Sasquatch Discovers Art

A canvas waiting to be color-penciled.

There comes a time in every little Sasquatch's life when hunting and gathering no longer brings fulfillment. It no longer matters how many deer he can kill or where he can find the best berries in all the land. No, he needs something more. Something, perhaps, that will allow him to express himself and fill that empty hole that no amount of raw meat can satiate. This one thing is coloring books.

When I was out wandering on Sunday with Jamie, we decided that coloring books were necessary. Surprisingly, Barnes & Noble didn't have that great of a selection. We couldn't find Disney characters, or Smurfs, not even Sesame Street. It was a bunch of random coloring books, most of which involved some type of math. Who wants that?! I did stumble across a gem though: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carlisle. It was a copy of book, but none of the illustrations had been colored in. This was a chic coloring book. And you know, sometimes Sasquatch likes being chic. The best part is that I no longer have to compromise coloring and food, because now I'm coloring a book about food. That's really the best kind of coloring. I plan to work my way through the first two seasons of Mad Men while coloring my way through every last page. Don't ask me why, but the two just seem to be activities that should be done in tandem.


Ciao Bella!

Matteo "The Very Hungry" Yazge

Found.

Music seems the only way to describe how the finale made me feel.

Words cannot describe how breathtakingly beautiful the series finale of Lost was. There was so much meaning, and passion, and sincerity in the way everything came together. This finale will go down as one of the best television has ever seen.

I have issues with letting go, with saying goodbye, with my own mortality. So naturally, this episode hit a cord with me. There are a lot of people in my life that I'm so very blessed to have, and whom I get to see on a very limited basis. Some of these people I know I will have the joy of sharing the rest of my life with. Others, I thank God every time I get the chance to see them again, because I fear with every fiber of my being that each time I see them will be the last. There was something very beautiful, and reassuring from this final episode, that reminded me of something I guess I've always known: that there's never a final goodbye. There is a place where we will all be together, a place where we'll never have to say goodbye again. I feel really stupid that it took a TV show to make me remember this, but sometimes you have to take the little messages God sends you in whatever form they come.

Seldom do I get very emotional on this blog, but I felt this was necessary. When something moves you the way this story moved me, you feel the need to share it. So thank you Lost for giving me a story full of emotion and meaning, and thank you everyone in my life for doing the same.


Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Found" Yazge

Reading, 'riting, and Sniffing Jackets

Acting with James Franco Episode 3: Scene Work from James Franco

Actors act, and actors sniff jackets.... Sniff it.

So I have my reading at the Creative Writing House tonight. Well, it's not just me, but let's just blow over that detail. Anyway, in order to get in the right frame of mind, I thought it would be good to delve deep in the acting world for some serious pointers. It's one thing to write a story, and it's a completely different ball game to be asked to read it in front of people. Plus, it's been so long since my star performance as Hispanic #4 in the Terre Haute Community Theater's production of West Side Story. Luckily enough James Franco has his own series of online acting lessons. Boy, did I learn a lot.

Also, if you're interested in coming tonight, the reading is at 58 W 10th St. It starts at 7pm sharp, so be sure to show up a little early!

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Sniffs Jackets" Yazge

Sandwiches and the Gift of Tom Selleck

Oh Tom, you know exactly which sandwich goes with which waterfall.

So there's an entire website dedicated to waterfalls, sandwiches, and Tom Selleck. More specifically, "photos" in which all three are present. Pure Genius. I seriously couldn't stop laughing for a solid 3 or 4 minutes as I was looking at these. I mean, why wouldn't Tom Selleck be lounging around Victoria Falls, eating a classic BLT? It just makes sense. I found this blog through Mashable, one of my favorite techie/e-trend sites. There were several other hysterical blogs listed, but this was by far the best. It just proves how amazing simple ideas can be. (For the other blogs, click here!) Nothing says standards like Tom cozying up to a PB&J on the brink of the Niagra. Beautiful.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Ham & Cheese" Yazge

Always look on the ridiculous side of life...

Fido doesn't care that the Colts lost, he's just shootin' the breeze...

So yes, the Colts lost. It's a sad day for our nation. But my good friend Helen decided to cheer me up with a link to the funniest picture-blog I've seen in a while. It's on tumblr, which I don't completely understand, but whatever. All you need to know is that it's a website. Somewhere. That does something, and as a result of doing that something, you get to see really hysterical dogs dressed up like hipsters.

