I live in the land of Cheap Pizza for Every Meal. It’s like heaven, only with more Catholics.

Abbot & Costello.
---
Today’s word: Fetta

Rome and Italy and Europe are wonderful and good and lovely and all that. But you know what I miss about America? See, I am a big believer in Free Stuff. Which is in a scarce supply here. The side salad. Refills of drinks. Dinner rolls. Ice water in restaurants. Nights & weekends on the cell phone. Bags at the grocery store. Public restrooms. The only thing I’ve gotten free here has been a CD of 10 songs with my Italian SIM card.

Two halves of a different coconut, but I’ll take what I can get.

This is what makes America the greatest country in the world. Land of the Free.
---
Today’s word: Cocco

On a dreary day, the cat sanctuary allows one to duck inside a contained world, away from the stresses outside. One gets to consider what it might be like to be a cat, condescending, independent, with a playful tail and retractable claws, living a life of perfect laziness. But here another side of the animal is seen. Here are abandoned strays, sick and injured, their grace overshadowed by pathetically awkward movements. These animals depend not on the hope of someone finding them beautiful, but pitiful.

I have always wanted to have a cat, and I hope to be able to have one next semester. But it will depend on my living situation, and that lies in the future. For now I live in Rome.
---
Today’s word: Gatto

Once Mars was returning from a victorious battle in Etruria when a great hunger overtook him. Seeing a flock, the son of Jove began eating the sheep. Their shepherd, Perioche, overcome by the sight of the blood-covered god, went to King Tarquin the Flamboyant, who advised him to pray for intervention. Some say that the king advised that votives be offered to Ceres, who, with the ancient procedures having been satisfied, caused an almond tree to spring up by which Mars’s hunger might be sated. From this came the term bread of Mars, or Martis panis. But most hold that the shepherd prayed to Pan, who transformed the sheep into almonds, which were referred to as the almonds of Pan for Mars, or Marti Panis. In accordance with this, the people of Rome prepare, shape, and consume marzipan.
---
Today’s word: Marzapane

Sit tibi terra levis
---
Today’s word: Carcare

The basilica of St. John Lateran contains impressively imposing religious scuptures, in particular a gallery of the 12 apostles each holding an instrument. This clearly should form the basis of a video game in which these characters engage in acts of smiting. It should be called Moral Kombat.
---
Today’s word: Ecumenico

So, those of you who attended any of my parties over the summer should surely recall my hosting technique of offering cans of Sunkist or Pepsi. I won't get into why I like Sunkist; but the Pepsi is because I genuinely like it better than Coca-Cola. I'll drink Coke if I don't have a choice, but I prefer the other taste. So, having said that, curse you, Coca-Cola, for your kudzian proliferation of Fanta throughout the civilized world.

Chinotto is the opposite of fennel. The one seems decent when it is first put in the mouth, only to then have a most bitter lasting aftertaste; the other vice versa. And, chinotto has ties to fascism.

Damn it, I'm in Europe, I want Orangina.
---
Today’s word: Chinotto

Anchorman has its moments, admittedly. Unfortunately, there are better parodies of news shows in modern satire; this one doesn’t try to be good, just funny. And the humor is of people lying badly. It also probably should have been seen prior to viewing Talladega Nights.
---
Today’s word: Sveglia

Despite the bad travel karma starting upon leaving the Centro and continuing to return, I accomplished what I wanted to in Florence: Uffizi Gallery, Duomo, a touch of Wash U, an enchilada, and precedent set. And now I know what not to do for future trips. I will give Florence this: As strongly as I must say the Tiber flows, the Arno could wrestle it.
---
Today’s word: Retardo

[Back, with the weekend's travel karma hopefully finally ended.]

Florence for the weekend, with an Italian SIM cell number: (39) 328-975-3404
---
Today’s word: Treno

There is a television channel in Italy called FoxCrime. It is not intended to be ironic.
---
Today’s word: Ammorbidente

“There’s some weird echoing, and I sound petulant.”

