How Could I Forget???

See, the fact that it started as a posting on recent books and turned out to be a posting on ALL books, crap, I ended up forgetting all about Tondelli!! And, yes, in case you don't know him, another gay one. As said, I'm getting to realize I like gay people better. :) Camere Separate (Separate Rooms) is a masterpiece of love declaration...

And, since we're at it, Closed Circle by Jonathan Coe just came out, as a sequel of The Rotter's Club. If you live in Europe, it's already available, including the Italian translation coming out today. If you, on the other end, live ON THIS SIDE OF THE OCEAN, forget it, we have to wait till May. *Sgrunt*! And on a different note, does anyone know what his sexual orientation is?? I wanna see if I have a pattern, here. I feel like a textbook case by now...

And if you've ever wondered what it feels like to be married in a castle, check this out... Someone I love might be married there soon. I'm wondering, how many people have done the same in the centuries leading to that very date? How many princesses and cortisans and peasants got married in the same spot, or spent their first night there?? And I am wondering, isn't that a fairy tale ending to real fairy tale love story??? You gotta love happy endings. :)

Una Lettera dalla Cina

"Grande e bellissima, come la Cina"

Come scrive la Genti, ecco come me la immagino la mia AmicainCina, che da Shanghai con un bimbo piccolo racconta delle sue avventure Cinesi.

La mia AmicainCina ha trovato una persona che chiama casa, suo figlio. E con lui, va a cercarsi e trovarsi dall'altra parte di molti continenti. A fare la rappresentante di pezzi di ricambio di macchine del caffe'!! Ed il suo coraggio e' una vera ispirazione... il coraggio di lasciare le cose che chiamiamo "casa" per seguire le cose che sono davvero casa. Il coraggio di andare contro il parere di tutti per trovare la propria dimensione in un posto "altro". Il coraggio di ricominciare, da sola, sui cocci di un amore fracassato dalle martellate del solito cretino che non capisce perche' una donna nella tua vita e' la cosa migliore che ti puo' capitare. E allora lei ha fatto le valigie ed e' tornata in Cina, dopo avere seguito la disavventure in Sud America adesso segue le avventure in Asia. Da sola. Con un bimbo di tre anni.

Cara AmicainCina, tu si' che hai da insegnare a tutte noi che crediamo che le difficolta' siano non avere niente da fare il venerdi' sera. Un bacio, che ti raggiunga a Shanghai e ti si venga a posare sulla fronte mentre dormi. La mia splendida AmicainCina, cosi' "conformista" (ti ricordi gli scarponcini col carrarmato sotto, la vera moda, che ti mettevi di nascosto da tua mamma??) quando avevamo 13 anni, cosi' indipendente oggi a 30... che la Cina ti guarisca da tutte le ferite degli altri continenti.

Much Love,

This Is So Civil Engineeringly Geek You Won't Believe it!!

Displacements. Displacements are driving me nuts. I'm hoping some civil engineer will read this and help me solve this: I have a tied-back wall, with active and passive and all sort of loadings already figured out. I even have the moment curve, but it is not generated by a linear loading condition --> I can't integrate twice and get the displacements!!

Anyway, the bottom line is, my frustration is spilling. Have you ever faced a problem you think you have solved a zillion times, and you can't just come up with the right solution??? This is the way I feel- I WANNA PULL OUT MY HAIR ONE BY ONE!!!

an email to Troy...

"Okay, this is driving me nuts, it's like a riddle I know I used to be able to solve and now I'm blanking. My nth attempt to solve via the equation of the elastic line (the second derivative of the displacement is equal to minus M(x)/EI) is not proving fruitful. It won't work in a nice elegant way. I mean, I can always crank in the number and get the solution for this specific case, but it won't be a generalized method to do so.

SO- the virtual works method. I have banged my head on my school notes, the only way I've ever applied it was to find reactions in statically undetermined structures, rather than by finding displacements. I guess it shouldn't be a big deal to force it to spit it out a displacement instead, but I CAN'T THINK OF A WAY TO RELEASE A RESTRAINT! I need the displacement at a generic point along the wall, and I am still afraid I can use it at a certain location, but not as a generalized equation for future use. It's just driving me nuts.

I'm sure you'll come up with a beautiful and elegant solutions that will make me think I have lost all my neurons on the way to California, and I will just curse myself for not thinking about it before you.

And by the way, I'm SO blogging this!!!

:)"

well, today was engineering day! :)

The House at The End of the Rainbow...

