"I Wish I Knew How to Quit You" - Best Scene Ever

Open your eyes even more now...

Watch This with Open Eyes, Please...

It doesn't need commentary. You just OPEN YOUR EYES.

PS: Whoever made this video did a TERRIFIC job!

Brokeback Mountain

Before I came to the US, I thought of the US as if they were the “perfect land”. I thought here I was going to find freedom and tolerance and people able to understand others' needs. I had my first shock when I took a class on family and marriage (structure, social function of the family, etc.). In that course, I learned that only a few states in US recognize homosexual relationships as legal. I thought that Americans could understand "diversity"; I thought Americans were “civilized people” and as such they would accepted same-sex union. The course I mentioned and some harsh critique (for example, Christian critiques) of Brokeback Mountain were like a “breaking news” for me.

I do not think of Brokeback Mountain as a modern western, but I considere it a love story that never falls into sentimentalism. What the audience receives is the “hard fact” of the relationship between Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist. Such “hard fact” suggests how American society was back in the 60s. Here is when the movie becomes a lesson – “teach us something” – and mirrors today’s society. It creates a reality without which the love between two men wouldn’t exist.

Homosexuality is not a sin; it is not a deformity nor a shame. It can be love, friendship, passion. Watch Brokeback Mountain with open eyes and see what love may be....

The Quantitative English

Browsing the Net, I found that, in 2002, Robert Birnbaum interviewed John Dufresne . In this piece, the writer talks about his years in school and his origins. “My grandparents and most of my friends' grandparents came from somewhere else. Canada, Italy, somewhere else. They came here. They learned a language. The English language, for them, was information [...],” Dufresne says. Then he specifies what type of “information.” It is that his relatives – and most of other immigrants – used the foreign language to speak with a cashier at the Publix supermarket, or at Wal-Mart. Most immigrants speak a “quantitative” English. They know only so much to survive in the American jungle.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with a couple, friends of my husband. They lived in Chicago for thirty of forty years, they made (literally) a ton of money (but they worked very hard especially the husband). They were born in the little town where I was born. They came in the US when were very young, but after all these American years, not only their “accent” is still very strong, but when I spoke to them, I could read in their eyes, they were surprised to hear how I talk. Generally, immigrants, or at least the immigrants I know, those who came to the US to live and realize the American dream, those who, when arrived, believed could find money on the street: all they had to do was just scoop the money up, and instead ended up working 18 hours a day, don’t talk about literature. They talk even less about writing. To become a fiction writer (say it again…“Fiction writer”? What is it? A new dish? But is it served with mashed potato or with asparagus?) may be something awkward for them.

Defresne pinned down what English language may have been for most immigrants: a practical aid in their everyday life. Immigrants usually were people who filled their stomachs with hope, people who more than acting needed to react to their misery; people who traveled for weeks on a ship, who were packed like cotton balls in a two-ounce container, infested with fleas, forgotten in their countries; people who carried all they owned in a suitcase made of a cheap cardboard.

For these people, “English” may remain a mystery they will never discover.

Invitation for a Music Party: Playhouse Disney Show

It is a wet weather. 3:35 p.m. My daughter and I just arrived. We are listening to a young mail lady who says she needs to delivery some invitations for a music party. Here is dark, and it is hard to write.

First invitation delivered 3:30 p.m. The lady delivers the first invitation. Little Einsteins comes to the stage. They talk about music. To let the kids understanding what "music" is, they use a simple but familiar metaphor. They say that "music is like language and the notes are like words." They seem to imply that music is a language. It is a nice implication, either for kids or for adults. Because it is a language, people can learn music; because it is a language, music is communication between people. I would say that music is an universal language. It doesn't have boundaries; it doesn't have an "accent," and it doesn't record stories of immigration.

Second invitation delivered. 3:50 p.m. The audience gets excited when it saw Winnie the Pooh. He is the friend everybody wants to have. My daughter says she would like to have a friends like him. "It OK if he cannot stop eating honey!" she says. It is OK if he is a little overweight; eventually he will lose some pounds... Winnie the Pooh talks and the crowd... listens to him...

Sweet honey pot. 3:55 p.m. Pooh starts eating his honey!

Third invitation delivered. 3:55 p.m. Handy Manny arrives with his tools. Mr. Lopart, refusing Manny's help once again, says that the tools can make only noise. Manny defends them. He replies that it is not true. The tools can do much more than just "making noise". Manny seems to encourage his tools to believe in themselves and to be proud of what they are. Here I am grasping a message of self-esteem and faith. Again, the tools may be different from other tools and certainly they are different from humans, but diversity shouldn't be scary or frustrating. Both messages are a great not for kids and adults.

