Pictures of Milan, part 2

I'm back from Milan, and I think I'm mostly over the jetlag. It was bad for a couple of days (after nearly 23 hours in transit on Sunday, which I don't wish on anyone), but I finally started sleeping until the alarm again. Just in time for a four-day weekend!

Anyway, I've got my pictures from the Milan trip up on Flickr, so you can hop on over there to take a peek at them. The ones highlighted here are just a sample, of course, but include two things which seemed very Milan to me - coffee and fashion. The lady in red is a model who was being photographed just outside the Duomo one day, so I figured I'd snap a few pictures as well. I loved that most of the Milanese didn't even seem to notice her. There are more photos of fashionable shoppers, as well as the beautiful cathedral and a few Italian cars, in my Milan Flickr set, so go check it out.

Chris and I really liked Milan, and now the task at hand is to cultivate the relationships we started with our networking meetings. Chris in particular was a busy networker, although I met a couple of expat bloggers as well. Overall, we're very pleased with how the trip went, though time will tell if it was truly "successful" or not.

For the next few days, however, we're all about the food! We get two Thanksgivings this year - one today and another on Saturday - so we're going to make the most of the weekend. I hope everyone is having a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend!

Pictures of Milan

So far, Milan is great - we've got a couple more days, and Chris' meetings are done so we're going to see more of the city now. I did spend an hour yesterday walking around and taking photos on the roof of the Duomo, and there are some other pictures on Flickr now, too. I even caught a bit of a fashion photo shoot just off Duomo Square!

A Few Words About My Father

As you may remember, my dad was diagnosed with esophageal cancer last year. We all thought he'd successfully beaten it, until last month when the mass in his throat (which the doctors had previously thought was scar tissue from the radiation treatments) was biopsied and they found the cancer had returned. And this time, it's on the offensive. The doctors say the cancer has spread to his lungs, lymph nodes and bones, and they've said there's nothing they can do except palliative care.

I don't care who you are, or how comfortable you think you are with the concept of dying, this kind of news isn't going to be easy to take. My dad is dealing with it like a champ, having said that he rolled a Porsche in 1959 and "every day since then has been gravy." Yes, he's feeling some discomfort and sadness, and he's reacting heroically to the situation as far as I'm concerned. (And if you think I'm biased, or that I'm Daddy's Girl, you're right on both counts and I don't care.)

Dad had been neglecting his blog, but he's started it up again and is chronicling his journey. For me, it's incredibly helpful to stay updated this way because talking is difficult for him and the blog allows him to communicate with everyone without getting on the phone. Plus, he's able to say things that might be tough to say in person. Which means when I talk to him I already know all of what's going on and I don't have to ask a bunch of annoying questions. I can just tell him I love him and we can talk about whatever the hell we want to.

Go over and have a peek at my dad's blog - the first cancer-related post is here, and you can navigate through the archives (October and November 2007 are the cancer-related ones so far) under the "Archives" links on the right-hand column. And if you've got some spare kind thoughts floating around, send 'em his way. Being a staunch atheist, he's not so keen on people praying for him - so if that's the way you operate, just don't tell him that's what you're doing. :)

I've heard the debate so many times about, "Would you rather death be sudden, or would you rather know in advance when you were going to die?" And I've even engaged in the debate. But the truth, which hit me when I first heard about Dad's most recent diagnosis, is that it doesn't matter one iota which you'd prefer. Because you don't get a choice in the matter. You get handed what you get handed and you have to deal with it the best way you know how.

I may update y'all on Dad's situation now and again, but if you're interested in following what's going on with him I'd recommend that you check in with his blog.

When a Vacation Isn't Quite a Vacation

Chris leaves for Milan on Wednesday, and I'll follow on Saturday. Once I arrive, we'll have about a week in the city. We'll do some fun things, to be sure, but this isn't exactly your typical Italian vacation. Instead, Chris has informational/job interviews lined up and I'll be meeting some of the expat bloggers I've been reading for nearly a year now. The goal? To find a way to move to Italy.

We know it's not going to be easy, and we aren't expecting someone to offer Chris a job next week, but if he's able to make some good contacts and do some networking he'll be ready when the right job comes along. And that's exciting. And seriously terrifying.

Anyway, I'll be taking lots of pictures (as usual), and will post them on Flickr so y'all can see them. In the meantime, if anyone out there has a contact in Italy who might be interested in hiring a public relations professional, we'd love to hear about it.