If you ever don’t want to talk to someone, just date them and cheat on them.

"I don't want him to break up with me. He'll just date another whore."
I think that came out wrong.
---
Today’s word: Fustagazione

“You are flying on a plane with your 2 children, when suddenly the oxygen masks descend. Which child do you save first?”
Assume identical twins, to remove the factor of one being more likely to save/survive independently.
“This is more thought than has ever been put into this question.”
Then... hm. Eh, save the one you like more.
“<laughs>”
This would make a good O. Henry story: A parent who favors one twin over the other, but one day the children trade places, and as a result the parent saves the wrong child.
“Or a movie starring the Olsen twins.”
Who would be the bad one?
“Clearly the anorexic one.”
---
Today’s word: Ragazzi

“Forza Ragazzi...”

Expected soccer to be more culturally exotic, but the experience was rather similar to American football, albeit not unenjoyable. Notable differences were security preventing bottlecaps from being brought into the stadium, “Cipster” potato chips offered by vendors, and painfully overacted injuries.

Out of deference to a taxi driver, if not my region, I will secondarily root for Lazio. But Roma will always be first.
“Veni vidi vici.”
---
Today’s word: Ricordare

Never have I ever said never have I ever played never have I ever playing never have I ever.
---
Today’s word: Partita

“Like a cat in heat stuck...”

All roads lead to Rome- specifically, to the Torre Argentina.

“...What you waiting / What you waiting / What you waiting / What you waiting / What you waiting for...”
---
Today’s word: Via

Pathologica
---
Today’s word: Sacchetto

The silly thing about Top Gun has nothing to do with ironical retrospection of Tom Cruise. It’s that it’s totally a romance and it doesn’t even realize it itself.
---
Today’s word: Obelisco

Ocean’s 11 offers merely a plot, but a detailed one. Indeed, it is remarkable in the absence of other elements; for unlike others of its genre, it does not worry about psychology, betrayal, or mystery, and this focus gives it strength.
---
Today’s word: Ombrello

Euro Trip is silly, but thematically so. It’s Summer Vacation, it’s exotic and foreign, it’s a quick sample of something that shouldn’t last any longer than it takes. It’s more something to see with friends than an actual experience. It’s not real, but it doesn’t try to be.
---
Today’s words: Mi scusi

Zoolander is a movie that is so bad that it bounced off the floor into good, then off the ceiling back into bad, before hitting the floor once more to rebound into some disoriented state of quality. Even with Italian subtitles.
---
Today’s word: Atterra

7, trying to return from the Piazza Navona after an exciting day of not-shopping, chase and catch a bus terminating at a garage, which after being descended through turns out to be outside St. Peter’s. After emerging and plotting to liberate Caesar’s ashes, a huge park bars our way. Wary of venturing into it after dark, we nevertheless decide to brave the crossing, entering through a found gate. A sign on the fences that needed to be jumped for exit informed that we had just trespassed on private property. While going around the Aurelian Wall blocking our further progress, we discover that the “park” was actually part of the Pontific College. Dumpster diving for discarding Masonic insignia, we return in time to hunt for reservationless dinner for 14 on a Saturday night.

A bar and 8 hours later, a great view of the city and the recent adventure are discovered amid religion and crepes.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Error: infinite loop.

Corollary: When in Rome, be yourself.

Not only for $10000, but for free pizza as well, Rome was visited by Danny.

I made it to Rome. The same, however, cannot be said for my luggage.

“The advantage of having your luggage lost is that you don’t have to carry it here."

"Palamedes found his bitterest enemies in Odysseus and Homer; for the one laid an ambush against him of people by who he was stoned to death, while the other denied him any place in his epic."

Foremost, I will be beginning to attend the ICCS program in a few days. For that I have obtained a few new things, prominent among which is a laptop, the clever Palamedes. Which, being necessary for traveling, signifies daily Away Messages becoming inefficient and impractical just when I have so many I want to see and speak to. So, appropriately enough, it is time to embark on a new adventure.

