pet peeve #3

People who think the above picture accurately represents Canadian weather all year round.

For those who are misinformed about the geography of Canada, it does not lie entirely within the Arctic Circle.  However, I will concede that Canadians don't feel the cold as much as others as is evidenced here by the hatless crazy man on a sled being pulled by a Caribou in what I can only imagine is -40 degree weather.

facing fear

All my life I've had insect phobia.  More generally a phobia regarding any kind of unidentified flying (or fast crawling) insect and more specifically about stinging wasps.  Up until I was 30 I used to run in the complete opposite direction any time one came within a metre of me.  I would replace that behaviour later with simply walking away and telling people "I know it's crazy but it's the only phobia I have".

Today I was strung by one of the son of a bitches.  And jesus christ did it hurt.  And the hurt kept on going for most of the day...til it stopped.  And, yeah now it's been almost 18 hours since I was strung, it really doesn't hurt more than a sunburn when you've stayed in the sun half an hour longer than you should have.

I now know two things: 1) I'm not allergic and 2) I'm a little less phobic.

p.s. As I was searching for the above photo I came across this website http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/aug/19/notes-and-queries-why-wasps-sting it's made me re-think wasps.

Update: that damn wasp sting took more than a month to heal!

plant update

Two tomatoes have arrived!

My little brain plant is about to bloom although the process looks a little pornographic.

This is the flower that is about to bloom and it should kind of look like a daisy.

The bastard plant has been growing like a weed!  I'm amazed at its development in the last month.

And the following plant has had an explosion of new little baby plants.

And finally, the same thing is happening to my aloe vera plant but it's causing it to tilt for one and two, there's a baby plant growing out of the side of the pot, not the plant.  Very strange.

All the other pants are thriving and I'm happy to say there have been no deaths since May!

UPDATE part 2

I came home today to find that one of my plants has bloomed!

pet peeve #2

Non native English speakers who tell me I speak English very well.

No shit.

plant update

When I went to the nursery a few weeks ago, I showed pictures of my plants to the clerk and he gave me some good advice.  The most important thing I had to do was re-pot everything with the proper soil.  Not only was I using the wrong soil but I hadn't filled the pots up enough.  The soil should be level with the rim of the pot.  He also suggested I use a little fertilizer and water them every night.

Then, about a week or two after I re-potted everything it rained all night and it did the plants a world of good!  All of the plants showed marked improvement.  Take a look:

this one is doing well, but he's got a few mushrooms growing in his pot and I haven't figured out why yet.

 

these are the ones I thought had dried up and died...they're looking pretty green and lush now.

tomatoes come from flowers!

10 new buds!

Not bad for someone who has killed almost every plant she's had.

pet peeve #1

People who ask me to translate English songs into Italian that we are presently listening to at a bar, club, restaurant, in the car, etc.

Stop it.  It's not an easy task and a lot of times the lyrics are not that interesting.  If you really must know the translation to Foo Fighters "Big Me" then at least wait till I know and like you a little better.  Do not ask me to translate 5 minutes after I've said "nice to meet you".

Arcade Fire

There was a time when I'd go to concerts at least once a week.  Living in Toronto, it was easy to satisfy my passion for live music and, honestly by the time I moved to Italy I had had my fill of concerts to last me quite a while.  I've been living here almost 5 years now and I have to admit, I miss going to concerts (my eardrums, on the other hand, have been quite happy to get a rest).

Last night we went to Lucca Festival to see Arcade Fire.  It was kind of a last minute decision and when we arrived, they were already 4 songs in.  I've quite literally seen hundreds of bands, some better than others and Arcade Fire is definitely in my top five.  But the thing that struck me the most was the emotion and excitement I felt as we walked in.  The last concert I saw was Arcade Fire in 2007 in Ferrara so it had been a while.  The sounds of the music and the crowd reminded me of why I used to go to concerts so often.  Good live shows always energize me and this one was no exception.  I was still full of energy at 4 am!

plant update

It's been almost two months since I started this little experiment and now finally I'm starting to see some growth (and also some deaths).

The tomato plant is doing well....she's gotten very tall and I'm going to the nursery this afternoon to get her a larger pot and a stick to lean on.  I have noticed some yellowing of the leaves though and I'm hoping she's not sick.

The following have not multiplied like crazy...in fact, they seem to have dried up and died.

I spoke to a lady that has a passion for succulent plants and she told me that they need to be watered every night during the summer so I've started doing just that and some have bounced back (I'm still hoping the above plant still has a chance).

The two plants above are doing the best.  Both were given to me from larger plants and I was doubtful they would take but since I started watering them every night they've been doing really well!

