Sob sob!

I’m upset. Nothing really awful happed, but still I’m upset. Someone bumped into my car and scratched it badly. I was not even there, it was parked safely as far as possible from all dangers and still someone managed to bump into it. No note was left, of course not. Is it really too much to ask for some decency in people? I know it’s only a car but it’s almost new and pristine and it will either cost me a few hundred pounds or lose my no-claim bonus. So unjust. Why do I have to pay for other people’s mistakes?

North&South, Austen with social morality

I have to confess that I watched the BBC adaptation before I read the book so I was already in love with the story; it's a lovely tale and the twists and turns in Margret's life, though unfortunate, are not unbelievable.

Basic storyline: Margaret Hale and her family move to the Northern industrial town of Milton from their sweet Southern village. The whole family is uprooted and struggles to settle into the smoky, noisy, dank atmosphere of their new home. Their earliest acquaintances there are the Thorntons - dignified Mrs Thornton, her silly daughter Fanny, and her handsome son John, wealthy master of the Marlborough Mills and a famous name in cotton. Despite Mr Thornton's best efforts, Margaret believes Milton society to be inferior to their status as gentlefolk, and so the scene is set for a 'Pride and Prejudice'-esque story of wounded egos, longing glances, misunderstandings and, finally, true love.

Despite the similarities between this novel and the Austen favourite, there are big differences. This book is much more complex, and much grittier, leaning further towards Dickens in some respects. The poverty of the Milton workers, in which Margaret takes a philanthropic interest, is a major focus of the novel. The misfortunes of the Higgins and Boucher families, and their constant struggles against injustice, illness and uncaring employers, are carefully explored and movingly rendered.



All in all, this is a wonderful novel. It provides a fascinating insight into a time and an existence very different to modern life, while never losing the intimacy that draws the reader into the lives of these characters. I cried several times over the course of the novel, and had the HUGEST smile on my face at the inevitable and well-deserved happy ending. A fantastic read - and if you haven't seen the BBC adaptation with Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe, you should! It's what started my love affair with this story. Never thought I'd love a movie/series better than BBC's P&P, but I must admit North and South went straight to my heart and knocked P&P down.
I’d like to thank the lovely Maria Grazia of FLY HIGH! for inspiring me to read this book and watch the BBC drama. An unforgettable experience.

¡Gracias España!‏

And so the WC2010 circus has finally come to an end with Spain the well deserving winners. Although I stopped watching the matches after Italy and England were eliminated, I still had to hold a torch for Spain. Apart from my big love for the country and everything that’s Spanish (the language and the people above all), I was drawn Spain in our neighbours’ WC sweepstake, so I had to support them. Now they've won their first football world cup and I am £100 better off. What can I say other than ¡Gracias muchachos!‏

Prom Time

My pride and joy had his prom last Saturday night. Previously just typical of the United States, the prom has become popular among high school students in the UK as well in the last few years. My son is pretty ‘cool’, doesn’t get too excited about anything, apart from football but only sometimes (when England and/or Italy lose or win!), so the organization for that evening seemed rather low-key to me.

But when he got ready in his tux and joined his friends for a ride in a limo to get to the party venue (he paid for himself!), I felt very emotional. The end of compulsory education for my first-born, the end of an era. My little baby is now ready to get into the wide wild world on his own if he wants to. Little mamma standing in front of her big son was suddenly speechless and moved almost to tears.

Often I’ve encountered the sickness of living ...

Spesso il male di vivere ho incontrato:
era il rivo strozzato che gorgoglia,
era l’incartocciarsi della foglia
riarsa, era il cavallo stramazzato.

Bene non seppi, fuori del prodigio
che schiude la divina indifferenza:
era la statua nella sonnolenza
del meriggio, e la nuvola, e il falco alto levato.


(Often I’ve encountered the sickness of living
it was the stream that chokes and roars,
the crumpling sound of the dried out
leaf, it was the fallen horse.

I knew no good, beyond the prodigy
that reveals divine Indifference:
it was the statue in the slumber of
of the afternoon, and the cloud, and the high flying falcon.)

(Eugenio Montale)

Eugenio Montale was born in Genoa in 1896 and died in Milan in 1981. He was one of the six twentieth century Italians to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (1975). Montale was considered in the 1930s and ’40s to be a Hemetic poet. Along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Salvatore Quasimodo, he was influenced by French Symbolist such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Valéry and sought to convey experiences through the emotional suggestiveness of words and a symbolism of purely subjective meaning. In his later poetry, however, Montale often expressed his thoughts in more direct and simple language. Montale also rendered into Italian the poetry of William Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot and Gerard Manley Hopkins as well as prose works by Herman Melville, Eugene O’Neil and other writers. When I was in secondary school I had a wonderful Italian teacher who was a friend of Montale’s and knew him very well. He taught me to appreciate his wonderful way of playing with words and languages both in his poems and translations. Montale and my teacher inspired me to love poetry, to read and last but not least to become a translator.

