Hello Diary. Yes it is true. I have neglected you shamefully. This I understand, is unforgivable but let's face it, Confessing one's sins daily is just not that much fun. In any case you will be pleased to hear that recently I threw down the diet gauntlet (Size XX LG at www.fatpeopleglovesandgauntlets.com) and decided that weight loss was GONNA HAPPEN DAMMIT!
I went to see Dr. Chan who tweaked my hormones and then I joined the Y with my neighbor Jewel across the street. Jewel is an amazing lady. She does Zumba like a champ. We ran into each other while walking the other day (See, I do move this giant body!) and convinced me that Zumba was the answer to all my troubles. I attended this Zumba and found that it is non stop hopping and jumping around to Latin music. It was really fun but SHEESH! there is no break. It is a full hour of non stop, high end exercise! 5 minutes into it I was as red as a pomegranite and sweating like a formaggio. I could not stop because I didn't want to look like a wimp to the other ladies who looked like they did this 12 times before breakfast every morning. They had the audaucity to have their make up look as fresh as when they first put it on. Jewel regaled me with stories about how the lady in the front row used to weigh 300 lbs and now looks like a swimsuit model. The lady next to us had to get her wedding ring resized because she had managed to dump huge volumes of body chunks just by Zumbaing. (She did look amazing!)
Based on the excitement of my first experience I went to 4 Zumba classes in a row and definitely overZumbaed. I could barely walk and had a perfect excuse to stay in bed for a whole week. It was pretty harsh. Nontheless I went back to Zumba class and started again, this time 1-2 times a week instead of 4 in a row (There is a reason people do not do that.)and the result is that I lost 2 lbs and can easily bend over to tie my shoelaces. Good Egg! If I keep this up I'll be in a bikini by the time my trip to Italy arrives! CIAO!
Now I have to admit that though I am a dancer I look like a complete giant dork doing Zumba. (Don't let this stop you!)I generally watch the instructor and try to keep up but occasionally I get a glimpse of self in the huge mirror and what I see is a stork with blond hair trying desperately to get down. I can belly dance and dance ballet but Zumba is not something I was born with. This doesn't really matter though because I plan on Zumbaing into the next millenium! Sooner or later I reckon I will somehow get it. Unfortunately for Little, dogs are not allowed in Zumba so I will be giving him classes shortly. They will be short classes because Little is in terrible shape after the hibernation that necessarily goes on in winter and he will need "special Zumba" until he can keep up. So here we are again Diary! I will continue to write and let you know how it is going. Until then here's to "Livin' La Vida Loca"
XO
Chris
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Mentally I live in Italy
Hello again Diary!
I have been lax in my posts lately and am hereby requesting forgiveness. Ok, glad that's done. Anyhoo, Lots has occurred since my last post to you and I am still working on writing all my observations and experiences from the last time I was in Italy. (I promise to get right on that BTW).
As you will come to find out my cute hubby and I went to Calabria to look at properties and came away with a house that we both agreed we could not live without. The total cost of our 700 square foot palace is 56,000 Euros. This does not cover the roof terrace we plan on putting in or the cost of purchasing and renovating the attached ruin or the cellar which will give us more much desired square footage. One needs plenty of floor space because family members are starting to come out of the wood work and they need a place to crash.
Well time has passed and the actual time is approaching when Pete and I will get on our beloved Alitalia airlines (Party central BTW! Those Italian flight crews are a GAS!), wing our way over to Calabria, sign some papers and spend our first night in our new home. We are so excited we cannot contain ourselves and we have stopped trying. We look forward to breakfast on the balcony with the view of the sea, shopping at the local market and exploring our new little home town. The quest to learn Italian continues and there will be much grunting as I attempt to put words together without speaking Spanish at the locals, and to make myself understood. One cannot overpraise "Italian for Dummies" or "Drive Time Italian" in their valient efforts to educate me and keep me from looking stupid (Really it is a fool's errand but there you are).
