a little closer my pretty

hehe..Got this from the Deviant ART site, which is a really amazing source of original art and photography.

Just back from another long weekend. Rainy weekend. Watched a lot of movies, and a little bit of work done on a project I'm doing for my boss. Working in a tiny real estate agency in Rome with a staff of 3 isn't particularly challenging and rarely rewarding, but I do my best to do my best. (This is my office, Mom)...

Sidenote: I'm not under-motivated, really, but I'm finding it difficult to make my self a niche in the career world here. There are few opportunities even for the highly qualified, and I've not been tenacious (or lucky) enough to take advantage of what may be out there for the ambitious foreigner.

Random thoughts:

Nescafè: (This is NOT a paid announcement, I swear). Going to the Bar to get creamy and bitter cappuccino is always a pleasure. But, I grew up with coffee from the percolator, which is more like strong, mocha-flavored tea. Drunk in a sturdy mug (in which the volume of the vessel is almost more than that of the liquid it contains) with a comforting ear-shaped handle, it is the most pleasurable way I can imagine to begin my morning. Having arrived in my office, after the annoyance of taking two buses to get to Piazza di Spagna, and traversing the obstacle course of paving stones (the ubiquitous sanpietrini, right) of Via del Babuino, I feel deserving of a little down-time in front of the computer before the demands of the day begin. I heat some water (bottled, as the water from the faucet is toxic from the lead-lined cistern on the roof of the 18th century building where I work) and add to it a single serving stick of…Nescafè. I guess instant coffee is kind of shameful in the U.S., but I’ve decided that this way of thinking is unfair. It’s so easy to go the nearest Starbucks (and the nearest is usually walking distance, if I remember correctly), and get oneself a “gourmet” multi-hyphenated coffee (I have not particularly fond memories of ordering as many as 10-20 of these at a time when I worked as a p.a. in l.a.). But, I don’t have an American-style coffeemaker, either at work or at home (maybe I should invest in one), and I’m left with the options of either diluting an Italian espresso with hot water, or Nescafè. And, Nescafè is the tastier option. The important element for me is that the coffee is Big, and that I can drink it at the comfort of my desk. You can’t really get a coffee to go in Rome. For one thing, they don’t have those cups with the nifty lids. But, more importantly, Italians don’t have the tradition Americans do of the slow enjoyment of large quantities of caffeine. They like it drinkable in two gulps while standing up, they like it strong and they like it fast. I’ve ordered cappuccinos to go in the past and they give them to you in an emptied-out juice bottle, after thinking, surely, that Americans are really very stupid. So, rather than choose this inferior option, I drink Nescafe. But, I will start thinking about getting that coffeemaker soon.

Movies: (Coach Carter, Don’t Knock at My Door, Mean Creek)
Coach Carter: I love sports movies. Even mediocre ones. And this one had Samuel Jackson. The story, of a East Bay high school basketball team in crisis that is disciplined on the field and off by an hard-talking former player with a point to prove, is a bit clichéd and predictable, but Jackson is his usual monument of fortitude, and I was moved by the performance of Rick Gonzales as one of the more troubled team members.

Don’t Come Knocking: I’ve seen a lot of films by Wim Wenders, but none that has blown me away. And this tale of a cowboy actor in search of the son he never met was definitely underwhelming. Plus, it had Jessica Lange, who gives me the creeps. And the actor playing the son was so bad, I cringed whenever he whined out a line. I could have happily gone on living without seeing this one.

Mean Creek: Low-budget indie film where kids commit a crime. Beautifully filmed (by Sharone Meir, who, I just realized, was the cinematographer on Coach Carter, as well), with some really nice quiet moments. The youngest kids - played by Rory Culkin and Carly Schroeder seemed too young for the maturity of their actions and dialogue. Good first film anyway, directed by Jacob Aaron Estes.

Roberto Benigni: Watched a video of Roberto Benigni doing some really politically charged stand-up. I’ve always found him to be exceptionally charming..rather like a pre-Patch Robin Williams. With all that frenetic energy, and an innate sense of the ridiculous. (See Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth just for his vignette - photo, below) He’s one of the few Italians (excepting athletes) that I would really like to go out to dinner with. Not by myself, of course. I couldn’t keep up, but in a big group where he could entertain us all with his insights into the absurdity of Italian politics and culture. Beppe Grillo would be in the same category, but makes me laugh a lot less because his comicity is almost entirely based in the world of politics, whereas Benigni has a mass knowledge of the Arts, and allegorizes a lot in both his cinematic roles, as well as in his stand-up work. The basis of his success, I think, is his incredible charisma. He is able to get away more with criticizing important figures such as Berlusconi, because he is such an important Italian export, like Chianti and Parmigiano Reggiano. Also, maybe more likely, because his medium is the cinema, which is less easily repressed by the Power that Was (and still is, but at least he's not Prime Minister for the time being).

wednesday is the new monday

If only. But this is the second week in a row that I have been able to "fare il ponte" (take a long weekend) because of all of the holidays in April/beg. May (Easter, Liberation Day, Labor Day). And, I get to do it again this weekend. Could get a bit boring, I suppose. Hanging out at the country house is extremely relaxing, but I feel kind of like an old person there. And entirely cut off. No cell service in the house. An Internet connection that comes complete with guilt (it's a dial-up, and phone calls are exorbitantly expensive in Italy, and..I don't pay for the phone calls in that house..oops). And almost nothing around except countryside, castles, and cows.



Found this really funny site on Yeti in popular culture. I have no real interest in Sasquatch, and don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but it's just the kind of humor I enjoy..a lot. Very dry.

