Underground Cathedrals & Books & something else

We're going to see some underground cathedrals (see also here) this coming weekend: I can't wait as I love that area. My partner has found a very romantic place to stay. He is pretty good at it ;) We'll be back on Monday afternoon... I can't miss Pilates. I guess I'll need to work out next week:

- tomorrow: lunch with my best friend (pasta with zucchini, mint and fresh ricotta plus dessert);

- Saturday: lunch to celebrate my dad's birthday at a well known (and very good) restaurant not too far from where I live. Dinner with friends (homemade pizza);

- Sunday: Piedmontese cuisine at lunch and dinner, namely not so light food and excellent wines.

- Monday: + 3 kg!

I've just bought two novels written by very good Italian writers: Niccolò Ammaniti and SandroVeronesi. I don't know if their books have been translated into English. Google them, Ammaniti's and Veronesi's books are always worth reading. 

I've been busy lately and I haven't had time to write about a meeting with someone I haven't seen for more than 20 years. She gave me a picture of us when we were 10 years old ... good memories and nostalgia. I'll write soon about it.

I am far better now than last summer which is unusual as one always feels great on holidays. It is possibly related to several aspects. My mom, who has been suffering from a chronic disease for a long time, is doing very well. I can't quite believe it, she is a different person. I love her so much, we are very close and it's great to see her living again. She is busy renewing her house and seems very excited about it. Pilates and Feldenkrais have changed my perspective and I have been changing... for the better (as one of my colleagues told me yesterday). We have been planning our life together and after 13 years I can see major changes coming up. We'll move in together very soon and hopefully have kids. 

Have a good weekend :)

Perspectives

I have put considerable efforts to accomplish professional goals. I really like my job but it is not quite what I expected. I should focus more on relevant issues rather than on things which are far from my responsibility and expertise. Not to mention that I have changed a lot and I have other interests now and private goals I would love to achieve in the near future. My career is not as important to me as it was few years ago and I am certainly open to new job opportunities.

I might open a tea house and pastry shop or even sell my knitting products (well, my scarves). By the way, I'm thinking about uploading a picture of a scarf here and see if someone is interested. I won't make a living with scarves but still, it will be a nice try. If I lost my job I'd probably become seriously involved with Feldenkrais and would try to become a certified teacher.

Until few years ago I wasn't aware of my "body" and of the strict links between body and mind. I wasn't into body & mind issues as books and culture were my main interests. I hadn't been familiar with my body for many years until: a) I stumbled upon a book (this is my way to deal with problems: reading inspiring books); b) I  made a big mistake c) I asked myself what happened to my soul voice d) I underwent a surgery. After all this I realised how much I had lost: my instinctual nature was buried under intellectualism. I dealt with my frustrations and changed my perseptive on life: I don't work anymore on weekends, I listen to my body and I can see the body/mind connections. I've been working on breathing, posture and how to improve my well- being that might be or not related to my daily job. We all have to cope with job related problems, now I am able to put them into the right perspective: job is very important but not as essential as health. I do my best but I don't get stuck: I move on as there are other things in life. It may be sound obvious but it wasn't obvious to me until -as mentioned above- few years ago.

As a writer I love claims, women (I would say human beings) have a soul need to express themselves and they must blossom in ways that are sensible to them. I think I have found ways to blossom which are very important to me and I like sharing and speaking my truth in a clear voice. I'm not obsessed with my job anymore and I do feel much better! Perhaps I've figured out how to open my chakras ;)

Yes,

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

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.

Made in Chinatown

Very interesting documentary (English version) about the Chinese community in Milan.

Despite the fact we see migrants or non native communities in our cities, we often pretend they are "invisible". The have a sort of invisible aura that make them non relevant to our lives. Chinese are relevant only when they cause troubles, otherwise they are like small ghosts who own restaurants, shops and sometimes exploit women who are exploited both by their own community and by Italians (i.e. Chinese massages centres).

I've become interested in those "silent identities" lately and I do think they deserve our attention and all our efforts to develop a truly multicultural society. The myth of race (such as the razza padana) recalls fascism and we are several decades after the dictatorship. We are not better or worse than anyone else, we simply need to time to adjust to a different Italian society which, I think, would be much more vital and culturally rich if only we would be more prone to share our space with other people.

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.

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.