Negative to Positive

doctorwho: Sherlock + Doctor Who crossover

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:12:46 -0500

doctorwho:

Sherlock + Doctor Who crossover

Urban Cowboy Blythe, California B/W 36mm

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:10:40 -0400

Urban Cowboy

Blythe, California

B/W 36mm

Photos published in Roski School of Fine Arts Minor Brochure!...

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:07:51 -0400

Photos published in Roski School of Fine Arts Minor Brochure! Check them out in my older posts too.

After Asisi, we had to weekend free and we finally decided that...

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:55:08 -0400

After Asisi, we had to weekend free and we finally decided that it was time to check out Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. This area of the city is not very far from our apartment, we took the tram to the river and it is a short walk through the Circus Maximus to Palatine Hill. We waited in line for tickets and entrance to Palatine Hill for about forty minutes and once inside we were already hot and exhausted so we took a quick break before starting to explore. Palatine Hill is the location where Nero built his palace and had all his property. This was a very wealthy part of the city. Located slightly down the hill, the Roman Forum also sits on this site. This was a gathering place where people living inside the walls could socialize. There was a lot to see and frankly I am not sure what all of it was, just very old ruins.
After finding our way out of the forum, we were very hungry and decided that we should check out the McDonalds by the Spanish Steps that everyone raved about. This McDonalds was no ordinary McDonalds, this McDonalds had a McCafe with pastry and coffee bar. Then continuing the stairs to the back, there were about 15 registers. I ordered a big mac and fries, and it came with the drink and a commemorative Coca-Cola glass. This place was so big it took my friend and I about ten minutes to find where everyone else had sat down.
We filled up our bellies and it was now time to venture back down Via del Corso to explore the Colosseum. We posed for a few Fight On pictures out front before making our way into this iconic accent stadium. We were able to walk around the majority of the Colosseum on two different floors, there was also a small exhibit set up inside explaining the history with some pictures of Nero. The center of the Colosseum had no floor but had many walls that served as holding areas, rooms, and cages that were under the floor when the Colosseum was at its prime. Seeing the Colosseum in person was an amazing experience. It is one of those things you see all your life and think one day you will see it in person and get to take your own photos of it. I had similar experiences when I first climbed the Eiffel Tower and when I first prayed at the Western Wall, all places where I now have my own photos to look at rather than Googling an image. Wow!! It was soooo cool :)
And to continue the good times, we had dinner at the Ush and hit up Charro Cafe!

We had a day trip to Assisi on Friday. We took a long bus ride...

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 10:18:52 -0400

We had a day trip to Assisi on Friday. We took a long bus ride to see two churches so it seemed like a very long day. We first saw a church that was on the hill where most of Assisi was. This church had two levels, the lower level had very intricate frescos and multiple domes in the ceiling. The upper level was less flashy. We then had a break for lunch and were told to meet at an escalator that led down to a parking lot. We were not told this was a 25 minute walk though the city center up a hill in ninety degree weather. After finding the bus, we went to a church further from the city center where St. Francis first had his chapel. Later the larger church was built up around the original stone chapel and house. It is believed that St. Francis died between these two building that are now inside of a larger church.
Taking a nice nap on the way back to Rome, we were well rested and were looking forward to dinner at Charro Cafe (mexican!!). Rosa was wondering who should call the Mexican restaurant and then she remembered she spoke Spanish!
We had no idea what was in store for us at Charro cafe. We sat down for our meal and ordered (buffalo wings and guacamole for appetizer and I got a vegetable burrito!). However, the unsuspecting americans were not prepared when all of a sudden the music was cranked up and the wait staff started dancing between the table. After their dance, the next song came on and everyone in the restaurant stood up on their chairs and started dancing too.

On the way back from southern Italy on Sunday, we stopped in...

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:55:00 -0400

Cat owning the world!

