Jeez Jon

Where I've Been This Weekend

The in-laws are visting, staying at a timeshare in Palm Springs, one of my favorite cities.  We've been bouncing back and forth from the desert to L.A. and back, making a busy (but wonderful) weekend.  I'm at work right now (...really, boss, blogging helps me focus) and tomorrow we're off to Disneyland, and then I'm back at work for the rest of the week as Tom entertains them.  If you have never been to Palm Springs, I highly recommend it.  It has a great, relaxed vibe to it, great shopping and restaurants, it's exceedingly gay-friendly, and it's so damn comfortable.  If you want to go someplace to not really do much of anything, Palm Springs is your city.  I'd love to get the cash together to get a second home there.  Can't wait to go back...

PS: A very belated (but heartfelt) birthday shout-out to Jen.  You are a wonderful, sharp person, Jen, and I am so very glad that we've been friends for so long.

As I Lay Flying

Between the tour for the movie last year and my recent trip to visit the family, I've done a lot of flying in the past year and a half.  During all of this travel, I've come up with my flying routine. And the following, what I'd like to call, my Aero Manifesto.

• Carry On Luggage.  I can understand that you can bring on one personal item and one carry-on item allowed by Homeland Security, but honestly, do you really need both?  Every time I fly, my small messenger bag is my sole carry on.  In it, I pack at least one book, some gum, a pen, Sudoku or crossword puzzle, my Discman (I don't have an iPod, sue me), some CDs, pens, and whatever travel itinerary is needed for the trip. By using such a small bag, I can shove it under the seat in front of me with still having room for me to stretch out. 
• Following Directions.  FAA rules say that you have to follow what the flight crew says to you. These rules are to help ensure everyone's safety on the flight.  So, Jerkhole on my American Airlines flight from Chicago to LA who got yelled at for getting your bag out of the overhead compartment during takeoff?  You deserve to have gotten yelled at by the flight attendant.  Also, when the plane lands and the flight attendant says to wait until the captain turns off the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign before you unfasten your seat belt, he/she says that for a reason as well.  'Cause the plane still has a while to taxi to the gate, tools.  It always infuriates me when I see these impatient dolts jumping out of their chairs as the plane is still taxiing to the gate.  Grrr....
• Supply Your Own Entertainment. The approved-for-all-audiences flight entertainment might not necessarily be your cup of tea.  While my niece Alli really enjoyed 27 Dresses, I didn't on my flight (or at least what I saw of it with the sound off on the monitors).  So, hence, I bring the book, the CDs, the Sudoku. 
• Some Crying Is Okay.  During my travels, I've had my fair share of kids and babies on my flights.  Guess what?  Babies will cry during take off and landing, so deal. I usually am prepared for the worst from kids, but I've been fortunate in my recent travels where the babies have been very well behaved. Crying from adults, however? That depends...
• Food. Every hack comic does the bit about how bad airplane food is because it's mostly true.  But on most of the domestic flights I've been on lately, that hasn't been much of a problem... 'cause there hasn't been any food.  Yes, I can pay $3 for a pack of oversalted potato crisps on the plane, but I don't consider that a meal.  So, I'll bring something on from the food court area. I mean, dude, really?  You expect me to pay $4 for a small chocolate chip cookie?  Don't think so. So, fight the power and bring in your own snacks. 

These personal guidelines have always steered me right, even when things go wrong, like delayed flights.  I'm one of those weird types who really enjoys flying. I find it amazing that we as humans can go such large distances in a such a fantastic manner.  Even though I may get rather cranky on long flights, I would rather spend 4 hours flying to visit my family then spend a few days driving there.  I've done both, and even though the road trip was a good experience, I'd rather fly there so I can spend more time with my loved ones.  And with the Aero Manifesto, I can do it with my sanity intact. 

The Florence Trip: Day 3

Day 3 in lovely Firenze started with breakfast, of course.  At this point, I had completely taken to the typical Italian breakfast -- a sweet pastry and a cappuccino.  I'm not a big hot coffee drinker, but I was definitely won over by both the cappucino and the "cafe", or espresso as we Americans call it.  After that, my parents, Tom and I went over to the San Lorenzo Market and did some shopping.  The Basilica anchors the square and the market then covers the streets surrounding the church.   For the uninitiated, Florence is the center of leather in Italy, so you can get cheap, really good leather goods there.  I did manage to snag a really nice leather jacket for myself. (No pictures of it, alas.).  Tom and I took a break from the purchasing of goods for a breather and then we went into the church itself once my brother Matt showed up. We couldn't take any pictures inside the church, so you can get a taste of how amazing it is here.   

We did some more walking around the Market district, having lunch, going by the old Library.  That evening we had dinner with an ex-patriot older couple -- a painter and his wife in their 70's.  We had a marvelous dinner at their apartment right on the Arno, with a great view of the Ponte Vecchio.  After a few hours of great dinner, wine and conversation, Tom, my parents, and I went walking back over the Ponte Vecchio when I asked my dad to borrow his cell phone.  I checked my messages and lo and behold, I had good news from my agents.  I read for a commercial for Caribbean Island Tourism Board, and they had me on hold for one of the roles.  One of my commercial agents left me a message saying that they wanted me for a role for their informercial for their campaign and not for the commercial for which I had originally read.  But still, a booking is a booking and work is work, so I'm pretty excited about it.  I'll do a separate post about the infomercial.  So, yay!  Good news! 

Next up: Architecture!  Browsing!  Nuns! 

