Marriage!

We had to cancel our vacation because of Vox's work. I've been trying to do things with the kids that doesn't require an extra person (like amusement parks). Tomorrow it's a ride on the Cape May ferry.

We are getting a new couch put in next week. I haven't been this excited since I heard there would be a hot tub at my prom after party.

like a normal three seater couch, or the bigger bending couch with dual recliners on each end and compartments for pretzels and dirty mags and tv remotes.

leather, suede, nylon, wool, alligator?

Has anyone vacationed in Italy recently? My 10th anniversary is this October. I'm thinking about going in the spring (sans children). I don't know where to begin. I have family in Naples and Palermo, but am not all that interested in going to either. Where to go? Accomodations? Cost? Help?

philliesr98 wrote:like a normal three seater couch, or the bigger bending couch with dual recliners on each end and compartments for pretzels and dirty mags and tv remotes.

leather, suede, nylon, wool, alligator?

I wish dude. I have a quirky small TV room that can only fit a small shallow couch. I thought this custom made one from the Web was our only option, so we got it, and it sucked. Like so bad I took to sitting in a tailgate chair sucked. Talked our way into a refund and then found a couch almost the same size that's comfortable as shit.

Grotewold wrote:

philliesr98 wrote:like a normal three seater couch, or the bigger bending couch with dual recliners on each end and compartments for pretzels and dirty mags and tv remotes.

leather, suede, nylon, wool, alligator?

I wish dude. I have a quirky small TV room that can only fit a small shallow couch. I thought this custom made one from the Web was our only option, so we got it, and it sucked. Like so bad I took to sitting in a tailgate chair sucked. Talked our way into a refund and then found a couch almost the same size that's comfortable as $#@!.

O well, maybe one day you'll be able to have 7 options where to sit.

Trent Steele wrote:Has anyone vacationed in Italy recently? My 10th anniversary is this October. I'm thinking about going in the spring (sans children). I don't know where to begin. I have family in Naples and Palermo, but am not all that interested in going to either. Where to go? Accomodations? Cost? Help?

We haven't been recently, but we were there in 1999. Milan, Turin, and Venice. Milan was big, busy, and expensive--it probably has a lot more to offer than I experienced, but it would probably take some research to uncover its gems. Venice was Venice--lots of tourists--not everyone's cup of tea I bet, but Mrs. Vulture and I loved it. Not cheap for accommodations or food, but you can spend hour upon hour wandering the city, and that's free. If you go, stay in Venice, because the city is much nicer in the evening when the hordes of day trippers go back to Mestre or wherever.

Turin is interesting--it's Italy, sure, but it's also Savoy and it's also Piedmont, and it's modern and industrial (FIAT is based there) with great food and beautiful surrounding countryside and culture and such. We really liked it, but it seems few American tourists go there. I think hotels can be expensive there, but we stayed with a friend.

If you're interested in Italian Renaissance Art, I'm the wrong guy to ask, as I really am not interested in that stuff.

TenuredVulture wrote:

Trent Steele wrote:Has anyone vacationed in Italy recently? My 10th anniversary is this October. I'm thinking about going in the spring (sans children). I don't know where to begin. I have family in Naples and Palermo, but am not all that interested in going to either. Where to go? Accomodations? Cost? Help?

We haven't been recently, but we were there in 1999. Milan, Turin, and Venice. Milan was big, busy, and expensive--it probably has a lot more to offer than I experienced, but it would probably take some research to uncover its gems. Venice was Venice--lots of tourists--not everyone's cup of tea I bet, but Mrs. Vulture and I loved it. Not cheap for accommodations or food, but you can spend hour upon hour wandering the city, and that's free. If you go, stay in Venice, because the city is much nicer in the evening when the hordes of day trippers go back to Mestre or wherever.

Turin is interesting--it's Italy, sure, but it's also Savoy and it's also Piedmont, and it's modern and industrial (FIAT is based there) with great food and beautiful surrounding countryside and culture and such. We really liked it, but it seems few American tourists go there. I think hotels can be expensive there, but we stayed with a friend.

If you're interested in Italian Renaissance Art, I'm the wrong guy to ask, as I really am not interested in that stuff.

Thanks. How long did you stay? Did you drive everywhere?

