what party type will it be this year?

"Party Type 1: Oh, This Is Nice
You usually end up at this party after Tanya can't come into town after all and cancels or you were just too darn busy to make good plans, real plans, ahead of time. So you put on a sweater you got for Christmas or the cocktail dress you bought for Debbie's engagement party that you never wore again, and drag some poor unwitting sap of a friend to the party where you don't really know anyone. It's super awkward at first and you just stand by the cheese and crackers, nodding your head to the music, furtively gulping room-temperature chardonnay and furiously wishing for midnight."
-Richard on The Gawker blog

read about the other party types...
Party type 2: There's a Place Just a Few Blocks Up
Party type 3:At the Clurrrrb
Party type 4:Oh, we went to bed at 11am
Party type 5:Auld Lang Syne


hilarious article....and it's so true!!

my Butternut Squash Risotto

I'm very accustomed to my family barring me from the kitchen. They don't let me get within a mile of the stove because, A. they've never seen me cook anything or B. they remember that in high school I couldn't even make a box of mac & cheese without messing it up.

But I came home from Italy with more than a year just watching and tasting Tuscan cooking and now after three months of being a nanny, I had my new-found culinary confidence that finally gave me a way to prove them wrong.



Here is my piaciuto and recently requested recipe for risotto:





Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
• 1 white onion, finely chopped.
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tbl spoon of fresh Parsley, finely chopped.
  
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cups boiling water
  
• 1 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
  
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1 teaspoon thyme
  
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmiggiano
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

A. IF you have real butternut squash, roast it and do the following:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.

B. IF you have a box of store-bought squash, defrost, set aside until instructed.*

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Meanwhile, begin to boil water in a separate pan. Add the bouillon cube to boiling water. Keep it on a low boil until finished.
   
2. In pan with oil, add diced onion to sautee for 10 minutes, or until brown.
3. Add rice to onions and oil to toast rice for 2-4 minutes, or until slightly toasted brown. Stir constantly.
   
4. Now add all of the squash to rice, oil, onions. Stir constantly for 3 minutes.
   
5. Add spices, add parsley.
6. Using a ladle, transfer boiling hot broth to the rice/squash pan.
   
7. NOTE: do not add broth all at once. Add 1 spoonful, then stir constantly until absorbed by rice. Then add the next spoonful.
8. Continue to add the broth, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock.
9. Keep stirring and adding broth for about 30-35 minutes. The longer you take to add all the broth, and the faster you stir, the creamier and better.
10. After all broth is added, test a bite of risotto to see if rice is cooked to your liking.
11. Take risotto off the heat. Add butter and stir. Add parmiggiano cheese and stir.

Serve with more parmiggiano grated on top and a few sprigs of parsley.

Buon Appetito!

Italians vs. Americans during the holidays...

I have a habit of comparing Italian culture to American culture. I do it constantly. My friends get annoyed and accuse me of being arrogant. But not all the things I say about Italy are good! And not all the things I say about America are bad!! For example, I love talking about the weather. A real New England cold and white Christmas can never compare to the gray and mild Florentine winters. On the other hand, there is nothing cozier and more enjoyable than the outdoor shopping under the little lights along via Corso, via Calzaiuoli and in Piazza Repubblica of Florence. Everyone is out and about, hand in hand, or stopping for a cioccolata calda while they shop in the little boutiques.

Our idea of Christmas shopping is a one-stop-shop at the mall, where you buy all your gifts under one roof. I took my sister to the Natick Collection (doubled in size while I was away!) so she could buy her gifts in one day at one place. My mom and I went down to the outdoor outlets for more shopping. If you want to shop at the mall, then be prepared to stalk people to their cars in order to claim their parking space. What a sad way to start the holidays, pushing and shoving! I even heard that on the day of the sales after Thanksgiving, some unfortunate store employee got trampled by all the customers running into the store to fight for the sales. It must've been killer sales prices! What embarrassing proof of our materialistic consumer culture...

Anyway, in my defense, I just can't help but compare the two cultures because I find it so fascinating to learn and be aware of the differences between them. I think there are benefits to learning more about the Italians. They have a lot of great things (like adding salt to pasta, siesta nap times post-lunch and fresh food markets) that could really improve our lifestyle. Living in Florence has taught me how to relax, eat well and enjoy life to say the least.

Going back to the other perspective in all fairness, Americans always uphold our tradition to relax, eat well and enjoy their holiday season**** (after all the mad crazy stressful rush to buy the gifts of course). We have been cooking for three days in my house. I made a Tiramisu ("pick me up") the real way with lady fingers and brandy too, butternut squash risotto and verdure arroste (roasted veggies with eggplant, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, celery, red onion). My mom and dad made an apple pie, lobster pie, yule log, pecan sticky sweet buns. See!? We know how to eat well!


***ONLY DURING THE HOLIDAYS...
Happy Christmas and eat up!
Auguri e Buone feste!

holidays at home

I am home for the holidays. i flew back last week. I am no longer in florence and i don't know when I'll go back....but i know that sooner or later i will go back to Florence. that's what this blog is about: going back and forth between Boston and Florence. the new blog header is a tryptich of three horizons...Florence and the Boston skyline with a photo of me in Fiesole between the two cities. it is not a coincidence that i am gazing towards Florence. that's where my sights are set. that's where i hope to be. if not now, then in the future.

it's actually good to be home. Refeshing. I appreciate it more after being away. my house is very festive for the holidays. Glowing. I can sleep in and spend time with my family. And the beautiful snowstorm gave me a sort of peaceful feeling and despite the cold, it felt like a warm welcome. i feel grounded here and although im a bit more unproductive (my cozy house makes me lazy!!), i have set many goals, resolutions and challeges to reach. i'm starting a job search in january (despite the discouraging job market). this is why i decided to spend some time at home where i feel stable, protected and encouraged by my family to get things started. the more i'm away from florence, the more i'm desperate and motivated to get back there.

i can forsee that in 2009 there will be possibilities on the horizon. even if i stay in boston for a while, I always have my sights set on florence...

Picnik isn't just a summertime tradition...I picnik all day!

As you have probably noticed from my ever-changing blog theme and header, I am spending a lot of time on Picnik. this is what happens when i get back home. i sit in front of my computer doing pointless time-consuming things on my computer. the only productive thing I've done is create new items for my Etsy shop. And I spruced up my shop header too!

