Found photos (Southern Italy edition)

In the age of the digital photo, you 'forget' some of the photos you've taken. Here are some 'found' favorites of Southern Italy.

The Book of Moods

I feel sometimes as though I could write an entire book about my moods. Is everyone this way?

Join me as I indulge this fantasy.

I could write it along the lines of Bridget Jones' Diary, but oriented, in my case, for the (ahem, older) mother of a toddler:

Sleep: 7 hrs, 45 min sleep
Caffeine intake: 1.5 caffelattes
Time to write: 1.5 hours solid work
Mood as of 8 a.m.: "It's A Wonderful Life" (last scene, obviously)

Then you could do a night-time edition:

Sleep: 7 hrs, 45 min sleep
Caffeine intake: 1.5 caffelattes
Total time writing: 4 hours
Exercise: Ran three miles
Book I'm Reading: Henry James' "The Portrait of A Lady"
Alcohol in-take: Two glasses of red wine
Wine quality: We were drinking aglianico so fan-fuckin'tastic
Funny things Leo said: "Whatta happened?" and "Look at that Mommy face!"
Mood as of 8 p.m.: This feeling should be illegal

Alternative version: when I sleep a little less than I should, sometimes I find the gates of perception are nonetheless wide open, and I'm stumbling from one thought to another, and one prospect to another, with boundless hope and good will.

Sleep: 6 hrs, 15 min sleep
Caffeine intake: 2.0 caffelattes
Time to write: 1.5 hours solid work
Songs listened to: "No Government" by Nicolette on the way back from daycare, then Springsteen, then Gianna Nannini's "America"
Read some Italian? Yes; finished third book in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan series
Mood as of 10 a.m.: Hallucinating about taking over the world (and hence needing and wanting to write down every thought)

Just me?

From the Leo Journal (Nina Simone edition)

The last two evenings, Leo has jumped up after dinner to say, “Let’s listen to some music.”

He runs over to the boom box on a corner bookshelf in the kitchen and begins fiddling with the knobs. He knows which CD is his – a children’s album of Woody Guthrie songs from my friend, Margie – but he’s also curious about my jazz CDs.

The first night, he listens to the song "Take Me Riding In the Car," and shouts out certain words: Back seat! Blow the horn! There's a frog in the car!

Then he looks at Nina Simone’s face on one of my CDs and decides he wants a listen. I cue up “My Baby Just Cares For Me,” one of my favorite songs, and try to dance him around the dining room. He’s not having it.

But he likes the next song, “Don’t Smoke In Bed.” On the second night, he begins playing his CD, then says, suddenly, with perfect enunciation and recall, “Don’t Smoke In Bed.” I roar with delight, and he says, again, “Don’t smoke in bed, Mommy."

Menefreghismo! Yes!

There's an incredible new nonfiction book by the Economist's John Hooper called The Italians.

How do I know it's incredible? According to a book review in The New York Times, he explains concepts like "menefreghismo"!

For the uninitiated, it means not giving a crap about something; the phrase "non me ne frega niente" is something you hear every day, every day, in Italy. Typically 'niente' might be replaced with 'un cazzo' -- that kind of thing.

In fact, menefreghismo sums up the attitude of vast numbers of people, including just about anyone in public office.

Finally, the REAL Italy. Not just gondolas. Please tell me there's a chapter on the tredecisima!

Read The New York Times' book review here.

**ciao ciao ciao ciao ciao ciao**