You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk

2003-03-20T05:31:00.000-08:00

I've moved.

2003-01-31T02:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just need to start afresh. Well, sort of.

It's not been a nice period for me, and I'm not just talking about last week, I mean it's been months, or maybe a whole year. My life's all messed up and I seem to have no clue of what to do with it. Yet, the moment I closed my blogs (and I decided to do so weeks ago, but didn't have the heart to actually do it until the other day), I started receiving messages from people I barely know, or, better, I've never met in person, who'd been reading my blogs all the time, asking me why I was doing that, if I was ok, if there was anything they could do or say to make me change my mind, if there was anyhing they could do or say to help me somehow. It really moved me.

Days later, I feel slightly better, my life is still a mess, I still don't know which way to turn, but I'm trying to sort it out, at least. The only down point of it is people I thought were closer friends to me just kept themselves out of it and didn't even call to check if I was ok. So, in the end, I discovered I have friends I didn't know of, and that the ones who I've been calling friends for ages, actually couldn't care less. You live and you learn.

I've been asked to keep on blogging. I'd love to, only I don't know what to type in here yet. I don't want to turn this space into a crying place, the last thing I want to do is burden people reading this blog with my boring rants on how life sucks. I wouldn't like to read a blog like that myself, and I also know I've been barely writing anything relevant in here in the last few months.

So, what to write in here? I don't know. Bear with me.

2003-01-29T11:31:00.000-08:00

Due to personal circumstances I'm not willing to type in here, I'm afraid I have to close all of my weblogs.

Yup, all of them, even the Italian ones.

It's been nice to bump into you all.

ciao!

*giorgia*

p.s.: Davezilla, if you happen to read this, you're absolutely authorised to archive this one too into the fucked weblogs lot.

2003-01-28T03:51:00.000-08:00

Alright.
I know that even for people not living in Italy Gianni Agnelli's death has a certain relevance.
But it's not fair that his death obscured other three among the others:
Don Lurio - without whom "dadaumpa" would've never been invented;
Gil Cagné - without whom divas would've never known how to apply makeup;
and Francesco Trussardi - and I'm not going to comment on this, as his dad died in the same exact way only four years ago.

2003-01-28T00:16:00.000-08:00

ULTRAPASTEURIZED!

Fuffa Mobile Blog is one way we aim to change the way people use blog.
It's the perfect blog for today's modern on-the-go mobile consumer.
You can blog it outdoors and on family outings; anywhere from amusement parks to the beach, camping to traveling, our Fuffa Blog provides you with an easy source of nutrition.
Fuffa Mobile Blog is real, wholesome fuffa; the purest fuffa available. It provides efficient in home storage and does not require refrigeration until opened.
How do we do this? We use Ultra Pasteurization, a revolutionary process that heats the fuffa to a temperature of 284° F, killing all bacteria that could cause the fuffa to spoil. This method keeps the fuffa wholesome and delicious for up to six months without refrigeration (refrigeration is required after opening.) Fuffa Mobile Blog contains only Grade A pure 100% real fuffa, produced with no chemicals or preservatives...

(by spettro)

2003-01-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

SERVING SADDAM A HOT MEAL...

Apparently, US newest ultra-secret (!) weapon is a microwave missile...

2003-01-21T05:14:00.000-08:00

ARE YOU READY TO BECOME ITALIAN? - reprise

Once upon a time, there was this brand, Ecoverde, who made fertilizers.

Such a nice name, "Ecoverde", sounds so "green" (well, heck, "verde" actually means "green"...), it must be all natural stuff...cow's poo & similar...

So, thinking all the above, some farmers from Umbria called them to buy their environment-friendly products.

Bottom line: Ecoverde dumped toxic dross in their fields.

2003-01-20T06:21:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to become Italian?

"Britain isn't Italy... yet - We love the food, fashion and football, but are we ready for Italian-style politics?"

(Clever article by Nick Cohen on yesterday's Observer, following the in-depth article on italian TV hell by Tobias Jones on the Financial Times from the other day...)

Said this, now something completely unrelated to the above: everybody please go to Gert's blog and congratulate her - she's getting married!! :)

2003-01-19T01:20:00.000-08:00

KINGS OF FUFFA...

Foreigners (as in "people not living in Italy therefore not having to do with Italian journalists who think keeping a weblog should be their and their only prerogative"...) will probably laugh at us further more for what I'm about to type here...(as if this wasn't enough already, I mean...)

So...let's talk about "orgoglio-fuffa".

I know how to translate "orgoglio", that's "pride" for all you non-Italian-speaking people out there.

As for the "fuffa" bit, though, I'm afraid that's a bit more difficult. Anyways, let's just say in this specific case being labelled as "fuffa" means something like you're a "non-professional-writer-who-keeps-a-journal-who's-far-more-popular-than-others-kept-by-professional-writers-whom-therefore-grow-jealous-and-start-throwing-mud-at-them-not-just-from-the-net-but-from-national-television-and-paper-magazines-as-well".

Because, ladies and gentlemen, you thought all Italians used to do was eat spaghetti, bake pizza, play soccer and be a mafioso in their spare time, didn't you?

Well, you're bloody wrong.

Nowadays the national hobby is slag non-professional blogs. Yes siree.

Let's just say if Davezilla was Italian, and, lucky him, he's not, he'd be king of "fuffa".

Why?

Cos his blog is useless. No links to "useful news" (w00t? What was his post about Sesame Street’s Big Bird being kidnapped in Detroit then, if not useful news??), no pieces of "real journalism" (what about the Swallow the worm essay, though? Isn't that on the same level as, say, the Watergate files?), and, above all, bits of his personal life can be spotted here & there (awww...aren't him and Natalie just soooooooo cute?).

Apparently, he's broken all the "real blogging" rules, and so has almost anybody on my blogroll, therefore I declare him "fuffa". I declare them *ALL* "fuffa".

I am "fuffa" too. I like reading "fuffa" and being "fuffa". So what?

Italian journalists...

Do me a fuffaing favour, won't you?

So, the bottom line is: Spread the "fuffa gospel", people! Long live "Fuffa Pride"!!!

:::

Official Fuffaography:

Manteblog
Brodo Primordiale
GnuEconomy
Luca Sofri's "commento paludato"
Quinto Stato
Fuffa Network
Loredana Lipperini's article on "La Repubblica"
FuoriDalCoro

2003-01-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

It's been a HORRENDOUS week.

Apart from the fact I've been ill most of the time (never, EVER going up on the Vatican's dome again!! caught laringitis cos of that!!! Richard, you read this? NEVER EVER AGAIN, ALRIGHT?), my living room's been occupied by the enemy.

Well, not literally - it's not Saddam Hussein, still it's been occupied until this morning by a friend of my mother's who's in permanent argument with her sons, fights with them all the time, and, last but not least, I also think she's a complete moron, but that's just my opinion...

Anyways, on Monday morning she left her house and rang my mom in tears (she's also divorced from her husband), telling her her sons were driving her insane or something. Right, said my mom, come over and have a cup of tea.

Cup of tea turned into 6 days of living room occupation.

Fair enough, I thought, she's so desperate, let's help her...

No siree.

She was almost driving all the four of us nuts in return. Cannot keep her mouth shut, even when I'm watching a flick - the other day I was trying to watch "Out of sight", but couldn't understand a word of what George Clooney was saying - alright, not much of a dialogue, I suppose, he's not, like, Sir Lawrence Olivier, but what the heck, I'm trying to watch a darn film! In *MY* flat!!! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!!

She kept talking, loudly all the day and night, only shut up her big fat mouth when she finally went to sleep - and *I* couldn't sleep cos I was ill and kept coughing all night and first thing in the morning she even complained that *she* hadn't been able to sleep well cos I'd been coughing all the time....GRRRRRRRR!!!!

She's got two sons (the ones she's argued with) and a daughter who's almost as old as me and is the equivalent of a blonde Essex girl, if you get what I mean. DUMB. That's why she wants to become an actress on the telly, failing to understand she's i) already too old, ii) not pretty enough and iii) completely lacking of talent anyway (same loud, monotone, ugly voice as her mother's). Mom's friend keeps on talking about her all the time, also, even when everybody else couldn't care less and was talking of something else completely different anyway. She just doesn't care and brings back the discussion to her (talentless) daughter.

You just can't understand. Lucky you.

Just go through 6 days like the past ones I've had + then we get back on the subject...

2003-01-17T22:57:00.000-08:00

Still here, still alive...maybe...hang on...

2003-01-14T04:05:00.000-08:00

It's Tuesday, but who cares - even if I'm late it's time for PromoGuy's Monday Mission 3.2!!!

1. Have you ever bought something you were so excited about and found out later that it didn't work? Were you able to return it? How did it go?
Not really, I've been lucky, most probably also cos it takes me ages to decide if i actually need something (do I need it? can I afford it? is is worth it?), so I end up only buying stuff I really need, and, until now, they've all worked alright!

2. I have a Palm (Pilot) for my date book and such, but have been thinking of jumping to the PocketPC world at some point. Do you have a PDA (personal digital assistant)? What kind, and how did you decide? What do you like about it? If you don't own one, do you want one or do you do better without such gadgets?
No, I don't have a PDA, and I don't know if I'd actually need it now...maybe when I become a really famous architect (no laughing please!!) I'll realise I need one, or, most probably, an iBook or something, but not now, I do alright with notepads and pencils at the mo...plus, I already carry with me so much crap (specs, specs case, keys, mobile, digicam, and sometimes even a traditional cam, purse, several pens and pencils, at least a book to read on the train and/or bus, notebooks, folders with tons of stuff I need for work and/or university...) if I should add to that a portable pc as well, I could die on the spot!!

