Back again

Wow it's been a long time since the last post. Marco and I just got internet access again after several weeks without. In addition to that I didn't even use the computer at all because Marco is now working (for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - big news!) and he's using it 100% of the time.

Like coffee or cigarettes, I had almost completed the internet withdrawal period -- aching to check my emails, aching to write my blog, agonizing that I have fifty things I need to Google, then finally, slowly forgetting to think about any of these things and realizing one day that I don't really need to do anything on the internet. It was a moment of zen clarity.... But now I'm back and the DSL is running and I'm tumblin' fast off the wagon. Get out a pack of cigs, a flask of bourbon and a wi-fi hookup. Lets ROLL!

I'm in our new apartment. We've been here about three weeks. It's such a great location. It's a beautiful 30-minute walk to my studio every morning. It's a 10-minute walk to the food store. I can also walk to 2 hardware stores, a ton of nice restaurants and pubs, an art supply store, my dad's work, a wine shop, an independent video store with lots of foreign movies (except we've got no tv or dvd player, except on loan this weekend).

I LOVE being able to walk everywhere!! I feel free and energetic and entertained by all the interesting things that I encounter when walking. Even biking is not the same because even it is too fast to fully absorb one's surroundings. What I love the most is the way walking gives you such close intimate contact with your world. You can smell people's gardens, feel the crunch of leaves under your feet as autumn arrives, feel the warm sun and the cool shadows as you pass by buildings and trees, look passersby in the eye and say hello or sometimes hear their conversations and wonder about their lives.