Archive for the ‘NaBloPoMo’ Category
more random stuff about me
So we’re halfway through NaBloPoMo and NaNoWriMo. How are you feeling kids?
I figure it’s about time to dig into those questions I asked you for a while back.
To recap, I was first tagged by amazing artist Robyn of Have Dogs, Will Travel to write seven random facts about me. Then I was tagged two more times, first by Italianissima of Always Italianissima and then by Tui of Mental Mosaic for more random facts.
And even though I wasn’t technically tagged, I’ll also accept the kind NaBloPoMo invitation from BipolarLawyerCook as well.
I’m responding to your questions in the order they were received with the exception of those from Sara of Moving Right Along who wants my favorite Italian cookie recipe and Robin of My Melange (did you see I won her book contest?!) who asked about whether I’m legal in Italy (short answer: yes) and how I got to be that way (longer answer needed). Both will get their own posts at some point.
Try to sleep at night anyway.
(1) Giulia of From Head to Boot asked what I used to think about future children and whether that has changed.
As far back as I can remember, I always thought three was a good number, and I still do, and, interestingly, so does P. I was never hung up on whether they be boys or girls, though, and I’m still not.
Of course the older you get, the more you realize that these things are pretty much out of your control, so I’m just hoping for a healthy baby or babies in whatever number we’re supposed to have.
Truth be told, though, I’d *really* love at least one little girl; my relationship with my mom is one of the most precious things I have in my life, and I’d love the opportunity to recreate that with a daughter.
(2) Shelley of At Home in Rome asked me what is the most expensive thing I’ve ever splurged on.
I’m not really a big spender generally so, other than book shopping sprees (and there have been more than a few of those), the most expensive thing I’ve ever splurged on was my first trip to Italy in the summer of 2002, and it was very much an impulse decision.
I was surfing the Internet one night looking for information on my ancestors’ village, not a thought in my head of a visit, and I happened to come across a tour that was heading precisely here. Coincidence? I don’t believe in them.
I had my flight booked within a few hours and the rest, as they say, is history.
(3) Dee of Mundane Profound Musings asked if I could be president of one country for 100 days, which country would it be and what would I do?
I’d pick to lead the US because of the issues I’d like to address–getting out of Iraq and providing universal health care. Those are the big two, and probably all I could reasonably focus on with just a hundred days, but I wouldn’t mind trying to do something to increase the value of the dollar as well as pass some environmentally-friendly legislation.
Of course I’d also love to do something about immigration laws in Italy, but I only get to pick one country.
(4) Alyndabear asked about the best thing about living in Italy.
Other than P and my doggies, I’d have to say that the best thing, for me, about living in Italy is the overall peaceful feeling I have being here. Maybe that’s cheesy, but honestly, I’m just happy, and that’s definitely the best thing about living here.
The cappuccino ain’t bad either.
(5) Karen of Artsortments asked how often I get back to the States to visit.
Unfortunately I don’t think the term “how often” really applies as I haven’t been back since June of 2004. I’m hoping to get back there sooner or later, but this euro/dollar thing isn’t making matters any easier. On the bright side, most of my family is discussing plans to come here next summer!
(6) Karen also asked whether I’ve seen any Mafia activity lately.
I hear and see nothing, cara mia.
(7) Maryann of Finding La Dolce Vita wrote “Yes, how do Italian women stay thin in Italy with all the great food? What is a normal day of eating and or exercise like in Italy?”
I’m sorry to report that I know of no magic information explaining why many Italian women are slim; personally I think a lot of them just have high metabolisms because some of them can eat and eat and eat and still be really thin (those women reportedly exist everywhere).
But actually a lot of Italian women *aren’t* slim as percentages of overweight and obese people are climbing up and up. And unfortunately some of the slim women I know really don’t eat very much at all and/or smoke. But I’m guessing this isn’t what you want in the form of diet and exercise advice.
It’s really different for everyone, though, so it’s not easy to say *this* is what they do–except that I can tell you how I lost weight (somewhere around 30 pounds) while here and how, I imagine, many Italian women keep themselves in shape.
I eat less junk food, processed foods, sugar, red meat, and butter. I eat more fruits, vegetables, and beans and use *a lot* more olive oil. Chicken and rabbit are our go-to meats.
I don’t think that generally Italians get a lot of exercise unless they’re walking around cities a lot. Although many young people I know go to the gym, from what I see many Italians like to drive rather than walk from Point A to Point B. But a lot of the older women still do a lot of manual labor, so that’s their exercise.
Me? I don’t drive, so I do a lot of walking, especially with the dogs. And I also do yoga.
I guess it’s cliché but the best I can tell you is to eat less of the bad stuff, more of the good stuff, and move more, which, in general, is what a lot of Italians seem to do (except for the moving part as described above).
