AND THEN WE WILL BE SAVED

AND THEN WE WILL BE SAVED

Mar 25, 2023 | BOOKS

With E poi saremo salvi – And then we will be saved again I thank Monica and again I talk about the Strega Prize. 

And then we will be saved is the debut novel by Alessandra Carati, published by Mondadori, winner of the Opera prima Viareggio Rèpaci prize and among the top seven finalist books for the Strega 2022 prize.

Andrea Vitali, celebrated writer from Bellano, proposed and presented the book.

The salvation told by Alessandra Carati is sought because of the war in Bosnia through an escape to Italy, but the characteristic of this novel is precisely its ability to show how being safe does not mean being saved.

And one finds oneself reflecting on roots, or perhaps better said uprooting, and how there is no place in the world where one can escape from pain.

A pain that manifests itself in different ways is that it is the only true “arbiter.”

Alessandra tells us Aida’s story in episodes, sort of like when we remember “that time.”

And in between times, life flows.

And in between times the family changes, while remaining a fixed point, at times distant, like the land of her origin.

The reflection this reading leaves me with concerns the impossibility of leaving behind pain, whatever kind it may be.

We cannot prevent pain from being part of us; we can only choose how to live with it.

Salvation, then, in this book, reconnects with another Strega Prize winner, Tutto chiede salvezza – Everything asks for salvation, the book by Daniele Mencarelli.

There are indeed many kinds of salvation at different levels.

I find these words of Pablo Neruda emblematic:
If nothing saves us from death, at least love should save us from life.

However, I am also struck by these two basically similar interpretations:

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.
Martin Luther King

The only tool that can save my life is imagination.
Alejandro Jodorowsky

Did you feel saved when?

MEMENTO MORI

MEMENTO MORI

Mar 18, 2023 | MUSIC, ROCK

Memento mori are the words on the official of Depeche mode website, written in an original way, under a countdown in red.

Memento mori is the title of Depeche Mode‘s  new work to be released on March 24th.

Do you ever find particular connections on multiple levels, with respect to artistic forms that represent elements that are particularly close to your heart?

Here it is: on the official Instagram profile you can find this video showing, somewhat in speed painting style, a huge mural depicting wings … and you know I have a thing for wings, right?

But my connection with Depeche Mode is very very far back in time: my first concert in Milan.

By the way, Milan recurs in their story because Violator was partly recorded right in Milan in the Mecenate area.

Legendary is the anecdote of the sound of footsteps on the staircase trumpet, other than electronic percussion …

Speaking of Violator tomorrow is the anniversary of its release: March 19, 1990.

33, like Jesus age, that Personal Jesus they wanted to personalize, humanize, make tangible.

Feeling unknown
And you’re all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I’ll make you a believer

This concept expressed in the song was somehow made real with the launch to promote the single: a simply brilliant idea.

On a page of the Melody Maker appeared only a telephone number accompanied by the words Your Own Personal Jesus.

Those who called the number had the opportunity to hear the fragment “reach out and touch faith” followed by the very famous riff.

Isn’t this music history?

By the way, doesn’t it make you nostalgic for the days when phones didn’t follow us every minute of the day, and when the idea of “fearing” unknown phone numbers as a potential source of commercial stalking would never have crossed our minds?

But back to Memento mori: it means “remember you must die.”

I fortunately or unfortunately can never think of these words without associating them with Non ci resta che piangere, so instead of crying, I smile.

Also Dave Gahan and Martin Gore want to mean their Memento mori in a positive sense, as a Carpe Diem: live to the fullest.

As Fletch would have it.

And so here they are, in the video once again edited by Anton Corbijn playing chess with death as in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal

Ghosts again …

The journey of life: from trying to make the spirit tangible, to thinking about being happy even after something is over.

Do you think it’s really the perfect balance of melancholy and joy like Dave Gahan?

Can you remind yourself that “you have to die”?

I know, posed like this, this question seems absurd, I often get angry with myself: when I get caught up in the daily delusions instead of valuing every single day, every single moment.

Tell me that you are better at this than I am.

COFFEE DISPENSERS

COFFEE DISPENSERS

Mar 11, 2023 | WHO CARES

For more than 30 years I worked in a company where there was no coffee dispenser.

I know: it sounds unbelievable, yet it is true.

