Monday, November 02, 2009







It felt so good to be home, see my Mum, walk around...and I got my little Canadian flag so I can march around at home in Italy.
Enrico and I have paraded around the house twice already...he just needs to improve his OH Canada anthem.

MUM,
Dr. Asher will not approve of these stitches...sorry, but you have to show him.
Love
Kate

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

It's like that sometimes. Without warning, you run into someone and find yourself so pleasantly surprised by a heart communicating directly with your heart...just when your heart was quietly saying...hey owner what about me? I need a little attention.
Josephine. you're marvelous.

Thursday, September 24, 2009







A few pictures from our trip to Sardegna.

I managed to pass two more exams, with only a month to prepare, in order to renew my visa for Italy....
the marks are out of 30.
I am pleased.
Hey Joy and Alberto,

Remember when our Dove chocolates used to tell us what to do with our days/months/lives (they had the little saying on the bottom of the wrapper)??!!!

NOW MY TEA BISCOTTI WRAPPERS ARE TELLING ME THINGS!!!! But I must admit, they are pleasant things...on the contrary to the Dove wrappers which would sometimes say "TAKE A BUBBLE BATH TODAY"...screw you Dove...I don't feel like a bubble bath! jk.

So, today my biscotti wrapper said:

Ricordi la magia di quel giorno
accaduto per caso,
perfetto come la nostalgia
che ancora ne provo.


loosely translated with my excellent knowledge of Italian, hahaha:

Remember the magic of that day
which happened by chance,
perfect as its nostalgia
which I still feel.


Let's see what the next wrapper says...

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Ok, I'm not going to lie, I'm very interested in knowing more about Michael Ignatieff. I need to know more...yes, he's been out of the country for a considerable amount of time, but the gain from that time abroad has my eyes and ears open to learn more about the leader of the Liberal party...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/we-can-do-better-liberals-declare/article1273297/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ignatieff


"In The Rights Revolution, Ignatieff identifies three aspects of Canada's approach to human rights that give the country its distinctive culture: 1) On moral issues, Canadian law is secular and liberal, approximating European standards more closely than American ones; 2) Canadian political culture is socially democratic, and Canadians take it for granted that citizens have the right to free health care and public assistance; 3) Canadians place a particular emphasis on group rights, expressed in Quebec's language laws and in treaty agreements that recognize collective aboriginal rights. "Apart from New Zealand, no other country has given such recognition to the idea of group rights," he writes.[21]

Ignatieff states that despite its admirable commitment to equality and group rights, Canadian society still places an unjust burden on women and gays and lesbians, and he says it is still difficult for newcomers of non-British or French descent to form an enduring sense of citizenship. Ignatieff attributes this to the "patch-work quilt of distinctive societies," emphasizing that civic bonds will only be easier when the understanding of Canada as a multinational community is more widely shared."

Friday, August 28, 2009







Sicily.
Finally. Ten years of waiting.
The cities:
Palermo: dark streets, kind people (our friend Samuele showed us around...A plus for Samuele...and by the way, the corpse is from the Cappuccini catacombs...a little morbid but very interesting), fried foods, a cultural vucciria (confusion...in a good way)...I absolutely loved this city and its chaos.
Agrigento: Beautiful ruins, home of Pirandello, gorgeous alabaster sea steps, and a very nice bed and breakfast called "Arco Ubriaco".
Catania: Culture, history and a touch of Granada, Nicaragua at lunch time when there is no one out on the streets...
Taormina: a wild, little cliff-top town...full of designer stores and precious side streets...packed with people...so much to look at all the time that it was mildly overwhelming.
I love love love Sicily.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

A bit slow, perhaps un poco melancolica...pero me gusta mucho el sonido...

