my computer died! hiatus time...

Tons of news to share. No, really. But I have limited time and extremely limited resources, at least for the next few days, til I move to Berlin Wednesday night. Wait, what? Surprise! (Haha, not really a surprise for those of you who know me :P ) I need to get going on those German skills, and since I know how to order every single variation of espresso in Italian, I figured it was time to move on.

But like I said, much more news to share! But it'll have to wait... (Oohh, suspense! ...I know you like it. ;)

Ta for now! See ya in Deutschland!

This never gets old...and I read a book, yay!

Gotta love that video.

On that note, I just finished reading Beppe Severgnini's La Bella Figura which was a sigh of relief for me... because to say that my honeymoon with this country is over is an understatement. La Bella Figura (sorry, the title is just not translatable!) explains Italians and much of Italians' most infuriating and happiness-inducing behaviors (and also compares heavily with the American, British and sometimes German behavior equivalent.) Firstly, it was just good to read a good book. It has been a few months. But even more importantly, it was refreshing to hear about all the funny/odd/downright piss-me-off habits people in this country have, straight from an Italian himself. (Oddly enough, the author's sister is the one who organized this program I'm doing. Now I know who got the brains in that family.) Anyway, I've been recommending it left and right to ex-pats here experiencing the same daily frustration that I have, Italophiles who have never lived in Italy and have fluffy, glazed-over-eyes dreams of doing so, relatives, and even friends who haven't a clue about Italy and have never been here anyway. It's so worth it, especially if you do know (and more so if you think you know) Italy.






I gotta read more books. They're good for the soul.

*Picks up another*


P.S. I finally got a package my mom sent to me back via airmail. It only took 68 days.

Für Michael...

I love you.




Smashing Pumpkins - Stand Inside Your Love

You and me
Meant to be
Immutable
Impossible
It's destiny
Pure lunacy
Incalculable
Insufferable
But for the last time
You're everything that I want and ask for
You're all that I'd dreamed
Who wouldn't be the one you love
Who wouldn't stand inside your love
Protected and the lover of
A pure soul and beautiful you
Don't understand
Don't feel me now
I will breathe
For the both of us
Travel the world
Traverse the skies
Your home is here
Within my heart
And for the first time
I feel as though I am reborn
In my mind
Recast as child and mystic sage
Who wouldn't be the one you love
Who wouldn't stand inside your love
And for the first time
I'm telling you how much I need and bleed for
Your every move and waking sound
In my time
I'll wrap my wire around your heart and your mind
You're mine forever now
Who wouldn't be the one you love and live for
Who wouldn't stand inside your love and die for
Who wouldn't be the one you love

Well, thank god that's over...

....and let's move onto February.

You know what's weird? I clicked on cartoon video and it told me I couldn't watch it because they're not allowed to stream the video to people outside the US (legal mumbo jumbo, blah blah)...but that's not the weird part. The weird part is that, after reading that message on the screen, I thought to myself, "What are they talking about? I'm in the US!"

*Shakes head like wet dog shakes body*

Went to a Smashing Pumpkins concert this past weekend. Forgot how much I loved these guys and rock in general. Loved the show, hated the participants. How is it possible that I only saw ONE Italian jumping around to Bullet with Butterfly Wings?? What's wrong with these people? I know there would have been moshpits galore if I would have see SP stateside. And although I'm not a fan of moshpits in general, a lil vitality would have been appreciated here, and not just a bunch of zombies staring up at Billy Corgan's shiny bald head with a lustful craving to have a bite of his brains. Christ, people. Oh wait, I forgot that Italians don't like to sweat. It's unfashionable. In fact, while Paige was jogging outside a few weeks ago, some guy rolled down his window and yelled out to her, in Italian of course, "You're sweating too much!! It's Ugly!!!!"
Sigh.

Aside from that, great weekend with Michi. :) And I didn't even get to show him the Duomo! Blame it on the crap weather. We did eat amazing pizza, at a famous joint called La Vecchia Napoli in Milano. I'm quite sure my dad would have approved (seeing as his life mission revolves around finding the perfect pizza.) Michi saw the menu, all in Italian (which he doesn't speak), and without even blinking an eye, zooms into the "Bismarck" pizza (obviously named after Otto von Bismarck, the 1st Chancellor of Deutschland), and exclaims proudly, "I gotta represent my country!!" Haha. (The Bismarck was basically like a Romana-- raw prosciutto-- plus an egg in the middle.) He loved it.

Congrats to the Giants!!! Epic game, David vs. Goliath style. Just hope that my brother isn't planning on naming the baby Eli now. :P Stayed up til 4:30am watching the game on the internet (woohoo for tv-pirating!) and subsequently missed / slept through the entire work day. Oops. Michael and I wish we could be at the ticker tape parade tomorrow in the city!