drops of my life

Riots in Switzerland....

2011-09-27T14:33:00.003+02:00

So it is not as it appears: even in Switzerland there are riots. In the latest days it is eas to read about it in Basel, Chur, Zurich. But I didn't notice anything strange close to me. Maybe because I don't get all the discussions, even if I 'm often on the train or the bus.
It looks also that Switzerland is not new to the riots, as it has happened in the past. I found this reportage really interesting, but I don't have time to look more depply to understand the reason of those riots.
It seems that a famous school (ETH) was moved from a place close to the Hauptbahnhof of Zurich to another place as a consequence of some riots happened sometime in the past.
For me it is strange to here about it, as I always think of Switzerland as a peaceful land, so I can say that Swiss people have a character as well as the rest of the world.

Next episode

2010-11-01T21:28:00.003+01:00

Hi

after my leaving from Italy this is my next episode I 'd like to talk about in my beloved blog.

Today I was in Zurich as I daily do since 1 months, and I was going to have a "Kaffee Creme" in Mc Donalds during a break ( I can tell you ... it is even better than an extremely expensive coffee in a bar in Zurich ). Just before Mc Donalds, in the middle of the street, but in a pedestrian area, there was a dog, a nice and sweet puppy.

No dog in Switzerland walks in a street alone so the only possibility was that someone had lost him. He came towards me and I stopped him to cross the road. He obeyed and was so sweet!! Then he started running towards a young boy just to play with him but the sweetest scene was seeing the boy and some other people taking care of him. They kept him and made a call, probably to police in order to get the identity of the dog and then the owner's address.

I stopped a while and I just looked at that scene and I thought : "How lucky is that dog? He is absolutely safe! People, who don't know him, a dog, takes care of him". I smiled and I felt full of positive energy, and I thought that Switzerland is really amazing.

It is amazing breathing positive feeling and looking at smiling people when you are on the train, on the street or in a shop. It is amazing how much patience Swiss people have in listening to my "schlecht" (horrible) German and answering so politely!

And finally amazing is how people enjoy a sunny day at lake's river, by reading, talking, or simply relaxing. I enjoy as well that and I can tell that sometimes this helps me do not miss my sea.

What is missing?

2010-07-27T20:47:00.002+02:00

Hi my favourite wall,
from day to day I think that I want to write this or I want to write that on the blog. I should arrange a good terminal so that I can soon write what I have in mind, so do not loose my thoughts...
Anyway for sure something is in my mind since days, and I thought how to write it here, as a story? as a poetry? as a simple post? How to be general as I usually am in my blog? let's try.
Happy to announce that I 'm going to leave my country to start a great (the greatest one life can offer ;)) adventure abroad! Feelings? I 'm Excited, Scared, Curious ... Optimistic and Longing to win (or at least survive ;)) and grow personally, professionally and what else is possible to improve!
Of course melanchony, homesickness, they will come soon or later. But a friend of mine asked me: "what exactly is tying you up?" ... well good question!! Key question I'd say! Let's move this question on : "what do you want?", "what do you expect from life?"... too serious? Maybe it would be easier to look at life, how short it is and how big is the set of opportunities in the world! and then, here is the answer : GO!
Still preparing myself, friends to the departure, but I 'll keep this blog up to date! Not too far from the departure date! Good luck to me!

Rossy

Time to learn.

2010-06-08T16:57:00.006+02:00

Hi there,

thanks to FB or because of FB, posting on blog is always postponed and for sure omitted since months! But my blog remains my favourite place :).
A lot of thoughts I left on FB wall, that is because of lazyness in writing a post, or of willingness to share with FB friends ... I don't know.
I didn't write (but wasn't my intention) about the beautiful show I assisted some days ago in Syracuse, "Phedra", at the greek amphitheater. My first participation to that kind of representations, what a beautiful feeling. Pathos...the correct word to express how your soul is involved! Great interpreters, I felt every word they pronounced. Wow!
That's is only a few of what I did and I'm doing in the latest months.

Since some months, I have more time for myself and I can tell you it is not easy to get use of this but I 'm learning slowly how to use this time for myself, for my interests..but I lost what are my interests, my hobbies.
I put them apart some years ago, sometimes they came back, randomly, for a short period, not enough to be again part of my daylife.
But I try.

For example biking, I can also find some old (very old) post talking about it, well! I can use bike in Catania! And I 'm doing it! This is toll (as they'd say in German)! I 'm working to make it my main transport mean at least in the Stadt (again German ..) . I'll post some picture if I'll survive in a couple of months! :D.

What a beautiful reportage.. about Haiti

2010-01-20T14:12:00.003+01:00

Here you are.

(ilsole24ore.com, Mediacenter24)

La politica .. e il senso della misura (corriere.it 17 sett 2009)

2009-09-17T10:32:00.003+02:00

Questo articolo pubblicato oggi dal Corriere della sera mi è proprio piaciuto.

Ritengo che parecchie persone oggi credono di essere superiori ad ogni altro essere umano e la cosa è spaventosa, e tristemente simile alle basi che portarono estremismi come nazismo, apatheid ...

Tutti gli estremismi vanno combattuti, per fortuna abbiamo una mente per eleborare e un cuore per provare sentimenti. Essi lavorano insieme, e producono ragione e sentimento. Per fortuna.

Waiting for music to come up in my life ..

2009-09-16T14:49:00.001+02:00

Strange combination

2009-05-26T14:41:00.003+02:00

Pronto! ("Ready")

:DD
Rossella

Papa Benedetto XVI. Israele lo critica

2009-05-12T12:14:00.002+02:00

Povero Papa, si trova ad affrontare un duro confronto..

Ross

World Press Photo 2009

2009-05-10T19:38:00.003+02:00

I 've just been to the World Press Photo Exhibition 2009 (currently hosted in Zurich).
My impression about it? I felt not the same emotion I felt the first time I saw it, I 'm little bit disappointed, I am not expert but I didn't get such a special emotion in front of the photo, as usual happens when you see a special and well-done photo.
What I liked a lot is, as always, stories they want to tell. From American mortgages crisis to immigrates tragedy, and so on. You can have a look at the site it reports a nice gallery.

Ross

Back to my beloved blog

2009-05-05T14:44:00.004+02:00

I 'm back to my blog...my loved and secure blog..far away from futility, curiosity, useless links, suspicious eyes...in other words FB!

Here is the place where I like to share my impressions, idea, feelings and so on..

Wishing to be active blogger again!

Rossella

Neuchatel

2009-05-05T14:30:00.013+02:00

Hi there!
It is long time I haven't posted about my travels.

So, here is Neuchatel! Really nice villlage :) one hour from Zurich by train.
I enjoyed a lot sightseeing by bycicle for one day.

Ross

Effetto Warholl

2009-04-30T16:06:00.002+02:00

Mai cosa più vera ..

2009-03-17T11:34:00.001+01:00

Monday mood

2009-03-16T11:44:00.006+01:00

Is it due to "Report" about Catania?
Or is it due to the eagerness and current impossibility to create my own life-space?
Or is it due to the calm at the office?

Whatever is the reason of this mood...it is a bad Monday.

Ross

Internet e leggi .. interessante

2009-03-05T10:57:00.002+01:00

Mi pare interessante questo punto di vista sui social network. Mi piace linkarlo nel mio blog.

http://zambardino.blogautore.repubblica.it/

Ross

Desperation ..

2009-01-12T09:05:00.007+01:00

This morning I was listening to the radio and driving office. It was raining and the highway was quite dangerous due to the rain and the limited visibility.
Suddenly I thought how should be the morning in Gaza. I thought about a person there, starting the day like me this morning, not sure he had slept, looking at the world around him. How did he feel? Desperation, desolation, hopelessness ... destruction, death, fear of living.
I stopped radio and I thought to say everyone to stop and think to him just for one minute. Think of him, as war is real, is there, men, women, children there are living the war.
I hoped at least one person in Gaza can listen to music for ... 5 minutes ... to make his mind away from there, to make him maybe calm for 1 minute.
Sadness, impotence, anger ... war.

Ross

Season's greetings!

2008-12-19T15:38:00.000+01:00

Cheers!
Rossella

Tasse sui biglietti aerei....curiosità.

2008-11-16T15:56:00.003+01:00

Visto che oggi pomeriggio non ho molto da fare, faccio finalmente il biglietto di ritorno da Parigi.
Pagato il biglietto su Internet di un volo Meridiana, controllo per filo e per segno che tipo di tasse pago :P. E noto che :

tariffa(il prezzo indicato è comprensivo di IVA 10%)		116.00 EUR
Tasse e supplementi	QX - Controllo passeggeri	8.91 EUR
	FR - Tassa locale francia	13.55 EUR
	IZ - Tassa di solidarietà	1.00 EUR
	YQ - Crisis surcharge	6.00 EUR
Prezzo		145.46 EUR

Diritti amministrativi e di emissione(inclusa IVA 20%)	3.00 EUR

Totale pagato	148.46 EUR

Lo sapevate l'unione europea ha lanciato la tassa di solidarietà? "Una tassa dell' Ue sui voli, per finanziare gli aiuti ai Paesi più poveri colpiti dall' Aids".
Grazie al mio biglietto allora l'AIDS viene combattuto ... voglio crederci...