Wish us luck, y'all.

What's a Soulterrain?

In the course of my research today, I'm reading about Hungary, and I'm still finding entertaining tidbits. For example, you know you're reading a computer-generated translation when you read something like this:

"This modern furnished, two-story terraced house has a beautiful, calm situation. Common, enclosed garden with UBS103. The landlord lives in the Souterrain."

Luckily, this description was followed by a note indicating that "this description was computer translated to English." Well, that's good, because I was beginning to wonder what on earth "Soulterrain" means in Hungarian. Sounds like a good band name, though, yes?

Poland, the Natural Choice

In doing research for something I'm writing for work, I found Poland's official tourism website, on which I found what appears to be their official tourism slogan:

Poland, the natural choice

Of course, all I can think of is that it sounds like a fiber supplement: "Visit Poland. It'll keep you regular."

Tempis Fugit

We've barely hit the halfway point for October and already November is half-gone. And this year has been so topsy turvy that while I'm not sad to see it drawing to a close, I'm kind of annoyed at it for giving me such stress. So far, I'm not a huge fan of 2007 - and it doesn't have much time left to make me a convert, either.

Bub's doing well with his chemo appointments still, which is excellent, although he's looking a tad mangy in places because of the fur he's lost. But he's happy and energetic, and his weight is stable, so we're thankful for that. He's on an every-other-week schedule right now, and after a few more weeks will be on an every-third-week schedule. If all goes well, that'll last through March or so next year and then he'll be done with chemo. We'll probably keep taking him in for monthly vet visits to make sure the cancer isn't coming back, but I'm hoping that break from chemo will give him a chance to put more weight on and regrow some of his fur. He's turned into quite a little beggar now, too, in that he gets people food so much he thinks he can just grab for it right off our plates now. That's mostly funny when it's just us, but when we have guests we have to keep a closer eye on him.

My annual year-end meeting is coming up at work, so I've got a few days of all-day meetings scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Last year's was exhausting and energizing, so I'm expecting more of the same this year. It's great to be able to sit down with colleagues who I don't chat with often and socialize as well as brainstorm with them. I work with a great group of people, even if all we do is hunker down over our computers all day and not say more than five words to each other... In our "off" hours, we're very talkative, really. (Well, at least I am.)

Chris and I will be taking a quick trip to Milan next month, although it's decidedly not a vacation. He'll be in meeting after meeting (some set up through the employment agency he's working with, others he's setting up on his own via networking avenues) and I'll be hunkered down with whatever free WiFi I can find to get some work done. We will make time to see some of the sights, of course, but this is mainly a trip devoted to figuring out whether Milan is a place we could see ourselves living in. It's exciting to have this trip in the works, especially when we didn't think we'd be going overseas this year at all, although it's probably not the most financially prudent thing we've ever done! We're hoping it'll pay off in the networking department, and that it'll be a good learning process for us both.

Anyway, there's just a lot going on right now - some of it good, some of it bad - and I'm having trouble keeping up.

Leaving on a jet plane...

No, not me. Unfortunately. My mother and youngest brother just got on a plane this morning headed for China. By the end of their travel day, which will actually be something like four days, they'll be in Nepal. They'll be in Nepal, Tibet and China for the next month or so. I can't wait to hear all about it when they get back!

I think I need another tattoo.

I'll admit that part of my "need" has to do with having watched a couple of different tattoo programs on TV. Every time I see "Miami Ink" or "LA Ink" I decide that I must add to my tattoo collection, but usually I don't think any more about it than that. Today, however, I've just spent the last half-hour checking out the online portfolios of some of the artists working in Portland. We'll see how long it takes me to take the next step.

I have a couple different designs in mind - one to continue from the tattoo I currently have, and another on the opposite arm. My only tattoo so far, a bright sun-face on my right shoulder, needs company, I think. And I kind of see an earth and moon there, too, going further down my arm toward my elbow. Of course, then my left arm will feel terribly left out, so I've got to do something over there, too. And for some reason I've been drawn to these kind of organic plant shapes lately - the kind that are in the corners of the website for Sundance's The Green show - but I'm not sure how that'd translate onto a tattoo. At any rate, I've just come to the conclusion that my arms are too bare, and I need some more color. It's fun to finally be doing more than just saying I want more tattoos, especially since the one I have is more than 10 years old now! Yes, it's time.