I should really learn the names of the plants I have.  Does anyone have any idea what they're called?

currently re-watching: films

An hour and 30 minutes I always shake my fist at the screen.

After repeated viewings, the lens flares get only slightly less annoying.

The human-alien love scene is a little disconcerting.

What can I say?  It's been a science fictiony kind of week.

referendum

Yesterday Italians went to the polls to vote in a referendum on nuclear power, the privatization of water, and whether or not government ministers should be exempt from attending trials in which they are defendants.  This last one seems like it shouldn't even be worth debating...you're accused of a crime, you must attend the trial....these government ministers are not foreign diplomats for god's sake.

But that's not the only thing that's disturbing to me.  When I arrived at the poll station and went in to vote I was struck by how complicated the language on the ballot was.  It was like reading a contract and anyone who had not finished high school would not have been able to understand the question asked of them.  Laws were quoted, highly formal language was used, and if you didn't want something (i.e. I don't want nuclear power plants in Italy) then you had to answer yes.  I had already made my decision on which way to vote before going and thank god because had I gone in without first doing some research I would not have understood what was required of me.  The language used was incomprehensible!

In the end, a quorum was reached, and the vote was overwhelmingly positive, that is to say that over 95% voted to NOT have nuclear power plants in Italy, NOT privatize water and NOT give government ministers immunity.

Who says a double negative doesn't make a positive in the Italian language?

Foo Fighters Walk

Remember when the Foo Fighters used to get pelted with Mentos at every concert?  Good times.  Here's the latest video based on the film "Falling Down" (1993) starring Michael Douglas in which he goes on a rampage across Los Angeles trying to get to his daughter's birthday party and having a really bad day.

R.I.P. Nonna

November 13, 1919 - May 30, 2011

currently addicted to: music

Albert Hammond Jr. "Yours to Keep"

plant update

R.I.P. Aloe Vera

Well, one plant has bitten the dust.  In my defense, it didn’t start life here in the most advantageous condition.  It was ripped out of its home by my friend as we were walking through a condo complex.  “The smaller plants at the base will suffocate the plant, so they should be removed anyway” she reassured me.  But we didn’t have clippers so she had to pull it out by hand.  She struggled quite a bit with it and in retrospect this difficulty should have warned us to leave the poor thing alone.

But where one plant dies, another flourishes.  My herb plants are growing like crazy.  I may have to prune them soon and freeze the trimmings.  I also want to make pesto sauce with the basil but I don’t have a mortar and pestle which is essential to avoiding the acidic taste that basil gets when you cut it with a stainless steel knife.

For my birthday, the above-mentioned friend gave me a new addition to my little plant family (no, she didn't steal it from some family's garden, this came from her own garden).  Can anyone guess what plant this is?

No, it’s not pot, but it does bear fruit….my favourite….TOMATOES!  Now, I think I’m going to have to be more attentive but so far so good.  I’ve had her four days and her leaves are nice and perky.  This may sound crazy, but I get the feeling she’s happy.  She reminds me of the plant in Wall-E, so delicate, yet so strong.  I’ve put her in the solarium and I will need to re-pot soon but for now everything seems okay.

can a black thumb become green?

I've recently decided to give gardening another try.  well, actually, just a try...no "another" because this is the first time that I'm putting real effort into it.

In the past, I've had basil plants and they've never lasted much past the summer season.  I've also had an office plant, you know, the kind where you can forget about it and then all of a sudden it looks dead so you rush to water it hoping to have saved it in time and 10 minutes later the plant looks fresh as a daisy.  yeah, I killed that one too.  I've had a few orchids but they are so out of my league and died almost instantly.   I've also had an oleander which my grandma brought from Italy as a little baby plant (technically she shouldn't have been allowed to bring it into Canada but my grandma was a sweet little old lady) and grew to epic proportions.  It flowered every year and it was just a beautiful plant.  I didn't even have to worry too much about it.....until I took it back to my mother's house.  She decided that it needed pruning and proceeded to prune the life out of the plant....literally.  There was only a stump left.

So anyway, I want to learn to take care of plants and I thought I'd start off with plants that don't need too much attention.  This may sound like the easy way but rest assured I did not purchase any of the succulent plants in the pictures (I did buy the herbs, but that's for cooking purposes).  The plants in the pictures are all pieces of other plants given to me by friends.  I've planted them in their own pots and I'm hoping that they'll take root and grow.

these, once they start, multiply like crazy

this one when it grows will hang over the sides of the pot

this is my favourite - little brains!

I'm not sure this one's going to take root - I'm keeping my fingers crossed because aloe vera is very handy in the summer!

this is the bastard plant because it has these teeny tiny needles that stick to you whenever you get near the plant and they're painful -  however it's quite photogenic

If anyone has any suggestions or advice or if one of my plants looks like it's dying let me know!