Now it's just a matter of time. I have had no real customers make orders at the shop yet. That's okay because I'm too busy during the holidays to crank out big orders. After the holidays I'll start my job search...and if I don't find a job then hopefully I'll have customers who have orders, so I can at least fall back on that.

blog makeover

In the dreary drab rainy days of winter, i can't stand all the gray, black and brown. i thought of holiday colors for the blog. while, i love Christmas, i hate Christmas colors. so i decided to give this season and the blog some random radical technicolor to cheer up!

i made my blog header from all of my old Florence pictures. I put them on the Picnik website to spice them up....it took me about two hours... and they weren't just any two hours...they were my only solid hours to pack up for my big trip to Boston! ooops....

but at least my blog is colorful and cheery now...
....i hope to be both in my next last few days in Florence before the holidays.

other ideas for blog headers...

the florentine past is always relevant to the present...

Chi vuol essere lieto, sia: di doman non v'è certezza....

-Lorenzo dei Medici

my roomie at Smith is my newest penpal.

Lilly,

ah lilly! hi! i totally just stumbled on your blog somehow, and i was wondering if it was okay if i linked you in my blog...i just started a new anonymous blog because of law school. i was really excited to find your blog...it's so good to have updates on your life. how is florence? i'm so jealous that you're an ex-pat while i'm stuck here in boring old america. how is the boy????

don't a stranger my dear former roomie (gosh, that seems like AGES ago, doesn't it?)

-K
PS: K's blog Hello, My name is Fabulous

........................................................

Ciao carissima K!!

mamma mia it's been forever since we've talked. I am soooo flattered (and pleasantly surprised) that you found my blog and enjoy being caught up on my dolce-amara vita.

i always forget somehow that you showed up to smith knowing tons of italian and already being an italophile ....and i was the frenchie....now look what influence you had on me!!!

first of all, great blog!!! i can hear you saying everything in your voice and your K-way of talking...it's not anomymous in the sense that i can totally see the K-ness about it. but i wish mine was more anonymous. i had intended it that way but there's so much that i just can't resist putting up (fotos, personal stories). so far you can't really find my full name on there. but i send the link to everyone so obviously they know it's my blog!!!

boring old america here i come, by the way. im going home for Christmas and then for an indefinite amount of time. i have to rethink-research-restart my life plans to live and work in the states or in italy. i think graduate school will be a detour. and i need to make money!! there is no money in my bank and no money in italy. im an aupair and i think ill go crazy if i have to keep doing this job. i want to do what i like to do and what im good at!!!!

Florence is beautiful though as always and it is so hard to leave. the river is overflowing with water, the streets are overflowing with christmas lights and the atmosfere is overflowing with holiday cheer. and leaving the boy is going to be ROUGH. o man it's always so dramatic. he's my best friend. my latin lover. we are going on our two year anniversary date this weekend. he's got 3 more years of law school and he lives with his parents. so if that explains anything...yeah.

aww my dear estranged 1st-ever-roomie. thank you for sharing your blog and filling me in on your life. im so damn impressed and jealous that you are (already) in grad school and heading in a direction. i have yet to find my direction. i feel like a freaking weathervane...a gust of wind can send me in a different direction. do i want to design? be an architect? be a translator? a world traveler? an english teacher?

so congratulations and ill hopefully see you around Boston!!! what a great city!!

.......but not as great as Florence....hehe:)

un bacione
Italilly

the word of the day is FURBA.

FURBO. No, not the cute little alien-eyed talking toy, Furbie!! The adjective that defines a key to survival in Italy. To get by, you need to be seriously furbo. If you're passive, you're not going to get through a crowd, you're not going to win an argument with the Tabacchi shop guy (although the consequences of being passive are not a matter of geographics). If you're passive-aggressive, you might win the argument but you certainly won't get as much respect if you are seriously fiducioso and furbo. You need to be assertive, you need some serious confidence, self-assurance and cleverness to get any respect and dignity. I was starting to feel helpless...they responded to me in english, they cut me in line or push me off the sidewalk, they stared me up and down. For the longest time, I couldn't figure out why the Italians* wouldn't change their attitude with me.

Then I realized that I had to change my attitude with them.

I started to pick up on what gives the Italians that extra kick of energy and assertiveness (strong horsepower fuel called Italian espresso two times daily), what gives the young and old the assertive confidence in any situation (causing them to use the "umbrella gesture" or some parolacce), and the ability to be unashamedly confrontational.

Today I took the preparatory steps to becoming furbo that an Italian would take on any given morning. I had a cappuccino and a corneto integrale on via Gioberti. I walked fast and in the middle on the road so confidently that no bike or three-wheeled truck dared to honk me out of the way. I spoke with my best accento fiorentino and self-assurance. I was assertive when making purchases--I wanted a discount for purchasing more than one item or I wouldn't buy it.

And then I got to the Post Office centrale near Piazza Repubblica and I was running late for my lunch in Gavinana outside of town. Come al solito. I pulled a ticket for 142, when the customer being served at the window was at 114. Porca miseria!. So I did some quick calculations. I could look at the flower market under the arches around the Poste, and then make a quick visit to the Smith College sede in Piazza Signoria before my number was called.

I tend to talk too much and lose track of time. I did exactly that with my former study-abroad coordinator. I got back to the Poste and the board beeped a 149. Oddio, che palle!!!

I knew there was only one solution to avoid waiting for my new number, 174. I needed to be furba. I needed to be confident and very convincing.

The number 151 came up. The post officer waited, looked around, finger on the button for the next number. I vecchietti in line looked at their numbers and sighed, so I made a mad dash to the desk.

Che numero hai? she wanted to make sure I was number 151.
Ah, well I have 142, but I was outside and customer 151 has left the poste office, I said in a whisper as to not draw angry glares from the crowd of customers.

And in two minutes, I paid and ran to the bus. Menomale!

.....................................................

Now the Disclaimer: So if you want to have any success at being furba, you need lots of sleep, siesta's and caffe'. My good friend M forgot those key steps but was saved by her innate furba-ness. She had to talk her way out of a 50 euro fine to the bus-ticket controllers, for having ripped a 4-way paper ticket in half, which was unstamped because it was too short at that point to fit in the machine. She later made the mistake of misreading a Eurostar sign on a train and got on with a regular priced ticket, and the ticket controller kicked her off. Two trains later, she found herself on another Eurostar (she had no money to buy a higher-priced ticket) that afternoon so she decided to be fake being deaf. But she was a bit sfortunata, because it was the SAME ticket controller! Despite being sleep deprived, despite having forgotten a crucial espresso before her nine-hour ride from Vienna to Modena, she was naturally furba and talked herself out of being arrested.

