Saturday rocked! I think it was the first day ever where I managed not to speak a word of english…I said about 14 words all day…I spoke to about 4 people…Spent it mostly indoors, and watched 3 DVDs.
that’s not depressing at all 🙂 I need to get a dog so I can talk to someone…

I’ve gone through life hearing the phrase “a stitch in time saves nine”…I never knew what it meant, but I was listening to a podcast where a linguist was explaining the phrase about bad apples spoiling the bunch and he mentioned the “stitch in time…” phrase (without explaining what it meant). At that moment it occurred to me.
Those are weird, but cool moments…Do I feel like my life is going to change now? Not at all…am I a better person for knowing what it means…Not at all. Does it deserve an entry on this page…yes!!!
Have a looked up the phrase online to verify that meaning is the right one? No way!!! Better to be gloriously wrong in this case 😉

jokes about Irony just aren’t funny…

I was searching for some Townes Van Zandt on youtube and came across these shows…These are all great, but I really love this first one…

I guess it’s mothers day coming on…I only know this cuz of all the spam I get.
Below is this weekly learning italian mail I get…The author claims the Italians celebrate mothers day, but I don’t see any signs or anything…I’ll have to take their word for it 🙂
So for my mom…a couple days early I guess, but if I don’t do it now I might not remember 🙂

La festa della mamma

Mother’s Day

Every year as the dark, cold winter gave way to the bright rebirth of Spring, the ancient Romans paid tribute to their gods of fertility. One holiday, Matronalia, was dedicated to Juno, the queen of the gods, and children gave gifts to their mothers on this day.

Traditionally la festa della mamma in Italy fell on May 8. The current practice of celebrating Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May (la seconda domenica di maggio) started in 1957.

However, la mamma italiana is part of her family’s life every day of the year. Men may hold the highest political offices, but the person at the helm of the family—the strongest Italian institution—is Mamma. Grown men called mammoni (big mama’s boys) remain at home well into their thirties (and sometimes beyond). Mammismo (“momism”), some contend, stems from a son’s belief that nothing could ever compare with amore materno (motherly love).

Mothers inspired the most common—and versatile –expression in Italian: Mamma mia! You can translate it as “My God!”, “How great!”, “Oh no!”, “Incredible!” and hundreds of other ways—depending on context and inflection. A wide range of human emotions–from surprise to shock, delight to disbelief, joy to horror–can be conveyed in these two words.

To help children of all ages express their love for Mamma, Italian websites post “auguri” (best wishes) for la festa della mamma. Here are some exampes:

*”Le rose sono rosse, le viole sono blu, e tu sei la mamma migliore di quaggiù.” (Roses are red, violets are blue, and the best mamma down here is you.)

*”Mamma, sei la mia vita, sei come un raggio di sole che al mattino mi sveglia con felicità e come la dolce luce di una stella, che la sera accompagna il mio sonno.” (Mamma, you are my life. You are like a ray of sun that awakens me with happiness in the morning and like the sweet light of a star that accompanies my sleep in the evening.)

*”Mamma, sei la cosa più bella e dolce che la vita mi potesse donare. Ti voglio bene!” (Mamma, you are the most beautiful and sweetest thing that life could give me. I love you!)

Words and Expressions

“come mamma l’ha fatto” — literally as his mother made him: completely naked, in his birthday suit

casa madre — head office

scena madre — main scene, the most dramatic and revealing scene in a movie or play

cocco di mamma –mama’s boy, mammone

madre in affitto — surrogate mother

le gioie della maternità — the joys of motherhood

OK, so I was trying to remember some weird italian stuff after a friend threw out the word SOOV in conversation last night…

Daniele: “I’m not american…I don’t need a SOOV and a gigantic TV to improve my self esteem”…
Me: haha….what was the first thing you said?
Daniele: SOOV
Me: HUH?
Daniele: SOOV…you know…S-U-V…

so then today I remembered that someone said OOF-oh to me once and it was the same thing…U-F-O…it’s pronounced OOF-oh…
oh sorry…forgive my ignorance 😉

And then…today I heard “we were in a mall looking for levees”….huh?
Yeah that’s Levi’s jeans…levees 🙂

my other new favourite italian thing is when an english speaking waitress rings up my bill and then says something like “15€…is this OK?”…
Asking me if the bill is OK? Uh no…today I was a senior discount for no reason whatsoever and since I only ate 90% of my food I’m only going to pay for 90% of it…be sure you take the senior discount off of the 90% price…
Do I just assume this mean it’s ok to bargain at every situation? What are we in Iran or something????

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
–Jessica Dovey/Marty King

update 04.05.11 – I must admit I don’t quite understand the fuss…For me the word were apt, not who made the words…I saw one editorial slamming people for wanting the moral weight of MLK behind the statement.
I could see that being a valid thought/statement for some people, but not so much me…Martin McFly was more of a cultural touchstone for me than Marty King.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504943_162-20059425-10391715.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/out-of-osamas-death-a-fake-quotation-is-born/238220

Some pics from the week.