3. What illness do you wind up catching more than any other?
Cold...*sniff*...

4. Do you like going to see the Doctor (any type)?
I don't mind, but it's not exactly the same as "liking" going to see the doctor... ;-P

5. How about the Dentist? Do you like going? Do you go in every 6 months for a check-up?
no bloody way!!

6. Are you a "Dog Person" or a "Cat Person?" Do you think a person's choice tells you something about their personality?
have no clue, never had any pets - if one excludes my sister, that is!!! :-D

7. I've mentioned before how me and a buddy of mine have just let our friendship lapse. There was no disagreement, but we've hit that point where we have nothing in common anymore. My life has progressed and he is still living in 1992. Have you ever had a friendship that just seems to have run its course? Where there is just nothing there anymore? What finally happened?
I think that happened with *all* the people from my class from high school...we kept in touch for a couple of years after high school was over, but then just lost track...nobody really cared for each other, I guess.

BONUS: Do you want to see me beggin' baby? Can't you give me just one more day?
Can't you see my heart's been dragging lately, I've been looking for the words to say...

2003-01-14T00:07:00.000-08:00

Ha!

Pete Townshend Is Arrested in Porn Case

By ED JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - Pete Townshend, the legendary rock guitarist and co-founder of The Who, was arrested Monday on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, police said.
Townshend has acknowledged using an Internet Web site advertising child pornography, but said he was not a pedophile and was only doing research for an autobiography dealing with his own suspected childhood sexual abuse... (read more...)

2003-01-12T13:54:00.000-08:00

Just been to www.casamusic.com and it seems there'll be a "CASA II" in March 2003! YAY!!!!! :-)

2003-01-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

ATTENTION!!! U2-loving architects reading this (if there are any...readers, that is.), go and check here!!!

2003-01-12T03:34:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you put your cds in the microwave oven...having known it earlier I would've made a lot of wonderful Christmas decoration with all my used data cdrs...will keep it in mind for next year!! :)

2003-01-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

Something funny...

...and something very funny as well... :)

2003-01-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

UNLEASHED!!! :)

(anyways, where has my blogroll disappeared??)

2003-01-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

PromoGuy's Monday Mission 3.1

1. What is one of your favorite things to wear?
A purple wool sweater.

2. Did you get any "dud" gifts for the holidays? Will you return them?
No, actually I'm very happy of what I received!! :)

3. Let's do a few "Best of 2002" thoughts. What was the best movie of 2002? Why did you pick that one?
"About a boy"!!! For two simple reasons: I liked the novel a lot, and I just adore Hugh Grant!!! :)

4. What world event of 2002 made an impact on you?
Joe Strummer dying, therefore ruining my birthday. No, seriously, I think it's been a year high on the terroristic alarmism front, and I'll always remember it for being the year when everybody's been the most tense and nervous ever.

5. What personal event of 2002 was the most memorable?
Did 2002 ever happened to me? Can't remember anything of relevance.

6. Is there anything in 2002 (decisions, relationships, purchases, etc.) that, looking back, you would have done differently?
Not really, I guess I've gone for the best choices this time.

7. Shine up your magic crystal ball and look into the future. What do you think will happen in your life in 2003? Or, what would you like to happen in 2003?
Graduation, graduation, GRADUATION!!!!!!!! :)

BONUS: Was it somethin' I said or somethin' I did, did my words not come out right?
Tho’ I tried not to hurt you / Tho’ I tried / But I guess that’s why they say every rose has its thorn... (haha I know this one!!)

2003-01-03T11:12:00.000-08:00

I have an old Kodak Instamatic 33. I think my dad got it before I was born, given the fact it was in production between 1968 and 1973. I just loved those square pictures, and took it along with me in a lot of school trips in the 80s and even in early 90s...until I couldn't fins film (cartridge type) for it anymore...*sigh*...

2003-01-03T01:34:00.000-08:00

THE FAMBLY...

(well, actually just a few of them...my fambly isn't that small...GOOD MORNING!!)

2003-01-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

Me is back...will post pictures of the most boring holiday ever soon...

Meanwhile, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

2002-12-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

...a BLOGGY CHRISTMAS is being celebrated here... :)

I'll be back at the beginning of January, have a wonderful holiday you all!

2002-12-18T23:31:00.000-08:00

"Losing Jam Master J to a murder was, maybe not John Lennon, but it was like as if Ringo and George both got hit at the same time."

...and the dumb words of the week award goes to: CHUCK D!!!

2002-12-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.50

1. So, what do you want for Christmas this year that you probably won't get?
Nothing, really. I'm one of those people who actually don't want things for Christmas - of course I do like presents, but for me that's not the main point of Christmas.

2. What do you know you will be receiving for Christmas this year?
...a digital camera...shh, don't tell anybody...an HP Photosmart 320...it's a *surprise* from my dad for both Christmas and my birthday...shhh...

3. If you had the means to do so, what presents would you get some of your fellow bloggers? Be specific, it's more fun that way!
ooh, been there, done that...here you can read Santa's Little Helper list!!! :)

4. Do you support any organizations that provide for the less fortunate during the holidays? Or do any volunteer work?
Not just during the holidays, that would be just dumb - it's not that people need support only at Christmas time, if they do need help, they do need it all the time.

5. Each year about this time, I notice Church attendance seems to spike, then drops off sharply after Christmas. It tickles me that these folks think they are pulling a fast one on the Big Guy. What is the most recent thing guilt has motivated you to do?
Probably a huge cake for my dad knowing he's bought me a digital camera only cos I once said it would've been an useful tool for me - must pay more attention to what I say when dad is around, as, since I never ask things off him, he tends to get me all the things I mention...that makes me feel very guilty.

6. According to the commercials, the only way to truly tell someone you love them on Christmas day is to let them "Unwrap a Jaguar" automobile. Are there any examples of excessive commercialism and/or blatant disregard for the "Christmas Spirit" that really get under your skin?
Well, as stated before on this very blog, and as marvellously put by Cy in my comments, "I'm pretty sure everyone understands the concept of Christmas supposedly being Christ's birthday, and if they're not celebrating it now they won't be if Santa's out of the equation." - i.e. if one actually cares about celebrating Christmas, will be happy also if there are no Jaguars under the tree. That's it, I guess.

7. I remember a song where the singers wished they could teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony. What would you like to teach the world?
I'm a really awful teacher...

BONUS: Do they know it's Christmas time at all?
Am afraid they still don't know...shame.

2002-12-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Cast page updated (as if anybody cared...)...

2002-12-15T02:28:00.000-08:00

Apparently, they're trying to ban Santa Claus a in Kylieminogueland...

The thing is they tried to swap reindeers for kangaroos leading the sleigh, but they eventually got that the sleigh isn't actually supposed to hop. (indeed, they also tried to turn Santa's trademarked Ho-Ho-Ho! into Hop-Hop-Hop!, with little result.)

Truth is, the "Australian Federation of Childcare Associations said the ban began spreading after a Christian daycare centre decided that Santa was "taking the Christ out of Christmas"

Shame they don't understand it takes more than just banning Santa to put Christ back into Christmas...

2002-12-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

-----Messaggio Originale-----
Da: "Rich Smith"
A: "Giorgia"
Data invio: venerdì 13 dicembre 2002 21.58

> Hey hey,
>
> I passed my course!!!!
>
> It was sooooooo hard. I'm very relieved it's over.
>
> So how about showing me round Rome?

Hey you, bevilastard. Yes, you. How about warning people, like, *not* in the last five minutes you finally decide you're going to visit them? Proof that you really need that Christmas gift as stated below, n'est pas?
Sent you an email.
Humph.
Ciao.

2002-12-13T05:46:00.000-08:00

Friends, Romans, Londoners, countrymen and citymen, whoever, really, lend me your ears.

I truly am completely broke (as in "apart from money to pay bills, I don't have an eurocent left to buy Christmas pressies..."), but I wanted to give out some tiny presents to people I like anyway. Since HRH Lady Pollarina McNamara of Embraceland said "it's the thought that counts", here's what I *thought* would've been a nice present for you (listed in alphabetical order):

for Alf, a life-long supply of Moleskine notebooks;
for Bea, a Telecom Italia-free world;
for Darren, Genoa honorary citizenzhip for pesto-related merits;
for Davezilla, an exclusive to design cartoons for a new edition of Pinocchio;
for Ilenia, an anti-MeryTerry's-original-recipe-eggplants-in-pink-mosquito-sprinkled-olive-oil vaccine, for critical situations;
for Mike, Laura Pausini - you can keep her all for you, nobody will protest for that, no, I mean seriously;
for Natalie, a no-limit plane pass to go to Davezillaland every time she wants to;
for Polly, Nick Naysmith's keayboard, to be smashed on Nick Naysmith's head so that he stops ruining "Masses against the classes";
for PromoGuy, a release of Windows Xp that doesn't have bugs (that would be a miracle more than a present...);
for Richard, a brain;
for Sarah, air of Wales even in Norfolk;
for Sonia, a decent advisor for the graduation thesis (I'd like one, too, thanks.)
for Soundgarden, Manute Bol's height - so that next time he goes to a Poo Fighters gig he can see the ugly face of Dave Grohl more easily;
for Stefania, a real size, inflatable Graham Norton, complete with an internal computer that randomly makes it spit venom on whoever gets closer than 2 metres from it;
for Su, a Reed-less world;
for Winston, the ability to eat as much kebab and/or chocolate as he likes without having to go running all around West Midlands afterwards with the feeling of looking fat;
for Zu, chairmanship of "Accademia della Crusca".

...and, finally, a present for myself: a bastards detector, so that I can avoid them.