Gym Membership

I went spinning with Cielo last night, and it was pretty gruesome. The class was great, the instructor was really tough and gave a great lesson, the music was fine... but the fellow spinners, see, that's what I had a problem with. First of all, you know it's not gonna be pleasant when, during the stretching at the beginning of class, you get a whiff of your bike neighbour, who obviously ignore the concept of using a good deodorant. BEFORE sweating, that is. Then the guy who pulled in a bike in front of us had apparently the same problem, with the addition of creating ever so slowly a wet pool at his feet as the lesson progressed. Now, I know that it's not a process you can do much about (I don't exactly smell like roses during a spinnign class, let me tell ya!), but what you CAN do, for heaven's sake, is AVOID WEARING A SLEVELESS SHIRT if you know you sweat like a camel in the desert!! So, guys, please please please, WEAR THOSE FUCKING SLEEVES!! Get a regular t-shirt: no one is going to be interested in seeing your muscles if they need to keep a ten feet clearance from you!! Get a life, stop being vane and just show some respect to your fello gym members!! And, to those people at the front desk, can't you make up a policy that if members wanna wear tank tops they need to show proof of extensive deodoration??? Just a thought...

I was ranting about this last night and Esse said he knew he was goin to see it on my blog. I hadn't thought about it, but a good rant is always good blog material!!

Books, Books and More Books

Julia back at Tension Is To Be Loved was asking about books. She says she's reading Middlesex, and she likes it so much she wants to try to catch up with her old commitment to read at least 25 books a year. I didn't think that was such a big deal, but anyway. I was blown away by how different the people who read the same blog can be! A lady reccomended she reads "The Lovely Bones". Yeah, by Alice Sebolt, whom I have just very recently trashed in this blog. Funny, uh? Someone else reccomended some books I would not even think about picking up- in long and short, the ones my coworker reads. I'm always afraid when one of my Amazon orders comes in at work, because for every book she says "Oh, that looks good!", I know it's tainted and I probably will hate it. It's nothing against her, it's just that it seems our reading taste is as far from similar as it gets. But anyway, I digress.

I find it funny how the taste in book really defines the people I like most. I think my deepest friendships revolve around books, exchanged, borrowed, reccomended. The path that brings us together, if you want. And I usually know whether I'm going to make friends with someone once I learn what they read. Or IF they read. A curious sidenote: past relationships- either non-readers, or about one or two books in common (I remember "Calculating God" as the only book both Frenchie and I read!). Right now Cielo reads what I feed him, and manages not to like almost any of it. I guess I can marry someone like that, but I can't make friends with them!! ahahah!!

What have I read recently that really stands out? well, first of all I'm noticing I'm ever so slightly changing my taste. I can cope with a so-so plot that is masterfully written, but I have a much harder time with a great plot that is written in grade school style. I obviously super prefer it when I can get a good plot and a great writing, but we all know how hard it is to find! I'm also noticing that more and more of the authors I love the most are gay. I don't know why, but they are. So, I'm starting to backtrack into it: if an author is gay, I'm likely to like what he/she writes. Do I like gay people better than straight people? It's growing on me that I probably do. :)

A quick and dirty book review of what I have read in the past few months:

Most recent readings are Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City- Armistead Maupin. I followed PattyZen advice here, and she did not fail me!! He's great. And gay. strike one

David Leavitt- anything he's written. I am more of a novel type than a short stories type, and David keeps on writing these little bits, and I have to put up with him. He writes great novels, for sure, but his short stories are just... special. Quickies, frustratig, but good. The best short story I have ever read I think is "A Place I've Never Been". Great. Definetly Gay.

Jonathan Coe- I have no indications on his sexual preferences, but The House of Sleep and The Winshaw Legacy are just great.

Michael Cunningham- You find The Hours overexploited? pick up Flesh and Blood, or A Home at The End of the World. It only gets better. Absolutely gay.

Jonathan Frentzen- The Corrections is just great. Strong Movement is great, too! Some very interesting concepts on the role of women coming from a character that is hard to sympathize with. If you can agree with someone you don't like, it means the writer has a pretty good way to put it down!

The Book of Illusions, Paul Auster. Pretty incredible book. Just good, awfully good, although I found it slow at times (the times where Rowena was getting all excited! we liked the book for very different reasons!!).

Douglas Coupland is always great. All Families are Psycothic makes you feel better about your own family. Girlfriend in a Coma is awesome. Microserfs describes us well. Miss Wyoming is awfully sad. Hey, Nostradamus is good. I like him. I'm not sure who he sleeps with. I need to read his bio...

I read 54, by Wu Ming. Sorry, the English speaking crowd still doesn't have the translation available, although they're working on it... but you can download it in Dutch, Italian and Spanish for free here. Wu Ming is a group of 5 Italian writers, some write better than others, but they're fascinating...

9.99 by a french guy called Frederic Breidgeber was just a piece of genius. I LOVED this book. Too good to be true. Hilarious.

Kissing in Manhattan, by David Schickler, was great. I actually looked for the Preemption building, and I was really disappointed discovering he made it up!!

Jeffrey Eugenides- Middlesex is FANTASTIC, The Virgin Suicides, from way back when, I found it okay.