Interessante anche la tassa "Crisis surcharge" : "È un supplemento che copre i costi dei maggiori controlli di sicurezza ritenuti necessari dopo gli attentati dell'11 settembre 2001 negli Stati Uniti." Quindi quelle file interminabili e i controlli di sicurezza che io eviterei perchè mi sembrano assurdi, hanno costi coperti dal mio biglietto!

E chi lo sapeva..da oggi avrò un atteggiamento diverso quando decido di fare un viaggio :D!

Ross

... e l'Italia è tecnicamente in recessione!

2008-11-16T15:34:00.002+01:00

Bene .... sembra ufficiale : qui!
Se si tira troppo la corda ... prima o poi si spezza, si sa. E così dopo che per strada e per anni si sente parlare di prezzi che aumentano senza alcun controllo e di stipendi che rimangono fermi..adesso tutti i media si svegliano e dicono ciò che per molti è ovvio. Una buonissima parte degli italiani non arriva a fine mese, vendite in calo in tutto il paese perfino per pasta e pane! E certo, la gente è indebitata fino al collo!
E ora? Cosa si fa? Staremo a vedere!Sembra che ancora si stia parlando della scoperta dell'acqua calda,vediamo quando si passerà ai fatti, quelli veri!
Io intanto penso bene di emigrare, per adesso l'Italia e soprattutto Catania non mi offrono nulla di positivo!

Ross

Facebook .. and privacy

2008-10-29T15:19:00.005+01:00

The fact that Facebook is the antithesis of PRIVACY is well known, as the purpose is to share the personal information, like pictures, profiles, and what else with own "friends".
Then, it is also true that you can decide what to share and who to share with.

I 'm proud and sorry to say that I found that it is FALSE! In fact, it is possible to view any picture you have uploaded even if the user is not a Facebook's subscriber.

I 'm in doubt if it is a good idea to explain to you all, but you 'll find how if you are interested ;).

That's why I think Facebook is the worst product I 've ever seen in terms of user experience and implementation!!! Then its use and target is debatable.

Ross

Zurich ... Opernhaus and lake

2008-10-14T13:35:00.005+02:00

Hi
still living in Zurich..and I 'm starting appreciating some Swiss habits.
Moreover, I was at the Opernhaus. It is really nice, and to have a walk along the lake into the park, I like it a lot, together with bicycle ;).

Human beings ...

2008-10-07T12:53:00.004+02:00

Uhm, recently I 've met a lot of persons. Different cultures, different ages, a lot of human various beings.
And I 'm learning, at least thinking about world..too big maybe!..about people and public relations is much easier.
Maybe one of mine most common errors is creating an idea in my mind of the person I 'm talking with after few times I 've met him/her. This is called "prejudice" most probably. And this prevents me to understand and live that person.
I 'm learning day by day do not care about people behavior in some specific situations but only live the public relations and learn when some situations give the opportunity to learn, and forget if it doesn't.
I remember when I wrote this post about treasures of life, and now I 'm back to think about people, how much complex they are .. and how much beautiful they are.

Sorry for this maybe stupid but just a personal thought ;).

Rossella

Zurich ... tram city.

2008-10-04T09:12:00.004+02:00

Hi
after a month in Zurich still not breathing Swiss air, but experiencing a multicultural and anonymous city.
As a friend suggested yesterday evening, I have to live the Swiss Zurich joining Swiss locals and Swiss life. I agree it is the best way to be in touch with a city, living as a citizen not as a tourist.
Anyway until now, what I 'll remind thinking on Zurich is the dense network of trams. Efficient and characteristic trams. You can reach all the city areas jumping from one tram to another. If it still not enough, add a bus or a regional train as well :). A lot of possibilities to get a destination. Wonderful, no stress, just a little bit cold waiting at the stations. But trams and buses are well warmed.

Pillole di saggezza

2008-09-14T22:01:00.005+02:00

"La vostra preoccupazione per ciò che gli altri pensano di voi scompare una volta che capite quanto di rado pensano a voi."

"Don't care about people's opinion on you as they think about you so rarely".

David Foster Wallace

Zurich

2008-09-02T21:13:00.005+02:00

Hi
a lot of time far from the blog!!Now it's time to be back ;).
I spent a week in Zurich, it was my third time there. Is it enough to talk about it? Uhm, let's put my first impression here. It is funny for me to be back through my old posts and remind my feelings :).
I can say I 'm lucky, it was a terrific sunny week. I had a lot of work but the week end was beautiful, mostly because I did the thing I love above all : GO AROUND with the BICYCLE! This time the scenario was the Zurich lake, gardens and the city as well. I adore sightseeing a city by bicycle!
Of course my trip there encountered other opportunities, as visit a museum (Museum Fur Gestaltung = museo del design ) , visit the sorroundings ( well known to me but interesting for comparing city to the rest ), have a special evening at the Langstrassenfest ( it seemed to be in London ) , a dinner with guys of different countries and a nice dinner with a special guest ;).
So, my first impression about Zurich is a multicultural city. In these terms it is similar to London, but not so chaotic, the density of the population seems to be lower than London's. There is an efficient transportation system, trams and buses. They are a lot and of course Swiss-ly on time ;). You don't need a car.
Then I learned something more about Swiss language. It seems to be a merge among different languages, i.e. Italian, French and German of course. German is a little bit different and becomes a dialect. The language changes while moving through the Switzerland, with more French influence while moving towards West for example. So there is no a precise and well defined language to learn, it depends mostly on the place where you stay or live.
Next time I 'll be there I want to find out something that makes my feeling of a soulless Zurich overturned! There should be something that shows the original Zurich, it is not visible at first, it should be discovered.
The picture in the right is a nice ice cream at Sprungli 's bar :).

Travelling a lot ...

2008-08-18T15:56:00.006+02:00

Hi
I couldn't find time to update my blog, I 've traveled a lot in the last 2 months.
I went to Madrid, Warsaw, Zurich and I had a tour of the western sicily... WOW!

I 'll try to post something in the next days!

Picture was taken close to Trapani (sicily). It is funny, isn't it?

Ross

Bern

2008-07-07T10:57:00.005+02:00

Hi guys
in the last months I had the possibility to visit Switzerland.
Some days ago I was in Bern, where I spent 2 days. Here some pictures :).
I sightsaw the city by bicycle, I love to do it :). Weather was beautiful and people as well.
The city was full of football fans, even if Bern only hosted the so called "Fanzone"s, i.e. squares provided with enormous screens and closed, creating protected and safe areas. A lot of policemen were at the entry of the zones and all over the city.
The city is nice and small.
I found Einstein Museum and the Museum of the communication really interesting. I loved Einstein Museum because of the structure, it is well organized in periods. Each period is well organized by using a description of the society, economical situation in which Einstein lived. It was like living with him, looking at any aspects that influenced his life.
I also learned the Relativity Theory ;).
Moreover I appreciated the videos of the postwar. A section in the museum was dedicated to the second world war. Among the others, there were two monitors, one projecting life in Switzerland after the second world war, and the other life in Europe in the same period. It is incredible how they differed! Ski holidays, life and prosperity in Switzerland; corpses, ruins, sadness in Europe.
The Museum of the communication is an "interactive" museum and I like these kind of museums :).

Italian life style ... pessimistic point of view.

2008-06-24T15:17:00.003+02:00

Sometimes I think that living in Italy is like playing a tennis match continuously.

Everything concerns with your life, social life, job life and so on, seems to be a well-defined template. Public services, private services are so bad-managed that the end-user is never the first target of the public/private company. Sometimes he is the last. Revenue is the first really important target....personal revenue is the most targeted :P.

Politicians as well are totally focused on businesses that are in some way useful for their personal profit, this is true all over the world I know, but it is sad as well.

So, if you need to have a new ID, then sometimes you need to ask "PLEASE, do it". If you need to travel with Alitalia, as it has the monopoly of the major part of the European paths, you need to wait and sometimes to accept cancellation with no rights to complain. If you need a telecom assistance for your fixed line, you need to wait until they can do it, and not ask for any reimbursement.

Then you start creating your own shield, your way of living in order to make life better and less stressing. So when you need a new ID, you'll ask "PLEASE, do it". If you want to fly and be on time, you need to ask for a low-cost airline, maybe is more reliable. If you need a telecom assistance, you'll use your own mobile phone, it is faster.

Quality goes DOWN!

I think all this is really sad, because people don't want to live better and do their best. They want to receive only, never give! That's impossible and I 'm really tired.