So (and Up, and Us, and Ovo...hint-hint...), even if it has nothing to do with all of the above, I hereby want to solemnly share my honorary appointment as "Flat Earth Society President of Italy" with Lady StefanSia McPilla, as without her I would've never discovered the existance of such a useful tool as the Popcorn Fork...congratulations, Co-President!! :)

2002-12-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

WOOOH!

new layout!!! :)

2002-12-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

This week I've done my Monday Mission in Italian... :)

2002-12-07T05:17:00.000-08:00

GOOGLISM...

giorgia is a unicef ambassador and puts her own musical
giorgia is placed only seventh
giorgia is a graduate from rome economics university
giorgia is the author of almost all songs in collaboration with fabio colalsanti; pino daniele wrote two songs of the album
giorgia is in her fifth year as a student of the diamond approach to inner realization and
giorgia is definately senza ali
giorgia is not working
giorgia is a chartered accountant with a b
giorgia is a gifted vocalist and deserves to have worldwide acclaim and attention
giorgia is not well known outside of italy
giorgia is wereldberoemd in
giorgia is niet minder dan de ex
giorgia is a
giorgia is a graduate from rome economics university where she earned a bachelor's degree in business
giorgia is msc
giorgia is one of several so
giorgia is going to start the first italian class for kids
giorgia is an exceptional lady
giorgia is a servant in the castle and her daughter killed herself after kurt used and subsequently abandoned
giorgia is an italian girl who moved to japan just for studying japanese history
giorgia is the first one to act
giorgia is no longer under the tutorship of pino daniele and for the first time she is back with an album she completely wrote and produced by herself
giorgia is back with a completely new look and cd
giorgia is awsome
giorgia is l
giorgia is 1
giorgia is a guest in herbie hancock's duet tour across europe's most prestigious festivals
giorgia is all of this
giorgia is leaving too
giorgia is right
giorgia is herbie hancock's guest in a two
giorgia is 23 years old and she works in an office whereas antonia is 20 years old and she works as a secretary...

2002-12-05T08:29:00.000-08:00

How to pronunce Graham - part two.

Pictured below, you can see ham:

As you can see, it's pink.

Imagine it's grey. Not a nice thought, I know, but try to imagine that.

What is it, now?

It's a GREY-HAM.

Take the "h" away.

Say it again.

Congratulations, you've just pronounced "Graham".

(thanks to Natalie for pronunciation's tips.)

2002-12-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.48

1. Suppose God (or your deity of choice) grants you one miracle. Consider the world in which we live. Consider your life and family. What would you request for this miracle? Are you sure that is the best way to use it? You only get one.
Not sure I'm able to make the best choice...maybe I'll have to think about this a bit longer.

2. I believe that prayers do get answered, but I realize not everyone agrees. Have you ever had an experience where you truly believe your prayer was answered? If you don't believe in such things, how come? What is your philosophy on prayer?
Several times I asked and several times I've been answered. Sometimes I don't even have to ask, and I'm answered all the same. I have this feeling God's got a soft spot for me!! ;-)
Seriously, I do believe prayers are answered somehow, but as for the why and how and when, I'm not able to tell...

3. Have you ever lost a pet? That is, have you ever had a pet get loose, run away or be stolen? Did you get it back? How did the loss impact your life?
I've never had any pets... *sighs*

4. Getting together with family at the holidays is great, I just love it. Most of all I love the food. What is your favorite holiday food?
Struffoli!!! :-P

5. One thing I've noticed about the holidays is that no one makes Pumpkin Pie like my Grandmother. She has totally spoiled me on her recipe, I just don't like the taste of anyone else's Pumpkin Pie. Are there any dishes or desserts that someone in your family fixes better than anyone else?
Nobody makes "zeppole" (a kind of donuts) like my mom!!!

6. Since I have no brothers or sisters, I am always wondering what it would have been like. Now that I am older, it kinda stinks that I will never be an Uncle. Do you have any siblings with children? How does it make you feel to be an Aunt or an Uncle? If not, would you like to be have nieces and nephews? Would you make a good relative to them?
I have a sister, and she hasn't got children - but I have a very large extended family, with several cousins that are married and have sproglets who call me "auntie", and it's really nice!!

7. I am putting together a CD of great holiday music. Do you have any suggestions of what songs (title/artist) I should include?
Do they know it's Christmas - Band Aid
Silver bells, REM's version
Happy Christmas (War is over) - John Lennon
Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley ;-P
...aaaand...Santa baby, Madonna's version!!!

BONUS: How would you feel knowin' prejudice was obsolete and all mankind danced to the same beat?
Much better, thanks! :)

2002-12-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

I knew this would've happened one day...

2002-11-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

First we build towns on water, then we start moaning cos of that...aren't we DUMB???

2002-11-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

EXCLUSIVE!!!
KYLIE MINOGUE IS A FAT BALDING FRIAR!!!

(this is a test.)

2002-11-26T14:12:00.000-08:00

Dumb Laws in Italy:

- It is illegal to practice the profession of charlantry.
- A man may be arrested for wearing a skirt. (*)
- Striking someone with a fist is considered a felony.

(*) go ask that guy off Chumbawamba, who got arrested a few years back cos he was shopping in Milan wearing a kilt...

(Thanks to StefanSia and, according to the transversal law of cross-blogging, to Mr Graham Norton, too...)

***

Holy burps.
I couldn't believe it when I read this...surely nobody sane would do a Google search for "porca puzzola", would they??

Plus, I'm 100% sure my Technologies of Architecture professor from last year asked this term's students to study the Commerzbank Tower by Sir Norman Foster too - AGAIN.

P.s.: Se qualcuno degli studenti del prof. Giovanni Morabito [detto Nanni...] legge queste righe, può mandarmi un'email: l'anno scorso la Commerzbank toccò a me!!! :)

2002-11-25T08:59:00.000-08:00

PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.47

1. Have you ever made a wish that came true?
Not sure, to be honest.

2. How about any wishes that you are happy never came true?
There is a wonderful, wonderful buddhist saying I read somewhere, it goes There's no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.. If one just spends his time *wishing for* happiness and not trying to *be* happy, that's just a waste of time, IMHO.

3. Do you like who you are? Are you the person you hoped you would become?
Overall, I'm not that bad a person, I must admit. I'm pretty shy in person but people generally like me, I don't tend to change my behaviour depending on whom I'm facing, and I guess people understand that in the end. I only wish I had better taste (so to speak) in men, it seems I always bump into the wrong ones. :( Oh, whatever. Can't have everything.

4. I recently found some job applications that I never turned in. Back in 1986 I intended to apply at "County Seat" and "Chess King" but got an offer from Penny's (where I worked all through college). It was a good thing, since only one of the three is still around. Have you ever applied for positions, or had any interviews, where you later are glad you never got the job?
Yes. About 2 weeks ago. University assistant. Assistant of a dumb professor, it later turned out to be. V. glad I'm too smart he relised I'd have put professor in the shadow...tee-hee! No, seriously, I was given the opportunity to become an assistant at the architecture department of my university, but I luckily understood in time it wasn't worth the hassle, as the professor is one of those who thinks nobody can do things better than him, that everybody's a dork bar him etc. - that must be why he's always been and *still* is assistent-less!!! ;-P

5. While on the topic of career opportunities, what was your very first "real" job? What job was the most embarrassing?
I guess first "real" job has to be junior designer at a small studio soon after I started university. No embarrassing jobs so far. I've been lucky. :)

6. Speaking of news, have you had your 15 minutes of fame yet? Such as being in the newspaper, on television, linked on a high-profile site or otherwise caught in the spotlight of the media?
Nope...not yet!:)

7. In the USA, many of us will celebrate Thanksgiving this week. Do you celebrate Thanksgiving (or something like it)? Do you enjoy getting together will your extended family for these types of celebrations?
here in Italy we celebrate a lot of stuff, and it's a couple of years it seems both Halloween and Thanksgiving day are catching up as well...only trouble is our ovens aren't big enough too cook an entire turkey (freedom for turkeys!!! ;-P). Spookily enuff, right this morning I posted something about my extended fambly on my Italian blog - if everybody turned up, there would be SIXTY-THREE people around my table!!! And that's just family from my mother's branch (from dad's side it's just a 93 year old grandpa, two uncles and their wives, and four cousins with no children.)...it would be nice, but would also be a complete nightmare at the same time, can you imagine what a mess??

BONUS: Where is the tenderness?
Not found out yet. Have you tried in the third drawer from top?

2002-11-22T04:59:00.000-08:00

There goes the countdown to my birthday - the darn thing started messing up, so that it turned out I was born on Christmas day...close enough, but not correct. As it's already annoying enough to be born so close to Christmas, I decided to delete the countdown thingy. Period.

2002-11-21T01:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I'm neglecting this blog.

Need psychological support, tho. Bad karma on my enlarged fambly (beloved auntie Raffaella is not well. And she's not the zillions years old kind of auntie, she's just fortysomething. And she's not well. That's not fair. Can't say more.). So if you can tell me something nice and cuddling, nonsense, something funny, that's more than welcome.

Thanks.

On a lighter, silly, more nonsense note (cos I need it), here's what they found in a medieval church in Austria:

Proof that Walt Disney copied the idea from a XIV century artist...

***

More nonsense:

As I'm not so updated re: British stuff these days, I found it pretty amusing to find out Mark Owen (yeppers, it's always him, ex-Take That dwarf-sized bloke...) is one of the in-mates of the Celebrity Big Brother thing. I said *Celebrity* Big Brother. Celebrity? I don't know if the guy has done anything ever since he released "Green man"shortly after Take That split. Also, according to the pictures of him I found on the CBB site, I'm afraid he's not improved. Somebody please give him a bottle of shampoo...