So if you are not my friend, M, and not prepared to be furba, don't even try it because it's exhausting...comunque, you should prep yourself first before you take on the challenges of being tricky, or else you might find yourself in a tricky situation!

*not my friends or acquaintances, but those Italians who see my cappelli biondi and put me in the outsider category subito so they can stereotype and undermine me

in my element....

thank you, Uncle Chris, for this fantastic panoramic of our gita around Florence. we saw palazzo borghese, kent state univ study-abroad palazzo, caffe' rinascente, chiaroscuro, the post office and san lorenzo market. in the evening we had a glass of Castiglioni chianti at an enoteca with a little bit of souvenir shopping in the leather shops of Borgo Greci. also, we were on a mission to find three giant Babbo Natale cioccolati di Kindercare...

un incontro all'improvviso became una bellissima giornata!

if i want good news, i read The Florentine

these days it is so rare that i find any good news in the news. so that's why i read The Florentine. they have a way of informing you about all the positive happenings in a positive way. nice stories and upbeat reports. it is a thoughtful, newsy, educational free little newspaper. i have put off my travel and coming-of-age novels just to read this in all my spare time. i seek it out desperately every two weeks at all the drop off locations....somedays it requires that i pretend that im getting a drink or looking at the menu at Old Stove as i spy the stack of papers and make a mad dash out the door with one. but why am i running if it's free? im not used to free, senza prezzo. that's almost too good to be true. anyhow, if i don't find it, i know it's online, but i love keeping it folded up in my bag for a moment of potential boredom on the bus or in a queue.

they have this wonderful way of writing about the culture & customs, sketches of local Italians, a weekly "fatto bello" (nice fact) of the week, and book reviews. this week i was really touched by the story about the colorful altruistic taxi driver, Caterina aka "Milano25".

I was lucky enough to ride in her taxi two years ago one night after a long evening out with the girls at YAB, Lochness or Slowly (or all three). surprisingly we found her taxi at a stand in Piazza Repubblica. this was a real lucky streak considering she is a famous taxi driver (for all her volunteer work for kids with cancer) and so we jumped in her car for our ride home. it was such an experience let me tell you...it was as smooth as an airplane, it was like being rocked to sleep in a cradle with all the toys and DVD screens showing a Disney movie, it was like going back to my childhood for those twenty minutes. I thought I was in a fairy tale.

But when you read about her life...you realize her personal story was not like a fairytale.

And seeing that my point is that The Florentine is a wonderful newspaper that focuses on the positive, you can bet that they really showed you the beauty and upside of her story.

Thank you, TheFlorentine!

i like reading the good news in newspapers

this NPR article makes me smile...it's about a woman who has lived 100 years and has seen it all in the 20th century, who was a volunteer in the Obama campaign, and the best part of the story is that her name is Lillian too!

i like to see the glass half full

Now I know this NPR article is just telling the facts about jobless rates going up...but, um, a little encouragement and optimism would do us all a lot of good! i can't find a job in Italy so now let's see what happens when i look in the States. I'm keeping an open mind for my job searches in both places.

(My LinkedIn profile explains what I'm looking for if you're curious)

they don't call it the world wide WEB for nothing

I feel like spiderman. I'm spinning webs everyday in the digital world of cyberspace. I have a bazillion links between facebook, linkedin, picasa, blogs, email....everything cross-references everything else, have you noticed that? if you go to your facebook, you list like 10 links or pieces of information that you can ALSO find in five other different profiles. My blog tells you about my LinkedIn profile now (finally updated!) and my LinkedIn tells you about my blog. Don't worry if you don't know about my LinkedIn "professional" network profile, because you could either A.google my name or B. find the link on Facebook! I mean I feel like a real-estate agent just buying up property on the web. I'm getting my name out there which makes me feel some entitlement to all these pages dedicated to me. I've got the social page (facebook), the professional page (linkedin), the artistic page (picasa), the personal page (blogspot), the entrepreneur page (etsy).

Now that everyone else I know directly or indirectly through friends (facebook tells me i have 814 friends*, linkedin tells me i have 11 connections, my email has 234 contacts) has a tangled web of their exponentially growing collection of pages on the world wide WEB, I can't even keep up with friends, family, colleagues...let alone my own pages, me.

*are they all true friends i see and talk to daily? no of course not

see what happens when you google your name

I found my incomplete, outdated LinkedIn profile (which is now been updated) a few cross-country race statistics from my collegiate and highschool races and a link to my Facebook profile....

Good thing that's all that came up. *


*I'm not saying there is more to find, I'm just glad that's the case.
**On facebook someone could tag some horrible unflattering or scandalous pictures to your face. On google you may accidentally find other scandals with your name attached. PHEW so far so good...

thanks tina!

Awww. I googled my name on the Smith College website and found a reference in a Smithie JYA student blog.

but what would Margaret Edson say about Lingueo???

On Sunday May 18th, the day of my commencement from Smith College, Margaret Edson '83 told us what is so valuable about an education as it was originally intended ( in the classroom, as "a physical, breath-based, eye-to-eye event."). In this days I've been thinking a lot about my four-year undergraduate American liberal arts education. About what it has done to help me grow, about how I should've taken more advantage of it, how I want more of it, about the differences between the benefits of our system and those from an education here in Italy.*

Anyway, Margaret, an award-winning-playwright-turned-Kindergarten-teacher-by-passion gave us her reasons for the valuable, priceless event of classroom learning, saying:

"Classroom teaching is a physical, breath-based, eye-to-eye event.
It is not built on equipment or the past.
It is not concerned about the future.
It is in existence to go out of existence.
It happens and then it vanishes.
Classroom teaching is our gift.
It's us; it's this.

We bring nothing into the classroom -- perhaps a text or a specimen. We carry ourselves, and whatever we have to offer you is stored within our bodies. You bring nothing into the classroom -- some gum, maybe a piece of paper and a pencil: nothing but yourselves, your breath, your bodies.

Classroom teaching produces nothing. At the end of a class, we all get up and walk out. It's as if we were never there. There's nothing to point to, no monument, no document of our existence together.

Classroom teaching expects nothing. There is no pecuniary relationship between teachers and students. Money changes hands, and people work very hard to keep it in circulation, but we have all agreed that it should not happen in the classroom. And there is no financial incentive structure built into classroom teaching because we get paid the same whether you learn anything or not.

