09.26.10

Spidola.
Photograph.














It took me a while to get this picture correct with my stupid autofocus camera, and even so, I can't quite identify it. I am only using the Portuguese here for a title, because when I was in a backpacker's hostel in Italy once, in a bunked room with eight bunks, I was once awoken to a horrible screaming of, "SPIDOLA! SPIDOLA!!" and a woman flailing in the bunk next to mine. I sat with her, calmed her. She woke us all up at 3am because she had a nightmare and/or there was a spider in her bed, and since I was the only one who spoke Spanish or Italian, I was the only one who could manage to work out that much of what she said. I weaved that together for all the Australians and British girls in the room, rolling my eyes and in general, being very put out. I couldn't fall back asleep and neither could the other girls. I grumbled and bitched about the fucking spider the entirety of the next day. How dare someone scream in a hostel. About two weeks later, I stayed in a old insane hostel in Naples. Everything was heavy dark wood and creepy as all hell. I was hanging out in the common room, which also doubled as the check-in, with some wine and a few other travelers. A very pissed off Irish girl came down holding all her sheets. She cussed and screamed at the dudes running the hostel, flinging her sheets about, showing them the crabs in her sheets.

Cripes, all night, I had this creepy crawly feeling in me, and when I finally managed to fall asleep, I woke up screaming, "Get off me! Get off me!" And I woke the entire room of Romanian graduate students in Naples for a presentation on engineering. They all gave me the stink eye in the morning. And thus, I explain the complex notion of instant karma with one easy story.

And I needlefelted some pumpkins!