HAS CALLED EVERY WORLD LEADER EXCEPT... B E R L U S C O N I
IT IS SO SWEET TO BE AMERICAN
*AND*
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL.
PS. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS ONE NATION UNDER GOD WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
*WTF??* As an American Mom in Tuscany, I would like to officially state that I am profoundly humiliated, mortified and really pissed off by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's lame-ass comment to Russia's President...who then proceeded to laugh at the "off-color" joke.
Berlusconi said: "Obama ha tutto: è bello, alto e abbronzato ed ha quindi tutte le qualità per avere ottimi rapporti con la Russia". Translation: "Obama has it all - he's handsome, tall and tan and therefore has all of the characteristics necessary to have an excellent relationship with Russia."
Berlusconi insisted and said, "E' una carineria assoluta, è un grande complimento", ha detto il premier, "Se scendono in campo gli imbecilli siamo fregati". Translation: "It's absolutely a nice thing what I said, a huge compliment," said the Prime Minister, "If all of the imbeciles get together we're screwed."
Umm. Berlusconi's an idiot. A very rich idiot. But wealth doesn't give you an excuse or permission to be an idiot.
The worst part...the Russian President laughed.
Here is this spectacular moment in Italian Diplomacy:
In Italian we say, "Non capisce un cazzo." In English, I would like to request that the USA not use force to retaliate...we're kind of in direct proximity to Rome. Unfreakingbelievable...
Hey I went to the library to request your book (RALLY CAPS), and they said "We cannot order the book" I said, "Why?" and they said, "Because we don't advertise deafness." I'm like, "Well I need to speak with the mangaer because this happens to be a great book -I heard - and I would love to read it, because one of my buddies wrote it about her child." I'm so mad you have no idea... ... it's very hard over here.. bc in Long Island people don't really care about us deaf/hh people. I don't get it, but it would be a great book to have in the library...especially if it's a young adult book for young kids that are deaf/hh. Boy I tell you I'm so upset, so I'll order it through amazon. I had to tell you this.
Me: Confused and starting to get just a tiny bit pissed off: Dani, give me the number of the library and I'll call, there must be some type of confusion...DON'T BUY THE BOOK, it's in other libraries, I don't see why this library shouldn't be able to order it...
Dani: Hey thanks... I'll deafinitely buy the book, I don't have that problem just next week I can do it. It's West Hempstead Public Library. I was in the front where you logout the books.. and I just asked a general question. They didn't ask for my name, number - nothing...They aren't pleasant people. As of yesterday, it is a new library. Thanks for your help!
dani
Let me know what happens.
So, I call the library and speak to the director who was confused as to how such a thing could have happened. She wanted to know who Dani had spoken to, but I didn't have a name. I was then transferred to the woman working in the Children's Dept. who looked up the book and said she would look into ordering it. She then said, "I have to go now, I have another call." (Apparently the fact that I was calling from Italy was not enough for her to use proper manners.)
I told Dani to go back to speak to this woman. We'll see what happens- I'll keep you posted!
Well, yesterday Luca and I went to Florence to meet my cousin Aileen and her husband David. Their daughter Rebecca is spending a semester in Florence and since she was on a week-long break her parents came to visit. I had the best time. David is a gynecologist, so we talked vaginas and obviously...newborn hearing screening. He told me that they give pregnant women a brochure when they are five months pregnant that describes the nhs program and provides information that prepares new moms for the screening. We get nothing here in Tuscany...workin' on that. *smile*
Rebecca showed us her place. She is living in an apartment just above THE market and has a HUGE terrace that overlooks the Duomo. Note: the terrace was lined with empty cheap wine bottles, cheap except for the last two that Luca picked up and said were "fine wines". David and Aileen said those were the bottles they had purchased and Rebecca had yelled at them when they told her how much they had spent for the wine: 8 euros a bottle. Her usual price: 2 euros a bottle. Gotta love college kids. Apparently there are 30 Americans in her apartment building and she shares an apartment with four other girls. *The good old days*
She's coming to visit Grosseto one of these weekends...I have to figure out how to entertain a crazy 20 year old college kid with "that look in her eyes!" I'm dead. I'll have to bring in the reinforcements- my crazy Italian students.
Anyway. My insane son, , otherwise known as the inappropriate youtube film downloader-I-think-I'll-share-them-with-the-neighborhood-children pulled another fast one on his naive mother. We were in Pisa last week, sitting at an outdoor table, chowing down on some pizza, when he attacked. "Mom, if you give me 3 euros 75 cents for a Mickey Mouse comic, I'll tell you the latest news about Alessia." *Grrrr* He's so slick. He knows I die to know these things and now he's making these little newsworthy items profittable. Kind of have to admire the sly profiteer. And I do, so I said, "Tell, and I'll decide if the info is worth the 3,50." He proceeds to tell me that Alessia asked him to be her dance partner in some Phys. Ed. activity...he had that sh**-eating grin on his juvenile face that is dying to grow a mustache. I smile, obviously, as Luca sits down and proceeds to tell me he already knew about the info. That really pisses me off as I demand exclusives, and the worst part- hit Luca up for two comics before pulling the same maneuver on me! My son is a devil-child, but very, very intelligent. (Gets that from me)
I gave him 3,75 and told him I had just bought the blogging rights. And there you have it! Here's a video of speaking Italian...
Well, aside from a two hour Halloween party near our house, Halloween was a bust! It didn't just rain, it lashed (as they say in Dublin), so all little monsters stayed indoors. We had fun thanks to a serious Halloween package sent by SHARON!!!-that was filled with spider rings, glow-in-the-dark skeletons, monster fingerpuppets, gliders, and my ALL TIME FAVORITE HALLOWEEN CANDY...CANDY CORN!! I finished off the Autumn Mix and shared the regular ones with friends and students.
Hope everyone had a fun time! God I miss Halloween in the States!