Human Cadaver

<3

Brothal

Group Shot

Dog Cadaver

On the way back from southern Italy on Sunday, we stopped in Pompeii. We split into smaller groups and had tours of the ancient city. The city was very interesting and I was amazed how the archeologist ware able to get so much information about the people from what they found. I didn’t realize this was the city covered that volcanic ash buried the city in 5 meters of ash. When the city was rediscovered, cavities were found where people had died. These cavities were filled with plaster before being dug up and the last expression of the peoples faces were captured. On the tour of the city, we saw different remains of stores (some were fast food where the bar was set up facing the street and others where black smiths where the ovens were still intact) and different types of houses (the poor and the luxurious wealthy houses with multiple rooms and decorative tiles). The streets had sidewalks and occasionally there were large stones that connect the two sides, this was because the city streets were used as their sewage system. Also, track could be seen from where carts were drawn. The main attraction of Pompeii is the brothel. Prostitution was legal and very publicized in the city. Around the city, there were many penises that pointed the direction of the brothel. In the brothel, there were two floors and on the outside of each door there were different images of positions that men could choose when they went in, very descriptive and vivid :/
Returning home on Sunday, a group of us went to the festival by the river for Mexican food!

Weekend trip to Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii Last weekend, we had a...

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:35:00 -0400

The Tunnel of Love

Ferry to Capri

Sorrento

Buffalita

Weekend trip to Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii

Last weekend, we had a trip planned for the entire group. We woke up early to take a 4 hour bus ride to Sorrento to southern Italy in Naples right on the coast. The city sits on top of cliff overlooking the sea. When we arrived we checked into our 4 star hotel- Super nice!! And then we went to explore a little of the city and found some lunch. After eating we went shopping down on the main street where they have little shops that sell clothes, jewelry, souvenirs and lots of lemon products (shots of Lemonchello). Nellie and I bought hats :)
For dinner Friday night, we were walking to find a place and as we were walking by a small street I said lets eat there. The place was called Buffalita and it turns out this place had amazing food! We ended up ordering a huge spread of appetizers with a plate of buffalo cheeses, bread and tomatoes and olives. For dinner I had Buffalo Ragu and shared a cheese fondue with Jeff. This was a delicious meal and I am pretty sure I was still full from it the next day.

On Saturday, we took a ferry to Capri- a beautiful island only like 40 minutes away. When we first got there we went to the public beach (beach of rocks), we swam for a little and then took naps before lunch. After lunch we took a train to the top of the mountain which had an amazing view. The city at the top is super luxurious with many designer stores and fancy restaurants. We got gelato and walked around this area of the city for a while before running into some people from our group who wanted to take a boat ride.

We went back to the bottom and went to the dock where we found a boat that took thirteen of us on a tour of the island. This boat ride was defiantly one of the best parts of my stay in Italy. We got to see natural made grotto where the was purple, green and red coral. The boat driver got us really close to the rocks inside each grotto, an amazing feat for the size of our boat. We also saw all the cliffs and houses sitting up top, apparently one is where the owner of Audio lives. We drove through the “Tunnel of Love “which is where two huge rocks come out of the water and one has a tunnel through the middle. We also got to stop multiple times and jump off the boat to go swimming in the beautiful water.
Saturday night, some of the other people from our trip suggested a place by the port for dinner. We asked at the front desk and the guy set everything up for us, even transportation. We got some suv’s, Real World status, that took us down to the port. Well the restaurant we had a reservation at was not exactly the same as the one that was suggested to us. We ended up at a very fancy restaurant over looking the water, it actually wasn’t too expensive and very delicious. I had my favorite gnocchi and the experience was great!

"Summer break. Where you drink triple, see double, and act single."

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:14:03 -0400

“Summer break. Where you drink triple, see double, and act single.”

- Unknown

Last Day in Athens Sunday we found our way to Mt. Lycabettus....

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:02:26 -0400

Changing of guard ceremony at Parliament

Mt. Lycabeetus

Starbucks!!