If anyone has an artist recommendation here in Portland, I'm all ears.

Wow, two weeks just flies by around here...

I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last entry; I won't bore you with the details, let's just say this year continues to be less than stellar for me and my family. Plus, I've just been busy, too - not much of an excuse, I realize, but it's all I've got. You have my humblest apologies.

This past weekend we had a visit from my aunt and uncle from Zurich, which was fun. The last few years we've missed them when they've come through town, as we've been in Europe when they've been here. So it was nice to actually cross paths on the same continent for the first time in years. In other news, it's starting to feel like autumn around here, with the nights and mornings being awfully chilly and the days being either beautifully sunny or drizzly. I love this time of year, though, so I'm not complaining.

I hope all's well where you are, and I also hope to resume a slower pace here soon so that I can get back to semi-regular postings.

Recent Outings

Chris and I have made a few local-ish trips lately, and the photos are kind of piling up. I've got pictures from our trip to Maryhill, Washington (including the ever-so-fab Stonehenge up there) and to Mt. Angel Abbey in Oregon, as well as a few from the vintage car race here in Portland and our few days at my mom's house. Eventually I plan to post the highlights here, but with time being the way it is lately (who in the hell gave September permission to come along this early?!?!?), there's just no telling when I'll get around to it.

Going to See Barack

At dinner last night with some friends, we found out that Barack Obama is going to be here in Portland on September 7th. So, like the Barack groupies we're becoming, we bought tickets to see him first thing this morning. I'm not planning to scream or cry like he's a member of the Beatles, or anything, but I really like this guy - and it's exciting to be able to see him speak. I've not seen very many politicians in personal appearances in the past, although I did see Al Gore on his presidential campaign - and he was fantastic. I don't know what to expect from Barack, but if he's even half as charismatic in person as he is on TV, it's going to be a pretty cool event.

I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.

After spending a few days at my mom's house in the mountains, I'm exhausted. Partly it's because I didn't sleep very well down there, but I don't know what explains the rest of it. All I know is that after a whole day back at work yesterday I was completely knackered and had a pounding headache. Is a few days away from staring at a computer screen really all it takes for my eyes to not be used to that anymore? I slept like a rock last night, and am feeling much better today, but am still expecting to take it easy this weekend and get really caught up.

Have you seen my fish?

If you haven't seen the cute fish animation I added on the right hand column of the blog, scroll down a bit and you'll find them. They'll follow your cursor around if you hold it over the white box (their "tank," I imagine), and if you click in that box you can deliver "food" to them which they will then eat. Is it silly? Of course. But it provided me with a few minutes of fun one day, so I figured it could possibly do the same for someone else as well. It's kind of meditative...

Coming Home to Freshly Baked Fig Newtons

Well, perhaps not the kind of figgy cookies you might be familiar with, but still - they were the homemade version. When I walked in the door, the house smelled like baking. That's always a good sign in my world. Turns out Chris had located some fresh and beautiful Adriatic figs at a nearby market and had made some cookies with them. Thankfully, he saved a few for eating. They're decadent. Cutting into the bright green flesh, you're rewarded with a glistening ruby center that's gooey and just waiting to be eaten. I've missed those figs ever since we had them for breakfast every morning in Croatia last year - so it was a real treat to find them in my kitchen when I got home from work today.

Sad Laptop Becomes Happy Laptop

Sad Laptop
Inserito originariamente da andiamotutti

Remember back when I wasn't sure my laptop was going to live? Well, when it was disassembled* I snapped a few pictures for posterity. I figured if it came back to life I'd post it here on the blog, and if it didn't, well, I'd probably delete the pictures...

Anyway, this picture shows the laptop air-drying on the dining room table, with as many pieces as I could remove from it lying on the newspaper around it. For another angle, see this photo.

And to celebrate the rebirth of my dear, sweet laptop companion, I finally got around to ordering the laptop skin that Chris had promised to get me for my birthday (yes, the one I had back in February). It looks so very, very cool, I just want to go somewhere and use my laptop so people can see it.

* Am I the only one who thinks of the movie "Short Circuit" every time I hear the word "disassemble"?

How does one go about downloading Italian songs when one doesn't live in Italy?