I started reading Chuck Palahniuk about 3 times now- Invisible Monsters. It's not that I don't like it, but usually my attention gets diverted. I guess I need to double guess this one. And pick up Survivor.

Tibor Fischer- in English, it's "Under the Frog" (in Italian, Sotto il Culo di una Rana in Fondo a una Miniera di Carbone) -the title alone makes you wanna buy the book, doesn't it?? The Collector Collector (Il Collezionista), another genial book. And then again, the inventor of the concept of "cerebral chewing-gum" must be worshipped!

Cathleen Schine- I didn't know she was gay, but that explains a lot. The Love Letter is great, all else- eh!

I have conflicting feelings about Margaret Atwood and Janette Winterson. I have not been persuaded I really like them.

Avoid if you can- if you haven't caught up on this yet, I'm going to say it one more time: Alice Sebolt, The Lovely Bones- oh my gawd, I understand that picking on rape victims is not particularly popular, but aside from the fact that she's not gay, I have a hard time believing someone could write something in worse form. *bleah*! Avoid Ray Bradbury in anything but Fahrenheit 451. Avoid Dean Koontz and Paolo Maurensig. You might want to play it safe and avoid the latest Ken Follett, too, but if you haven't read it yet pick up Pillars of the Earth, which is a great entertainement novel... Patricia Cornwell, too, I used to like her as a purely entertaining reading, now I HATE her....

Uhm. I realized I did not just give recommendations to the last books I enjoyed, it's more like I compiled a list of what I've been liking and not in the past few years!! I admit some of those are more dated recommendations , cope with me. I'm sure there should be a lot more to say. Let me put it on your side of the field, tell me what you're reading and what you've been liking...

Need to go to bed now. It's past 11pm, it's my second post for the day, and I'm aging. :)

Incancrenirsi

A volte mi chiedo se sono io cosi' ottusa da non volere vedere nessun'altra faccia della moneta che la mia. A volte invece mi chiedo se non siamo tutti cosi' a modo nostro, chiusi nei nostri principi, e l'unico modo per uscirne e' il rispetto totale e la tolleranza totale.

E' un problema di internet. Ci rinchiude invece di liberarci, restringe le cose che leggiamo e le opinioni a cui siamo soggetti piuttosto che ampliarle. Alla fine, anche se abbiamo piu' scelte possibili, decidiamo di leggere e di confrontarci solo con quelli che sono d'accordo con noi. O almeno, questo succede nella maggior parte dei casi. E con le incredibili risorse a cui internet ci da' accesso, sono sicura che se io penso che la difesa dei polli bianchi col becco nero sia vitale all'evoluzione della specie, o che le razze diverse dalla mia siano geneticamente inferiori, le possibilita' che riesca a trovare qualcuno che sia perfettamente d'accordo con me sono elevate. Quindi invece che allargare i miei orizzonti li stringo. Cerco di essere brava, e ascolto questa radio destroide la mattina mentre vado a lavorare. La maggior parte delle volte mi incazzo, ma almeno ho sentito un parere diverso che nella cerchia dei miei amici non e' comune avere. Alla fine, mi rifugio nella gente che considero intelligente, che e' quella d'accordo con me, e non trovo poi cosi' necessario questionare le mie posizioni. Che cosa ho ottenuto? Io sono sempre piu' convinta di avere ragione. Ma e' la ragione la cosa importante? O vogliamo davvero dare importanza con i fatti, e non solo con le parole, ai concetti di rispetto, tolleranza, convivenza civile?

Mi sento impotente, ma cerco di rimanere fedele ai miei principi: non voglio imporre le mie opinioni su nessuno, ma rifiuto che qualcuno pensi di potermi imporre le proprie. Sono favorevole all'aborto e alla liberta' di scelta. Non credo che lo farei mai, ma non penso che la mia situazione possa descrivere la totalita' delle condizioni in cui si puo' trovare una donna incinta. Sono favorevole all'eutanasia, nonostante sia una scelta dolorosa e difficile penso che una persona abbia diritto di scegliere come terminare la sua vita. Lo farei, con mio marito, con i miei figli?- wow, difficilissimo rispondere. Ma la mia situazione non descrive la totalita' delle situazioni in cui si trovano le persone che questa scelta devono farla. Voglio tasse piu' alte- no, assolutamente no!, ma alla fine so che il bilanciamento sociale, e i minimi standard di vita per tutti, non si ottengono senza prezzo. Credo nella dignita' dell'essere umano, credo che ci siano condizioni di vita minime nella vita dell'individuo, e credo che nelle nostre societa' questo debba essere provveduto dal Governo, e quindi tramite la tassazione. Non credo che la gente debba morire di fame, o di diabete, e non credo che il divario tra i ricchi e i poveri debba essere arbitrariamente aumentato. Piu' stipendio, piu' tasse, mi sembra lineare. Penso che provvedere standard minimi di qualita' della vita sia un diritto, non un dovere.