I've also noticed that that's what's missing from my life lately. Granted, I can't say hipster dogs have ever been a huge part of my life to begin with, but the underlying message (be awesome, smile, do something really weird and quirky and feel like a better person because of it) is something that I need to start striving for on a daily basis. I used to be absolutely ridiculous. Now, I'm only moderately so. This needs fixing. I need to hold myself to a higher ridiculous standard, and that standard needs to be ridiculously high. I promise from here on out, I will devote myself to being at least slightly more than moderately ridiculous, definitely maybe once a day. Or more. Probably. I don't know, but we're going to try. A lot... sometimes.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Redonkulous" Yazge

Michele, Davide, e Galileo

He's starting to let himself go...

So my apologies. Apparently there are five of you that read my little stories - 6 if I include my mother. That's just judging by yesterday's comments and such. Google analytics keeps telling me that there are roughly 15-30 people who visit every day, depending on what I write about/how often I write. But I think it's just lying to me so I don't feel bad.

Regardless! I've been trying to soak up the last bits of Florence while I'm here. I went to La Galleria dell'Academia on Friday, and started off by perusing some old religious panels. I quickly got bored. If it's not Byzantine, I'm not really impressed, and even then I can only take so many Madonnas with Child before it becomes monotonous. So I wandered into the next gallery for something completely different: Robert Maplethorpe. I know people think his photos are distasteful and pornographic, but when you look at them in the context of what he was trying to accomplish, it's completely different. (Click here to see selections) It was all about form, and displaying real human bodies that can live up to the standard set forth in sculpture and other forms of art. It was about all of us being able to be just as beautiful as the David - without photoshopping him into obesity, like above. Anyway, I really enjoyed the exhibit.

As soon as I left the Maplethorpe exhibit, I ran right into the David. It took my breath away. It's SO life-like. I don't even know how to describe it, except to say that I kept waiting for him to reach out and pick me up in the palm of his hand, that's how alive he seemed.

Yesterday, in keeping with my goal of marinading myself in Florence, I went to La Basilica della Santa Croce. I just went because everyone told me that I should. They all failed to mention that Galileo, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Rossini, and Marconi are all entombed there. Go figure. Not exactly religious icons - in fact Galileo was convicted of heresy and put under house arrest by the Pope (unjustly, but still). It was odd to see all these cultural icons in the church. Awesome, but odd. Especially since I've walked past the church a hundred times and had no idea until yesterday that it housed some of the greatest individuals in Italian history.

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Sculpted di Dio" Yazge

I Musei Britanici

Me in front of the Rosetta Stone... replica.

British Museum: lobby; Buddhist statue

Museum of Natural History: big-o-saur

So I did lots of museuming while I was in England (and yes, museuming is now a verb. I museum, you museum, she museums, etc.) Since Liz had class every morning, I was left to my own devices. So naturally, I took myself out on little morning-dates, all of which included Starbucks. I know it's gross, but they don't make portable, sip-able coffee in Italy. And also, because I'm both a cheap date and just cheap in general, I took myself to the free museums.

The first one was the British Museum, which was HUGE. It's probably around the same size as the Met, and definitely smaller than the Louvre, but I wasn't at all familiar with it. Perhaps that's why it felt bigger. There was a really odd mix of art too. Eastern religious art, Greek ruins, Mummies, Mexican prints, Islamic art, Ancient Mayan sculptures, and a room full of clocks. Just want to throw it out there that Mummies are creepy. I'm not afraid that they're going to come to life. I'm afraid that some day someone will think it's appropriate to put my dead body on display. I don't know. I just don't find it appropriate. Call me old fashioned, but I believe the dead should stay 6 feet under.

I also went to the Museum of Natural History. If there had been a museum like that near me when I was a kid, I would have been there every day. My inner child decided to play for an hour in the dinosaur exhibit. They even had a robotic T-Rex! The architecture was really cool too. Very Harry Potter. I just wanted to steal it. Oh, and they had this weird "the history of the earth" type exhibit (lofty no? trying to tell the entire history of earth?) And there was a statue that I believe she be retitled "Momma Yazge sans Her Morning Coffee". See below:

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Museuming" Yazge

La Gioconda

Mona.

So the Louvre was fun. We spent so much time there... even taking into consideration how crazy huge that museum is. I also took this picture of my lady Mona intentionally with lots of space around it. It stresses how small the painting actually is. And I'm calling her out. I don't think she's actually smiling. I'm convinced it's more of a grimace. She had a wedgie and couldn't fix it because she had to be still for the portrait. That's a much more believable story. Women weren't happy during the Renaissance. Feminine mystique? Phooey.

I really wish I had the energy or creativity to write anything more. Maybe tomorrow I'll move on to London?

Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Giocondo" Yazge