PhotoN Message

I guess I should tell people that...

2011-04-27T01:07:00.004+02:00

"if you really want to keep on following the crazy things I write/do",
you should add to your blog list

www.photonmessage.com/blog

October shots

2009-10-11T12:43:00.001+02:00

In the last post I talked about the fact I haven’t took pictures in October (except that picture to a red rose) since I’ve my DSLR.

I said that I needed to take some pictures in October (my way to say:”I’m going to do that”) and…

As usually happens when I really decide to do something ^_^

Just a quick selection.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Going back to study physics… sob!

Fall and winter roses

2009-10-02T23:59:00.001+02:00

Tonight I discovered that I have never taken pictures in October, at least, since I have a DSLR camera (May 2005).

The only “October shot” I’ve been able to find on my computer is the following:

October 2005. 4 years ago. That’s crazy… Looks like I need to take pictures in October too! ;D

That recalled me that when I was born an aunt called me “little rose of May”. I knew it was due to the fact I was born in May (don’t need to be that smart to understand it) but I asked her (after a few years of course! ;P) why “ROSE of May” and she told me that May is the months of the roses, and I was small and cute as a rose… very nice of here, but…

Now, the question is: Why, on my balcony, I can take a picture of a rose in October (as above) or

in February? (The coldest month here!)

Should I tell her about these crazy roses blooming in cold seasons?

The bending sunflower

2009-09-29T23:41:00.003+02:00

Today I worked on 2 pictures, one was an “HDR” work (well, not properly and HDR , but probably close enough…):

(well, not properly and HDR , but probably close enough…)

This picture has been taken on July 10th 2009, as the following 3 pictures, that I edited on July 13th.

And this:

The second one I edited today.
It reminded me that in the following days it fully bloomed and… I just ignored it because I just become unable to take any other pictures.. seems like this last sunflower knew its destiny and started opening in a way that it already can seem dead or, just bending in front of something it cannot control…

And, except for a picture, I don’t take so “colorful” and “detailed” pictures since that day. It’s weird, so weird!

I can't easily

2009-09-28T23:33:00.000+02:00

blow a dream off…

but everything and everyone seem telling me I should.

Mt Etna gallery

2009-09-25T03:37:00.002+02:00

New gallery online!

Here you are some picture of one of the 2 things I love of my Sicily: Mt Etna. According to wikipedia in Italian is named “mungibeddu” (”mount mount”, I think that it’s so big that sicilian considered useful to underline the fact it was as big as a mountain…:D) and in sicilian “muncibeddu” that means “our mountain”. I didn’t know it… but I won’t argue about what they say because I didn’t study much about Mt Etna name origins (especially because Italian and English wiki page don’t agree about the meaning of the name too, that’s kinda weird!), but I’m sure that people who speak Italian here just refer to it as “Etna” or “L’Etna” (The [mount] Etna). Mystery of knowledge…

As most of you know it’s a volcano, so it’s kinda fascinating and scaring as it erupts, but growing up here you “get used” to it. You understand it protects Catania from cold north winds and at times from big earthquakes when it erupts. Thousands of years ago, probably even more, there was no mountain there, now it’s so big and fascinating… isn’t our world fascinating?

The are many legends related to it, but this isn’t the place to talk about it…that I can find in Italian wikipedia but in English one I cannot find much more than this, probably I’m not using the proper words in the search field.

Ok, I give up in trying to give you more cultural information, I’ll come back in having a too personal blog, so let’s see Mt Etna in my life…

I can tell a lot of things about, I love to look at it as much as I can and it’s one of the first “subject” I’ve tried to take “serious” pictures of.

From the airport you can see it clearly, indeed when I was 12 and left Sicily to go for 2 weeks in England (first time in my life outside Italy) I’ve been looking at Mt Etna as long as I could… I looked at it from the window of the airplane and tried to do a drawing of it. I did drawings of it and Sicily during all the 2 weeks in England. I was too young to left my house alone to “pretend” to study English in a way I could never learn it. I hated that travel from the deepest of my hearth, and was so joyful when I was coming back home. I was so happy that I’ve almost hugged the pilot of the airplane that took me back to Italy because he said me “Welcome” in Italian… and when I reached the airport, before caring about my bags, I hugged the first object that told me “You’re in Italy” only just because I couldn’t hug Mt Etna. Yes, I’ve always been a weird girl
Mt Etna and the sea are, now, the only “sign of Sicily” make me “feel at home” as I felt that day 10 years ago, at least for a few seconds.
The only signs that can make me smile and say “Wow, look how amazing it is!”, even when I’m in a really dark mood .

I see that everyone here loves the moumtain, in a way or another. Most of us are used to see it from one side that when happens to see a picture taken from another point of view we start wondering if it’s really Mt Etna. Kinda stupid, I know, but I think it’s “funny” and “interesting” at the same time

As you can see I do love taking pictures of Mt Etna with snow on it. In sicilian coast city, there is no snow… so it’s a little weird for us to see “so much snow” and, if I’ve to be a little proud of my land, even people from North Italy consider “strange” to see so much snow on a south Italy mountain. If we want to be silly Mt Etna is 100% Sicilian, silent but interesting and really dangerous if it gets angry

The pictures in the gallery are just 6 of the best I’ve taken with my reflex. I’m still thinking if doing a gallery about the 2002 Eruption. I’ve taken those pictures with a compact camera, an Olympus C-1 zoom, 1.3 mpx… but this is another fact.

[Numbering refers to the gallery sequence, not to the picture shown above]

My fave picture in this gallery is the first.

This is the last picture of of Mt Etna that I’ve taken. I took it on August 16th, early in the morning. As I’ve already told you. I hope to take more Mt Etna pictures with the polarizer.

The second and the third have been taken from the Catania port dock.

The 4th and the 5th have been taken in March 2008, at the end of a local way of the cross. The place we reach at the end of each WoC is amazing, I hope to get more shots of that place soon.

The 6th is the oldest. Christmas 2005, from the top of a building in Catania, close to the sea… a special picture for me, not for some particular beauty I see in it, but for what it recalls to me.

Hope you’ll enjoy them!

How to waste your time

2009-09-24T20:52:00.007+02:00

I'm pretty good in wasting my time.

And new programs for drawing on my tablet pc can help me in wasting my time, as pdf editor program help me with studying...

Yesterday:

Today after lunch, leaving it incomplete in order to go to study:

At 8pm, got unhappy for a little reason and colored one of the incomplete fingers:

I've never studied art, never seriously did a draw or a paint... tried some times, but always failed.

I should be studying (and a lot) physics but I always end on doing something like this.

I've never been able to drawn a part of human body, yesterday I was close to be... It's not a great piece of art, ok, but again, I've never studied art or being able to do such a thing... why can I do these sketches now? Why cannot I just "be good at physics"? Why this skill, if it's a real skill, didn't came up when I was 14 and still in time to go to seriously study art?

God has his plans, I'm sure of this. I'd just like to know which are...

Extremes

2009-09-05T10:16:00.002+02:00

An hour before leaving Catania. Monday 24th August 2009….

Totally random shot, I was not looking into the viewfinder…

Few minutes before leaving Bologna to come back to Catania. Friday 28th August 2009.

Picture “wished” about 10 minutes realizing that I could really take it…

No more words, sorry. The more the time passes the more pictures are enough for me.

I don’t know if it’s good….

Meeting Rimini 2009: People

2009-09-02T16:54:00.004+02:00

The convention I've been talking about in the last posts is really interesting, but really tiring too.
Rimini Fiera is a wide place and there are many things to see... therefore you have to walk a lot!

As a consequence, starting from the hours following lunch time, you can find a lot of people trying to get some rest.

Someone walks in the fresh water in order to cool down their feet:

Someone reads:

Some others, at the CDO stand, preffer to lie down on the comfortable sit placed there... where you can see:

the really tired ones...

Some were laying down alone, someone close to a friend or a dear person, someone (as me) was using a laptop.

Someone looks like a modern version of a Mark Twain novel character

Or somewhere else, you can find group of friends relaxing together, but each of them relax in a personal way. Who plays with a water bottle and gravity force, who just talking with other friends:

Seemed that the younger was the relaxing person the more active was the rest:

as for this little girl that lied down for several minutes, but never stopped moving her arms and head. Her relax was a play that followed a thought that probably she won't remember, but that in that moment seemed a lot of fun.

Or a little boy playing with soap bubbles and and a little girl, probably his sister, running away from the bubbles:

Many children played with balloons of any kind, probably a gadget of some stands. I loved the fact that most of the time the balloon and the children clothe color fitted.

and, once the balloon color fit with the luggage color too:

All these children were able to play for several hours with those balloons, and never get tired of such a simple game. Just in spite of those that says that the new generation cannot have fun with simple games.

I loved to watch these little guys playing. The first time I went to a Meeting in Rimini I wasn't much older than them (9). Probably as most of the today volunteers.

And, at times, some of them moved back to their childhood and started to play with children, even with no more flying balloons:

These are some of the folks you can find there. Simple people, families with children of any age, I also saw a couple of pregnant woman and many people of any race.

Exhibitions, talks, important people, shows, stands and everything belonging to the program is essential, but there would be no Meeting in Rimini if there weren't thousands of people spending some days of their vacation there.

There is no meeting without people willing to even get extremely tired, both if they got there as volunteers or as simple visitors.

Meeting Rimini 2009: The Exhibitions

2009-09-01T13:50:00.004+02:00

What did I do there?

A lot of things but essentially:

- visit exhibitions

- meeting friends

- getting some relax (=taking pictures) after hours of walk.

Let's talk about the first thing that comes up to my mind when I think about the Meeting in Rimini: the exhibitions.
I went to Rimini with the aim of listening to talks, visit the exhibitions and meeting friends, but after a few hours I understood that talks would have taken too much time to my visit and I would "waste" precious time to see those exhibitions that cannot be seen online as the talks.

Therefore, I tried to visit at least one exhibition a day, and after 4 days I have visited something like 6 or 8 shows about many different topics... running from art to philosophy and philosophers life, from science to Christians situation in Russia during the Sovietic Revolution of 1917, to not talk about the little shows about homeless people and City Angels, and other little shows. Loved them all, taken the pictures of the only one I visited twice: The exhibitions about Galilelo Galilei's discoveries.

I didn't took much more than this picture...

of which I love the way the 2 young guys look at armillary sphere (or spherical astrolabe) .

Or this, with showing my boyfriend's hands while he was "playing" with an example of zooming lens:

Picture taken just to show the little, but important, details you can find in these shows that are thought for people of any age. (Yes, the ring he's wearing is our promise ring)

And less important, but not less interesting details alike this one:

or this other one:

both set beside this guy:

Do you know who is he? Just guess! ;D

These last 3 shoots have been taken in a dark room where there was a video projected on the room ceiling. Yep! People working on the Rimini Meeting aren't normal ones, and I think that's one reason that makes amazing the Meeting... and, wait a moment, isn't rational to show up on the ceiling something talking about the discover of Jupiter satellites? ;D
These last 3 shots are pretty far from being "good shots", but they have been taken just because I love the way people working on the exhibitions care about "scenography" details...