Today is january 18th 2011. Last Spring I promised that July 2011 I would be on my roof terrace playing my violin. Ok it may be on the balcony but in my mind that still counts. The sea breeze will blow and the Italian time that has seen so many amazing things (Magna Greca, Pompeii The Roman Empire and, and , and... will see tiny me on my tiny balcony playing my tiny violin. History does not have to be huge to be history and I plan on making some. I hope that I will see all my friends there very soon.
XO
Chris
I have been lax in my posts lately and am hereby requesting forgiveness. Ok, glad that's done. Anyhoo, Lots has occurred since my last post to you and I am still working on writing all my observations and experiences from the last time I was in Italy. (I promise to get right on that BTW).
As you will come to find out my cute hubby and I went to Calabria to look at properties and came away with a house that we both agreed we could not live without. The total cost of our 700 square foot palace is 56,000 Euros. This does not cover the roof terrace we plan on putting in or the cost of purchasing and renovating the attached ruin or the cellar which will give us more much desired square footage. One needs plenty of floor space because family members are starting to come out of the wood work and they need a place to crash.
Well time has passed and the actual time is approaching when Pete and I will get on our beloved Alitalia airlines (Party central BTW! Those Italian flight crews are a GAS!), wing our way over to Calabria, sign some papers and spend our first night in our new home. We are so excited we cannot contain ourselves and we have stopped trying. We look forward to breakfast on the balcony with the view of the sea, shopping at the local market and exploring our new little home town. The quest to learn Italian continues and there will be much grunting as I attempt to put words together without speaking Spanish at the locals, and to make myself understood. One cannot overpraise "Italian for Dummies" or "Drive Time Italian" in their valient efforts to educate me and keep me from looking stupid (Really it is a fool's errand but there you are).
Today is january 18th 2011. Last Spring I promised that July 2011 I would be on my roof terrace playing my violin. Ok it may be on the balcony but in my mind that still counts. The sea breeze will blow and the Italian time that has seen so many amazing things (Magna Greca, Pompeii The Roman Empire and, and , and... will see tiny me on my tiny balcony playing my tiny violin. History does not have to be huge to be history and I plan on making some. I hope that I will see all my friends there very soon.
XO
Chris
Friday, December 3, 2010
Learning Italian; definite articles? definitelyANNOYING!!
Ok Diary this will be a tiny break fomr the obsession over weight loss/gain as I take a break to whine about trying to learn Italian. I have learned French and Spanish and thought (quite erroneously) that Italian woud be no sweat. Well it IS a sweat. I have my Drive-by Italian CDs that I listen to in my car and by the time I get to work I feel like my brain has been swirled around with an egg whisk. Let's start my rant with Definite Articles. In Italian you have a bunch of different ones and on days when the sun is shining you use "LA" when it is cloudy out and the policeman in front of you is wearing sunglasses you use "LE" When you have gone completely around the bend and are having a full blown hysterical laughing fit because you would put a bullet in your head if you didn't, you use "GLI". The problem emanates from the fact that French, Spanish and Italian are so close that you feel like by speaking Spanish or French, it should just naturally come out Italian and it doesn't!!!!! I had an English lady friend who told me "Its so easy dahrling! You simply speak French and put an "O" or an "I" at the end and it becomes Italian! WRONG!!! In fact it is much harder because the English phrase goes into my head, translates into French, then I mentally say "no" (Or "mais non"), then it translates in Spanish which again is incorrect then I finally translate it into Italian, run it through all the rules and grammer making sure it all agrees and finally it comes out sort, kinda Italian. In the meantime I sit there for a full 60 second minute with my eyes bulging and my tongue hanging out grunting like a monosyllabic pig!
Honestly, when I decided to take up Italian, I pictured myself at smart Italian dinner parties with perhaps an ultra long cigarette holder and stillettos that I can barely walk in spitting out sharp and witty Italian phrases with the speed and accuracy of a machine gun. (Somewhere in that picture my hair grew long and spontaneously straightened and turned black and I lost weight and about 20 years). Obviously the return to earth from dreamland was a pretty rough landing. Ok then! There is nothing for it but to increase the practice and keep at it. Persistence is the key Diary! I'll keep in touch.
