Message in a bottle

Senza Fiato

2009-11-12T12:07:00.004+01:00

Dolores O'riordan is one of the best voice ever. I love her interpretation, the energy she can show in her singing. Giuliano is the leader of an Italian Group: Negramaro.
This song really leave you breathless.

Starting a new work

2009-11-09T13:55:00.005+01:00

Foto from here

I met Henry James for the first time when I watched "portrait of a lady", and I must confess that I didn't appreciate the film, this led me to avoid the book, and in my literature studies he was never mentioned directly, I mean, studying Joyce I found referrment to James' work, but the interesting thing is that he has no chapter dedicated in the Norton Anthology (my literary bible).
Now I'm dealing with him because of my final dissertation and I'm starting to believe that he deserve something more...
I'm reading his novella "The turn of the screw", rather, I've already read it and I'm now analizing its content and the way it s organized, That's why I'm not referring to it as a ghost story, because first and foremost I'm aware it is not. We cannot define it in a specific genre, because the author himself wants us to be confused about it. The "ghost story is full of hints of a paranoia of the narrator, the young governess who went and lived in Bly. The reader is led to doubt on what she describes, and in tragic scene at the end of the story is no longer sure of what has happened.
The story has caught the attention of many artists and critics since when it was written and in 1954, when the Biennale commissioned him a new work, Benjamin Britten chose this very story, and "The Turn of the Screw" became an opera. The particular ambiguity of this story created several problems to the composer and the librettist, Myfanwy Piper, but the thing on which I'll focus my attention will be the interpretation of Britten who found himself to choose between Innocence and Experience, and this time chose Experience.

Stay tuned for next steps...

The House of Sleep

2009-10-06T13:18:00.004+02:00

"The house of sleep" is one of my favourite book, a novel by Jonathan Coe and the topic of my final dissertation at the end of the first three years University.

The novel is diveded in six sections, the first is titled 'awake', then you can find the four phases of sleep and the last one R.E.M. phase, in the end there are three Appendixes (Poem, Letter, Transcript). Each section consists of three chapters, odd-numbered chapters are set in 1983-84, even-numbered chapters are set in June 1996.
The different sections of the novel are closely linked through words, they don't come to an end just dissolve, like an interrupted dream, in an incomplete sentence, the final word of each stage of sleeping is picked up at the beginning of the following one, but in another context and sometime even by another character.

The story deals with a group of students that share a house in th '80s and fall in and out of love, the we see them in the '90s with their lives changed. We can say that the very protagonist of the whole novel is Sarah, she suffer from narcolepsy, and in the 80's she's not aware of it. Narcolepsy is characterized by Eccessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS), cataplexy, vivid hallucinations, brief episodes of total paralysis. Who suffer from Narcolepsy can fall asleep even in active conditions, like eating or talking, what is called sleep attack. Adult patients often perceive narcoleptic symptoms as embarassing and social isolation may result. They may experience interpersonal problems, and are perceived as lazy or are suspected of illegal drug use.
Sarah's symptoms will cause a large number of misundedrstanding throughout the story, sometime caomically and sometime less. At the beginning of the story Sarah has an affair with Gregory, a fastidious student of medicine, who seems to be more interested in her as a medical case than as a person, and her girlfriend. We will find him as a doctor in '96, a very precise doctor who run a clinic for sleep disordes who starts to hate sleep, because "the sleeper is helpless; powerless. Sleep puts even the strongest people at the mercy of the weakest and the most feeble". Then she knows Robert, who falls hopelessly in love with her, Robert seems to be one of the few to understand that she suffers from a real desease. At the beginning of the story he's studing modern languages, but then he change to psychiatry, probably to find a way to help her. He has is life totally changed by this woman. Terry is a student at Ashdown with Robert and Sarah, he sleeps almost 14 hours per day, then he will be one of Dr. Gregory patients because of his insomnia, he says that is his curse, always tired and never tired enough to sleep. As a student he was "plagued by dreams" and then he became a journalist obsessed by movies, a kind of dreaming without sleeping.