Ma questo e' quello che penso io. Come ci vivo? Quasi semplice: cerco di rispettare come posso, piu' che posso, quelli che la pensano diversamente. Le lezioni della Mamma e delle maestre delle elementari non e' andata persa: la mia liberta' finisce dove comincia quella di un altro. Quindi credo che qualunque scelta che invada la mia sfera personale la voglio fare io, non voglio che sia un altro a farla, e non mi sogno di sostenere politiche che la pensano diversamente. Da dove arriva questa militanza? Il mio capo, che pensa di potermi imporre le sue opinioni con l'imbuto. Detesto il fatto che legga solo stampa e notizie provenienti dall'estrema destra. Detesto il fatto che scelga quali parti della Bibbia seguire e quali ignorare, detesto che sostenga che l'aborto e' illegale ma la pena di morte e l'usura no. Detesto il fatto che proponga le sue opinioni come verita' assolute, detesto il fatto che quando mi rifiuto di discutere con lui non si arrende. Cerca la rissa in continuazione, e io non lo sopporto piu'. Litigo con lui ogni due giorni, giuro...

E cosi', ho dato ragione al Francese. Uso il Blog per dire al mondo come la penso. *uffa*

Solo Per Addette ai Lavori...

Qua si farnetica, si chiacchiera, ma insomma, e' ora di prendere la situazione in mano!! Abbiamo a disposizione ferie e anche un po' di soldini, perche' non metterli a buon uso?? Magari in bassa stagione, magari quando riusciamo a farlo tutte, ma insomma: ANDIAMO A FARCI UNA VACANZA!! Le mie restrizioni sono: SE a Settembre ricomincio ad andare a scuola, ho le limitazioni del caso, e quindi dovrei guardare il calendario scolastico, che dice che in una data variabile dal 13 al 20 Dicembre al 18 Gennaio sono libera... Altrimenti, fine Agosto, oppure Luglio... Insomma, se non interferisce col potenziale calendario scolastico, io ci sono!! Destinazioni: io propongo i Caraibi da qualche parte, Jamaica, Antille, Cozumel o anche Costa Rica. Dite voi. (Cielo doesn't mind, mi deve ancora il recupero di Cabo San Lucas!!)

Su un altro tema, HO BISOGNO DI INDIRIZZI, se no come faccio a mandarvi l'invito di matrimonio??? St, il vostro non ce l'ho di sicuro, e nemmeno quello della Juanita... mandatemi un'email di salvataggio! 11 Giugno, Cesenatico. E non si accettano defezioni!!

Baci, per oggi basta...

Finally Done!

We are finally done. It seemed impossible, it lasted forever, but we made it! We finally have our SCUBA certifications!!! So, this weekend in Monterey we submerged ourselves to take a look at the Metridium Fields. Wow! Underwater cauliflowers, if you ask me!! They're just gorgeous!!

The proof we're finally getting back our week nights... :)

Toi Aussi???

So, Frenchie sent me an email that read pretty much:

"Good god. Et tu?? ;) Another one thinking that they need to tell the world what they think. J".
The topic was quite obviously my Blog. With a capitol B.

I had not looked at the topic in these terms. So, why do I blog? because I want everyone to know what I think? Not really. It's more like, my daily writing exercise, my way to keep my thoughts organized, and to practice writing. Writing, you know, one of those things I have always wished I were able to do. I kinda feel like I could be writing with this blog!, although I should probably stick to Italian for better form... In any case, I'm enjoying myself. I like to keep in touch with my friends. I like the fact they are checking out how I'm doing by coming to this page almost everyday, and leaving a scribble here and there. And the fact that, through this, I'm actually getting to know new people, like St., which I should know but for a series of unfortunate circumstances I've never met, and it was just about time I did... So, I'm glad I have a space I can play with. I'm learning the basics of HTML by messing with my template everyday (I know, right now it looks like it's been put together by someone severely color-blind and with proportion sickness!), but nevertheless, I'm learning something new. And that's always a good thing. I'm also learning that creative writing is not something I'll ever do in English, and that it shows through and through that English is not my first language. Doesn't prevent me from trying, but I know I'll revert to Italian eventually. And I'm learning there's a ton of people who write much, much better than some of the writers I PAID to read (like, uhm Dean Koontz, Paolo Maurensig in everyhting but "La Variante di Lunenburg" (there's been a lot of raving on my part with Rowena regarding "Venere Lesa"... *bleah*!!) Alice Sebold, and many more!)... so, it's enjoyable to be part of a community of people who are actually good at what they do.

So, Frenchie, no, I don't write beacuse I feel the need to Let the World Know What I Think. And for someone whose second language is French, I expected better form!!! (cheap shot, I couldn't resist!!- you know I love you!!)

