September 2020 - Page 2 of 3 - Keep Calm and Drink Coffee

LOST MAIL

Sep 17, 2020 | ITALY, TROUBLES AND BLOWS

5 million fine to Poste Italiane.
te the Guarantor Authority for Competition and the Market verbatim:
This is the maximum amount allowed by law, but it is not deterrent in relation to the specific turnover of Poste Italiane in 2019 of € 3.492 billion. For the Authority, Poste’s behavior causes damage not only to consumers, but also to the country’s justice system.

So anyway a trifle for them.
And only the damage related to the registered letters is taken into consideration, when instead in general the rest of the services do not work …

At the beginning of the year we had a lot of problems, as well as real economic damage, due to the fact that the correspondence for the month of December was not delivered to us.

It may happen that a letter is lost, but all of them!

And these envelopes are still not received today … I imagine them lying in some office stacked waiting to end their days among the paper to be recycled, at best.

Trying to contact customer service is a titanic undertaking, of course now on the sites it is practically impossible, and the email addresses are better hidden than the Holy Grail, in any case I managed to send a complaint with precise data and references.

The answer came to me a long time later as a sheet of paper in the mailbox and was: “it was not us who took care of the delivery of your correspondence but others.”

So what?
And so to put it in simple terms, we can safely put it in the pipe and smoke it, or alternatively hit the pike, at our choice.

So you will forgive me if I don’t feel particularly distressed by this sanction.

I wonder if these rare occasions, which fall like rain in the desert, can really be enough to restore confidence in justice, and to ensure that users do not feel completely abandoned to their fate.

100 DAYS STILL CHRISTMAS

Sep 16, 2020 | BOOKS, WOMEN

Tell me that you too are part of those who love and await Christmas with the same enthusiasm as children!

I admit that every Christmas the spirit is put to the test more and more harshly, but magic always finds a way to fulfill itself and give the spell, albeit in different forms.

I also like to live the wait, to think about when I will remove the decorations from the historical boxes that keep them, to free them and the most suggestive atmosphere of the year ever.

Do you make preparations in advance?
Today there are 100 days to Christmas that seem a lot but they are few and I found myself dreaming to think back to the best moments.

What does Christmas represent for you?
The tree, the lights, the gifts …
What kind of gifts do you prefer?

Obviously, for those who love reading, long moments in the bookshop between classics and novelties are on the horizon, immersed in the indecision between inviting covers and important advice.

For example, I always have lists of back issues and long annotations such as The Count of Monte Cristo.
But maybe you are among those who have already framed everything very clearly.

In any case will you allow me an additional idea?
It is a real “signal” mine: SegnaLì

They are not just bookmarks.
They are not just notebooks.
They are the result of a thought dedicated to reading, they are the fruit of the love for books expressed in gestures taken care of down to the smallest detail by artisan hands that take care of the realization with carefully selected materials, and who carry out every single gesture with passion up to customized packaging, as a last courtesy before the delivery step.

I had a particularly special gift: Mariposas.
And from now on I will no longer be able to think of a butterfly without associating the thought with the creator and without trying to imagine Campidanoshire as Gabriella likes to define her land.

But did I already mention that there are 100 days to Christmas !?

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Sep 13, 2020 | ITALY

Fa’ la punta alla matita
corri a scrivere la tua vita.
Scrivi parole diritte e chiare:
Amore, lottare, lavorare.

Point the pencil
run to write your life.
Write words straight and clear:
Love, fight, work.

Gianni Rodari is always very topical in my opinion, but probably not even he would have imagined a time when the pencil, like all the rest of the material, would have taken second place compared to the bags that will contain them.

Each of us keeps the memory of the first day of school, how was yours? What is the first image that comes to mind?

Mine is distant in time and belongs to a time when notebooks were small, and only two: one lined and one checked, and for a moment I felt lost in the midst of children I did not know.
If I close my eyes I still smell the scent of the offellas that my mother had wrapped for a snack, making me a surprise.