The Florence Trip: Day 2

The tail end of Day 1 of our trip ended with  Tom, Matt and my parents and I making our way to the Fontana del Porcellino, aka the Pig Market.  This is an open air market with a metal statue of a wild boar at its southern end.  Local legend is if you rub the boar's nose, you will return to Firenze.  As you can tell, we are all coming back to Florence.

My mom then put a coin in its mouth to make a wish.  If the coin then drops through the grate at the bottom without touching anything, then your wish will be granted. 

Okay, day two.  Tom and I got up early and walked around Firenze, waiting for my parents to get ready.  We found some odd Italian fashion as we strolled around.  We then went to the Loggia dei Lanzi, where we saw some amazing architecture.  This is where Cellini's Perseus can be found, amongst other statues.  It's right by the Piazza della Signoria, a huge square where, like most of northern Firenze, you can eat, shop, and go to a museum by merely moving 10 feet.  The Palazzo Vecchio is also there, and flanking the front entrance is the replica of Michelangelo's David.  Even for a replica, it looks damn good. I mean, check this out:

Pretty good for being a copy, no? And the other side of the door is Bandinelli's "Hercules".  We then walked by the Uffizi and then under the Vasari Corridor where I just HAD to get this picture:

I mean, really, you would take this picture, too.  I'm surprised there hasn't been an entire coffee table book devoted to this shot.  Anyways, we then the famous Ponte Vecchio to take some glorious pictures  on the bridge while wading through the throngs of tourists. 

The rest of the day was spent eating some local pizza (delicious, super thin crust), walking, some more culture at the Palazzo Pitti, and then a nap and then more walking.  I think there was some gelato in there somewhere. 

Next, Shopping!  Leather!  Dinner! And Good News!

Florence Trip Pictures

I've spent the better part of the day today uploading photos into a Photo Album here at Typepad from our trip.  I'll post more later.  Enjoy the pictures!  Besides finding it on the page, the link is here.

The Florence Trip: Day 1

I haven't gotten around to uploading the photos we took of the trip.  I'll get to them, don't worry about that. 

Our trip to Florence was fantastic.  So, first things first, props to my parents springing for our hotel and some meals while we were in Italy.  You guys are great, and Tom and I really appreciate it.  Also, mad props to my brother Matt for entertaining us phillistine Americans as we tromped around Florence, or as the locals call it, Firenze. 

We stayed at a hotel right by the Duomo and the Battistero, which are both in a huge pedestrian square.  The pictures you see of the Duomo don't do it justice.  Not only is it freakin' gorgeous and stunning, it's also massive.  It's the largest building in all of Firenze.  Beautiful and intimidating, the Duomo clearly dominates the landscape of main portion of the northern part of Firenze. 

The Battistero (The Baptistery of John the Baptist) is across the square from the Duomo.  Apparently in olden times, you just couldn't waltz into a church. You had to be baptized first, and you would get it done at a Baptistery.  And this building is just breathtaking.  I'll be using a lot of adjectives similar to "'beautiful" and "gorgeous" and "awe-inspiring" while I describing this trip, so just get used it it.  There are amazing mosaics on the inside.  Again, when I upload the pics, you can see for yourself.  Just amazing.

My parents were already in Firenze for a day, after being down in Matera in Southern Italy so my Mom could go to a writers' conference and my parents can spend some QT with Celeste, my future sister-in-law. Tom and I arrived after a pretty uneventful flight in at the Firenze airport pretty worn out from the jet lag.  We took a cab in from the airport to our hotel, expecting (as my mom said in a message) that we would have to schlep our luggage for a block or two's distance through the square by the Duomo since cars weren't allowed into the square.  Apparently, that's not completely true.  Our cabbie pulled up to the square around 2:40pm local time, and the square was full of tourists, as per usual.  (The section of Firenze north of the river where we were staying is constantly full of tourists, as we found out) Instead of stopping, our cabbie just pulled into the square and started driving through, honking at the moseying pedestrians to get out of his way.  He did actually slow down, but that didn't prevent Tom and I from exchanging some worried and amused glances as we drove through the square past the Battistero and to our hotel.  For a minute, it felt like we lucked out with a great Amazing Race cabbie, and that the Pit Stop was around the corner.

We got to our hotel room, took a few hour nap, and then wondered where my folks were.  As I walked down the hallway to the front desk, my Dad rounded the corner.  Hugs all around.  My mom was worried that Tom and I were kidnapped by terrorists or something.  We all got caught up, and then met my brother Matt out front of the hotel to go to dinner.  One of my favorite memories of this trip is when, as we were walking around the Battistero and admiring the doors, a gypsy woman came up and asked for some money.  Me and my dad both said "No, grazie" (no thank you), and then the woman approached Matt.  He sternly said no, and she went into a bit of a tirade in Italian. Not missing a beat, Matt did the sign of the cross and responded in rapid-fire Italian back at her and that effectively shooed her off completely.  He then looked at us.  "Ugh... gypsies!"  We then took a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood and ended up one of the numerous (Italian) restaurants around Firenze.  We had a very nice dinner, and I had the first dish of many on this trip that  completely changed my view of Italian cuisine:  Ravioli in a Butter and Sage Sauce.  (The link is to the best recipe I can find quickly on the web.  If you do this dish, add parmesan cheese to top when the dish is served.  You'll thank me later.) Oh my word, it was amazingly delicious.  So yummy.  And then a nice stroll back to the hotel.

Next: Art! Culture! Lots of Walking!