National Association of W Lovers

Over at Red Red Whine, Guinness Girl was tagged to make a list of ten things she loves starting with the letter G. She then generously offered up other letters for fellow bloggers to play, and I have received “W.”

If you’d like to play along, use the first letter in your name and then please leave a comment directing me to your list.

And, incidentally, if you think I’ve made up the title of this post, get thee to Sesame Street!

Now, the list:

1. Wine. Well this is kind of an obvious one, isn’t it? I love red and tolerate white, but I use white more for cooking than for drinking. For the most part, we imbibe P’s father’s homemade brew, which, thankfully, does not at all resemble vinegar like so much of the paesano wine around here does. The second most popular in our house comes from Cirò, another Calabrian town. Yeah. We keep it real.

2. Whiskey. Staying with the alcohol theme, I do love me some whiskey. Preferably Jack Daniel’s. Preferably with Coke. Yes, I’ve been known to bring this with me from the States even though they have it here. It’s cheaper there, in case you wondered.

3. Winter clothes. I would live in turtleneck sweaters, jeans, and boots if it were at all possible. As I live in southern Italy, alas, ’tis not.

3. Words. Writing. Writers. These are grouped together for obvious reasons, but also because I didn’t want to be considered a cheater for my very first meme as a blogger. I am fascinated by words, how they evolve, who uses them, and why. I love putting them together in ways that no one ever has, sometimes making them up myself, and, most of all, I love reading other writers doing the same thing. I’m a wordgeek and proud.

4. Walking. I used to live in a city, so walking was a forced kind of exercise, and I didn’t always appreciate taking a stroll. Here, though, I’ve learned to love it, especially when accompanied by Luna. Our favorite routine takes us down a mountain road that, 10 kilometers later, would land us in the next village. Although we haven’t gone that far just yet, on this Road Less Traveled, Luna and my mind both run free. Lovely.

5. Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Although Willy Wonka, not so much. He’s kinda (a lot) creepy. But oh how I long to lick the wallpaper and have the Schnozzberries taste like Schnozzberries.

6. Wendy’s. The fast food chain. I’ve already mentioned this, but let me add specifically how much I enjoy Wendy’s fries dipped in an Original Chocolate Frosty. To die for. Someone, somewhere, please do this for me and report back with the tales of glee.

7. Watching movies with P. We watch only in Italian, so he acts as my real-time interpretor. It’s quite handy. Yeah, there’s the closeness and bonding time, blah blah, but really it’s more about the live dictionary thing for me. Shh.

8. World Wide Web. Three W’s for the price of one. This little invention made my moving to another continent, an ocean away from everyone I knew, a heck of a lot easier. I can’t even imagine what it was like for people like my ancestors who left their homes and were able to exchange only letters and photos at the most.

9. Weekends. No explanation necessary.

10. Women friendships. As I’ve gotten older, I appreciate more my relationships with other women, my mother included. Bottom line is that we get us, and no matter what else is going on in life, I know that certain women will always have my back. Grazie!

And now some things I don’t love starting with a W:

W, a.k.a. Dubya; war (beauty pageant answer); weapons of mass destruction (assuming they exist); washing windows; whiny adults (children have a certain leeway with me); “wazzup” just in case anyone is *still* saying that; weathergirls in Italy (yes, we have them); weddings; and winkers who insist on winking even though they physically cannot close only one eye at a time.

OK, who wants to play?

13 Beans of Wisdom to “National Association of W Lovers”
  1. Christine
    12.20.2006

    Very amusing list. I cannot do whiskey after cleaning up after a friend who had loved on Jack Daniels all too much.

    And the Italian weathergirls are almost as obnoxious as the stewardesses who have height and weight limits. Swear, I saw an ad for a job as one, you have to send in your height, weight, and a face shot.

  2. katerinafiore
    12.20.2006

    Yes I will do K today. Once I get home from work. Great fun!! Ciao

  3. guinness girl
    12.20.2006

    Excellent list! LOVE it. I’m only just getting to know you (er, your blog, I suppose), but I suspect we would be good friends if we met in real life!

  4. Anonymous
    12.20.2006

    Here’s mine:
    Vacuum cleaning – yes I love to do this.
    Vacation/s
    Vegemite (actually Marmite but tastes pretty much the same)
    Volleyball, esp beach volleyball
    vineyards
    vodka esp feijoa flavoured
    VERAMENTE!!! (incredulous exclamation after a normal-ish statement)
    violins
    variety
    Vatican museums

    Things I don’t like:
    v-necks
    violent films
    vinyl and viscose
    vomiting
    verb tenses in italian!
    volume
    being called Veronica

    Vanessa in Messina

  5. sognatrice
    12.21.2006

    Christine, at least now in Italy they’re regulating how thin the models can be. I guess it’s something.

    Katerina, looking forward to that list!

    GG, gawrsh, you’re making me blush. And I suspect what you suspect.

    Vanessa, LOVE your contribution. I don’t know why don’t get one of these here blog things. You have much weirder Italian stories than I do 😉

  6. Gil
    12.21.2006

    Jack & Coke you bad girl. It should be Jac & Jack or if you are slowing down Jack & Ice.

  7. Anonymous
    12.21.2006

    can’t believe I forgot to add VOLCANOES to my list. IN fact should probably be the number 1 thing….
    Vanessa

  8. Judith in Umbria
    12.21.2006

    I could have done W but I can’t do J. Once you get past justice– too solemn– and juice, what else is there?

  9. sognatrice
    12.21.2006

    Judith, you have an excellent point. If you’d still like to play, I hereby grant you the permission to choose whatever letter you like 😉

  10. Judith in Umbria
    12.23.2006

    Then I choose B.
    Butter, bloggers, bread with salt, black cherries, blackberries, babies, bricolage, Bologna, bresaola, brinato, (type of pecorino which is to swoon for) black dresses, boyz, baguettes of several types, bras and Bras, Burgundy (liquid type) butterscotch, Bassethounds, baskets, books… this could go on for days. Let’s repeat boyz and babies.

  11. sognatrice
    12.23.2006

    Excellent list, Judith!

    And Gil, you’re very right. I’m going to have to cut back on all that Coke.

  12. Becslifeonline
    01.17.2007

    Ok I know this post was ages ago but I’ve only just come across your blog (awesome blog by the way!) and I want to play 😀 My blog is at the link above and since my name is Rebecca I will do “R”. Is it ok for me to put a link to ur site on my page to say who I got the game from?

  13. sognatrice
    01.18.2007

    Of course Rebecca! And thanks for stopping by!

Michelle KaminskyMichelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived. 

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Homemade apple butter
Green beans, potatoes, and pancetta
Glazed Apple Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins
Pasta with snails alla calabrese
Onion, Oregano, and Thyme Focaccia
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Prosciutto wrapped watermelon with bel paese cheese
Fried eggs with red onion and cheese
Calabrian sausage and fava beans
Ricotta Pound Cake