Ross

Contraddizioni del governo italiano...

2008-06-20T16:56:00.003+02:00

... del tipo :

Berlusconi propone l'emendamento "salva-premier", approvato dalla Camera (ovviamente) per cui vi sarà (forse)l'immunità e la sospensione di ogni iniziativa giudiziaria per i vertici dello Stato.

Poi arriva il ministro alla pubblica amministrazione Brunetta : "Lotta ai fannulloni" ... "Sì ai licenziamenti per scarso rendimento, per la falsificazione di attestati di presenza,..." ... "Licenziamento per chi è sottoposto a procedimento penale, anche prima della condanna. "

Viva la democrazia!! Meditate gente meditate!

Ross

All of me

2008-06-18T13:51:00.001+02:00

Swing.

Italians in Switzerland

2008-06-18T11:52:00.010+02:00

Hi fellows,

I 'd like to collect another feeling I experienced yesterday.
As you MOST PROBABLY know, European championship is running in Switzerland/Austria, and yesterday Italy (FORZA AZZURRI!!! :P) beat France (Zidane was not the cause this time :P).
The match looked like a box match instead of football, but I 'm not either expert or fan of football, so never mind!
At the end of the match we spent some more time in the center of a small Swiss village, drinking beer. We spent half an hour maybe. That was enough to see a crowd coming into the center... a crowd of Italians, celebrating the winners! A plenty of Italians, I couldn't imagine how many!
Swiss friends explained that young people we saw in the crowd constitutes the second generation of Italians here in Switzerland, that means that parents established in Switzerland and their sons still live here. Swiss uses to call each young "secondo".
I was wondering of the patriotic spirit they spread in celebrating the winners! That young people, although grown in Switzerland, still has an Italian heart! And this is wonderful!

Actually Swiss people consider Italian as friends, and they celebrated as well :).

Italians! Be proud of being Italians and do not damage Italia image! Abroad we are still loved ... hopefully for long yet!

Rossy

Sorge, Fidone, Rubino at Enola club

2008-06-10T10:50:00.002+02:00

Nice evening: from the left Paolo Sorge, Alberto Fidone and Dino Rubino.
Enola Club Catania ... Marvellous Jazz music!

Nazionalismo tedesco in Italia...

2008-06-03T14:48:00.003+02:00

Questo invece mi sembra un esempio di nazionalismo tedesco ... l'anticamera del nazismo:

Leggi.

Credo che in Italia stiamo indietreggiando di 60 anni circa, e stiamo buttando via il sacrificio di tanti Italiani che sono morti per la libertà di questo Paese.

Che tristezza.

Rossella

"Signor presidente, dall'estero non riconosco più la mia Italia"

2008-06-03T14:37:00.005+02:00

Ciao,
quella che trascrivo qui è una lettera molto bella e profonda; voglio assolutamente che rimanga in questo blog. E' una lettera rivolta al Presidente Napolitano.

"Carissimo Presidente,
sono un'italiana residente all'estero ormai da diversi anni, ma nonostante questo sono sempre stata attaccata alla mia cara Italia. I suoi colori, la creatività, la vivacità, genuinità e ospitalità della nostra gente sono tutte cose che fino a pochi giorni fa venivano decantate all'estero come marchio dell'essere italiano e che tanto mi rendevano orgogliosa.

Come può ben immaginare, continuo a seguire tutti i fatti di attualità, di politica, di cronaca che riguardano il nostro Paese, e mi creda, mi rattrista dover confessare a Lei e prima ancora a me stessa che mi vergogno dell'Italia ritratta in questi giorni su tutte le prime pagine dei giornali nazionali e internazionali.

Signor Presidente ma che succede? Dove è finita la succitata "ospitalità" degli italiani? E' davvero possibile che il sentimento più forte che emerge nella popolazione sia ormai la paura dello straniero, del migrante, dell'immigrato?

La sicurezza è certamente un problema serio, ma non penso che il modo giusto di risolverlo sia quello di alimentare la paura e l'intolleranza nei confronti di persone comunitarie ed extracomunitarie. Piuttosto penso che una più attenta politica di integrazione sociale sia la soluzione al problema dell'Immigrazione che a mio avviso, non coincide (come il governo vuole far credere) con il problema della Sicurezza.

Siamo in EUROPA e credo sia assurdo leggere ancora sui giornali, titoli come "ragazza italiana violentata da un romeno". Con questo non voglio sminuire affatto la bruttura del reato, mi auguro soltanto che la giustizia faccia il suo corso indipendentemente da chi lo ha commesso. Quindi mi chiedo quale sia il bisogno di sottolineare la diversa nazionalità?

Sono una ricercatrice e il mio lavoro mi ha dato la possibilità di uscire fuori dai "nostri confini" e mi creda non ho mai trovato tanta intolleranza come quella che sta nascendo e che si sta alimentando negli ultimi tempi in Italia.

Adesso sono in Inghilterra e come lei sa qui di immigrati (comunitari ed extra comunitari) ce ne sono tanti, ma così tanti che non si può più fare una distinzione. Per farle solo un esempio, a Pasqua ero ad Oxford e in Chiesa ho assistito ad uno spettacolo meraviglioso: c'era tutto il mondo rappresentato in quella piccola Chiesa Cattolica. Mi colpì e mi commosse la diversità dei colori della pelle, dei costumi, ma al tempo stesso l'omogeneità e la coralità di tutte quelle persone.

Mi chiedo quando in Italia sarà possibile respirare quella stessa atmosfera di integrazione che si trova ormai nel resto d'Europa?

Signor Presidente spero tanto che Lei non permetterà al presente governo di inasprire i rapporti tra gli italiani e gli immigrati, spero che Lei alzi la voce davanti a ministri che giustificano e incitano alla pulizia dei campi rom, spero che Lei faccia tutto quello che è in suo potere per rendersi portavoce della necessità di migliorare la politica di integrazione sociale di cui l'Italia ha oggi bisogno per confrontarsi alla pari con il resto del mondo e d'Europa.

Fiduciosa nella sua persona e nell'importante carica istituzionale che lei ricopre, la ringrazio per la sua attenzione e le auguro buon lavoro.
Cordiali saluti,

Maria Vinci

(Pugliese, 34 anni, da 5 o 6 si dedica alla ricerca sul cancro. Ha studiato e lavorato a Milano (Ifom) e a Heidelberg in Germania. Ora si trova in Inghilterra)
"
(pubblicata da "Repubblica", 03 Giugno 2008)

My first canyoning adventure :)

2008-05-22T11:51:00.010+02:00

Hi fellows
I would like to share with you my memories about the terrific adventure I had some days ago.
I joined a great team to share a really fun adventure: canyoning at Gole dell'Alcantara, Sicily!
Look at the fantastic team ready to start!

Hopefully I 'll receive the picture of the team after the canyoning.. I 'm eager to see the faces :D.
Unfortunately I don't have pictures about the canyoning itself as we didn't have any cameras with us..what a shame!
We went through cascades (small :P), streams and along rock walls to get to the furthest point possible. Then we went back by simply sliding on the water, the stream guided us towards the ravine (where the river completes its path, and where we started climbing).
We took 2 hours to get to the furthest point fighting against the stream , and 5 minutes to get back :D because of the stream.

Great! I suggest all of you going in Sicily to try it, it is fantastic!

Ross

La seconda onda...

2008-05-13T11:41:00.003+02:00

Ciao
questo è un link che mi ha suggerito un amica... molto bello, intenso e credo molto vicino alla vita di ciascuno.
Mi piace linkarlo e condividerlo con tutti : waves.

Grazie Ga!

Ross

Elezioni 2008 : sarà storia

2008-04-22T17:44:00.002+02:00

Qui

Elezioni ... tiriamo le somme!

2008-04-15T12:41:00.007+02:00

Ciao sinistroidi e non,
allora se ho ben capito :

Regione Siciliana : Lombardo (quasi scontato, adesso voglio trovare un solo catanese che si lamenta di Catania ... dopo la luce dalle strade toglieranno anche qualcos'altro, diamogli tempo. Grazie a Lombardo, Scapagnini è riuscito a far retrocedere Catania di almeno 10 anni).

Senato : Cuffaro ( è stato GIUSTAMENTE promosso dopo essere stato condannato ).

Governo : Berlusconi (ci vuole uno coi soldi per manovrare tutto no?). Bene voglio vedere quanti giovani precari vorranno sposare suo figlio...dovrà preparare una graduatoria.

Però tutto sommato sono spariti i fasciti e i comunisti dal governo e Ferrara non ha ottenuto un minimo di voti per essere considerato (che non è male visto il suo slogan assolutamente impronunciabile!)

Bene non mi resta che scegliere....Grecia,Svizzera,Polinesia ... vi faccio sapere vi mando una cartolina.:DDDDDDDDDD

Rossella

Disappointment and sorrow ..

