Friday morning several students from the photography program came with the professors and I to Lucca to visit the Lucca Digital Photography Festival. as soon as we step off the train the rain begins to blanket the entire city for the following six hours. with my lacking of an umbrella and the thin canvas exterior of my shoes i managed to get extremely cold and wet. it didn’t help that each exhibit that we ventured to was based in a building that was so old that it hadn’t acquired any kind of heating ventilation. i manage to get cold enough to decide to leave early and catch a train hoping that ill find a little warmth on my way home so that my socks can dry.. the train turned out to be as cold as the galleries but i did manage to find an umbrella in the trash on my walk through the rain. not just some average flimsy run of the mill umbrella but an extra large burgundy plaid with the colors pond green and murky blue. it was as if getting soaked in the rain for the previous few hours prepared me for such a find and wouldn’t have meant the same otherwise.

now since the rainy season has officially begun this sturdy umbrella has proven especially useful. with it being hopelessly shaped like an extravagant walking stick i find myself habitually twirling the umbrella between my fingertips. either when it is closed or while its opened and stretched out over my head. this has helped me become more aware of the nervous habits that i tend to pursue with my hands. far to often i catch myself playing with my beard or messing up my hair.... flipping a coin between my finger tips or touching the cement buildings i pass along the streets.

really the thing that surprises me most is that im constantly looking at bicycles to see if they have locks wrapped around them. now this doesn’t exactly relate to the nervous habits i have with my hands but might shed some light on my habits in a general way. its not like i want to steal a bicycle that isnt locked properly. i mean i already have a nice bicycle that i love very much. infact last weekend i suggested that two of my friends and i all ride on the bicycle. at the same time....together..... and by golly it worked! Alonzo rode on the handle bars and Danielle sat on the seat while i stood and pedaled. we sang Christmas carols and a Tom Jones song.......it was much easier then i would have expected....well at least till the handle bars loosened and the bicycle was impossible to navigate.

but back to the habit thing. i think since i had my bike stolen a couple months ago that at first i had hoped to spot my old bicycle randomly on some street corner mingling with others. i thought sure....the brown seat would have been a dead giveaway. but after a few weeks i slowly began to give up. it wasnt like i went out of my way searching for the darn thing. it just sort of passed the time. and then eventually when i got bored with that i began passing the time with trying to spot vulnerable bikes. like the way mine was before it was stolen...yeah i admit maybe when i find one i will take it for a joy ride. not too far though. just around the block or something at best. but until then i believe this habit will continue to occupy my time. maybe its the same with the umbrella. ill probably wait until the rainy season ends before i stop twirling. and then what? back to touching the cement walls and knocking street pole with my hands to hear what kind of sound resonates?

today i ate the best sandwich that ive had since i got rid of my toaster oven back in kalamazoo. it consisted of mozzarella, pesto, sun dried tomatoes, black olives and onions. in the cafe they were playing late eighties love songs. somehow i knew all the words and sang a little.... especially too Madonna. the people working were very happy and sang too. lately i cant stop thinking about the Top Gun soundtrack and this little rectangular pink boombox that my mom owned when i was a kid. i use to play the tape down in our basement as loud as it would go. sometimes my brother and i would take all the pillows off the couches and make a pile in the middle of the room. then we would position the exercise trampling so that we could jump off the couch onto the trampling into the air singing Highway to the Danger Zone! at the top of our lungs and land safely onto the cushions. this is before i stopped believing in Santa Clause. i aso memorized the bart simpson deep deep trouble song during this period of my life. actually i rapped it a little just last week. somehow both have managed their ways into my permanent memory.