Archive for the ‘me me me’ Category
what else have i been writing?
By now, you all know I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year, right? Writing a 50,000 word novel in a month? You can keep up with my word count over there on the sidebar; so far, I’m keeping up a good pace even though the election threw me off just a bit. No worries, though, since I plan to make up for it over the weekend.
[Have you seen President-Elect Obama’s website, Change.gov? There’s even a blog!]
But what about other writing? It’s been a while since I shared links of other things I’ve written around the Interwebs, so here is a short list for your Friday reading pleasure (and please remember that your “stumbles” through StumbleUpon, comments, and other spreading through social media are *very much appreciated*):
- White Truffle Fair in Alba, Piemonte at Italy Magazine: “Tartufi bianchi from Alba are arguably the most famous and most desired in the world–one was sold for €95,000 in 2005–and the wines and cheeses of the Langhe area in Piemonte are internationally loved as well.” Read more…
- Chestnut Festival in Emilia Romagna at Italy Magazine: “Chestnuts have been an important part of northern and central Italian cuisine for centuries, particularly in poor families and especially in times when access to other food products was compromised.” Read more…
- Craziest Name Changes at LegalZoom.com: “In July 2008, a New Zealand court stepped in to change the name of 9-year-old “Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii” because her name “makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap.” This case was unique because the name was changed from the unusual to the more conventional. Usually, it’s the other way around.” Read more…
- To Laptop or Not to Laptop in the Law School Classroom at About.com Law School: “It may be hard for current college and law students to imagine, but back when I started law school 10 years ago, whether or not to use laptops in the law school classroom wasn’t much of an issue. We also walked five miles to school in the snow–each way–but that’s a story for different time.” Read more…
- Purple Tomatoes May Fight Cancer at TomatoCasual.com: “Scientists in England have created a tomato they say may be even more healthy than the traditional red variety.” Read more…
Thanks so much for reading!
Remember to check out Mary’s recipe for apple butter (one of my favorite substances on the planet) at The Flavors of Abruzzo for this week’s La Buona Cucina Americana!
Buon weekend!
NaNoWriMo is back! are you in?
But first, I want to thank everyone *immensely* for the birthday wishes! It was a lovely weekend made even lovelier by all the fabulous, happy thoughts coming my way. Grazie mille!
And now, the winner of a free, signed copy of Justin Catanoso‘s My Cousin the Saint: A Search for Faith, Family, and Miracles from the commenters on my blog is:
Leanne of From Australia to Italy
Congratulations Leanne! I’ll be in touch!
Now, on to the NaNo stuff.
I’ve gotten several emails asking whether I’m going to be doing NaNoWriMo again this year. So I’m making it official here and now:
Yes, yes I am NaNo-ing, and you can find me here:
bleedingespresso
For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It’s more international than national, but it *is* all about writing a novel–or at least 50,000 words throughout the month of November.
Last year, I got up close to half that mark, but sadly, haven’t worked much on those 21,000 words since. So here’s my question to you: should I bend the rules of NaNo and continue that story, or should I start anew with a whole new idea (yet to be thought of)?
In some respects, I’m excited to get going on something new and interested to see where it takes me, but then, well, last year’s characters have been running around in my head lately too, and I’m wondering whether they don’t have more to say.
But on the other hand, they could also say things in, say, January and make room for new faces, no?
Can you tell I’m a Libra? Balancing, weighing, difficulty deciding….
So what do you think? How about an excerpt of last year’s unfinished novel, so you know what, and who, we’re talking about? Here are the first 450 words or so:
——–
“All I want is a coffee…strong, bitter, small!” yelled Saliha Abu Al-Fadl, her deep brown eyes glaring at the only man who could give her what she wanted.
It felt good to shout. She couldn’t remember the last time she had done it.
Nearby Salvatore Amato’s head was pulled from an article on military spending. He sought out the raised voice. Behind him to his left, was, as he expected, a damsel in distress. Always a sucker for such a thing, he folded the Philadelphia Inquirer under his arm and rushed, as much as an 83-year-old man can rush, over to the coffee counter.
“Excuse me, can I help?” he said as much to the woman as to the barista.
The woman wearing a burkha turned around and looked straight into a pair of coal black eyes framed by bushy white eyebrows and a rather pronounced nose. She glanced down and took quick note of his dark grey suit, white shirt, and black tie with small white crosses on it.