On top of that, on PopBitch I found out that Gary Barlow (aka cross-sighted, fat bloke off Take That. Yes, the one with a boring voice. Him in person.) has a Star Wars stormtrooper costume in his house.

No comment.

I also discovered we're not alone. The British too have a "Fame Academy" (ours is called "Saranno famosi"...and no, I'm not linking either of them, c'mon, that would be far too much.). My deepest condolance, really. As we say over here, "mal comune, mezzo gaudio" (wouldn't know how to translate that properly - "common harm makes a rejoice"? Uhm...doesn't sound quite right...oh, whatever.).

2002-11-19T02:01:00.000-08:00

Uploaded a new page in my webby: that's the photos page, where you can find six (for the moment - I'm too lazy these days to scan and upload more...) pictures of averagely famous people...

2002-11-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.46

1. When I was a teenager, I used to ride all the "spin-y" rides at the fair and fun parks. I'd never get dizzy or sick, and I could ride them all day. My favorite was the Tilt-A-Whirl. Now I should call it the "Tilt-A-Hurl" because it seems I can't even get on a Merry-Go-Round without feeling queasy. Is there anything you used to be able to do physically that you no longer can? What changed?
Can't think of anything, actually...I used to feel sick on a merry-go-round at four, and I guess I'd feel sick all the same if I should hop on one nowadays!!! :-P

2. If you could go to lunch with someone famous, anyone living or dead, who would you choose? What questions would you ask them?
Uhm...this is a difficult question, as there are a lot of "famous" people I'd like to ask questions to...I'd ask Antoni Gaudì what was he thinking of when he was crossing the road and didn't notice a trolley car coming and killing him?? :-D

3. On that same thought, there are probably several Bloggers you enjoy reading but have never met in real life. Which one Blogger would you most like to meet for dinner? Why did you pick that person? What would you talk about? What do you have in common? What would you do after dinner?
Only one? I really can't pick up only one person, as I've bumped into a few ones I'd really like to meet, so how about an imaginary meetup - have all dinner out? Can't name them all, as the list would be far too long, but of course, Promo has to be of the party, as he's a very nice person. Then we need Davezilla to entertain us, he's really one of the funniest people I've ever bumped into. Of course, If Davezilla's coming, Natalie has to be there as well, not just cos she's Zilla's better half, but also cos she seems a really nice person, and a bit of cuteness at the party can't be a bad thing, either. Nit is cute as well, and from Singapore, so that we'll have somebody from the far east. We need Gert with us, for a touch of Britishness, the nice side of that, actually. And Alf, cos I can't be the only Italian there, I'd feel left out!!! :)

4. Money (or the lack thereof) is the number one cause of arguments amongst couples. Do you find this to be true? If there really was a "Money Tree" you could go an pick, would this really solve a couple's problems?
Yes, it's cause of arguments among couples, and no, I don't think picking at a money tree would solve everybody's problems - there are things money can't buy (for instance, "can't buy me love", as the Beatles would've sung...).

5. Speaking of arguments, have you ever been drawn into any nasty, hateful arguments? The kind where hurtful things were said that had nothing to do with the fight at hand? What was that all about? How did it turn out?
Yup, and I really didn't like that, also cos I was friends with both people ivolved in the argument, so it was pretty hurtful (and I'm just speaking for myself, and I wasn't neither cause nor part of the argument, had just been drawn in it somehow) - and, well, it ended up in a divorce.

6. When was the last time you had to admit you were wrong about something? How did that go?
I'm never wrong!! :-P
No, seriously, I think last time's been when I realised I have to change my advisor for the grad project. I thought the person I'd chosen was reliable, and I was bloody wrong!!!

7. Now for a slight change of theme....what song should never have been written?
That darn "Ketchup song" that kept annoying me all Summer!! Aaaaaargh!!!

BONUS: Are you ready for a new sensation?
Maybe.

2002-11-17T13:55:00.000-08:00

Somebody got here Google searching for HAMBURGER CHAIN IN SWEDEN...(see 15th Nov post...). Baffles me, really.

2002-11-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

I was thinking the exact thing this morning, after seeing an episode of "Law & Order", and it gets on my nerves each time my mate Richard mentions that...then I also read StefanSia's blog: why do non-Italians think well of Italy and not so well of Italians? Why do they all think that Italian=mafioso? Do they think all Italians are like the ones pictured in The Sopranos? Richard evidently thinks so, as he keeps quoting to me phrases off that tv series each time we chat on MSN, anf each time I fail to notice what's so funny in that...I mean, I genuinely don't understand the humour, why do foreigners think a mafioso family saga is funny? Mafia people are killers, drug dealers, _nice_ people like that...I know it's just a cliché, and it goes together with pizza and spaghetti and mandolin and whatever else, but it's frankly too much...how do the British feel if I say they stink, *all* of them? Or how would the Polish like me saying they're *all* alcoholics? I hate stereotypes, and I frankly can't stand when showbiz makes big money slagging an entire population (or better, making people believe all the people from a certain contry are like that).

2002-11-15T02:48:00.000-08:00

My theory for today is: Robbie Williams is turning into a pop James Dean Bradfield.

*mocks horror*

Question: Do we really deserve that?

2002-11-15T02:35:00.000-08:00

Pig pile-up closes Japan highway
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese police have been forced to close part of a major Tokyo highway as they try to apprehend traumatised pigs fleeing the scene of an accident...

Customer fails to see the toilet humour
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A customer in an international hamburger chain outlet in western Sweden lost his appetite when he discovered the restaurant's toilet seats were being washed in its dishwasher alongside the kitchen utensils...

(and if rebel pigs and toliets seats aren't enough for you, weird cats and melting noses maybe will do...)

2002-11-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

PROOF OF HUMANHOOD STUPIDITY:

LONDON (Reuters) - The makers of an Italian liqueur have pulled a novel advertising campaign which involved wafting the scent of almonds around London Underground stations after fears that the sweet aroma might be confused with cyanide.
The 1.5 million pound ($2.4 million) wheeze used metal boxes full of almond oils which were positioned at the bottom of escalators in three major stations. Fans in each box spread the scent around with the idea of prompting travelers to associate it with the aroma of Disaronno amaretto liqueur. Advertising posters all the way up the side wall of the escalators aimed to help them make the connection. Unfortunately, as amateur sleuths and readers of Agatha Christie know, almonds smell like cyanide -- not a great selling point at a time of heightened terrorist alert. [doh!] This week, only three days after the scheme began, the British distributors of the drink withdrew it. "In the light of the current security situation ... we would under no circumstances want any Disaronno activity to be the cause of any concern," brand manager, Jon Evans, said.

My question is: what if they had to advertise canned beans?

2002-11-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa, for Christmas I'd like a new advisor for my graduation thesis...

2002-11-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

There's a war going on...and no, I'm not talking about Saddam vs. UN, that's a nasty war.

It's a funny one I'm talking about.

It's Davezilla versus RedCricket (for the par condicio rule, I must link both of them here - that's what non-Italians call politically-correctness, I reckon...oh, whatever.).

Needless to say, I'm a Davezillette (Do you see RedCricket linked in my blogroll? Exactly. Go Davezilla! etc. etc.), but I must admit I have absolutely no clue of what's exactly going on between the two of them (maybe I got lost somewhere in the Summertime, when I was cast away from the net and couldn't get my daily dose of Davezillism - that's better than Pr0zac...wait a minute, and what if reading Davezilla actually was the cure for depression? All shrinks should prescribe that!), when it all started, why it all started, but, until the thing develops the way it has until now, it's just a funny image slashing that won't hurt anybody. Lots of laughing, I hope on both sides, as I reckon both of them have a decent sense of humour...only Davezilla also knows how to make other people smile and doesn't keep the humour all for himself, that's it.

If only real wars were like this one...

2002-11-12T03:52:00.000-08:00

Here you can see my contribution to the "Terry Gilliam Project", created by Flea on nervousness.org...you can see all the pages of the booklet starting from here.

(Sorry, dunno how to make *small* popup windows, one day I'll learn, I promise.)

Also, here, you can see me talking on the mobile to I can't remember who.

(Just testing my liquid2k.com account. God bless 'em.)

2002-11-11T03:39:00.000-08:00

Added an awful pic of my silly face on the about page. Just tell me if it's too disgusting, I'll take it off the page immediately. Ta.

(p.s.: this meaningless blog hit 3500 visits. I'm amazed.)

2002-11-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

(rough English translation of a mega-rant against Windows XP I wrote on my Italian blog...)