Classroom teaching withholds nothing. I say to my young students every year, "I know how to add two numbers, but I'm not going to tell you." And they laugh and shout, "No!" That's so absurd, so unthinkable. What do I have that I would not give to you?"

The point being that I want to go back to classroom, whether to teach or to learn. Basically she got me thinking about the incredible wonders that happen in a classroom (the kind of thing you appreciate and understand once you're out of one) and about the magic of learning (this is not intended to sound corny)...because now I'm thinking about my career and that means thinking about more time in the classroom for a Masters.**

P.S. You can read her speech here.

*(Ask me how many times I've had to defend and explain the liberal arts education while in Italy... Example: "why do you have two majors? you didn't do a thesis undergrad? you took classes of all subjects? you don't already know your career path? YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE?" etc. )

*now I have to think WHAT Masters do I want to do...?

why laptops make you lazy (but allow you to be productive)

i guess it would be incorrect to say that laziness is what made me sign up to be a Lingueo language tutor because while it doesn't necessarily mean you need to get off your chair, you do need some motivation (and free time) to register, make a profile then create the video classes for the language you want to teach. it's an online site for students and tutors to give video language lessons. it's relatively new from what i've gathered so there are only about a 100 tutors and 150 students from around the world who have signed up. as a tutor, i make a schedule of my hours in my time zone, my hourly wage linked to a paypal system and a series of video classes. it's sooo 21st century, isn't it?

i mean it's not that i was too lazy to go out and do face to face lessons, because I currently have one student that I meet with in person and on Skype, the problem is our generation has their face to the computer screen all day that Lingueo takes advantage of that. it's a really powerful tool for obvious reasons....now i can learn japanese with someone both from japan and in japan at the same time while I stay comfortably in front of my computer at home (in either of my homes in italy or the states*).

now i just have to figure out how to sign up as a student...and decide which language to take.

I'm thinking Japanese or Finnish....

*yes i do call Italy and the States home

and now we know he was right....

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by

inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will

deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their

fathers conquered."

Thomas Jefferson 1802

it's all about family (and the apple pie)

This was my second Thanksgiving in Tuscany. The first time was a small cozy traditional meal with my 22 classmates from Smith during my study abroad year. This year I went to a Tuscan villa tucked behind the hills of Florence, and although we were only 20 minutes from the citta', we were in such a secluded place there wasn't even cellphone coverage. It was a formal evening filled with Americans, Italiani and Italo-Americano's, 58 of them to be exact, and all the branches of a family tree: sisters, brothers, bambini, grandkids, nipoti, nonni e nonne. Everyone spoke in fluid sentences of Italish. The evening was a lot fancier than my traditional family meal at home.

The ambiente was not only formal but italianizzata (the women wearing all black with pearls and heels, the men in jackets and ties, the kids in matching plaid jumpers etc.) The splendid and spacious villa was buzzing with white-glove-wearing servers passing trays of an aperitivo of tempura-fried salvia leaves and asciughe and fried mozzarella. The dinner tables were long and triple-decked with white porcelain plates with silverware. Literally silver. They even had a first course of Tortellini soup...but who needs a first course when Thanksgiving is the equivalent of about six!?

I was not expecting such a flashy evening, especially when Thanksgiving is a tradition based on a simple meeting between simple peoples giving thanks to Mother Earth and to each other. The Florentine upper-class however is not what I would call a simple people. They love an excuse to flaunt fashion and manners and formality.

I gave thanks to the tradition of family and good food, which was not forgotten! After the big turkey and the stuffing, peas, mashed potatoes, and the caramelized onions, there was my favorite of all the traditions included too: the big apple pie for dessert ..... among the Tiramisu and chocolate truffles of course. I had fasted all day to manage several helpings of everything and even save room for dessert.

After the servers had cleared the tables, the older couples had started dancing and the kids had melted like the chocolate truffles davanti al TV, I thought of my family across the same sea that the Pilgrims had crossed to arrive at Plymouth.

And although six hours behind with the time difference, my family in Boston sat down to exactly the same meal.
--

blogrolling my fellow smithies

i'd like to share the Smith College Alum Blogs page where you can find 180 blogs (including mine!) written by Smithies. How nifty!

A.Main page of the Smith Alum Blog site
B.List of all the blogs

If you want a homemade gift to give this holiday season...

My new stationery on ETSY!

Inspired by Italy Made by Lilly

PS. I'm new at this so please email me with comments questions or suggestions (italilly@gmail.com)

they call me the Heidi of il mondo di heidi

After launching my first little online shop for my Florence-inspired stationery, I wanted to help launch an ETSY shop for my favorite collana designer commessa. Her site, Il Mondo di Heidi, doesn't get enough visitors so I think that ETSY will be a better marketplace for her handmade necklaces, gadgets and bags.

Until we launch the Il Mondo di Heidi Etsy shop officially, you can see the fotos on my Picasa site.

The Doc prescribed me a subscription to NPR articles

The doc said the prescription should help subside the fever. NPR always does make me feel better....

"I believe in improvising. It's exciting; it's an adventure, a challenge, and a chance to be creative. Not being locked into a "plan" or a prescribed way of doing something leaves room for all kinds of wonderful stuff to happen. You don't always have to follow the recipe. I always use more butter, eggs and garlic than a recipe calls for, and the only unfortunate change this brings about is in my size."
-Alice Brock in her essay "Making it up as I go along"

"...when I see all three of my kids laughing, when I think about how much less my life would have been if I had settled for what I thought I wanted, I realize I don't much care about the sensible things I once did. It's the ridiculous I love."
-Claude Knobler "Life is Wonderfully Ridiculous"

"I believe we have the power to create our own happiness. I believe the real magic in the world is done by humans. I believe normal life is extraordinary."
-Wayne Coyne in his essay "Creating our Own Happiness"

Doc, are you sure you can't get me a vaccine for this?

Doc, I am not feeling too healthy. No, it's not the flu. But sometimes it feels like it. I think I've come down with an illness and it's both mentally and physically painful. I have headaches and chills and nausea and insomnia and I feel emotional and unstable. I'm nervous and irritable and ansiosa and paranoid. When my head doesn't hurt, my heart does. And I think it's contagious! Everyone else is affected by it...

Uh huh, I've had these symptoms for a while. Well, it all started back in 2006 when I realized that I needed to get out and get away. Away from myself. I managed to go far away, far away, but I started to understand that "Wherever you go, there you are." For a while the symptoms went away. I had changed my environment, my lifestyle, my attitude, my language, my friends, my goals, my priorities. But then I changed my mind. Then I was ready to get away again.