Rain

Last Day in Athens

Sunday we found our way to Mt. Lycabettus. This mountain just sticks up in the middle of the city. We took a train at Tybeatus to the top and had an amazing view of all of Athens. You can see the water, the Acropolis and all the way around. It really put the city into a good perspective.
When we went back to the bottom, Nellie and I went shopping in a great market. There were many shops that sold clothes, hand-made leather sandals and souvenirs. Out of no where is started to thunderstorm!! Apparently it never rains in Athens, but decided to our last day when we wanted to go shopping in an outdoor market. But this was a good thing because we happened upon a small shop in the back ally where the dresses caught my eye. We walked in and found ourselves in a women’s studio where she makes all her own clothes. Nellie and I tried a bunch of clothes on and I bought a shirt and Nellie got a dress. She even put elastic in the dress for Nellie right there. Now we have one of a kind clothes from Yota in Athens. We also stumbled upon a Starbucks!! A quick and much need comfort of the States.
For lunch, I finally got a gyro!! So good!!! We then met up with the boys and found our way on the metro to the airport where we flew back to Rome.

Went on a Run.

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:19:53 -0400

So can you believe I had been in Rome for 5 weeks and had not seen the Colosseum. I know, crazy!! I saw it for the first time on the bus ride home from our trip this weekend. We drove by and then basically ended up at our apartments, who knew we lived so close. So yesterday, I went on a run to clear my mind before studying for my test. I was just going to run a loop to the river when I remembered how close the Colosseum was. I didn’t really know the way, just went off memory of how the bus drove by. But I found it!! So cool to have my first experience at this amazing stadium where gladiator fought and I just went on a run there. Sure beats the USC campus loop.

On a less happy note, I dropped my computer today in class and the screen broke :/ I now have cracks across it and half of it is not visible. I am not sure about editing photos and it is super annoying to have to research and write a paper this way.

Saturday we had a one hour nap wake up after getting home...

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:04:00 -0400

Strawberry Dessert!

The Gang

Cliff Jumping

Saturday we had a one hour nap wake up after getting home because we had to wake up to catch our ferry to Hydra. It was about an hour and a half ferry ride but we all passed out so I can’t say much about it. But when we arrived the sun was shining and the island was beautiful. We were dropped off at the main part of the city with some restaurant and shops and donkeys. But we started to walk to right and find stairs to a cement platform and rocky beach. First thing we did was to get in the water. It wasn’t too cold but took a little to get used too. All morning we swam, slept and the guys jumped off the cliffs at the edge of the cove.
We had an amazing lunch at the Pirate bar in the main party of the city. For lunch, I had a tuna salad with olive pate and fresh hand squeezed lemonade. The restaurant was owned by the mother of our waitress and she came out to make sure everything was ok. The menu varied day to day with what fresh ingredients she could get. It got even better at dessert when I had a meringue topped with homemade whipped cream and strawberry glaze topped with fresh strawberries. A-MAZE-ING!! My friends got a lemon cheesecake, chocolate mousse and brownies and ice cream.
After lunch we wanted to hike to another beach but it was too far away so we went to the same place as the morning. We went out to the rocks for a little exploring but were exhausted so we climbed the rocks and took a nap as the sun got lower into the sky.
For dinner, we went to the top of the other hill over looking another harbor. The restaurant was owned by a greek man who spoke little english but was persistent on showing us all his fresh ingredients including the fish he caught that day. gross! But the food was delicious and there was a lot of it. I got chicken with a side of stuffed rice tomatoes. Near the end of dinner, the plate with the fish was sitting near the edge. Considering how many cats there are in Greece we should have thought about moving the plate, but too late because the cat swiped it and continued to eat the remains of the fish down to its bones. We were in a rush to finish so we could catch the ferry and kept asking for the check. It was taking a while but he was prepping watermellon for us that was so fresh and he told us that if we didn’t eat the melon then the chef will come out with a knife. So we ate the juicy water melon and made it back to the dock in time to take the ferry back the Athens.

Hydra, Greece

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:32:40 -0400

Hydra, Greece

Αθήνα, Ελλάδα Athens, Greece Thursday we left for Greece, we...

