Escape from Grey Gardens

Crashed and burned on Pimsleur at about lesson 7. Have been distracted by Grey Gardens LA, which is not wanting to let me go (kind of like Eleanor in Hill House...whoa, don't want to go there just now). Running up & down packing and such, and I finally did it: fell down the darn steps. Not all of them, but enough that it felt like the house gave me a good shove. If my ankle hurts windsprinting through Hartsfield tomorrow, I know who to blame.

This blogging thing is strange to me--feels a lttle like walking down the River Road naked. Not much traffic on the River Road, but still. But compared to Hasan ElahiI, the conceptual/performance artist who was profiled on CBS the other night? He documents his every move (lots of airports, but also everything he buys, eats, and, um, the toilets he uses) on his website. Also one can always track him through his GPS. He was "detained" in Detroit airport several years ago and that experience inspired (provoked?) the project. Apparently there are a bunch of folks following his example, and they are calling what they do "lifestreaming."

Hasan Elahil is in Italy right now, unless someone mugged him for his GPS and plopped it there. You can zoom right in and see the building he's in (click the dots above the satellite image). I'm too bleary and the map's packed or I'd check it, but it looks like maybe he's near Viterbo? That's really close to where we'll be in a few weeks.

Here's a screen grab series of the satellite, in 4 steps from the range:

maybe an agritourism?
I'm sure it is identified somewhere on the site, but it's more fun to figure it out.

Ever since the Weather Chanel gave me an interactive weather map I have been way too fascinated by satellite images. Wherever you are, it can see you...

Anyway, off we go, with no GPS tracking or lifestreaming, just going and life.

Oh, and yesterday we made a pact with friends to go to South America and Antarctica in 2009. I was very serious and I hope everyone else was too. But that will be another story.

Allons-y!