small update

hi all,

well i made it back to Oneida....and yes the family has me going everywhere and doing everything. so time to myself isnt an option.  now i am going back to work, yes i didnt want to go back, but they kept asking me to go sssssooooooo i start in 2 weeks. 

other then that, im missing Italy and Luli. He says ciao tutti and some other bad italian phrases, if you know what i mean (amanda) lol lol lol! he says he misses watching us act crazy. lmao lmao as did i! 

thats it from here. nothing new. 

ohhhh..... ok quick poll: how watched the season finale of LOST?????

i did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (THANKS QUAN) 

Watch Your Bank Accounts!

Hey Everybody.

Well I have left Florence, but it appears my debit card hasn't.  Apparently my card had been "skinned" in the city, and the person decided to use it for the first time over Memorial Day weekend, charging enough to overdraw my account.  Apparently it takes 2 weeks for Citizens Bank to fix this problem, even though I am no longer in Italy and the charges are from there.  So keep an eye out.  No one else ever had my card because I dorkily wore a money belt.  However, my card has been cancelled, so that's the end of that.  They kind of picked the wrong account to mess with, because they wouldn't have been able to get very far anyway :-P

Other than that I am still job searching.  I am doing freelance stuff to keep me going while I am looking for jobs.  I have a phone interview tomorrow for a Marketing Assistant position.  Something will work out I'm sure.  Keep your fingers crossed!

I miss you guys.  I hope everything is well.  I am ready for summer!

ciaociao,

am

Geeks and Nerds

So, since there was some discussion amongst us over the past year about who is a geek and who is a nerd, I thought I would share this Op-Ed that I saw in the New York Times this morning.

Alpha Geeks by David Brooks

In 1950, Dr. Seuss published a book called “If I Ran the Zoo.” It contained the sentence: “I’ll sail to Ka-Troo, and bring back an IT-KUTCH, a PREEP, and a PROO, a NERKLE, a NERD, and a SEERSUCKER, too!” According to the psychologist David Anderegg, that’s believed to be the first printed use of the word “nerd” in modern English.

The next year, Newsweek noticed that nerd was being used in Detroit as a substitute for “square.” But, as Ander-egg writes in his book, “Nerds,” the term didn’t really blossom onto mass consciousness until The Fonz used it in “Happy Days” in the mid- to late-1970s. And thus began what you might call the ascent of nerdism in modern America.

At first, a nerd was a geek with better grades. The word described a high-school or college outcast who was persecuted by the jocks, preps, frat boys and sorority sisters. Nerds had their own heroes (Stan Lee of comic book fame), their own vocations (Dungeons & Dragons), their own religion (supplied by George Lucas and “Star Wars”) and their own skill sets (tech support). But even as “Revenge of the Nerds” was gracing the nation’s movie screens, a different version of nerd-dom was percolating through popular culture. Elvis Costello and The Talking Heads’s David Byrne popularized a cool geek style that’s led to Moby, Weezer, Vampire Weekend and even self-styled “nerdcore” rock and geeksta rappers.

The future historians of the nerd ascendancy will likely note that the great empowerment phase began in the 1980s with the rise of Microsoft and the digital economy. Nerds began making large amounts of money and acquired economic credibility, the seedbed of social prestige. The information revolution produced a parade of highly confident nerd moguls — Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Larry Page and Sergey Brin and so on.

Among adults, the words “geek” and “nerd” exchanged status positions. A nerd was still socially tainted, but geekdom acquired its own cool counterculture. A geek possessed a certain passion for specialized knowledge, but also a high degree of cultural awareness and poise that a nerd lacked.

Geeks not only rebelled against jocks, but they distinguished themselves from alienated and self-pitying outsiders who wept with recognition when they read “Catcher in the Rye.” If Holden Caulfield was the sensitive loner from the age of nerd oppression, then Harry Potter was the magical leader in the age of geek empowerment.