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:17:00 -0400

Αθήνα, Ελλάδα

Athens, Greece

Thursday we left for Greece, we flew on Aegean Airlines from Rome to Athens. Nellie, Nathan, Ankit, Jeff, Omar, Phillipe and I went on the trip for the weekend. When we landed in Athens we were planning to take the bus or metro but on the sign that said when they would arrive is just said “STRIKE.” Because of this, we ended up taking a taxi into Athens. We were hoping to make it to the city before midnight to get the reduced rate, even though he was going 140 km/h we had to pay extra for the late cab fare.
Phillipe, Jeff, Nellie and I stayed with my friend Nikita who I have known since middle school. Her apartment was just down the block from the old Olympic Stadium and at night it was light up with spot lights and colored lights around the stadium because they were testing the show for the summer Special Olympics.

Friday morning we missed our alarm so we had a slightly later start then we should have. We ended up somehow finding our way to the Acropolis which I guess isn’t too hard to find considering it can be seen from everywhere in the city (Dove i Acropolis? *head bob/point). We met up with the rest of the group there but we were lucky because they asked us if we were students and just showed them our Italian student ID and got in everywhere for free. The guys who got there earlier couldn’t use their ID and had to pay. We saw the Acropolis, the Parthenon, Temple of Nike and bunch of other temples. There was an area where a ruined city lay and saw churches and artifacts.
The ID was working everywhere and then at the Acropolis Museum they said since my student card didn’t have a date they couldn’t let me in. I argued a little and said I got in everywhere else. But how could they know I was a student now, my response was “Why else would I be here?” and boom a free student ticket in my hands. She wasn’t very happy and then when I said my six friends are students too she grudgingly gave them tickets.
The museum was really interesting and described a lot of what we saw in the morning. There was a short film on the history of the Parthenon and a lot of artifacts. There was information on Athena Nike, Zeus and a lot of the other temples. The top floor was set up like you were walking around the Parthenon and above your heads were what remains were found of the intricate decorations that flanked both lengths and the statues that were in the triangles on the end. I also had a nice visit to the bathroom on everywhere floor after I downed seven glasses of water at lunch.
We then visited Hadrains Arc, that was just sitting in the middle of the intersection. We thought it was really cool when Ankit misread the book and thought it took 700 years to build but in reality it wasn’t really worth the walk. But on the way we also saw the Temple of Zeus and made our way to the old Olympic Stadium. We went in and got a free audio tour around the stadium. The stadium was built in the 4th century and is the only athletic stadium made entirely of marble. It was built for games long ago and renovated for the first modern day Olympics in 1896. It was used again in 2004 for the archery contest and the end of the marathon. This summer it is in use for the Special Olympics and we got to see the set up for the opening ceremonies. We got to walk all the way around and climbed to the very top. The tour took us into the tunnel that was used for changing rooms and where the athletes walked out into the games. Also I got to put my foot onto the track where so many athletes have stood before. The tour was really cool because it played crowd noises and footsteps and made it feel special. Fun fact: It is called a stadium because a stadio used to be a unit of measure for the regulation track back in the day. 1 stadio=185 meters.
After the long day, we went back to the apartment and totally crashed. But woke up for dinner. We all went out with Nikita and her other friend from school to a good little restaurant in the Plaka neighborhood at the base of the Acropolis. The food was good- I got a lamb kebab with rice and fries. As we were finishing dinner, they put out a projector and for some weird reason were playing the same video we saw the the museum. We thought this was hilarious. After dinner we went to a huge discoteca on the beach! They party until the early morning and public transportation is closed from 2-5am so we took a taxi ride home, napped for an hour and got up early for the ferry ride to the island.