This is what music can do. 4:05 p.m. Mr. Lopart is dancing and singing like crazy! Music can soften also the heart of the most stubborn individual.

End of the first act. 4:05 p.m.

Two volunteers. 4:22 p.m. A little girl and a little boy volunteer to dance on the stage. The girl is dancing, the boy won't dance.

Little Einsteins are back from their trip. 4:25 p.m. They tell story of the places they visited. They perform "popular" music from China, Japan, Italy, and other countries. The message is clear: music like knowledge is fundamental in order to understand other cultures.

The moment we all were waiting for. 4:30 p.m. MICKEY MOUSE! Everybody seems happy to see Mickey. We all sing "misca, musca mickey mouse..." which are the magic words that allows us to call for the clubhouse.

The clubhouse appears. 4:35 p.m. And with it all the friends living in the house... They now need to find the right music for the party. They need to find the right harmony...





The light goes off. 4:40 p.m. No problem, Manny will repair it!

The big finale. 4:47 p.m. All the characters are on stage. All are happy. Mickey ends the show with a big message. Music is everywhere and it brings together all of us. If people can develop their ability to listen to music, they will be able to listen to each other too. It is a simple and direct note. A message that may craft one's soul, make the kids smile, and the adults think.

"Bye, bye, see you later." 4:50 p.m. Curtain down.

“You Break It, We Fix it”: Handy Manny

My daughter and I are having a little talk this morning. I should be prepared for Saturday show, she says. She talks about Handy Manny, the Disney version of “Go Diego Go.”

Handy Manny is a male character whom, as his name suggests, is a handy guy. He owns a workshop and animated tools that occasionally are lazy. Sometimes they ask Manny if it is the case for them to stay home, because “maybe Manny doesn’t really need them.” Manny, though, never leaves them behind.

Manny helps anyone and, according to Wikipedia, he was awarded the “Good Citizen Award.” He speaks Spanish and English, but he is an immigrant because, although he speaks good English, he has an “accent.”

Maybe he comes from Cuba, my daughter just guess.
Maybe, I say, it really doesn’t matter.

Manny knows personally the people living in Sheetrock Hills, the town where every story takes place. He knows how to do his job, but he is not presumptuous, not even when he speaks with Mr. Lopart who owns a candy store near Manny’s workshop. Mr. Lopart, a bald man, is a stubborn character who doesn’t want anyone to help him, and constantly refuses Manny’s hand (is it a “cute” pun or an involuntary alliteration?).

My daughter cannot give sense of Mr. Lopart’s behavior. Sometimes, she says, he seems jealous of Manny; sometimes, he seems just an obstinate old man. Maybe both of these apply to the character.

Handy Manny is a show that may teach tolerance and solidarity. In general, American cartoons aiming at understanding tolerance and acceptance of the “Other” (Spivak’s Other). In simple words and images, they teach how to behave in case they meet a person with an “accent” or a black kid, or an individual on a wheel chair. American cartoons, Disney and Nickelodeon animated series particular, somehow are like movies: they teach something. These cartoons are not only amusement, but they may lesson to modern society. How, for instance, people should take Mr. Lopart? He often gets in troubles because he refuses Manny’s assistance. Mr. Lopart is an anti-hero, is he not? He may resemble our elder neighbor who leaves unaided and becomes sully because of his loneliness and aging and he refuses any help from anyone in the neighborhood, does he not?

What do you thing Manny will repair on Saturday? my daughter asks.
It can be anything. Maybe a house in Iraq that has been destroyed by the American militia, I say.

What do you mean, mommy?
Let’s go have breakfast now, I say.

Playhouse Disney Live is Coming to Town

That’s true! Kids of all age be prepared: Mickey Mouse and pals will be at German Arena on March 22. My almost-three-year-old is packing her things…

Disney is an American hallmark that always fascinated me. When you go to the theme parks, don’t you feel you are the luckiest person in the world? Don’t you feel that Cinderella and pals are waiting for you (and only for you) to take you in a magical realm in spite of the horror that surrounds human life? When they parade, smiling and waving, don’t you feel they are smiling and waving at you? Don’t you want to burst into tears because of that joy? Don’t you want to live that magical world, and wear Cinderella’s shoes, and buy tons of other shoes – at least virtually – for all the kids in the world who don’t even know what Disney is? Don’t you think of those kids also? Don’t you feel guilty because you have what some children cannot even dream about? Don’t you wish your dreams – sooner or later – would come true?