But the biggest change was not Silicon Valley itself. Rather, the new technology created a range of mental playgrounds where the new geeks could display their cultural capital. The jock can shine on the football field, but the geeks can display their supple sensibilities and well-modulated emotions on their Facebook pages, blogs, text messages and Twitter feeds. Now there are armies of designers, researchers, media mavens and other cultural producers with a talent for whimsical self-mockery, arcane social references and late-night analysis.

They can visit eclectic sites like Kottke.org and Cool Hunting, experiment with fonts, admire Stewart Brand and Lawrence Lessig and join social-networking communities with ironical names. They’ve created a new definition of what it means to be cool, a definition that leaves out the talents of the jocks, the M.B.A.-types and the less educated. In “The Laws of Cool,” Alan Liu writes: “Cool is a feeling for information.” When someone has that dexterity, you know it.

Tina Fey, who once was on the cover of Geek Monthly magazine, has emerged as a symbol of the geek who grows into a swan. There is now a cool geek fashion style, which can be found on shopping sites all over the Web (think Japanese sneakers and text-laden T-shirts). Schwinn now makes a retro-looking Sid/Nancy bicycle, which is sweet and clunky even though it has a faux-angry name. There are now millions of educated-class types guided by geek manners and status rules.

The news that being a geek is cool has apparently not permeated either junior high schools or the Republican Party. George Bush plays an interesting role in the tale of nerd ascent. With his professed disdain for intellectual things, he’s energized and alienated the entire geek cohort, and with it most college-educated Americans under 30. Newly militant, geeks are more coherent and active than they might otherwise be.

Barack Obama has become the Prince Caspian of the iPhone hordes. They honor him with videos and posters that combine aesthetic mastery with unabashed hero-worship. People in the 1950s used to earnestly debate the role of the intellectual in modern politics. But the Lionel Trilling authority-figure has been displaced by the mass class of blog-writing culture producers.

So, in a relatively short period of time, the social structure has flipped. For as it is written, the last shall be first and the geek shall inherit the earth.

The Kellie Bible

I just finished reading "Invisible Monsters" by Chuck Palahniuk. I must share. From the first chapter I knew this was in Chuck's twisted way, the book of the Kellie. Here is a brief except:

"Another thing is no matter how much you think you love somebody, you'll step back when the pool of their blood edges up too close.

Except for all this high drama, it's a really nice day. This is a warm, sunny day and the front door is open to the porch and the lawn outside. The fire upstairs draws the warm smell of the fresh-cut lawn into the foyer, and you can hear all the wedding guests outside. All the guests, they took the gifts they wanted, the crystal and silver and went out to wait on the lawn for the firemen and paramedics to make their entrance. Brandy, she opens one of her huge, ring-beaded hands and she touches the hole pouring her blood all over the marble floor.

Brandy, she says, "Shit. There's no way the Bon March? will take this suit back."

Evie lifts her face, her face a finger-painting mess of soot and snot and tears from her hands and screams, "I hate my life being so boring!"

Evie screams down at Brandy Alexander, "Save me a window table in hell!"

Tears rinse clean lines down Evie's cheeks, and she screams, "Girlfriend! You need to be yelling some back at me!"

As if this isn't already drama, drama, drama, Brandy looks up at me kneeling beside her. Brandy's aubergine eyes dilated out to full flower, she says, "Brandy Alex-ander is going to die now?""

It is a quick romp through the adventures of life. I can't recommend it enough.

Enjoy

Daniel

Five minutes on MS Paint...

...and we have a family picture that we can frame and be proud of! You're welcome!

Ciao a tutti,

Check this competition out!
http://www.premioceleste.it/jb/webfiles/tm0v_English_%20Premio_Celeste.pdf
It might be the best thing you do today...