2008-03-26T14:02:00.012+01:00

What a sorrow! Listening to people talking about disabled persons as a small part of the humanity, and for this reason, not relevant in many decisions in the world ...

What a sorrow! Listening to the reasons for which "my house" should not have access for disabled persons because for "me" is not important, because I 'm "normal".... now! I 'd add ...

What a sorrow! Listening that it 's totally up to me providing access to my house for disabled persons ...

What a sorrow! Understanding that altruism is not a value anymore because life makes everyone egoist in front of personal situations ...

What a shame! Realizing that you don't have a disabled person as a friend or relative ... I have ...

Rossella

Her face and her eyes this morning.

2008-03-12T09:36:00.010+01:00

Good morning...strange and sad morning. At least for her.
She woke up and called him, as usual since 62 years. But he wasn't there, and I run, arrived in the bedroom where we had slept together and I looked into her eyes, asking what was happened.
I saw two small, brown, tearing eyes and she said me: " I called him, I forgot!". Her face was so small,sweet, as a scared baby, it was a bad awakening for her, she was probably dreaming him, and her first thought was to call him in the morning.
I won't forget her face, the feeling she expressed, sadness, melancholy, disappointment.
She is a baby to take care of.

The House of my Dreams!

2008-03-07T16:49:00.010+01:00

Here it is!
cheap! Only Euros 48.000, 3 main rooms, on sale in Acicastello WOW!, customizable windows and doors, big kitchen, turnkey .. what I should dream more!

Thanks Italia! That is the house that perfectly fit my economical possibilities!

...and I can move it wherever I want :D.

Eccola!!!
economica! pensa solo 48000 euro , 3 vani! , in vendita ad Acicastello, rifiniture personalizzate, cucina abitabile ... chiavi in mano.. che potrei desiderare di più!

E' lei .. la casa che mi posso permettere !

E la posso anche spostare dove mi pare e piace!

Grazie Italia!

:))))

Abbandoniamo la nave!

2008-02-25T14:35:00.003+01:00

E' ora di abbandonare la nave! Bella ma sempre maledetta Sicilia... :((.
Dalla padella (Cuffaro) alla brace (Lombardo) ...
Al peggio non c'è mai fine ...
...

Ecco perchè ...

...Addio.

Italia .. Italians .. Sicilians..

2008-01-31T10:23:00.000+01:00

When I 'm furious, I like to use my blog to shout my indignation. Now I 'm furious.

I would like to tell you what happened yesterday because I want, I really want, to publish an example of Italian way of living, mentality and respect towards people.
Let's start.
As usual, yesterday I went home and I arrived at about 7 p.m. (this is more or less the best time I can get home from office in the evening) . AS USUAL, a car parked prevented the access to MY box. AS USUAL, I started to use klaxon. I had just started to shout when I saw a little note on the Mercedes' dashboard (this happens in very few cases) . Then I thought, Ok! Let 's start AGAIN to look for that address and that name around the place. But....SURPRISE! It was not an address or a name...but ... A MOBILE PHONE NUMBER! I 'm very lucky I thought :|.
The note seemed to say : "Please call me if you want to access YOUR box. If I 'm not too far I 'll be there in few minutes" .... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Unfortunately I couldn't take a picture! Just as a souvenir!

Those are ITALIANS and in particular SICILIANS!

Christmas 2007 ...

2007-12-28T21:29:00.000+01:00

Come dice Elio e le storie tese : "Christmas with the yours...Easter what you want!!" .. e l'ho preso alla lettera: febbre e chi si muove più di casa!
Ne approfitto per tornare al blog, magari per fare gli auguri di un felice anno nuovo a tutti quelli che mi leggono :)).

Un bacione a tutti e un felice e fortunato 2008!

Happy New Year!

I 'm back ... to my blog

2007-12-13T17:50:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks,
finally I'm back to my blog, and actively back.
Many events brought me back, to read my old posts. I received an email from a friend of mine, she reads my blog, that's great! A colleague (and friend as well) asked me about my blog, about it's birth and maintenance.
At last, these days are quite calm in terms of work so I have time to spend for my blog. It is like to be back of one year, I collected a lot of emotions, at least in the first time, and it is nice to be able to live that emotions again.

I 've just read the "birth of my blog" ... what I wrote on "why" I decided to create this blog (by now more than one year ago). I wrote that my intention was to discuss about life, and above all nice aspects of life, worth to be shared with you. Recently I didn't share so many life events with you.. sorry I broke the promise. I 'll try to tell you something more.

I didn't travel so much, so I don't have many arguments about that. I 'll be in Paris next January. It is a good opportunity to complete my post about Paris!

I 'll add also a post about Milo, where I went last Saturday. It is a nice village close to Etna's top, it recalls me life when I was 14 years old. It is nice to observe how places don't look like you remember them.

So, come on!! Wait for me!!!

Kisses!

Ross

You've got a friend

2007-11-09T19:57:00.000+01:00

Wonderful :))

Achille Lauro anniversary

2007-10-10T09:52:00.000+02:00

Hi
8th october 1985 :
Achille Lauro ship is under terrorism attack .

2003 :
Abu Abbas is captured in Iraq by Americans. He is accused to be the mind of the attack. It is not true!

Ross

Skype art :)

2007-09-28T10:05:00.000+02:00

It will follows ... ELISA!

2007-09-18T17:29:00.001+02:00

simply BEAUTIFUL!
To be continued ..

In the Simpson's world

2007-09-17T15:24:00.001+02:00

They look like us, don't they? :))

Voglio dargli una mano....

2007-09-14T15:12:00.000+02:00

Leggi qui...

Sarei felice di sapere che ognuno diffonda questo tipo di notizie per cercare di sensibilizzare gli uomini.
Non è retorica, sono realtà che secondo me, a prescindere che tu ne sia direttamente coinvolto o no, esistono e vanno supportate nel nome del rispetto umano.

Il semplice "parlarne" diffonde la cultura e diminuisce l'ignoranza.

Rossella

Italia: c'è chi scopre l'acqua calda!

2007-08-03T10:58:00.000+02:00

Ciao
questo post va rigorosamente scritto in italiano per sottolineare quanta ipocrisia e retorica esista in Italia. Guardate cosa SOLO oggi esce su Repubblica : economia .
Questa notizia è un dato di fatto (che poi è anche peggio di come la descrivono), ma che esiste da un bel pò di tempo. Il fatto che la notizia (se così si può definire) venga pubblicata solo ora per me può voler dire due cose: in Italia i giornalisti sono talmente in ritardo da non capire la realtà, i media tendono a pubblicare e diffondere notizie solo quando ritengono opportuno, lasciando la massa popolare nell'ignoranza finchè è comodo che sia così. Io voto per la seconda opzione :P.
Io credo che tanta gente (per lo più giovani) si sia già accorta (e non oggi!) dell'impossibilità di costruirsi una propria indipendenza se non con grossi sacrifici. La maggior parte dei giovani italiani non può permettersi di vivere indipendentemente grazie alle leggi e alla situazione lavorativa in cui versano. E questo secondo me è indice di ignoranza da parte dello Stato Italiano (vd il "ministro" Mastella che propone incentivi per i ragazzi che rimangono a vivere coi genitori... irripetibile bestemmia!).

Secondo me la Repubblica oggi "ha scoperto l'acqua calda" e sottolineo PER L'ENNESIMA VOLTA!

Scusate lo sfogo ... ma è tutto ciò è molto deprimente :(.

by 30-enne italiana

Agrigento and "Scala dei Turchi"

2007-07-25T15:23:00.000+02:00

Agrigento and surroundings, another beautiful and hidden location in Sicily.
Hidden...yes really hidden and far from Catania. I took 2 hours and a half to get the destination, traveling with 43 degrees .. :|!
But the place was so beautiful and so a rare spectacle that it was really a great idea! I 'm talking about the "Scala dei turchi", it is a calcareus, clayey white big rock at the seaside. It looks like stairs starting from the sea and goes up...really up and they are really precipitous!
They are wonderful.. look at some pictures! (thanks to the author again :P)

Germany : Munich, Leipzig and Berlin

2007-07-12T12:03:00.003+02:00

My first time in Germany.
I spent a week in Munich and unfortunately I didn't have enough time to sightsee the city, I 've just started meeting German people and a German city (and German weather as well.....what cold!!).
Then I spent the weekend at Leipzig, really nice city. Quite big, young city, hosting an old university.
What I appreciated more was the company and the bicycle :P. I loved a lot walking with bicycle, crossing all the city, freely, using bicycle lane, and pass through parks. Thanks to my friend for that!!! Now I 'll get my bicycle in Catania :P. The problem is that there is no bicycle lane, so the city is quite dangerous in this sense :(.
In Leipzig I saw (or listened to) a concert of classical music at a park; the Gewandhaus orchestra played for three hours, celebrating the end of the symphonic season.
German people live classical music daily, during religious offices, with the events the city offers, every day. The park was full of people, families, children and adults, listening to classical music. Even if there were a lot of children, the concert was not disturbed. Nice nice evening!

