long island for a year

No, if this is what you are asking yourself...I am not, but in a season of movies like "The Santa Clause" with Tim Allen - whom I love in Home Improvement , btw - and various versions of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" I also want to spread a word of joy. Did you know that Tim Allen was arrested for cocaine possession?And for drunk-driving? Word of joy, excuse me. Because we are somehow waiting and hoping for the Saviour, even if we are not personally oppressed. This gets me back on my trail: oppression, that is. And something I want to share with you, as lately I have seen a parody of Maya Angelou on SNL - very amusing indeed - and she happens to be one of my favorite poets. You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like ...

It's great to be in the States for Thanksgiving...although we're not really celebrating with traditional American food - well, we had a chance to do that on Tuesday, as the Lab where Ralph works had organized a feast for all "homeless" employees, i.e. people from abroad or far from their families. Today is Black Friday, the first shopping day after Thanksgiving and unofficial beginning of the Christmas season. Why, did the shopping ever had a break?Or were Christmas ornaments not in the stores before Thanksgiving? Mhhh...mysteries I would never really understand. Note that in Europe it wouldn't be much different: you might find Christmas items in September and then at the end of November you can start the celebration with the Advent Countdown. It all makes me feel like the Grinch. And not because I don't like Christmas! On the contrary: I like neon lights and the tree and those wonderful polish glass balls not to mention the presents and wrappings around pres...

Momotarō is the peach-boy of Japanese legends. These days I am making my own Momotarō story: whenever my daughter asks me "Are you my mom?", I answer "No, I just found you". Anyway, we found this pretty statue while walking in Okayama, the Vegas of western Japan, a city rising in the middle of nowhere but with one of the most beautiful gardens I've ever visited - the Korakuen. Yatsuhashi Bridge (八橋) から衣 きつゝなれにし つましあれば はるばるきぬる たびをしぞ思 Karagoromo / kitsutsu narenishi / tsuma shi areba / harubaru kinuru / tabi o shi zo omou I have a beloved wife / familiar as the skirt / of a well-worn robe / and so this distant journeying / fills my heart with grief from Ise Monogatari 伊勢物語

This is my ideal of Fall. Can you order that for me?

Guess I need to make a pause in my Japan's telling. Because since we're back many things happened: Carlotta had her fourth birthday, she got back to pre-school and the routine prevented my spleen from narrating more fun stories. Also, when we got back, our roommate told us he was going back to Italy. I will leave the details, because it's all very personal, but the main motivation was that his family needed him more than ever and to me this a good enough reason to take such decision. November is a quite depressing month. If you split from your partner in November you're more likely to be sad than if you'd do that in June...for example. They call it winter blues, in some exclusive circle. November is the month of the dead: I used to go to the cemetery with my parents and relatives to remember dead family-members. My father used to be very bored and hung his jacket on one of the wall-tombs - guess this is what you do when you're bored. After all the praying ...

Kiyomizudera is one of my favorite temples, because it combines an amazing architecture - I've told you I am a fan of such constructions, maybe I have been an architect in one of my previous lives...- and a spectacular view over Kyoto. Since it was rainy just before we got to the terrace of the temple, we got the next illumination with sun piercing the clouds - isn't it inspiring? ooohhhh....ehhhhh.....aaahhhhh (Japanese for a wesome) no single nail was used to build this temple

Nishiki Market stand From Teramachidori If you are a temple freak - like I was and still partly am - Kyoto is the place to be. The first time in Kyoto, nine years ago, I was desperately craving for illumination, so this time I decided to take it easy - it is part of that illumination to know that you don't enjoy temples while your kids are complaining and crying because they are tired or hungry - or just because to them torii - the gate in front of shinto shrines - all look alike and Buddha is only a fat man (I try to see through the eyes of a child, of course to me THERE ARE substantial differences!!!). Kobe is a convenient location for a day trip to Japan's ancient capital, so I took this opportunity and got on the local trains to reach Kyoto and stroll around, visit the Nishiki Market and, as part of the deal, walk through Teramachi Street ( 寺町通 , teramachidōri ) a shopping arcade surrounded by temples - or the other way round. Not long ago I had read about anko (red...