2009

I just bought my 2009 calendar... well one of the 2009 calendars. I tend to have more than one. It was featured in an email I got from Paper Source today. I instantly fell in love with the beautiful letterpressed designs. Seems a little early to be buying calendars for next year especially since time seems to go by so fast anyway there isn't much of a need to speed it up, but I couldn't wait until December. I might break a rule and glance at each image before next year but then save them after that for their specific month. Enjoy.

Apples

Some of you may know about my love (obsession) for apples, well, I just bit in to my first apple of the fall. And it was FABULOUS! I actually can't remember the last time I ate and apple which is about to upset me, but since they are in season again I won't worry about it too much. I don't know exactly where my love of apples came from.. it could have been picking them in the orchards in Michigan when I was little, the apple pies and apple butter that came afterwards, the sticky mess of caramel apples at the fair, the stories my grandfather told about being dropped off at college with a basket of apples to make friends, or my own stories of making friends because of apples. Most of all the flavor is probably what I love most but the memories of everything else makes them so much better. My favorite time to eat an apple would have to be on a cool crisp day with the warmth from the sun beaming down through the colorful fall leaves while walking down the sidewalk through the crunchy leaves that have already fallen. Perfect.

Website

It has been a while since I have actually 'done' something to post considering the blog is called 'what I do'. Anyway, I couldn't sleep last night (or apparently tonight either) and I made a new website. This one will do for the mean time since I am still waiting for the one from Italy to be completed. Hope you enjoy... (click the image to take you there)

p.s. tell your friends

I Hope This Will Do...

This I sent to my loving mother earlier today (she has also been upset that I haven't posted much lately so I hope this will do):

so I have arrived upon a conclusion. You are ignoring me. how you might ask have I decided this. Well I will let you know that it was through much thought and problem solving. Here we go...

When I was younger my mom told me that she knew everything...'I'm the mom I know all'

well if my mom knows everything then she knows I am trying to talk to her

if she isn't there to talk to me and knows that I am trying to talk to her and isn't doing much about it then the only conclusion available is that she is ignoring me

Photos Are Up!

I'm not too sure if anyone still reads this but I did put up a bunch of photos from the past few months.  Go to my flickr page to see them.  The link is to the left.

Roma

A few pictures I took while in one of the most wonderful cities I've ever been to.  I hope you enjoy them.  They haven't been edited b/c I've been busy learning Italian so you will have to forgive me for that.  I might write more later but for now you can just look.

A Little Book Review

As I was searching the shelves of a bookstore that I frequently go to for an Italian verb book I saw a small pocket sized book that listed that it would explain the Mafia. Oh my goodness... not the Mafia. Yes, the Mafia indeed. I have been a little interested in this organization (not in a scary I am going to become part of the team kind of way) since I saw 'The Godfather' the first time. Also the Italian history in the family made me kind of wish my that my Grandpa was part of it, however Erin and I realized that his name didn't fit so well and it just couldn't be. 'Mafia Explained to Tourists' by Augusto Cavadi, let me know upon reading the second sentence that 'The Godfather' is a :highly romanticized, fictional view of the phenomenon makes for excellent entertainment.: Apparently the real Mafia is more complex. Suddenly I was relieved that my grandfather had nothing to do with the Mafia. This 55 page pocket book does a brief overview of the Mafia and answers questions that I am sure we have all asked. Cavadi also lists a bibliography in case you are wanting to do more in depth reading on the topic. It was interesting to read that this 150 year old establishment will eventually end as all things human do. When??? thats what no one knows. But for now the streets of Palermo are probably safer than the streets of London, New York, or Madrid since it is less likely to be killed there (in Palermo) than in a terrorist attack elsewhere. Also good news since I have been wanting to visit Sicily for a few years now.