And there we have seven random things about me, sort of.
I still have more questions to answer, but if you have anything you’d like to know, ask me in the comments!
Today I’m thankful for:
Sunny, windy days like today so I can finally hang out some clothes and actually have them be dried by the end of the day.
If you’ve been reading my blog or just about any blog by an expat in Italy, you know that clothes dryers are quite rare around here (I’m very jealous of MB of The Flavors of Abruzzo right now!). This means that during the colder months, we end up with wet, musty-smelling clothes a lot of the time as they have to dry inside on racks–which takes at least two days when it’s damp outside.
I will eventually get a dryer, I’m sure, but for now, I cherish these glorious windy days and then go crazy doing laundry. You can see the roughness of the sea a bit here:
La tramontana is the name of the wind that gives us these great clothes-drying days; it also usually means that any rain clouds pass over us quickly without dropping anything.
Sure it puts a bit of a chill in the air too, but I’ll take it for the sake of our clothes…not to mention that it also gives us an excuse to start up a fire in the fireplace.
And I love a fire in the fireplace.
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[tags] memes, wind, tramontana, southern italy[/tags]
time for reflection
Ah the joys of living in small town southern Italy.
I called Telecom Italia again last night and now before they’ll even connect me with a real person, there’s a recording to remind me that they told me it’d be fixed by “next” Wednesday. (I’m just going to keep believing that they really mean the Wednesday that’s coming tomorrow.)
Um, no they didn’t tell me that, but it was somewhat comforting to know that they’re at least on the case. So I went to talk to one of only four other people in the village who have ADSL to see what he knew.
While I was in there, another of the Lucky Five came in and here’s a paraphrased snippet of the conversation between the two Italians:
Disgruntled Customer #1: So it’s been out for a few days now.
Disgruntled Customer #2: Yes, they’re working on the cables.
#1: I saw that, but I worked on a ship for 30 years. When fixing cables, they put in the new ones *then* take out the old so there’s no interruption of service.
#2: Yes…but we’re in Italy.
And that about sums it up kiddos.
On the bright side, they say that this will give us increased speed once the cables are in–nice since we’re still nowhere near even the speed we were promised when we signed up (we run at about a third of that on a good day).
But on the not-so-bright side, I probably won’t be able to keep up this routine of running to the internet café (yes, it’s a real one with coffee and everything!) every day (a three and a half hour journey because of the bus schedule), so I don’t know where that’ll leave us NaBloPoMo-wise.
Plus, did I mention the computers at the café move ridiculously slowly? I’ve had trouble even viewing my blog, so please excuse any weird-looking things going on. And I hope it’s just that those computers are set for strange color tones or something because my blog is so not supposed to be nearly-iridescent yellow on the sides. Ew.
Today I’m thankful for:
The fact that I can even have these stresses in my life. Sometimes it takes frustrations like this for me to realize just how lucky I am to wake up healthy with a roof over my head, food in the fridge, and loved ones similarly lucky all over the world. I even have two dogs and six puppies to cheer me up when need be.
Sometimes a little down time is needed to really stop and appreciate the basics.
A little time for reflection if you will:
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[tags]telecom italia, nablopomo, 30 days of thanks[/tags]
The Daring Book for Girls
Today my blog is one of the stops on MotherTalk.com’s Blog Tour for The Daring Book for Girls by MotherTalk founders Andrea J. Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz.
The Daring Book for Girls; Andrea J. Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz; ISBN 978-0-06-147257-2, HarperCollins Publishers (October 30, 2007); hardcover; 280 pp.
Four words can easily sum up how I feel about The Daring Book for Girls:
I LOVE THIS BOOK.
Now let me take you back to the day when I received it in the mail. I opened the package and saw what looked like an old school textbook: uber-retro from the electric blue hardcover to the throwback font.
And then I noticed the glitter, and right then I knew this was no ordinary “Here’s what to do on a rainy afternoon with your little girl” book.
I opened it up to find even more of the retro style through font choice and drawings, which I just loved. It transported me right back to my childhood, surely one of the book’s goals, and that was before I even got to reading all the good stuff inside.
The Daring Book for Girls is meant to be a manual full of the things that young girls should know; it’s set up in quick, easy to read chapters, perfect for you or the young girl in your life to pick up whenever the mood strikes and always find something interesting.
Now lest you think we’re talking about how to press flowers, making knots and stitches, how to throw a good slumber party (complete with Bloody Mary and Light as a Feather!), and putting your hair up with a pencil–although all of these are in the book too–some other subjects include: building a campfire, tree swings, how to negotiate a salary, watercolor painting, and finance (interest, stocks, and bonds).