Some shots taken during my visit in Rimini...

2009-08-31T23:48:00.000+02:00

as you can find here

Beauty can be found everywhere.

2009-08-29T17:35:00.001+02:00

From Monday afternoon to Thursday evening I have been here.

A great experience, as always if you are "lucky enough" to go there.

There happened a lot of things, but, the first amazing one happened while I was reaching my Hotel in Rimini:

This little butterfly was flying all around us, stop on this rusted railing, or whatever it is, and stopped just for the time of 3 shots.

Some friends said that it was a pity that it was on a rusted object, I don't think so... or we couldn't say that Beauty can be found everywhere.

Weird syllogism?

2009-08-09T10:57:00.004+02:00

I love the sea, I love taking pictures…
That’s the sea in winter,
it’s summer…
why shouldn’t I post this picture? ;D

Info

2009-06-07T14:25:00.004+02:00

I closed this page for a little while, little problems and things to do.
BTW, I am back...or better, i am back to say:"Thanks to those who have been looking for me" and to those who are interested: if you want to seek for news go here.

At the moment this blog on blogspot will have a long period of rest.

Miss Photography defeats little fears too...

2009-05-18T02:38:00.009+02:00

Mosquitoes are annoying, but not scary -- well, a huge group of them would scare me a bit, but fortunately I have never encountered one.

Cockroaches look a little “disgusting” to me, but I have learned to kill them (…at least when it is necessary…)

Spiders… I cannot stand them. I tend to kill them, but each time I try it comes to mind how M1L (my boyfriend) always tries to save them and blames me for being such a “killer”.
Trust me, I do my best to put them out of my bedroom *without* killing them… but usually I fail. Sorry!

But I have been close enough to a spider to take this...

Bees and their “relatives” scare me a lot! If I see one of them close to me I always wish to run away yelling out complains about the bee being there!

But I “control” myself, I just run away as fast as possible! ;D

But...today I was close enough to this...

The last 2 Sundays these little guys, seeking for food in my country house back yard, can have no peace!

Yeah, I overcame a lot of little fears thanks to my little baby (the camera)!

As you can see, my love, I never get tired to take pictures for ours, I don’t feel pain, unless I get really hurt!
Yeah, you know that, later, all the pain comes and I feel bad, really bad… but while I am taking picture I tend to feel only good things.

Even if I complain, at time, because I cannot find the subject for my pictures, but I generally feel good.

And, if there is you too, staying beside me, helping me, talking to me, smiling while you say “Here you are with the “researcher” gaze!”… well, it’s like a slice of Heaven on Earth, for me.

Can you remember my smile when I listen to Louis Armstong songs? Do you remember how he smiled while he was singing them?

That’s love!…not the physical one, of course.

And you know it, because even if it can be pretty boring staying beside me while I am taking picture… you are always there smiling at me (I got photographic proof!) and willing to be helpful for me.

P.S. Thanks to Chris for the help with the post;)

To GJr

2009-05-14T02:12:00.001+02:00

It seems yesterday, and ages ago at the same time…
The 13th May 2008 your daddy (my cousin) sent me a message telling me at what time you were born. The message also told about your name, your weight, your length and, not written, the infinite joy of your parents.

I remember I was studying math when I received this message. I don’t know what you’ll study at university, but I can assure that the kind of math I was studying was really annoying… but this message, or better your birth news, made me smile. I started to jump all around the house telling the news to my parents and to my brother.

I wish I was there, I wish I could have hugged you at least once in this year… but we live pretty far away, and old people can be so strange and boring. They (well I should say “we, even if I am not so old yet!) always say to be so “busy”, and they never find time to meet who they love.

That’s ok, internet, the good use of it, solved the problem. I keep in touch with your daddy that fill my mail with picture of a wonderful creature, that is you.
Your daddy isn’t a man of many words, but trust me, from these pictures, the cure he puts in taking them, the way he picture his son and his wife tell how deep is his love for both of you.

And I wish, my little cousin, you will always feel and understand how much your parents loves you.
I wish you will never miss someone that loves you.

You will be sad in your life, people will make you be sad. You’ll surely argue with your parents (sorry, in our family we are pretty stubborn, and your daddy is one of the hardest heads ;D).
I wish you will never feel homeless, that you will never miss someone’s love… but it can be possible…if it happens, I hope you’ll always remember what your parents will surely teach you: There is always Someone, the one that bring you to us, the Father we all share… that will always love you and every human being.

A Love in front of which everyone, even the oldest man in the world, is like a little bird requesting food to his parents…

…a Love we do need.

I am not hiding…

2009-05-10T23:55:00.000+02:00

I didn’t want to write today.

OK, don’t think too loudly: “So, why are you still throwing “trash” on the internet?”…I can “hear” you! ;P

Just, I was going to sleep when I saw one of the pictures I have taken today…

I didn’t like it “so much” to post it on my website… I actually thought that the day went pretty bad… not many pictures taken, nothing went according to the plans.

But, at least, the today-pictures gave me a reason for a little laugh… recalling me the heavy bee going on small and light flowers, and making a lot of noise while flying… and me, trying to “catch” it “with a picture while it was flying”, but it looked to be doing its best to hide behind flowers.. tonight I have just found myself thinking what the bee could answer me back: “I am not hiding, I am just doing my duty… Stop bothering me!!”

Bzzz! :).

Ok, I know it’s stupid, as well I know I need to go to sleep ;D

C’ya!

Dragonflies gallery

2009-05-04T23:21:00.004+02:00

I created a new gallery: “Animals” —> “DRAGONFLIES” .

At the moment there are only 4 pictures, I wish you’ll enjoy them anyway.

No post today because I used this "old" one for the new blog.

Catania and HDR

2009-05-03T18:47:00.002+02:00

I am surely not the first person to be talking about Catania and/or about HDR. What’s wrong with this? Nothing.

HDR is a photography technique that consist in taking some pictures (>2) at different exposure level and elaborate them together in order to get only one picture. I guess you can learn more about HDR just clicking here.

The funny thing is that I have no patience for “studying” (A students in physics that hates to study?! Yeah, beside I am not as good as I wished in physics too, photography is fun for me at the moment, there is no way I can seriously “work” with this at the moment, so the idea to be “studying” something about photography is quite awful to me).

So I have just applied my technique of “chaotic learning”. I asked to a friend what I needed to get an HDR picture, and did some experiment.

First, almost an year ago:

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT IT! ;D

Second, this summer:

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT IT! ;D

Yesterday I shot 3 pictures to 2 different parts of the same building and, here you are the steps of what I did:

I mixed up the first 3 pictures, tried to correct perspective and here you are the final results:

Viale (”avenue”) XX Settembre #39. Catania.
Building named: “Palazzo Monaco” by engineer Luciano Nicolosi (1855-1947). Building in different styles.
I guess here you can notice part of the “Geometric frames” and the grating in decò-Empire style… forgive me, I am just a physics students trying to “translate” an old Italian book written in “artistic-architectural language” ;D

Viale (”avenue”) XX Settembre #39. Catania.
Building named: “Palazzo Monaco” by engineer Luciano Nicolosi (1855-1947). Building in different styles.
I guess here you can notice part of the “Geometric frames”, the grating in decò-Empire style and part of the caryatids and telamons (they human-looking sculpture) by Mario Moschetti.

Again…Please, forgive me, I am just a physics students trying to “translate” an old Italian book written in “artistic-architectural language” ;D

Be aware, monuments don’t look so colorful in reality, but neither as bad as in the first 3 pictures of each group. Those of you that can, COME TO SEE it is worth to do it!

Actually… I don’t love edited pictures, but I am liking the result in this case.

I don’t know the reason… probably it’s due to my inability to take pictures to monument or due to my desire to “go somewhere else for a little while”…but I see in it a good, probably funny too, way to look at Catania.

It’s just an experiment-project I started yesterday (I will give more detailed information soon). I wished I could take more pictures, but after lunch I felt pretty bad and I had to come back home, my legs can be pretty mean sometimes.

I’ve been talking enough.

Wish a wonderful Sunday to all of you! ;D

New Gallery, Cats

2009-04-29T23:00:00.002+02:00

New Gallery online: "Animals"--->"Cats" (click here). Hope you'll enjoy it.

(The relative post in the new blog is an old post of this blog, click here).

In a hurry...

2009-04-29T00:46:00.002+02:00

30 minutes ago I fell asleep while I was uploading a couple of picture in the "Catania "close up"" gallery ("House in Liberty Style (?)" and "Catania Cathedral,HDR").
They are online now, but I wanted to add more pictures (still missing some pictures taken in the Roman amphitheater) and I also wanted to created a new gallery.

But... the day has been busy, I have been listening from 8 to 10 (about) to a Quantum Mechanics lecture, from about 10 to 12 to a Structure of Matter lecture , and I have been in the laboratory from 3pm to past 7 pm "playing with laser light". All this might be funny and/or interesting but it is pretty tiring. Beside, from 6.50pm to 7.15pm I took some pictures at the experiment apparatus too...again, fun but after 8hours you start being able to just think:"Go home, go home, I want my bed!" ;P

I guess that today I did enough, or at least, it's what my body decided for me. It's saying: "Ely, go to sleep".

I am going to listen to it (if it gets "angry" it can be really painful ;D)...or at least, that's my intention.

The site is growing up (slowly but growing up) and I am caring about physics too. I guess that I cannot complain.

In a month (May 28) will be my birthday, 22nd birthday. If it will be a "calm and well spent" day as today it might be a really nice birthday.

We'll see.

Have a nice night.

Brain noise...being original?

2009-04-28T14:00:00.001+02:00

Weird day Monday. What a news!

I didn't go to the university because I felt sick... more or less. I tried to study in the afternoon, I did something...few.
I should be writing something of meaningful at least... but there is only a big brain noise. Zzzzzh, thoughts are running all around my brain, they move in any direction and when I try to catch one, it flee soon after.
The result... I DID NOT build a new gallery and did not study, but I am trying to force me to study.

Damn... That's probably the status of someone trying to be original? I hope no. That's too frustrating. And than, why should I try to be original? If I am not I should not try... if I am I don't need to try to be original.
And what's original?

I have been talking with a lot of people defining themselves as "original", "alternative", "independent"... that's all because they were or against the USA or against the Church.
They are not so original... I am catholic (or at least, I try to be a catholic) but I do know more people against Church, even some of those that call themselves a true catholic, isn't a little weird? No, it's fashion, it's chic to be against the Pope.
To not talk about those one are against USA... wearing Nike shoes, drinking coca cola, following the self made man dream.

Dah! I have just ruined my future... I mean, talking about Christianity, defining me as a Catholic, telling that a good 75% of western countries citizen as "not so original" because they think more or less alike. Wow, I have just condemned myself to the worse social exile.

But who cares? Yeah, I am sorry to see such a big hate for Catholics... but, at the end, I have friends that are not Catholic (Hebrew or belonging to different Cristian Churches), my best friends don't believe in God at all but we still keep talking because we see an human being in the other person that deserve our love, not just someone that is "wrong" or "right". I guess these friends are just good-hearted people.

So, I hope that at least people alike my friend will enjoy the beauty I am trying to share with this world.

