Moving?

I'm thinking about moving this blog to squarespace.

If I take this decision, I will let you know either here or by email. If you don't see this homepage in the next hours or days it's only because I am moving all my "virtual" stuff there, ok?

Dinner (tonight)

check this out.

Great blog, isn't it?

Yes,

I changed the template again (I can't help it, I like changes!).

You don't have to take me

seriously when I'm premenstrual as hell. I've always had bad premenstrual syndrome as I have everything that is described here (scary, eh?). I get depressed, I cry, I have mood swings and I feel really tired not just for a couple of days before my period but for 7-8 days. Moreover, I gain weight (1- 2 kilos before my period) as I give up my long walks habits and I eat a great amount of pasta and bread. I can tell you that it's a real nightmare and I should seek out treatment methods. Everything was fine when I was on birth control except for migranes with aura which is why I'm not on the pille anymore.

Anyway, I haven't forgotten my radical self care plan and I'm still commited to my writing as part of the overall "plan".

I enjoyed my summer holidays in Tuscany even though my partner joined us for a very short period of time. I read, walked and ate delicious and healthy food for the first two weeks then I was too hungy to stick with my plans and I gave up my healthy habits ;). That's the beauty of it, isnt' it? Betrayal! I read great books I would highly recommend to my lovely readers but -to my knowledge- they haven't been translated into English. It was a bit strange to read in Italian and it's even more weird now to write in English again after a real Italian summer surrounded by Italians words and thoughts only. I have to "warm up" my English, it's a bit rusty.

I'm suppose to be working on a paper and other stuff but I feel lazy after three relaxing weeks. I spend my days re-reading (I read it when I was 20, in my mid thirties it has a different flavour) Anna Karanenina, thinking about the future, checking emails, complaining for everything etc.

I'll do some housekeeping on the blog later on. Stay tuned!

It happens very often

so I'm not surprised at all. I don't feel confortable with my blog and I tell you why: I spent the whole summer WITHOUT Internet connection and did feel great. I didn't take my laptop with me and now technology to me is what it should be: a useful tool to work with. I don't see additional advantages to be honest. Perhaps this is just a phase (it is not the first time, my dear readers are familiar with it) but I just wanted to let you know that I won't be posting for a while.

A week? A month? A year?

don't know... 

Message in a bottle

Hi there,

as I'll be leaving pretty soon, this is going to be my last (and probably short) post. I'll be staying in Tuscany for a while with no connection to the Internet which is ... great! I won't check my email, won't type anything at all until the end the month. I'm looking forward to read, lay in the sun, get tan, swim, walk with my big boy, eat, drink and chat with nothing in mind except for all the pleasant things I will be doing. I do need some rest and I also need to enjoy life as it's been -as I mentioned somewhere- a tough year. I promise I'll try to stick to my radical self care plan.

Not sure I'll be writing a summer journal. It crossed my mind but everything seems too demanding right now, even writing my journal. In any case, it'll be in Italian so I'm not going to post it here. I'm sure I'll miss this private-public space and I'll miss my favourite blogs but hey, we all need a break from the computer isn't it?

So I'll have this long break until September.

Enjoy the summer, see you September 1st!

I pretend to be rigid

but in fact I'm not. I can't stick with "rules" not even with plans except for things/people I really care. In my dreams I'm a really strict goal setter, in reality I'm like everybody else, rigid and soft at the same time. So I have decided to "break the blog vacation rule" because honestly it doesn't make any sense if I miss writing! I miss writing and reading in English even though I'd made up another rule: reading in Italian for a little while. I'll have to write a book in Italian in the near future so... it's better to warm up! No way. I read a book in Italian and then yesterday night I switched back to my Lolita that is wonderful, disturbing and written in an amazing English (I always feel like crap when I read Nabokov knowing that he wasn't mother tongue!). Oh my, what a marvellous prose!

Nabokov is my uncle's favourite writer. I don't think I've touched "my uncle" issue here. In any case, he is one of the most important person in my life and did have an impact on my cultural background. I see him everyday (more than my dad who would be mad if he comes across this post!) and I can't even imagine my life without this brilliant, strange, amazing man. It's difficult to describe such a person, he is just my zio and I love him the way he is. All this to say that Nabokov is dear to me because of my uncle even though I haven't read all his books. Like Tolkien. The first book my uncle gave me when I was a child was The Hobbit and I still have that book.