Sarah's symptoms cause a large number of misunderstandings throughout of the novel, but narcolepsy is also an excuse to talk about medicine and doctors. There is a comical conference with psychologists who try to sustain their own ideas even when everything demonstrate they are wrong. Doctors who consider research even more important than their patients' lives. Jonathan Coe is humorous but while you're laughing inevitably think about the context in wich the scenes takes place and some characters in the story are frightening when they have the chance to explain their own vision of life.

In the end is one of the best novel I have ever read, it is well-written, witty, never banal. Give it a chance!

In Padova

2009-09-30T14:17:00.003+02:00

I can't draw. And I don't like it. Even when I was a child, I hated the moment our teacher used to ask us to draw a picture. Because I can't do it.

But every time I pass by this little shop I can't avoid stopping in front of it, and I would like to enter it once. Now, I don't dare because I know that there is nothing for me inside, but stopping in front of the window I wish I could draw and paint, just to enter. I know that in a place like this probably there is an old shop assistant, one of those who perfectly knows everything about art. One of those who knows everything about Giotto, for example and can explain you how to make a perfect picture. Because in these old little shops, assistants are always like this, I'm sure!

This shop is in the very centre of Padova and it is one of my favourite place, because when I stop there to look at the window my mind can wander and imagine things, because like many old things is something rare and beautiful.
And still, I can't draw, and I don't like it.

6th August 1945

2009-08-06T11:10:00.002+02:00

Image from Wikipedia

There are mistakes we are not allowed to forget.

...wait and see...

2009-08-01T16:17:00.003+02:00

Sometime, all you need is a bit of calm, and just wait for the things to come...
but you feel that you should do something
looking around you see everything is stillness and silence
and breathing deeply you decide to wait and see.

Language education

2009-07-20T10:43:00.004+02:00

I live in the north-east of Italy, in Veneto, the Italian region were the local dialect is used the most, as I learnt from my latest exam. My family is a mix of different cities inside this very same region, my father’s family is from Rovigo (the city where I live), but my mother’s family is partly from a village near Venice and partly from a village near Treviso (I’ve already talked about where they live). Anyway part of my family live in Verona, and others live between Mantova and Ferrara… And they are only those with whom I am in contact.

At home we used to speak Italian, and that was the language that we, children, were supposed to learn, but of course when we get in contact with our granpas and granmas we used to hear other languages. In my father’s family a chair was a ‘carega’, but in my aunt’s house (near Ferrara) there were other objects, ‘scarana’ (chair-sedia), ‘granadel’ (broom-scopa), ‘bagaj’ (thing-coso/a). And different way to say things, another language…

I learned Dialect when I was grown-up, I used to spent much time with my granparents, the only language used at home was dialect; my sister didn’t like it, she insisted to speak Italian, and sometime reproached me for my talk. At school, no doubt, Italian was the only language allowed, and also with unknown adults. My granma worked as a tailor, there were many people at any time of day at her home, and I could appreciate moments in which (and clients to whom) she spoke a fine Italian, and others when dialect was possible.

Until high-school I’ve always used Italian at school, but then in a class where I was the only one coming from the city (if we can talk about city…) and all my mates coming from villages around Rovigo and Padua the language used among us was definitely dialect. I still remember a group of girls from another class saying “How rough, they speak dialect!”. That’s how it was considered.

Venetian dialect is the language of great writers and artists through different centuries, and part of this language became Italian in the long process called “questione della lingua” that started with Dante, went on with Manzoni, until the language that is now called Standard Italian. So, it is clear that it is not rough or anything, they were (and probably still are) a group of posh girls!

Now, I speak Italian the most, with some of my friends I speak dialect, at home I know that there are different dialects to use with different people, and there are still words that are unknown to me in some of my family languages. But dialect is a kind of code for me, I cannot recognize the code-switching moment, but when I use it I feel at home. I consider it much more expressive, because is the language in which I usually express feelings, bad feelings most of all. When I’m too nervous to control what I’m saying I don’t use a proper Italian….

