tables have been moved around and there’s charcoal and dust everywhere, the smell of an overheated flashbulb permeates. But the room is empty save for me and Mario. And he’s there, erasing and drawing and erasing and drawing and getting lost in his world, and here I am writing this and thinking about a million things and getting lost in my own fluorescent world. And its things like that I have to say goodbye to. Again.