My last day in Germany was spent in Berlin. As I spent only few hours I can say my first, really first impression about it.

I didn't like it as Berlin is not a nice city according to me :P. But I think it is a very interesting city, it is more than beautiful to sightsee it, expecially if you are interesting in the last century world history. I felt really full of emotions when I saw the rests of the wall, and mostly the "Checkpoint Charlie". It is amazing thinking about people that lived in the middle of the war, living terrorism.
Holocaust 's monument is great as well!
See pictures about Potsdamer platz (square) and Checkpoint Charlie.
Potsdamer platz makes you feeling as in an empty space, it hosts with few modern buildings, as it was crossed by the wall till 1989. A Renzo Piano building is in the square and the Film Haus, where Berlin Film festival is celebrated.
Berlin made me eager of studying last century history deeply. I'll buy some book and hopefully I 'll take time to read it :P.

Treasure of life : Music, Sea and People

2007-06-27T09:25:00.000+02:00

This morning, driving to the office I felt a sense of serenity, maybe because I 'd just left a beautiful place, far from city and traffic and problems....
In these last days I realized that there are 3 things in the life totally free and they are the best things you can meet in your life: MUSIC, SEA and PEOPLE. I think they are fantastic because they exist, independently you asked for them, independently you payed for them, they are there, and you can listen to them, talk with them, let be involved with them...WOW!
Maybe I 'll explain my feeling by using some pictures...let me search for them :P.
I 'm inclined to put them in a priority order: Music, Sea and People..this is the order I prefer today.

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

Rossella

A lot of special people ...

2007-06-26T17:08:00.000+02:00

Hi
those are the persons I met at the "Aiutare I bambini" course.. a lot of very different and special people :) : Tiziana, Lorella, Paola, Alexandra, Adriano, Francesca, Laura, Luisa, Nicole, Miriam, Santa, Anna, Elena, Michelangelo ...

Mario Biondi 's concert at Taormina

2007-06-11T10:28:00.000+02:00

The Taormina 's greek amphitheater, an orchestra, and a good company ... result : nice evening! :).
That 's how spent last Friday ... at the Mario Biondi concert.
Concert started at 9,30 pm and took 2 hours. It was a nice evening for many good factors. Weather gave its best :P, despite little transitory clouds :).
What about concert.. What I appreciated more were : orchestra (Duke Orchestra and High Five Quintet) really nice; greek amphitheater .. it 's a beautiful place (hopefully you can catch atmosphere from the pictures, but I don't think so, hence look at this photostream and many thanks to the author :P).
I didn't appreciate Mario Biondi so much for many reasons. He has a beautiful voice, it is very similar to Barry White 's voice (equal sometimes) but he didn't transmit me any emotion. I think he has that voice but he doesn't use it in a special way. He just sings, not enjoy singing. Maybe he was scared because of the big audience or because he has no talent to stay on stage. I can say that I 'll not pay more than 5 euros for Mario Biondi next time :P (I payed 34 euros for the concert :( ).
I really appreciated some parts of the concert : the duet Mario Biondi-Mario Venuti (see picture), they sang a Venuti's song; and when the High Five Quintet played with no orchestra and singer.

Closer

2007-05-18T03:58:00.000+02:00

"Love is an accident ... waiting to happen"

"Desire is a stranger ... you think you know"

"Intimacy is a lie ... we tell ourselves"

"Truth is a game ... you play to win"

"If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking "

Look

New element in my blog : my favourite picture.

2007-05-16T04:02:00.000+02:00

Hi,
I've just added an element on the right side of the blog about pictures.
Recently I saw many beautiful pictures, so I decided to put some in my blog.

I 'll change it as much often as possible, maybe daily, depending on available pictures and free time ;P.

Thanks to the authors :)

McFerrin at "La Scala" theatre, Milan

2007-05-10T11:32:00.000+02:00

No words to explain ... just listen to Bobby

and then read :

(English)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theaterarts/2003682680_conc27.html

(Italiano)
http://www.corriere.it/vivimilano/cronache/articoli/2007/05_Maggio/09/scala_cellulare.shtml

London

2007-05-08T03:30:00.000+02:00

Hi fellows,
unfortunately I 'm back from London.I 'm sad ... look at the picture and you can just imagine why!
I 'll try to share with you what I lived for 3 days (very short period).
I cannot miss to say that I like London, it is objectively nice! But most of all I enjoyed it for many reasons.
I walked freely, with no fixed destinations, no time tables. I tried to live everything as much slow as possible, to capture not only London as a touristic city, but London and Londoners.
Thanks to a friend (and destiny as well :P), I met Peter and Adam (see the picture), lovely persons.
We were at a club in which fans of the Northern Soul music meet to share a common passion. Peter loves that music and I was happy that he decided to share this with me. I 'm eager learning about music, most of all jazz, soul and blues.
I had also a dinner with Peter two days later, and we had a walk through the "City" of London. I loved walking and talking to Peter in that beautiful atmosphere.
Therefore I was at the Tate Modern museum, an old power station reused as museum. I like this kind of museum, modern, out of the classic schema, in which you can find the classic paintings, as well as a video produced with strange effect on a mobile wall, and more artistic experiments.
As I planned before leaving, I was to the theater for the "Phantom of the Opera"... nice! Despite audio and the seat in the balcony (the highest location in the theater :(, even if I payed 24 pounds for that seat! ) I enjoyed the show.
I spent most of the time in the touristic London, and this is not representative for the entire city, I saw people from everywhere, a lot of people of different countries, but living and sharing the same places and services, no suspicious with each other, no awry sights ... just living peacefully.
Moreover, English people are really polite. They take care of individuals, above all if they need help. I saw more than once people asking to provide help if needed. I know that it is not very unusual, but I think it was great because it was done without distinguishing among races and colours. Probably, that's why I didn't see people asking for money or washing car's windows or selling roses (as happens in Italy) at the traffic lights. If everyone stops to help anyone asking or not, there 'll be no one searching for any kind of job to live (or survive).
Finally, art, architecture, music, nature (in the beautiful parks!) and hospitality distinguished this travel to London.
Of course, I have to wish to myself to be back in London not too late :P!

Simeto 's valley

2007-04-27T00:37:00.000+02:00

Hi
another part of Sicily is coming to be added to my blog.
It is a small area close to Catania, called Simeto's valley, from the name of the river Simeto.
I spent one day at the Casale del Simeto ( the site is very nice and is worth to be visited) a small bed&breakfast and restaurant as well in the valley.
We had a short trip, a speleologist guided us through not very linear footpaths (;P) among green and clayey fields. We saw a small lake (see picture) and a grass snake as well...
Then we heard also toads, but we didn't see them.
Other pictures in my photostream ... see the link on the right.

Athens

2007-04-20T03:28:00.000+02:00

This is a post dedicated to Athens, Greece.
Last year I spent two months (June and July) in Athens. Now, I 'm in Athens again but for 2 days.
As soon as I landed I noticed that sun in Greece is different, is warmer and lighter than other countries. This enjoyed me a lot.
When arrived at office (13 o' clock more or less) I watched through window (I was at third floor) and I saw the "glittering" buildings ;). That is, most of the buildings (maybe every building in Athens) has a solar panel system installed on the ceiling. According to the sun position, the metal part of the system reflects the light, and this creates the "glittering" effect. It is nice :) to see.
Then I met people, and I realized that Greek are really similar to Italian. They are warm and simple. I like it :).
I 'm also amazing that I remember most of the streets' and areas' names, and some Greek words as well: kalimera, euphcaristo polli, signomi, avrio, parakallo, apodixi ... ;).
Unfortunately I don't have pictures to publish ... but I 'll take some not to late, who knows? ;P.

Blasco Small Combo

2007-04-14T09:10:00.000+02:00

Hi fellows!
I 'm happy to insert a new post about music.
Yesterday, BB King pub in Biancavilla ( :P !!) hosted the Blasco Small Combo band.
The picture shows them in the pub and in the link you can find information about band and you can download two excerpts as well.
The band is composed of 2 element: Blasco, the voice and contrabass player, and Sergio, the guitarist and second voice. I really think that they seem to be an orchestra!
I found the appointment navigating the net, then invited some friends and I can say that they were a real surprise: the evening was really pleasant!
The atmosphere the band created in the pub was beautiful, most similar to a scene from "Happy days" American movie. It seemed to live an episode :).
They dress mirroring 50s and 60s' style. Both wore little ties and Blasco wore beige "clark" as shoes. I think that shoes are the only pair existing in the world :P, you cannot find that model anymore in any shop! I think he uses it only for concert ;).
Blasco, the voice, is able to create the 60s' atmosphere. His voice is also very similar to the one used in the famous American series by the band at Arnold's. He sings perfectly following lyric and in a way that seems to express pleasure, naturalness. Blasco is considered the greatest european rockabilly (see also here) contrabass player.
Looking at Blasco's hands while playing is almost amazing. Most of all the right hand, the one that plunks the strings. If you listen to "Heartbeat" or "Oh Boy!" in the link, you can listen to the speed the music goes and the battery you hear is not part of the band as you can see from the picture, but it the effect Blasco creates plucking strings! He is amazing! He seems to play two instruments simultaneously and perfectly synchronized.
At the end of the concert, the last excerpt involved also a sax player in pub. He started playing with the band and I enjoyed to be involved in the players' pleasure to create music and spread emotions.
Nice evening! Hopefully I 'll post something about music like this soon.

