Early End to the Presidential Election

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

The Nameless Puppy

I made a trip up to Thomasville to visit my new puppy today and took lots of pictures. She is adoreable and will be coming home on March 21st. In the mean time I need some help picking out a name. Any thoughts? Let me know!

Puppy

Let the count down begin! After 4 years in Tallahassee on my own I have not only moved in to my own apartment, but I have finally had the opportunity to get a dog. I grew up with German Shepards and Labradors, hence I love big dogs. However, since moving to Tallahassee I have been able to get to know a variety of smaller breeds like the Boston Terrier, Jack Russell, Pug and more. Two years ago I was introduced to a family friend's dog, Wilbur, a French Bulldog. I quickly fell in love with the breed and have been obsessing about them ever since. For the past two months I have been seriously looking into dog breeds and most recently I moved and have changed my focus to look at great apartment breeds. Frenchies would be a great apartment dog. Unfortunately they run anywhere from $1500 to $3000+. With that in mind, I am no millionaire and the Frenchie was out. Then a few weeks ago good friends of mine got a black miniature Schnauzer named Pearl. She is adoreable and an awesome dog all around. After never considering such a dog Pearl quickly changed my mine and yesterday I picked out my very own miniature Schnauzer, a small black and gray female. The breed doesn't shed and is hypo-allergenic, not to mention they are cute and have great personalities. She comes home on March 21st and I cannot wait. It is hard even to imagine that a little puppy that fit in the palm of my hand will be my very own dog! I am heading back up to the breeder's home in Thomasville next week and will be taking lots of pictures of the little one!

The Conquistador

I picked up my first big art purchase today, "The Conquistador" by John Lytle Wilson. John is a good friend of mine and one incredible artist. For the past two years he has been the reigning Artist-in-Residence at The 621 Gallery here in Tallahassee. Come down to 621 at any upcoming First Friday to check out his amazing pieces, you will not be disappointed. According to John's website, "When not working in the studio, John avoids mowing the lawn and doing the dishes. He enjoys firecrackers, macaroni and cheese, and riding very, very small bicycles. To check out more on John visit his website at http://www.johnlytlewilson.com/.

Becoming a Grown-up

I have recently become what I consider to be a full fledged grownup and it feels a bit wierd. After four years living here in Tallahassee, 3 of them at at Camelliawood with two other roommates, I decided it was time for a change. I went out and found my very own apartment. A month or two of unsuccessful attempts at finding a small house to rent began to bug me so I turned my sights to apartment living and found an awesome place to call my own. It is right across the street from my office, still in the vicinity of my friends and most importantly about five minutes from Tom Brown Park and its dog park. I hope to finally get a dog by the beginning of Summer. I have always had a dog ever since I can remember but haven't been able to have one since I moved here. It will be great to have that companionship with a pet again. It will be even better to have my own place! I am starting to pack things up and slowly but surely will be moved out of Camelliawood. Here's to growing up!

Italy: Day 2

After an uncomfortable night's sleep in a damp, dark and stuffy hotel room we were happy to get out and visit the sites. The first stop of the day was just a few blocks away from our hotel...the market. It was a bit colder today so a hoody was necessary and to make things worse, it was raining as well. Luckily the rain was not too intense and let up after a short while. As we walked our way to the market we passed various storefronts full of people. Book stores, grocery markets, laundromats, and more.

We exited one alley into a large opening surrounded by buildings and what we found out later was a church, San Lorenzo, famous for its unfinished facade. The Basilica di San Lorenzo (Basilica of St Lawrence) is one of the largest churches of Florence, situated at the center of the city’s main market district, and the burial place of all the principal members of the Medici family from Cosimo il Vecchio to Cosimo III. It is one of several churches that claim to be the oldest in Florence; when it was consecrated in 1393 it stood outside the city walls. For three hundred years it was the city's cathedral before the official seat of the bishop was transferred to Santa Reparata. San Lorenzo was also the parish church of the Medici family.

Lining the streets surrounding the church were rows and rows of tents and various goods ranging from pasminas to leather boots to our every day touristy stuff like magnets and t-shirts. We grabbed a bite to eat and had some intense Italian coffee at a small corner cafe before heading down one of the many narrow streets. As our first full day, we knew it would be a day of figuring out the layout of the city. Luckily we found a small map of the city and kept it close with our Italian phrase book.

