Ciao, gentle reader. My site may look a bit schizophrenic for the next few days as I try out different layouts, plugins, tweak the code, and then debug; so bear with me! I’m still around, and will be posting, but thought I’d warn y’all.

Angelo and I have been working on our elf esteem lately. You can see the animated results here. ;P

Ciao for now and ho, ho, ho (or ha, ha, ha if you’re an Australian Santa, or are easily offended).

Despite the fact that his desk is roughly eight feet away from me, Angelo often sends sweet little emails while I work. We both use gmail, so there are ads along the sides of the messages that are supposed to relate to the content. For example, if I mention shoes in my email, there might be ads for shoes accompanying that message.

The other day Angelo sent a cute email, and as I was coming up with a reply, I noticed an ad along the side for something called GIANT Microbes Plush Toys. The ad had absolutely nothing to do with our exchange, which, ironically enough, is why I had to check it out.

Turns out there’s a company that makes stuffed toy versions of everything from the common cold virus to toxic mold. Talk about a niche market. Then again, one of these cuddly pals could make the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for person on your list.

Angelo has been taking Rebif for two weeks now. It’s too early to know if it’s helping; this stage is all about his body adjusting to the drug. While the jury is still out, the results can be classified as a very cautious: so far, so good. Read more »

I-have discovered a new oxymoron: Italian customer service. This applies, at least, to our internet provider. Our connectivity in Naples has never been great, but for the past month or so, it has been completely unreliable.

Angelo has called the company dozens of times, but he rarely gets a human. When he does, they say they’ll transfer his call, but he’s learned that this is merely a euphemism for hanging up on him. Read more »

I sometimes feel like I’m living an inverse “My Fair Lady,” with Angelo as Henry Higgins’ evil twin, because instead of making me more refined, Angelo delights in teaching me insulting phrases in the Neapolitan dialect.

He even has a reason for this. Read more »

We’re heading to San Marco di Castellabate today, which is a couple hours south of us here in Naples. We’re taking the fancy camera, so you can expect some image-laden posts when we return.