I'm back here but the illness follows me wherever I go, Doctor. Once I'm here, I have to leave again. First I want to be here, then I want to be there. I came because I needed to hold on to it and be wrapped up in it, surround myself with this place, live in it. The idea of leaving makes me ill, but the idea of staying makes me ill. The symptoms just won't go away. All this coming and going. It's like the opposite of vertigo, it's like horizontigo. Flying back and forth really makes me feel it!

Doc, so what is it that coerces me to take the risk of coming back here. To remind me that I want to take in this place and take on these obstacles and these goals and this language and this life and then just reject it and throw it away?

Yes, I can assure you it is a mental and physical pain I feel. It is in my heart and my body and my soul. So if it's not the flu then what is it? Perhaps a vitamin deficiency?

Oh I understand... I see. And it's a rare illness? And do they have a cure for that?

What? They call it that?...Nope I've never heard of it....Residential aversion. Sometimes known as Binge living. Also known as geographical intolerance. Defined as the ambivalent attachment to your environment and physical location. The tendency to move frequently. A vicious cycle of moving back and forth between two countries, whether it was your desire or not. Often has strong mental and physical symptoms similar to the flu.

Doc, but what is the cure? I can't live this way anymore! I need to stay put. I need to stay in one place. This place needs to stay with me. I need to stay put. I want to stay put in this place.


Time? Take time? What is that....a vitamin?

Trust me, I've been taking plenty of that.

all at once

Sometimes the hardest thing and
The right thing are the same.

- The Fray

horoscopes are hit or miss and this was a hit

Your Horoscope - Week of November 17, 2008 Maybe your instincts aren't on target this week, Taurus, so it's in your best interests to follow the tried and true advice you receive from friends and relatives. Your perception is off and your reactions are colored by your own emotions. On Wednesday your typical common sense and practicality go out the window. Take a time out and don't make any decisions just yet. On Friday lucky Jupiter in your sector of philosophy trines karmic Saturn in Virgo and you'll have a very enlightening experience, one way or another. Your ability to enjoy life accelerates as you increase your self-knowledge.

i found this on a walk.

If la bambina had seen this, she would have cried out, "Look! look! Naughty BIMBI!!"

Carissima Firenze...

The other day I met up with three alumnae from Smith College at Kitsch for the city's best and biggest aperitivo-actually-dinner and a mini-reunion. We all have long-term sometimes long-distance relationships with Italian amanti and we all intend on staying in Florence forever. Since my bf was the only Florentine and their fidanzati were Sicilian and southern, we could only compare the common stereotypes...sono mammoni, forse le loro madri non si fidano di noi stranieri, viverebbero negli USA? magari..., capiscono la nostra cultura? ah forse, aspettano che facciamo tutto per loro? pulire, cucinare...forget it!!...

well, not really because they are fortunately more 21st century worldly bfs who are very respectful and don't really fulfill those stereotypes. It was my bf who practically taught me to cook and who knows how to do things on his own (although he does live at home with his parents), and he was extremely understanding as well as respectful and open minded to all of my family values and cultural barriers. We have had as many culture clashes as would a Californian and a New Yorker. Two years later and we are not culturally clashing but culturally cooperating.

Among us ex-Pat girls, we talked about how we love Florence and want to stay (understatement of the year) . Later that night, I took out two current JYA Smith studentesse to see the best bars in the city (via dei Benci) and to meet some Florentine ragazzi because I know it is hard to integrate without the help of a local. But at the end of the night they asked me a daunting and burdensome question:

What do I love most about Florence...

I began to stutter. I began to search their faces and think of a cliche' answer just to give them something, anything. But I couldn't bring myself to make up some quick response. I felt that would offend Florence and all Florentines. I have not spent two years here just to say one measly thing about why I love this city, like "My favorite thing is the Duomo."Although the truth is that I get i brividi everytime it pops up from behind a rooftop... So instead I politely gave the most general all-inclusive unspecific elenco saying I love tutto tutto from the language to the people to the aCHenHo (said in a SUPER STRONG accento fiorentino) to the bistecca Fiorentina. I surely offended Florence with that pathetic, unsubstantial and unoriginal response.

It was just my luck that today I found an excuse about why I don't have to list the Reasons-I-love-Florence. Melinda Gallo, a local writer I will be fortunate enough to meet on Tuesday, has found the perfect way to personify the city of Florence, a place that has changed my life, in the words that I have been searching for...

"I could probably come up with a million reasons about what I like about living here in Florence, but they all sound trite to me. The true reason why I love living here is because it just feels right to me. It is like being in love with someone. You could certainly list the aspects about the person that you appreciate, but when it comes down to it, it is a feeling deep in your heart that can't be labeled."

-Melinda Gallo on her blog

And she is absolutely right.

I can't wait to be inspired by the following:

• Women who run with the Wolves by Clarissa
  Pinkola Estès
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• The Time Trap by Alec Mackenzie
• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frank
• The Mediations of Marcus Aurelius
• The Golden Sayings of Epictetus
• A Whack on the Side of the Head: how you can be more creative by Roger Von Oech
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Undaunted Courage by Stephen E Ambrose
• The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale
• Toward a Psychology of Being by Abraham Maslow
• The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D Wattles
• Phule's Company by Robert Aspirin
• The Measure of Our Success by Marian Wright Edelman

Obama could walk on water for some and on the moon for others.

"Barack Obama's innauguration is like Neil Armstrong's first walk on the moon. It's something that people never thought could be accomplished and something that gives people so much aspiration as to what they can achieve in their foreseeable future. " -my LLBFFSLW

The dog who voted Obama.

Every week has a theme or subtheme rather, because the overall theme was coincidence.

Last week the theme was "What's the luck you'll run into that one person you know in a crowded city?" because I literally walked past (of all the streets, of all the days, of all the hours, of all the places) a friend from London but just happened to have stopped into town on the one day I'm free and happened to be in the same street at the same time in the same place as me.

Then the following day I somehow sat down next to the best-friend-of-our-Boston-family-friends-who-lives-in-Toscana-and-whom-I've-never-met-but-heard-about at this big house party in the middle of nowhere out in the Tuscan hills. Yup. In a party full of three dozen kiddies in Halloween costumes with twice as many parents, I sat down. Within minutes we exchanged the typical-introduction-full-of-short-useless-vague-details-just-to-be-polite and I dared to ask if she was perhaps THE Tuscan-interior-designer-originally-from-Boston-and-friends-with-our-friends. Too bad it wasn't the winning lottery number that I guessed...but I know that a wealth of friends is what makes a person rich.

