pocketlizard

I’ve finally got some photos onto a computer. Here are a few. I’ve put them under the fold because I have no way of making them web-size. If you’re on a slow connection, or don’t really care, just don’t click “more..”. But even though you’re mean and don’t want to look at my pictures, I’ll tell you a story…

I’ve turned into an anthropologist. I can’t see anything without spinning some theory or long involved explanation that drags in all sorts of stuff, and usually ends up, 10 minutes later, with me explaining Geertz’s famous cockfight article to my hapless listeners. I had just such a moment about 20 minutes ago. Steve and I were eating gelato on the pavement when we saw a tour bus with dark tinted windows drive past. I started a long commentary about tours where people were isolated from the place they were visiting, just hopping off the bus to see stuff then hopping back on to go to the next one, without any effort or any interaction with the people who live there, and how the tinted windows could be seen as a symbol of this, and of people who wanted to look at other people, but didn’t want those people looking back at them. This I linked to the whole “only other people have culture” thing, assuming that you are watching/studying them, but ignoring or denying that they’d want to watch you. Steve’s reply, when he finally got a word in, was “they probably just wanted to keep the sun out”. And my reply to that was “Yes, I know, but….”. Amusing.

My first view of the Colosseum:

Out of a window into a Vatican courtyard:

And that’s all you get, because this internet is slow. There, there. I’ll show you the rest later.