I HATE Spring

So, am I the only one on the planet? I just thought I touch on the topic since the air conditioner has started blowing on my freacking neck all right, and that is the unequivocal sign of California Spring. So, even in temperate weather, where I could actually lay down my hatred for this stupid season, it has found a good way to come back and make me hate it. Again. All over again.

 

Anyway, when I was still in Italy the first few sun rays breaking through the clouds where the unmistakable beginning of me going menopausal. For that stupid month when the weather changed from winter to Freacking Spring, I was the walking handbook of menopause symptoms. Hot flashes. Chills. Sweats. Bad smell. Decreased Sex Drive. You NAME IT! There was never a time worse than the March-April period for me. Call me CrankyNess if you please. I remember clearly the March afternoon in 1994 (check me out!) where my hatred began: I was on the bus heading back to the train station, and I started breaking a marathon sweat!!! I swear, I was smelling worse than a rotten sock, a wet dog and a triathlete, all together!!! I HAD TO GET OFF THE BUS because I was too embarrassed!!! I walked back to the station from Piazza Malpighi, cursing and swearing under my breath. There was no shower in sight for me before Cesenatico, two hours away. That's how it all begun...

 

I had to move my ass half-way through the planet to find a place where sandals are in season from February to November, and avoid the dreaded transition from Winter is not even there!! And what I get in exchange??? A neck paralysis. I swear, someone explain to me why in California, although I had a chance to observe it in the whole US, any temperature indoor above 60ºF (15.5ºC) is considered indecent. That is, in warm weather. In Winter, they give you a break- we had our office set to 64ºF for most of the "Winter". 4ºF above. Wow. If you're not impressed, you SHOULD be- it's been a long battle. So, here it comes again, the season of Onion Clothing: The jacket and sweater for office use, the strappy top and sandals for outside.

 

You gotta LOVE Spring. You think??

 

*bleah*!

 

Most Significant Accomplishment

So, Admission Process, part two.

This entire concept of limiting these great things you have to say about yourself to 250 WORDS, I find it ridicolous. In any case, not like you have a choice, they decide what you write and for how long, sooooooo...

My Most Significant Accomplishment. Voila'!

Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250-word maximum)
I have always been a couch potato. I have always been the one for whom the workouts were a punishment, not a reward. Until one bright February morning when I realized that in order to drag myself out of bed everyday, I needed more than just my job. I remember my thought process, the conversation going on between my neurons:

"You should do something."
"But what?"
"I don't know, something completely out of your league."
"Like what?"
"Something crazy, something different... a triathlon!!!"

February 20, 2002, palindrome day, was the day my life changed. I got out of bed, researched the Internet, and found it: Pacific Grove, September 14. I signed up for my first triathlon. The task ahead of me was enormous. I had never run before, and I did not even own a bike! At least I could swim - or I thought I could! Day after day, I had to persuade my body that I was really serious about going through with this. I had to loose at least 20 pounds in order not to hurt my knees, and I had to find the time for the workouts around my busy work schedule. I was more hungry, more exhausted, and in more pain than ever before, but I was not going to give up! On the day of the race, I was number 1933 very intensively: marked all over my body, the sign I was going to win my personal challenge. I was the proudest person on earth when I crossed that finish line. I had made it, against all odds, and also against my parents wondering whether I had hit my head! I crossed the finish line and felt like I could do an Ironman next! Well, not quite. Maybe in another year...

I HATE Spring

So, am I the only one on the planet? I just thought I touch on the topic since the air conditioner has started blowing on my freacking neck all right, and that is the unequivocal sign of California Spring. So, even in temperate weather, where I could actually lay down my hatred for this stupid season, it has found a good way to come back and make me hate it. Again. All over again.

Anyway, when I was still in Italy the first few sun rays breaking through the clouds where the unmistakable beginning of me going menopausal. For that stupid month when the weather changed from winter to Freacking Spring, I was the walking handbook of menopause symptoms. Hot flashes. Chills. Sweats. Bad smell. Decreased Sex Drive. You NAME IT! There was never a time worse than the March-April period for me. Call me CrankyNess if you please. I remember clearly the March afternoon in 1994 (check me out!) where my hatred began: I was on the bus heading back to the train station, and I started breaking a marathon sweat!!! I swear, I was smelling worse than a rotten sock, a wet dog and a triathlete, all together!!! I HAD TO GET OFF THE BUS because I was too embarrassed!!! I walked back to the station from Piazza Malpighi, cursing and swearing under my breath. There was no shower in sight for me before Cesenatico, two hours away. That's how it all begun...

I had to move my ass half-way through the planet to find a place where sandals are in season from February to November, and avoid the dreaded transition from Winter is not even there!! And what I get in exchange??? A neck paralysis. I swear, someone explain to me why in California, although I had a chance to observe it in the whole US, any temperature indoor above 60ºF (15.5ºC) is considered indecent. That is, in warm weather. In Winter, they give you a break- we had our office set to 64ºF for most of the "Winter". 4ºF above. Wow. If you're not impressed, you SHOULD be- it's been a long battle. So, here it comes again, the season of Onion Clothing: The jacket and sweater for office use, the strappy top and sandals for outside.