As we rounded one corner I gasped at the sight of Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as The Duomo (The Dome). More than 600 years after the dome's construction , it is still the largest dome built out of brick and mortar in the world. The facade of the basilica is made of marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white. It is absolutely beautiful. This cathedral was the largest in Europe when completed, with room for 30,000 people. It is now only exceeded in size by Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, Saint Paul's Cathedral in London, the Seville Cathedral, and the Milan Cathedral. The inside of the basilica is truly breathtaking. You enter through enormous doors into a white walled room with ceilings as high as you can see. Ornate paintings of religious leaders of the Catholic faith line the walls. We got up as close as we could to see up into the dome. Covering the inside of the dome are unbelievably detailed paintings of angels and other biblical figures. After walking the outside of the main room Kim and I found a stairwell at the back that descended into the basilica's crypt. As you get to the bottom of the stairs you are forced to walk among large rocks jutting up from the ground. At one end the cardinal crypt and the other a small bookstore. Although I am not a spiritual person, I did feel something strong in this amazing place.

Exiting the main building from a side door we emerged to see Giotto's Bell Tower, which stands just to the side of The Duomo. Thinking it would be fun, we decided to see if we could walk to the top of the tower...it didn't look too daunting. Hah. Just as you enter the small room on the ground floor reads a sign..."No Elevator." Ugh. I grabbed a brochure and read out loud, "414 steps to the top." We looked at each other and basically said what the hell. I mean, when else would we ever have an opportunity like this. We began our long, exhausting ascent to the top of the tower. As we entered the stairwell, it was only about 3 feet wide with extremely small cut outs for windows. If someone was coming down the stairs you had to turn sideways and squish yourself up to the wall. At one point light filled the stairwell. Could it be the top? Nope, one of the three levels with balconies overlooking the city. By the time we made it to the top we had stripped out hoodies, hats and scarves off to try and cool off. I sat for a few minutes to catch my breath and then we made our way out on to the top of the bell tower. From the top we could see for miles. Just behind us we could see people who had made it to the top of The Duomo. As the rain started again I just could not get over that I was in Italy.

After getting all 414 steps up and 414 steps down we were a bit exhausted but decided to keep walking throughout the city. Across from The Duomo we found a narrow side street and followed it passing more small shops a few art galleries and a hair salon. Out of the blue Kim finally made the decision to cut her hair off and what better place to do it in than Italy. We walked into this very modernistic salon where we were greeted by four women who all tended to Kim while I waited and flipped through American magazines on a bench. An hour later she was all done and looked like a totally new person. After a few pictures with the stylist we were off for the next site.

Somehow we made it down to the commercial section of the city and out onto Piazza della Repubblica. This expanse is full of modern art sculptures, high fashion stores, gellato cafes and even a carousel. From here we took a left and began to make our way down to the river. First we walked past another market and made our way through all the leather goods, glass blown animals and scarves.

Just past the market we entered Piazza della Signoria, an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, a Tuscan Gothic town hall built in 1299. The square is the focal point of the origin and of the history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reputation as the political hub of the city. It is the meeting place of Florentines as well as the numerous tourists which we were among. We pushed through the crowded square to get a glimpse of the fountains and sculptures dating back centuries in The Loggia dei Lanzi gallery on the edge of the Piazza della Signoria. Truly incredible. At one end of the square sits the Palazzo degli Uffizi, home of The Uffizi Gallery, one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. The Uffizi is home to the incredible works of such artists as da Vinci, Botticili, Michelangelo and Raphael. Unfortunately it was a very busy day for the Uffizi, much like every other day when the wait time can last up to 5 hours just to get an appointment for a visit.

Through the hallway just outside the Uffizi we walked our way down to the Arno river and pushed through the hundreds of people to get to the overlook. From here we had an amazing view of The Ponte Vecchio, which dates back circa 996. That's right, I said 996. It was destroyed by floods twice before it was built as it is today in 1345. As was once common, the bridge was lined with shops, originally butchers, but now jewelers. The bridge is absolutely beautiful and is what comes to mind when I think of Florence. It represents so much history.