Once upon a time, there was good old Windows 98, which, even tho had a lot of bugs, wasn't that bad. AutoCAD 2000 used to run smoothly in it. 3D Studio max 4.2 (I mean, *4-point-sodding-2*, not crumbles...) happily sparkled through its pixels, when I had Windoze 98.
Now, after my pc went in a coma a couple of months ago, and after the whole HD was finally declared dead and its corpse extracted from the tower, they installed in my pc a brand new OS: bloody Windows XP.
Let's not talk about the fact that it looks like a tamagotchi, with rounded buttons like a videogame for four year olds, as the main problem, at least for me, is that 3D Studio Max 4.2 doesn't work with Win XP. Nor does release 4.0 of the same software. Nor release 3.5.
What am I going to do?, I think...
I ring the technician, i.e. those morons who allegedly repaired my pc and installed a new OS.
me: "Hello, it's me, the one with a pc in a coma, remember me? You installed on my pc a copy of Windoze XP Professional (*professional*?? where?? when???), but - Houston we've got a problem, 3D Studio Max doesn't work. No 3D Studio, no party...
technician: "really?"
me: "yeppers, and the thing is I really need that programme [I really can't work on my thesis without that, I mean, I could do that with a pen and an inkpot full of my own blood, but it would take me, like, three years?]
technician: [who, pretty clearly, was just about to suggest me to try and do without 3D Studio in my life...] "Ah."
me: "could it be that, maybe, if I take my pc back to you, you can do something like split the HD in two and install another OS?"
technician: "..."
me: "I mean, 20 GB for XP and 20 GB for 98? Eh?"
technician: "...well, uhm...I dunno if that's worth the hassle...it would be such a mess..." [I translated the latter into, "hey, w00t? I dunno if I'm actually able to do that, me, doh..."]
me: "Well, I asked other people who had the same problem with XP, and they did so, they split the HD in two..."
technician: "huh, dunno, it's a mess...tho we have 3D Studio installed on one of our pcs that runs XP..."
me: "really? which release?"
technician: "dunno, hang on I'll check..."
[insert several minutes of dumb wait music, even tho calling it *music* is quite too much...]
technician: "hello? I think it's v. 2.5..." [I *think*?!?]
me: [hyperventilating, almost collapsing] "...2.5?!?...right...then, could you please install that on my pc as well? [where the heck could I go and get version 2.5 of that programme? 2.5 means it was released, like, around 4th century BC...]
technician: "nope, we don't have it.."
me: "...right...well...thanks..." [chuh! they don't have it...and how did they install that on their pc, then? did the Holy Ghost help them in that??]
technician: "you're welcome!"
*CLICK*
Luckily, I've got the habit of not throwing *everything* away, so I somehow found a cd with 3D Studio Max v.3.0 (released in 1999), which, apparently, seems to work, so far...I'll do with this one, I guess. Who cares. But, heck, I wonder why an OS released in 2002 can't bear a programme that used to run perfectly in the 1998 version of the same OS!!!
As my friend Darren once told me (actually, wrote me, but the concept is the same), "distrust technology"...

2002-11-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

My other blog's server is down, and I don't even know why.
Very annoying.
Especially since I'd just posted a rant about Windows XP being crap...
Grrrr.

2002-11-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.44 (on a Thursday cos I'm lame.):

1. Have you ever had to appear in court? What was the reason? How did it turn out?
I haven't. I'm a good girl. :)

2. Ever been accused of something you never did? Were you able to convince anyone?
A lot of times. Lately, somebody accused me of being pretentious and a sad little prat, just cos, after they asked me what I was doing in my off-line life, I replied to them I'm graduating in architecture and I'm collaborating with uni professors' projects as well. I tried to explain them that no, I wasn't being pretentious, had just answered their question, but it didn't seem to work. As I easily lose interest for people who don't get quickly what I'm trying to say (I wouldn't be a good teacher, and, luckily for students, I'm aware of that!!), I ended up ignoring their accusations, as there's no point in explaining things that need not to be explained, is there? :)

3. When it comes to crime and punishment, do you agree with the saying "An eye for an eye?"
No. Murder for a murder, you won't get the person who was murdered first back. Two wrongs don't make a right, as wise people use to say.

4. Are you a judgemental person? Do you ever make up your mind about a person before you know them? When was the last time that happened? Or if not, how do you keep from being judgemental?
I'm not judemental person at first sight. I mean, it's not I look at somebody and decide they're evil or something, but I tend to become judgemental after a while I know somebody, sort of labeling them as "good" and "bad" people. No need to say the labeling isn't irreversible, it all depends on how people behave.

5. When I was in 6th grade I lit a match in class accidentally and was given the choice of having my folks called or getting 10 "swats." I took swats and damn, that wooden paddle with the holes drilled in it hurt like hell (not to mention the horible whistling sound it made before impact). I don't think they allow "swats" anymore. Ever get "swats" at school? How do you feel about children being spanked in school. Is it best that they don't do that anymore? How about parents spanking kids? Good or bad?
Never got any swats when at school, and I don't think I've ever been terrible enough to cause my parents spanking me!! :) I don't know, really, I'm against violence overall, then again I really wished somebody would've spanked my sister when she was 3 and had the lovely hobby of biting me every time she got too close... :-P

6. What is your favorite "Chick Flick?"
Don't have a favourite-favourite one, actually...it depends on my mood.

7. Describe the last situation you were in that can best be summed up by the phrase "seemed like a good idea at the time?"
Going to London to see Manic Street preachers with my then friend Mark. Then it all started to go wrong (his bloody fault.), and now we're on non-speaking terms. There's much else to say, but, as I'm not the only person involved in all this, I can't. Wouldn't be fair on other people.

BONUS: Who will bury us when we die?
The gravedigger. :-P

2002-11-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Uhm...apart from cutting and pasting news from my country, I haven't been blooging much in English, lately.
Not that a lot of people have noticed, I supposed, I don't have that much of a traffic, still the odd couple of people happening to read this every three or four weeks might want to read something new...
OK.
I'm pretty busy these days - basically trying to work on my grad project, *and* on some books reviews for a professor of mine - all architecture and design books, one of these days they'll be up on his site and I'll post the link here.
What else...not much, really. I tend to focus on my project quite a lot these days, I guess that's for good anyway, isn't it?
I'll keep you posted, I promise. :)

2002-11-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

This Country’s been kidnapped by (un)natural events.
Mount Etna blubbing lava first (Catania is all covered in black).
Then bloody earthquake in central Italy, 26 kids and 3 adults killed by it.
In all this, life went on, somehow. All the schtoopid TV shows are still being telecast, with the excuse they’re trying to raise funds for victims’ families, so you may happen to bump into just-out-of-hairdressers TV presenters and showgirls with a long face telling you they’re so distraught cos of what happened that they decided to go on with normal service to show they care. Knowing that those people get quite a few thousands $$$ each second they’re onscreen, I wonder if it wouldn’t be much better if they gave what they earn in a single day, blank out the show just for once and telecast something old, or the news, or nothing at all, as, well, most people, included me, didn’t really feel like watching meaningless TV shows where people sing boring songs claiming to do that “for the victims”.
Doing that for your own pockets, more like.

2002-11-02T03:43:00.000-08:00

Residents Evacuate From Italian Town

SAN GIULIANO DI PUGLIA, Italy (AP) - Residents of this remote southern village spent the night huddled in blankets in a tent city, fearing aftershocks from an earthquake that leveled a school and killed 29 people, almost all of them children. (read more)

2002-10-31T07:23:00.000-08:00

BREAKING NEWS:

Quake Traps Italy Schoolchildren

A strong earthquake rocked central and southern Italy on Thursday, trapping about 50 children in a school after the building's roof collapsed.
It was not immediately clear if the children, reportedly between the ages of 3 and 6 years old, were injured.
The ANSA news agency quoted police as saying none were dead.
ANSA and the AGI agency said firefighters rushed to the scene and pulled five children out of the rubble alive, but ANSA later said none had been rescued.
The quake had a 5.4 magnitude, said Marco Ludovici, an official with the Civil Defense department in Rome.
The school is located in San Giuliano di Puglia, near the quake's epicenter in Campobasso, in the Apennine mountain region about 50 miles northeast of Naples.
Phone lines in the region were down.
Schools were evacuated in at least three towns in the Abruzzo region, and in the city of Isernia, about 15 miles from Campobasso, ANSA said.
Panicked residents rushed into the streets when the quake struck at 11:33 a.m., leaving gaping cracks in walls and ceilings missing huge chunks of plaster.
An aftershock, which hit at the same epicenter at 12:56 p.m., had a 2.9 magnitude, civil defense officials said.
Also Thursday, a 3.7 magnitude quake hit Mount Etna, the Sicilian volcano which began erupting Sunday. No damage was reported. The National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome said the quake in central Italy and the one shaking Etna did not appear to be connected.
In 1980 an earthquake in the area of Naples killed 2,570 people and left 30,000 homeless in the southern Campania and Basilicata regions.

Actually, news on the TV say that until now they found 4 dead children under the school's debris.

2002-10-31T03:49:00.000-08:00

DEJA WHOOPS...

Is it just me or short haired Eddie Vedder (as seen in Pearl jam's "I am mine" new video) looks frighteningly like...Davezilla???

(laters: uhm...is now Eddie Vedder going to be sued by Toho because he suddenly resembles Davezilla whose webby's been accused by aforementioned Toho to be an exploitation of their trademarked product, i.e. Godzilla?
Or is Davezilla going to sue Eddie Vedder for sporting a trademark face/haircut without asking him permission?
Or am I going to sue Toho, Eddie Vedder and Davezilla for causing me a headache?)

***

UPDATE:
Davezilla is probably going to sue me cos I said he looks like crop haired Eddie Vedder, whom he told me he thinks looks like Dan Beauchamp, who is not very likely to read this, unless I leave a message on his site, and, since today I've got annoying mode switched on, that's exactly what I'm about to do, so that Dan Beauchamp will sue Davezilla for telling me he thinks he looks like Eddie Vedder with short hair.

In all this, Toho corporation, not knowing what to do, will sue all of us (especially Eddie Vedder, cos I'm pretty sure he's the richest of the four of us) for breaking copyright laws by excluding the word "Godzilla" in all our suing and counter-suing papers.

Please note Eddie Vedder hasn't sued anybody, so far.

***

UPDATE #2:
Dan Beauchamp says Davezilla still owes him $10 from a year ago.

Speaking of which, my sister still owes me 25 euros from last June.

Am I going to sue my sister?

***

UPDATE #3:
Davezilla claims he only owes Dan Beauchamp a kick in the pants.

2002-10-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, but I guess it's time I go back to doing some MM...ladies and gents, here's PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.43

1. Ever do anything over and over just to make someone else happy but discover you actually hate it?
Uhm...no. I guess that would be sort of hypocritical. I've been lucky enough to find myself having to do only things I wanted to.