And they will probably understand why I think that there are beings, as them, that "NEED" to be "original":
This is an original way to eat food, isn't it? Most birds don't eat this way... but I think that someone it helped the bird to quickly run awayin case of "suspicious noise".

Escape for a living...

2009-04-27T23:50:00.000+02:00

Too many thoughts or just the desire to fly away. To where? Dunno.

Unplanned shot. Enough lucky shot.

“Escape for a living”, the title that I gave to this picture.
I do love this shot. I put this in my mp3 read as background, more than an year ago. It’s still there.

The birds take off if there is a suspicious noise or shadow getting too close, they survive this way.

My imagination or desire to smile “take off” when a too sad thought or situation is getting too close…but sometimes I cannot catch my own thoughts.

Little sparrows “work” best

And it’s so weird to discover that this picture has been taken on March 30th 2008, just an year before I did the first part of an exam that is slowing down my studies a lot. Looks like someone is trying to mock me, or just to make me smile.

Hometown? Catania, Sicily

2009-04-26T23:53:00.001+02:00

I cannot change this answer for the rest of my life… I was born an grew up there.

I still live in Catania.

When I was 12 or so I was PROUD to be Sicilian I was so PROUD to live in Catania. I loved this little city, I tried to focus on learning the local language too. [Italian (or English) is the language you use to study, Catanese (local Sicilian) is the "city" dialect.]
Few years later I started feeling in prison in Catania and started to describe it as a “little meaningless town”.
When I was 19 I almost hated the city, it couldn’t give me the chance to study photography or similar thing… but I was too weak to go away, to go to Rome or Milan to study what I wanted to study. Beside, in my family (as in many other ones), an artistic career is consider quite unsafe, too difficult and dangerous and… somehow I think they are right.

All this made me decide to study physics. Pretty far from art, I know… but it was the only thing that I found interesting and, actually, science is my “first love” (since I was 9, while I started to REALLY love photography only since I was 13 or so…).

Now, physics studies are quite failed, I will go ahead to get the degree as well as I can but, I am probably walking on the way that will make me dreaming for job I will never like but I will need as water in the desert because: “money are necessary to build up a family”.

That’s not a complain, or probably it is but… trust me, I don’t mean to complain, I just want to explain you WHY I rarely take picture of this city (beside the fact that I still don’t understand how to picture a building)… and that’s probably the reason while the pictures are so “poor” in quality… but I like some Catania details so I am going to show you up something:

Just an example…

I remember when I was a child these patterns always fascinated me, and this particular case I have always “seen” a fountain in this “scheme on the floor”.

And seeking for details I like… it’s probably the only good thing I can do when I don’t like something.
It’s probably the main way, for me, to understand things.

—> This mean there is a new gallery in the site: ” Cities—>Catania “Close Up” “

Now way. I don't like lies.

2009-04-23T23:50:00.002+02:00

A lot of times seems like there is no way to go ahead, no way to keep on fighting.
And especially seems like there is no way to keep on “hoping” and “dreaming”, and you can just keep thinking: “I wish I were somewhere else, I wish I were someone else”.
Yeah, Yeah. Quite annoying, upsetting and kind of “frustrating”.

What can I do?
Close my eyes, start thinking about something pleasant? Where I felt well, why did I felt so?
Yeah, cool! Many times it works… or, I am not able to do this with just my mind, I turn on the computer as soon as I can and start jumping all around my pictures…

Today I stopped on this:

There has been no way to stop smiling and thanking.

Yeah, yeah. I am supposed to tell you something about this picture, about what was happening when I was taking it… but, the truth is that I can remember only that I was pleased and glad and “feeling free”. Nothing important for this world but exactly what I was seeking for today! ;D

At the moment I can just say that I had the chance, quite unplanned, to take this shot… Unplanned because when I took this picture I couldn’t see so many seagulls… but the were amazingly there. I just had to way to see there.

Now, seems like I just have to wait, to wait to see what is amazing in this life because I know there is something of amazing, because I have seen its sign before.

Or I can start telling me lies as: “it’s not important if you can like what you do, most of this life is just awful and you just have to keep on going ahead”…

I don’t like lies. Do you?

Seeking for the "hidden" light

2009-04-22T23:55:00.002+02:00

(For a while I will post here what I post in the other English blog... might happen that there I won't post something that will be put here that is supposed to be a more "informal" blog).

Going out carrying my camera means a lot of things for me.

One of these is: forcing myself to look at this world, to focus my mind on what is around me in order to avoid to lose a detail that might enrich my day or, if I am lucky, my life in general.

This picture, that someone likes, that someone commented saying:”It looks lit from inside”… wasn’t shot in a studio (I have never been in a photography studio), I didn’t take it with “special” instruments. It’ just a picture of a (small) rose of a plant on my balcony in a little city on the East Sicilian cost. Nothing more.
That light isn’t a post production artifact, I just “helped” it with a little light level adjustment, it’s natural. It was the sun shining on it… the same sun that all of you know.

A simple detail, a definitely unnecessary picture… it reports nothing, nothing important.

It can just testify that someone, somewhere, a day of a certain year, has gone out on the balcony, just after lunch, holding a camera in the hope to be able to find a reason more to smile, to find a reason more to make someone smiling, to find a reason more to remember that even the smallest and simplest thing (or person) can shine with the Light that is necessary for our lives.

Taking pictures, for me, is a good exercise to practice my eyes to seek for that Light, to learn to find it.

Next step?
Being able to understand why God created mosquitoes that keeps me awake at night ;D

P.S. New pictures: "Flowers-->Roses"

Sorry sorry sorry!

2009-04-19T00:50:00.003+02:00

Sorry I am just posting in the new blog, but I have not much time...the baby (the site) is growing up!

Double sorry because I am not commenting your blog any longer. I will do it soon, hope in the next days.

Just born!

2009-04-16T01:24:00.005+02:00

It's online! Just take a look if you wish!

Sorry I have been silent for so long, but I have been working (with my boyfriend) on this site in these last days.

There's still a lot to do, but it's something now.
If you want to write the "about her" just write it and send via mail.
If you have any advice and/or comments to do, don't worry, tell me. Everything to improve is welcome!

I have to run to sleep.

See you tomorrow (hug)

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T00:00:00.002+02:00

At the end of Via Crucis

2009-04-10T20:13:00.000+02:00

(2yrs ago)

This flower is...

2009-03-26T22:44:00.006+01:00

...bending over clover leaves,
hope, faith and love, or sign of Trinity.
It's bending over a part of the same plant it belongs,
and they seem to be talking,.

It seems to be bowing to the leaving sun.

It's closed, but seems a promise of new blooming that is coming with the new day.

That's why I like this picture.

And again, Beauty makes things work out :)

2009-03-23T00:00:00.011+01:00

Few minutes ago I had written a really bad post, something like a complain.

When, later, I opened the picture I want to use for the post..
I changed my mind.
I thought:"Oh boy! How could I waste this present with such a bad post?" :)

The bad post was anyway necessary, due to it and the picture I understood that even if life has its "imperfection" alike the flare in this picture (that, despite the flare, turned out as I wished) it's life, a present, something to love given by Love.

Ok, there's too much sense in this post (mebbe).
I have to go to sleep, tomorrow might be a really bad day of "fighting" with classmates. HELP!

Have a wonderful Monday!

P.S.
A question for, both English and Italian speaker, or for just English speaker if they can understand why I am surprised by the sentence: "to get on like a house on fire".
In the dictionary I've read this sentence is the translation of "andare d’amore e d’accordo"... I am still trying to fully understand the reason. House on fire is an house that it is going to be destroyed, isn't it? House aren't supposed to love to be on fire!.

Ahaha, I do love learning these idiomatic expressions! :)

One of my first "best" shots...

2009-03-18T01:09:00.004+01:00

I cannot remember if I ever talked about this picture.

As the data says it has been taken in July 1999. In those days I was in England for a "study-vacation". I went there with some classmates and a teacher, to learn English of course.
I still don’t know why I did such a stupid thing, I had been studying English only for 9 months, at school, as well as Italian school can teach English to an 11 years old Italian girl. I guess I only knew thing like the use of the auxiliary verb “do”...And surely I wasn’t old enough (12) fur such a travel.
But, I was following my dream. I can say that since I have memory I have been fascinated by English language, by the skill to be able to speak and understand 2 languages… When I was 9 I wished I had an English or American relative that could teach me to speak English, so, 2 years later the idea that I could learn that language from people who were native speakers, was really fascinating.

Dream isn’t reality. By definition.

That travel had been a kind of nightmare.
I was unable to understand a lot of things that were said (and I think it was normal). Food was few and quite disgusting (a day I put ketchup in white rice because it was so "white" and with no taste that I started to appreciate ketchup, and I felt fooled when a day there was "pizza" and I found a piece of bread with 2 spots of a weird "fresh tomato sauce" and 2 slices of cheese. That's not pizza! You cannot seriously call it pizza! You cannot call it pizza to Italian people!) .
Italian classmate used to send me away because I was “the strange girl that uses internet”, teachers send me to classmates because “I had to stay with people of my age”… as result I found my self “alone” in the middle of known and unknown people. What to do? When happened I used to talk with students coming from other countries, but with such a poor English as was mine the best thing I could do was to speak Italian with a girl from Spain that answered me back in Spanish. Quite useless to learn English, don't you think?

The 25th July 1999 we went to an amusement park. There were interesting things, some funny too. I hadn’t a great day, if I am not wrong, that day I got so angry with a girl (she behaved as a cheerleader who think to be the smartest human being on this world) that I was going to punch her on her nose. I didn’t.
But I felt extremely bad I had reached such an high level of hate, I felt sad that in no way I was being able to have “friendly” relationship with people around me.

After lunch, I think, I discovered that kind of river (dunno what it was exactly), with ducks. It was calm, peaceful. I sat there alone (yep, I was being a quite reckless girl)…The minutes I spent there, had been the best part of those days. The duck of the picture got so close to me that I had been able to picture it with my compact film camera. This simple event made me smile, made me be happy and glad to be alive and there.

Before I didn’t feel at home, after I did.

That’s probably the reason that made me to love taking pictures.

In my life, often, has happened that everything and everyone seemed to be against me, that I couldn't do nothing more than wishing to be somewhere else…
And for some unknown and weird reason, during the saddest moments there is something alike that duck getting so close to me that make me feel “at home” again. That makes me, again, able to love this world and this life.

That makes me feel loved.

Seeking for help... for future plans

2009-03-13T20:03:00.010+01:00

... nothing of worrying! ;D

I have been quite silent in these days because I am trying to study (as usual) and because I am building, with the fantastic help of my boyfriend, my new website where there is also my new blog . As you can see it's still under construction, indeed I still didn't delete the test post "bedda gioia" and other test posts ;D. It's also the only active section).

Here I need all of you.

I would like to move some post of this blog there... but I would like that this site will be a little more "formal" so I have to choose the proper post...for example, surely not this crazy post.

Does anyone of you can and want to help me in the choice?

Another big problem is my crappy poor English...I think it can ruin the blog... so, I am talking to native English speaker: do u wanna help me in editing the post will be moved there?