Happy Easter

2007-04-09T03:28:00.000+02:00

Happy Easter !!
Is an happy easter for you? Hopefully....

Carmen Consoli concert

2007-03-30T08:50:00.000+02:00

Hi fellows,

here there are some pictures of the concert of the last 27th March..not good unfortunately!

It was a nice concert, in which acting and music merged in a nice way.

AMREF and water saving ...

2007-03-22T17:46:00.001+01:00

Hi
today AMREF Italy starts a water saving campaign to make people aware about the water misuse in Italy. The scope of the project is to donate in order to improve water structures in Uganda.
What is interesting and can be done very easily is to follow the advices about water saving. Look at the "10 golden rules" (unfortunately they are in Italian :( ).

AAA ... London!

2007-03-19T19:40:00.000+01:00

Aprile a Londra, qualcuno vuole unirsi? :)

April in London, would you like to join me? :)

Italian motorways and security!

2007-03-12T10:54:00.000+01:00

Hi fellows,
during these days Italian channels are talking about saturday nights' slaughters. In Italy, in the last 5 years a number of young people died on the motorways, or roads in general, and that number is equal to a town of average size. Young people usually go back home from the disco and in the most of the cases they are drunk, or at least the level of alcohol in his blood is quite high according to the Italian laws. I think a beer or two are enough to be over the allowed limit (AC I says).
Those statistics are really amazing, but what I think is that Italian roads and motorways are very dangerous. Many people during the week, while going to work, have accidents due to bad maintenance of bad structure of the roads. Due to high speed too.
Every day, while going to work, I can see incredible things that make the motorway I use to drive very dangerous. So I want to show you one of that INCREDIBLE thing that, in this case, ANAS is able to do!

Look at the pictures (I 'm going to put better quality pictures. I was driving while taking those :P). What you can see at the left side are roadwork signals. Can you see where they are? If you look deeply you can see that the roadways are very small in width. Signals are put exactly on the roadway! Do you think that it can be safe, considering that cars go at 120 kmh!
So, I'm really hungry when I hear that the causes for the deaths is the high speed or alcohol. It is true in part.

I 'll show you also the incredible enormous holes ( my small car can fit the entire hole sometimes :/) in the asphalt after only 2 days raining. The asphalt is maybe made of "pastafrolla"?

Littizzetto yesterday said that : "a very simple and obvious solution for the saturday nights' slaughters is: building car not so potent, whose limit in speed is 70 kmh for example! Is it too trivial?" I don't think so! If young people uses potent vehicles, they can drive over the limit!

The "Tune"

2007-03-02T09:50:00.001+01:00

Hi "ladies and gentlemen",
I have the pleasure to introduce the "Tune" to everybody :).
Another post related to music is going to be added to my blog.

This is a group that I met for the first time on my last birthday, more or less one month ago. A friend of mine is a member of the group, i.e. the bass player.
The "Tune" usually plays in Catania's pubs. Yesterday they played at Barrique pub. I had my last birthday's party there :) and it was a beautiful party, I enjoyed it very much!
First time I met, I liked the singer so much. She has a "stinging" voice but most of the time she sing softly. Unfortunately, while singing her voice is covered by instruments and is very hard to listen to her.
Yesterday she was nice, but she wasn't strong, she didn't express all her force. Maybe my impression is not exactly the same that people in the pub felt, but this is what I caught. She didn't transmit me any special emotion, I couldn't feel the happiness/desperation in her singing. It seemed that she was just singing and not thinking about songs content. She can do better I know, I saw!
I don't know how difficult is to express the emotion in singing a song, but the 2 greatest singers I 've met till today said me that this is the secret of a good singing.
I observed each member of the group. There were a bass, a battery, a guitar, a pianola, a trumpet and a sax...and the voice ;P. Attending a LIVE concert is always a big emotion. The music reaches your mind and heart.
Music they played was pop music and sometime jazz, but I liked more the music they played at my party.

Time by time, this blog is collecting information about group and as soon as I meet new singers I 'll try to catch the secret to spread emotion using the voice.

Biancavilla and Wikipedia

2007-02-28T07:45:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
I was just watching TV when a guy in a local channel said : "If you look for Biancavilla 's definition on Wikipedia you will find : despite its small size it is famous for Cosa Nostra" ... AMAZING!!! He continued saying : "Biancavilla people have the right to denounce Wikipedia, because it damages Biancavilla 's image"...
I checked on Wikipedia immediately, and unfortunately it was true. The awful definition was there! I really don't know who and according to which kind of historical information put that definition. Sicily is historically correlated to Cosa Nostra, but it is a truth that can be disproved by just visiting the country nowadays.
So, as it is well known (my friends can attest :P), I love my unlucky town and then decided that an action was needed.
Instead of denounce Wikipedia, I decided to SIMPLY change the definition. And now it looks like Biancavilla :))). Maybe the guy doesn't know that Wikipedia is a open encyclopedia ;).

Now it is just the beginning, a good beginning! Anyone wants to add and increase the page is welcome :), but be careful I 'm going to check sometimes!

For you .. and anybody needs to be shaked!

2007-02-15T09:05:00.000+01:00

Chi muore?

Lentamente muore chi diventa schiavo dell'abitudine, ripetendo ogni
giorno gli stessi percorsi, chi non cambia la marca, chi non rischia
e cambia colore dei vestiti, chi non parla con chi non conosce.

Lentamente muore chi fa della televisione il suo guru.

Muore lentamente chi evita una passione, chi preferisce il nero su
bianco e i puntini sulle "i" piuttosto che un insieme di emozioni,
proprio quelle che fanno brillare gli occhi, quelle che fanno di uno
sbadiglio un sorriso, quelle che fanno battere il cuore davanti
all'errore e ai sentimenti.

Lentamente muore chi non capovolge il tavolo, chi è infelice sul
lavoro, chi non rischia la certezza per l'incertezza, per inseguire
un sogno, chi non si permette almeno una volta nella vita di fuggire
ai consigli sensati.

Lentamente muore chi non viaggia, chi non legge, chi non ascolta
musica, chi non trova grazia in se stesso.

Muore lentamente chi distrugge l'amor proprio, chi non si lascia
aiutare.

Muore lentamente chi passa i giorni a lamentarsi della propria
sfortuna o della pioggia incessante.

Lentamente muore chi abbandona un progetto prima di iniziarlo, chi
non fa domande sugli argomenti che non conosce, chi non risponde
quando gli chiedono qualcosa che conosce.

Evitiamo la morte a piccole dosi, ricordando sempre che essere vivo
richiede uno sforzo di gran lunga maggiore del semplice fatto di
respirare.

Soltanto l'ardente pazienza porterà al raggiungimento di una
splendida felicità.

¿Quien muere?

Muere lentamente quien se transforma
en esclavo del hábito,
repitiendo todos los días el mismo trayecto,
quien no cambia de marca,
no se arriesga a vestir un color nuevo
y no le habla a quien no conoce.

Muere lentamente quien hace
de la televisión su gurú.

Muere lentamente quien evita una pasión,
quien prefiere el negro sobre el blanco
y los puntos sobre las "ies"
a un remolino de emociones,
justamente las que rescatan el brillo de los ojos,
las sonrisas de los bostezos,
los corazones de los tropiezos y sentimientos malos.

Muere lentamente quien no voltea la mesa
cuando está infeliz en el trabajo,
quien no arriesga lo cierto por lo incierto
para ir detrás de un sueño,
quien no se permite por lo menos una vez
en la vida, huir de los consejos sensatos.

Muere lentamente quien no viaja,
quien no lee, quien no oye música,
quien no encuentra gracia en si mismo.

Muere lentamente quien destruye su amor propio,
quien no se deja ayudar.

Muere lentamente quien pasa los días quejándose
de su mala suerte o de la lluvia incesante.

Muere lentamente, quien abandona un proyecto
antes de iniciarlo,
no preguntando de un asunto que desconoce
o no respondiendo cuando le indagan
de algo que sabe.

Evitemos la muerte en suaves cuotas,
recordando siempre que estar vivo exige
un esfuerzo mucho mayor
que el simple hecho de respirar.