Trojans and sisters around the world

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:37:00 -0400

OMG! Just walking home from class to the tram and ran into Alison, who is in my sorority at school. Totally out of the blue she saw me and I was totally shocked. She is in Rome for a few days so hopefully we can meet up :)

Trojans around the world

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:19:50 -0400

Last night I met up with Sami, my teammate on the field hockey team at USC. We met up at the Pantheon and caught up because she was abroad in Finland this semester. Then we went to my favorite gelato place, Fridadarium. It is very cool that even in a foreign country I still find Trojans and friends from home everywhere.

Cooking with the Italians!

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:47:00 -0400

Just got back from a delicious cooking class! We made mint zucchini, pasta with fried eggplant and parsley and tiramisu with finger ladies for dessert. Everything was sooo good. Fun tidbits for my mom- we used ceramic knifes, a really cool strainer like thing to drain the oil, we salted the eggplant and then drained the water by pressing it with a bowl for like 40 minutes, we cut the zucchini using a great tool that was wires that cut it into small strips. Nellie and I were boss at opening jars, haha. But JT needs to work on his form of folding the egg whites. And the Orientals did a great job of cooking the zucchini oriental style. The final dish was so delicious and I am still in my food coma and I am trying to study for a test. This last weekend I went to Athens and Hydra, Greece and I have a lot photos to edit and thoughts to write so more to come soon.

Class Canceled!We had to have class on Friday and Saturday last...

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:35:00 -0400

Class Canceled!
We had to have class on Friday and Saturday last week on account that we missed Wednesday and Thursday in Firenze. It wasn’t bad having class but just felt like it was the start of a new week and not the weekend. During my Thermo class on Saturday morning, I checked my email during the break and received a great email from our Writing teacher. She was not feeling well and canceled our afternoon class!!! Everyone in my morning class is also in Writing so we were all done at 11am and decided to go to the beach. After getting back to our apartments, we changed into our suits and left for the beach. To get there we had to take the tram to a bus (the stop was at an actual pyramid in Rome) to a train to a bus and finally to the beach. We found a free public beach that was pretty busy. I thought it would be nice to just walk in the sand, but oh not this sand- it was blistering hot!
We found a nice spot and a bunch of us went directly in to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The water was great and so refreshing. About 30 ft out there was a sand bank where we could just stand in the water. After that most of us took a nap for the rest of the afternoon. We were all so tired because we all stayed up late working thinking our paper was due in class on Saturday before class was canceled. Our paper due date was extended to Monday. A lot of us went out again Saturday night to an Irish pub which had an interesting mix of people and music.
Sunday, Sydney and I went to the market again. I was on the search for nail polish remover and Sydney bought two new pairs of sandals. Everything at the market is pretty cheap and you can find anything you are looking for. For the rest of the day I worked on my presentation and Thermo homework. And for dinner, we had dinner reservations at Fluid, an Aperitif. Basically you pay for an all you can eat appetizer buffet and a drink. I was happy because they had Hummus, Yum! It was fun because about 25 of us went and it was fun times.

Firenze This week, we took a trip on Wednesday and Thursday to...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:23:00 -0400

Firenze

This week, we took a trip on Wednesday and Thursday to Firenze (Florence). It is about 2 hours away by train. After arriving in Firenze, we dropped our luggage off at the hotel and had a few hours of free time to eat lunch. Cat and I found a Chinese Restaurant! Jeff, Victor and Ryan joined us too. But it was weird cause we got there kinda early compared to when normal people eat lunch but we were starving and were ready to eat. They sat us down and like 20 minutes go by and no one has come to our table. Victor checks in the other room and the entire staff is eating their meal. Che Cosa? So we waited a few more minutes and they final came over and took our order. But after that the food was very good and a nice break from pasta. Also funny though, the restaurant was filled with asian tourists by the time we left.

After lunch, we had a tour of the Uffizi Museum Gallery. This is the palace where the Medici family had their offices. They were the rulers of Florence, were then overthrown, and then ruled again until Italy was unified. The museum had a very interesting set up because it went in chronological order. There was medieval and renaissance works from artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli (“The Birth of Venus”), Michelangelo, Raphael and Andrea del Verrocchio. On the tour we were shown the many techniques of the time periods and it was interesting when she pointed out people in the religious paintings that were part of the family. Many of the paintings were part of the Medici’s private collection that were used to show their wealth when put in the chapels of the church. The ceilings in the hallways all had fresco too. This palace also has a private elevated walkway that extends to the coast of the river, over the river and then into a private residence on the other side. The bridge that the walkway goes over was the only remaining bridge in the city after the Germans invaded.