After taking some great pictures of the Ponte Vecchio we made our way down the crowded side walk just in time to see a bike ride out in front of a scooter being driven by and old man with his wife on the back. Pretty much a head on collision and the scooter just fell over on its side on top of all three of them. Pretty soon after the accident a beautiful Maserati drove by. I was speechless. Somehow we made it through some more narrow side streets dodging scooters.

As we made it back towards the opposite side of town we found the Tempio Maggiore Israelitico, the synagogue. The Synagogue was built between 1874 and 1882 to a design by Marco Treves. Its structure is of travertine and pink pomato, in the Moorish style, centrally planned, with a great dome and towers topped by smaller domes. It is of the kind known as of the emancipation, as it was designed as an independent structure rather than being incorporated into dwellings, as was the case in the ghettos. The central dome is sheathed in copper, which has tarnished to green. The interior is covered with decorative motifs by Giovanni Panti, consisting of red and blue arabesques. The doors of the Holy Ark - before which a lamp burns perpetually - still bears scars inflicted by Fascist bayonets.

We grabbed a cappicino at a cool little cafe and then headed back to the hotel to warm up before going to a late dinner. We went to Ristorante la Giostra as recommended by or friend Jen. We were supposed to meet a friend of Jen's, Miri who she met while on semester abroad in college. We managed to figure out who he was and luckily made sure he was our waiter. We had some intense and delicious vegetarian eats and a nice cheap bottle of Italian wine. We also made plans to meet up and tour the city with Miri later on in the weekend. It was one hell of a day and I was exhausted so to bed I went.

Italy: Day 1

We entered the Tuscan area of Italy via plane from Barcelona. We arrived at a very small airport on the outskirts of Florence. As we disembarked and entered the small baggage claim area I noticed a policeman with a beautiful German Shepard at his side. Minutes later the dog was sniffing out each and every one of our bags for narcotics or explosives or something illegal. It was an interesting experience. On the way out the airport we didn't really have a plan. All we knew was that Florence did not have a subway and thus we would have to catch a taxi into the city to our hotel. Yes, I did say hotel. We had major difficulties finding a hostel in this city and instead found what loked to be a decent hotel. We were sadly mistaken, but I will get back to that later. After a long ride into the city we found our hotel and checked in. We threw our bags in the room and headed out for the sites.

By the time we got situated and headed out it was early evening and of course we were starving so we walked a few blocks and found a corner bistro and had some incredible pizza and some fancy Coca Colas. By fancy I mean little glass bottles. After dinner we walked around for a while and then decided to find an internet cafe to keep up on our correspondence and Kim's need for celebrity gossip. After an exhaustive day of hungover traveling I was all for getting to bed early. Lucky enough we had an incredible room, with a dewpoint much like Florida in the summer, black mold growing on the ceiling and a disgusting bathroom. At this point I was too tired to care and quickly fell asleep.

Spain: Day 3

Our third and final full day in Barcelona we spent on the eastern part of the city touring through Ciutadella Park. Entering the park off of Passeig de Lluis Companys, we stopped for pictures under the Arc de Triomf. This arch was built in 1888 to serve as the entrance to the Universal Exhibition of the same year. Each top side of the arc is crowned by the royal coat of arms. The detailed carvings are beautiful and ornate. As we walked through the arc we could see down the long stretch of pedestrian walkway down to the main park. To the left sits the Palau de Justicia, or Justice Palace that rises up out of the trees with eight stone towers. The palace was built between the years 1887 and 1907.

At the end of Passeig de Lluis Companys is the Ciutadella Park, the second largest park in Barcelona. The park restson the site of the former citadel of Philip V's troops and was later used as a prison. The citadel was originally built in 1871 but was demolished to build the park. As I already mentioned the 1888 Universal Exhibition was held in the park and featured the following art installation.

We walked on past the installation and found our way down a small dirt path to a large opening directly in front of the "Cascade," an enormous fountain with waterfalls, dragons and lush greenery growing among all the sculptures. I wish I had a decent picture of it as I know if I had one it would be very recognizable. Unfortunately, it was under construction. Argh! Just past the Cascade sits an enormous mammoth statue. Of course Kimbo had to get her picture hanging from its trunk. Just across from the mammoth is a lake full of flowers and lily pads. Just up the path is the Catalan Parliament building across from the central square inside the park, Armes Square that contains an oval pond with "Desconsol" (Grief), the most famous of works by the sculptor Josep Llimona. Also within the park we walked by various natural science museums, including the Geological Museum (Martorell Museum - the oldest in Barcelona) and the Zoological Museum. Lastly, the Barcelona Zoo, which was founded in 1894 and is known as one of the finest zoos in all of Europe. Previously, the zoo was well known for its albino gorilla Floquet de Neu (Snowflake), the only primate of its kind ever found. Snowflaked arrived at the zoo in 1966 at age 3 and died in 2003.

