Where's my motorino helmet?

The student diggers of Poggio Colla have no idea how lucky they are.

Why? Because they get a four-day weekend in the middle of a six-week season. This luxury is generally unheard of. But the best part, of course, is that since the students get a four-day weekend, so do the supervisors.

As much as I love the Mugello Valley and its greenery, I felt it was time to get out and to do something touristy and beachy. Thus I took off for a sunny holiday on the Tuscan island of Elba with Angela Trentecoste, the site zooarchaeologist (animal bone specialist).

Yes, that Elba.

Perhaps because I've gotten more elderly, it's been a while since I've had any haphazard Mediterranean adventures - my days of island hopping by myself in the Cyclades are nearly ten years past. But Elba and Angela provided plenty to make up for it. Such as:

Campeggio. We borrowed some camping gear (thanks, Phil!) and set up our little tent in the rather interesting Camping Aquaviva. This involved crushing a pillow over my head at night to keep out the blaring 'Macarena' and likewise crushing a pillow over my head to keep out the ear-plug defying pigeon cooing directly above our tent at 6am. (At least I could throw rocks at the pigeon).

We rented a motorino and toured the north and west of the island. This involved various adventures such as driving on a windy cliffside road in the dark with no real headlamp and getting entirely lost in the steep cobbled medieval alleys of Portoferraio, until some nice angel of mercy led us out to freedom on her own motorino.

There was plenty of swimming to be had and I actually got to do some diving, something I'd not yet done in the Mediterranean. There was a decent bit of wildlife, to my surprise: eels, baracuda, octopus, manta ray, grouper, etc.

Don't think, of course, that it was all fun and games. I got the requisite share of antiquities in at medieval Marciana, perched on a hill, where we were able to visit sparse 13th-century chapels and the island's little archaeological museum.


Sure, this pottery doesn't look like much, but I've spent the summer obsessed with these bowls and their sharply outturned rims. Many of them rest on pedestal feet and have elaborate profiles, including the fancy one we found in our trench. They're called piatelli.

And somehow, by complete accident, every place we stopped to eat had drop-dead-benissimo food and gorgeous views.

Dinner and a view at the little harbour of Enfola.

I probably wouldn't recommend Elba to visitors since it was a tourist mecca more than anything else, but for a four-day escape from the Mugello, it perfectly hit the spot.

Location, location, location

Thank you, Grandpa Rask, for moving to Florida 60 years ago, and for establishing an ancestral home for me to enjoy.

Even chores are fun!

Now I know what I want for graduation.

The morning commute to the breakfast spot is sublime.

And the local wildlife is friendly! Like this dude, about three feet from our canoe, giving me the evil eye.

What prospectus?

I've been a little lax with the posting lately, I know, but I've been terribly distracted these days by my prospectus. For those non-academics out there, the prospectus is basically your dissertation proposal. It explains what topic you are going to research, why no one else has done it your way before, and how you're going to go about things. In my department, the prospectus is a 20-30-page paper that is presented to the department at a public 'defense.' Although my colloquium (i.e. public defense) is not until December 10th, I'm supposed to turn in the paper itself at the end of this week.

It hasn't been going very well. I've been struggling a lot with the paper and ultimately with what I want or need (future career-wise) my dissertation to be. I'm still not exactly sure that I know what I'm doing, or that I'm at all happy with what I have produced at this point.

So what did I do last night to clear my head?



Yes, that's right. I went to see Megadeth!
The show began on an interesting note with one of the opening bands. They'd set up these frames with fabric stretched over them to cover stuff behind them on the stage - identical frames were posted at either side of the band. At first I couldn't figure out what the image was:



And then it became clear that it was an image of a dead, mutilated woman, in a flowing robe, arranged poetically on the ground.


I love when people say there is no such thing as the 'male gaze.' It's bad enough in hip-hop, but I'd forgotten the physical violence associated with the 'male gaze' so frequent in metal. I officially loathe the band Suicide Silence.

But anyways, the person who I don't loathe, is this guy:


Dave Mustaine! Snarling champion of my ninth grade year!



I used to watch the video for 'Sweating Bullets' over and over and over in 9th grade: that was back in the day when you'd have a blank VCR tape in the machine so you could super-fast hit 'record' whenever one of your favorite songs came on MTV. It was unreal to see Megadeth standing in front of me, in real life.

Dave Mustaine is a god. Look, he even has a Guitar of Light:



Today I'm still partially deaf, my throat is hoarse from screaming, and my body aches like I'm decrepit. In other words, it was aaaww-suum! *singsong voice*


I went with Dallas and Brian. Afterwards we had midnight bacon-cheddar-cheeseburgers. Now it's noon and I'm wondering how I'm supposed to start coherently writing. I think I might just watch 'Sweating Bullets' a few more times instead.

Things to do in Athens

1. Find Mexican Food

Living in Greece for an extended period of time can be extremely trying on the American constitution, trained as it is to extract energy from highly-spiced foods. American visitors to Greece are advised to consume large amounts of hotwings, chili, General Tso's chicken, and spicy salsa prior to exiting the United States. Upon arrival in Greece, be prepared to lose all interest in food, massively increase one's salt and pepper intake, and experience reoccurring nightsweats due to guacamole deficiency. Commonly, a cause of severe distress for Americans is the shock to the system caused by sudden and unexpected shortages of Mexican Food, an American staple to which most US citizens are addicted, without their knowledge.

In case of emergency, proceed on the Metro's Blue Line to the Chalandri Station, disembark and continue for 20 minutes in the direction of downtown Athens. Immediately enter Sante Fe Restaurant (Agiou Georgiou 30B). Research has shown that the food provided in said restaurant, owned by former residents of New Mexico, meets the dietary standards for decreasing the debilitating effects of Sans Mexican Food Shock.

There's even sour cream.

2. Play American Football

In order to boost morale, a common recommendation for Americans in Greece is an occasional game of football, sure to improve dispositions and circulate the humours. Best played on football-related holidays such as Thanksgiving or Superbowl Day, Americans are advised to play on the open killing-field behind the American Embassy. Should participants be ejected from the field by Greek policemen, continue play in the open game-area several blocks removed from the Embassy. It is highly recommended that the game not take place in the portion of the field reserved for pet use. Although the remaining portion of the green has a wet and marshy quality, known to be hazardous to upright bipedalism and conducive to injury, mud is recognized for its healing effects on the epidermis. In order to combat the subsequent toxic flood of lactic acid within the muscular system, consume large amounts of water and, if able, see a local masseuse.

3. Have a BBQ

Grilling large quantities of high-calorie meats is a past-time familiar to many Americans, and if possible, is an activity that should be continued while habitating in Greece. The most popular dish for such occasions is the famous Bacon Explosion, composed of woven bacon slices surrounding sausage and additional bacon bits. If the Bacon Explosion catches fire and takes on the appearance of a volcano-charred Herculaneum papyrus scroll, slice it open and consume the interior with a spoon, as one would eat a kiwi.