After the museum, we walked to the Duomo which was so close to our hotel. We could see the dome from our window. It it a beautiful church with an intricate design on the outside. The top had a ball and cross made entirely of gold. The top under the dome has a octagon but this is the only part of the church that is not covered in marble. This is because the Medici’s held a contest for an architect to design what would go there. A man was chosen and started to work but when de Vinci returned from Rome and saw what he was doing he forced him to stop. At the time de Vinci was a hot shot in Firenze because he was very close with the Medici family.
For dinner, we knew we had to find steak. All the restaurants served the steak by the kilo!! That’s over 2 pounds of beef!! We found a restaurant that had a special where they had a 500g streak, potatoes and dessert. I split this with Cat but Mark ended up eating the entire kilo of steak.

Our hotel was in a good location close the the main square. But the rooms were tiny! We had three people in my room and the beds were so close it was basically just a line of beds. Also, the shower was literally over the toilet, in the sense that you could sit on the toilet and take your shower. Haha but I did not do that. Funny too when I stood up on my bed to look over a ledge and broke it :/

On Thursday, we had most of the morning free. I walked around in the morning and saw the bridge and then got caught up in the celebration of the unification of Italy. There were different official groups that played instruments and there was a special ceremony in the main square. Also, we went shopping in an open market and saw all their leather products. In the afternoon, we had a tour and saw Michelangelo’s David (or as our tour guide called him, “the large naked man”). I didn’t think he was so tall but Michelangelo carved this from one piece of marble over 16 feet tall. It was amazing to finally see this piece in person because I have studied it before. I saw the detail in the veins, the hands and head that were not proportional and the attention to detail of every muscle. Michelangelo was obsessed with the image of the perfect human and even though David is just a boy in the biblical story he made him a strong man. (sorry no pictures were allowed in the museums).
We then made our way back to the train station to head back to Rome. Unfortunately I did not get to meet the cast of Jersey Shore (http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702304563104576353810943734854-lMyQjAxMTAxMDAwMTEwNDEyWj.html), but the trip to Firenze was amazing!

The Friday night was our first, TGINIFF (Thanks goodness...

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:45:00 -0400

The Friday night was our first, TGINIFF (Thanks goodness it’s Non Italian food Friday). So Sydney, Cat and I went and had a delicious dinner at McDonald’s :) Of course I got the happy meal and was really excited when my toy was a blue light saber. Friday was the first night we all went out together too. About 20 of us went to the Discoteca, Coyote. The place was pretty cool with indoor and out door dancing. There were creepy Italian men but we were all watching out for each other.
Saturday we decided to go to Villa Borghese. We all met up to figure out how to get to the park but first stopped at Simply to get supplies for a picnic. It took forever to get to the park though. We thought we knew where we were going (or so Gordy said so) but ended up walking forever, there is not one road that leads directly there so we took many turns. It was a nice walk though because we got to see Piazza Venzia, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Finally, once we got to the park we set up and just sat around making sandwiches and sharing cheese. Later in the afternoon we decided to rent bicycles, the ones where 4 people pedal and we made many friends. The old couple that decided to start racing us and the guy who took our picture as we rode by so we rode by again and took his picture.
But then Sunday came and we remembered we had to write rough drafts that were due in class on Monday. So Sunday was a quiet study day but we did venture outside to the market that is set up every Sunday. The market is literally right outside our apartments and has everything from clothes to shoes to makeup to underwear to electronics to birds, fish and miniature turtles.

Orvieto, Italy May 2011

Tue, 31 May 2011 15:16:21 -0400

Orvieto, Italy

May 2011