You gotta LOVE Spring. You think??

*bleah*!

What I want to do IF I grow up...

from Red Victorian Inn, San Francisco

This poster hangs in my living room, reminding me never to loose my balance...
:)

One Thing to be Said About Blogs...

...they're addictive.

So, two months ago I knew blogs existed and I had zero interested in them. Then Rowena started one, and I started reading hers and considering starting my own. Oh, therapeutic thing! Beautiful, now I feel guilty if I don't post for more than two days. It helps me a lot to get my thoughts organized and clear! But anyway, back on topic...

I now check regularly at least, AT LEAST 4 blogs: LeMieCose, SantaSede, This Fish, and Dooce, all of which usually make me laugh like crazy. And from there, I'm finding new ones, new writers, new things to snoop on, and it's just growing, a true addition. I look for new writers, new blogs, new things to read EVERY DAY. I click on every link every one of the blogs I read has. I have to say, even though This Fish is an awesome writer, my fav is Dooce. By far. Dig out the monthly letters to Leta, her one-year-old daughter, and you can understand what kind of parents you can actually be. Parenthood is not just the image of perfection you have in your mind!!

Anyway, the fact is, I check each blog like, 7 times a day, and each time I open one of my "usual" and there's no new post, I get really disappointed. And then I check mine, and if there aren't any comments, I get really disappointed. So, this blog thing increased the amount of disappointment in my life. How did THAT happen??? :)

In any case. Some incredibly talented writers out there. And they're blogging. Why aren't you??

Application Process

Just for the records, I DO believe the application process to school, any school, can be a really, truly, positive experience... that is, if you get past the jitters!
It's a unique chance to look inside of you, and dig out some thoughts you had never out together before: why do you like a certain person, or enjoy doing a certain thing, or how you define why certain things are important for you...

So, TO ANY OF YOU APPLYING TO GO (back?) TO SCHOOL, LISTEN UP:
Writing the essays: a great chance to say very good things about yourself.
Interviews (my favorite!!): a UNIQUE chance to talk to someone for an hour straight telling them how cool you are and what a wonderful addition you would be for their school.

I mean, I know the jitters and all, but after you've taken the GMAT, or the GRE, or whatever your poison is, you're out for the most important and more FUN part of applying to school!! So, enjoy. It was really, really great for me. The second time around! ;)

Passionate

How do you manage to describe something you're really, really passionate about, without going above 250 words? Isn't it a contradiction in terms??? You should like this thing so much but you need to restrain yourself as far as how many words you use to describe it. Useless to say, I was not happy!! So, thanks to my beautiful editors, who helped me first collect my thoughts (Grazie Chiara!), then write them in proper English (Thanks K!), and then to cut through those extra 500 words I was supposed to cut out (Cielo, as usual, an angel!). Here's the result: one of my business school essays. :) (And, yes, I have decided to go for an MBA. My bridges are making me impossibly unhappy, and I am contemplating switching career and become a corporate bitch. If I can't like my job, at least it should pay me ridiculously well, don't you think?)

1: Describe something you feel passionate about. (250-word maximum)

I cannot recall a time in my life that is not associated with a book. Reading has always been my passion. I learned how to read at age 3, and I have never stopped. Throughout my childhood, Mickey Mouse comic strips and stories of princesses and dragons enchanted me; thriller stories and impossible romances decorated my adolescence; and, in my early twenties, I became acquainted with classical Italian and foreign writers. I have since discovered contemporary literature and the beauty of reading in the original language, and my reading pleasure now resides in the sheer artistry of the words.

Finding one good book is as difficult as finding the time to spend with it. Reading is an activity that is hardly compatible with the frantic paced life I lead. It requires you to surrender your world to it and to demonstrate the willingness to be taken some place else. It replaces your normal rhythm with a new idea of time, of pauses, of rapidity. If there is one thing that always amazes me, it is the ability books have to kidnap my time and give it back transformed.

I have grown up with books, and I love and cherish each one of them as the custodian of a specific mood, a piece of myself, as if they were pictures of me taken at different times. The books I read describe my path, how I have changed, who I have become.

Torta della Donna (???)

*Un'amica ha mandato questo invece dei fiori. Bella idea! Mi fa un po' paura il tono perentorio delle istruzioni, ma se mi conoscete sapete anche che
I DON'T BAKE
---> quindi la torta io non la faccio di sicuro!!*

Buona mangiata. Le mimose in California fioriscono alla fine di Gennaio e sono un tripudio, e il nome in inglese delle mimose e' "Quella roba schifosa che sporca tutto". Ovviamente, non festeggiano la festa della donna: sono troppo paranoicate ad essere parificate. Rivaluto la festa della donna, ma di certo non come occasione per andare a starnazzare in gruppo in locali pubblici. :D

(ZN, che ne dici, "paranoicate" mi rendera' del tutto inelegibile per fare la valletta al festival???)