“Come on, mommy, I don’t want to be late,” my daughter says. I follow her. I armed with my cameras. My daugheter stops. She takes my hand. She throws beams of life. I tune my heart. I am ready to go…

Italian Food vs. Real Italian Food

I am amazed at what people in Cape Coral and Fort Myers may call Italian food. Aside from a couple of restaurants (Carrabas and maybe Maccaroni, for instance), here where I live, there’s not such a thing like Italian food. Whatever is called Italian is not even a pale replica of what one may eat in Italy.

In Italy, food is cooked in many different ways. There are many types of salami, cheeses, wines, meat, fishes, pizzas, and desserts. Just to give an example, in Italy, I never heard of spaghetti and meatballs. Italians don’t use to eat everything in only one plate. So they rarely, unless pasta alla Bolognese – with ground beef in tomato sauce – is at a play, eat pasta and meat all in once. Italians don’t eat salad as appetizer or in between appetizer and meal. They eat salad at the end of the meal or with the second dish (in this case it called contorno). They eat in this order (at least when they are in a restaurant):

1. Antipasto
2. Primo (usually pasta)
3. Secondo (usually meat – beef or pork, rarely chicken – or fish) + contorno (salad, potatoes, rarely it is mashed potatoes)
4. Frutta (frutta)

5. Dolce (any dessert, but I would easily pick a cannolo siciliano or a piece of crostata)
6. Caffe (espresso only)

Antipasto and secondo are usually eaten with bread. Sometimes pasta is eaten with bread too(soccer players do it all the time because they need many carbohydrates).

The Italian food I know in Florida is americanizzato. My family is “starved” because it cannot find good Italian food not even if it exchanges pure gold for Italian groceries! Vegetables and fruits, especially in southern Florida, have a different taste because of the climate. Sometimes, it has not taste at all.

Trust me, there’s not such a thing like Italian food around here!

Tell Me How You Eat, I Tell You Who You Are

The first time I ate at an American restaurant was also the first day I landed on the American shores. In a twilight glow, the American people who were with me decided to dine at a nice restaurant on the river. Here, I had my first shock: after less than five minutes, the waiter brought us the menus. Interesting enough, I gave the word “quick” an optimistic meaning.

I could not read the menu because I didn’t know any English, and I was too tired to let my hosts translate the list for me. I ordered something I would enjoyed for sure: fish. Here I had my second shock: the food arrived on our table in ten or fifteen minutes. Uhmm, how in the kitchen did the chefs know I was starving? Was that a special care for a brand new immigrant?

With time, I understood that it was not a special treatment. The way American people eat at restaurants was another “American style”. Even when they are not in a hurry, Americans are always in run: they want to seat quickly, to be served carefully and fast, and to leave the restaurant as rapidly as possible. In Italy, the servers are neither quick nor full of care for their clients (perhaps because their customers do not leave them any tip). Consumers may spend an entire evening eating at a restaurant, enjoying their tasty food and their company, drinking a casareccio glass of wine.

Americans do not have time. At morning they bring their children to the day care, then they run to work. At night they come home exhausted. Their children are tired too. The entire family is hungry. Let’s go eat outside then… lo a glance at their checking account does not allow any extra expense! No all is lost: a handy credit card will solve the problem, but when a new bank statement nocks at their door, they realize they spent too much. Now they activate the machine: they will seek another job or a double shift to pay for their invoices. At night, they will be more exhausted, they will not have time to cook, they again will eat outside, and their credit cards will soar, again. It is an unchangeable spin. Working may be one of the main reasons Americans do not have enough time.

It took me almost five years to realize that my first dinner in America wasn’t a special welcome and that it wasn’t a special welcome at any other restaurant where I ate throughout these years. My first dinner was only another picture of the American style.

Americans try to get rid of everything as promptly as they can. This is true when they go to a restaurant, a concert, a circus show, a grocery store, a pizza shop and a bagel place, a wedding and a birthday. This is true for their holiday dinners and for their daily suppers.

The word “quick” became a synonym for discontent.

Women’s Day or Festa della Donna (in Italy)

In Italy today is the festa della donna’s day. It is one of the sweetest memories of my childhood and early womanhood. Supposedly, March 8 is a day where women receive from their men (fathers, spouses, brothers, and friends) a special gift, a "bunch" of mimosa, a tree that happens to flourish around this period of the year. The Festa della Donna is a special day to remember the struggles, past and present, women underwent and undergo throughout their history.