2. What kinds of obligations do you enjoy?
uhm...none! :)

3. What are your feelings about celebrating Halloween?
I won't. It's not part of my culture, and I wouldn't know how and why to celebrate it.

4. Are there any stories of bodily functions you would prefer people not share with you in conversation?
yes, many. There's some tale of a friend of mine telling me what he did to fall asleep when he was too stressed, and I had to ask him not to mention that to me again. It's just something I don't want to know.

6. Ponder the thought of being forever young, living on endlessly, being immortal. What would that life be like for you?
That's a scary thought. I fear being immortal more than dying!!!

7. What's the last thing you felt was "worth fighting for?"
Not quite sure. I guess life might be the answer in my case.

BONUS: Sooner or later, they all will be gone...why don't they stay young?
cos that would be unnatural and wrong! :)

2002-10-28T04:50:00.000-08:00

Winston, don't tell me I didn't warn you going to Sicily wasn't a good idea...

CATANIA, Sicily (AP) - Mount Etna, Europe's biggest and most active volcano, came to life again Sunday, spewing lava but causing no injuries. A series of small earthquakes damaged buildings on the slopes of the mountain, officials said. The stream of lava destroyed some ski lift pylons as it headed toward Piano Provenzana, an area which sits at 7,500 feet and is used by tourists as a starting point for mountain walks. The area was evacuated and sealed by police, said civil defense officials in Catania. Later Sunday, forests near Piano Provenzana caught fire. Helicopters doused the flames. Sicily's main eastern airport, Catania's Fontanarossa, was closed down, with many flights rerouted to Palermo, the island's capital city. The airport was scheduled to reopen Monday morning. After months of silence, Etna's rumbled to life overnight, when as many as 200 small quakes rattled eastern Sicily, some creating panic and sending people to the streets. The strongest quake was magnitude-4.2, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology. The lava flow, which was growing heavier by the hour, was still far from settlements. The mountain also was belching a fountain of ash and sand that made for poor visibility miles away. Etna towers 10,860 feet above Sicily. The last major eruption was in 1992.

(from Yahoo News)

2002-10-28T02:38:00.000-08:00

Uhm...Blogger was rather funny yesterday...let's see if I can post this now...

2002-10-27T01:24:00.000-08:00

ITALIAN POLITICIANS PLAY THE PIANO...

Everybody knows that my country is the "land of saints, poets and sailors"...now I'm (not so) proud to announce our politicians have proved to be excellent piano players.

Let me explain. I have nothing against piano players, as I'm a piano player myself. As long as they actually play a piano, then that's fine with me.

The problem is that when a politician becomes a "pianist" in Italy, that's not cos they're skilled musicians that spend their spare time on ebony & ivory. They're called "pianists" when they extend their arms for a few octaves and put their hands in two voting slots simultaneously. The thing is, in the House of Parliament they don't vote by raised hand, oh no, since they seem to think that's a too troglidite way of voting, they went hi-tech a few years back. Therefore, each MP has a place in his/her Parliament's desk where to put their hands and push some buttons and vote "yes, no, whatever" (not quite sure on the "whatever" bit, but I can't exclude a "whatever" button actually exists...)...the problem is, Italian politicians are too busy to spend all their time in the Parliament, so, most of the times, a bunch of desks are empty, and others MPs who sit near those empty desks, since they want to prove they're good neighbours, vote for the absent...(does all of the above make any sense??)

And then they say other countries laugh at us...

2002-10-25T04:02:00.000-07:00

And so, Postcardx.net is gone. Hope it's not forever, cos it was so nice to send + get postcards every now and then. Shame.

2002-10-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

OK, I started my new blog in Italian - just to make sure I don't forget my own language, as these days it seems I can only think in English and then translate it into Italian and then speak it out, which is rather unhealthy, I reckon, should be the other way round, shouldn't it??

2002-10-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

(trying to set up a parallel blog in Italian...)

2002-10-23T00:37:00.000-07:00

A little explanation, due to some horrible email I got telling me I'm a bad person cos I wished my dad was Ryuichi Sakamoto. Dear you know who you are, you have little sense of humour. Let's make it clear that I WOULDN'T CHANGE MY DAD FOR ANYTHING/ANYBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD. It was just a joke. I only wished my dad could play an instrument, that's it. Minutes after I wrote that, I rang my dad and told him "you're going to go to guitar classes!".

You see, my dad is a retired accountant. When he was young, before marrying mom, he used to travel quite a lot, like all young people like to do. He once bought himself a guitar, which he never got round to learn and play. Shame, cos, despite he can't keep a tune singing, he does like music a lot. When I was three, I had a lot of dolls and other toys, but what I liked best to play with was my dad's guitar. Of course I couldn't play it, but it's not just by chance when I eventually grew up I bought myself a classical guitar, too, and, after a few more years, an electric guitar as well, having learnt to play the piano before all this. I only went to three guitar lessons, where the teacher, the first day, asked me if I'd ever played a guitar before, and I said no, cos, well, you can't count sitting under the Christmas tree at 3 as "having played a guitar before". He said he thought I had as it seemed it was quite natural for me to place fingers on the right chords while other people in the classroom had their hassle in founding the C major themselves. I explained him that maybe it was cos I play the piano, but he said that he didn't think that was the cause. I only went to three lessons as I grew bored after three Mondays of people who couldn't place their fingers on the strings and play a sodding C major. So I got a guitar handbook and taught myself what was beyond C major. I'm willing to take on learning guitar *and* violin properly sometime in the future, though, going to lessons (hopefully individual lessons, so that I won't have to face people not finding a chord...) and doing my homework, like I used to do when I was studying how to play a piano.

In all this, my dad himself wished he could play an instrument, only I reckon he thinks he's too old to do that. Given the fact that I believe that one's old only when they believe they are, and I don't think my dad is a decrepit mummy, I told him he's going to take guitar lessons.

He seemed quite happy at the thought.

2002-10-22T04:50:00.000-07:00

The teabag problem has kept me busy for quite a few minutes this morning...having gone "all japanese" for days now, I started making "weird objects with folded paper", as my sis call them, or "origami" as I (and a zillion other people in the universe) call them. Hadn't been doing that for some time, possibly ever since I was at elementary school or somthing, with, maybe, the exception of 1000 lire banknotes folded as shirts when I was in high school...now, it never occurred to me I could do them with fabric as well!!!

Ok, I'll tell you when I'm back to planet Earth.

2002-10-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

OK...now who did a Google search for giorgia sakamoto??? I mean, I already have an inferiority complex as I wish my dad were a musician or similar, while, in reality, he can't play an instrument, and can't even keep a tune, to say it all, so, after all, I should consider myself lucky I didn't inherit those "qualities" from him...but people Google-searching for "giorgia sakamoto" don't help my already fragile sense of self esteem...who did that?? EH?!?!?!? Whoever you are, I'm gonna send you the therapist's bill!!!

2002-10-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

I've learnt a new word today (from Cambridge International Dictionary of English):

hinder
verb [T]
to limit the ability of (someone) to do something, or to limit the development of (something)
Smoking hinders the ability of the heart and lungs to recover quickly from the effects of surgery.
Broken water pipes and gas leaks have hindered firefighters in their efforts, but the fire is now under control.
I don't want you to do anything that is going to hinder you from getting the job finished on time.
Her progress certainly hasn't been hindered by her lack of experience.

2002-10-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Doh. Received an email from some bloke in Sicily who thinks I'm Giorgia...I mean, of course I *am* Giorgia, only I'm not the singer, yer ninny!!! :-P

***

On another note, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to this world Miss ALICE DALL'OSTO, all 3.4 kilograms of her!!
Congrats to my cousin Chris and to his wife Silvia...and to Alice's older sister, Elisa...oh, and to my Auntie Rossana and my Uncle Virginio, who've just become grandparents for the second time! HURRAH!!! :)

2002-10-19T04:49:00.000-07:00

I proudly announce here that La7 is my new tv channel of choice: it's got Law & order, it's got Caroline in the city, it's got Smac the pony, it's got Cow & chicken and Johhny Bravo cartoons, it's even got The persuaders (!!!), but, above all, this morning they telecast an interview to Ryuichi Sakamoto!!! What more can you ask from a TV channel? :)

p.s.: due to a very, very deep discussion re: nippophilism (I just made up this word, I think...) on Alf's blog, I decided it was time to give an hint of "eggplant's purple" to my blog's background...;-P

2002-10-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

Where are we going? Italy hit by general strike.

***

(I should update the "cast" page one of these days...I'm not quite sure if some people featured on that page actually are still friends of mine, or if they've ever been friends of mine at all, according to what they told me themselves...)

2002-10-18T04:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, can't help it, here's the recipe of a cake I found on October 2002 issue of Wallpaper* magazine (page 277)!!! it's soo yummy!!!:

CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE
ingredients:
500g dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter
10 egg yolks
10 egg whites
50g castor sugar
35g white flour

Preheat the oven to 180°C, butter a 26 cm cake tin and line with a baking paper. Melt the butter and chocolate over a water bath and leave to cool. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a mixer until it thickens a little, mix in the flour gently. Add the cool chocolate mix to the yolks and fold in. Beat the egg whites until thick. Add a third to the chocolate, fold carefully, and then fold in the rest in two batches. Pour the mix into the tin and level with a knife. bake in oven for 25-30 minutes. It's ready when a skewer inserted in the cake comes out damp. Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool. Remove from the tin and cut the top to level. Dust with cocoa powder before serving and remember to keep the cake at room temperature!!!

It's delicious, especially if eaten listening to Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Beauty" while reading Haruki Murakami's "Dance Dance Dance"!! :-P

2002-10-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

When an icon stops to be such...look at Adam Ant...no, I mean, he's a PIG!! I used to have a crush on this man (him and Nick Rhodes...and Roger Moore as Brett Sinclair in "The persuaders"' series...bit of an eclectic 12 year old I was...)...why?!? why David Sylvian is ageing so well while Adam bloody Ant looks like my great-grandfather or something??? DOOM!!!

