Un po' di formaggio ci vuole

Già una buona forchetta che sa grattuggiare il formaggio.

The Italian Advantage! (Ferrante post #501)

It's not every day that knowing Italian actually gives me an edge but ha ha! Today it does!

I don't have to wait until Ann Goldstein at the New Yorker translates Elena Ferrante's latest book from her Neapolitian series. I can go ahead and read it in Italian! YAY!

Just look at it. (In fact that's all I can do since I still have to finish Book #2 of the series).

Storia della bambina perduta.

(Thanks to Il Nostro Inviato for picking me up a copy last week when he went to Italy for work.)

Happy reading everyone!

Sunset, Hilton Head Island (La Carolina del Sud)

E poi in realta, il tramonto era ancora piu favoloso -- la macchina fotografica non riesce a ricreare cio che l'occhio percepisce.

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"LA STRADA" - Ilaria Graziano & Francesco Forni

One of the most gorgeous voices I've ever heard.

Cool photo (IMHO)....Oh and the kid's cute too

Leo with cat. And tomato.

Either my new fancy camera can't take a bad picture or this kid is pretty cute or maybe both.

Thinking of a Jovanotti song today

Beautiful thought:" È questa la vita che sognavo da bambino."

("This is the life I dreamt about as a child.")

Best book in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan trilogy?

Just finished Elena Ferrante's "L'Amica Geniale," just started the second book in the trilogy, "Storia del Nuovo Cognome."

Already read "Storia di Chi Resta E Di Chi Fugge."

So what's the best book in the trilogy?

I would say NOT the first book.

The last book is amazing (last one, at least so far).

And I think book #2 is off to a good start.

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"L'Amica Geniale" (Ferrante...again)

I'm reading "L'Amica Geniale" di Elena Ferrante and sometimes I stop myself because the pleasure of reading in Italian is so intense, I need to take a breath!

Here's to cultivating passions....Cin-cin!

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Air Force One? All In A Day's Work

I meant to post this photo a few weeks back. Every now and again, you pull an odd assignment in journalism.

Mine, the day I took this picture, was to wait for Air Force One to arrive in Atlanta with Pres. Obama, and then wait for it to leave, all in the hopes he would toss off a comment as he was arriving or leaving.

He didn't. But I did see him jog up the stairs to the plane and then turn around to wave goodbye to Atlanta.

So there was that.

Actually it was cool. Watching airplanes take off is always exhilarating, and the wind on the runway even on a hot day cools you down.

Medieval Salento!

Just discovered this book on a Web site for the CENTRO PRIMO LEVI ONLINE MONTHLY:

"Medieval Salento
: Art and Identity in Southern Italy" (University of Pennsylvania Press).

Look at the cover art!

And the title!

They had me at Salento.

Fibonacci

Non sapevo che il matematico Fibonacci si chiamo' Leonardo!

Greatest book title ever?

"Storia Di Chi Resta E Di Chi Fugge" by Elena Ferrante.

Although I will say Calvino's "Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore" is also in the running.

I've finished "Storia Di Chi Resta E Di Chi Fugge" and am now reading the first book in Ferrante's Neapolitan trilogy, "L'Amica Geniale."

#chebellalettura

Did I show off Isla de Mujeres?

I realized recently I have all of these great photos of Isla de Mujeres on my phone that I never bothered to post here.

It's an island off of Cancun and a world away. It's also gorgeous, and we did our research so we wound up at a really laidback duplex painted a sunny yellow color that fronted the beach. As in, if you live in a typical suburban neighborhood, our tiny apartment was as far away from the water as you are from your neighbor's house across the street. Which is to say, pretty darn close.

At the tip of the island is a quirky sculpture park surrounded on all sides by crashing waves. Like I said, paradise!

Italian Words at the Guggenheim (Futurismo)

They also had art at the Guggenheim's just-closed Futurismo exhibit (including works by Umberto Boccioni, whom I love) but I found myself drawn to anything that showed Italian words.

The Guggenheim is such a wonderful exhibit space. You can look back at what you've seen from a distance and see the work in a different way.

There were lots of books and posters and manifestos with Italian words and I was in heaven. There must be something about seeing words in a language you love that lights up the happiness part of your brain. It winds up being like a little festish.

"Mexican" coffee break

When I need a break, I remember I vacationed here this year.

Where, you ask, is paradise? In my opinion, it might just be Isla de Mujeres, off of Cancun.

Words-Parole-Palabras-Mots

Another chapter from the Leo journal.

Today: An inventory of the words Leo knows how to say:

Mamma, Da-da, water, ball, bath, duck, hello, more, outdoors, all done, bye-bye, no, oh no, truck, snow (!), blue, red, dog, cat, yellow, milk, toaster, bike, up, down, row, rock, bowl, flower and last but not least, thank you!

He's also said agua.....but let's hold off on the foreign word inventory for now.

Elena Ferrante Fest (in my mind, at least)

Just got a slew of Elena Ferrante titles to work through. I've done things a bit backward; I read "Storia di chi fugge e di chi resta" first. Now I need to read the first two works in the trilogy.

Oh, and I threw in "La Frantumaglia" for fun. It's a collection of interviews with Ferrante and nonfiction pieces about writing authored by her.

For anyone in New York who's interested in Ferrante, there will be an amazing talk at the Center for Fiction on Sept. 16 featuring Ferrante's American translator, Ann Goldstein, and two novelists, discussing her work.

For more information on this event, go here:

http://centerforfiction.org/calendar/on-elena-ferrante-ann-goldstein-roxana-robinson-and-stacey-derasmo/

Chat Hat, Chat Hat

"Chat Hat! Chat Hat."

It sounds like a foreign language, and I guess it is. But it's one I'm slowly becoming fluent in.

The phrase means: The Cat in the Hat. You know, the children's book by Dr. Seuss.

I don't know why -- I don't need to know why -- but that's how Leo pronounces the book's title. Chat -- the French word for cat, which he would never have heard from me. And then the word hat, which he knows.

He loves certain sentences from the book. For example, the sentence where the Cat says, “We can have fun that is funny.” He shouts “Funny!” He sort of stammers it, like he's having trouble containing himself, that's how entertaining he finds the phrase.

He also likes his Bob the Builder book. And he picks up the book and says one word over and over: “Bob.” He says it so sweetly, as if Bob were our friend, our neighbor, someone we know well.

I'm recording him often but not often enough. You'd simply have to press "on" every morning and every evening.

Which is probably not possible. But I hope my brain is recording it. All of it. Every little second.

"I got ya!"

“I got ya!”

That’s a subject followed by a verb and then an object. And as first full sentences go, I would say it’s good one!

Leo can string two or three words together now, no problem. But I think this is the first time I’ve heard a complete sentence.

I’m mildly embarrassed that he’s parroting what he heard me say as I chased him around the house, giggling and shouting. But it warms my little heart to hear him say it. You got me? Sounds good to me.

2? 2! Yes 2!

Happy birthday e tanti auguri to Leonardo oggi e sempre!