Arrivederci!!!!
Honestly, when I decided to take up Italian, I pictured myself at smart Italian dinner parties with perhaps an ultra long cigarette holder and stillettos that I can barely walk in spitting out sharp and witty Italian phrases with the speed and accuracy of a machine gun. (Somewhere in that picture my hair grew long and spontaneously straightened and turned black and I lost weight and about 20 years). Obviously the return to earth from dreamland was a pretty rough landing. Ok then! There is nothing for it but to increase the practice and keep at it. Persistence is the key Diary! I'll keep in touch.
Arrivederci!!!!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Its time to start a blog
Hello folks!
In response to all of your interest and frequent questions, I have decided to start a blog. It is for you but also for me to look back on and remember all of the thoughts and feelings that have gone into this next step in life that seems so out of the blue and opposite to what other, more careful people are considering at this time.
As you know, Pete and I have decided to purchase property in Calabria Italy. We want an apartment in a historical center that we can fix up. There are several reasons for this. The first of which is the fact that I am a transnational, being Italian stuck in a northern European body. This is a well known and documented fact as I recently "came out" and proclaimed what I am. It feels good to acknowledge this and not to try to hide it all the time. My friends and family have been surprisingly supportive and have decided that they love me regardless. I believe in my heart of hearts that Pete too is a transnational but he has yet to embrace the real him and will do so when the time is right. By then I will have forged the path for him so that his transition will be painless.
I have recently started studying Italian. I listen to the CDs in my bright yellow, convertible '91 Miata (restored) and can be heard screaming around the streets of Morgan Hill shreiking Italian phrases in response to the American lady on the CD urging me to "repeat". I have no idea what I am saying sometimes but my pronounciation is FANTASTICO!.
The question I get from people is "What made you come to this decision?" And I can honestly say that I have no idea at all other than I have always felt a kinship with the Italians. I love people who are so free with their emotions and their hands. I have always talked with my entire body and people here seem to get freaked about it. I really think that some think I am going to hit them. I have also lost my taste for fast food and to some extent for fast life.
Also, from what I see, the Italians have snagged one of the best parts of the globe for themselves. To top that off, they have a way of living that seems like fluid art. There is art everywhere in Italy, in the food, the presentation, the culture and traditions. They recognize that there is so much in life that merits celebration and they celebrate uninhibitedly. I remember when I first met my husband and we started "courting". or some reason everything we touched at that time turned to success. We got so much done in such a short time and good luck was at every turn. Our Modus Oparendi at that time was to celebrate anything we could think of. There was no weekend that we did not have champagne and cake and, suprise! the reasons to celebrate just kept coming in and kept getting bigger and better.
For awhile we have gotten out of that mode and into the Silicon Valley grind. We work our asses to the bone on a daily basis and have forgotten to celebrate. Life has become a little harder, a little stranger and a little less friendly, or at least it seems that way. We have forgotten that it is worthwhile to hike several miles just to see a view. I have forgotten all the ways I know to cook lamb and meals are now quick plugs to keep the tum happy and keep us going. And finally, and probably the clincher is that, after years of scrimping and saving and sacrificing, our retirement funds are practically useless and things don't look to be getting any better in the near future what with our political situation being what it is.
All the more reason to save you say? I say Pish Tosh! Nothing is guarenteed in life and our 401Ks could end up as scratchy and inefficient toilet paper before long. After all is it paper, not a house, not a way of life and not a lot to look forward to. Pete and I have another possible 50 years left on this planet and will probably be working for a long time to come. I will agree to do this for 11 months out of the year but that one month, in my little place, in a land where life is meant to be savored and people are not afraid of being assaulted when I try to explain something, well that makes it all worthwhile. It will be a month long celebration. Pete and I will look for things to celebrate and once a year will devote our entire selves to doing just that. We will count our blessings and really see what future blessings we have in the hopper and what it will take to get them to fruition. I really don't care if what we buy is a shit hovel ruin. We will make it nice and ove it for what it is. It will be a wonderous place. As long as I have running water, a place to plug in my blow dryer, and a wonderful view, I will be happy.