Let EmpTyger eternally rule.

Things are changing again.

“Always wanting more...”

I will be missed.
I will miss.

“...A new religion that'll bring you to your knees / Black velvet, if you please...”

Lamb Stew Party, tonight at 8pm at 6625 Wash. Ave. Apt. 1. There will be lamb stew. At least, there will be if you show up early. No guarantees if you’re late.

“Reductio ad absurdum, which Euclid loved so much, is one of a mathematician's finest weapons. It is a far finer gambit than any chess gambit: a chess player may offer the sacrifice of a pawn or even a piece, but a mathematician offers the game.”

Absurd blunders.

Goodbye Goodbye Cakes Cakes.

Check and ‘mate.

το 'εν is the loneliest monad that you'll ever do. τω
δυω can be as bad as το 'εν
It’s the loneliest monad since the Pythagorean.
Noetic is the saddest experience you'll ever know.
Aesthetic, it's the saddest experience you'll ever know.
'Cause το 'εν is the loneliest monad that you'll ever do. το
'εν is the loneliest monad, worse than τω δυω.
It’s just not το αγαθον since it went symbolic.
Now I spend my time in noetic mind, Neo-Platonic.
το 'εν is the loneliest
(αριθμος)
το 'εν is the loneliest
(αριθμος)
το 'εν is the loneliest monad that you'll ever do.

I’m going to ask you, and you don’t have to answer, what you asked me yesterday that I didn’t have to answer.

What strength is is irrelevant to whether one thinks oneself strong.
Whether one thinks oneself strong is irrelevant to whether another thinks one strong.
Whether another thinks one strong is irrelevant to whether the other should say that one is strong.

“I really cannot go on much longer like this; I need to stop being convolutedly philosophical and go to bed.”
Or just go to bed.

Sacred bison may be good for a lot of things, but they do not make good hamburger.

“Who shall measure the hat hate heat and violence of the poet’s heart when caught and tangled in a woman’s body?”

Close enough.

If you can’t trust the back of a box of Schnucks-brand food, who can you?

Sorry, I forgot for a second that you wouldn’t do what I would do.

“I'll be home for Christmas...”

I remember when I wished to have a recording of my entire life: a complete archive of every hour of every day. Which because of obvious recursion would be impossible to ever completely actually view; but it would allow me to never leave any piece of history behind. Sometimes I would explicitly want the recollection to be from a first person perspective, recording the thoughts I was just as curious along with my actions; but mostly third person view would have been sufficient, with the logic being that *I* would be able to recall or recreate my thoughts.

I remember when I knew why I wished to have this.

I remember when I used to be nostalgic.

“...If only in my dreams...”

It is surprisingly difficult to select a link as representative of a year. The crucial sticking point seems to be how to resolve the ambiguity of significant December creations. On one hand, they represent the culmination of the preceding; on the other they resonate and are popularized in the following. The preceding year can be viewed in it, but in the following year can it be viewed. And the very nature of winter break contributes to its being mostly likely for significant candidates to be released then, with study breaks being sought through finals week, and with a period of intermingling as mass migrations mix, connect, and reconnect friends, schoolmates, and family members. It is a time of tinder, with the best chance for a random link to spark a wildfire of interest.

I don’t live here. I just live here.

The best way for me to not do something is to tell someone I’m going to do it.
I live in darkness and my dreams are shadows, but all I want is pannychous.
This year I resolve to have it be mine.

New Year’s Eve party tonight, 10pm, 6625 Wash. Ave, Apt. 1. Cell if any questions, or just show up.

And like that, the maker is met.

“And by hang, you mean make.”

Neutral.

The Octopus Method is simultaneously both too good and makes perfect sense to be only applied to just cheating at Scrabble.

“Is [Britney] making another mistake?”
“Is it really Jen in the topless video?”
“Did Theseus slay the Minotaur?”

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Back to the bookstore.

Brokering an exchange between Z[] and P[] about Keanu Reeves and Jesus Christ, in which all participants are surprisingly sober. A Christmas to remember.