2002-10-17T05:29:00.000-07:00

BLUR AS SOTONG

Ain’t it weird things to talk about happen when you don’t have net connection at hand, therefore you can’t write about them on your blog?

OK, nothing *so* relevant, still, apart from the flu, I’ve had quite pleasant days.

A few weeks ago I finally went to see “About a boy” with Claudia, Antonella and Sonia and we had a lovely time, great flick, Hugh Grant is ageing the best way he possibly could, congrats!!

I’ve had to skip both Belle & Sebastian and James Taylor’s gigs (both of them FREE, both on the same evening, what on earth do gigs promoters think of when they do such things? How could a genuine music fan attend both shows? Split themselves in two or what?) because of the bloody flu, but nevermind, because last Saturday, 12th Oct., I went to see Ryuichi Sakamoto (RYUICHI SAKAMOTO!!!) at the new auditorium (THE NEW AUDITORIUM!!!), the one designed by Renzo Piano (RENZO PIANOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super duper top flight Auditorium!!!) – it was about time they started using it, and it’s wonderful they finally decided that not only classical music is worthy, but contemporary music as well!!! I only wished they’d completed it last year, so that David Sylvian could’ve played there instead of that bloody awful Palacisalfa, that would’ve been much, much better…ah, whatever.

Also, two weeks ago I rang my mate Francesca, hadn’t heard off her for some time, and, surprise surprise, she announced me she’s getting married in July 2003!! Must be an epidemic.

Was pondering on my use of the English language – wonder if I don’t sound too, uhm, weird blogging in a language that’s not my own, apart from the fact that it’s so much easier for me to write in English than to speak, as, obviously, my pronunciation/accent’s not exactly BBC English…btw, this Summer I discovered I’m absolutely unable to pronounce the word “Graham” correctly, to the immense joy of Graham Reed, I suppose, although I eventually managed to understand it’s got to be pronounced as if I were translating “PROSCIUTTO GRIGIO” in English (“grey ham”…), or something very close to that…on the other hand, I don’t like the way my British friends pronounce my name, the “r” completely disappears and my name becomes something like “giogia” which means nothing at all, and that’s so very annoying…does all of the above make any sense?

Last but not least, during my puterless days I took on reading Time magazine more often, and I bumped into a very funny article about SINGLISH (this one’s for Davezilla, if he doesn’t know about that already – better than Engrish!!!), i.e. English as spoken by Singaporeans (I got the phrase “Blur as satong” from there, it means “clueless as a squid”!!!)…go to talkingcock.com for more of those gems, but also to sgem.com, webby of SGEM (Speak Good English Movement), made by people who basically would like Singaporeans to “jiat gentang” like westerners, and has tests to check if people’s English is good enough.

By the way, for Christmas and/or my birthday I’d like my copy of the Coxford Singlish Dictionary. Thank you, Santa.

2002-09-17T04:40:00.000-07:00

(OK, this was far too funny not to cut'n'paste it on this page as well - as usual, good old Davezilla makes me laugh even when I'm sad!!!)

The Litany of Bulletin Board Humility

O St. Isidore! meek and humble of heart,
Hear my modem.
From the desire of being recognized only by my screen name,
Deliver me, from spam.
From the desire of being a lurker ...
From the desire of being a cyber-stalker ...
From the desire of feeding the trolls ...
From the desire of OVER-USING THE CAPS LOCK ...
From the desire of over-using emoticons ;^) ...
From the desire of reposting what others have said ...
From the desire of reposting what others have said ...
From the desire of missing the point ...
From the desire of using the BBS as a soapbox ...
Deliver me.

Novena for a Reliable Connection

Most holy and afflicted Virgin, Queen of Martyrs, we venerate your sorrows, and place our request with dutiful confidence in the sanctuary of your heart.
Our Lady of Modems, hear us.
That our connections will not fail us during crappy weather,
Our Lady of Modems, hear us.
That our email be not lost when our ISP bites the big one,
Our Lady of Modems, hear us.
That our Instant Messages be not lost during a crucial part of the conversation,
Our Lady of Modems, hear us.
That our recent entries be not lost to Blogger’s server,
Our Lady of Modems, hear us.
That our poor coding practices do not cause our readers despair,
Our Lady of Modems, hear us. Amen.

(via Davezilla, who got it via Natalie)

2002-09-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

Pooter still bwoken.

Grrrrrrr.

2002-09-08T04:08:00.000-07:00

Ye'll not get our treasure ye scalawag blowfish!

The day I finally get a Mac, I'm going to install this in it!!! Meanwhile, tho, I mean, while I use a pc (i.e. when I finally can be bothered and bring it to a technician so that it can be repaired, that is...), let's begin with this.

mwahahahahahaha!!!!

:::

One more thing: isnt this hilarious? :-P

2002-09-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

Today my little sister turns 22, so...

HAPPY BURPDAY CAROLA!!! :-)

2002-09-06T07:44:00.000-07:00

MOTHER OUT OF ORDER

My lovely (and very clumsy) mother thought it was a good move to slip on a pavement and break her right wrist this morning...so, apparently, my sister's coming back home on Sunday, while Clumsy Mommy (and Dad) will stay in Eboli for a few more days as she started being "repaired" at the local hospital, so what's the point of coming back here before they've finished their work, huh? Anyways, she's really broken all records, as she only broke (sorry for the iteration...) her ankle over there (i.e. in Eboli) in January...apparently, she likes breaking her bones when she's in her hometown.

Heh.

2002-09-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS!

Isabella's teddy bear's been released from prison and is now travelling again!!!

Hurrah!! :)

2002-09-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, now, wait...what the heck has ammonia in vodoo rituals to do with me?!?

2002-09-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

Weather = poo.

Puter still broken.

Operazione trionfo, aka local version of "Pop Idol"-esque tv show, starting tonight.

Doom.

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.

:::

[later} ...anyways, doesn't this sound yummy??

2002-09-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

Giorgia

"Your first name of Giorgia has made you happiest when you are expressing in some creative, artistic way, and not conforming to strict routine. In a large group of comparative strangers, you are quiet and rather shy, unable to express yourself, not really wanting to become involved in conversation. On the other hand, among friends with whom you feel at ease, you are expressive, witty, and quite charming. These contrasting natures make it difficult for people to understand you and can lead to friction in your personal life. You are deep, philosophical, and refined, but your extremely sensitive nature causes you to become depressed and self-pitying over any real or imagined slight. If you are not careful, people take advantage of your generous nature. You find the beauties of nature, fine music, art, and literature--all the deeper things of life--inspiring. The reserved, sensitive side of your nature brings aloneness and friction into your life, although you crave affection and understanding. You must guard against emotional excesses, which could result in depletion of energy, creating a desire for quick-energy foods. You could suffer through skin irritations, blood conditions, back trouble, and later, through arthritis. Heart, lung, or bronchial weaknesses could also result."

...*cough**cough*...

...and now, just for the hell of it, let's try.....ROMEO!!!

"Your name of Romeo indicates qualities of a leader and organizer but a difficulty in concentrating and systematizing your efforts interferes with achieving your goals. You desire a good standard of living and the best quality in all your material possessions. You have a friendly nature, well-liked by others for your sense of humour and pleasant personality and you love parties and socializing in general. You could be musically or artistically inclined and may often be the "life" of the party and would enjoy finding expression in the entertainment field. You have a pleasure-loving nature, and although you have an ability to meet and mix with people on all levels, you tend to become involved in awkward emotional situations to your detriment. Deriving pleasure from giving to others, you enjoy spending money on them, but tend to be a spendthrift, and not build up a reserve for emergencies. You have a good appetite, and appreciate the best and richest foods. For this reason, you could possibly suffer with an over-heated bloodstream, which in turn affects the skin, causing rashes and eczema. "

(of course, he's getting bad skin like his mum...)

2002-09-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

Oh Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou Romeo?

[That's bloody cruel, if you ask me...I mean, Brooklyn sounded naff enough, but it seems they can only get worse!!!]

Deny thy father and refuse thy name!!!

;-P

2002-09-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

***SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT***

MY POOTER IS BWOKEN.

PLEASE HOLD THE LINE...

Got to a public pc to check email and, well, to post this just to tell you all I'm still alive and you don't have to start saving for a ransom or something...also, I'm studying, so probably this pooter's defaillance comes in handy so that I'm not distracted from my good student's duty!!! :-P

Be back soonish!

mwa mwa!!

2002-08-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a stupid day, with stupid weather, stupid emails, stupid friends (friends??) on YahPoo messenger and stupid films on the telly. (Maybe btezra is right, I should kill the TV...)

Grrrrrrrrr.

Anyways: anybody who gathers what the following words *should* mean will gain 10 points (to Alf & all the Italian people who may happen to read this: voi siete fuori competizione, ovviamente!):

UICHEND

IMEIG

SCIOBISNES

IMEIL

GIORGBUSC

Let the competition begin!!! :)

2002-08-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Martijn Broer, who sent me the following two poems by Dorothy Parker:

Wail

Love has gone a-rocketing
That is not the worst;
I could do without the thing,
And not be the first.

Joy has gone the way it came.
That is nothing new;
I could get along the same-
Many people do.

Dig for me the narrow bed,
Now I am bereft.
All my pretty hates are dead,
And what have I left?

:::

Observation

If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again.
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much;
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.

Really made my day!! cheers!!! :)

2002-08-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

During the summer, my entire close family developed an addiction for Gilmore Girls, the TV series, that is.

My sister is a fan of Sookie, Lorelai's hotel's cook.