In middle school, on the other hand, I felt great closing the books of the first day with those elastic bands with the clasp in front and going towards a new adventure.

At my high school debut I was alone again among unfamiliar faces, but that was the important day I met the one who would become a Great Friend for life.

But tomorrow?
What day will tomorrow be?
Paraphrasing Rodari: what kind of life can children write who tomorrow will face their first day of school with the long list of rules to respect and things not to do in hand?

Will we be able to make sure that our children can write as a “clear word Love” before FIGHT and WORK?

For once adults will be able to set the right example, will they be able to learn from mistakes, will they be able to use progress, knowledge, and above all experience, for a first day towards a better society, seriously, at least this time?

I would like it so much, and you?

ACADEMY AWARD OF MERIT?

Sep 11, 2020 | MOVIES, WOMEN, WORLD

New rules for the Oscar: news that occupies many titles and newspapers.

I think it is useless to explain further, it is now known to anyone that starting from 2024 in order to aspire to the victory of the prestigious award of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science, the cast, as well as the production staff, will have to INCLUDE people belonging to certain “categories”.

Wanting to stay on an ironic tone, one would wonder if Academy President Rubin’s past as casting director could have influenced, but the smile immediately fades and I don’t know about you, but I feel more on the wavelength of Kirstie Alley who called this “Orwellian” decision.

Personally, this concept of categories does not belong to me starting from the infamous “pink quotas”.

For me, inclusion does not have to take place by regulation, and in any case there is a distinction between deserving a certain position or obtaining it by decree, which is even more discriminating in my opinion.

It is the common thought that must evolve, the very concept of diversity not as extraneousness but as an added value, as freedom.

Understanding in the sense of containing in oneself, embracing, enclosing, receiving spiritually, rather than including in a number, in a series, in a list.

Inserting as a clause the presence of people defining them as BELONGING TO A CATEGORY is not itself a discrimination?

When you define a person according to their origins, according to their nature or according to their orientation, does it not create a subdivision that shouldn’t exist instead?

Shouldn’t we all be thinking of someone just SUITABLE FOR THE ROLE OR DUTY, and nothing more?

I would not like to be a pink share, better yellow like light, or something green, like hope.

PRECIOUS PERFUMES

Sep 3, 2020 | FASHION, ITALY

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have chosen the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Florence to present their latest collection of High Jewelery, dedicating a particular piece to Caterina de’ Medici.

It would take a whole book to talk about the Black Queen, or maybe I should ask for a special biography from La ragazza approssimativa.

At this moment, however, it is enough for me to tell you about the perfume that Catherine de’ Medici commissioned from the Dominican friars in 1533 and was brought by her to France on the occasion of her wedding with Henry of Valois. It is a fresh and citrusy bouquet, based on Calabrian bergamot.

This perfume, known as Acqua della Regina was later renamed Acqua di Santa Maria Novella and is still on the market today.

The necklace with two cherubs holding a perfume bottle in the photo is a special piece from the collection dedicated to Caterina de’ Medici.

I must say that at Dolce & Gabbana I particularly admire the way they always affirm, and in a completely incisive way, their Italian character. Through tributes, references, quotes, reminders, and an innate spirit that emerges from every creation.

In particular, this collection is dedicated to the Renaissance but also to the artisan workshops of Florence which represents its emblem:
Culture, beauty and history can be found in every angle of Florence.
From Fatto a Mano to Made in Italy excellence, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana pay homage to the city of the Renaissance and Tuscany in their Alta Gioielleria, Alta Sartoria and Alta Moda creations.
Discover a new rebirth in the enchanting city bathed in architectural wonder, where the roots of local artisans permeate and inspire every garment.

Repubblica Firenze has published a short slide on the main pieces of the collection, and I don’t know about you, but I stayed struck by one creation in particular, which made me think of the quote from Albert Samain:
When you are in the grip of pessimism, look at a rose.

Wow. The glance on this necklace we say that it can be enough to defeat sooooo pessimism.

What do you say?