the L&N stops in Viterbo: (i, j) SETtling into un ∃State di gothic de©line & de©OMPOSiTion [within your ®ights | MMX A.D.]

a ora the ©hardenned strATA di { red | white | blue } verNice paINT cakeD on da 10 years in nYc stanno slowli fading [blue > verde] & chipping a way—thick oil-based eNAMEls del brand used by il MTA che doesn't rust o diSSolve with t h i n n e r s | per dire io feel come un new perSON dopo a few settimane in Roma sia relegGating mi [a]prior[i] eXperiences leading up a all [THIS] como shaLLow W.A.S.T.E. [como in Waiting por Silent Tristero's Empire] | tutto questo è un sLow proSESS—anni1 che has'ever ha©ked un GOLF ball con un MA©hete has un good VISual IDea | o almeno le old balls spunn da rubber bands—now∀days io imaggINe thei are ∀ll sintheSized with high-tech polimere & anche quando we used to ha©k golfed balls con ma©hetes we'd be disapPOINTed by le occasIONal dud sintheTIC core | ma quei buoni were made di tigghtli packed eLastic supe'string che [se voi hacked away la hard ©®ust] would un®avel ©omo un CO[s]MET[ic] JUGg ornaut—perhhaps no è un good anaLOGgi di mi mindSET a ora ma un admissione che yes 10 years in nYc wound me tigght & frayed [mi alreadi sfilacciato] nerve ends hopeffulli not beyond riparazione | all quello noise accummulated & depossited into smothering sedimmento in il tank di mi brain normalli reservado por higher thinking inStead releggated to fruittaless worri & fixatione | se you are cosa you eat questo è cosa mi brain will soon look come [hopeffulli] a few months in italy:

plate di squid ink linguini [al dente]

il dopo effecto

not pictured è cosa li ©alaMari ink did to mi linguetta tongue | not che il dopo effect have sunk in yet o i've even musterred to clean mi p[a]late o wipe mi [p|s]late cLean ma i'm mopping up il oil with bread & mi [p|s]late è half-emptying eXcept por residuels—there's niente remainni to do cept wait por our mobili furnniture [learned oggi del ship's arrival in Napoli] & to learn italiano | se you're looking por un seQuential naRRative qui non sarà 1 | we [(i, j)] non siamo «tRavelling» a ora | (i, j) are unraVeilling & gRowing r(0, 0)ts | (i, j) have pLandet the s∃∃ds | (i, j) are comPosting | alcuni s∃∃ds have sprOUTed ma non è eveN worth unveiling our gardEN yet | se you want to leggere il narrativo come (i, j) got to be in questo cuRRent ∃State che è comPosted qui | il giorno io posted quello was june 2 quale = july 4 por italiani tho instead de BBQing & bere beer loro stage grandi militari paradi che flaunt tutti loro bizarre commando vehicles & boats & planes & cavallos & cranes & all le unifformate people assocciated con tali weaponri & machineri [ma ora se you ever wanted to overthRow il italian governmen ciò sarebbe il giorno to do it as le militari & polize are busi parrading loro caches on il main dragg] | tuttavia io watched it come un newbie patriotic gesture appena come (i, j) were stupide enouggh to watch el Puerto Rican diay parade our 1st year in nYc [il year del «wolfpack attacks»] ||

