Damn, is it another 3 years gone? What a sloppy blogger. I guess this section tells a lot about the time I had available in the past few years (or about my willingness to spill things about my life). Well so far so good. Left Milan a year ago to join a new company.

Still finance but from telecom I'm now working with mosaics, and what lovely products they are. It's been a rocket ride so far. Crisis really hit in 2009 and we all had to take the level up to 11 as Spinal Tap would say.

Big changes. I've been together wtih a girl for a year and I loved it. Ain't it funny when a lot of foundantion concepts you have are blown away in a space of nothing? Well I'm glad they have and I'm glad to have found you, Elisa. No matter what happens, nothing will ever be the same.

And I look forward to the next few years. I do hope they bring good fortune and happiness. And let's also hope this blog becomes a bit more live! So long for now, partygoers.

So where were we? Can’t believe more than two years have passed since the last update. What was I doing? Damn I can’t even remember, must be the age really. Now let’s try to think: been to a few places, seen few people, had a crush on a couple of girls, ate some amazing meals and tasted some superb wines and that was it.

Is life really that simple or do we forget the important stuff? Who knows. Or is it that we only reminisce about important thing that happen when under stress or facing important situations? However right here, right now I’m in Venice. Today is a sunny day and it’s Sunday, perfect day for relaxing. 2007 has started on big plans for changes but nothing (as usual) has happened yet. For future reference here are the wish list for this year:

• attend a couple of stages at some restaurants to gain deeper knowledge of the trade;
• gain better knowledge of the wine area;
• put together some ideas to develop with Steve;
• update my sites more frequently. By the way, check out the new layout of mammasantissima.com. I think it kicks ass

That’s just about it I’d say. If I could do really well at least one thing on the list, I’d be a happy bunny. Ain’t it something we’re born to hula?

Musical russian roulette: from Helloween to Compay Segundo, like travelling to the other side of the planet. Been to Rome for work today. I have been a good guest of this town few times in the past weeks. Welcoming city as always, the meeting today was held in an amazingly decorated room in a classic old fashion eighteenth century building. The ceiling was stunningly painted: twelve female figures dancing around. I tried to figure out all day what they were representing: months, stars, virtues, who knows. They carried symbols but couldn't figure out how to put them all together. My guess is they represent months of the year, but I could be far off.

Well it's been few days since I updated the diary but not much has happened: usual work work fecking work. Been to see my granny last weekend. Spent two days with mum and dad which is not common these days. Felt like a kid going to Ferrara and then visiting all the family tombs. Having my camera with me I decided to go for this rather macabre ritual of photographing all my relative's tombstones. I'll put them online sooner or later.

My family certainly isn't of noble origins so I think it's important somebody tracks down who the ancestors were, just to know where you're coming from. Memories have got an incredible ability to rapidly fade away with the passing of time and it's all too wise somebody remembers greatgrandad Umberto or grandma Rosa before they become only forgotten tombstones. Kept few things from this Padanian experience:

1. all the villages I used to live in are dead: impressive how on a Sunday afternoon nobody is around. I remember things differently;

2. the melenchonic vibe is the same in these Autumn days as the one I used to feel when I was a kid;

3. the old sugar factory is being torn down. I only remember it working when I was a kid but it's such a shame to see a great piece of industrial archaeology go.

4. Granny is 97 and hasn't fully lost it yet. I hope when I'm old somebody will sing to me "my songs" as my dad did with her mom. She had a great time.

5. In his tombstone photo my grandad Enrico is a dead ringer for John Wayne, what a cool man!

Some words come to mind: "Ain't gonna run. Just live till you die, wanna drown. With nowhere to fall into the arms of someone. There's nothing to save, I know you live till you die" - Queens of the Stone Age: "In the Fade".


Aloha people

Another day gone. It's all real quick these days: you wake up, go to work and then in a flash evening arrives. It also often doesn't feel you've accomplished much at work: 2 documents reviewed, 3 hours gone; 1 report sorted out, 2 more hourse gone; 15 work emails replied to, 1 hour gone; 12 phone calls, 1 more hour and a half. And the day is over.

"What would you like to do as a grown up man?" - they asked me when I was a boy. And the answers were always different: a scientist, an astronaut, a cook, a vet. Funny how I would have never answered "corporate finance and risk manager". How could I have known what the hell this whole thing was, since I don't even know it 100% today? ehhehe

Well I suppose I don't mind it that much per se, it just that sometimes it feels like there must be something else out there (which is probably what 99% of the population feels anyway).

I wonder what the hell is I'm looking for: maybe I'm just trying to catch up with that mental projection of myself as a grown up man I had when I was 8. Right now the picture is way different from the one I had in mind and, I suppose, not for the better.

As Kid Rock would say, "wanna be a cowboooooy baaaaaabyyyyy!". Yiiiiha!

Aloha people!

This sure was an interesting weekend. On Saturday night I went to Bologna to see Ufomammut play live. First I met with my friend Daniela which I hadn't seen in 2 years. We had a nice chat and drank some real cool Traminer. Good start!

Then met up with Fabio and Erik for a spot of dinner: beef Wellington. I'm still puzzled I must say. Few years ago I would have gotten myself a burger and some chips before a rock gig. Now it's more beef Wellington and Duchesse potatoes. I'm definitely getting old eheheh.

However the fillet was good and so we headed for the gig. The opening band played with lots of energy. Got their CD. El Thule sure is an honest stoner rock band. Not great experimentations but the album is
nice.

Then Ufomammut started playing. I love Ufomammut: they play a kind of music most people would recognise as noise, but to me it's just pure lard oozing out of the speakers (well the thing about lard actually comes from one of their fans and I must say it pretty well sums up their music).

I loved it but Erik really felt sick with the high volume. To me it was just normal: I suppose the number of gigs I saw at the Gargage in London must have taken the toll eheheh.

The home coming was also interesting: two times in the past month I headed for Bologna and two times the damned motorways management companies decided to close up about 70 km of road to do some sort of works. Had to get back through back roads. Thank God this time there was no sign of fog. Still I only managed to get home at 3 am!

On Sunday I headed with my flatmate Andrea to a nearby village for a bit of antique market's scavenging. Haven't found much this time even if Andrea found a couple of real cool crystal bottles: big grappa plans for those two babies.

Finally we headed for a lake place called Lago di Varese. Very nice and relaxing area and, which always suprises me, so close to Switzerland it's scary! But the amount of Milanesi there made me really feel like a chicken from the factory. All doing the same things during the week and then again going the same places over the weekend.

Well so much for a busy weekend

Is Saturday a good day to start something? Who knows, but today I have time and so today the News Section goes on-line. First things first: what does the title mean? Well since I'm real bad in putting titles and labels together and since I do love them, I decided each note should be labelled using a song I'm listening in that moment (very handy so I don't have to think about it).

Strangely enough the notes start with The Cure's "Close to me": an old Eighties sad song. Am I sad today? I'd say not even if I do miss a lot of people and I wish they could be closer to me. Ok a bit cheesy but way true.

Aloha people, for what it matters, you're not forgotten.