For the athletically-inclined, there are sections on hiking, yoga, paddling a canoe, softball, roller skating, bowling, karate, climbing, and hopscotch from around the world. For the more smartypants-inclined, there are math tricks, words to impress, Greek and Latin root words, and a list of “books that will change your life.”
Interspersed throughout this trip down memory lane are history lessons (“What is the Bill of Rights?”) and stories of famous and notable women (among which are Amelia Earhart, Joan of Arc, and a five part series on Queens of the Ancient World), which make this book a fairly complete reference book full of information as well as things to do.
The Daring Book for Girls is 280 pages of fun–a one-stop guide of what the young girl in your life needs to know and how you can teach her.
I have to admit that at first I felt a little guilty getting this book to review when I don’t have any daughters (yet, hopefully), but I quickly realized that’s not a prerequisite to enjoying it. This is a great book even for those of who simply want to take a walk through more innocent times, to remember what it felt like to be out on the corner playing Chinese Jump Rope or doing cartwheels with the neighborhood kids.
And if you don’t remember the words to some of those handclap game ditties? You just might find them here. “Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black….”
Oh, and some of us might even still find the section on boys particularly useful.
And so, with my first ever 5 espresso cups out of 5 rating, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone with a special little girl around, who wants a great reference book of what a young girl’s childhood should be about, and/or who would simply love to reminisce with the help of Buchanan and Peskowitz.
It is so comforting to know that all of the silly, innocent fun that I experienced as a child isn’t gone forever; indeed it’s in this book.
Today I am thankful for:
The awesome memories that surfaced while looking through this book, such as:
- endless games of hopscotch, jump rope (Chinese and regular), and handclap games I played with my cousins and the neighborhood kids;
- what it was like when I first started to seek out books to read on my own;
- building forts in the living room with the couch cushions and lots of blankets;
- all of the paintings, drawings, and other art projects that helped pass many rainy days;
- playing football on the baseball field in the winter snow;
- exploring in the woods and picking up anything that struck my fancy from arrowheads to pretty rocks to blueberries.
Those *were* the days.
What are some of your fondest childhood memories?
P.S. I’m posting this from an internet cafe but at least I saw a rainbow on the way.
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[tags]the daring book for girls, books, book reviews, childhood memories, nablopomo, 30 days of thanks[/tags]
for writers who need inspiration (and who among us doesn’t?)
Fellow writer and friend Fango of Bici Vecchia: An Errant in Italy recently sent me a link to an excerpt of award-winning author Wendell Berry’s The Art of the Commonplace.
In a word? Wow.
There is so much good stuff in this piece, I’d love to parse it out and offer my thoughts for discussion here periodically.
Unfortunately, right now all I can manage is the aforementioned “wow,” but I’m working on a more intelligent response, I promise.
I did want to share one particular section, though, as I and thousands of others are trying our darnedest to write 50,000 words in November for NaNoWriMo. Watch my progress in the sidebar, by the way.
So, to my fellow writers whether NaNo-ing or not, I offer the words of Berry:
At first glance, writing may seem not nearly so much an art of the body as, say, dancing or gardening or carpentry. And yet language is the most intimately physical of all the artistic means. We have it palpably in our mouths; it is our langue, our tongue. Writing it, we shape it with our hands. Reading aloud what we have written–as we must do, if we are writing carefully–our language passes in at the eyes, out at the mouth, in at the ears; the words are immersed and steeped in the senses of the body before they make sense in the mind. They cannot make sense in the mind until they have made sense in the body. Does shaping one’s words with one’s own hand impart character and quality to them, as does speaking them with one’s own tongue to the satisfaction of one’s own ear? There is no way to prove that it does. On the other hand, there is no way to prove that it does not, and I believe that it does.
I told you. Wow.
Write on writers!
Today I’m thankful for:
Inspiration. Whether it’s an article or book recommended by a friend, another blogger’s gorgeous writing, wagging puppy tails, or just plain old glorious sunshine, inspiration abounds, and I find myself typing, typing, typing away on my NaNo novel. I’m actually up to 11, 313 words (and I’m not finished yet tonight!), but I can’t get onto my template to update.
Woohoo!
Who knows what I’ll have when I’m done, but at least it’s more than I had on October 31.
P.S. Sadly, my internet connection is even worse than it was before. Hanging on by a thread here, thus the lack of a “30 Days of Thanks” graphic and link [edited: they’ve now been added!] *and* the post just after midnight–I’m playing it safe just in case I lose the whole connection overnight.
Telecom Italia tells me it’ll be back to normal Monday or Tuesday. Wish us luck!
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[tags] inspiration, wendell berry, the art of the commonplace, nanowrimo, nablopomo, 30 days of thanks[/tags]
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.
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