romana militare parade

once (i, j) found un place it was un matter de FIGguring out dove ottenere what & how to fUNctione in questa nuova città che denominiamo a «casa» | i've been rummagging thru tutti quarters finding le best MARkets [testaccio & trastevere & of course campo de' fiori] | alcune osservazioni iniziali: 1. vino è cheapo & buono [we're talking a €uro por un bottle di wine quello no give you un headache come 2-buck chuck] 2. caffè è also cheap & non è «coffee» ma espresso unless you ask por it come americani drink it & you don't sip it here ma quickli shoot it estanding up then move on | 3. le food è plentifful & tasti & [relativeli] cheapo—non just restaurants ma produce & formaggio & ecc. | io have plenti di altri observationi ma quelli tutti che mattere a ora è che food vino & caffè sia cheap & buono tho perhaps un poco homogen[i]ous & endemic | mi innitial fears circa getting TACO FIXings have been somewhat alleviated | i've found 3 postos che sell fresh cilantro & a nearBy shop che sells black beans & maseca corn masa even così (i, j) didn't need to ship those 10 kilos after all ma once our suppli runs out we're set [as lungo as io make tortillas mano a mano quale è better in ogni modo] | fresh jalapeños remain un con cern | they have jarred o canned ones & some red chilies & pastes quale sono decent ma nothing fresh por good salsa | (i, j) will just have to g®ow our own [le seeds have alreadi sp®outed] | por a while there io was going to il nurseri on a daili basis getting soil & pots & plan[t]s to make up por lost time | a ora EVEri aveilable [s|p|l]ace è seeded & (i, j) are just waitting & wattering & cultivatting | we'Ve started comPosting qui quale è qualcosa (i, j) were never in a POSiTione to do in nYc | il re©ycling proggram here è über efficient—they re©ycle petty much everithing & on sepparate giorno so you have to keep track of il [street-speciffic] schedule & put esso out rigght beffore loro lorry comes | ma there's non molto to throw out realli as most d'our W.A.S.T.E. goes into our own comPost bucket [tho loro even have an organIC composta day se (i, j) didn't compos[e]t our own] | maybe i've been repressed tutte queste time living in nYc ma being able to comPost è satisffying & enriching | [questo] here bLog è a comPOST di sorti tho le PH lEVEls sono troppo acidic on account del tutti caffè gRinde | from now i'll be «COMposting a dispatch» instead di mereli posting 1 | quelli tutti [questo] è a me in ogni modo è compost | mi subconscious mind's garabaggio accumulazione | ffodder che i'll chew & ruminate & perhaps 1 giorno digest o re©ycle into something else | & tutti di [questo] è in pursuIT de landguage | everi so often 1 needs to remove 1'sElf from loro comffort zone & che false americane sense di thinking you have «rights»—exposè & immersè yourself in landguage & CULTural elements che don't fare sense | twist landguage & let it morph & mutate come seeded compost within il gridwork del giarden you're gRowing | come è stato detto di Josh Cohen's WITZ [quale è containe within our overseas shipment] in il NY Times: «The way words evolve across the sentence—“lull” becoming “loll,” “remnant” mutating into “reminder”—is appropriate because this book is so preoccupied with inheritance and change.» | io am readi por il changge tho io can nEver be sure che cosa io ho ereditato ||

where in il ARX io am

last fine settimana (i, j) went to a place called Viterbo | io essentiali picked it randomlie on a map not kNowing cosi to eXpect | took a train di qui quale realli easi & cheap [€4.5] | it took a while as it was a local train che stopped all il time ma le sceneri was bella & il ride was 1/2 di point de it & io read more di The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | almost througgh with it—i'll comment more at l'end di ciò COMpost | (i, j) got to Viterbo & stayed in some B&B in il Medieval quarter quale è evidentli 1 del better preserved medieval città in italia | (i, j) didn't see o hear ani english-speaking tourists there ma in mi giddiness io almost don't even want to mentione il name de queste place as hopeffulli it will continue to remain der as is | ma i'm sure tHere are 100s of towns come queste in italia che don't care whether il rest of del worLd knows loro eXist o not | molte buildings in Viterbo were so old loro were uninHABITable | io got into il habito di slipping mi camera thrU cracks o gaps in le doors o windows de abandoned [s|p|l]aces & «taking pictures» to put mi eYes where mi head wouldn't fit so some of questi imaggi are a conSEQuence of [questo] | 1 of di houses io was able to crAwl under il door into il decompos[t]ing shell ||