If you ask me, I speak a very good Italian, I can speak a good English (or i hope so!), and I get angry in Dialect.

"occupation for an idle hour..."

2009-05-07T19:14:00.007+02:00

I need to do something with my hands today, I don't know if you ever have this feeling, of using your hand to do something, and the result is this.

The first try was definitely less succesful, but the second time I watch on them to be sure of the final result! The with a bit of creme ganache it was done!

Ready to be eaten tonight!

On facebook

2009-05-05T18:25:00.003+02:00

Photo from Flickr

As I wrote more than once, I've learned that modern technology can be really useful to learn a language (particularly English, of course), and I've discovered many different tools that I'm currently using (this blog of mine, for example), during last year course at Uni.

I can easily remember during a reflective lesson about Personal Leanguage Environment, a collegue of mine talking about social network, in particular she was referring to myspace, but then facebook was named too. I ignored what these things were, and I could not have an idea of how to use them. Then we spent some time to talk about it, and I could make some theory on these things, but they didn't sound so good to me.

Now, I'm one of the I-Don't-know-how-many people who have an account on it, and I'm much more familiar to social network, I know what it is and how it works, still, I cannot understand how I could use it to improve my language. As it is described in Facebook homepage, it helps you to connect and share with people of your life, and that's definitely true! Moreover there are people in my life, that I could not be in touch withouth something like facebook. A friend of mine lives in Chile, and even though I have his mail address, facebook is a much better tool to be in contact with him. But considering the short message I leave on other people's wall, and I usually write more to those people who are part of my life everyday, I really cannot catch the use of it as a language learning tool.

Anyway, it is a great fun, and I must confess that I spend even too much time with it!

My favourite sport

2009-04-22T09:19:00.006+02:00

...though I cannot practice it as much as I wish!
The first time I have ridden I was 3, I can barely remember it. My uncle has a horse, and since I was a child he tried to teach me how to ride.

There is something special in riding a horse, it is not only a matter of open air and wind in your hair, there is a relation between you and the animal, and first of all you need to understand how this relation works. And in the same way the horse need to understand you. So in the very first phase you need to understand how you can communicate and how he answers. You define a contact, explaining that you (are supposed to) control the situation, and then a great part of your energy is dedicated to understand his reactions.

The gratest thing is when you realize that you're no longer thinking about it and everything is going on. This thing of being in relation with nature in such a way makes it magic. I'm not sure I can render this idea... There is not only a way to move or to do things, it is something more complicated, and thus much more enjoyable.

I'm really lucky, because anytime I go and visit my uncle I cn ask him to let me ride, and I started when I was so young that even though I fall down, and I experienced some "dangerous moments" I've never given up.

2009-04-17T19:08:00.001+02:00

Little daisy bracelet for me!
Lucky me, I have children that bring me flowers sometimes, at least them!

Teaching English...

2009-03-31T20:52:00.003+02:00

Foto from Flickr

…is a serious matter! I’m not only a language learner, of course, I’m also a language teacher. I said ‘of course’ because when you start to study at University, people start to have a different consideration of your knowledge. You become somehow an “authority” and when they need help in your field, they come and ask.

But studying English at Uni you understand that rules work a bit differently from what your teachers used to tell you at liceo. And here starts your dissidio interiore. You want your students to be part of this truth that has been revealed to you. You want to tell them the whole story. For instance, you don’t want to tell them that ‘some’ is used in affirmative sentence, while any in negative and interrogative, but you can’t provide them an alternative rule… You don’t want to show them schemes for MODALITY where it is said that can translate the Italian ‘potere’ and HAVE TO is used when it is not possible to conjugate must and so on.

But if you try to do something like this your students will start to look suspiciously at you. No more rules in English? And what about all the things that have been said so far?! What about books written that way?! Those books that provide you few simple rules to use and understand English?! And you, as a teacher, give up and provide them those schemes and rules that make them feel safe (because that’s what their asking you).

Sometimes, you give them a different example, nevertheless, an exception that could convey to what you know is the4 whole story! Who knows, it could even create some… doubts…

How do you usually judge a book?