Aside from the romantic edge of the day, I would advise women to think of March 8 as a day about reflection on the roles they have in their society and how they can shape their world (please forget about the Hillary Clinton’s saga; do not take it like a model!).

However, there is also a vulgar side of March 8: eating and drinking at a local restaurant, and watching male strippers who perform for into-heat women. These deeds, for say, are not wrong, but they are wrong on March 8. Do women really need to get drunk the day where they are celebrated for their courage and intelligence? Do women really need to see men showing their pseudoinflated penis under their nose in a day in which females celebrate their freedom from the males’ subjection? The attachment to the phallic scenario some women demonstrate during this day is more a regression to a primitive status of their unnatural condition than a progression of their autonomy.

March 8 should be something more than touching a well-shaped arse of a young and hot man. It should be a day for women to engage themselves in a serious critical thinking. Generally, women are proud of their independence and the possibility they earned to decide on their lives. Is it not looking at a male’s muscles a fair way for women to sing their freedom.

I never went to watch a stripper, and I never got drunk that night, but I saved the mimosa my grandfather every year bought for me. I saved here, in my heart, the memories… I can still see my grandpa, my man, carrying a bunch of mimosa under his arm. He used to tell me, “one day you will be a good woman!” Then he handed me the bunch of flowers.

I don’t know if I became a “good woman”, but whatever he is now… grandpa’ (nonno, an Italian noun dear, dear to me), thank you for all the flowers and for having always believed in me!

Life Experience Shapes One’s Critical Thinking

I bet everybody thought at least once in his or her lifetime what would happen if he or she had taken another course, made another choice. After five years I am in America, many times – not only once! – I asked myself what would be if I did not leave Italy.

People like to think of their future more than they like to think of their past. Inasmuch as the future they can still shape their lives, make a different turn, but the past, as the word suggests, is passed. Is it utterly true? Humans live in their present as if it is the result of their past. Is it not? “Experience” intended as “length of participation” –partaking in life, in this case – suggests a sense of past, of something that is not anymore. Once again, the language helps understanding a nuance of a truth humans strive to comprehend: why humans are who/what they are? Because of that life experience, because of their past thus, they shape their critical thinking, how they are related to the world, what they are and what they will be.

It is because of that experience that one may have a read of a text and another person may have a different read. It is because of that experience that philosopher cannot give any “truth” at all, but may only teach an illusionary way to reach it. What is handsome for one is not the same for another. What one knows about reality is the addition of a rather collective experience. One’s singular experience is a little section of the whole.

People’s brains and behaviors are shaped by those same people’s life experience.

The life-experience package includes one’s culture and origin. To give an example, the value an American may give to the symbol of the American flag is different from the importance another may give – either in respect of the American culture or in respect of the one’s own culture – to the same object. Culture shapes life experience that shape one’s critical thinking. It is a chain, the chain of understanding and being that binds humankind together and, at the same time, creates their diversity.

Poetry Under the Rain: William Blake

It's raining tonight.

Light, fine rain that apparently does not wet the earth, though it soaks the soil after a few minutes.

It's raining.

It is almost invisible; I can scarcely feel it on my bare skin.

Under the rain, William Blake takes my heart. “I have something I want you to read,” he says.

I read Auguries of Innocence.

Sweet like wine are a few lines before I fall asleep.

Sometimes I seek poetry, and

sometimes poetry seeks me.

It is an exchange of human fluids, and

human needs.

Now

I am in peace and I can rest…

Prepositions: A Video for Everybody

It may be a little boring, but this video is cute!

Prepositions Reveal Meaning

Prepositions relate nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other parts of a sentence; they create relationships among these pieces. I like to think of a sentence as if it is a pearl necklace. In this light, prepositions are in a sentence like the string that helps the necklace to shape and straighten; they help the sentence to shape its meaning. Let’s consider these two sentences:

1. Sara talks to Giacomo
2. Sara talks with Giacomo

In the first sentence, the preposition to suggests that Sara is the active talker, while Giacomo is rather a listener more than a speaker. The action of talking goes from Sara to Giacomo. In the second sentence instead, the preposition with suggests that Giacomo is also a talker, a speaker and not just a listener. In other words, in the second sentence Giacomo may participate in the action (talking).

Language reveals itself. Writers do not create language, but language forms writers. That Sara talks to Giacomo bears its own meaning apart from the meaning the writer wanted to convey.