TORTA MIMOSA

Per 8 persone:
o 100 g di farina "00"
o 100 g di fecola di patate
o 4 uova intere
o 1 tuorlo
o 150 g di zucchero
o 100 g di burro
o 1 bustina di vanillina
o 1 bustina di lievito in polvere
o 2 cucchiai di burro per la teglia
o 2 cucchiai di farina per la teglia
o 1 pizzico di sale fino

Per la preparazione della farcitura:
o 2 cucchiai di rum
o 200 g di macedonia sciroppata
o 400 g di panna da montare
o 50 g di zucchero a velo
o 2 cucchiai di confettura di albicocche
o 150 g di pasta di mandorle
o 2 gocce di colorante verde

La farina:
setacciala insieme alla fecola di patate, la vanillina e il lievito.

Le uova:
rompile e disponi i tuorli e gli albumi di ciascuna, in due ciotole separate: unisci l'altro tuorlo nella ciotola con tutti gli altri; nella stessa ciotola aggiungi lo zucchero. Monta i tuorli per 10 minuti circa con la frusta a mano oppure per 5 minuti con quella elettrica.

Nel frattempo:
fai fondere il burro in una casseruola a fuoco lentissimo per 3 minuti circa.

Alle uova sbattute:
unisci le farine, il burro fuso che avrai prima fatto intiepidire e continua a montare con la frusta.

Riprendi la ciotola con gli albumi:
montali a neve fermissima per 5 minuti con la frusta elettrica, 10 con quella a mano. Dopo di ché incorpora all'impasto precedente gli albumi montati a neve, un poco alla volta per evitare di smontarli.

Fai: scaldare il forno a 170° C.

Prendi una teglia da forno:
imburrala e infarinala accuratamente, poi metti l'impasto ben amalgamato all'interno, livella la superficie con l'aiuto di un cucchiaio, metti in forno e fai cuocere per 50 minuti.

Un trucco:
se vedi che la superficie del dolce si colorisce troppo, ricopri la stessa con un foglio di carta di alluminio.

Appena il dolce è cotto:
togli la teglia dal forno, rovescia il dolce su un piatto e lascialo raffreddare, poi prosegui ritagliando dalla parte superiore della torta, un disco di circa 1 cm di spessore che terrai da parte.

La torta rimasta:
scava all'interno di essa con un cucchiaio per togliere la mollica e formare una specie di contenitore. La mollica tolta tienila da parte.

Il rum:
lo devi mescolare con un cucchiaio del liquido della macedonia sciroppata, poi con questo spennella l'interno della torta scavata.

La panna:
montala insieme allo zucchero a velo, poi incorpora 2/3 della panna alla macedonia sciroppata scolata dal liquido rimasto e accuratamente asciugata con carta da cucina. Con questo composto riempi la torta, premendolo delicatamente con il dorso di un cucchiaio: il composto non deve superare l'orlo della cavità. Sopra il ripieno sistema il disco che avevi precedentemente tolto.

Prosegui:
unendo il colorante verde alla pasta di mandorle, lavora la pasta con le mani e poi stendila con un matterello formando un rettangolo di 2-3 mm di spessore.
Continua ricavando dalla pasta di mandorle una striscia che abbia la stessa altezza del bordo della torta e la stessa lunghezza della sua circonferenza. Il resto della pasta stendilo nuovamente con il matterello fino a formare un rettangolo alto quanto il bordo della torta e lavoralo dandogli la forma di un fiocco.

Con la mollica tolta dalla torta:
forma dei dadini di 1 cm ciascuno.

Spalma la superficie della torta:
con la panna montata formando uno strato uniforme, poi ricopri la superficie con i dadini di mollica per creare l'effetto mimosa.

La confettura di albicocche:
falla scaldare per 1 minuto a fuoco lento e poi spennellala sul bordo laterale della torta; prendi il nastro di pasta di mandorle precedentemente creato e avvolgi il bordo della torta con esso e per completare incolla sul bordo stesso il fiocco utilizzando un po' di confettura.

Un ultimo suggerimento:
per procedere più facilmente quando attacchi il fiocco di pasta di mandorle, fermalo con uno stecchino che infilerai tra il fiocco e il bordo della torta.
Il dolce è finalmente pronto per essere gustato.

Un Moscato d'Asti del Piemonte, dal profumo caratteristico e vivace e il sapore dolce e aromatico, che conferma il profumo di muschio e frutta tipici dell'uva.
Il Moscato d'Asti deve essere bevuto giovane, non oltre un anno dalla vendemmia e non deve essere servito ghiacciato, ma semplicemente fresco, ad una temperatura di non più di 8-10 ° C.