“That was an entertaining movie in a stupid kind of way.”

:(

If I want to smile, I’ll pick up a colon, toss in a right parenthesis, and tilt my head to the side, tyvm. None of this newfangled non-disabling of graphical smileys nonsense that the AIM 6 wants to impose upon me.

Santa comes early this year to 6625 Wash Ave: Internet's working.

(Settling into winter quarters; stop by if around.)

[More like Santa comes on time.]

I have stories to be written, letters to be sent, books to be read, and lies to be told.

Packing.

Sufganiyot: schwamm for the holidays.

“It’s my fault for not starting earlier on this.”
Don't let being self-critical get in the way of blaming others.
“I usually blame myself, then others, then myself again for blaming others.”
Then blame others for making you blame yourself for blaming them.

“So precious, suspicious, and charming, and vicious / Oh darling...”

Okay. Go.

“...Just when you get on a roll / Here it goes...”

[profile temporarily utilized for space]
“You’ve written me lots of love poetry, and I’ve written nothing (I’ll let you read- apologies). It’s long past my turn for a love letter, but, in keeping with the fatalistic tragic theme, it is also a good-bye letter.

I certainly could not have asked for anything better. I didn’t know there were those out there as romantic and all-around nice as you- and I managed to find one of the first try! I’m sure I was frustrating at times with my “innocence” and newness at this, but you have always made me feel comfortable and from my end the experience was unforgettable. We were able to communicate amazingly, both in terms of our relationship and just in general; I have always loved our conversations. You have been a superlative boyfriend and a great friend.

…not to mention you have impeccable timing. The time we have been together has not been the best of times for me, independent of you, but you have made up for it, on a whole and day-to-day. You’ve been there for me through a lot no one should have to.

As I’ve said, I haven’t yet realized how much I’m going to miss you.”

“Do I look like a mind reader, sir, I don't know...”

So many reasons to hate; really, I’m not sure at the moment what I hate more. The thing is, I still just don’t believe in statistics.

Somewhere someplace/drop down dead.

“...I got 99 problems...”

I like blondes.
<pause>
Er, hm. There’s no way I really can recover from this now, is there.
“I think I should go quote this.”
No, wait: either you’ll remember later and quote it then, or else you’ll forget it. Win-win.

Control-S
(Save be saved.)

“Results of your Personality Disorder Test:
Find a girlfriend!”

Won Donnie Darko Mafia (Mini 343) as Donnie Darko, a protown vigilante. Miskilled a protown player who admittedly was asking for it D1, misinterpreted observations of a protown roleblocker to kill them N1, and committed both errors N2, during which I myself was put out of my misery by finally being killed by the mafia. Despite these misplays, the town was able to sweep up the remaining mafia with excellent usage of the other powerroles. Though just as frustrating as making bad plays was failing to make good ones. I talked myself out of killing a suspicious player both nights- a player who wound up being mafia. And I dropped a tell I thought I caught on a player early D2, who wound up being mafia as well.

Botched flu shots cause zombies.

Google toolbar is my bookmarks.

Conascension: up to the usual shenanigans.

Would that I be missed when I am gone for a semester as much as you have been.

You happened at a really fortuitous time for me, and I never thanked you. You're better than me at this; I expect great things from you. When I next see you, I'm not going to recognize you at all, for you'll have changed so much. Listen and you'll hear yourself. People look up to us. Our greatest strength is our greatest weakness: we’re each different people. One day you will find someone special who you won't be able to be with, and when that day arrives, you'll have this. You have a vision and you need to follow it. If you need to run, run, and don't look back. Look forward to looking back. I think I'll miss you most of all, scarecrow.

Potluck-to-end-all-potluck Tiramisu
Pecan Tartlets
Lasagna
Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkin Pie
Mac & Cheese
Self-frosted Sugar Cookies
Mashed Potatoes
Truffles
Beef Stew
Liquid Fudgecakes
Cheese & Crackers
Assorted Chocolates
Cinnamon Bread
Fruit Salad
Neiman-Marcus Cheese Dip
Orange-and-not-rum juice
100 Wendy's Chicken Nuggets (with Honey Mustard, Ranch, or Sweet & Sour)

So you know what that party really needed? Ice cubes.