stairwell to abandonment

abandoned room with a view

flogging confessional in Viterbo church

black hole sun over Viterbo basilica & duomo

arches scaffolded in ruin

shaft in alley

ovo drainage texture

another crucifying conffessional booth

fontana grande

there are a lot dove foUntains in Viterbo | por quello matter there's a lot di pubLic foUntains in italia | la parola «fountain» has it's origgins in FONT o maybe it's l'altro senso intorno | io went into questi alreadi in an aPRIORi trip to Rome ma a ora (i, j) are not «tripping» ma living here & drinking l'acqua on a daili basis & it's seeping in & spRouting new seeds & we're still pinching ourselves ma it's high time to move past mi sheer superfficial pLeisure di how l'aged parola look inScribed in marble o scribbled graffiti on stone walls—detached da meaning | altho io godo di feeling come a fish out of di water & io like coming up con mi own interpretazioni por texts & sounds no capisco—necessiti è driving me to learn italiano | mostli i've been doing Rosetta Stone & reading dual lengual stories & watching films & soccer [calcio] in italiano | il world cup has been un grande distractione—i've been watching most of di games tho so far it hasn't been too exciting | i'm listening to Portugal vs. Ivory Coast a ora | io can't find it in italian & it's always best to listen in il landguage del team you want to win so i'm streaming it in French | if io stare at foreign text lungo enouggh o eavesdrop day after day you'd think sooner o later i'd get it | quella la idea in ogni modo ||

textual plaquEMblem

gothic window looking out at palazzo dei papi

old vampires di Viterbo

alley in medieval quarter

church in medieval quarter

cobbled drainage

inside our room [at La Terrazza Medioevale]

father in Trinita church

ceiling in ruined building

ruined room

the soundtrack da le above video è from un long time aggo when io was pLaying mi guitar in il chicken coop del amici chi had a hound dog che used to howl whenevere io played qualcosa in gli key di E minor [especielle con feedback] | il reason io thought to use quello track [besides it being la giusta lunghezza] è che cosa io was strhUmming [& che cosa inspired il cane] was based on «The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore»—a song quello Michelle Shocked once covered | in mi last compost io embedded un video di graffiti along le banks of del Tiber & io thought it ffiting to put «Graffiti Limbo»—a song Michelle Shocked ha scritto circa Michael Stewart—chi was arrested & died in police custodi after graffiting a nYc subway wall | then io got a messaggio da un «mShocked» telling me to pull it & then dopo un email da YouTube threatening to suspend mi account [i've since replaced il audio con cosa io did back quando io had tools to make musica—for le 1/2 a dozen o so people quello lo guarderà] | io fired back a nasti messaggio a lei [pensiero esso non era realmente Michelle Shocked] detto how lame she was & allora io was surprised to get a response back da she | io guess it's cool che she'd respondera & go back & forth con mi about the copyright issue [il outcome being we agreed to disagree]—ma SAD che she has to troll YouTube looking por «thieves» as she called me | la idea di «©opyright» è realli a ridiculous notione che needs to die | it onli brings out la greedi paraNoia & vannitti in artisti | & to think all people are doing by using a song por un homespun YouTube video è promoting il artist o un song | it's kind of come what we used to do con hand-craffted MIXedTapes—dove le harm in it eXcept to ENCOuRaggE altri to check out cosa you heard & liked o che you thought rellevante to your own lives? an opportunniti por free grassroots prommotion? & even more ironnic è che il song è circa un guy persecuted por spraypainting on public walls quale è un art form dove copyright è irrellevant & back when miss Shocked did il tune lei fancied hersElf a «skateboard-punk rocker» chi collaborated con le likes di M.D.C. [come io first heard di her] | io wonder if when she made her first album armed with onli a Sony walkman bi a campfire in Texas che she ever dreamt in her latter years she'd be trolling qualcosa called Il Internet churching por gente «stealing» her musica? io must admit having un foto di yourSelf being strangled bi un cop sul your album cover è pretti bad-ass ma you can't own art—art owns il artist & as usual [material] success always leads to disappointing follow-ups [ciò io say as io hear le Foals «Spanish Sahara» è being usando por an HBO Entourage promo ma you can petti much write loro off a ora [ciò io say as i'm grooving to a quella new album] | in ogni modo «The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore» was written by Jean Ritchie & covered bi mani including Johnny Cash & è probabli in la realm of just being «TRADitional» rather than neccessitate eveN crediting il artist | not che mi versione hardli resembles la origginal & there's no lyrics except CANinE howls & il video has nothing to do con il song cept it shows trains & abandonment | i'll shut up a ora & post more pics [quale are not copyrighted as le imagge belongs to le object & subject del foto not who's «taking» il foto & if some1 used them por something else i'd onli be flattered [unless it was por commercial gain quale è a whole nether issue] & you can knock yourself out downloading mi music all you want ||

