22 Years Ago

I am officially old enough to remember something that happened that long ago, which was the last time I saw my friend Scramasax77. That's not his real name, his parents didn't hate him.

Heaps of fun having lunch with him today!

And he points to this review of a good concert.

Duck Pond and Goose Puddle

So Swan Lake was, I have to admit, striking.

I am not the ballet fan - funny enough - in my house. Giuseppe rather has been wanting to see a ballet at the Royal Opera House for a while now, ever since we happened upon tickets to the Bolshoi in Moscow. It sparked an interest for him. I, on other hand, always said that if I was going to spend money on ROH tickets, it would be for opera (which I love).

But we have been to see a few operas there, and what with leaving London soon (and me having a slightly better understanding of ballet, now that I do it a little), I caved.

And who wouldn't after all: this was opening night of the ballet season, showing Swan Lake performed by the Mariinsky Theatre, who basically re-created Swan Lake as we know it.

The staging was beautiful, that I will say. Odette/Odile was quite sincerely un-imaginable: she looked like dancing perfection. My other favourite was Benno (I think - dressed as a joker?).

All truth be told, though: I would have shaved an hour off the whole thing.

Update:

Everybody to whom I mention Swan Lake has asked if Giuseppe managed to sit through the whole thing. It's interesting to me how people can know us so well, and yet social stereotypes maintain the ruling ground.

Tom Hanks, The Evangelist

I went to mass yesterday, and it turns out that to understand Jesus' message we can either read the New Testament or just watch the film Splash, with Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah.

That might bring comfort to some.

Ron Paul Makes Me Smile

I was watching this video of Ron Paul's moments in the 13th June debate, and feeling happy. Why? Several reasons but the main one being: I wasn't listening to a politician. I'm trying to picture Cameron, Miliband, and a flurry of others sounding like him and I just can't. These weren't sound-bites, and nothing was dumbed down. Straight answers, yes or no, and - dare we hope for it - an actual understanding of the economy.

I lied

See I had promised myself a weekend of intense work to decimate my to-do list. But something went wrong.

Although I did spend three hours trying to install Joomla! on to my computer... unsuccessfully... so that was a good waste of time.

Other than that there were pitchers of Pimms, rowing clubs, engagement celebrations, birthdays, new house celebrations, absinthe and all the best scenes from Top Gun. And I'm pretty sure all I had for dinner Friday was ice cream.

Being Happy - TED Talk

Great video:

Stefan Sagmeister: 7 rules for making more happiness

What on earth is going on?

It's 10 to 6 on a Friday evening: our website is down, everybody has disappeared and the only help I'm getting is from the one person who is actually on holiday.

People: Bex aint happy

Don't dress me up

Two weekends, two fancy dress parties. And I think I failed at both.

First was a birthday party with one, simple instruction: wear red. This was stated, repeated and underlined. Turns out I only have 1 red article of clothing, namely an extra large t-shirt with this on it:

So I wore this and jeans, and showed up to find everyone decked out like it was a yacht festival in Monaco: men in Italian suites, women in stilettos and mini-dresses... and nobody at all wearing red.

Yesterday's party had a Bond Villains theme to it. My original plan had been to wear beige and go as Mr. Bigglesworth. Those who know me can confirm: I kind of look like a shaved cat anyway. But, no beige clothes, and a phone call confirmed I could just wear a cocktail dress and be an anonymous Bond girl.

I went for shocking pink, showed up, and it turns out the instruction just might have been "just wear a BLACK cocktail dress".

Oops.

Again.

Liliana Borgioli Comucci, March 1921 - June 2011

My silence on this blog is due mainly to the somewhat sudden passing of my grandmother, or Nonna Liliana as I knew her. She had been ill but not for long, for which, all in all, I am thankful.

Nonna, non potrai piu' prepararmi la carnina come sai fare solo tu, ma ora mi sarai sempre vicina.

Ti abbraccio forte forte.