Hope everybody is well and enjoying life wherever you are

:-)

Margherita

last day

Hi all,

Today is my last day in Italy. I can not believe its finally come to an end. I will miss being here. Of course, as you all know, I am coming back in August. I am worried that Italy will not be the same.  I just wanted to let you ALL know, that I am glad I met every single one of you. And thank you for all the time shared. You are a crazy, fun loving, and caring group of individuals, and I wish I could take you all home and make you live near me. 

Remember, if any of you want to come back, HINT HINT HINT HINT, you have a place to stay and I drinking buddy! LMAO 

Ciao ciao ciao,

Samantha 

Amy's Death Watch: Day 9

*Admitted drama queen post: Ever since before I stepped off the airplane, I have been ravaged by a mysterious and surely fatal cough- the frigid hand of death is grasping at me! Here I lie, on my deathbed, gently dabbing away the lung I coughed up moments before...I did cough up blood this morning, so I'll stop being stubborn and go to the doctor- ah, I don't have enough ID to replace my government health card. Those wallet-snatching bastards killed both me and Steve! So if I disappear mid-post, or altogether, it's because I'll be dead. Just a heads up!

In the spirit of my death, I'm posting these photos that were taken four years ago- the first one is part of my vampire/necrophilia series (ah, I was so young!), and the next one is me pretending to be Ophelia, in a bathtub in a friend's backyard, and her 7-year old daughter was throwing fake blood and daisy chains on me- good times!

OK all, 

Well yesterday was the end of our world tour. We made it back, in one piece, to Florence, yesterday evening, where we were greeted by Luli, :)  Everyone was wrong, yes Colin this does include you! LMAO LMAO LMAO You were totally wrong. No zombies for me or Quan. 

Quan left this morning, sad but true, and now it is only Daniel and I in the city. which Daniel, I do not have your number because I am an idiot, so please call me, if you would like to to and do something. I am down for whatever, just have me in before 10pm. LOL I may turn into a pumpkin.

I miss you all terribly. I miss, making crazy and dramatic, stories up with Amy. I miss my XXX conversations wit Venezia. I miss FACEVO, and all the stupid things we laugh at. I miss Colin's unpredictability, and constant need of coffee and smokes.  Daniel's conversations!

COME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :( :( :( 

At some point I would love to do a world tour and see everyone. I hope we can make this happen.  Maybe we can pick a tropical island, :) and get tan and drink on the beach all day!!!

Think about it! lmao lmao 

Ciao ciao ciao ciao 

Samantha 

On the way to PRAHA
Tilt your head to the left, and you can see the city of Praha. 
The castle, AKA my house
The fountain of youth. lol 

This is the Holocost memorial in the city center. The blocks go from 6inches tall to 12 feet tall. 
Dead man's land: this area is between west berlin and east berlin, you if were caught in this area, you were shot by the army. 
Where the wall use to be.
The city 

Gigolo Island, Part I

oh god, I hope I didn't screw this up! These scanned in huge, but I definitely have some kind of technology curse- one day, I shall spontaneously combust, mark my words! And now, all of us star in...

(oooh, click on them and they become huge! Mario eats the mushroom, and he becomes super! That impresses me so much- I think I need sleep)

amandacmorris.com/randomness

Happy Cinco de Mayo,

I spent my weekend building a portfolio site: amandacmorris.com.  I think it came out pretty good, but there's still some work left to do.  It will certainly help for those job interviews.  

The job search is going slow, but I'm not discouraged.  I had an interview today for a Web Assistant position for a Web Solutions/Online Marketing company about 1/2 hour out of Boston.  It sounds pretty cool, but they are only looking for someone part time/"on demand" basis.  Which is not enough to live on.  Something to think about I suppose, it would be a start.

Other than that, life in Boston has been pretty boring.  The weather has been cold and rainy.  I miss everybody!