The communication ability of a grasshopper

I've started studying for my masters this week and a passage I read struck me as funny and sad at the same time.

From Jean Aitchson's book "Teach Yourself Linguistics" (2003):

"Most animals have a very limited number of messages they can send or receive.  The male of a certain species of grasshopper, for example, has a choice of six, which might be translated as follows:

1. I am happy, life is good.
2. I would like to make love.
3. You are trespassing on my territory.
4. She's mine.
5. Let's make love.
6. Oh how nice to have made love."

It's funny to me because I had no idea how laid back and amorous grasshoppers could be.

It's sad because, adding in maybe 2 or 3 other messages (which might be 1. I'm so full, I ate too much, 2. you are a terrible teacher, 3. I'm smarter than you), it sums up the extent of my communication with a man I spent 3 years of my life with.

Being out of the relationship, now I can look back and realize how wrong we were for each other.  For me communication is key.  It doesn't have to be deep or philosophical all the time but I think that my body and mind needs it to survive.  To feel good, to be healthy, both mentally and physically.  I want to hear about the funny thing that happened to you at work or school or while you were riding the subway.  I get pleasure out of telling and hearing anecdotes.  I like to share.

But it's not enough to just share.  It's also important that you feel an energy while you are sharing with another person.  The kind of energy that never seems to wane.  For example, I met my best friend at university.  We had a couple of short conversations in the beginning mostly having to do with the Undergrad Psych Student's Association of which I was president and he was the email guy.  Then I didn't see him again until the following school year.  When we ran into each other again we talked for something like 6 hours.  It started off in the office and then we had to move it to a restaurant because we were hungry and it was dinner time.  And even when we parted the conversation never diminished, we held it over for another time.

Unfortunately I don't often meet people where I have this conversational energy.  Actually, I think I've only met about four in my lifetime.

everything can be misconstrued.

Do you ever have fantasies?  Daydreams where you think about decisions you need to make for the immediate future?  About future conversations you may have with friends or potential friends and you're trying to figure out how they'll take it?

It's easy when you've known a person for a long time, say 10 years.  You can joke and be pretty offensive toward that person and even over email he understands that you're just teasing him and you'd never do anything to jeopardize the respect that you have for each other.  When it comes to getting to know new people, even 10 minute exchanges in person can be devastating to any kind of positive future rapport.

Do you ever think about future conversations where you might want to explain something about your past where you feel you should have been smarter and any normal person would have left or chosen option B had he known the pain that was coming?  Everything you say can be misconstrued.

news from Canada

So, I don't have a tv and I haven't had one since january. This hasn't been a problem since italian tv sucks. However yesterday I was at my aunt's house and the news was on. Amazingly there was a news item from Canada (this is rare). The news item was about the otters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno

At least it's something.

European Soccer Fans really are nuts

Last week I went to my first ever soccer game. My friend was going so I made him take me with him. Viareggio was playing against…..I forget who. The first difference I noticed was all the police. There were many and not only that but they were in full riot gear; helmets, batons, and shields. What was I getting myself into? Apparently at the game the previous Sunday, the Viareggio fans caused a wee bit of trouble…destroying property, robbing the bar, and assaulting police. This wasn’t your regular NHL game. We sat with the fanatical fans and during the first half they were on strike. Even fans strike here, go figure. After the first half some guy started strapping a megaphone to a nearby pole facing the fans. At the beginning of the second half he started screaming cheers into the megaphone along with “fuck the police” type slogans. The fans would repeat and clap and sing and hold up flags (see above). And have I mentioned that a battalion of police was sitting just to the left of these fanatical fans?

In the end, neither team scored so maybe it was better that way. Who knows what would have happened if Viareggio lost?

I plan on going to the next one in a couple of weeks. :D

Italian TV

There is one thing I miss...television. As crappy as North American television can be Italian television is FAR, FAR, FAR worse. At least in North America, we can always find some rerun to watch or even just have on in the background while cooking dinner...but here? Forget it. It's nothing but variety shows with scantily clad women, really depressing news, old westerns and, god knows why, Walker Texas Ranger. If I want I can have the pleasure of watching Chuck Norris every night at dinner. EVERY NIGHT. I'd rather watch the cheesy variety shows. And I don't watch soaps in Canada (okay, okay, when I'm home if Y&R is on, I'm watching it, but it's rare) but here every day I find myself watching the bold & the beautiful. Just to get that little shot of quality tv...and compared to Italian tv, trust me, the bold and the beautiful is quality.

Thank god I brought some dvds with me.