This week's theme: "What's the luck you'll be a celebrity for a day?" Well both my sister and I were spotted on the local TV channels cheering or volunteering for the 2008 US election night. She was in France, I was in Italy.What's the luck of that especially considering there are 5,000 other Americans in town!

Now to top it off, I told our mom the story and the real coincidence is that she was interviewed for German tv on a visit! History repeats itself I guess.**



disclaimer: *Let's hope history repeats itself in only the good ways from now on...like electing more black Presidents!

Being ordinary is extraordinary!

"I believe we have the power to create our own happiness. I believe the real magic in the world is done by humans. I believe normal life is extraordinary." -Wayne Coyne

As of November 4th, 2008, it IS cool to an American abroad!!!!

"Is it cool to be an American abroad?", asks William Kole.

YES!!!
...but click on the link then make your own opinion!

Distance makes the heart grow fonder...

I'm elated. Actually, the whole world is. We can now say President-elect Barack Obama.

It was astounding and emotional to see the whole world erupt into festivities on the day of his election (ok, the whole world except for some teary eyed Republican diehards...but I can't feel too sad since they got 8 years of Bush and they are already cheering "2012! 2012!" to Sarah Palin). They weren't the only teary eyed onlookers...I couldn't keep help but sniffle every time I saw him standing proudly on the stage speaking to the Chicago crowd about how nothing is impossible in America. Now every country is talking about how we've turned the page, changed our skin, and regained our popularity.

Even in Italy the media is talking nonstop about the event. The program AnnoZero featured Marco Trovaglio to analyze the differences between American and Italian politics. There was of course the immediate outcry over Berlusconi's first comment about the new American Commander in Chief: "Obama ha tutto bello, giovane e abbronzato." Ok. Hold on. Should I laugh or cringe over this comment? Is it an insult or a joke? I mean there should be a LOT more to say than that about Obama...therefore I say "Vergognati Silvio!"

I can't go into the analysis because that's the journalists job but I can remember the day as a historic and emotional day in my life! I feel like it is the first historic turning point in the 21st century. When I walked past my bicycle-man yesterday and said hello, an old woman shuffled by slowly and said to him, "Venerdì piglio novanta-nove." Wow. If there was one century I wish I could live in from start to finish it was the 20th century! I'm so jealous! Imagine how many historic events she witnessed in a century....two world wars and several others, inventions of modern household things like television and the technology boom in the seventies, the civil rights era, the womens' rights, the invention of the internet and more specifically to Florence was the devasting flood of 1966 that haunts and fascinates me.

Now I can say that I grew up with cellphones and internet AND more importantly I witnessed the first Black president to be elected in the United States of America.


And I believe that soon I will witness the election of the first female President***!!


***Exceptions: Sarah Palin...

Passing the torch...

"Rosa sat so Martin could march. Martin marched so Obama could run."

-anonymous (as found on John Ridley's NPR blog Visible Man)

Okay okay fine if you say so.

Your Horoscope - Today, November 7, 2008

Not much will happen for you until you consciously decide to give up a few vices in your life that are having a serious effect on your personal well-being, Lilly. Realize that you don't have complete control over your life if there are certain things that control you. Try not to fight this truth. Simply accept that these things exist in your world, and understand that you can co-exist without having to surrender to their power.





MSN.com...

A letter from France

If this email had been a handwritten letter, I would have put it in a box and share it with my grandchildren in the future. But in this day and age of technology...all I have to do is cut and paste it somewhere on the internet and it is immortalized. Thank you for remembering this day in history! My grandchildren will have to thank you later too.

Salut Famille!

We had a lot of fun over here for the elections- we started watching at 11pm here in a local pub, but it was too early for much election coverage, the first polls were just starting to close. So we returned home to get some sleep...going to bed felt like the night before Christmas! Only because you know you'll wake up early for a very nice, inevitable surprise...
We woke up at 5 am and had a little party with fresh croissants et espresso at our director's office au centre ville. Some journalists from the local France-3 channel came by to film us all huddled around a computer feeding us live info off the internet on CNN.com - at 5am here they announced that Obama won and we all went wild! A few of us got a little teary eyed at his acceptance speech. Very inspiring and very exciting. It's a much different experience for me here in France with the election results than in the States- I'm finally proud to say I'm American again. The French have gained a little more respect for me, and each time I say I'm American, they reply with "You voted Obama! Good job!" . The French are extremely informed over here, at least in Grenoble, about the elections. I had a conversation with a guy the other day who knew so many details about each candidate, I was very impressed. Even before the election, Obama was on the cover of many newspapers and magazines, one saying "Would they dare elect him?". I guess I'm seeing how much the results of our decisions as a nation affect our neighbors, allies and the whole world. Do you think its the other way around though ? For example, when France was choosing their next Pres, I'll admit I had no idea who the candidates were ! Maybe that's the difference between our country and others..
Anyway, we each were interviewed Wed morning about our thoughts on the election results, here it is! Its all in French, but bon courage! Its the video all the way at the end of the page, labeled "Grenoble Etudiants Americains Emus (Elated)"...Im all the way at the end of the video.
http://rhone-alpes-auvergne.france3.fr/info/48272388-fr.php#para48286006

Much love to all and Gobama!

J xoxo

the day chris martin read my mind

Are you lost or incomplete?
Do you feel like a puzzle, you can't find your missing piece?
Tell me how do you feel?
Well I feel like they're talking in a language I don't speak
And they're talking it to me

So you take a picture of something you see
In the future where will I be?
You can climb a ladder up to the sun
Or write a song nobody has sung
Or do something that's never been done
Or do something that's never been done

So you don't know where you're going and you wanna talk
And you feel like you're going where you've been before
You tell anyone who'll listen but you feel ignored
Nothing's really making any sense at all, let's talk
Let's talk, let's talk, let's talk.

-Coldplay Talk

the McCANE/Palin ticket

My grammer grandma was hospitalized after an unexpected back injury this fall. Fortunately she is up and walking, but with the use of her walker...which she detests because she is determined to be independent and walking on her own. With all this hype and drama around the Elections, she just couldn't help but joke: "I'm sick of ma cane!" Hey who knows, maybe he could borrow the walker when she's done with it.

Go figure....