Choose a post you liked and if you want to edit it, send me it back and will post on the new site... of course: no hurry and I will thank you there. I don't mind to say that I need help with English language, it's the truth :)

And who of you feel to write an "about her" few lines? I ask this because I would like to create a section: "here is what people I know think about me"...I have seen most "photography" site have an about me written in third person, and I still don't understand the reason; the about me in first person might be a normal one... but I didn't know what to say... so I had this idea.

I thought it might be nice and funny for eventual future (far future) visitor to see what friends think about the crazy girl that takes the pictures... I want a "formal" site but not a "too conventional" one.

You are supposed to be sincere :D. You can be mean too, just not too much please or I'll cry! ;D

Oh, and if you have any idea u can tell me. You can tell me also: "everything is crappy you should do this way..." :)

These are more ideas and plan I have in my mind... I hope to create and complete soon the "principal site section", where I want to put galleries of the best shots.

Every plan came out when I have realized I was running out of space in free accounts as with flickr (that's why I am not uploading all my new pics). I am supposed to pay to have more space and so on... but I preferred to pay some euro more and have an "all mine" space where I can build the site as I like it.

As you can see it's a big work, there is a lot to do still and to clean up and... I feel like I am running to catch a too fast and far dream...

So, why am I telling you now?

To bother as less as I can, so, if you want to help me you can take all the time you need to do whatever you decided to do:)

Thanks Thanks thanks.

P.s.

As I say in the crazy post, I will take this site on because I enjoy a less formal site where I can write and show almost whatever I want to show :)

Silence.

2009-03-06T23:37:00.007+01:00

It’s said to be gold.
For a Catholic, especially during Lent, silence is important because it allows thinking and praying. That’s true, silence sometimes is as precious as gold, and even more.

That’s the good silence.
There is a bad silence? In my humble opinion: yes, there is!
Something that literally drives me crazy is the minute, or so, of silence asked when something of bad happens. Beside the fact that I have big problems to accept that someone tells me when I have to keep silent or not, I wonder what the hell they think you can understand ALONE in one minute? Alone? Yep, because if you just keep silent, if you don’t pray if you don’t think (keeping silent doesn’t assure that you are “thinking about”) you are alone and you will just waste a minute of your life.

I think there are many “shades”of silence.
Indeed in the midway from bad silence to good one, there is that kind of silence that you cannot define “hurtful”, but you are in even if you don’t want to. I grew up in this kind of silence. I have a good family and I had some friends, but for years I spent most of my free time staying at home and that’s why I started to read, write down stuff, do some “artistic” works, chat online or (later) taking photographs.
For me I wasn't being in silence because during each of this activity I could hear my voice in my mind... but if something distracted me from my activity, this made me realize how lonely and silent I was being.
Just for example... when I read I hear the voice of my mind, or if the book is cool I can see images and hear characters' different voices and I don’t feel alone…unless something call back me to reality. Often, when I used to read at night, was a man on a carriage pulled by an horse passing at 4am. The horse step noise made me realize that I had spent all the night awake and alone.

I used to consider these “silent situations" normal life situation… till a night of few days ago, when I found myself thinking about what I have done in my life. That night I realized that I spent a lot of my time alone surrounded by a silence similar to the one that was surrounding me in that moment, and…that was a silence I couldn’t stop! Even listening to music wouldn’t have made me able to destroy my loneliness and sadness.

I wished I could turn on my computer and listen to my friend voice, as I used to do some summers before... and this made me realize that I couldn’t remember the voice of the only friend (known online) I spoke via voice for a lot of time.
In that moment I hated silence! I linked it with the idea of being alone an sad, and this drove me crazy because I felt alike I wasted my youth with reading, writing, chatting, taking pictures…
But, while I was thinking this, in my mind comes up this image:
I took this photo in April 2006. In the back yard of my country house. I was ,again alone at silence but there was no way that I could consider that silence annoying. Nothing could make me think that I had wasted my time that day. Indeed I consider that day, one of the happiest day of my life.
Once again a picture calmed me down, made me appreciate what I had received in my life. I appreciated life itself.

That’s probably a goal of good silences, and that’s probably the kind of silence I feel more comfortable with.

Being alone, with my camera trying to create, but I would say “to save”, wonderful frames of this world.

Am I blasphemous if I say that this the best way I can pray?

To my friends

2009-03-05T00:00:00.006+01:00

It’s weird. It’s about 20 minutes that if I want to write down something I start thinking in English… well, in a weird English, but surely not in Italian.

That’s weird. It’s not a particular day today. I mean, nothing “special” related to American or English friends happened today… Well, I guess is quite useless to try to figure out the reasons of this unusual situation.

I think it’s more important to focus on what this situation made me to think about: friends.
I know, I know. I have been talking about friends a lot of times, but they are pretty important in people life… or at least, I think they are.

In these days a lot of my friends are dealing with pretty complex and difficult situations. Some are dealing with health problems, someone is trying to fix family situation, others have problems at work, and so on...

I wish I could do something more than just praying. I know, praying is important, but…I wish I could do more. Even hugging them, or just have a cup of hot chocolate (tea or coffee are fine too) with them.

I cannot do it.

The only thing I can do more… Is it probably keep talking to you through pictures?
Most of you have "met" me through my pictures... I hope you will enjoy if I keep showing my "works" ;D

I could start with this one…a kind of sun set “at the sea”. Ok, that’s not exactly a sun set at the sea, but this is the sea at sunset time at least. I already talked about the place where I took this picture.
And I know that, at least some of you like the sea because you live pretty far from it.

Or I could just show up this man at the sea, in what I think it’s a canoe.

Sincerely, when I took this picture I wasn’t thinking about its possible “meanings”, I just liked the aesthetic aspect of that situation.

Tonight, instead, when I saw the picture thumbnail on my computer desktop I thought that this could perfectly represent how I “see” most of you.
You may look left alone in the “middle” of the sea, but most of you have a lot of friends.
Where are the man’s friends in this picture? Nowhere, they are just on the right, in a building on the coast (of which you can see a part on the right in the sunset picture).
I am glad that most of you can count on your families and/or friends.

I wish all of your problems will be solved (in the best way) as soon as possible.

Oh... This doesn't mean I don't think about those friends with no "big problems" or that are going to get married in few months, or that are enjoying their first grand baby ;)

Looking up

2009-02-24T23:46:00.007+01:00

Thinking about today... only this picture comes up to my mind... ...of a little bird that is looking up to the sky, just few instants before taking off. Do I feel this way? I guess that, at least, I would like to feel so!

Or probably it's due to the fact I recall with pleasure the moment I took this picture. At that time I was studying Analysis I, well that wasn't really pleasant, but I remember that in those weeks I used to study in front of the window, with my camera ready to take a picture of what these young birds were doing.

A day, just for coincidence, I had the chance to take this picture. I think pretty few people would think it has been took inside a kitchen of an apartment, belonging to a building located in the middle of a city.
This little guy was standing on the pine (the Christmas Tree in vacation) that there is on my balcony.

I think that, if there's something of good that I had the chance to do, often unintentionally, is to be able to catch the positive and unusual/unplanned aspect of the reality, of that reality that surrounds us but that, for some weird reason, we are not observing with pleasure...

But it's fine, if we start again to observe our world,we can be surprised and we can cheer up.

Never fool myself that my dreams will come true...

2009-02-18T13:40:00.009+01:00

It is a long time since I wrote my last post.

It is a long time (about 4 months) that I am studying for an exam that tomorrow, probably, I won't pass getting the result I have been working for and I will have to give up for this month... this means I have to wait longer, for other months of my life that start looking wasted... once again.

I star thinking that it's how it has to be...

Is it my fault? Probably. Probably I haven't been strong enough... but something has changed.

There is more pain, probably I am tired too, but these aren't the only news.

There is something that makes my mind run in a different way... a way that probably will never fit with my actual studies... but, I might be wrong... I cannot know for sure.

Probably a previous "flower" died to let the seeds fly away to other places, toward other situations and life that are unknown now or look too far to be reached...

The only thing I can really decide to do now is to accept all this, I have to keep trying in going ahead. and let the Wind blowing along My Way.

But... why do I still feel unhappy... kinda trapped?

Freedom to be serene...

2009-01-28T23:59:00.005+01:00

Today my mother told me about something happened when she was coming back at home at about 6.45 pm. She was getting into the building, and a woman living here too got scared to hear my mother steps. When this woman realized it was "just mother" she said to her: "Oh, I am sorry. I was a little scared, there was a boy at the gate and..".

My mother just smiled because the boy at the gate was "my boy", so no danger for anyone... but she understood that we are all scared to go out, especially if alone and at night (lights here not always work).

I thought it was a situation as true as sad.

Tonight, I am not feeling very well (I don't know the reason) so I just wanted to post this picture:

Yep, to create a contrast to the evil that torture this world that could be a really amazing and peaceful place.

Indeed, when I took this picture I was being a part of a bigger world life frame that could show only serenity.
There were seagulls flying all around, the sea was calm, there were no clouds in the sky, there were people enjoying the sea practicing sport on it (I guess canoe) or just look at it from the dock.

I remember that when I was shooting exactly this shot I thought: "wow, cool! I am lucky! I couldn't have been able to take a picture of such a situation if, for example, I was in land plagued by the war..."

I don't know why I thought this, but it made me to realized that even if this land is "plagued" by problems that goes from criminality to really little chances to get a really good and interesting (honest) job and consequentially a serene life, it is still able to show such great scenario that talk about the chance to be serene and free.

We all aim to being happy and serene, but this is not always possible... and this can became quite impossible if we don't remember Who we should follow.

Isn't the Pope Cool? ;)

2009-01-24T19:07:00.002+01:00

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER
BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE 43rd WORLD DAY OF COMMUNICATIONS

"New Technologies, New Relationships.
Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship."

May 24, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

In anticipation of the forthcoming World Communications Day, I would like to address to you some reflections on the theme chosen for this year - New Technologies, New Relationships: Promoting a culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship. The new digital technologies are, indeed, bringing about fundamental shifts in patterns of communication and human relationships. These changes are particularly evident among those young people who have grown up with the new technologies and are at home in a digital world that often seems quite foreign to those of us who, as adults, have had to learn to understand and appreciate the opportunities it has to offer for communications. In this year’s message, I am conscious of those who constitute the so-called digital generation and I would like to share with them, in particular, some ideas concerning the extraordinary potential of the new technologies, if they are used to promote human understanding and solidarity. These technologies are truly a gift to humanity and we must endeavour to ensure that the benefits they offer are put at the service of all human individuals and communities, especially those who are most disadvantaged and vulnerable.

The accessibility of mobile telephones and computers, combined with the global reach and penetration of the internet, has opened up a range of means of communication that permit the almost instantaneous communication of words and images across enormous distances and to some of the most isolated corners of the world; something that would have been unthinkable for previous generations. Young people, in particular, have grasped the enormous capacity of the new media to foster connectedness, communication and understanding between individuals and communities, and they are turning to them as means of communicating with existing friends, of meeting new friends, of forming communities and networks, of seeking information and news, and of sharing their ideas and opinions. Many benefits flow from this new culture of communication: families are able to maintain contact across great distances; students and researchers have more immediate and easier access to documents, sources and scientific discoveries, hence they can work collaboratively from different locations; moreover, the interactive nature of many of the new media facilitates more dynamic forms of learning and communication, thereby contributing to social progress.