He topped off the look with a black derby, white band of course, that made her think of the old American gangster films. Her son, an increasingly famous movie producer, had sent her hundreds of his own favorite movies so that she could share his passion while learning English.
And now this animated gangster was waving a wooden cane back and forth at the young man behind the counter.
“She’ll have an espresso doppio,” said Salvatore. A smirk sneaked out from underneath a wild white mustache as he turned to Saliha. “My kind of woman,” he said as he looked into the woman’s pools of espresso for eyes and added a wink for good measure.
Saliha looked to the man behind the counter, hoping that the stranger had spoken the correct words. The coffee on the plane from Iraq had been watered down and weak, and she needed something much stronger to get through the day ahead.
“Well that’s all she had to say,” said the barista and turned away. He slammed the metal container holding the last brew hard against the end of the drawer that holds the old grounds.
“They have a strange language at these shops,” Salvatore said. “You may speak perfect English, and complimenti, it seems like you do, but it certainly doesn’t help you get a coffee here.” He took a black handkerchief out of his jacket pocket and wiped his forehead clean of the sweat that had formed on his walk over.
“Thank you sir,” Saliha said and turned back toward the counter to await her first coffee on American soil. As the machine hissed and gurgled, she could no longer contain her anticipation. Her lips curled into a broad smile that only she knew was there.
———-
So what do I do? Start anew? Continue? Help!
On Getting Another Year Older
Tomorrow will mark my 32nd birthday.
If you would’ve told me at, say, age 24, that I’d still be excited for birthdays at number 32, I’d probably have thought you were crazy.
But here we are, and I am!
As a very wise man (who is celebrating birthday number 80-something on Sunday) told me:
Never count your years;
count your blessings.
Indeed. And it’s hard not to be excited when you have so many blessings.
Thank you all for being a part of my life, tanti auguri to Frank,
and buon weekend a tutti!
love thursday: hearts in the hex
I’ve mentioned before that my mom is Pennsylvania Dutch, which means that she is a descendant of Germans (Deutsch) who settled in Pennsylvania centuries ago. Some people confuse the Pennsylvania Dutch with the Amish, which is understandable as many Amish are also Pennsylvania Dutch–however, most Pennsylvania Dutch are and were Protestant in one form or another, usually Lutheran or Reformed.
My mom’s Pennsylvania Dutch heritage comes through in some of her fabulous recipes from sauerkraut to breaded veal cutlets, but from an artistic standpoint, the Pennsylvania Dutch are widely known for their folk art design, especially as it appears in “hex signs“ like the one on the left, which my mom sent me for my house in Italy.
One of the things I love best about Pennsylvania Dutch art is the use of symbolism–especially the heart, which of course represents love. The “double distlefink” (two birds) offers a double dose of good fortune, the tulip represents faith, and the red rosette protects from harm.
Quite ironically, my Italian grandmother always had a tea towel hanging from the oven door that was Pennsylvania Dutch in design. As far as I know, my mother hadn’t given it to her. When my grandmother asked me what I wanted of hers once she was gone, one of the few things I asked for was that towel. To me, it was the centerpiece of her kitchen–our family’s room of love.
And yes, it’s in Italy with me, and that’s it up there on the right: lovingly used and therefore faded, but anchored by hearts in each corner.
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
love thursday: a mouse in my cappuccino
A little while ago, Cherrye of My Bella Vita wrote a Love Thursday post with Mickey Mouse love. Little did I know I’d soon have some of my own to share via a package from la Mamma.
I’ve never been to Disney World or Disneyland; heck, I actually avoid going into Disney stores to be honest with you. But there are some Disney things I do love, and one of those happens to be something that’s been around for as long as I can remember:
Faithful readers, this is my actual plastic plate and cup combo that I absolutely *loved* when I was just a wee espresso bean and not yet allowed to play with ceramic dishes. I had kind of forgotten all about it, but thank goodness moms do no such thing.
So thank you, Mom, for bringing a little childhood mouse love back into my life. I haven’t used the plate yet, but you can bet your ears that I’ve been using the cup.
Whodathot cappuccino would taste even sweeter with a mouse?
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
Be sure to come back tomorrow for the O Foods round-up!
Michelle 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.
Calabria Guidebook
Recipes