My colleagues, however, organized themselves with a mocha and made coffee mid-morning and in the afternoon.

As soon as the coffee was ready they used to call me.

Nice.

My contribute was for to the expenses and for the chat 🙂

So I never really witnessed situations of the kind represented by the famous sitcom Camera Café for instance.

How about you instead?

I guess anyone can tell several anecdotes, do you have any?

I think it is also possible to group characters into categories, such as the profiteers … that is, those who never have any coin, or do we want to call them by a slightly more slang appellation?

Perhaps a form of suspended coffee should be created for distributors as well.

Speaking of inventing … do you know who is the author of the first device to distribute automatically?

Heron! 

His dispenser however was for holy water, and thinking about it … I get a big smile 😉 I would very much need it …

Joking aside, the idea came because Heron noticed a waste of water outside the temple.

Through Heron’s mechanism, a coin struck a lever that dispensed a given amount of water for each person.

What to say. I love brilliant minds.

What kind of dispenser would you like?

So, it’s ok if we take this week’s coffee at the dispenser?

CATS

CATS

Mar 4, 2023 | A COFFEE WITH, A COFFEE WITH

A-mici in città is a focus on cats by Legambiente, which offered an opportunity to survey some data.

The aspect I would like to focus on is this: at the feline registry, the municipality with the highest number of cats per number of inhabitants is the town of Sant’Angelo in Lomellina: more than one cat for every two citizens.

We may say that in these parts cats do particularly well 🙂

In fact, Gravellona even boasts a cat mayor.

I can’t help but immediately think of the cats from the famous “junkyard somewhere in London” … did you guess yet?!

I’m talking about the legendary Jellicle Cats!

There is no need for me to add anything else, is there?

If anything, I should add gratitude to Andrew Lloyd Webber for giving us Cats: a joyously engaging musical, full of vitality, and magically kaleidoscopic.

Wonderful music, stunning costumes and makeup, enchanting choreography.

Source of inspiration: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Elliot. 

I still remember my amazement the first time: immediately enraptured by the thought of the three names:

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter.
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

How many names do you have?

Actually we humans have more names too, don’t we?

One of the nicknames I have always used is really the name of one of the characters in Cats.

My husband gave me the musical dvd back in the days when it was not so easy to get this kind of things, and he gave me even more: we saw Cats at the Arcimboldi! Sitting in our seats as the Jellicle Cats peeked out around us, I’m still heart-eyed 🙂

May I invite you to review a small excerpt together?

Now would you tell me about the cats living with you or near you?

THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F**K

THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F**K

Mar 4, 2023 | BOOKS

The subtle art of not givina a f**k is the book written by Mark Manson: three-time #1 New York Times bestselling author.

His books have sold some 20 million copies, have been translated into more than 65 languages, and have reached number one in more than a dozen countries.

In 2023, a feature film about his life and ideas was released worldwide by Universal Pictures.

Impressive numbers indeed.

The subtle art of not giving a f**k also received endorsements from very famous people.

My thanks rather go to Elisa Mirko and Diego for giving it to me.

A title that to call catchy is an understatement, needless to say my first thought was,:with all my multitude of paranoia, I surely have a lot to learn.

Do you always get your way?

Actually the Italian translated title is The subtle art of doing the hell you want and I think it doesn’t express the real meaning of giving a f**k.

It’s not exactly the same thing, is it?

The difference is as subtle as the “art” described in the book.

In my life I’ve given a f**k about a lot of people and a lot of things … And those f**k I didn’t give made all the difference. This is the sentence with which the author introduces the book on his blog.

Yes: blog. It all started from a blog because Mark Manson wanted to be a digital nomad.

Undoubtedly he was able to largely fulfill his desire.

Undoubtedly he has been able to maintain a remarkable balance, I quote his words: when we give a f**k about everything, then we feel as though we are perpetually entitled to feel comfortable and happy at all times, that’s when life f**k us.

So I may be too unbalanced: I have not been able to get involved in reading, I must be a hopelessly lost case.

And consider that I really like this phrase: not givinge a f**k does not mean to be indifferent, it means to be comfortable with being different.

A concept that encapsulates much more than I was able to get out of the book, despite all the right concepts it introduces.

Tell me about how comfortable you feel with doing what you want to do, are you directing your life, or is your life directing you?

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