Focusing on my own nits

Taking this advice, and focusing my attention on myself this weekend. So relaxed I can hardly move. The sun is shining and the weather is sweet, to re-coin a Marleyan phrase.

Spent a day sitting under the sun and reading Ian McEwan's Saturday excerpt from the New Yorker, here). Read a really spot-on passage in regards to Music, which I wholeheartedly share, and will reproduce here:

There are these rare moments when
musicians together touch something sweeter than they've
ever found before in rehearsals or performance, beyond the merely collaborative
or technically proficient, when their expresion becomes as easy and graceful as
friendship or love. This is when they give us a glimpse of what we might be,
of our best selves, and of an impossible world in which you give everything you
have to others, but lose nothing of
yourself .

Yes, exactly.

furry things that fit in the palm of your hand

Woke up in a vaguely negative mood this morning. It's gray outside, and damp. I'm tired. The blog was on my mind all day yesterday. Well, that, and Travian which I just started this week. (It's an empire-building game, and I am officially a Big Geek).

I know I'm not the first to write this, but, what the F is blogging all about. I mean, really. It's journaling (I just used a noun as a verb. Smack me.), with the narcissist plus that someone might read it, and think your ideas and the way you express them are Cool (and worth reading?). I suppose you have to have some sort of Mission when writing a blog. Otherwise, you just fade out of it realizing that probably nobody will think your ideas are either Cool (or worth reading?), and that actually you are negating all Coolness by seeking it out. Better to wear a one-of-a-kind hand-tooled leather bracelet, or pop Nine Inch Nails in the CD player while you're washing dishes. Just an idea.

I don't have a Mission, yet. My interests are diverse and disconnected (Well, they are all connected to me, so...). I guess I just need an outlet for pesky thoughts, since I'm living in Rome, and it's a long way from home (and, where have I seen that before?). I do have a few friends out there who will check this out, probably. I salute you now: Hallooooo!!!

Anyway, Ima gonna do a run-down of stuff that is jumping around in my head today (with Links!!):

• Travian. I am Rini Village (Rini means Little Bunny in Japanese..more on Little Bunnies later). I shall prosper and conquer and disseminate my Bunny race in all the land. (I guess...God am I a Big Geek, or what?)

• AS Roma, dammit!!! Now that I've mentioned Totti, who is a God, I should mention another player who is effing Inspiring on the field. Phillipe Mexes. French, blonde, impenetrable in defense, strength of character, yeah, he's got it. And here he is.

• Big White soundtrack. Intend to download the songs today for my boyfriend's Dad. (Just one of those thoughtful things I do without being asked. Generous and Humble, that's me.) Funny little movie, Fargo-like in mood, with Robin Williams, Giovanni Ribisi, Holly Hunter and Woody Harrelson doing their usual things (sweet, tense, quirky and psychopathic, respectively). Had never heard of it - and I read a lot of articles on cinema - so was quite pleased to be quite pleased with it.

• Doctor appointment today. I hate going to the doctor, and it's worse in Italy. In fact, the reason I have to go today demonstrates one of the reasons that this country drives me crazy. I had gone about a month ago to get one specific test done (€ 100). I went back two weeks later (the amount of time the lab requires, apparently, to perform the analysis) to get my result (€ 2,50 to view it), and I noticed that they had failed to do the one analysis I had requested. Asked the doctor. She said she had specified my problem, and they should have checked for it, but she would confirm with the lab. Lab closed. Called back the following week, and a nurse told me I would have to return to the clinic because they had not done the requested analysis (another € 30 to be paid for new test). It will be another couple of weeks before I have the new results, and then I may have to go back again to get a prescription, as they can't just call it in to the nearest pharmacy. Moral of the Story: Do not get sick in Italy.

• TGIF. Going the the casale (country house) in Maremma country (on the border of Lazio and Tuscany) this weekend. The cats will be happy. I plan to play a lot of Ping Pong, work on the blog, and build up my Tiny Bunny empire. Nice life, huh?

Happy weekend everyone!

(Asia and Ulisse - my two sources of Unconditional Love)

He's Baaaack

I, and all fans of AS Roma, got some good news yesterday. Francesco Totti (there he is above), after recuperating for more than two months from a bad leg injury, is back in training, and should be able to play the final game of the season - against the formidable AC Milan.

Totti has held a god-like status here in Rome for several years, with his fame growing since entering the professional squad at 16 years old (after doing a stint in the Rome's youth squad). He has been called one of the best players of the sport by no less a champion than Pele. But, what I like most about him is his humility and his loyalty to the team. This year especially he has shown an almost supernatural force of character, attending games after his injury to root his teamates to victory. During the last Coppa game I saw at the stadium (Roma-Palermo 1-0), he sat amongst the most diehard of fans, the Ultras for the first part of the match. I can't really explain it. He just imparts this feeling of Goodness and Right. There is something undeniably decent about him. Forza Capitano!!

rome: cultural wasteland

As an American living in Rome for the past 4 years, I've come to know and love this city for its rough edged beauty, its history, and the pride of its citizens. What I'm getting a little tired of is its notable disinterest in the updating its culture. I mean, I'm really stuck in fetid backwater here. No, not stuck, mired. But, I refuse to become like all the pond life I find around me.

How do I combat cultural inertia? I police cyberspace. Thank you Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and all of you geeks past, present and future for providing me with a way to connect to the ideas, images and sounds of other little individuals in this big, big world.

So, with the best of intentions and with coffee-and-donut-fueled vigor, I begin my vigil here. This is my very first post.

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