Modern Library Built over (Nearly) Millennarian Covent Ruins

Well, as you can see in the sidebar, I do more FBing of my interesting weblinks than blogging nowadays, but I thought these photos were worth firing up Blogger for! ☺

First thing to know is that these originate from Instagram, a free iPhone app that's also fast becoming a photosharing sensation, not to mention a global social-network community for enjoying others' photography! (Those who don't use the iPhone or iPad can vicariously appreciate Istagram-ography by observing a live-stream of photos as they are being uploaded from all over the world at Hashtagram or by using the Webstagram service. FYI: I'm on there as @misciel!)

Now, the photo here is from Instagram user @mariannehope, a Norwegian who usually lives in Holland and typically shoots lovely desaturated, minimalist images of still-lifes and panoramas. That's why these images caught my eye... not like her usual style at all. Turns out that's because she wanted to give a strong sense of this fascinating building!

It is the Tønsberg Library, which she just visited. According to Wikipedia, Tønsberg is generally regarded as the oldest town in Norway, and they've got the ruins to prove it! As Marianne writes,

What's special about this building is that it's built on and around ancient ruins from the year 1180, the ruins of a convent. They also found 6 graves from the Vikings on the grounds. The building was built in 1992 and is a fantastic piece of modern architecture mixed in with the historic stones.

For more images of this interesting building, you can check out #tønsberglibrary on Webstagram - Instagram Web Viewer! (Turns out that Marianne will even be posting more tomorrow...) Enjoy!!

Twitter and Twinkle

Ah, summertime... and the bloggin' is easy!

Yes, another year, another gadget... And right now we're tweaking "Michelle's Mental Clutter" to get the most out of our new iPhone mobile blogging!

To wit, at left in the sidebar you'll see a couple of new additions...

First, there's Twitter! If you're familiar with the status updates on Facebook, then you already have an idea what Twitter is all about. If not, well... as the website says, "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, many prominent people and organizations have embraced this technology, "including the Los Angeles Fire Department who put it to use in situations such as the October 2007 California wildfires." (Not to mention that the great and august The Onion is, too!)

I first really experienced Twitter through what turned out to be a couple of its greatest uses ever... The incredibly plugged-in and insightful "microblogging" of Rex Sorgatz on Fimoculous and the raising of the legendary digital truisms (pictured at left) of contemporary artist Jenny Holzer to its logical, ubiquitious, and glorious Twittery conclusion!

Now, all this incoming informational minutia might seem a bit overwhelming. But there are a couple of fun ways to narrow it down...

• Favrd collects the best of Twitter.
• Twitstori is both a digital art project and "the first step in an ongoing social experiment based on twitter"... What does the world say that it loves, hates, believes, feels or wishes?
• Ever overhear something surreal, stupid, wise, etc. and want to share it with the world? Overheard.it is a fun site that pulls in all the fun things which people twittered, saying that they've overheard.
• The ultimate in citizen journalism is TweetWire.com, which tries to build a newspaper out of Twitter posts.

I am personally twittering mostly through the iPhone app Twinkle, which sorta guestimates location by trianangulating with cell towers, plus can let you add pictures (both of which can only be seen on the iPhone, so hope to see you on one soon!)

Gearing Up for Summer... (Literally!)

Ah, summer... Where the days are longer, the nights are stronger than moonshine!

It's nearly time for my annual transhumance from Maine to Venice! That can only mean one thing... that "Michelle's Mental Clutter" is about to leap out of its usual 9 month-long semi-hibernation into vibrant blogurial life, and I will again be pontificating on the adventures, life, the universe and everything of an American abroad in Italy.

To celebrate, we're adding some zippy features to MMC before the event! I'll be introducing them to you one-by-one over the course of the day...

The first of course is Michelle's swank new iPhone (unlocked, jailbroken, first gen!) Finally, I hope to bring true (laptop-less, so to speak!) mobile blogging to MMC... The trial in the last post was a great success, and I'm looking forward to bringing you field updates from your woman on the scene in Venice. Hopefully, you'll find them more pithy and original than the ironic and oft-copied telegram sent by absurdist humorist and journalist Robert Benchley over half a century ago, that is, "Streets flooded. Please advise."