More writing to come...

A blog vacation

Hi there, it's June 30th. I'm leaving in 3 weeks and I aim at NOT spending July and August in front of my laptop except for work commitments.

This is blog is on vacation until August 31st. I'll be extensively writing on my moleskine so I'll probably post my summer journal here in September.

Enjoy the summer!

Housekeeping

I'm going through my blog's closets, getting rid of some links in my blogroll and adding others. I also have an About page now and I'm planning more housekeeping practices so... stay tuned!

This

 blog is written by "sister in law". I mean, how can I compete?! I will never be able to cook like that.

Changes

I've been thinking about it for a while and now I'm almost certain. Don't worry, I'm not going to close this blog! I just want to change it a little bit. First, the language. While it is true that I like writing in English and I know I have English/American readers who enjoy this blog, it is also true that I feel the urge to use  and "play" with my own language. I don't have to practice my English here! Andy and Gail: I'm sorry but I'm going to write in Italian. I know Andy won't have troubles, but Gail yes :( Artemisia and my partner are Italians ... I'm not aware of other readers (except for MoR who writes in an excellent English but he is romano). Perhaps I do have an unknown and less "visible" audience?

Second, anonymity. If I write in Italian I will be more vulnerable as my colleagues and friends are not confident enough about written English but, obviously, they read blogs in Italian. As anonymity is one the reason why I haven't closed this blog yet (!!), I will have to change personal information (i.e. the blog header and all my big boy pics). 

I hope you will understand. The language issue is a major change, I know. And I'm not even sure if this will work out for me. As I mentioned in the past, I'm too inhibit to write personal stuff in Italian. Anyway, let me try.

Thanks for your patience.

Things I have been silent about

I still have deadlines and I'll be pretty busy until May. I have thought about this blog, though, and I do want to keep this space alive. An idea came to my mind few days ago but I immediately "erase" it.

There is no need to delete this blog because I like how I have shaped the boundaries of my own story and identity so far thanks to this tool. What is a blog if not a narrative tool to covey our version of our personal history?

Besides, for the very first time and unlike past virtual experiences, I feel that this is my very personal space where -for unknown reasons- I feel free to write about me. I lreally like to be read by the few people who know about this blog and I enjoy writing in English.

I've came up with a potential solution. As March, April and May will be hectic as far as work, travels and several commitments, the only way to nurture this space is writing during the weekend. I'm sure it will work for me, except when I'll be away from home. I also want to catch up with my favourite blogs.

Blogprolific will become a weekend blog, that's my own commitment to myself and my readers. How does it sound?

ps. I'm reading a wonderful book, it's truly inspiring and I'll be writing about it soon.

Deadlines

Due to tight deadlines this blog won't be updated for at least a week. It is unlikely that I'll have time to comment my favourite blogs and I apologize in advance. I'll be back... I only have to meet these deadlines first.

Changes & other things

As you may notice, I have made some changes to the blog:

• the header image (yes it's my big boy)
• new links. As promised, the "positive links" are some online resources (IT and EN) on HIV-AIDS. Moreover, there are also few "knitting blogs" (IT)
• "currently reading" will be regularly updated
• fonts and colors are different, I hope you like them.

I am full of energy today and I don't even know why. Perhaps it's because I'll be back to work on Monday which scares me and excites me at the same time. I'm looking forward to see my boss and my colleagues who spent the Christmas break in amazing places. I don't know whether there will be time to chat as I'll have to catch up on my work. However, my boss is probably planning a lunch and/or dinner at his wonderful house that looks like a modern museum of anthropology. We'll have plenty of time to chat (and drink, and eat etc.).

We went to see Io, loro e Lara. Perhaps I'm a little biased since I do like Verdone but I think that this movie is a perfect snapshot of the contemporary Italian society. We're going to see Il Riccio this weekend. By the way, the book is great and I highly recommed reading it.