http://www.musicroom.it/articolo/neffa-testo-di-lontano-dal-tuo-sole/6757/

Lontano dal tuo sole
di Neffa

Sono pronto per rialzarmi ancora,
e il momento che aspettavo è ora
nonostante questo cielo sembri chiuso su di me
nessuno mi vede
nessuno mi sente,
ma non per questo io non rido più.
Io son qui in un mondo che ormai
gira intorno a vuoto
lontano dal tuo sole
e piove, ma io qualche cosa farò
per sentire ancora
tutto il calore che ora non ho
e avere un po’ di pace che ora non ho
e luce nei miei occhi che ora non ho
una direzione giusta che ora non ho
…che ora non ho

Sulla strada
troppe stelle spente
la tua mano ora servirebbe
troppa gente alza il dito
e poi lo punta su di me.
Nessuno mi crede, davvero innocente,
ma non per questo io non vivo più.
Io sono qui in un mondo che ormai
gira intorno a vuoto
lontano dal tuo sole,
e piove mai io qualche cosa farò
per sentire ancora
tutto il calore che ora non ho
e avere un po’ di pace
che ora non ho
e luce nei miei occhi
che ora non ho
una direzione giusta
che ora non ho
E avere un po’ di pace
che ora non ho
e luce nei miei occhi
che ora non ho
una direzione giusta
che ora non ho

Saturday, August 08, 2009

I've got a friend.
I met her at the lunch table my first day of University.
I was that annoying girl asking her seven thousand questions. Lucky for me, she didn't mind and we started a friendship that I'm pretty sure will last longer than our teeth will hold out.

She's something quite extraordinary...everybody says that about their friends, but I mean it. Some of the most interesting and memorable conversations I've ever had have been with her.
I'm not going to lie that I would love to pull up a chair with Kafka and chat for hours, but it would be a thousand times better if my friend were also there to teach Kafka a thing or two. Surely they'd become friends.
Just about the only thing she isn't good at is putting up curtains...although she is a fiiiiiine Macgyver with duct tape.

Her Dad passed away on Sunday.
I never had the opportunity to meet him due to distance and lack of funds...
but I know a fair amount about him, and I also know how much my friend cared, respected and loved her Dad.
She read me his eulogy yesterday. I could perfectly imagine him through her words. Exactly the same individual she had been telling me about for the past 9 years.
This woman is solid, but her father was her rock.

I remember calling her once a few years ago, worried because I hadn't been able to reach her for 2 or 3 days...she said, oh, I had a minor operation at the hospital. WHAT? I said. Yeah, no worries. she responded. HOW DID YOU GET HOME??? I drove, she told me, non-chalant her tone. YOU ARE A MANIAC.
That's her.
Spitting image of her father, I believe.
She once told me she was thinking about quitting her phD and becoming a DJ...and she could do it, but, she would hold out and complete her studies, make her Dad proud since he had impressed upon her the importance that her education would have.

I'm worried about you.
I've never seen you in a situation that you couldn't handle.
I didn't want to be the one on the telephone hearing you say, I don't know what I'm going to do.
If you don't know, who the hell else can know...you are the only one I know who seems to make sense out of everything and anything.
So, I think this is the one moment.
I hope you heard me.
What I said to you.

This is your time. You get to have all the support around you. You don't have to worry about helping anyone else right now...you get to grieve the loss of your father for as long as you need. You don't have to answer to anyone.
I hope you reflect and think about that life that has been an important part of your own. Think about your Dad, and think about yourself.
And when in doubt, flustered, surrounded by the buzz of useless chatter...hit a pub and have a guiness, cheers your Dad and breathe...look at the sea and relax...go to where you feel best.

when you're ready, think about that home that you associate with your Dad, and think...is that home tied to a physical location...will maintaining that physical location mean the maintenance of a place of solace or is it just the site of memories that are better preserved in your mind.

Nobody is going to pressure you into anything because you aren't going to let them.

I heard the same person on the phone yesterday as the person I met 9 years ago...a few more titles added after the name, but the same person.
I don't think you really need it, but I sure wish I could be there to stand with you.