Leaving the park we began to search for the post office to mail out a bunch of post cards to friends and family back in the States. What seemed to be miles later, but was only blocks, we came upon Passeig de Colom and the Moll de la Fusta on the port overlooking a mass of sailboats. The area, which was recently renovated, sits atop what was once the sea wall. It was demolished in 1881 and is now home to various modernistic sculptures, such as a giant lobster. Still no luck finding the post office. No building in our vicinity looked like a post office and just as we were about to give up there across the street we noticed a sign reading something Telegrafos on the facade of a huge building. Yep, it was the post office and the nicest looking one I have ever seen. When we walked into the main room of the post office it felt like we were walking into Grand Central Station. A large glass dome rests at the top of the building. It was truly incredible to see such a large structure with what seemed to be no support.

After mailing out our post cards we headed back up La Rambla and caught a beer and watched a street show. It was an awesome way to spend the last day in Barcelona. So relaxing to sit back, kick up our feet and have a nice cold beer. I decided it was my goal for the night to find a pub some where that would be shoing the World Series so I could support by Bo'Sox. Luckily not to far from our hostel on La Rambla we found a cool Australian pub. Due to the time difference, the game didn't begin until 3 am Barcelona time so we got to the bar around 2 am and chatted with a group from New Zealand and made friends with the bar tenders from some Eastern European country. I was pissed to find out that the bars closed at 3 and thus I would miss the game. I was not a happy camper but we found some kids our age to hang out with while finishing up our beers. As it was too late to get any more alcohol from the bars Kimbo remembered that our hostel had the best invention ever...a beer vending machine. We gathered all the change we could find and Kim ran off with a few of our new friends and came back with handfulls of Estrella Damm. We grabbed the beers and walked back down to the pier. We had a blast hanging out and talking politics and everything else with our new friends. Before we knew it, it was 6am and Kim and I had to be at the airport at noon to catch our flight to Florence. Ugh. We barely made it to the airport in time and then were rejected when we tried to check in. Finally, after pleading with them, we made it through check in and through security. We made it, hungover, but we made it. Off to Florence!

Spain: Day 2

After a night of awesome paella and sightseeing we were ready to head out to see more of this great city of Barcelona. We walked over a few blocks from our hostel just off La Rambla to a section of the city containing government buildings. Then down a small little street on to Cathedral Avenue, home of some incredible sites, including the Catalan Architect's College featuring a giant mural by Picasson on its face. Across the street stands the impressive Church of Santa Maria del Pi (built in 1298). Unfortunately, like much of the landmarks we had seen thus far, the church was covered by scaffolding and fabric as it was being repaired.

After stopping at a small cafe for some coffee we made a circle back toward La Rambla and into The Boqueria Market (of Sant Josep). The market, originally opened in the 18th century, is housed in an interesting Modernist building with a transparent and glass roof. This, and the bustling atmosphere inside make it well worth visiting, even if for only a moment.

After walking through the market we headed up La Rambla past even more historic buildings. First, the Vireina Palace, an 18th century Baroque building originally commissioned by the Viceroy of Peru, Manuel de Amat i Junyeat. From there we walked up to Catalunya Square, known as the nerve center of the city. On the way walking up La Rambla through the streets lined with flower shops, cafes and restaraunt. In the center of the square is a large park with fountains, benches and lots of pigeons. We made our way through the square and back down towards the ocean near our hostel via a different route. This time passing through Placa D'Urquinaona and down Via Laietana. Off this thoroughfare sits Palau de la Musica Catalana (Catalan Concert House) built between 1905 and 1909. The Palau quickly became part of the cultural life of the city and became the natural venue for all expressions of national culture. The facade of the building is incredibly beautiful. Made of bright red brick and lined with ceremic mosaics and elaborate sculptures, it definitely dwarfs all the buildings around it.