Don't forget Sunday is Mother's Day :-P

Ciao,

am

Day May 4th, 2008

Here is the Proof: Quan Tran is still alive...LMAO LMAO the date 04/05/08
Here is the proof: Samantha Wagner Date 04/05/2008 

Scandals of the Isola: We Discover Amanda's Tragic Hairdryer Addiction

Upon entering her hotel room we discover Amanda has
ripped the dryer off the wall.

At first she plays it cool.....

.......acting as if she always blows her already dry hair.
We are not fooled.

She then explains that she is simply drying
her eye lashes after washing her face.
We are not amused.

Then she loses all control...


...submitting to the illicit exstasy of
excessive hair drying.


Colin steps into the breach and uses
his always handy toolkit
to reattach the hair dryer to the wall.


As we discuss strategies of intervention,
Amanda enjoys the afterglow.

God is a nice enough guy... but he's got a really twisted sense of humor...

So I have to share with you all the ridiculous story of my escape from Florence.
So after staying up until 4 AM (with a great send-off vodka night from Daniel, Deary, and Amy) my plan was to wake up at 7AM get a shower and do a couple things before my 11AM flight. I woke up to my alarm and discovered that it was 9:45 AM! I didn't panic, I just moved very quickly and realized that I was kinda screwed and that my travel was about to get much more complicated.
So, I arrive at the airport 20 min before my flight is scheduled to leave, and go to the ticket desk asking if there is anything I can do to get to Munich to make my connection. After a couple minutes on the phone, the guy turns to me and says, "the plane is about 30 min late, you can still make it." So, I BLOW THROUGH check-in, security and book to the gate at top speed. I make it as people are still walking through the gate, and I'm thinking to myself "wow! this is all my good karma from the end of the semester paying off!" I get on the bus to go to the plane and who's surrounding me? A bunch of Kellys from Syracuse.

(I'll just give you the greatest hits from the conversation I was subjected to here) (keep in mind that none of these girls knows how to use their 'indoor voice', and none of what you are about to read is made up)
"Oh my god! I'm so going to miss my host mom!" "Me too! she cooked for me every night, and it was so good!" "Oh my god! I know! my mom never cooks for me at home, it's always like 'well here's the cereal' "
"Oh yeah! and my mom would never clean my room for me, but my host mom cleaned my room every Wednesday! it was so awesome!!"
"Oh my god! I know! But I'm glad to be going home, because I miss my dog [Mr. Muggles or some equally assanine name] so bad!" "Yeah... I think my dog replaced me when I left the house. My mom pays so much more attention to it. I means she buys it outfits and stuff." (Internal monologue chuckles when i realize that my dog is 100lbs heavier than these two girls dogs put together.)
"My mom is so bad with the dog that she bought it a swimsuit" (for those of you who were curious, yes, a 'girl dog' swimsuit." "Oh my god! well I bought my dog these Ugg boots for Christmas one year. She can't walk in them, but they're really cute!" (this is where i wish they had let me take that bomb through security, because my ideal suicide bombing scenario).
*Fast forward* (I'm starting to get an idea about how fate works, but try to ignore it....)
"Yeah, and I always roll over people's feet with my luggage"
me (using my indoor, voice so quiet by comparison, but not all that quiet): "Then don't do that anymore!"