Solamente la ardiente paciencia
hará que conquistemos una espléndida felicidad.

Tratto da Ode alla Vita, Pablo Neruda

Poesie di Pedro Salinas

2007-02-14T20:40:00.000+01:00

Che allegria, vivere
e sentirsi vissuto.
Arrendersi
alla grande certezza, oscuramente,
che un altro essere, fuori di me, molto lontano
mi sta vivendo.
Che quando gli specchi, le spie,
mercurio, anime brevi, confermano
che sono qui, io, immobile,
serrati gli occhi e le labbra,
chiuso all'amore
della luce, del fiore e dei nomi,
la verità transvisibile è che cammino
senza i miei passi, con altri,
là lontano, e lì
sto baciando fiori, luci, parlo.
Che esiste un altro essere con cui io guardo il mondo
perchè sta amandomi con i suoi occhi.
Che esiste un'altra voce con cui io dico cose
non sospettate dal mio gran silenzio;
ed è che anche mi ama con la sua voce.
La via - che slancio ora! -, ignoranza
degli atti miei, che lei compie,
in cui lei vive, duplice, sua e mia.
E quando lei mi parlerà
di un cielo scuro, di un paesaggio bianco,
ricorderò
stelle che non ho visto, che lei guardava,
e neve che nevicava nel suo cielo.
Con la strana delizia di ricordare
di aver toccato ciò che non toccai
se non con quelle mani
che non raggiungo con le mie, tanto distanti.

Qué alegría, vivir
sintiéndose vivido.
Rendirse
a la gran certidumbre, oscuramente,
de que otro ser, fuera de mí, muy lejos,
me está viviendo.
Que cuando los espejos, los espías,
azogues, almas cortas, aseguran
que estoy aquí, yo, inmóvil,
con los ojos cerrados y los labios,
negándome al amor
de la luz, de la flor y de los nombres,
la verdad trasvisible es que camino
sin mis pasos, con otros,
allá lejos, y allí
estoy besando flores, luces, hablo.
Que hay otro ser por el que miro el mundo
porque me está queriendo con sus ojos.
Que hay otra voz con la que digo cosas
no sospechadas por mi gran silencio;
y es que también me quiere con su voz.
La vida —¡qué transporte ya!—, ignorancia
de lo que son mis actos, que ella hace,
en que ella vive, doble, suya y mía.
Y cuando ella me hable
de un cielo oscuro, de un paisaje blanco,
recordaré
estrellas que no vi, que ella miraba,
y nieve que nevaba allá en su cielo.
Con la extraña delicia de acordarse
de haber tocado lo que no toqué
sino con esas manos que no alcanzo
a coger con las mías, tan distantes.
Y todo enajenado podrá el cuerpo
descansar quieto, muerto ya. Morirse
en la alta confianza
de que este vivir mío no era sólo
mi vivir: era el nuestro. Y que me vive
otro ser por detrás de la no muerte.

Se mi chiamassi.
Io lascerei tutto,
tutto io getterei:
i prezzi, i cataloghi,
l'azzurro dell'oceano sulle carte,
i giorni e le loro notti,
i telegrammi vecchi
ed un amore.
Tu, che non sei il mio amore,
se mi chiamassi!
E ancora attendo la tua voce:
giù per i telescopi,
dalla stella,
attraverso specchi e gallerie
ed anni bisestili
può venire. Non so da dove.
Dal prodigio, sempre.
Perchè se tu mi chiami
- se mi chiamassi, sì, se mi chiamassi -
sarà da un miracolo,
ignoto, senza vederlo.
Mai dalle labbra che ti bacio,
mai dalla voce che dice: "Non te ne andare".

¡Si me llamaras, sí;
si me llamaras!
Lo dejaría todo,
todo lo tiraría:
los precios, los catálogos,
el azul del océano en los mapas,
los días y sus noches,
los telegramas viejos
y un amor.
Tú, que no eres mi amor,
¡si me llamaras!
Y aún espero tu voz:
telescopios abajo,
desde la estrella,
por espejos, por túneles,
por los años bisiestos
puede venir. No sé por dónde.
Desde el prodigio, siempre.
Porque si tú me llamas
«¡si me llamaras, sí, si me llamaras!»
será desde un milagro,
incógnito, sin verlo.
Nunca desde los labios que te beso,
nunca
desde la voz que dice: «No te vayas».

tratte da "La voz a ti debida" ("La voce a te dovuta")

Calcio .. vergogna!

2007-02-08T03:30:00.000+01:00

Questo post è per esprimere la mia indignazione di fronte a quello che molti definiscono ancora oggi uno sport (sapevate che "Il termine sport deriva dall'inglese, ma risale a sua volta dall'antico termine francese desport: divertimento, svago"(by Wikipedia) ?) : il calcio.
Tutto quello che routa attorno al calcio sembra essere tutt'altro che divertimento, per questo non lo ritengo e non l'ho mai ritenuto uno sport. Si parla di cifre astronomiche per calciatori, di violenze negli stadi...e adesso anche di morti. Lo sport è ben altro!
Allora, se dei lavoratori, come lo sono le forze dell'ordine, devono subire le violenze di teppisti e delinquenti che non hanno altro modo per sfogare l'istinto animale che andare allo stadio...che questi stadi vengano defintivamente chiusi!! Non è giusto che della povera gente che lavora debba subirsi delle violenze per una cosa INUTILE : il calcio!
Se proprio si vuole che il calcio venga definito uno sport, che lo si pratichi come tutti gli altri sport! Senza lucro, senza violenza e senza tutta questa eccessiva importanza che gli si dà!

Vedi : today look at sulla dx per capire cosa è successo a Catania il 2 Febbraio 2007.

Per fortuna molta gente catanese ha avuto il coraggio di condannare il fatto (vedi foto!)! ...

Ho trovato questi simpatici consigli...un pò provocatori.. : http://www.corriere.it/solferino/severgnini/07-02-03/01.spm

..and I went back to Wien!

2007-02-07T18:53:00.000+01:00

Hi
as I wished, I went back to Wien and I took some pictures.
I was to the Opera Theatre and I payed only 2 euros to see the "Nutcracker" by Pëtr Il'ič Čajkovskij...beautiful. The ballet was not the best one, but the music was fantastic...maybe I 'll go back there again...:).

Paris !!

2007-01-11T01:26:00.000+01:00

Hi folks
that ' s just a "taste" of Paris... it is not usual picture of Paris, isn't it?

I 'm preparing the post with my best pictures and my impressions...

Season's greetings

2006-12-25T03:42:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas to you & yours!

Happy New Year, wishing all your dreams make real!

I 'm going to spend my holidays in Paris. I'll be there for the New Year's Eve. Many many pictures will follow :)

Parco dei Nebrodi

2006-12-16T18:19:00.000+01:00

Hi
I wish to show you the park of Nebrodi. It is located in Sicily (as you can easily realized). I went there for two days with some colleagues of mine and I had a jeep excursion through the park. We passed over the mountains and reached the opposite side of those. It was fantastic. Only nature, nothing else than flora and fauna.

Spite of december and the 900 meters of altitude, there wasn't snow. It was a sunny day but there were 8 degrees.
We left Troina (and its fog), a small village in the south of the mountains in the morning, with 4 jeeps. Each jeep driven by an expert ;). They brought us through wood, lakes and lowlands. After a little break at the Villa Miraglia (Cesarò) just for having a warm chocolate or a coffee and use the bath if necessary (even if the wood is FULL of "bathrooms" (as the guide said me), but only for MEN I wish to add ;)), we continued our excursion and reached S.Teodoro, a small village in the north of the mountains. The excursion taked more or less 5 hours. We took a walk also, there was mud because the day before it rained and the ground is made of argil. The result is that walking can be dangerous if you don't have the correct shoes. Some of us had the shoes for trekking, some others (like me) had only regular boots. Poor shoes :(.
During the trip, each jeep was connected to the others through radio. The jeeps run one after another, as you can see in the picture, while the guide described us the park. The "jeep guys" showed us the "twist", a particular wheels position, when the jeep pass over a irregular ground, the wheel are totally "twisted". They enjoyed the trip and we as well.
I published some pictures about Nebrodi, click on one of them to see more.

Aiutiamo i Bambini : Babbo Natale per un giorno...risultati

2006-12-06T23:42:00.002+01:00

Ciao
sono lieta di annunciare che la città di Catania si è dimostrata molto generosa nei giorni 2 e 3 Dicembre, perchè ha donato una buona somma a favore dell'iniziativa "Babbo Natale per un giorno". Posso dire che il denaro raccolto costituisce una buonissima parte della somma necessaria alla ristrutturazione del pronto soccorso.
Sono contenta, in fondo in fondo la gente non è così egoista come sembra! WOW!
Infine voglio menzionare le persone stupende che ho conosciuto : Valeria (volontaria dell'associazione), Cettina, Claudia e Enzo (e altri di cui non ricordo il nome ;)). E' sicuramente grazie a loro se questi bambini sono stati al centro dell'attenzione della gente anche se per pochi istanti!

