We start the ice cream loving young in our family.
(That's me dead center with my hands fingering the ice.)
I had a breakthrough recently. A silly one, but one just the same.
In the past when people would ask what my favorite food is, I was never been able to give a satisfactory answer. I finally realized [cue breakthrough] that my favorite food is actually unequivocally ice cream. Good ice cream, mind you. Makes sense for a girl whose eighth grade science fair project was about brain freeze.
(the ice cream pictured above: malted chocolate chocolate chip ice cream made from the Bi-Rite Creamery book)
(my front yard in New Jersey)
I'm in an Italian conversation class and one of the things we discussed in class this week was living in the countryside versus living in a city. I'm the most indecisive person on the planet and couldn't choose between the two, but when we all voted, I went with country over city (my rural south Jersey upbringing won out).
A large element in my indecision is a toss-up between my love of architecture and of trees. That may seem like a ridiculous comparison, but I think there is truth in it. In a city, you have
a far greater concentration of architectural works as opposed to a rural area. But in a rural area, there are trees (or
mountains!).
Both of these things are sources of inspiration for me. I love
man-made architectural forms and I love seeing an architect's interpretation of an idea in a physical sense. Architecture affects so many other facets of life, because we live our lives in it. Likewise, I am awed by nature and the
creation of so many incredible things in this world. I'm not the only one; many of my favorite architects and designers found much of their inspiration in nature—
Alvar Aalto and
Frank Lloyd Wright are some notable examples.
(Bryant Park in Manhattan)
These two very different things seem innately related to me, so while most people can easily decide city or country, I have a harder time since I really am torn over the issue. I guess that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just typical me, being typically indecisive.