You know the 2008 Presidential Election is historic and unlike any other when it stirs up a sense of interest in youngsters like my fourteen and fifteen year old sister and her friends, who are choosing to dress up as Sarah Palin and her secret service agents on Halloween....so what happened to the Witch, the Monster, the Devil costumes....oh, wait a minute...I guess it is appropriate for the occasion after all...

Six word biographies

I was inspired by the biographies in Smith Magazine so I wrote my own....

I built my future on love.



Inspired by the biographies on www.smithmag.net:

Living in dreamworld. Waking up sucks.

Luise

You, a bruise. Me, a scar.

by William Lauth

I photoshopped out your worst features

by Melissa Appleby

Always the salad. Never the steak.

by Melissa Appleby

Pee'd on White House floor. Really.

by Phil Jacobsen

I only did it for him.

by Colleen Scheider

Inertia should be my middle name.

by Leesa Bequette

Ian Tim Greg Jon Fernando Eric

by Rose Hutchinson

spending money like i've got it

by oneHOTblonde

I could live on tater tots

by Andy Glaze

thank you to writers and www.smithmag.net

[5:14:23 PM] LILL says: she almost has as many houses as McCain
[5:14:28 PM] LILL says: by the way
[5:14:38 PM] LILL says: the anticipation for the election is killing me
[5:14:43 PM] LILL says: i just want to find out the results already
[5:14:45 PM] LILL says: and move on
[5:14:52 PM] LILL says: my Obama facebook profile picture is going to go back to normal
[5:14:58 PM] Q says: ah i know
[5:15:02 PM] LILL says: and im going to stop harassing people on facebook with articles about OBAMA
[5:15:03 PM] Q says: its coming so soon!
[5:15:06 PM] LILL says: i just want to know!
[5:15:11 PM] LILL says: I have a feeling we've got our hopes up
[5:15:17 PM] LILL says: our country is far behind
[5:15:22 PM] LILL says: unintelligent for the most part
[5:15:32 PM] LILL says: certainly uninformed and uninterested in most areas
[5:15:43 PM] LILL says: and we are so unwilling to change
[5:15:52 PM] LILL says: so my hopes aren't up
[5:15:55 PM] LILL says: why should they be
[5:16:00 PM] Q says: mine aren't either
[5:16:10 PM] LILL says: i really had them up for Gore
[5:16:14 PM] LILL says: I really had them up more for 2004
[5:16:18 PM] Q says: we live in the most liberal part of the country
[5:16:19 PM] LILL says: then there was bush then bush
[5:16:21 PM] LILL says: and i was like
[5:16:23 PM] LILL says: HOW?
[5:16:50 PM] Q says: and theres a whole HUGE mass of people that live a completely different lifestyle than we do...
[5:16:54 PM] LILL says: i know!
[5:17:05 PM] LILL says: they just can't see anything good about Obama
[5:17:16 PM] LILL says: there are actually ppl who are convinced he's a muslim terrorist
[5:17:18 PM] Q says: because he's not white too
[5:17:20 PM] LILL says: are you kidding me?
[5:17:25 PM] Q says: I KNOW!
[5:17:32 PM] LILL says: then it scares me coz im like well maybe they know something we don't know
[5:17:40 PM] LILL says: sometimes i think that im just as easily fooled by what i hear as they are
[5:17:47 PM] LILL says: how DOES anyone know what to believe
[5:17:55 PM] Q says: and the fact that people around here that we know are going to vote for mccain scares me
[5:17:56 PM] LILL says: when is it the media and when is it your real instinct
[5:18:03 PM] LILL says: we know McCain ppl
[5:18:07 PM] LILL says: it's ridiculous
[5:18:09 PM] Q says: T*
[5:18:11 PM] LILL says: i dont know why im even friends with them
[5:18:15 PM] LILL says: and R!!!
[5:18:15 PM] Q says: R*
[5:18:17 PM] LILL says: yeah
[5:18:22 PM] LILL says: coz his parents have a business
[5:18:25 PM] LILL says: and they dont want taxes
[5:18:29 PM] LILL says: is that all ppl care about?
[5:18:33 PM] Q says: your dad has a business
[5:18:35 PM] LILL says: losing some money that will be used for the good
[5:18:40 PM] Q says: my parents both do
[5:18:45 PM] LILL says: yeah thats true
[5:19:05 PM] Q says: and if people would realize that taxes are only going up for people that make over 250,000 a year!
[5:19:15 PM] Q says: well those people should pay higher taxes!
[5:19:15 PM] LILL says: i know!
[5:19:22 PM] LILL says: its the people who just dont read
[5:19:23 PM] LILL says: they don't read
[5:19:29 PM] LILL says: and therefore they dont know
[5:19:32 PM] LILL says: they just keep saying
[5:19:33 PM] Q says: improve the school systems
[5:19:36 PM] LILL says: "obama doesnt have experience"
[5:19:42 PM] LILL says: oh come on!
[5:19:50 PM] Q says: i know!
[5:20:40 PM] LILL says: grr
[5:20:42 PM] LILL says: it scares me
[5:21:01 PM] Q says: can you imagine palin and mccain
[5:21:13 PM] Q says: running this country!?!?!
[5:21:27 PM] Q says: even republicans are publicly endorsing obama!
[5:21:35 PM] Q says: what does that tell you???
[5:22:55 PM] LILL says: omg
[5:22:56 PM] LILL says: scary
[5:22:59 PM] LILL says: my sister has had nightmares about Palin as President
[5:23:03 PM] LILL says: haha i know
[5:23:05 PM] LILL says: seriously
[5:23:08 PM] LILL says: their campaign is a joke
[5:23:09 PM] LILL says: thats why
[5:23:20 PM] LILL says: it would be disgusting to have a white president
[5:23:39 PM] LILL says: white white fake blond wife who has no credibility unlike Michelle Obama
[5:23:47 PM] LILL says: and then there is Sarah Palin
[5:23:50 PM] Q says: ew i know!
[5:24:09 PM] LILL says: whose husband, if he becomes the first man, would only make a contribution to our country as a SNOWMOBILER
[5:24:11 PM] LILL says: for real?
[5:24:20 PM] LILL says: Americans think this is the kind of family that runs the White House
[5:24:21 PM] Q says: I KNOW
[5:24:25 PM] LILL says: that's an insult to my intelligence

No, it's not incorrect, it's simply a ColloquiaLILism

I can't help but love word play, especially after having grown up with my grammar, manner and vocabulary conscious grandma, who has earned the fitting moniker of Grammer (which is of course pronounced like "Gramma" since Bostonians have the idear that the " r" fell off the moving cah.) So she lectured me the differences between I & me, so I would know that "she make a Sunshine cake with my sister and me", but only if "Julia and I ate dinner first". And recently I thought that after four years of a private college education taught me everything, I realized that she could still teach me that you can't call something "really unique" because if it's unique, then it's completely singular and there's no need for an superlative or comparative adjective in front of another adjective.