While the speed with which the new technologies have evolved in terms of their efficiency and reliability is rightly a source of wonder, their popularity with users should not surprise us, as they respond to a fundamental desire of people to communicate and to relate to each other. This desire for communication and friendship is rooted in our very nature as human beings and cannot be adequately understood as a response to technical innovations. In the light of the biblical message, it should be seen primarily as a reflection of our participation in the communicative and unifying Love of God, who desires to make of all humanity one family. When we find ourselves drawn towards other people, when we want to know more about them and make ourselves known to them, we are responding to God’s call - a call that is imprinted in our nature as beings created in the image and likeness of God, the God of communication and communion.

The desire for connectedness and the instinct for communication that are so obvious in contemporary culture are best understood as modern manifestations of the basic and enduring propensity of humans to reach beyond themselves and to seek communion with others. In reality, when we open ourselves to others, we are fulfilling our deepest need and becoming more fully human. Loving is, in fact, what we are designed for by our Creator. Naturally, I am not talking about fleeting, shallow relationships, I am talking about the real love that is at the very heart of Jesus’ moral teaching: "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" and "You must love your neighbour as yourself" (cf. Mk 12:30-31). In this light, reflecting on the significance of the new technologies, it is important to focus not just on their undoubted capacity to foster contact between people, but on the quality of the content that is put into circulation using these means. I would encourage all people of good will who are active in the emerging environment of digital communication to commit themselves to promoting a culture of respect, dialogue and friendship.

Those who are active in the production and dissemination of new media content, therefore, should strive to respect the dignity and worth of the human person. If the new technologies are to serve the good of individuals and of society, all users will avoid the sharing of words and images that are degrading of human beings, that promote hatred and intolerance, that debase the goodness and intimacy of human sexuality or that exploit the weak and vulnerable.

The new technologies have also opened the way for dialogue between people from different countries, cultures and religions. The new digital arena, the so-called cyberspace, allows them to encounter and to know each other’s traditions and values. Such encounters, if they are to be fruitful, require honest and appropriate forms of expression together with attentive and respectful listening. The dialogue must be rooted in a genuine and mutual searching for truth if it is to realize its potential to promote growth in understanding and tolerance. Life is not just a succession of events or experiences: it is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this - in truth, in goodness, and in beauty - that we find happiness and joy. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by those who see us merely as consumers in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.

The concept of friendship has enjoyed a renewed prominence in the vocabulary of the new digital social networks that have emerged in the last few years. The concept is one of the noblest achievements of human culture. It is in and through our friendships that we grow and develop as humans. For this reason, true friendship has always been seen as one of the greatest goods any human person can experience. We should be careful, therefore, never to trivialize the concept or the experience of friendship. It would be sad if our desire to sustain and develop on-line friendships were to be at the cost of our availability to engage with our families, our neighbours and those we meet in the daily reality of our places of work, education and recreation. If the desire for virtual connectedness becomes obsessive, it may in fact function to isolate individuals from real social interaction while also disrupting the patterns of rest, silence and reflection that are necessary for healthy human development.

Friendship is a great human good, but it would be emptied of its ultimate value if it were to be understood as an end in itself. Friends should support and encourage each other in developing their gifts and talents and in putting them at the service of the human community. In this context, it is gratifying to note the emergence of new digital networks that seek to promote human solidarity, peace and justice, human rights and respect for human life and the good of creation. These networks can facilitate forms of co-operation between people from different geographical and cultural contexts that enable them to deepen their common humanity and their sense of shared responsibility for the good of all. We must, therefore, strive to ensure that the digital world, where such networks can be established, is a world that is truly open to all. It would be a tragedy for the future of humanity if the new instruments of communication, which permit the sharing of knowledge and information in a more rapid and effective manner, were not made accessible to those who are already economically and socially marginalized, or if it should contribute only to increasing the gap separating the poor from the new networks that are developing at the service of human socialization and information.

I would like to conclude this message by addressing myself, in particular, to young Catholic believers: to encourage them to bring the witness of their faith to the digital world. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I ask you to introduce into the culture of this new environment of communications and information technology the values on which you have built your lives. In the early life of the Church, the great Apostles and their disciples brought the Good News of Jesus to the Greek and Roman world. Just as, at that time, a fruitful evangelization required that careful attention be given to understanding the culture and customs of those pagan peoples so that the truth of the gospel would touch their hearts and minds, so also today, the proclamation of Christ in the world of new technologies requires a profound knowledge of this world if the technologies are to serve our mission adequately. It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this "digital continent". Be sure to announce the Gospel to your contemporaries with enthusiasm. You know their fears and their hopes, their aspirations and their disappointments: the greatest gift you can give to them is to share with them the "Good News" of a God who became man, who suffered, died and rose again to save all people. Human hearts are yearning for a world where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. Our faith can respond to these expectations: may you become its heralds! The Pope accompanies you with his prayers and his blessing.

From the Vatican, 24 January 2009, Feast of Saint Francis de Sales.

BENEDICTUS XVI

_____________________________________________

I wrote a post in italian some days ago, but it's pretty long. I wish I will find the time to translate it some day. But, let me tell you that this message can be really enough! :)

Fleck of dust

2009-01-21T00:00:00.004+01:00

"I, being but a fleck of dust into the world, I am bigger than the world itself. ".

(Catania, Saturday 17th January 2009)

The sentence is a translation of a Father Giussani's sentence, that i read in a book some years ago.

Lazyness or activity?

2009-01-20T22:30:00.007+01:00

Today it's rainy, as it has been rainy for the last month... but Saturday 17th January it has been a great day, with almost no wind and a sun shining in a cloudless sky.
That day I took the picture of the previous post (19th Jan) and many other as this one:

You should know that I live in Catania, it's a town on Sicily east cost so you can understand how it has been surprising for me to see the sun reflecting on the sea at sunset time. (Even if it isn't exactly a sunset at the sea! :D ).

How it possible? The dock is linked to the north part of Catania gulf so I had the chance to see this amazing show.

Saturday morning I woke up without knowing where I was going to go, I just I was going out with my boyfriend for a walk. Than, close to lunch time, we decided to not came back home and have a quick lunch somewhere close to the sea and than come back to take picture. As soon as we got out from the fast food, we saw a lot of seagulls flying all over the sky, so we decided to follow them till we reached the port. There were thousands of seagulls! We spent something like 3 hours at that dock.
Three amazing hours where I had the chance to discover amazing scenarios of my town. I am a little ashamed I didn't know them before, but... when, after sunset we left the dock i did take a last look to that panorama I have been looking at for ours and I thought:
"Wow, Sicily, I will probably have to leave you to improve my life but... COOL! How amazing you are! How much I will be missing you if I leave!".

What about the picture I am showing here?
I was at about on the dock at almost 1.3 km far from the starting point, there were structures floating on the sea that were occupied by seagulls that were probably getting ready to get some sleep.
While I was shooting picture, a group of seagulls, coming from don't know where, started to fly all around and I... just took that picture :)

A screen shot just to show you were I was (more or less). I intend to come back there soon. I want to take some pictures at sunset again (with charged battery... I run out of energy just for the most amazing moments of sunset) and I want, if it's possible, to reach the end of the dock...

The Real always wins

2009-01-19T23:56:00.003+01:00

B: "In this picture it looks like a star"

N.O.: "What's new? Isn't the Sun a star?"

M: "Looks like it was night!"

N.O.:"It wasn't, have you ever see such a thing at night?"

M: "well, actually... to be the moon is too luminous..."

N.O.: "And that line of light at centre..."

M: "Yeah!"

Company

2009-01-10T00:13:00.015+01:00

Yeah! I am crazy! A crazy idiot!

I am an idiot because I wasted the whole day for the pain that I let win on my will to study.
I kept having pity of my self for being so "weak" and this made me close my eyes, as always.

I am crazy because while I was writing an endless post with thousands of words that said nothing I realized how to say something i have been wanting to say for 2 weeks or so.
The concept, in my mind, is linked to this picture

that I took in August 2008 during a walk I had with some relatives. There were me, my parents, my aunt and my grandma, we went out to pick some blackberries.
That day was cloudy and annoying, I had taken almost no pictures but when we went out for that (unplanned) walk the sun come out and I had the chance to take some pictures.

This picture recall me some concept that are the main themes of the thought of these last months, of course when I am not too busy with complaining! ;)
Recently I have been thinking a lot about the value of a family and of a "company" and how both are necessary to be happy... and because I have to start from some point my mind picked up to think about family and the movement my family belong.

Indeed, I grown up in a family belonging to a Catholic movement (Comunion and Liberation) and it's clear what importance they, at least theoretically, give to the fact of being a "company".
I guess it is normal that when I was a child that group of people meant "home" for me... but with the passing of the years I couldn't stand most of them anymore, as well as I couldn't stand almost any other human being.

So, I guess it's normal that the last time in my life I felt really at home was in March 2002 while I was being confirmed in the Cathedral of my town.

During the Mass the choir started to sing something. I cannot remember what it was but it called me back while I was getting lost in not really good thought alike:
"Tomorrow I have that annoying Latin test, today it's cold, I am nervous and some "creative guy" had the unhappy idea to make 7 people sit on the same bench... it's symbolical I know, but half of me is sitting on nothing, i am suspends it's so uncomfortable, beside the cathedral is full of people but except my parents no one of them is a friend or a relative of mine.. I feel so..."
the song changed the thought in: "... Wow! COOL! I feel at home, everything is fine!"

The beauty of the singing, the beauty of the place I was being in, the beauty and the importance of what was happening made me find back serenity, and erased from my mind any bad thought. Well, it helped also to see that my religion teacher came for me. She didn't knew me and I didn't have a great esteem of her but she proved I was wrong, she showed me that despite she wasn't able of witty speech she had what is really required to be a great person: A good hearth.

In the following years I forgot all these church-related events, i focused only on my problems and let only some "chat friends" to help me...
I let you imagine my surprise and my pleasure to see that, finally even on that "devilish web", there were member of that"company" I had missed for years. And I let you imagine that one of them is actually a member of THAT choir that made me feel me at home some years ago.

I still think that I won't feel "at home" as that day anymore, that there is actually no home for me... but, now, at least, I feel a lot of steps closer to that "home" I am looking for...

There is still a lot to say and to do, but it's late, it's better if I go to bed in order to avoid to waste another day, even if I am starting to think that I didn't waste this friday at all, thanks to love and friendship that surrounds me...

...and sorry if I have bothered you.

