http://mentalmosaic.com/blog pick up your pieces; make something pretty... Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:27:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Let's see: Laundry swinging in the breeze Ancient statues Bright black shadows Palm trees Antennas and wires Heat (100+ degrees) Humidity (70 percent) Men in hot pink shirts Men in orange pants Crowded pedestrian streets Streets buzzing with mopeds and kamikaze drivers The smell of wood-fired pizza in the evening The smell of cornettos in the morning No trash in the main city despite ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/07/03/bright-shadows-and-laundry/ As you can see, I am still in the USA ... ... but Italy is not far from my mind! A lot's going on in my family, so it's been wonderful to be here, but I am homesick for Italy, the blogosphere, and most of all, Angelo. I look forward to catching ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/05/29/offline-in-the-usa/ snow! I'd hoped to post more before I took off for the states, but it's been a hectic week. I am, however, participating in a study to test the efficacy of a specific type of acupressure in alleviating jet lag. I'll let you know if it works for me or not! ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/04/19/when-i-land-in-seattle-tonight-there-may-be-some-of-this-on-the-ground/ these? http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/04/12/wouldnt-it-be-great-if-when-making-campaign-promises-politicians-had-to-wear-one-of/ In keeping with the unintentional Piazza Plebiscito theme of the last couple posts, I thought I'd share a few more photos of it. Up until 1992, this grand cobblestone expanse was nothing more than a parking lot. Now it's Naples' largest public square. A couple of days ago, Walter Veltroni, ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/04/11/another-slice-of-piazza-beast-meets-west-and-flashback-friday/ Here's another photo of Naples' largest square, the Piazza Plebiscito where Silvio Berlusconi will be speaking tonight. As you can see from this picture and the one I posted yesterday, the city of Naples is piled high with flaming garbage and even the pigeons are wearing gas masks. (They look ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/04/04/silvio-cylons-and-a-techy-gadget-thats-making-me-swoon/ As you can see from today's photo, the trash is piled ten feet high here in the city of Naples, Italy. What, you can't see it? But what about that report you saw on TV where garbage bags lined the streets, people were wearing masks and burning huge mounds of ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/04/03/why-i-want-an-elephant-at-my-wedding/ The Easter Bunny is unheard of here, but Italians don't skimp on the chocolate, as you can see in this photo. That's not a bunny on the left, but a white chocolate replica of an Italian stovetop espresso machine. The lid even opens, although the shopkeeper warned me, 'Only put cold ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/03/23/wacky-easter-traditions-murder-spanking-and-witches/ Physiotherapy. I just discovered this fun blog meme called 'Singular Saturday' created by Jenn over at her blog about life as an expat in Holland. She explains the idea behind Singular Saturday here. Basically, you set things up with your title and then post one word to tie it all together (like ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/03/22/the-only-doctor-prescribed-treatment-that-has-improved-angelos-quality-of-life-with-ms/ Another rag-tag marching band has been making its way through the narrow streets of Naples lately. They're not playing Burt Bacharach this time, but according to Angelo, 'It's the same melody every Easter.' Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that Easter is a bigger deal in the southern ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/03/21/good-flashback-friday/ It's the 'Festa di San Giuseppe' today, and I don't know much about it, except that it's basically the Italian version of Father's Day. This holiday snuck up on me like a zombie, I tell ya, so if you want to know more, check out Michelle's blog, Bleeding ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/03/19/dawn-of-the-dad/ I've noticed a certain type of TV commercial shown in Italy that I've never seen in the US: ads which depict handsome men cooking for their ladies. Check out this Voiello ad, for instance. Yummy, eh? Guys don't just cook over here, they also help clean up, as you can ... http://mentalmosaic.com/blog/2008/03/17/foxy-guys-cooking-nerdy-inside-jokes-with-the-universe/