Trent Steele wrote:

TenuredVulture wrote:

Trent Steele wrote:Has anyone vacationed in Italy recently? My 10th anniversary is this October. I'm thinking about going in the spring (sans children). I don't know where to begin. I have family in Naples and Palermo, but am not all that interested in going to either. Where to go? Accomodations? Cost? Help?

We haven't been recently, but we were there in 1999. Milan, Turin, and Venice. Milan was big, busy, and expensive--it probably has a lot more to offer than I experienced, but it would probably take some research to uncover its gems. Venice was Venice--lots of tourists--not everyone's cup of tea I bet, but Mrs. Vulture and I loved it. Not cheap for accommodations or food, but you can spend hour upon hour wandering the city, and that's free. If you go, stay in Venice, because the city is much nicer in the evening when the hordes of day trippers go back to Mestre or wherever.

Turin is interesting--it's Italy, sure, but it's also Savoy and it's also Piedmont, and it's modern and industrial (FIAT is based there) with great food and beautiful surrounding countryside and culture and such. We really liked it, but it seems few American tourists go there. I think hotels can be expensive there, but we stayed with a friend.

If you're interested in Italian Renaissance Art, I'm the wrong guy to ask, as I really am not interested in that stuff.

Thanks. How long did you stay? Did you drive everywhere?

We stayed about a week, and we used the train to get everywhere. Our friend in Turin drove us around the countryside, but otherwise, for our trip a car would be a huge hassle compared to the ease and efficiency (and relative cheapness) of the trains. If you do take the train, for any IC type train, it's probably worthwhile to reserve your seat.

Trent Steele wrote:Has anyone vacationed in Italy recently? My 10th anniversary is this October. I'm thinking about going in the spring (sans children). I don't know where to begin. I have family in Naples and Palermo, but am not all that interested in going to either. Where to go? Accomodations? Cost? Help?

We went three years ago. Spent most of our time in Rome and Florence, loved them both. Naples is kind of gross, though they do have the best pizza in the world; we stopped there on the way back from Pompeii, which was a great overnight trip. The preserved ruins are probably the coolest "tourist" thing I've ever seen, anywhere.

Rome is a wonderfully walkable city, and the classic sites--the Colosseum, Forum, imperial places, etc--are all worth seeing. Florence has great museums and terrific eats, cheaper than in Rome if I recall correctly. (In general, you're guaranteed great food anywhere in Italy so long as you steer clear of the obvious tourist restaurants. A good guidebook is helpful here; we used Rick Steves.)

I was in Venice in 1998 and basically agree with Paul's take. It's kind of cool, definitely worth seeing for how unique it is, but really lousy with tourists.

I just thought about Andrew W.K. for the first time in about seven years.

Bakestar wrote:I just thought about Andrew W.K. for the first time in about seven years.

He's producing a friend of mine's record. He's pretty active in New York, DJing parties and giving talks and stuff.

the guy teaching my microsoft/it seminar is 90 years old.

i've been trying to zone out for the last 3 hours, but the chair has no arms, so I'm terrified that I'm going to fall asleep, fall out, and crack my head off the ground. if it weren't for the hottie next to me, i'd chance it. though she appears to be wearing a ring on the indicator finger, so i might chance the shame of falling out of the chair. stay tuned.

How much is it ok to infer about a person who reads Nietzsche on his front stoop?

He might just be really into philosophy, right?

Houshphandzadeh wrote:How much is it ok to infer about a person who reads Nietzsche on his front stoop?

He might just be really into philosophy, right?

Pretentious dill weed.

That's what I thought, just don't want to jump to too many conclusions. I was a little thrown because this guy seems pretentious enough to know that his choice would seem too obviously pretentious and pick, like, Calvino or some shit.

Houshphandzadeh wrote:That's what I thought, just don't want to jump to too many conclusions. I was a little thrown because this guy seems pretentious enough to know that his choice would seem too obviously pretentious and pick, like, Calvino or some $#@!.

Really, who wants to hang out with someone who reads Nietzsche anyway?

There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya 'bout the raising of the wrist.
Socrates himself was permananently pissed.

Heidegger? Heidegger was a boozy beggar who could drink you under the table.