2009-03-14T09:57:00.003+01:00

I must confess I do judge books by the cover, if it somehow strikes me, I'll give it a chance. When I say cover I mean the title, or the colours of the cover, or...

The author. I usually give a second chance to someone who told me a beautiful story. (but no more than a second chance, when it disappointed me...).

Then I start to handle the book, and if it smells of love story, I'll give up. I read love stories, but not when that's the main point. Love ( and death and other few topics) occurs in everybody's lives, so you don't need to consider it the main point when you're telling a story. Have you ever read a story without finding love in it?!

So far the book is in my hands...I read something about the author (if I don't know him/her) and then I read the back, usually there is a summary of the story, or something like that (the italian "quarta di copertina"). And that's the final phase, the most critical, now there must be something that strikes me, that intrigues me...
And, of course there is a very final thing that I consider, but it is just a little thing: the price. Of course I don't give up because of money (sometimes I can look for another edition), but when I didn't work, and consequently I had no money of my own, I used to go to bookshop, decide what I wanted and then I went to the city library to take it. This system never failed, and if the book was good I used to buy it.

I've been disappointed very few times by this method that I could say it is almost scientific!
And you?! How do you usually judge a book?!

P.S.
The photo has very little to do with the post, but last time I went to London, instead of the city I visited Notting Hill and Portobello road... and of course I could not but snap a pic of the very famous travel book shop!!!

Ocean Sea

2009-02-24T14:41:00.012+01:00

Sabbia a perdita d'occhio, tra le ultime colline e il mare -il mare- nell'aria fredda di un pomeriggio quasi passato, e benedetto dal vento che sempre soffia da nord.
La spiaggia. E il mare.
[...]
The very beginning of Oceano mare, by Alessandro Baricco
(Sand as far as the eye can see, between the last hills, and the sea -the sea- in the cold air of an afternoon almost past, and blessed by the wind that always bow from the north. The beach. And the sea. translated by Alastair McEwen)

I would never dare to translate Alessandro Baricco. Never.
Because I love him, I adore him as an intellectual and as a novelist.
Ocean Sea is one of my favourite books, maybe my favourite book. I've read it many years ago, and I re-read it sometimes, when I need to read something beautiful.
Ocean Sea is a story, but it is also made of many different stories, one for each character, at least. Baricco's characters are always peculiar: children almost like angels, scientists involved in absurd researches, sailors that can tell marvellous stories without speaking, painters who use water instead of colours...

The story is set around a place called Locanda Almayer, the characters arrive here for different reason, but here they all find the sea, and that will complicate or finally solve their lives.
[...]
Questo è un posto che quasi non esiste. E se chiedi della locanda Almayer, la gente ti guarda sorpresa, e non sa.
[...]
Oceano mare, by Alessandro Baricco

When you read Baricco's stories, either this one, or any other, you must remember that nothing is there by chance, not even punctuation. The use of lay-out and punctuation is one of his main characteristic, in his novels you can find very long sentence (more than a page) and very short ones. The organization on the page tries to represent the scene he is describing, to emphasize words, and so it is a kind of description without the usual devices.
[...]
Spiaggia. E il mare.
Luce.
Il vento dal nord.
Il silenzio delle maree.
Giorni. Notti.
[...]

La prima cosa è il mio nome,

la prima cosa è il

mio nome, la seconda quegli occhi,

la prima cosa è il

mio nome, la seconda quegli occhi, la terza è un pensiero,la quarta la notte che viene,
[...]
Oceano mare, by Alessandro Baricco

The narrator plays an important role in Baricco's novel, it is a voice that follows all the stories and knows many things about the characters, s/he sometimes stops the narrations to tell external stories or to explain why they are behaving in a particular way. Humor is another great characteristic of Baricco's style, he underlines situations in order to make the reader smile.