bird & clocktower & textual column

basilica san lorenzo & palazzo dei papi

Viterbo runners

lion font & bambino

in a dilapidated estate

corruzione

Viterbo arcade

reading «The Decline» on il treno reclined

& allora (i, j) came «home» to Rome | io still can't believe (i, j) are here | we've been on long «trips» before so i'm half-expecting to go «home» ma questo è home a ora | it's realli mind-blowing & it's all sinking in as slowli as all gli aPRIORi layers are unRaveling | back to «The Decline» cosa io was reading on il train... i'm di un GENiEratione & place che thinks di Penelope Spheeris when io think «The Decline...»—un grande documentari on punk rock in California in le 80s | in particular questo interview with Darby Crash & The Germ's manager è classico: [video removed]

con tutti ciò rhetoric circa what è punk rock o who è punk rock—if you ask me Darby Crash takes la cake | he was so geneuine he wasn't even aware of [it] | & under it all there are some thoughtfull lines: «Evolution is a process too slow to save my soul | io got this creature on my back | and it just won't let go [screaming] | and I'm only an animal ...» | it migght seem silli in retrospect & even at il time ma he was a GENiEus che epitomized il decline | R.I.P. Darby Crash ||

bodi being removed from along le banks of del Tiber

& dopo all these diggressions io never got around to saying anything circa The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | not sure what there è to say except che it's un grand opera—perhaps il best non-fictione book ever scritto if you want to just consider il lenguage & his abiliti to sinthesize such a massive amount di informmationni into un compelling «hiSTORY» | io won't even attempt to summarize il libro as i'm sure there are plenti di places che do—ma included here are a few revealing passagges che stood out por me as illustrating both il lenguagge & roots di decline:

A long period of calamity or decay must have checked the industry, and diminished the wealth, of the people; and their profuse luxury must have been the result of that indolent despair, which enjoys the present hour, and declines the thoughts of futurity. The uncertain condition of their property discouraged the subjects of Theodosius from engaging in those useful and laborious undertakings, which require an immediate expence, and promise a slow and distant advantage. The frequent examples of ruin and desolation tempted them not to spare the remains of a patrimony, which might, every hour, become the prey of the rapacious Goth. And the mad prodigality which prevails in the confusion of a shipwreck, or a siege, may serve to explain the progress of luxury amidst the misfortunes and terrors of a sinking nation. [...] The relaxation of discipline, and the disuse of exercise, rendered the soldiers less able, and less willing, to support the fatigues of the service; they complained of the weight of the armour, which they seldom wore; and they successively obtained the permission of laying aside both their cuirasses and their helmets. [pg 332]

As early as the time of Cicero and Varro, it was the opinion of the Roman augurs, that the twelve vultures, which Romulus had seen, represented the twelve centuries, assigned for the fatal period of his city. This prophecy, disregarded perhaps in the season of health and prosperity, inspired the people with gloomy apprehensions, when the twelfth century, clouded with disgrace and misfortune, was almost elapsed; and even posterity must acknowledge with some surprise, that the arbitrary interpretation of an accidental or fabulous circumstance, has been seriously verified in the downfall of the Western empire. But it's fall was announced by a clearer omen than the flight of vultures: the Roman government appeared every day less formidable to its enemies, more odious and oppressive to its subjects. The taxes were multiplied with the public distress, economy was neglected in proportion as it became necessary; and the injustice of the rich shifted the unequal burden from themselves to the people, women they defrauded of the indulgences that might sometimes have alleviated their misery. [pg 426-27]