By the way, none of this is meant to lessen in any way the people in the good old US of A. It is my country and I love it here. I still think we have a lot of the best and brightest. We just need to wrestle our government back from the corrupt politicians who have taken over and we will be great once again.
So, there you have it. To some I am sure that this is proof positive that I have gone completely around the bend but I have found that going around the bend gives you the best view. I have also changed my viewpoint with regard to sucess and failure. I will very likely make a bunch of possibly costly mistakes. However that does not mean that I will have failed. One can come back from mistakes and turn them into success, even the most costly ones. And then one has gained wisdom that is priceless. One also gains the knowledge that there is no failure, just things that are not finished yet. Some things are much harder and/or more costly than others but that does not mean we shouldn't have done them or that they are not worth doing. Careful people are fine but they sometimes allow their thinking to rob themselves and others of opportunities to really experience living.
Here we go folks! I will be chronicling our day to day adventures and so, hopefully encourage others to take the plunge so that I can have all my friends as neighbors. Today is the 14th of August, 2010. on 14 July 2011 there will be a party on my roof terrace. I will play my violin and we will watch the sun set over the sea and think how far away we are from the every day grind and hustle and bustle. We will clink our glasses and observe how wonderful it is to be alive in this amazing time and place. We will invite the little old ladies and hear their stories and I may even teach violin to the kids in exchange for some of mama's lasagne.
It is time to celebrate!
Ciao for now!
XO
Chris
In response to all of your interest and frequent questions, I have decided to start a blog. It is for you but also for me to look back on and remember all of the thoughts and feelings that have gone into this next step in life that seems so out of the blue and opposite to what other, more careful people are considering at this time.
As you know, Pete and I have decided to purchase property in Calabria Italy. We want an apartment in a historical center that we can fix up. There are several reasons for this. The first of which is the fact that I am a transnational, being Italian stuck in a northern European body. This is a well known and documented fact as I recently "came out" and proclaimed what I am. It feels good to acknowledge this and not to try to hide it all the time. My friends and family have been surprisingly supportive and have decided that they love me regardless. I believe in my heart of hearts that Pete too is a transnational but he has yet to embrace the real him and will do so when the time is right. By then I will have forged the path for him so that his transition will be painless.
I have recently started studying Italian. I listen to the CDs in my bright yellow, convertible '91 Miata (restored) and can be heard screaming around the streets of Morgan Hill shreiking Italian phrases in response to the American lady on the CD urging me to "repeat". I have no idea what I am saying sometimes but my pronounciation is FANTASTICO!.
The question I get from people is "What made you come to this decision?" And I can honestly say that I have no idea at all other than I have always felt a kinship with the Italians. I love people who are so free with their emotions and their hands. I have always talked with my entire body and people here seem to get freaked about it. I really think that some think I am going to hit them. I have also lost my taste for fast food and to some extent for fast life.
Also, from what I see, the Italians have snagged one of the best parts of the globe for themselves. To top that off, they have a way of living that seems like fluid art. There is art everywhere in Italy, in the food, the presentation, the culture and traditions. They recognize that there is so much in life that merits celebration and they celebrate uninhibitedly. I remember when I first met my husband and we started "courting". or some reason everything we touched at that time turned to success. We got so much done in such a short time and good luck was at every turn. Our Modus Oparendi at that time was to celebrate anything we could think of. There was no weekend that we did not have champagne and cake and, suprise! the reasons to celebrate just kept coming in and kept getting bigger and better.
For awhile we have gotten out of that mode and into the Silicon Valley grind. We work our asses to the bone on a daily basis and have forgotten to celebrate. Life has become a little harder, a little stranger and a little less friendly, or at least it seems that way. We have forgotten that it is worthwhile to hike several miles just to see a view. I have forgotten all the ways I know to cook lamb and meals are now quick plugs to keep the tum happy and keep us going. And finally, and probably the clincher is that, after years of scrimping and saving and sacrificing, our retirement funds are practically useless and things don't look to be getting any better in the near future what with our political situation being what it is.