Hi
I 'm happy, Catania's stands collected a big part of money needed for the re-building of a part of the hospital in Cambodia. The first aid structure of that hospital will be rebuilt for hosting and nursing children.
I 'm happy because this help me to be more trustful in people. They are not so bad sometimes :).
I met beautiful people : Valeria (a volunteer of the "Aiutiamo i bambini" association), Cettina, Claudia and Enzo (someone else but I don't remeber their names ;)). Thanks to them, people walking in the street were involved and learned about cambodian children's issues. Children were under their attention for a while :).

About Poland

2006-11-29T18:00:00.000+01:00

Marek
Originally uploaded by rossyrap.

At the beginning of November I went to Poland, in particular to Warsaw for a job seminar.
Unfortunately I couldn't visit Warsaw very deeply. I just was in the downtown, I saw the market square but it was in the evening and it was so dark .. and so cold that I couldn't appreciate it!
Then I spent a week end in Krakow with some colleagues of mine.
As Krakow is 5 hours from Warsaw by car and only 2,40 hours by train we chose the second mean and it was a good idea for many reasons.
First of all we travelled quietly. We appreciated the panorama through the windows and above all we spent the free time for discussing with a person that was sharing the compartment with us. Marek, his name, a polish man, about 45 years old. He was reading a newspaper and as soon as a colleague of mine asked him something about how to visit Auschwitz, it was the beginnning of a "history's lesson" about Poland and it was a big lesson! In fact, he talked for more than 1 hour, about Auschwitz, Warsaw, Krakow, kings, wars and more.
He suggested us do not visit Auschwitz and unfortunately we followed his suggestion. He talked us about the human rest still in the museum and about shoes of children and other stuff left there from the people that died there. We were so impressive that decided do not go.
He talked about second world war, and what amazed me was the cultural disaster that followed that war. He substained that not only people died in that war, but above all the culture because all the people with an high level of education were killed. People as professors from University and Jewish high cultured people were killed on purpose after partecipating to misleading dinners with Nazi.
Then he talked about Italy, as a great country in which culture and every kind of art has its kingdom. He talked about Copernicus that studied in Italy. He was so enthusiastic to talk with italian people :).
After this "for free" lesson he showed us how to get a taxi in Krakow and we couldn't thank him in any way except by taking a picture of us (see picture, Marek is the man with the white cap) and sending it to him by mail. And I did it !
A question arised to me suddenly: why did we choose the same compartment of that person?Was it just luck?or destiny?
Finally we started visiting Krakow, it is a nice place, Pope Juan Paul II is very loved there.
I went back home after a very short visit to Eisenstadt, but I was ill and I just saw the main street for 10 minutes. Nice town!

Swanee String Quartet

2006-11-27T16:25:00.000+01:00

Swanee String Quartet
Originally uploaded by rossyrap.

I was in a Jazz concert last saturday, I listened to Swanee String Quartet of Giorgia Meli, and it was a beatiful concert!
The quartet is dedicated to George Gershwin. Swanee is a Gershwin's song. The singer has a beautiful voice and she sings perfectly using perfect english pronunciation and following perfectly melody with its beautiful nuances. Of course, she sang Summertime, with immense abandon.

About Wien

2006-11-25T09:46:00.000+01:00

Last September I went to Wien for a week. I spent a weekend there and I visited the sights of the city. My God, I 've never seen anything as special as Wien! The atmosphere is full of emotion, music is in the air, art is everywhere. Magnificent buildings remind us of the imperial courts and people who lived there.
Talking about music, something very special happened: while walking in the main street, the Kinderstrasse if I 'm not wrong, I saw a girl playing a piano..I mean a piano (not a grand piano) in the middle of the street!. She was an "artist of the street" and was playing Mozart, Schubert..and whatelse. She introduced each musical excerpt before playing it. She was so involved and inspired while playing that many people stopped nearby to listen to her. It looked like an opera concert, but for free, for common people...wow!
She was beautiful! I can't forget the atmosphere I experienced that evening.
I tried to take a picture of her with a N70 but the quality is not brilliant.. see for yourself.
During the weekend, I visited the "Haus Der Musik" ( http://www.hdm.at/ ), nice museum dedicated to music. A friend of mine suggested the museum to me and I can say that it was a good suggestion! It contains exhibitions about sounds and permits you to experience with the sounds using particular monitors and tools for generating them (sometimes noises as well). The museum also contains rooms that recreate houses where musicians as Mozart, Schubert lived. I didn't like these exhibits so much.
I visited a photograph gallery, it is the second that I 've ever seen in my life. I liked it very much ( http://www.worldpressphoto.nl ). The pictures can show you foreshortenings of life as nothing else can do. Some pictures show some aspects of life that everybody knows but nobody is conscious about them before seeing them...Some pictures were too strong, I couldn't look at it for more than half a second because they showed suffering people, among them were children, it is not easy to think about children as suffering people.
The picture that sobered me the most and left me amazed was the one that showed african people, on the north-west coast of Africa, a dark land with no lights, looking at the Spanish coasts (through the Gibraltar's strait) and what they could see was lighten towns and those towns seemed to be so close to them. It seemed that they could reach them just by swimming...this should make you humble.
Above all, I met new people, from Spain, Austria itself, Albany and .. Italy :). I ate sushi, running sushi, for the first time ;P.
I met an italian guy, he was visiting Wien alone as a turist. He was so happy when he realized that he was talking with an italian. I showed him some itineraries and I spent a few hours with him. I don't remember the name ;P but he was a good company.
When I got back in Italy I missed Wien for many days...maybe I 'll go back there again some day again!

Sicily

2006-11-24T08:50:00.000+01:00

Oh! Can this subject be missing in a blog site of a Sicilian girl? Maybe you know, Sicilian people are proud to be sicilian .. even if sometimes it should be better do not be ;). And so, why do not talk about Sicily, about its wonderful aspects, as well as its (unfortunately) well known bad aspects. I can say that wonderful aspects are so many that you 'll forget the bad ones...hopefully. This will be the bet of this section.
I 'll show you the wonderful naturalistic aspects of Sicily, the sea, the mountains, the weather ... I 'll show you the people as well and its lovely way of welcoming turists and its way of ... cheating them as well ;).
That's my country, damned and wonderful Sicily.

No comment please, I'm susceptible... I'm joking of course! Please, don't forget I 'm the moderator and .. sicilian ;)!

Travelling

2006-11-24T07:22:00.000+01:00

Thanks to my current job, I travel a lot. Especially during last months. Furthermore, travelling is part of my hobbies since last three years and I want to see as many places as possible.
The posts labelled with "travel" are related to that. The section includes pictures, comments, stories and events occurred during my travels. The section is dedicated to the places I 'm going to visit and the ones I 've already visited so far.
It contains my thoughts about people, culture and ways of life as well.

Your comments are welcome!...as you already know :)

Music

2006-11-24T07:00:00.000+01:00

I love music, all kind of music, whenever it is able to spread emotions....big emotions!
The posts labelled with "music" (you can select them by using the menu on the right side) are dedicated to the Music. I 'll talk about songs, maybe classic music or other genres, but not commercial music (NdR (Nota di Rossella): this last is an inconsistent sentence : "commercial music", it does not make any sense...it is not music! See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music for definition, but I 'm going to find a more useful and meaningful definition as I intend it).
With the "Music" section, I wish to share with you emotions that It gives to me and maybe it can give to you, share knowledge, understand more about music, helped by your comments..so please send me your comments, I need of them!
I'll try to transmit to you my feeling as much as possible....unfortunately I cannot sing for you ;)

PS: comments will be moderated by me and eventually published.

Eccomi..

2006-11-18T12:28:00.000+01:00

Ciao!
Eccomi, nel fantastico mondo dei ... blogs!
Il motivo che porta alla creazione di questo blog è la voglia di condividere i miei pensieri, le mie esperienze, le mie emozioni. Ho desiderato tante volte poter gridare le emozioni, le rabbie e soprattutto le cose belle della vita.
Questo blog sarà composto da tanti argomenti, quelli che man mano incontreranno la mia vita e che in quel momento saranno per me importanti tanto da doverli condividere con le persone.
Spero sia l'inizio di una bella avventura....fatemi gli in bocca al lupo :)

Hi!
Here I am..I decided to join blogs' world finally!
The scope of this blog is to share my thoughts,emotions, life experiences. I wish to share the best of life above all.
This blog will be composed by as many arguments as possible. They will be added following my current emotions and only if they are worth to be shared and .. why not... shouted!
Hopefully, this blog is the beginning of a fantastic adventure...good luck! :)