*Scene 2* Boarding the plane. So I'm one of the last people to get on this little puddle jumper to Munich, because I waited outside to see if my bags had made it. I get on the plane and get halfway up the aisle and see where my seat is. SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF THESE DAMN GIRLS! The seating arrangements were....
WINDOW: quiet kelly : me : AISLE : kimberly : helpless kelly : WINDOW
(for those of you who haven't heard, a Kimberly is a Kelly squared, yeah that fucking bad)
So I look up at the ceiling (well through the ceiling) straight at god and go (Dammit! You have a wicked sense of humor you bastard!!! You make sure I get on the plane, but subject me to THIS?????)
And the greatest hits just keep going.
Quiet Kelly had her stuff spread out across the whole overhead, and took up the whole shared under seat storage. Saw me scowling at her as i rearranged everything and sat down. I think that might be what kept her mostly quiet for the flight.
Kimberly was extolling the virtues of studying abroad once a year, and how Florence was almost as cool as her study abroad time in Barcelona (reputed to be the only Syracuse study abroad which is more party oriented than Florence's program) and how she took a bunch of time off after she 'left' a school after one semester, before going to Syracuse. (Yes, of course this was at the top of her voice.) and she was shouting across me to the quiet Kelly to my left.
Helpless Kelly had a back pack that couldn't fit under the seat, and a tote bag on her lap. When the flight attendant told her she would have to stow both of those things properly. She got a very nervous and a little teary and said "but my backpack wouldn't fit in the overhead *sniff*... oh my god... *sniff*" (this might have had something to do with the fact that she had a blanket, pillow, bicycle helmet, thermos, etc. all lashed to the outside) So as she reluctantly hands the bag to the flight attendant, I once again in my indoor voice offer a stern "It's going to be JUST FINE!" And of course it is, the stewardess gets the bag in no problem.
After takeoff, when quiet Kelly starts crying out the window next to me, A woman seated directly behind Kimberly starts filing her nails. Kimberly, noticeably irritated turns around and states very sternly "Could you please stop that! That sound is very irritating!"
I think about what other sounds of the plane have been really irritating so far, and I can't help my self. I let out a *Laugh?Cough/SNORT*chuckle*COUGH-COUGH.snort/A-hEM!" which gets every one's attention for several rows, and I look around like I just had to clear my throat trying to suppress a stupid grin, Just as this woman goes back to filing her nails. I look around ad give her the nod. "Right on lady! You got the right way to deal with this situation"
The whole rest of the flight I kept quiet and dealt with the flight attendants in Italian.

*Scene 3*
So after burning a couple hours in Munich (and by now, you should see where this is going) I board my flight to Newark NJ (Ok, now you should really see where this is going, i mean even I knew where this was going as I was walking around the Munich airport.) As I approach my seat on the airbus A330, I see in the the quiet Kelly and helpless Kelly in the two seats in front of me. (How the hell did I know that was going to happen before I even got off the first plane??)
Helpless Kelly has her blanket draped over the back of her seat and all over into my seat behind her. I lean around the seat and hand her the rest of the blanket asking politely "excuse me, could you please keep all of this up in your seat." she gets all nervous and says "um, yeah sure" then leans over to quiet Kelly and embarrassed whispers "something, something, ENGLISH, something" to which quietly Kelly says "yeah, i thought that might have been the case..." and their faces stayed red for a little while.
Fortunately Kimberly is on the other end of the plane, conveniently out of shouting distance. But I was worried by the empty seat next to me. It got filled by not a Kelly... but more of a Daphne.... She had a clue, but not much else. But hey, at least she had a clue. I was smart enough to not initiate a conversation. But she did and it was tolerable for the first 20 minutes, but then started sliding downhill towards where I start wanting smack wildly.... Fortunately, there were video screens in every seat. (mine was broken of course) but the important part was the screens worked for all these other girls! They shut up for the rest of the flight!

So that's it. Went through customs in NJ and my baggage even showed up! Before any of those other girls did! Well they each had like 9 overweight suitcases anyway... oh my god!)
So that. In is my short story about the travel gods and instant karma. Tune in next time when I tell you about the Jerzy cab driver who actually has the whole Right Wing/Iraq/Oil Money conspiracy figured out! (no, i mean really!)

GERMANY!!!!!!!

Hi all,

As you SHOULD all know. Quan and I are doing fine. We are enjoying Berlin. Its a beautiful city. People here are very nice, and the men are sexy....lol I dont know why we didnt come here. Its a party city, with lots to do and see. ext time around, we are coming here.

Our next stop is Prague, in the morning. I am excited. I will try to post some pics later on tonight.

Ciao ciao

Samantha