Pensa rimugina e riflette e ragiona. Poi di scatto salta giù dal davanzale. Dalla parte della camera, s'intende. Bisognerebbe avere le ali per saltare giù dall'altra.
[...]
Rimane lì il bambino con gli occhi fissi sul mare. Ci resta per un po'. Poi guarda bene che intorno non ci sia nessuno e di scatto salta giù dal davanzale. Dalla parte della spaiggia, s'intende.
Oceano mare, by Alessandro Baricco

It is almost impossible to summarize the whole content of this novel, because there are many different stories composing one story, and if you listen to it "...you'll hear the voice of the Sea".

Here you can find a review, and probably a better description of what this novel deal with.

My own time...

2009-02-20T10:55:00.003+01:00

Time is becoming more and more important in my everyday life, and that's something new to me. I have always been very well organized, it is not lack of modesty, but attending 2 different schools I have learned how to organize my own time in order to do what I really want to do!

But in the last year I realized that there are things I need to give up in order to pursuit what is important for me now. Time at University is different, my spare time is shorter, or perhaps just different...

And I started to think about how I spend/waste my time, how I can control it, if I still control it, and I realized that there is something wrong if you can't control your time. When you don't decide by yourself how much you want to dedicate to things you love, or you need, you don't feel satisfied (I'm not saying happy, I don't dare!).

The most beautiful present I could receive now is a little bit of time to dedicate to myself... but I'm not sure I could accept it right now!

Sometimes....

2009-02-10T21:21:00.004+01:00

Sometimes you get up so early in the morning....

Sometimes you are ready to come back as soon as you get to University...

Sometimes you expect to hear that you have to be back for the exam the day after, and you are told that you'll be the last of that very day.

Sometimes you wait so long for your exam that you have no more hope, and you seriously think to run away...

Sometimes when you enter the door your expectations are so low...

Sometimes professors are not that bad, and somehow they try to help you...

Sometime you run to get the train and your heart is lighter...

Sometimes on the train you see a friend you haven't met for ages, and you deserve a fine talk....

Sometimes you come back home really late, but you are happy!

L'epifania tutte le feste si porta via

2009-01-05T19:10:00.002+01:00

Well, tomorrow Christmas is definitely over, as my granmother used to say. And so the template will change and I have no excuse for my studies, no more lunch and dinner to prepare, presents to buy, or people to visit. Back to routine, and to my worries for this coming exams...

But, a new year to fulfil my dreams and to find my way, remembering all I have reflected on during this Christmas time.

I hope I can find more time to post this new year, because I'm becoming a little lazy with my blog!

Those few who come intentionally here, keep an eye on me, please, I need your help as you well know!
Anybody "new" who come across this message in a bottle in the huge sea of the Web, leave a comment, it will be an encouragement to do always my best!

A merry Christmas

2008-12-26T15:55:00.003+01:00

My sister did her best to arrange the tree and Presepe! She did a good job indeed!

A merry Christmas, full of laugh, of people, children happy to receive so many and wonderful presents, friends smiling and joking, my family joint together, delcious food prepared with love, new traditions to carry on... That was my best Christmas present!

What about you? did you have a Merry Christmas?

Love and peace be in your heart in these days of Joy!

Buon Natale

Ashamed...

2008-12-20T12:48:00.004+01:00

I decided to study languages because I believe in communication: I think it is a great opportunity the ability of talking with people of different culture. I like the idea of meeting people with different tradition and to communicate with them.
I was very happy, last year, when I came in contact with these technological tools that could help you to learn a language, but also to get in touch with different cultures.
Last week I was talking with a friend of mine, a not-very-technological woman, and I was explaining her that all I have done for Christmas, so far, was finding a new template for my blog. She stared at me, and said: "You have a blog?!" and I felt a bit ashamed of saying "Yes, I have".

Of course, there is nothing to be ashamed of, but my attitude to this kind of thing is that. None of my friend know the URL of my blog, and I don't want them to know it. Not because of what I write here, but...

Probably is because of the way people think about this kind of tools, and about people who use them. I don't write much personal stuff here, and I don't use it as a personal diary, but I don't want to explain every time what is the difference in my use of this things... That's probably why...

A place called home

2008-12-06T13:36:00.015+01:00

How many places can you call home?