From all sides the roving Arabs were allured to the standard of religion and plunder: the apostle sanctified the licence of embracing the female captives as their wives or concubines; and the enjoyment of wealth and beauty was a feeble type of the joys of paradise prepared for the valiant martyrs of the faith. "The sword," says Mahomet, "is the key of heaven and of hell: a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting or prayer: whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven: at the day of judgment his wounds shall be resplendent as vermillion and odoriferous as musk; and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim." The intrepid souls of the Arabs were fired with enthusiasm: the picture of the invisible world was strongly painted on their imagination; and the death which they had always despised became and object of hope and desire. The Koran inculcates, in the most absolute sense, the tenets of fate and predestination, which would extinguish both industry and virtue, if the actions of man were governed by his speculative belief. Yet their influence in every age has exalted the courage of the Saracens and Turks. The first companions of Mahomet advance to battle with a fearless confidence: there is no danger where there is no chance: they were ordained to perish in their beds; or they were safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy. [pg 637]

Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight. The story of its ruin is simple and obvious, and instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather that it had subsisted so long. [pg 435]

it would appear histori keeps repeating itself | secondo Gibbons le 4 main reasons por il demise & ruin of il Roman empire are:
I. the injuries of time and nature [bi quale he means naturale cattastrophe such as a period di frequent & destructive earthquakes | fire | plaque | pestilence | famine & Roma in particular suffered da frequent flooding of del Tiber [quale despite reinforced banks came close to flooding its banks just a few years aggo despite che: «a remedy was at length produced by the evil itself: the accumulation of rubbish and the earth, that has been washed down from the hills, is supposed to have elevated the plain of Rome, fourteen or fifteen feet, perhaps, above the ancient level and the modern city is less accessible to the attacks of the river.»] ||
II. The hostile attacks of the Barbarians and Christians [besides il corruptione di christianiti he also goes at great length into il rise de islam quale spRead over l'Eastern empire quale at quello point you could say was alreadi severed as l'empire had grown too big por it's britches & split in 2 [l'Eastern centered around Constantinople] | ci erano molti partiti involved—so mani che at times it was hard to keep them all straight—who was friend o foe | it became a veritable free-for-all da all angles] ||
III. The use and abuse of the materials [essentialli la pillagging de Rome por it's valuables: «The edifices of Rome might be considered as a vast and various mine; the first labour of extracting the materials was already performed; the metals were purified and cast; the marbles were hewn and polished; and after foreign and domestic rapine had been satiated, the remains of the city, could a purchaser have been found, were still venal. The monuments of antiquity had been left naked of their precious ornaments, but the Romans would demolish with their own hands the arches and walls, if hope or profit could surpass the cost of the labour and exportation.» [pg 750] ||
IV The domestic quarrels of the Romans [internal corruzione & fear of their own neighbors & other factions led romans to arm themselves & enclose themselves within ridiculous fortresses & political assassinatione became increasingli rampant] ||

its mind-blowing to imaggine cosa Roma must have been come beffore virtualli tutto was pillagged except il Coliseum | it was eSpecielli interesting to read The Decline qui on le banks of del river on quale mani of di battles por Roma were waged | living amidst il ruin you can't help ma to imaggine che l'anima originale di Roma è ancora tho le strutture have changed | & to think che il libro itself è exactli as old as mi mother countri [1st volume was published in 1776] & even il building (i, j) live in a ora è che old ma still relativeli new in il scope of de Roman empire | our furniture & libri & animate objects & possessi & quaderno da iniziare di nuovo & ecc. are due to arrive domani ma (i, j) can populate questa casa & Roma anew ||

l'ancient forum as sceene thrU diStressed pleXiglass

Egyptian obelisk near San Giovanni

(copyright is a dinosaur) 2010 Derek White