My argument was that it was a colloquialism, since our everyday teenagers and adults alike use this kind of exaggerated, over-adjectified phrase. (I did not win the argument, because there was no stretching or bending the rules of grammar.)

However, I continued to think about the definition of a colloquialism. I feel like our language is so exemplary (maybe embarrassingly so) of colloquialisms all over the country. We've got "y'all" in the south and "that's wicked awesome" up by me. Can you really argue that there's anything wrong with that kind of talk? I'll be the first one to take after my grammar-grandma and defend the use of I not me or "I goes before E except after C", but there's no way you can take away those really unique ways of talking in each part of the country.

And don't even get me started about Italy...I'd love to start writing down all the ways in which they have warped and bent and changed the rules of their language. Each region has it's own!! (well, what do you expect? you know how the Italians love to bend the rules....)

I'll have to think about those words they have when I'm not so tired...then I'll write them down (for all you Grammar and Grandpa's out there!) In the meanwhile, if you'd like to argue that "really unique" isn't a colloquialism, then I'll at least argue that it's a colloquiaLILLism.





PS and if you're curious, here's my defense for a colloquialism, as written in Webster dictionary:
Colloquialisms or colloquial language are considered to be characteristic of or only appropriate for ordinary, familiar or informal conversation rather than formal speech or writing. Some examples of informal colloquialisms can include words (such as "y'all" or "gonna" or "wanna"), phrases (such as "ain't nothin'", "dressed for bear"

Long live Coldplay!!

There is nothing better than watching a 3 year old start on a "why" and "why?", "but why" tirade about my favorite band of all time. What's even better is not knowing how to answer her questions.

bambina: "Why does he sleep alone", she asks.
me: "I don't know..."
bambina:"but you're a grown-up. You're supposed to know."
me:"Grown-up's don't know everything."
bambina:"Why?".....
(and it continues with about six-hundred more "why"s.)

COLDPLAY:
Viva la Vida

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword, and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you'd gone it was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword, and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword, and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Deep breaths

As we played outside today, I watched how a child picks up the little white round cotton-ball flowers out of the grass. A Dandelion. It's ironic that such an airy, fairy-like cottony sprout would refer to a fierce grounded predator.

I watched how in one breath, an exhale, could disconnect the small seeds, along with its white cotton parachute...In one breath, it lifted up and made it fly up and away. The seeds float off, in search of a place to settle down. It might be under the next tree, but it risks the chance of being caught in an unexpected gust of wind that might blow through at that exact moment, causing the seed to be carried to a place faraway from home. There's no foreseeing where a seed could land. Its destination is completely random for each of the seeds that release from the original dandelion. One thing is determinable: this seedling is looking for a place and not just any place. A place where it will be protected. A place where it will be grounded, where it can put its roots into the earth. What are the chances it will be grounded? What are the chances it will sprout roots and grow? Only time can tell.

Let it grow!

So, Lil is here...time to get blogging!

The hardest part is getting something started (for example: I've wanted to start a blog for more than a year now) but now this is like having a plant, because I have to tend to it often and keep adding to it (no water in this blog). I've planted the seed, now I'm going to tend to it and hope it blooms.

In fact, I've been very busy watching things develop and grow lately. I'm absolutely consumed by how the US presidential election has developed into a full-fledged media frenzy! But who can resist all the Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin drama!!?!? I've got my hands on articles, videos, NPR analyses, and even the SNL skits, such as the most recent one between Biden/Palin. It's sooo hilarious!! I love how Tina Fey makes a comeback on SNL just to ridicule Palin (and she does it seamlessly and brilliantly.) I've always admired comedians...how on earth do you keep a straight face when you are imitating a politician WINKING on public television!!!?!? (I still can't believe Palin did that...).

I was itching to get involved with the campaign, so I donated by purchasing some souvenir-ish stuff like Obama pins. Then I've used facebook and gmail to share his message to all my friends...but i still feel like I haven't done enough. Now I'm getting in contact with the Democrats Abroad in Italy. Apparently they are doing a debate-watching party at one of the local universities. That's great! Most importantly I have to start figuring out my absentee ballot because I want to make sure I get it in on time. If you ever have any questions about voting abroad, the best website is this one!!!

Now let's just hope this flower blooms on November 4th. GOBAMA!

Stick together

Ciao....wow I finally did it! hello, YOU! Hello, me! my blog! i finally made a blog. i put it off for so long because of a few reasons: I was lazy...I was busy, I had my excuses such as homework...but really it was for all these insecurities and fear of being vulnerable. I mean now that I've written this, it's out there! It's published on the web...I already feel like I'm known! I also have a fear of being judged by friends and strangers alike.

This needs to change.

Oh, this blog is about change too! GOBAMA! The change we need! That's a big inspiration to make a change in my life now: to do something instead of putting it off. To speak my mind and to let other's know it...instead of hiding my opinions in fear of criticism. I've always admired those that speak their mind, whether to defend someone passionately or to make a risky comment that could result them humiliation. I love that courage. I mean why do I really care if my entry is perfect? ("perfect" doesn't exist) If they laugh or don't laugh at my jokes (I admit my future is not in television)? If my spelling is wrong (that's Microsoft's fault) or my stories are meaningful to me, yet meaningless to everyone else? (I'm not an author and who is this "everyone" anyway!!?) Maybe no one will read my blog.

And that' s fine with me because this blog will be my space to write cazzate about my life. To analyze and over-analyze things as boring as "why did I chose the pink scarf today?") and of course to express my not-very-exotic identity as a broke college grad white girl trying to find my destiny in a crystal ball (or on the horoscope websites) while building my future on a foundation as solid as jello, because i am building my future on love. This blog will be about my hybridity as an American, Italophile and ex-Pat...which will be extremely evident in my obsessive referencing to Italy, and through my hybrid lexicon of Italian and English.

This is my space to record the inner monologue that gets tossed around in my brain all day like dice in the dice popper of the 1990's "Frustration" board game. It's going to reveal a lot of frustration in fact....all my curiosity and confusion about the future. That's why my story starts with my open ended dot-dot-dot sentence:

So, Lil e' Qui...now what?


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Welcome to my soliloquy.