Well, of course there is my home, where i come back every evening, and where i'm not always happy to be back(travelling is much more fun). But there are other places that I can call home, and I realize it every time I go back there, and I can find my way there...

My Granma used to tell me that her house was our home, that we should consider it so, because whenever we need to be at home, we could go there, and so it was! Even now that she is no longer in this world and her house is something completely different, I consider it home.

One of the first time I went to my uncle on my own (after several years...) I went out for a walk in the country around there, and there I realized that I could perfectly recognize where I was and I didn't lost, I felt at home. It was ages since I last walk there, but even though I was alone I managed to find my way...

My mum's uncle live in a beautiful place near Treviso called Valdobbiadene, and they make a marvellous wine called Proseccoand Cartizze. I seldom go there, last time it was a couple of weeks ago... everything is the same. Only it seems to me a bit smaller! The huge room where we used to have lunch when I was a child is now so tiny. How could we run in such a small place?! And the kitchen where my mum's aunts used to prepare so much food (those lunch started at 12 and ended not before 4 p.m., children were allowed to leave the room before the end of lunch!). And again finding things the way I can remember them I felt at home

These are the things that make me feel at home, places where I can wander, people that loves me. Places where I can arrive and leave whenever I need, where even being away for so long, once I'm back everything is the same.

So, How many places can you call home?

Nice trip into science world!

2008-12-04T21:09:00.004+01:00

No photo this time!

Another meeting for bloggers, but without any evidence! I'm just back home (well, I had dinner before start writing!) from Pisa, where I met A.C. and qualcosa di bello, and her "baby"! We spent a beautiful day trying to understand something about scientific research. If You have any question ask qualcosadibello, she knows!

It is always a surprise that there are so many different ways to get in contact with people, and that just writing some random thoughts, you have the chance to meet such beautiful people.

I have no other words for tonight, (I had few words during the whole day!)...
but thank you!

Let it snow, let it snow...

2008-11-24T11:53:00.005+01:00

This morning I woke up early enough to bring my sister to the train station by car because it was raining and when I got back... it was snowing!! I live near a crowded street, full of cars, expecially in the morning, and today it is particularly silent...

"let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..."

Discover Dean Martin!

Surprise surprise...

2008-11-18T23:03:00.005+01:00

foto from Flickr

It is at least surprising with this great crisis, money crisis, University crisis, whatsoever crisis... that my University was able to buy three (not just one, but three!) new German vocabularies!

I'm almost moved... and pleased, because the former were impossible to use!
... I attend to the 2nd oldest University in the world, you know!

Out of my window...

2008-11-13T10:52:00.005+01:00

Image taken from here.

They go on saying that the world is changing, or better, is changed. The new President of United States of America, is the final sign of this change.

Before the election I was (most of all) curious to see whether Americans were brave enough to elect a President like Obama. Yes, you need courage to have such a President, for several reasons that I'm not going to investigate here. I'm happy that he's been elected, because, even though I'm not American (and proud to be Italian, despite Silvio...), I'm aware of the great influence of U.S. on the world. I'm happy because he seems to be a man able to do unpopular choices.

Since the day of his election I see people exulting there(in America) and here (in Italy). It is clear why Americans are happy about it, but it is not so clear to me why the Italians are so happy! I mean, we're governed by the same people as before, the only hope for us is... an invasion(remember Fascism?)! And what is more, we would have never elected such a candidate! And I'm not talking about the colour of his skin! I'm talking about those unpopular choices that we're not able to do... We want our leaders to be the image of what we would like to be, and not real persons who tell us what the real problems are.

So, keep on celebrating, but out of my windows it is still raining...

My head is so heavy...

2008-11-12T13:52:00.003+01:00

I'm cold! Again.
I'm realizing how important is breathing, seriously!I hate feeling like this...

Probably is due to cold, or probably not, but I fell like I can't focus things I have to do and things I need to do, I feel like I'm wasting my time, but I don't know... I'm doing many different things...

I don't think it is only due to my cold...
(I'm so concentrated on breathing, that even thinking is becoming difficult!!)