All the more reason to save you say? I say Pish Tosh! Nothing is guarenteed in life and our 401Ks could end up as scratchy and inefficient toilet paper before long. After all is it paper, not a house, not a way of life and not a lot to look forward to. Pete and I have another possible 50 years left on this planet and will probably be working for a long time to come. I will agree to do this for 11 months out of the year but that one month, in my little place, in a land where life is meant to be savored and people are not afraid of being assaulted when I try to explain something, well that makes it all worthwhile. It will be a month long celebration. Pete and I will look for things to celebrate and once a year will devote our entire selves to doing just that. We will count our blessings and really see what future blessings we have in the hopper and what it will take to get them to fruition. I really don't care if what we buy is a shit hovel ruin. We will make it nice and ove it for what it is. It will be a wonderous place. As long as I have running water, a place to plug in my blow dryer, and a wonderful view, I will be happy.
By the way, none of this is meant to lessen in any way the people in the good old US of A. It is my country and I love it here. I still think we have a lot of the best and brightest. We just need to wrestle our government back from the corrupt politicians who have taken over and we will be great once again.
So, there you have it. To some I am sure that this is proof positive that I have gone completely around the bend but I have found that going around the bend gives you the best view. I have also changed my viewpoint with regard to sucess and failure. I will very likely make a bunch of possibly costly mistakes. However that does not mean that I will have failed. One can come back from mistakes and turn them into success, even the most costly ones. And then one has gained wisdom that is priceless. One also gains the knowledge that there is no failure, just things that are not finished yet. Some things are much harder and/or more costly than others but that does not mean we shouldn't have done them or that they are not worth doing. Careful people are fine but they sometimes allow their thinking to rob themselves and others of opportunities to really experience living.
Here we go folks! I will be chronicling our day to day adventures and so, hopefully encourage others to take the plunge so that I can have all my friends as neighbors. Today is the 14th of August, 2010. on 14 July 2011 there will be a party on my roof terrace. I will play my violin and we will watch the sun set over the sea and think how far away we are from the every day grind and hustle and bustle. We will clink our glasses and observe how wonderful it is to be alive in this amazing time and place. We will invite the little old ladies and hear their stories and I may even teach violin to the kids in exchange for some of mama's lasagne.
It is time to celebrate!
Ciao for now!
XO
Chris
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Animals,Art and Aesthetics
Animals, Art, and the Aesthetics
Is it possible that great artists have become reincarnated into cats? Is this fate and/or karma in which they are paying the price for their debauchery in former lives?
The cats I have acquired definitely have an eye for color, texture and form. Whether it be the particular odor emanating from the litter box after much careful thought and precision management on their part, or the way they shed their fur in artful clumps over my favorite chair.
I don’t know who is actually responsible for these but I have lately discovered the delicately placed “Little Piles of Vomit” These never cease to surprise and delight me. They are color coordinated and placed around the house for the maximum aesthetic affect. Sometimes you get a multiple sensory experience when it is fresh and still warm. This is best enjoyed at 3:00 A.M. on your way back from the bathroom when you step in it in stockinged feet. Mostly though, they dry where they are. We enjoy and revel in them until we grow weary and scrub them off the surface with a scrubby pad.
Another source of aesthetic and/or mental trauma in our house is the live performance art exhibition entitled “Toilet Paper Uprising”. This is a staged interpretation of an actual uprising which must be squelched by the ever vigilant Snowball. Generally this results in the "Toilet Paper Massacre", the papery carnage of which I find strewn all over the house when I get out of bed. These things always occur during the night while I am peacefully sleeping, never suspecting the danger that lurks under the bathroom cabinet. I thank God for a cat so alert and dedicated to her security post. One imagines that it is a slow and painful demise being done to death by a crazed mob of anarchic toilet paper rolls armed with toilet brushes, who have had just about enough of being treated like a bunch of ass wipes.
Is it possible that great artists have become reincarnated into cats? Is this fate and/or karma in which they are paying the price for their debauchery in former lives?