:)

Free caotic thoughts

2009-01-08T11:42:00.007+01:00

I have been silent for a long time on this blog.
I had to study (well actually I still have to study) a lot, I started the blog in Italian, I did some graphic work (nothing special) for my family and with my boyfriend we bought a domain to build a new site and a new blog a little more "serious" than this one and with much more space for pictures and other stuff. The project is still at the starting point, but I hope in few months to complete most of the work.
Will I close this blog? No. Here I feel more free to write whatever I think :)

So... I have been silent even on my blog in Italian in these last days. I didn't write anything special or interesting. Probably I have never written anything special of interesting? Dunno, surely I have not been able for the last weeks to write what I have been thinking about, and yet, I am not sure I will be able to do it now but trying to think in English is helpful... I am slower with English language (what a news, I am Italian!), but being slower with my thoughts is helpful to focus on them.

WOW... while I am writing my boyfriend is playing with the new "toys" we bought :). Don't be perverted with your thoughts, they are just new cellphones. Nokia 6110 navigator to be sincere, amazing cellphone but because my bf is showing me "new amazing stuff" (again, I am talking about the new Nokia) he has been able to distract me from what I have been trying to focus on.
Eheheh, funny man!
But I have to say that is my fault: the first message I sent him with the new cellphone said: "You stink!". I am such a sweet girl! ;D

Ok, I have been able to write a lot and to say nothing! Looks like I am really good at doing this! ;)
I guess the period of "free caotic thoughts" isn't finished yet!

Help! I need an order in my thoughts! ;D

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T17:31:00.007+01:00

The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
(traditional)

"The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
And they say that His name was Jesus

He come from the glory, He come from the glorious kingdom.

The wise men saw where the baby born…
And they say that His name was Jesus.

He come from the glory, He come from the glorious kingdom
Oh yes, believer!
He come from the glory, He come from the glorious kingdom.

The angels sang when the baby born,
And they say that His name was Jesus."

Immaculate Conception

2008-12-08T18:53:00.000+01:00

"Sicut lilium inter spinas,

sic amica mea inter filias"

Peeking Kitten

2008-12-01T00:10:00.000+01:00

The 16th September 2008 I went with my boyfriend to take some pictures to the ruins of a roman amphitheater that there is in Catania... well, I guess that the first lesson of that day is: "Taking pictures to monuments isn't something you should keep doing".
Indeed, I enjoyed more to take pictures to some kittens that had their "house" there. These little cats gave me the chance to take a lot of pictures and of different kind: from the happy to the gloomy type.

Today, I choose a picture, that, according to me, belongs to the second group... or at least, it seams so to me and I feel kinda of "represented" from this kitten.

This little guy used to be peeking from its home t to see if it was safe to get out, its siblings did alike but this one was probably the most prudent kitten.... then, I set with my camera a little further and I started to watch and wait.

All the kittens came out 3 or 4 times, giving me the chance to take some nice shots. Later, alas, came a numerous group of tourists that scared the little cats a who run to their home

After few minuets my boyfriend showed me that there were grinds on the floor, from these grids you could see part of some tunnels... the cat of the picture was watching us, at a first moment I thought to take another picture of this cat but the kitten behind the grid seemed in prison so I gave up the idea to take this picture and I went away in order to leave at peace that little cat.

Reflected Love

2008-11-26T22:23:00.013+01:00

Me: "Close your eyes, think about a picture of mine and tell me which is".
M1L: "The one with the rose that seems lit from inside"

Me: "Why?"
M1L: "I love the strange light there".

This is a part of a conversation about pictures I had with my boyfriend, few minutes before he left to go to sleep.
I wanted a picture to dedicate to him for a post. Tomorrow he will have the spoken part of a test to start the PhD in Nuclear Physics, that he, hopefully, will get in 3 or 4 years.

I am glad he chosen this picture. I like the light effect too and today I like it more because it made me realize that Beauty in things is like a light, that seems to be coming from inside but instead it is just a reflected light.
For this reason, probably, even such a "common" thing alike a little rose I have seen growing up year by year, can became something of amazing... something that I will probably we'll ever get bored to look at.
I think that by instinct everyone of us look for this "reflected Eternal Beauty"... we have just to look at things and let this Beauty feels our hearts.

Thinking about this picture another idea came up to my mind... an idea that probably "solved" a "problem" I have been thinking about for years: "What makes so special the person we love and we see everyday. Why are we so amazed in seeing their friendly faces that we already know very well? Why don't we get ever bored by them?"
I think that such an amazing love or friendship came when both side open their heart and let that Beauty, that Eternal Love, fill their souls... so everyone we love is a source of "that reflected Love", and we can be such a source for them as well... and, by the nature of that Beauty, we will never get bored even of the people we know through and through.

My dear, it is one of the most important reason that make me look forward to see you again, to hug you again.
And I hope we will be able to celebrate a good result in the spoken test your going to have in few hours.

You are doing a great work for both of us.

Please, pray for us too!

The sun shines less, it's getting cold outside, but...

2008-11-23T02:06:00.008+01:00

It’s probably me unable to do it, but I don’t use to take pictures in this period of the year because it’s often cloudy (so no good lights) and it’s wind.

The period I prefer is spring-summer when the sun often shines and this allow me to take colorful pictures alike this one:

I took this picture the 15th April 2008, that day it was warm outside and the and the shining sun helped me a lot taking this picture.
The flower in the picture is a Passiflora (Passion flower), it’s among my favorite ones.

By the way, when I bought this plant (in March) the information I read about this said that it used to bloom only in a period of the year alike “late spring” or “summer” according to the plant… if it works really this way my plant isn’t well informed! It has been blooming from April with almost no rest. ;)

Yep, Thursday had been a great day, full of new events: joining SOL group and finding a lot of wonderful people, my boyfriend did an important test and I had also the chance to see such an unusual but amazing event that made my day looking nicer, a lot nicer.

So… even if I was tired, I was in a hurry and outside it was windy and cloudy I wanted to try try to take a picture to the brave (or reckless?) flower that bloomed on Wednesday (I think) and was going to close… fortunately mom showed me in time!

This isn’t surely alike the picture I took on April, colors aren’t vivid, I couldn’t play with camera settings to get the black background (this was due to the flower position too) but I think that, despite all, I am satisfied by this picture.
I think it’s AMAZING that a flower blooms in the period when the whole nature is going to sleep for some months, don’t you?
I hope that this won’t kill the plant, though! Outside it is getting colder!

Well… that day someone probably didn’t enjoy my presence on the balcony:

Here you are who was observing me, standing on the gate of the balcony of the apartment that is above mine, I guess they were waiting me to go in order reach the little dish where we leave some food for them.

As soon as I noticed them I wondered if they were thinking something such as: “This one has to annoy just at lunch time?”

Overcoming (little) pain

2008-11-18T22:39:00.012+01:00

Problems, pains and a lot of things can make life so awful that it seems almost no worth to live... but we have to go ahead and with time we learn that we have to deal with this negative aspects and most of the times we cannot overcome problems without the proper support.
This support can come from friends or relatives or "something else" that everyone reaches walking along his/her own way... one of these ways, in my case, is photography.

Taking pictures, in my case, is not only a way to appreciate that world beauty I wouldn't notice otherwise, it's also trough this "hobby" I can find a way to stand little problems alike pain, that famous "leg pain" that bothers me since I was 15 years old. It isn't a big deal but it can be really annoying because sometimes I am slowed down by pain and it makes me complain a lot (Well... I am also really good at complain).

How can taking picture be a way to accept pain?
JUST... I have noticed that if I have to suffer "leg pain" started with no reasons seems like the biggest problem in my life, whereas, it is much easier to overcome if I decide to try to ignore it in order to take a picture! (Not always, but most of the time it works this way).
In the same way, I usually don't complain if I start feeling pain because I had to adopt weird stances to shot pictures. I behave this way not because I have a "bad conscience" (I usually mock myself to have been clumsy) but because I have learn that this a little price I have to pay to have had the chance to "pin" in a picture a small but amazing part of that Eternal Beauty that created everything that surround us.

Looks like that passion for photography and the conscience that trough it I can appreciate at least part of that Beauty, can work as a perfect painkiller! ;)

To take pictures I squatted down in front of this dragonfly for several minutes, my legs didn't enjoy it, but I guess it was worth.

No words

2008-11-14T22:38:00.005+01:00

I don't know what to say, but these words might be the proper ones.

Half a second

2008-11-09T23:22:00.006+01:00

Even half a sec can be a really long time for a lot of reasons, not necessarily for bad reasons. This time lapse can seem too long if you have to "take a picture"...

Suppose you must stay, in an uncomfortable position for *only* 0.5 second and you must be "steady" if you don't want a blurred picture.
Suppose that the place where you want to be steady is a rock, and that your shoes are slippery.
Now suppose your crazy enough to be leaning over what is below the rock you are on, because what you want to be the subject of your picture is down there!

I can assure you, even half of a second in this situation is long enough to be an obstacle for your intentions!

I don't know if it was love for taking pictures, if it was the tendency to always try to surpass yourself or the typical teenager craziness but I didn't give up in that "dangerous" situation.

The rock and my shoes were slippery, my classmate wanted to go away but I felt I had to lean over that little water fall and to try the "just discovered" new technique with that subject!
I looked around me and tried to find a position that allowed me to take that picture but saved me from falling off the rock.

A tree branch above me was exactly what I was looking for, indeed it, as an arm of a giant, allowed me to stay enough steady and partially suspended over that little waterfall and this is how I had the chance to shot this picture!

This picture probably will never win a first prize in an international photography contest but to take it I won my fear, I improved my photographic skills and I came back home really happy that day!.

Well, taking picture in the oddest positions has it's cost:pain.

But, believe me, this kind of pain is never annoying for me!

I will talk about it tomorrow.

Not in the mood, sorry.

2008-11-08T23:58:00.011+01:00

[...]
"Never fool myself that my dreams will come true
being use to trouble I anticipate it
but all the same I hate it, wouldn't you?"
[...]

The last 2 lines are perfect to describe my status today, the first one might be perfect to describe my status in a month or so... once again.

Hope I am wrong.

I wanted to write a post about a picture I shot in May 2006, but I am not in the mood today.

Sorry.

Nostalgia is... missing the chance to take pictures.

2008-11-06T01:14:00.009+01:00

In these days I have been sick, so I didn't go out, I missed almost a week of lectures and I didn't go to the Mass too. I did nothing of what I usually do.
Despite this "bad" situation, something nice happened: I had the chance to talk more with my friends, and to discover new-old ones and this made me turn back into a positive mood.

This positive mood makes me willing again to do thing alike going out to take pictures!
Alas! In the next months I have to study a lot so I won't be going out for a very long while and this makes me feeling a big sweet nostalgia for shooting.... but I am happy!
Why happy? It's a long story, just know that for a while I did want to do NOTHING, absolutely nothing, and I reached the pretty annoying (or worrying for friend) point that I didn't want to care about my passions too...

Everything is fine now, so... I am going to show you one my last work... hum, these words make the picture seeming an important one and it isn't... but I cannot think of other ways to express the concept that "this the last picture I shot".

I took this picture at my country house on 19th October 2008. It was a really cloudy day so light wasn't the best one and everything looked monochromatic, all the same... but I knew it must have been something of interesting so I forced my eyes to find something that was nice, and after few minutes I found this grapes.
I took some pictures at the standing grapes, later my mother asked me if she could picked the and I said to her smiling: "Only if you allow me taking the pictures to you while you are picking them!"... she agreed of course and here your are the result!