Senso dell'Umorismo

(questo post era nato come risposta a un commento sul Festival di Sanremo, ma vedo che sto divagando e quindi lo faccio diventare un post indipendente!!!)

...ma vedi, St., il mio e' un problema mica da poco: su queste cose mi manca il senso dell'umorismo. Rido spassionatamente quando mi fanno vedere Indipendence Day, trovo tutte le uscite di Bush tragicomiche, le lacrime agli occhi quando mi rifilano un discorso di Condoleeza, pero'... due cose su cui il mio senso dell'umorismo muore, si spegne: Berlusconi e il Festival di Sanremo. Entrambe esemplificano le cose che dell'Italia non sopporto, e non c'e' niente da fare: non rido. Eppure ci sarebbe da ridere, lo so, lo vedo!! pero' niente. Forse perche' e' piu' facile ridere delle disgrazie altrui che delle proprie???

Eppoi, Sanremo, divaghiamo: l'amico Esse ci ha invitati a cena per poi rifilarci Rai International e Sanremo a tradimento, xche' "Almeno dieci minuti vanno visti" (ti ricorda qualcuno?????). Le mie considerazioni:

Perche' si ostinano a scegliere vallette celebrolese?

Che cazzo sono le vallette, anyway??

Perche' c'era uno con i ballerini dietro?? Chi si crede di essere, Britney Spears? (o peggio Ricky Martin???)

Perche' i cantanti sono sempre gli stessi da trent'anni a questa parte? (Marcella era gia' al Festival che io avevo tre anni!!)

Cosa c'entra Mike Tyson con il Festival?? non hanno trovato proprio nessun'altro?? e perche' devono avere i superospiti??? lo sanno da soli che la muscia fa schifo???

Perche' la Chierici nel tentativo di essere ironica mi sembra patetica??

Perche' la televisione italiana fa SEMPRE PIU' SCHIFO???

Domande esistenziali, queste... per la cronaca, dopo avere messo Tyson in fermo immagine per 25 minuti, io ho costretto Cielo a riportarmi a casa mentre gli altri si "godevano" la fine della puntata. *Cacchi loro!!!*
:)

Mi pare di sognare...

dicono che i giovani avvocati, quelli nati dal 78 in avanti, hanno pochi principi, gli manca l'etica sul lavoro, sono scarsi e non hanno voglia di lavorare. Si permettono di dire di no a lavori che non vogliono fare, e soprattutto- Dio ci scampi!!- "non sono disposti a sacrificare la loro vita personale per il lavoro". Non ci sono parole per descrivere il mio stupore!!! A volte mi chiedo se sono scemi o ci fanno. Nessuno, nel mio mondo, dovrebbe sacrificare la vita personale per il lavoro. Ma in fondo, che cacchio ne so io, sono solo un'Europea, no? anzi, Eurotrash.
ma fatemi il piacere, cari avvocati e brontosauri, e siate felici di avere una generazione davanti di gente con la testa sulle spalle!!!

Law Firms Mull the 'Gen Y' Equation

Old Friends

You know when you get a mail from someone you haven't heard from in ages?? All of a sudden the reasons why you loved them so much comes back to you... the way they talk, the way they write, the things they say... and you have to wonder how on earth you let so much time go by before you wrote to them, and saw them... it's awful...
Back to the concept of a life made of absences rather than presences.
The good thing is, it is enough one single email, the electronic equivalent of a glance, to bring it all back, and to make you feel like no time at all has gone by...

On another note, my friend DSAA and I agree that the reason why we don't go clubbing and don't like to go clubbing, and don't want to go clubbing, is partly the fact we're not interested anymore (since the main attraction was to pick up guys), and part the feeling of inadequacy of maybe not being able to pick up guys anymore. :)

I'm getting myself some new, marvellous red glasses tomorrow. I tried them on, they're just perfect for me!

Lost pounds since last week: 1.5. To go: 52. Long journey ahead. Sit back, relax. :)

PS- ohohohoh, mi sono scordata!!! Oggi e' il mio giorno per eccellenza in cui non mi dispiace per nulla non essere in Italia: e' cominciato Sanremo!!
***Cacchi Vostri!!!***
:D

Craigslist e' un Mito!!

Eccoci qua. Craigslist ha comprato su eBay la possibilita' di mandare un messaggio nello spazio, e quindi il 15 Maggio mandano i messaggi di craigslist nello spazio. Che figata, ma che idee gli vengono a questi?? :)

Craigslist to beam ads one light year into space

Se non conoscete craigslist perche' non abitate/ avete abitato nella Bay Area, oppure non siete hip in un'altra citta degli US, dovete fare un giro su www.craigslist.org. E' una figata: biglietti di concerti, mobilil, macchine, appartamenti. Basta Chiedere!