the id, the ego, & the single misfiring brain cell

I feel obliged to explain where I've been, like a teenager who came home past curfew, but that's neither important nor interesting. All you need to know if that I've been very busy and when I wasn't, I didn't feel like writing, and that I'm fine.

So I'll tell you about my day.

I'm still in Ferrara, Italy. This begins my last week here for a while. Friday, I fly back to Izmir.

I woke feeling tense, jumpy, and scattered. I don't know why I get like this, but my best guess is inadequate exercise. My ankle is steadily improving--I'd say it's almost completely healed, except that I still have Achilles damage--so I can walk for longer periods of time now. I had a cappuccino and a slice of bread and some fizzy mineral water for breakfast, then braided my hair, cleaned my room, and struck out across town with my iPod, my camera, and a few euro on my pocket.

It was a beautiful morning but already hot at 9:30. Leonard Cohen (go ahead...click it), Brandi Carlile, Beth Hart, Crash Test Dummies, Decemberists, Heather Nova, Tori Amos, and Jann Arden kept me company in my solitary walk. I share these just in case you want to get into the mood of the moment. You know...feed as many senses as you can at once. I also share them because they include a few fairly unknown artists, and I want to share the joy of my discovery.

Y'know? Let's make today's stroll an interactive experience. I invite you to right-click the links and listen as you read and view the photos.

OK. This is the street in Ferrara I "live" on. If you walk through the arch between the castle-looking thing and the clock tower, my B&B is about ten meters down on the right. On my right (which you can't see in this pic) is the castle, and that big gap between where the buildings on the left end and the clock tower houses the cathedral (which you also can't see, but I'm giving you a layout, people. Work with me here).

This is the usual stuff I see every day, so I wasn't into taking pics of the major sites. I was going for common views, really. Like this:

It's just a sidestreet. I could have lengthened the exposure to cut out the black, but I just love the contrast. This is what you see if you look down a sidestreet here. (Oh...and that arch over the street? That's so the merchants several centuries ago could go from their homes to their shops without having to pass among the common rabble, not to mention the filth.)

I admit I just discovered Leonard Cohen. Yes. This, despite the fact that "Hallelujah" is one of my favoritist songs of all time. All right...maybe I didn't discover him because of it. I didn't know who wrote the song when I discovered it. I just knew it was inspired, and several artists had performed/recorded it. As I was flipping through the artists, I heard Cohen singing it. Frankly? His rendention of it is the worst I've ever heard, and I couldn't make it all the way through. (And today, after realizing that I practically worship the clouds he walks on, I went back and listened to his version of the song. It does, indeed, suck. I still couldn't finish it.)

Despite my personal opinion regarding the manglement* of his own song, I have discovered that he has not only a brilliance for songwriting, but an amazing, expressive voice. I just can't listen to him singing "Hallelujah." He ruins the song for me.

* My word. And I want OED credit for coining it.

So you're walking down the street and you see this, right? From the street, you basically just see a wall. (Venice is like this, too.) But walk through the door and you'll see something like this:

Right out of a movie set, huh? That's because movie sets tend to be based on real life.

If you're hearing the strains of The Godfather theme about now, you aren't the only one.

***

Brandi Carlile. Wow. Barb introduced me to this artist, and I have since become shamelessly addicted. This song ("The Story") shows not only a rather wonderful songwriting ability, but a versatile, expressive, lazy voice--three of my favorite qualities in a singer. Here's Sara Ramirez doing a smash-up job of the song, too.*

* I don't believe I've ever watched an episode of "Grey's Anatomy." Honest. I guess it's time I get on that, as soon as I'm caught up on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Dexter," and "The L Word."

Now a little Beth Hart. This is about as proper as Beth gets. Here, she's performing "Learning to Live." Appreciate not only her brilliance in performance, but the unmistakable treble of her voice. (I just realized "Learning to Live" has a bad word in it. This one, however, is clean. It's called "Delicious Surprise." Again, you can appreciate Beth's performance skill. Here, it's just her and a guitar(ist).) While I'm at it, this has to be my favorite of hers, and it is even more amazing in concert: "LA Song."

All right all right. Just watch all of the "Live at Paradisio" ones she has. She is amazing.

Back to pictures. Here's me.

Please pardon the iPod.

My hair's still long, obviously. I've learned to French braid it myself--a useful skill when one wears a uniform for a living--so maybe I'll keep it long for a while.

Crash Test Dummies. Janette introduced me to this group. I'd heard of them, yes, but I'd never heard them. Sometimes, hearing is believing. This is "God Shuffled His Feet." Enjoy.

I wandered around a bit and stumbled upon this:

It's the Diamond Palace, so named for the odd cut of the masonry. I shot this one just so you could get a good idea of the scale. Here's a close-up:

Here's some Jann Arden. I've known about Jann since the late nineties, when she did Living Under June. I've slowly come to appreciate Jann more, and only recently got her discography. She's wonderful (and quite the performer, apparently--both in her singing and her interludes, when she tells stories).