Yeah, those are my mother's hands, aren't them amazing too?! :)

Later I have been able to fin a couple of interesting things... I may post these pictures in the next days.

Today I just wanted to show you one of the reasons that make me love (and miss) "photography" so much: the fact that this is a way to force yourself to "look for beauty" and "to not just stop at a the first impression of the reality you have".

Wouldn't you miss such a joy too?

Nostalgia is... missing a friend

2008-11-05T23:59:00.006+01:00

"I don't want him for other four years!" or something similar said Randy when Bush won for the second time the election to be USA president.
I remember I tired to make Randy smile and show him that 4 years are not the eternity, that they will pass and he won't Bush won't be the president any longer.. I think that as always happened with him that frustrated conversation changed into a fun one and every sad thought disappeared, from our minds, for a little while.

I guess it's normal I have been thinking about him a lot in these days.
I found me thinking things like: "somehow those 4 years really meant the eternity for Randy"; or yesterday I was thinking: "I am sure he knows who is going to win and he is probably laughing at the idea we don't know"; and today I am thinking "I would like to know what he would have said about these election. I would like to know who he would have voted for... probably Obama?!".

Yeah, I am missing a lot our fun chats!

About a dream, about an hope.

2008-11-04T23:59:00.001+01:00

The dream

Who knows me knows also that I dream a lot and one of my biggest dream is to go, at least for a travel, in the USA.
I have had this (not that) secret wish surely since I was 9... probably even since I was 6, indeed, few months ago I discovered that, on a side of a table that was in my room, there is a label where I wrote my name and my surname and "New York". This label reminded me that I liked the idea to be visiting at least that city since I was 6 or so.

I guess that now I don't know exactly which is the FIRST thing that made me having this wish but I can say that the reasons to go there changed with the passing of years.
For example, in the last 4 years the reason that makes me keep on with this dream is the desire to go for a visit and an hug, at least once in my life, those American friends I talk with almost every day.

The hope

Now ...Americans are voting. And I am curious to know what is going on... but at the moment the only thing I understood is that journalist, politicians and writers are fully expressing their endless ability to keep talking for HOURS about something they don't know! It will take a lot of hours till will be clear who is the 44th USA president. It's a little irritating, so I decided to turn off television, and going to sleep but...

But, before closing this day I wanted to express my hope about what is going on.
I cannot express my opinion because I know pretty few about politics, I let you figure out what I know about USA one... but I think you don't have to be an expert to understand that this an important day for USA and world future.
So, even if I don't know who is the best one between Obama and McCain, I HOPE that will win the "less dangerous" one! :) I hope this because USA is too powerful and its government behavior can influence world history a lot.

Really, may God bless American and suggests to American citizen and politicians the best behavior.

May the whole world moves, with the help of God, toward the proper direction.

Against Darkness

2008-11-03T23:50:00.000+01:00

It was a Monday in late November. You had come to the university even if you hadn’t to. You wanted to spend lunch time with me because you knew I would have been alone, you knew I needed you.

In those days, too, I used to go to the university with my digital SLR camera because I wanted to catch something for a university photographic contest.

That Monday, after lunch, we had a free hour or so before I had to go to the laboratory for a couple of hours and you offered to be the subject for a picture.
I have spent one of the most amazing hours in my life, I was spending time with you, I was taking picture and you were a perfect model! You did everything I said you to do… “Go there”, “look on the right, not that much”, “now look toward me”, “no, no, no, turn on the page too, don’t be so steady!”.

Here the best picture I shot that Monday…

It’s among the best pictures I ever shot. This picture means a lot for me.
There is you, the person I love since March 2007 [well...that's the "official" date but... :)].
This is the final result of a series of tests I did to learn a new photography technique.
This is also a post-it of a great lesson I should never forget: “Love taking picture, love what you are taking picture at”. I realized this rule only after few months when I understood that one of the common elements of each picture I am “proud” of is the mood I was when I shot that picture: being glad. Yeah, usually I take pictures I like only when I really love the reality that is surrounding me at that moment, when I am glad to have had the chance to see that beautiful aspect of this world.
And in that Monday it was you, holding the “Bible” for physicist that study matter and listening to my “orders” and doing something you had never done but seemed so “natural” for you.

You know that this picture is also shown in an article written on another blog about photography, and thanks to this article I had found at least 3 new friends.

I didn’t win that contest but you are beside me, I have learnt a new technique and probably one of the “golden rules” to take pictures and I had met new friends.

I think I have received from that hour of “work” not what I wanted but much more than I expected! :)

P.S. My flu and some annoying people tried to ruin this 3rd November, but we won't let them down us ;)

Cold and cool!

2008-11-02T23:00:00.004+01:00

What have I been doing in these last days?
A lot of tiring things, the main one is lying on my bed. Don't you think it's tiring?!
It is when you have high temperature, you have to blow your nose, and later when temperature goes down and you think "I am going to get well" you start coughing every 4 seconds...and you feel like you have to do your best to keep your lungs inside your chest... but, it's getting a little too macabre!

Maybe it's better if I talk about another (pleasantly) tiring aspect of my life: Friends! ;)
Why tiring? Because when I just want to be LAZY they call me back to "active" life!.
Yep, I have really amazing friends that are extremely bothering: they made me keep doing "something" even in these days!
This mean that in these days, when I hadn't a too high temperature, I have been trying to do thing using my iMac.
I have to admit that this attempt has been productive (or harmful?) because I STARTED to work on the Italian version of this blog, just to make happy Italian web surfer. (But the Italian blog is NOT opened yet, I have to complete some works!)

I had also discovered new realities and even a new aspect in my behavior: the ability to keep calm.
It has been strange but in these last days I have been able to keep calm in front of problems that few days ago would have made me really furious or sad. Problems alike illness, annoying people, bad events in general (like the last chaotic days at the university) seemed less difficult to be solved.
I wish this "coolness" it is not due to my cold only!
I hope I can keep improving the ability to not get angry too easily and to do my best to avoid any arguments and so on...

I am glad I can say or, at least I HOPE I can say that in these days I had the luck to see another good, but apparently, hidden aspect of my life... despite all the bad events where surrounding me.

Thanks to my friends and to my Love for being so supportive (and patient of course) :).

P.S. Well... looks like I am still really good at being delirious even if I have a normal temperature!
Sorry! :D

Sharing

2008-10-31T18:40:00.006+01:00

If you know, if you see, smell, taste, hear, feel or just "read" something of beautiful wouldn't you like to share it with your friends?

I would.

Those American/English friends of mine, that I have been bothering for at least some months (if not years), can say that at least once while we were chatting I dropped them a message where I said "Oh, I am reading something that I wished I could share with you"... but I couldn't share with them that thing I liked, because it was written in Italian.

Why didn't I simply translated it?
Because it was usually a blog post about important topics, and usually it was pretty long... Beside, with the poor translation I can provide, I might change the real meaning of the post.

Fortunately, after some years one the owner of one of the Italian blogs I like, and i use to read almost daily, decided to open an Enlgish version of his blog.

So I hope everyone of you, friends or just passersby, will spend a bit of time taking a look to this blog written by Screwtape the devil who "has no time to throw away writing false or unimportant things"...indeed I can assure you that most of the time there are really interesting thing on his blog. :)

Surfing the web...

2008-10-16T23:49:00.004+02:00

...A couple of months ago, in order to find an interesting Feynman's quote, I found this poetry of his.

I think the last lines are superb.

Out of the cradle
onto dry land...
here it is standing...
atoms with consciousness
...matter with curiosity.
Stands at the sea...
wonders at wondering... I...
a universe of atoms...
an atom in the universe

The seed.

2008-10-15T22:14:00.007+02:00

The Seed

The Lord has planted a seed,
in the earth in my garden,
in the Lord has planted a seed
in the depth of my morning.

As soon as I realized it
I came down from my balcony
I wanted to see inside it
I wanted to see the seed.

But the Lord planted the seed
in the earth in my garden
The lord planted the seed
at the beginning of my path.

I wish that seed would bloom
I wish the flower would grow
But the time for budding,
i known to my Lord.

The Lord has planted a seed,
in the earth in my garden,
the Lord has planted a seed
in the depth of my morning.

This is another Claudio Chieffo's song that I used to listen to when I was a little girl and I re-discovered it only recently.
In the last 2-3 years I felt this way, anxious to see that seed growing, but I have to wait...
I just wish I won't miss the blooming.

Original lyric.
Il seme
Il Signore ha messo un seme
nella terra del mio giardino,
il Signore ha messo un seme
nel profondo del mio mattino.

lo appena me ne sono accorto
sono sceso dal mio balcone
e volevo guardarci dentro
e volevo vedere il seme.

Ma il Signore ha messo il seme
nella terra del mio giardino,
il Signore ha messo il seme
all'inizio del mio cammino.

Io vorrei che fiorisse il seme
io vorrei che nascesse il fiore,
ma il tempo del germoglio
lo conosce il mio Signore.

Il Signore ha messo un seme
nella terra del mio giardino,
il Signore ha messo un seme
nel profondo del mio mattino.

A couple of reason to go ahead...

2008-10-13T00:15:00.004+02:00

Even in the darkest places there is Light.

2008-10-06T18:05:00.011+02:00

Yesterday I went to my parents little country house, it's a pretty nice place if you want to observe an almost undisturbed nature.

It wasn't that late when we reached it, I was pretty sure I was going to shot some pictures but only there I realized that in that places sunset come early (due to an hill on the west) so I had only few minutes rest of direct light and than I had just to "be creative".

It's cold there now and there aren't the typical autumn signs yet... but there was a group of lilies (at least I think they are lilies) that fascinated me.
I think it is a strange period time for blooming but they were there and so fascinating, I decided to try to shot them some pictures even if sun was already gone and they were in a pretty dark side of the yard.

I am enjoying the result.

I love this weird situations and their result!

I am probably crazy and visionary, but when I notice this little beautiful shows in the places and in the time where I would not expect, I start thinking if it is just "a coincidence" or if it's something else.

I love to think that it's something else, that this little shows are more like post-it left for us to remind us that "it's not as dark as it seems", "it's not as impossible as you think"...

Third year?!

2008-10-05T23:24:00.005+02:00

Tomorrow I will go to the university for the third "first lessons day"... I am going to start my third and last year at university... well, actually it is not the last ever, it's just the last one of what Italians call a "first level degree" (similar to an American BA, I think).

Apparently everything is fine in my life, apparently...

There is still so much to do, to wait for, to hope for and probably a lot more to accept even if makes you feel sad and humiliated.

I feel trapped but I can see the sky...I just wonder if it isn't just an illusion I created in my mind to survive.

It cannot be an illusion, a Sky cannot disappear.

Weird, I am speaking about love.

2008-10-04T23:08:00.013+02:00

When I was 8 or so I asked to my parents why most of the songs speak about love, I thought it was stupid and boring!
They tried to explain me the reason but i was too young to understand that.

Few years later, but a lot of time before I had ever fallen in love with someone, I understood what my parents meant while I was listening to a Claudio Chieffo's song. I grew up listening to his songs, probably at that time I had already listened to this particular song, but only that day I thought: "...this is the best love song I have ever heard..."