“These lights won’t last the night.”

Mere formality.

We’ll have the lanterns forever.

I worried for nothing.
You’ll be fine without me.
You’re not going to remember this in the morning.
I’m going now.

“Why does it have to be all or nothing? And if it has to be all or nothing, why does it have to be nothing?”

Future perfect tense.

Whatever he asks, just say that it violates subjacency.

Drawing family trees.

“Existential plastic / Extra nightly cow / Damn jettison goodbye / Through everything...”

Too much to do.

“...Entanglement broke/ Unsophisticated clockwise...”

Too little time left.

“...Suitcase pining lobsters over murderous distraction...”

Ordered disorder.

“...Playing / Word / Disassociation...”

Getting : having :: seeing : watching

Suspicious of Whistlers’s final weekly “Beast with 2 Backs” show is tonight at 9pm in Ursa’s. If you can’t get over there to watch me, there will be no acceptable excuse for not watching the semester’s final performance next week (location/time TBD).

A present went with kiss
Past Stoic's bliss
Dependent on intent, to miss
Lovely vacation, Swiss.

“Running in circles...”

Perfected the technique of being in the right place and being at the right time.
Failed at doing both concurrently.

"Fly, you fools."
LotR. Book 2. Chapter 5, maybe? And let's say 2 pages from the end?

Unsure about whether this is necessarily bad
Certain that there must be a less backwards way to journey.

“...No one ever said it would be this hard...”

Casino Royale is a good movie, but that it is not why it is good. It is good because it is different. Which is especially interesting, since it for so many reasons it should not have been.

Hibernating.

I was born in 1986, died at age 16, and lived forever.

It is intense. Seeing it is intense. Watching it is intense. Its themes are love and death. Its setting is the past and the present and the future. Its symbols are the ring and the triangle.

But most significantly, The Fountain is my story. It is what I have thought, will live, and must tell.

“Why at age 16?”
Why in 1986?
Why forever?

Compulsively clicking mice.

Everytime I heard Robitussin I saw the evil guy from Jungle Book.
Shere Khan?
<laughs>
Sometimes I wonder about you.
At least I didn’t know the evil guy from Jungle Book of the top of my head. Which was why I was laughing.

The preceding statement either helped or hurt my argument. It is left as an exercise for the reader to determine which.

Bitter towards Thanksgiving.

“Your honor, I object to this witness's testimony. Opposing counsel has failed to show that they even exist!”

Existentially hunting the Loch Birch Mongoose.

On my side I have wit, logic, and the approval of S[]. Whereas C[] has only her infallibility.

WU Basics
Going to Bear's Den is simple. There's plenty of variety. It's easy to find a companion for a quick run. It's a casual and convenient stop that you can hit multiple times per week, even per day.

Ursa's has fewer items on the menu, but it has a particularly savory selection, with a focus on dessert items. Nor are the activities limited to the culinary realm; it's the perfect way to play a game, or maybe relax next to a fire. It lacks the same access that BD has, but nevertheless it's still simple enough to drop in here a couple times a week.

Center Court has limited access, is impossible to attend alone, and requires a commitment of both time and money- but in return, all you can eat.

And for those times when you're all the way on main campus? You go to Mallinckrodt.

A posed hypothetical:
Let someone somehow destroy every single copy of every single piece of work of Shakespeare’s- burn every script, hack any database, rip the pages out of every schoolchild’s textbook, take a scissors and magic marker to any work containing any allusion- that is, let Shakespeare not be killed, but rather hang by the threads of memories of actors and of him.

“If I die, the idea of a triangle would disappear with me.”

What becomes of Shakespeare?

“...tam in potestate esset oblivisci quam tacere.”

What becomes of the vandal?