Non chiederci la parola che squadri da ogni lato

l'animo nostro informe,

e a lettere di fuocolo dichiari e risplenda come un croco

Perduto in mezzo a un polveroso prato.

Ah l'uomo che se ne va sicuro,

agli altri ed a se stesso amico,

e l'ombra sua non cura che la canicola

stampa sopra uno scalcinato muro!

Non domandarci la formula che mondi possa aprirtisì

qualche storta sillaba e secca come un ramo.

Codesto solo oggi possiamo dirti,

ciò che non siamo, ciò che non vogliamo.

(Do not ask us the word which in every way our shapeless soul perhaps measures,

and in letters of fire may declaim it and shine like a crocus

lost in the centre of a dusty field.
Ah! the man who goes away sure, to others and to himself a friend,

and cares not about his shadow which the dog days

reflect across a plasterless wall!
Ask us not for the formula to open worlds for you,

only some syllable distorted and dry like a twig.

This alone is what we can tell you today,

that which we are not, that which we do not want.)

Happy Birthday, Nelson!

No, it's not Nelson Mandela's birthday today but on 18th July he will turn 92. The ONE organization is asking peple around the world to honour him on his birthday and thank him for nearly a century of life-changing work by adding their (our) photo to a giant birthday card. I think that's a brilliant idea and the great old man will like it!

When Mandela was born, his father named him Rolihlahla, an Xhosa word affectionately meaning "troublemaker". While the world would later come to know this boy as Nelson—the English name given by his teacher on his first day of school—Mandela has spent a lifetime stirring up an inspiring dose of trouble.

From an early age, Mandela acted boldly for those in need. He battled against apartheid, spending almost 27 years in prison to stand up for what he knew was right. He fought to make sure that every South African was given the honour of a vote, leading the country to its first free and fair election. He turned the tragedy of family death into an opportunity to educate his country about HIV/AIDS. He rallied on behalf of the hungry. He lobbied for equal education. He called for the world to come together and free those trapped in the prison of poverty. He challenged our generation to lead with action, not just words.

He's shown the world what a difference just one troublemaker can make.
Nelson Mandela has devoted his life to serving his community, fighting for his country and speaking out on behalf of the poor. Let's wish him happy birthday and show him our thanks.

Add your photo to the card by clicking on the link below:

http://www.one.org/international/actnow/mandela/?id=1777-2538601-Q6P_5ax&t=5

As Nelson Mandela said on the eve of his presidential election, "I stand before you humbled by your courage, with a heart full of love." Now it's our turn to stand before him and do the same.

[From ONE.org]

Where Art Thou, Lorenzo?

There is a place in Verona, Italy called Casa di Giulietta where the lovelorn go to leave notes on the wall next to Juliet's balcony asking for love advice. These letters are collected at the end of each day and answered by a group of real-life employees who regard themselves as Juliet's secretaries.

Such is the idea of director Gary Winick's postcard-pretty romantic comedy, Letters to Juliet. Its premise alone is enough to tell you that this is a chick flick through and through, but here's the surprise- despite its predictability, it actually is pretty likable. And indeed what's there not to like? It has stunning views of the Veneto and Tuscan countryside; it stars the radiant Amanda Seyfried (you'll probably remember her from Mamma Mia!); and it's about second chances in love, which anyone who has ever been in love can certainly relate to.




At the heart of its story is the American girl Sophie, a magazine (The New Yorker by the way!) fact-checker on a pre-honeymoon holiday in Italy with her restaurateur fiancé, Victor who is primarily interested in exploring the area for its culinary ingredients to use in his restaurant- so on one of those trips, Sophie decides to go visit the Casa di Giulietta on her own. There, she finds a letter written 50 years before by a young English girl who had fallen in love with a dashing Italian while on holiday, but because of family constraints she had gone back to England without even saying goodbye.

Sophie feels compelled to respond and her reply brings the elderly Claire (a luminous Vanessa Redgrave) to Italy, accompanied by her grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan). Claire wants to find her old beau Lorenzo Bartolini and so they set off on a road trip to visit the 74 men of the same name in the Siena area to locate her special one. Will Claire find the love she lost? Will Sophie find new love? Will Charlie fall in love? You'd probably already know the answers to all three questions.




A touching, romantic and beautiful movie. Even though you knew how it was going to end you slowly got completely wrapped up in the characters at each turn of events. The schmaltz, melodrama and cheese are all put together in a totally engrossing romance.

Anyway, the Tuscan scenery is staggeringly beautiful. And watching real-life couple Redgrave and Nero walk hand in hand is very heart-warming. These two first fell in love during the mid-60's while filming Camelot. This cost Vanessa Redgrave her first marriage, but the lovers did not marry until 2006. Just to prove that it is never too late for love.