September – 2007 – Bleeding Espresso

Archive for September, 2007

september i hardly knew ye!

29 CommentsSunday • September 30, 2007 • by michelle

I completely forgot about my Monthly Musing this month! Why is that? Probably because I love, love, love September and was too busy enjoying it…and didn’t it just fly by?!

September is my second favorite month after October, my birth month (the 18th if you’re keeping track), which is really like September Plus in my mind–but more on that another time.

So to me September is:

Relief from heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and all the nasty stuff about summer
that makes me irritable just thinking about it…

Renewed energy and fresh starts–
this from years of the school year really starting to kick into gear…

Smells of wood burning, rainy mornings, and
actual hot meals coming off the stove and out of the oven…

A crispness in the air coupled with warm sunshine, and
never knowing exactly how to dress for the weather…

Longer walks with the dogs because I won’t be pouring in sweat and
dreading every successive step…

Shorter but not too-short days, which means more cuddle time
with P as well as with the pooches…

I always love the glorious ninth month, and this year was no different. Thanks for the memories, September! Loved it, loved it, loved it, and I can’t wait to greet October (doesn’t hurt that Season 3 of “Lost” starts here tomorrow–yeah!!!!).

Now tell me do–
what do *you* like about September?

P.S. Have you noticed that I’ve signed up for NaBloPoMo? If you’re a blogger and want to pledge to post something every day during the month of November and join a great community besides, go here.

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Technorati Tags: september

what’s happening in italy?

35 CommentsSaturday • September 29, 2007 • by michelle

Oh a lot, amici miei.

Let’s start from the most serious and head down to the downright silly:

(1) Italian Premier Romano Prodi has called for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty in front of the United Nations General Assembly. Without getting into a huge political debate (although you’re welcome to do so in the comments!), I’m firmly against the death penalty, and I’m molto fiera that Italy has stood up against it in the UN.

Of course the United States will be one of the key opponents of the moratorium, but Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema thinks it has a good shot at passing since public opinion has shifted over the years in favor of outlawing the death penalty.Time will tell, but I’m just happy that the discussion is on the floor and that Italy is in the forefront.

In related news, just this week, my blogging buddy over at Piacere wrote a great review of the book Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States by Sister Helen Prejean as part of S.M.S. Books: Book to Movie Challenge and also linked to a website that continues to give updates to facts and figures in the book.

Perhaps you’ve seen the movie (I haven’t), but it seems that the book is well worth a look too.

(2) This isn’t technically in Italy, but we’ll get there in a second. The Vatican City State has a new stamp–and not just any new stamp. This time the saint is from Calabria! Yeah! Go San Francesco di Paola!

For those who aren’t up on Roman Catholic saints, Calabria’s own Saint Francis is often overshadowed by Saint Francis of Assisi, the co-Patron Saint of Italy with Saint Catherine of Siena (although there is some debate on that, with Saint Joseph (father of Jesus) as the other contender).

Anyway, it’s nice to see *our* Saint Francis being recognized. You can read more about the Patron Saint of Calabria and his stamp here.

Here’s a preview:

Gorgeous, no?

(3) And finally, guess who’s invading the Bel Paese? You’ll never guess.

Or maybe you will.

Give up?

This ABC article is actually from April 30 of this year, but I just saw it referenced here. Scary thing is that the article talks about the time frame of 24-36 months during which Starbucks plans to open branches in France, Germany, Spain, and (gulp) Italy.

Which means we’re *that* much closer to no more of this in the morning:

Yeah right.

So now that I’ve touched on politics, religion, and coffee–three subjects guaranteed to get any Italian fired up (only calcio is missing!)–I’ll leave you to your Saturday.

Hope it’s as gorgeous as ours is here!

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Technorati Tags: death penalty, moratorium, vatican, vatican stamps, stamps, starbucks

friday five: some weekend suggestions

22 CommentsFriday • September 28, 2007 • by michelle

Just like Stefanie Says, I’m giving you a Friday Five. Here are five ideas of things to do this weekend:

1. DONATE. Go to Shannon’s Tales from the Fairy Blogmother and find out how you can help her brother Dave raise $10,000 as he bikes 100 miles for Africycle, a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of those in Malawi.

As Shannon explains, there are 5 ways you can help:

Go directly to the Ride for Africycle website and make a donation.
Donate $5 using the donate link on Shannon’s right sidebar and get a chance to win a Dell Ditty mp3 player.
Donate $3 and score yourself a handmade beaded bracelet (50% goes to Africycle).
Visit Shannon’s Cafepress shop and purchase a shirt to show your support ($5 from each shirt goes to Africycle).
Know Shannon in real life? Just hand her some cash.

2. READ. Here are some of my favorite blog posts this week:

Destiny, At Home in Piemonte
Phone Calls and F*llatio, (PG-rated but for the last line, which is classic) The Daily Rant
conversations with a hitchhiker, Poppy Fields
Something Very Beautiful, cease cows, life is short!
Passionate Mondays, The Passionate Palate

And a news story that has me scratching my head: Lost at Sea: A Ghost Ship Story. What the heck happened there?!

3. GO OUTSIDE AND TAKE SOME PHOTOS. I know that’s what Wanderlust Scarlett is going to be doing, and I encourage you all to do the same…and then share them with us please! No matter where you live there are beautiful sights to be seen and appreciated–especially for those of us who may never make it there. We love the ordinary *and* extraordinary around here, so get snapping!

4. TRY A NEW RECIPE. Perhaps you’ve seen The Foodie BlogRoll on my sidebar, but if you haven’t explored it completely–or haven’t looked at it lately–there are new food blogs added all the time. Some other new favorites of mine are Cook (almost) Anything…at Least Once and Rasa Malaysia. Get some inspiration and then enjoy the results. Yum.

5. WARM THE GLOBE (in a good way)…THROUGH FRIENDSHIP. Jeni of Down River Drivel sent me this a little while ago, and I think it’s a great idea. This is really a blogger activity started by the lovely Vic Grace of Cariboo Ponderer, and it’s great for those of us who love linky love.

To participate, just copy and paste the list below (adding your blog to the bottom) and then spread the love by posting it on your blog. Then your blog readers can copy and paste and so forth.

This is also great for finding new blogs to read, so even if you’re not a blogger, you can still warm up the blogosphere by visiting and commenting the blogs in the list.

Here they are–and remember, everyone is invited to participate.