RAPE pt.II

This picture was posted in an online article/blog in response to the ad depicting a woman crucified (below) and how it is offending 'christian traditions in Italy' - amazing.

How ads of the Dolce & Gabbana nature can be considered 'tasteful' and 'artsy' and yet can be of this nature is beyond me.

And how an ad as the one below can be considered 'offensive' is repulsive.

when life just seems to be picking up...

What shit.

1) Apartment of my dreams is most likely not possible. Still in the works, but financially probably no.

2) Paychecks come monthly here. My job informed us because of the financial crisis they can't pay our November or December paychecks until sometime in 2009.

Are you fucking kidding me?

I guess I will have to start starving myself...

holy shit...

I hit a facebook GOLDMINE today...

favourite moments...

... taking the 6 via Novelli packed like sardines to the point where none of the three doors can even open, my feet trampled on, and six people hugging me because they can't reach anything else to hold onto at 7 in the morning and taking more than an hour to get to the center.

Crossing via Cavour 30 seconds later seeing another 6 via Novelli pulling up and dropping off - COMPLETELY EMPTY.

I officially hate my life.

incest.

A friend came to me yesterday to inform me to stay mum about a situation during an upcoming family visit. They told me that the coupling their sister was in wasn't exactly common or seen as kosher. Their sister, as it seems, is in an intimate relationship with their uncle. Now, their mother had my friend's sister before her mother had her son, making the sister a few years older than the son and the two grew up more along the lines of brother and sister than uncle and niece.

Still. I have known these two for quite some time now, as well as many people around me and nobody has ever been aware of this. And because I have known this couple for quite some time now, I find it hard to be judgemental about their choice of lifestyle.

How can I judge two people that I have grown to respect and love? Two incredibly intelligent, successful, respectful individuals. They are completely in love. They have been together 15 years, and my friend has only known about it for a few.

I looked up 'incest' on Wikipedia this morning (a great way to pass my long days at work), and apparently incest is a lot more common than I previously thought. Although recognized as a sin by most religions and illegal in some countries, there are not really any laws against it in most countried because it is protected highly by 'privacy laws'. Apart from being greatly taboo.

How important and justifiable are our general feelings against incest? I have never met someone who didn't have a problem with it, and yet with my newly acquired information my feelings on the whole thing seem to be quite altered. Who are we to specify and create rules about the person we're allowed to fall in love with? I really have no other feelings against it apart from the taboos that have been put in my head that it is 'sick.' But is it really that 'sick'?

These two have moved away from their homes to be together. They have left their family so that they could have a life together without having to be judged. They have made a life for themselves as a 'normal' couple. And yet, when Christmas time comes around, when family gatherings are called, they resume the titles of 'niece' and 'uncle.'

The pain and trouble they must face is what I worry about. Not that what they are doing is wrong.

I remain completely stunned.

always a tourist at heart

The 6 via Novelli drives over one of the bridges to the left of the Ponte Vecchio. I pass this beautiful sight every morning and I still can't get over the sight of this covered bridge which used to be a home to gold traders and the likes during the Renaissance. The sun rises just above it as I'm passing. The Arno glitters from the light, and doesn't seem the polluted, brown water it really is.

The 6 dips lightly into the center and proceeds to pass the Duomo on via Cavour. Although it will always remain an eye sore to me, this church is amazing and that is really the only way to explain it. Pictures of it never do it justice because you can't get a photo of the entire thing it's that enormous. In the basement there are the foundations of a much smaller church that was knocked down by the Medici family to build the Duomo. The foundations, to me, are the most beautiful part of the church.

I will never grow out of being constantly amazed by Florence's beauty. I've strolled past these buildings, and many many more, and will always be amazed by them.

But just sometimes I need these things to force myself to breath easy.

My coffee lady...

My coffee lady doesn't make the best cappuccini in town. But she sure does have the best sfoglie for breakfast. My coffee lady works alone in a tiny bar in Piazza San Marco, that doesn't have anywhere to sit, just standing room at the bar.

My coffee lady likes to rant about the other customers to me. My coffee lady is quite the gal.

rain, sun, rain, sun - oh no I've gone cross eyed...

So we're finally moving. Across the hallway. Of the same apartment. Literally.

Strange, but the room is a whole lot bigger, and the price isn't so we figured it was a good plan. I like living with Walterino.

The little one started eating the bigger one to the point that she has scratches and bite marks on her stomach... I really just don't know what to do about it. The bigger one doesn't do anything, she doesn't yelp or growl or tell the baby to stop. Hmmm... I am open to suggestions and advice please!!!

This weekend, Alessandro, Giovanni both from Sicily came to visit and stay with us. What a weekend. I am never drinking again. Went out in the centre for the first time in ages, and realized how much I really didn't miss it. Drunk Americans puking on each street corner just doesn't really do it for me anymore, not to mention how it ever could have.

I'm tired.

But I'm brilliant and fixed my computer and it is free of remaining bits of software so that the itunes update was able to do its thing!