I want to share with you its lyric, you can listen to a sample of the song music here...

I let you imagine why I like it.

The original lyric is in Italian.

BALLATA dell'AMORE VERO.

Io vorrei volerti bene come ti ama Dio
con la stessa passione, con la stessa forza
con la stessa fedeltà che non ho io.

Mentre l'amore mio
è piccolo come un bambino
solo senza la madre
sperduto in un giardino.

Io vorrei volerti bene come ti ama Dio
con la stessa tenerezza, con la stessa fede
con la stessa libertà che non ho io.

Mentre l'amore mio
è fragile come un fiore
ha sete della pioggia
muore se non c'è il sole.

Io ti voglio bene e ne ringrazio Dio
che mi dà la tenerezza, che mi dà la forza
che mi dà la libertà che non ho io.

English translation, i found it in the "libretto" that comes with the CD.

BALLAD of THE TRUE LOVE.

I would like to love you
as God loves you
with the same passion,
with the sam strenght,
with the same fidelity
that I do not have.

While my love
is small like a child
alone without his mother
lost in a garden.

I would like to love you
as God loves you
with the same tenderness,
with the same faith
with the same freedom
that i do not have.

While my love
is fragile like a flower
it thirsts for rain
and dies without sun.

I love you and for it I thank God
who gives me tenderness
who gives me the strength
who gives me the freedom
that I do not have.

To the one that is fighting for our future :)

Robots

2008-10-03T18:35:00.012+02:00

Can robots love? Can they understand or appreciate love?
Can they appreciate the beauty of this world?

Probably not, I guess they can be programmed to reproduce a typical human behavior in front of something that is wonderful, that is amazing. They might be programmed to behave as an human that loves, but they will keep being an human product... they will probably always miss something.

I think only a pure human hearth can recognize the Beauty reflected on Beauty's creation, because only that Beauty (source of the pure Love) can really write the proper "code" that is in everyone's heart and mind.

We can choose to follow that code, or we can just ignore it.

Dedicated to someone that has been, unjustly, defined a robot but I know he can love and recognize the real Beauty.

Thanks for these last 19 months together :).

Forcing myself to keep my eyes opened!

2008-09-27T01:19:00.007+02:00

I already wrote this post in a previous blog where I used to write posts both in English an in Italian, I am closing the English side there and "moving" it on PhotoN Message.

In a previous post I told you how some of those friends and relatives were surprised to "discover", through the picture I was showing them, that there was something of beautiful even where they didn't notice any beauty.
It was very pleasant to see their smiling faces and their surprised eyes. I loved this!

It was during the following months that I realized how easy was to "lose" those "beautiful" details of our reality, an example?

It was the 16th or 17th July 2004, when I was walking in a park in Rapallo (Genoa) and I heard a loud twitter. I looked around for some minutes and at the end I found a very little bird on the street...so I bended on it an tried and after I got surprised by the fact that it was "so small" I tried to take some pictures...It was too dark there so I hadn't been able to take "good picture" but this little bird made me able to notice something else...

As soon as I bended down, the passersby turned curious too and at the sight of the little bird they smiled and went away smiling... I was surprised, because during those minutes I spent to find the source of that twitter I had seen no one else trying to find the source of that sound...
It seemed like, for those people, it was a "too small" detail of the reality to care about.

That day I realized that the simple act to just focus my attention on something, made some one else want to focus on it too and appreciate that detail of our reality.

Reflecting on this event I realized that what happened to those passersby could happen to me too! This scared me a little, I didn't want to be blind, to close my eyes in front of reality!
In order to avoid, as much as I could, this behavior I tried to do my best in forcing myself to look at the world that surrounds me... I am not sure if I can do it often enough, but I am sure I am still trying...

That day, I understood that taking picture was a good way to "force" myself to look for the world (even smallest and hidden) beauty!

Ciao bello!

2008-09-25T01:49:00.013+02:00

I haven't wrote yet the post where I explain the title and the goals of this blog, but as I said previously one of the main topics I am going to talk about is: "what makes me loving this life despite all its bad aspects".
Therefore, I guess, there's nothing of strange if I am going to talk about the people I love for their birthday because it's the day in which they joined this world. :)

The "lucky" one today is Allyn from San Francisco, CA, whose birthday is on September 23rd... but, ssh! He doesn't want to make a big deal of it! :P

Who's Allyn? Difficult to define a person in few words...

I started talking with him in April 2008, this make him one of my "newest" friend... I know,
it is only 5 months ago when we started to talk, but it feels like it was 5yrs ago because we had the chance to talk and argue (difficult to avoid arguing with an annoying person alike me) about a lot of things.
I guess that, despite the little time passed since our first chat, he is a really good person who really loves life (yeah, even if he doesn't enjoy birthday! :P )
You can see his good hearth not only from how he talks with people but also from how he talks about his wife and his daughter who he loves so much!

I am really glad to have met this man. (What a news! I wouldn't define him a friend if he wasn't such a pleasant person! ;P).

Last but not least, I have to say that he is very skilled at photography. If you don't believe me you can see and buy (!) some of his pictures visiting this site.

I want to wish him a (belated) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, using this picture of his... despite it's a very good shot it's not one of his best shot... but I am sure he is going to understand why I am posting this particular sunset picture of his. :)

Loving the rain

2008-09-21T01:00:00.000+02:00

I used to hate rain, I also had a couple “good reasons”:
- a couple of days before it starts raining I often star having a lot of pain for some days,
- if you look for the chance to take pictures filled with sun light… a rainy day isn’t that helpful…

It’s September 20th, 1.40 am and, I don’t know when, it has started to rain.
I realized it because I heard the typical noise that cars do moving along the nearby road, now I can also hear the noise of the falling drops. I love these sounds and this moment.

I am in my home, in my room listening only to water sounds (I guess I have to thank my silent iMac).
My leg hurts a bit, but it’s OK. I am fine.
Online there is a friend from Texas talking with me, he agrees that “rain is a good thing, in moderation”.

All this makes me think about another friend, from Iowa, who loved rain too.
I still remember our “friendly” arguments about rain, he loved it while I hated it.. and what great laugh we had those days that it was sunny in his town an rainy in mine! :).

I am smiling now… I am glad to have known this man… He did a lot for me…beside sharing with me one of the biggest friendship I ever had, he taught me a lot of things, he gave me the greatest chance I ever had to make real one of my biggest dream: being able to understand and speak English. I have a lot to do but he really helped me.

Tomorrow (the 21st) should have been his 57th birthday… “Should have” because he died in June 2007.

All this is making me really thoughtful, I cannot stop thinking about the strange coincidence happened during the night of the 21st Sept 2006. It was his last birthday, it has been one of the last time we talked, but at the same time I talked for the first time with the boy that now is my boyfriend and that I love so much!

I am also thinking about what rains means for me now, it was February 2008 when I first thought “seems like Randy has come to blow away my sadness”. It was a night similar to this; I was really thoughtful, and I understood it was raining in the same way…I heard that noise made by car motion on the street.

The following morning I had the chance to shot this picture. It’s probably not a great picture but you can understand why I love it.

Since that day, each time it is raining I like to think that he is a step closer to me, I don’t care if it is a stupid thought but the important thing is that thanks to our friendship I love something that I hated and shouldn’t be hating (if it falls in moderation of course).

Wonder that moves

2008-09-20T00:05:00.009+02:00

I already wrote this post in a previous blog where I used to write posts both in English an in Italian, I am closing the English side there and "moving" it on PhotoN Message.

"You look like a paparazzi! Why do you take so many picture?!". That's what usually people I know (not friends) say to me when I am shooting some pictures. I always try to explain them why I don't just "shot one picture"but it's very difficult, for me, to explain the reason of that behavior in such a little time to such not really "interested" people.

In order to find an explanation I decided to write some posts about "what makes me loving photography". I actually don't know what I am going to say, and if I will repeat myself... I guess a good starting point is trying to explain HOW I have fallen in love with photography.

Despite the fact I got my first camera for my 6th birthday, I started taking (really) a lot of picture of what I could see around me when I was about 14. In that period I got my first compact camera and I started talking with people from all over the world, I wanted to share with those distant (but so close) friends the wonderful sights I had the chance to see day by day.

I started showing them some sunsets pictures, the Etna eruption (Fall 2002) effects on my town, and how the volcano looked like in those says. I also shoed to my friends some pictures I took during short summer trips on the Dolomites (Summer 2002).

Usually people who saw those pictures commented them in a very positive way...well, probably most of them were just being kind friends, they were being nice with the "little girl" but I hope that some of them really appreciated the "beauty" I tried to "record" on my pictures...

Sometimes I have also shot some flowers pictures, those flowers were usually in some parks or just in some pots on on my balcony. It was amazing to discover, almost each time I showed those first pictures, that people who lived in my town or in the same house (as my brother) couldn't believe that those flowers were just under their noses but they hadn't been able to see such a beauty.

Their smile caused by a pleasant surprise really made me happy! :D OK, I have to admit I was happy also because they were appreciating my "work" but, please, believe when I say that in those days I started to discovere what became one of the first reason that makes me taking "so many" pictures...

The "wonder" that a detail of our reality arouses in me.

I think that without this wonder, I would take no picture and probably I would be a little more "blind"...

Here you are some of those pictures. Etna Eruption during October-November 2002.

This picture was shot the 3rd November 2002, from my country house.

For a better understanding, considere that Mt Etna is about 3,000 meters high and the place where I shot this picture is about 800 mt above the sea level.

The ash clouds coming up from the Volcano is made up of what some people in Catania call "Etna sand", it covered all city, the surrounding town and if I am not wrong wind brought part of it in North Africa.

The picture on the left shows the city panorama during the Eruption, on the right you can see a normal day sight. (I shot both picture from the "Cittadella Universitaria").

This is how the beach looked like those days...I guess it's enough if I say that it's 33Km far from the Volcano.

That's all!

2008-09-16T01:33:00.012+02:00

I opened this blog some weeks ago, I created the banner you can see at the top of the page and I wanted to write an "introducing blog" post where I explain the title meaning.

I won't! :) why? Probably because I am mentally insane or just lazy or just wishing to do so many things in such a little time.

Tonight I decide to start the blog with my last shot.

It's not the best picture I took and it can say pretty few about "world beauty" (one of the main blog goal). It is just a picture of a rising moon which light reflects on the Ionian sea, and a girl is looking at it and at the so (love and hated) town where she grown up.

Despite all, I think it's a good way to start the project I have for this blog, because this picture not only was unplanned but it represents how beauty can stop any sad thought and bad feeling.

How a picture can represent such a thing? Simply, the girl in the picture is me, and while I was "posing" I was thinking: "Yeah, if the part of my dreams where I hope to leave this city will ever become true, I will miss the beauty of my town a lot".

Life is hard, sometimes painful too but I know we cannot let problems overcome us; and one of the few ways I know to defeat sadness is to keep in my mind that there is always something of great that stands around me, I just have to look at it... and the best way I know to do this is taking pictures.

I hope this (probably weird) blog will make someone else being able to "avoid sadness".