“Does anyone know what Pliny the Elder was known for?”
Dying.

“But you see, it's not me...”

Need a strict no-zombie membership policy.

“...it's not my family...”

“Cyborg is a co-dominant trait.”

Half again.

Love, easily distracted by novel feats of anti-physics.
(Like everything else.)

Registering a what-do-you-mean-you-don't-want-a-side-salad-or-has-no-one-informed-you-that-the-side-salad-is-free-with-purchase look of so-much-for-free-pizza-I-guess-we’re-not-going-to-Vertigo.

“Oh, where is the song / That goes like this...”
Some of the best scenes from the film are disappointingly absent {witch, bridge of death}, although new material does compensate. The classic quotes have slight difference from their usual intonation, though Plenty of musical allusions extend the parody into more than a mere genre adaptation, making Spamalot an amusing play in its own right.

And this was nowhere near the worst worst seat I’ve had.
“...That's awfully high for me...”

Not right now, in general.

Not fun.

"I'd probably be Hestia. Just sit by the fire."
Well, you would have had a fun cult in Roman times.
"What did they do?”
Not have sex. Maybe it wasn't that fun a cult.

I will do something for you I’ve never done for anyone else.

Half an idea.

“Amy doesn’t date boys with [...].”
I’ll see what I can do.

It’s strange. I’m kind of angrybitter. But not really angry. Actually, I’m kind of cheerful. Except I hate stupid morons and want to kill them. But I’m not moody or upset. Wow. I’ve become *you*.

Drop everything.

I bluetape rooms. It’s therapeutic.

“This is a simulation...”

Why even try.

“(4 Points) What kind of sneakers do I wear:”
Those blue things with holes in them that I don’t know the name of and I know those aren’t technically your sneakers but they are footwear and I need to put something down since I don’t think before I’d finish this you’re going to be going to the bathroom so that I could sneak a peak into your closet unobserved and L[] would see me anyway.

Time to pick something.

““Pride and Prejudice” is something you see either with your girlfriends or your boyfriend.”

"Who the hell is going to dress up for November 11?"
Veterans?

Sleepover. Not that much sleep will be gotten. Not that that’s atypical.

Seem slightly off.

“Over the past decade, the St. Louis archdiocese paid over $5.8 million to abuse victims.”
“No trespassing / violaters will / be prosecuted.”
“Listen to me bitch.”

The perfect date activity is baking cupcakes.
It’s food.
It’s a gift.
It's personal.
It's unique.
It’s a cooperative task.
It’s a simple everyday activity.
It provides 18-25 minutes of empty time to kill while the cupcakes are in the oven...

“They’re not quite presidential, / They’re kind of influential...”

No poll working at all this midterm, due to a couple more mixups. Will just have to be a voter. Some people have issues.

There are 2 schools of space travel in science fiction: CGI and Muppet. This schism explains the difference between Star Wars 1-3 and 4-6.

Replaced into and lost Clue mafia (Mini 291), as Sergeant Grey, mafia. And was an admitted sore loser, out of bitterness for the mechanics. The mafia had no control over their nightkill (the town could kill more reliably!), being forced to rely on luck. The unusual mechanics only affected mafia strategy, so the mafia has no way of knowing that what should be an optimal strategy would fail. Mafia were placed in a position where they must commit to one of 2 diametrically opposed plans- but the more they learn about the setup, the more they are led to choose suboptimally! The better the mafia tries to play, the worse it is for them.

Like the board game, this was a town’s game, designed to be played by the town, and I feel I wasted a lot of time trying to win it when that wasn’t possible.

There is a difference between satire and parody, often lost because most of the most effective former are examples of the latter. Borat, however, is pure satire, almost more painful than funny.

Cinemis Symbolis.
Amy, my peer in love,
Clandestine paramour,
Rose-cheeked debut,

So irresistible,
Wickedly kissable.
(Overanalysis?
They had no clue.)

I am the best liar you will ever know.

A stupid question is one that can be answered by typing it into Google.