So much for Florence

So, we had our first day of studio yesterday. We met for a lecture in the library as a class for the first time. Z, our studio instructor, gave us our first assignment, which is to read a book about the history of Florence, and then create presentations based on our assigned chapters. I've got the early middle ages, between 1000 and 1300 AD.

Aside- I've never understood the desire to change the system from AD, anno Domingo, [year of the lord] to CE [common era]. You're still counting years from the mythical birth of Christ regardless of what you choose to call it. If you really wanted to be a-religious about it, you'd select some other event as the 0 mark, the first recorded writings, for example.

Anyway, I chose to present monday, which means I've got a lot of work ahead. The good news is that theres a ton of material on the city ready for us. It's an incredibly well documented city and not much has changed. I have, for example, a file with all the buildings and streets of the city.

The kicker for this class is the trip to Florence. I'd really like to get to know the city better- I was there only two days when I was backpacking back in my undergraduate days, and I was really taken by the city. The timing is good- right before spring break so I could take the time to travel more around Europe. But it's expensive, and the school is not going to finance my trip. The fact is that I just bought a needed computer, and the lowest cost of the trip will still be around $1200. I'd still be seriously considering going except for the fact that my professor, Z, can't commit that he'll take us himself. I mean, he's the main reason I'm interested in this studio, and if he's not going to be there to show us around, that's a huge disincentive.

Also, not related but a general disincentive- I realized I missed a class last tuesday, the first class of my landscape class and there's a reading due tuesday from a book I don't have. So not a great start to that class either.

I'm still debating Florence. If I find a spanking deal I may consider it.

Went to a Chinese Lunar New Year party tonight with a bunch of classmates, many of them either Chinese or American Asian. Really good hot pot, beer, tons of people, a good mix of asians and Americans. Really fun. However, it occurred to me that Saori and I were the oldest people there, which is a new thing, but happens with greater regularity. I'm 27 and Saori's a year older, and we're hanging around with the early 20-somethings, people who, due to the economy, tended to push through from undergrad to graduate, so they're only around 22 years old. Made me feel kind of old.

Also making me feel kind of old is that every month that I look in the mirror, I see a little more of my dad looking back at me. I've got a much longer face, but Saori thinks my resemblance to both my parents is getting stronger. I've always favored my mom, especially the nose, the high forehead, and shape of my face, but there's something of my dad coming through more more distinctly which I can't put my finger on.

Fact is I'm less than three years from thirty, and when my parents were my age, I was already two or three years old, and they were both working.