The cats I have acquired definitely have an eye for color, texture and form. Whether it be the particular odor emanating from the litter box after much careful thought and precision management on their part, or the way they shed their fur in artful clumps over my favorite chair.
I don’t know who is actually responsible for these but I have lately discovered the delicately placed “Little Piles of Vomit” These never cease to surprise and delight me. They are color coordinated and placed around the house for the maximum aesthetic affect. Sometimes you get a multiple sensory experience when it is fresh and still warm. This is best enjoyed at 3:00 A.M. on your way back from the bathroom when you step in it in stockinged feet. Mostly though, they dry where they are. We enjoy and revel in them until we grow weary and scrub them off the surface with a scrubby pad.
Another source of aesthetic and/or mental trauma in our house is the live performance art exhibition entitled “Toilet Paper Uprising”. This is a staged interpretation of an actual uprising which must be squelched by the ever vigilant Snowball. Generally this results in the "Toilet Paper Massacre", the papery carnage of which I find strewn all over the house when I get out of bed. These things always occur during the night while I am peacefully sleeping, never suspecting the danger that lurks under the bathroom cabinet. I thank God for a cat so alert and dedicated to her security post. One imagines that it is a slow and painful demise being done to death by a crazed mob of anarchic toilet paper rolls armed with toilet brushes, who have had just about enough of being treated like a bunch of ass wipes.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Smelly dogs
Well, Jack and Little are clean now. There was a lot of ruckus and soap suds but now we are all relaxing in the bed. I hate to do that to them but one of us was starting to smell like a rotting peanut and it wasn't me.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Stomach procedure
Well Diary,
Yesterday I had an Endoscopy which is an ill advised procedure where the doctor peeps at your insides via a scope that gets shoved forcefully down your gullet making you gag the entire time. Fortunatly you are too drugged to care and all you remember is a bad dream and a sore throat.
I had thought that I would be up and about today but that was wishful thinking. I am still in bed trying to get over the massive infusion of narcotics they gave me to keep me from barfing up the scope. While "Chris under the influence of Demerol" can be flat out hilarious for others, I chafe under the inactivity and have had quite enough dizzyness to be getting on with. I really thought I saw the doctor laughing while I was outlining my treatment plan to him shortly after the procedure. He said "We'll talk about it when you are not under the influence" WELL! Under the influence INDEED! I was as lucid as ever even though I noticed I still had the little shoe coverings on when I left the building. (Those things make great shower caps by the way.)
Still and all I am unhappy. I did not lose one single pound despite having barely anything to eat yesterday. in fact I gained some. That must be from the huge dinner I ate the night before to avoid starvation while waiting for the procedure. Perhaps half a cake was a bit too much. Anyway Diary Its back on the diet bandwagon. From now on it is fruit and meat and vegetables until I am in bikini shape. See Ya!
Yesterday I had an Endoscopy which is an ill advised procedure where the doctor peeps at your insides via a scope that gets shoved forcefully down your gullet making you gag the entire time. Fortunatly you are too drugged to care and all you remember is a bad dream and a sore throat.
I had thought that I would be up and about today but that was wishful thinking. I am still in bed trying to get over the massive infusion of narcotics they gave me to keep me from barfing up the scope. While "Chris under the influence of Demerol" can be flat out hilarious for others, I chafe under the inactivity and have had quite enough dizzyness to be getting on with. I really thought I saw the doctor laughing while I was outlining my treatment plan to him shortly after the procedure. He said "We'll talk about it when you are not under the influence" WELL! Under the influence INDEED! I was as lucid as ever even though I noticed I still had the little shoe coverings on when I left the building. (Those things make great shower caps by the way.)
Still and all I am unhappy. I did not lose one single pound despite having barely anything to eat yesterday. in fact I gained some. That must be from the huge dinner I ate the night before to avoid starvation while waiting for the procedure. Perhaps half a cake was a bit too much. Anyway Diary Its back on the diet bandwagon. From now on it is fruit and meat and vegetables until I am in bikini shape. See Ya!
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