So, I've run into a bit of a brick wall with my friends (okay, they're not really my friends) at iTunes, so I'm hoping that one of you tech-savvy people out there can help me figure out a way around this.

See, I've been listening to Radio Italia online for some time now, and recently have heard several songs that I'd like to download. When I went to iTunes and looked for them, I wasn't surprised when they weren't in the catalog. I was able to find them, however, if I switched to the iTunes Italia store. Everything I wanted was there - it was like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one, and I was feeling quite giddy and pleased with myself. Until, that is, I tried to actually purchase the first song. As soon as I put in my password I was redirected back to the good ole iTunes USA store, where (as mentioned) nothing I wanted could be found.

I contacted iTunes to ask why I couldn't download something from the Italia store. It makes no sense to me why this should be an issue - I'm willing to pay for the songs (more, in fact, than the US rate, as the prices there are in Euros), and it seems iTunes has them in some online catalog somewhere. Why should it matter where I live? Oh, but it does, the iTunes person tells me. He doesn't say why, only that I can't do what I want to do and I should request that what I want to download be added to the US store. Yeah, I'm not sure they'd work too quickly on my "everything in the iTunes Italia store" request, do you?

I asked my local Italian community for help, and got pointed to this site - again, looks promising, no? I found many (not all) of the songs I wanted to download, but in order to register I need to live in Italy. Or at least know more about the post codes which are associated with certain towns and regions than I currently do in order to fill out the registration form. I sent them an email a couple weeks ago - in Italian - asking how I might register because I really want to send them money and buy songs from their website, but I haven't heard bupkis from them.

So, I turn now to you. Anyone have any brilliant ideas for me? I'm thinking I'd like to avoid P2P systems, as I don't particularly relish the idea of the RIAA knocking down my door and swiping my laptop (or any nasty bugs which might come from the P2P stuff), and am perfectly willing (happy, in fact!) to pay for the songs. I await your brilliant suggestions, and thank you in advance.

Willamette River Cruise

Blues Festival
Inserito originariamente da andiamotutti

Way back at the beginning of July, Chris' friend Ken invited a small group of people out on his boat on a beautifully sunny Saturday. Naturally, I took my camera along and I snapped pictures during the entire trip. Unfortunately, the wind and water combined meant that most of the pictures ended up with some kind of droplets of something-or-other on the lens, but theoretically if I had the patience (and time!) I could Photoshop all that out. And the pictures are fun anyway. The one to the right is of the Blues Festival, and you can see the rest of them here.

The End of July

Chris' last day at work is tomorrow. He's looking forward to taking the month of August "off" to decompress, but he doesn't sit still well. He'll be pottering around the house checking things off his to-do list all month, I'm sure, in between long bike rides. He deserves to take a little time and relax, so I hope he gets to do that. And then, well, we'll see what happens next.

This has been such a year of transition and turmoil for us, I think we're both exhausted but at the same time not taken by surprise anymore. I think we've learned to take each new roadblock or speedbump in stride, which, even though it's been tiring and annoying at times, is a good thing to be able to do.

At any rate... A couple updates on other things:

• My dad went home from the hospital quickly, because the doctors think the hole in his esophagus will heal itself. He'll go back in this week for another check up so they can see what's going on in there, and then hopefully they'll have some solutions for him. He's in good spirits, but it's a frustrating situation.
  
• We met with Bub's oncology vet today, and she's very optimistic that he's doing really well. His loss of appetite after his last chemo was explained, too, because she'd increased his chemo dose last time. So, that was good to hear - it wasn't an anomaly, it was reasonable. And I'll continue to obsess over how much he eats, so hopefully the weight he lost last week will be back by his next appointment. He begins going in every other week now, so he should be able to recoup better.

Which photos should I submit to a photo contest? Help me decide!

0911 Breakfast in Piazza Maggiore
Inserito originariamente da andiamotutti

I'm contemplating submitting a few photographs to the National Geographic Traveler annual photo contest, and aside from this photo (which I love) I'm not sure what else I should send in - if anything. I've chosen a few that I think are good pictures, but I'm not sure if they're really worthy. So I'm asking for your input.

What do you think? Let me know which (if any) of these pictures you think I should submit. Many thanks in advance!

Later edit: I should have also mentioned that the incredibly talented photographers out there who I know occasionally read this blog ought to think about entering the contest, too. Will? Alessandro? Are you listening??