We spent the evening venturing up and down La Rambla trying to find a store to buy a winter jacket in as we heard the weather for the remainder of our trip was going to be fairly cool. Great, another five pounds to add to our already stuffed backpacks. Low and behold we found an H&M with some sick deals and bought ourselves some decent warm jackets. La Rambla at night is a sight. Bright lights and thousands of people wandering the street. In and out of cafes and restaraunts. We had dinner at some expensive Catalunyan place. From what I remember it wasn't anything spectacular. Then we headed out to La Rambla again and caught a mug of hot chocolate, coffee and pastries at one of the many cafes before going back to the hostel to catch some sleep.

Spain: Day 1

Once we landed in Barcelona we jumped we walked around aimlessly trying to figure out how or where to catch the subway to get into the city. Let's just say we weren't successful at finding the train. Instead we found a nice long line and waited for the bus. That's right, a bus, after traveling a few hours on a plane. Bogged down with our somewhat heavy bags we squished our way onto the uncomfortably hot bus and held on for dear life packed like sardines with other travelers. At some point we figured out what stop to get off at, Catalunya Square. Well, we got off at Catalonia Square instead. Woops! I noticed stairs down to the subway only to find out from a man sweeping the street that the subway stops service at 11pm. Across the huge traffic circle was a line of cabs. We ran over and jumped in. Just a short ride away we were dropped off right in front of our hostel, just a few hundred feet from La Rambla, the main pedestrian thoroughfare in Barcelona. After an exhausting day we made our way up the dark stairway to our floor and found our room with two sets of bunk beds and a set of lockers, a sight we would get used to. We hit the sack but not before realizing that there were hardly any springs left in my bed and when I jumped in I sank down almost to the floor. It was pretty damn hilarious. Kim has a picture of it somewhere.

The next morning we got up and decided our first outing would be to the famous cathedral, La Sagrada Familia (or The Holy Family). Construction on this basilica, pictured above, began in 1882. Famous architect Antoni Gaudí, who replaced the original architect, worked on the project for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to this endeavour. After Gaudí's death in 1926, work continued under the direction of Domènech Sugranyes. It is a truly marvelous sight, something unlike any other. It was incredible to ascend up out of the underground from the subway to turn around and be dwarfed by these unbelievably elaborate spires soaring into the sky. The Church will have three grand façades: the Nativity façade to the East, the Glory façade to the South (yet to be completed) and the Passion façade to the West. The Nativity facade was built before work was interrupted in 1935 and bears the most direct Gaudí influence. The Passion façade is especially striking for its spare, gaunt, tormented characters, including emaciated figures of Christ being flogged and on the crucifix. The detail in the thousands of carvings is exsquisite. I took some incredible pictures of this masterpiece that I have since had printed and they are beautiful.

From the basillica we decided to make our way up to Mount Carmel and Park Guell. After an intense hike up the steepest hill ever we made it to the line of escalators that climbed to the top of Mount Carmel just outside of Park Guell. Atop this mountain is a monument of stone with a large cross on top. The 360 degree view was unbelievable. It was a gorgeous sunny day and after the tiring hike it was incredible to look down across such a beautiful city.

After taking in the sights we descended down the steps of the mountain into Park Guell. The initial plan for the park was to build an English-style garden city with 60 one family houses. In the end, only two of these were built, the architect himself (Gaudi) living in one until he moved to the Sagrada Familia. In this park Gaudi's creative genius achieved an architectural space in perfect communion and harmony with nature. Close to the park entrance is a wide double staircase with, at the meeting point of the ttwo sections, small spaces with waterfalls and sculptures, including a colorful mosaic-covered dragon, which has become a symbol of the park. The steps lead up to what was originally planned to be a 100-columned chamber where the market was to have been placed. The columns support spherical domes, and above the chamber is the huge circular main square surrounded by a mosaic bench. Walking around on top of this square was great. Palm trees ad flowers line the sides of the square. A bunch of kids were running around playing soccer right next to the sign that said "No soccer." We walked around the park a bit longer and saw some interesting people, crazy looking dogs and some incredible architecture before trekking back down the streetlined mountain back to the subway. On the way stopping at a few souvenir shops, one in which Kim stepped on a plate and broke it and then modeled a disgusting tydyed shirt with a giant head of a bull on it.