My mom's a fan of Lane's mom, the Korean lady who sells antiques.

Dad pretends to be annoyed cos the three of us hijack the telly to watch the show, but there are 2 tv sets in our home in Eboli, so he could've watched something else, but he kept watching the show with us every afternoon.

On various occasions, my cousin Annarita also joined me and my sister in the afternoon to watch it and then to, erm, debate after each episode...ridiculous, aren't we?

For the record, I couldn't stand Max, so I'm glad him and Lorelai split - she's better off with Luke, of course...

Anybody else around knows what I'm talking about?

2002-08-27T01:06:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel unloved or underloved, or whatever the correct English word for that feeling is like I often do? then go here...cute!!! :)

2002-08-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

free mr.bear!!!

2002-08-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

REPORT OF AN ITALIAN WEDDING...

So. The wedding-wedding, I mean the wedding ceremony in itself was nice. The priest was nice, in a funny way, not one of those boring ceremonies one just wishes it will end as quickly as possible, on the contrary, he even cracked a few jokes, go figure. It was nice despite the delay (blame it on the groom's mother, i.e. my aunt...or on the groom's father, i.e. my uncle, depending on whom you ask about the delay...). It was also nice despite I was sitting next to my pretentious cousin who, apparently, if the whole world doesn't revolve around herself isn't satisfied, therefore thought very appropriate to annoy all the people sitting close to her with her "we've got to get up again, now?!?" and "why do we have to sit down again now???", as if she'd never been to a Sunday service or something. I mean, it's not you have to know, but if one goes, say, in a mosque doesn't annoy people asking pedantly "why do we have to take our shoes off now???", if one doesn't know, they just try and behave so that they don't disturb and/or annoy other people who may be interested to the religious ceremony, not just to the party afterwards...

So, until, say, 1pm, I was doing alright, and actually enjoying the whole thing, despite the predictions...unfortunately, after the ceremony, there's got to be a bloody wedding banquet. Now, I don't know if you've ever been to an Italian wedding (Alf surely has been at least once and knows what I'm talking about, I guess...), but, especially in the South, the darn thing goes on and on and on for AGES. Literally. Well, hours, that is. The banquet lasted until about 10pm. You do the maths. (For those allergic to maths, it's got to be 9 hours.)

During those 9 hours, I sort of had a journey to hell. Have you ever been surrounded by about a hundred of relatives all at once? Exactly.

Randomly, here's what I've been told/asked/shrieked at (each one of the following's been repeated at least 10 times in different moments):

Where's your boyfriend? (I haven't got one, you morons!)

Why don't you wear higher heels? (cos I would just bump my forehead into the top of the door if I do, you idiots! well, not literally, but it feels like that...I'm already tall enough. End of the story.)

Why aren't you married yet? How old are you? 28? That's too old! Why aren't you married yet?? [ad lib.] (Has ever passed your mind I'm not a can of peas with "best before August 2002" printed on it??)

Why don't you cut your hair? alterned with Why don't you grow your hair?? (for the record, my hair's averagely long these days, about to halfway my back or something similar, only it's curly, so, depending to which faction one belongs to, it's either too short or too long...)

You're too fat! (ha!!!) or You're too emaciated!!! (would somebody please suggest a good optician for these people? I'm not fat nor emaciated!!!)

Straighten up your back! (why don't the f**king lot of you just f**k off away from me?? go bother the bride, for heaven's sake, she feels neglected, it's her wedding!!!!)

and blah blah blah...

...Bridget Jones WHO??

Weddings don't do any good to my nervous system.

:::

Anyways, on another note, I reverted to Japan-ism later in the night, after a whole afternoon of Sophie Ellis Bextor and Remy Shand as well, and now have "Methods of dance" in my headphones, on repeat play at 3am...and then I complain about dreaming too much of David Sylvian...ain't I silly?

2002-08-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

By the way, since I'm back, my Monday Mission contribution's back too!!!

Monday Mission 2.34

1. What do you do to make things better when you feel sad and/or lonely?
Uhm, not much lately...probably try and find a funny book to read, i.e. a book that's NOT on Richey's list (hint, hint...) as they're ALL too depressing...I find myself reading so many nice and funny books these days, and I'm happy with that!!

2. Are you a "touchy-feely" person? That is, do you like to touch people you don't know that well? And on the flipside of that, do you like being touched by someone you aren't close with?
No, I'm not too comfortable with touching people I don't feel close with, but I like it when my friends or people off my family hug me.

3. Do you like to have "me" time, time to yourself to be alone and relax? Or do you prefer to just do your own thing with someone else in the room? When was the last "me" time you got and what did you do?
Don't pay much attention, if I need time for myself, as long as nobody disturbs me, that's fine, so it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm the only one in a 300 km ray...

4. Generally speaking, how do you feel about the concept of marriage? Are you the marryingn type? Do you think the act of getting married means something today or is it simply just "a piece of paper?"
welllllllllllllllllllllllll.........................ok, first I have to digest my cousin's wedding I went to on Saturday, then I'll try and give a decent answer to this one, I promise!!

5. That said, as many as 25 states have passed legislation regulating who they believe should be the "marrying type." What are your thoughts on the banning of same-sex marriages?
There a re a lot of "de facto" families that are much better than the "de iure" ones, so I guess it all has to do with the good people/bad people factor, even in a heterosexual marriage things can be all rosy from the outside while it's 100% hell under the surface...

6. If there was one law you had the ability to create or change, what would it be?
I'd definitely abrogate the capital law. That's simply murder to me.

7. What would you like someone visiting your Blog for the first time to know about you? Now is your chance!
Uhm...well, David Sylvian appears in about 90% of my non-nightmare night dreams. Isn't this a scoop?

BONUS: Can you hear them?
No, probably cos I'm playing Sophie Ellis Bextor full volume...

2002-08-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

I'M BACK!!!

hello peeps!!

glad to be back, this is going to be a short post as I have to put my stuff in its right drawers etc, and take a shower and eat something, anyway I'm back, and that's it for today, I guess!!!

HURRAH!!!

2002-08-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

(Oh, I hate spammers!!!)

Hellos!! I'm in a library with comrades (read: cousins), wasting some time, or, at least, hoping to waste some, this week seems to be neverending, and I WANT TO GO HOME!!!! grrrrr!

Anyways, no big news, apart from the fact that I eventually managed to get sunburnt on the front as well, so now I'm all ridiculously pinky!!

Managed to read a few blogs I was really missing, like Davezilla's, Alf's and Gert's, but this pc is failing to upload PromoGuy's page, which is pretty annoying.

Ok, back to complete boredom, see ya in a week (if I don't find another pc to kidnap before then...)

ciao ciao!!!

2002-08-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Hello peeps!!

Yes, yes, I said I would've been on holiday all August...and, in fact, I still am @ my parents' hometown, getting bored by the minute..

Yesterday it was my grandpa's 93rd birthday (yes, 93, ninetythree...that's what I call longevity...)and I had oh so much fun making a three layers chocolate cake for his birthday party...

what else...oh, well, during the past weeks, I've been walking my uncle's dalmatian dog, playing hairdressers with my 13 year old cousin, going to the seaside and getting burnt (but only on my back, my belly is still pinky-white, which is hilarious...), read quite a few books, including Zadie Smith's "White teeth", and yes, I know it's old, but I've been so busy in the past months I haven't been able to read much, so I kept buying "good books" hoping to catch on them during my holidays, which is exactly what I've done. I also read Nick Hornby's "About a boy" (planning to see the film sometime in the autumn...) and "How to be good"...oh, and Jane Green's "Bookends". To tell the truth, I wasn't sure it was going to be any good, probably cos I'd read "Jemima J" by her, too, and it was absolutely awful, but I gave her a second chance, and I guess the girl is improving...we'll see.

How's things with you, er...ALL?

I'll be back properly in 10 days or so, until then, be pure, be vigilant...BEHAVE!!!

:-)

2002-07-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

ON HOLIDAY

Dear all,

I'll be away from this pooter for all August, going to my parents' hometown. So please don't send me unnecessary email, as I cannot read it until September, and it would only clog up my already hideous inbox.

For any emergencies that may occur while I'm away, flats under flood, mint pizzas indigestion, broken nails etcetera, you have my mobile's number, if you don't, that's either because I haven't given the number to you cos I don't like you, or, most probably, cos I forgot. If you think you've been unfairly left out of the lucky bunch who do have my mobile's number, you've got all tomorrow to ask for it via email, as I'm leaving on Saturday.

Anyway, keep in mind that if you happen to contact me on the mobile via another mobile, therefore disclosing aforementioned mobile's number to me, I tend to annoy you with meaningless text messages, it's a serious disease, much like internet addiction, for which they haven't found a cure yet, so think twice, or even a thousand times, before doing that, and then, if you do, don't say I didn't warn you.

See you all soon!! :-)

2002-07-25T05:07:00.000-07:00

Oh.

My friend Catia (not same Catia as in Catia&Massimo, another Catia) is getting married - btw, on 7th September, which happens to be the day after her own birthday *and* the very day of my sister's birthday...

All these people getting married left right and centre...must be an epidemic thing.

Also, Johan (Swede chap who wants to get a Primo Levi's poem tattoed on his arm, I mean Johan off the MSP list I unsubbed from ages ago, for those who happen to read this and know both him and the list...) told me that Sean Moore off the Manic Street Preachers became a dad... When?? And above all, why on earth?? Wasn't he the one who went round telling for no reason at all he would've given life to another sad human being, or something similar? Huh, I'm getting old, only a couple of years ago I would've been one of the first people to know the news...know what? I don't give a damn about the Manics anymore, actually. You'll probably find me listening to Puccini more often than not these days...