ħaikus

During last weekend, as I anticipated in the last post, I’ve been participating to the parade and the party of the 30th Christopher Street Day in Berlin. I had a really great weekend: parties, alcohol (yes, I had some glasses of vodka&orange juice), bears, friends (Krijn was visiting from Amsterdam). It was fun. A bit wet and rainy sometimes, but definitively one of the best CSD so far.

The weekend didn’t start the best way, though, because Christian dumped me. Already. My shortest relationship Even shorter than the one with Jean-Francois, which ended 2 years ago more or less for the same reasons and in the same way. Luckily, after my Amsterdam-cure, I’m now a bit less dramatic (still queen, tho), which is why I just feel fine, although my pride has been definitively hurt (as if it needed to).
Actually I should understand that being a control freak doesn’t allow me to let someone else take too much part of my life. I couldn’t tolerate any perturbation of the universal order I created in my mind
If I read my friend Jörg’s blog, I can understand he’s feeling butterflies in his stomach for James, but I recognize how distant for me those emotions are. I’m a loner.
In fact, I’ve recently done the test Which Film Hero Are You Really? and these are the results:

Hannibal Lecter: 79% Indiana Jones: 75% James Bond: 74% Batman / Bruce Wayne: 70% Jim Levenstein (American Pie): 70% Tony Montana (Scarface): 66% Schrek: 66% Maximus (Gladiator): 66% Néo (Matrix): 65% Yoda (Star Wars): 64% Forrest Gump: 63% Eric Draven (The Crow): 62%

Quid pro quo Clarice…
Quid pro quo

Without a boyfriend I should have more time to blog and post my pictures on flickr, but at work we are really under pressure. My Finnish is improving, btw At least much better than my Japanese, alas: after missing 4 classes I guess I need to repeat the module from the start. Luckily I have ilGrisa who is a good 先生 (sensei)… ありがとう ございます!!!
Anyway, I finally found a great tool for me and my blog readers! Please check it out, because this is a great, great idea! Basically it’s an aggregator which shows on a timeline (there is also a calendar view) my status updates on Facebook and twitter, the pictures I posted on flickr, the music tracks I loved on last.fm and, of course, my blog posts. It has been defined as the blogging platform for lazy people. Perfect, simply perfect. Go now to http://haikus.swurl.com and subscribe to the RSS feed!

It’s gay pride weekend in Berlin, better known as CSD - Christopher Street’s Day, for obvious reasons. It will be the 30th held in Berlin and for the first time after several years, the parade will change its route: it won’t start at Ku’damm but at the Rotes Rathaus, connecting the former East and West part of the city. Will Wowi be there too?
Speaking about Berlin, I had yesterday a meal with Berliner Bouletten (meatballs) and I proudly bought a barbecue sauce by Heinz (the best) to enjoy them better. Today I discovered I should have boycott Heinz because they accepted to ban this tv ad upon protests of only 200 people:

The actors’ British accent is the only reason I see to ban it Apparently the GLBT community may at least watch this one instead:

Another Japanese title for my post: it’s the popular opening song for Neon Genesis Evangelion, A Cruel Angel’s Thesis. In fact, I watched a bit of the new movie, You Are (Not) Alone, yesterday evening while I was trying not to fall asleep because of the jet-lag. I didn’t notice any big changes from the anime series and the previous movies, beside the early introduction of Kaworu and some improved redesign of the angels (especially Ramiel).

As you know I’ve been in New York City last week and visited ilGrisa. I had a very good time: the weather was probably too hot for my standards but the Americans aren’t really environment-friendly and they have a freezing air-con almost everywhere… Now I understand the exact meaning of George W. Bush’s words

We are not giving up our living standards

while refusing to sign for the Kyoto protocol.
New York firmly confirmed the first impression I had of it: chaotic, dirty, decadent, unorganized, untidy, polluted. On the other side, New York is so diverse and international that I could enjoy the best meals and the best shopping time ever Yummy!
For all these reasons I would say that New York is definitively unsustainable: either by the environment or by people.

Among the most freezing places I visited, the MoMA and the P.S.1 - Contemporary Art Center, were alone worth the trip. I didn’t see the Starry Night by Van Gogh, currently in Amsterdam (bad timing ), but I enjoyed the Take your Time exhibition by Olafur Eliasson, a Danish-Icelandic artist who works in Berlin. He is the same guy who has been commissioned to build 4 waterfalls which can be seen as of mid-July in the New Yorker harbor. One of them, under the Brooklyn Bridge, was already working when I was there but I was strictly forbidden to take pictures of.
In the P.S.1 (alone the location is worth a visit) there was also a big exposition of Finnish works, most of them definitively astonishing. One was particularly funny: a series of Complaints Choirs, such as this one in Helsinki

Although I didn’t blog anymore since my weekend break in Tallinn, I’m back in Berlin but ready o fly for one week to New York City. I will visit ilGrisa in his mansion in Brooklyn and I will try to cope with the warm weather (even if it’s not as hot as last week, afaik). A stop at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory might be useful, or, at least, delicious. Yummy! I also might consider to sleep for one week and refuel a bit of energy. If I feel bored I can always go shopping
Today I went to the drugstore to buy some pills that might help me getting some sleep during the flight. Let’s see whether they work or not. I probably have to get drunk to sleep the best. Mmm, I still have that bottle of Vana Tallinn at home…

This is the Estonian translation for Sex and the City as I understood yesterday on a newspaper and as I checked today on wikipedia to be sure I was right. Of course I was Anyway, seks was easy to understand (especially for me) and I already knew that linn means town, because Tallinn originally means Danish town. You don’t need anything more to guess that I am in Tallinn, Estonia, with Elisa and her boyfriend David…
Yesterday we enjoyed some nightlife and light blue sky at midnight, while we strolled around the old town today all other tourists. This is why we are really tired now and we are already going to sleep. Tomorrow we probably go to the beach for a walk, certainly not to swim because it’s definitively too cold. I love it: cold wind during sunny looong days makes the air really clean and visiting around is very pleasant.

I really like this song by Kaiser Chiefs, because of the crazy title, the nice melody and the video shot around Central Park.

Actually Central Park is not one of my favorite spots in Manhattan except maybe for Columbus Circle and its impressive Wholefoods store… Mmm
This is anyway a pretest to let you know that I will be in NYC from June 17 to 22: 5 days of… shopping and eating, I guess. I want to buy a tea pot, some tea cups and maybe some Apple products, definitively cheaper in the US than in Germany. iPhone anyone?
I will definitively visit the MoMA again and I might consider the idea of visiting the Met although I don’t really like museums. IlGrisa will anyway have some plans for me… Mmm… I don’t think so. I’d like to organize a day trip to Philly or Washington DC too but ilGrisa seems to be too busy. Well, we will see, I desperately need a new pin on my US map: NYC is feeling very lonely there.

The other big news is… I have a boyfriend! His name is Christian, originally from Heidelberg but living in Berlin since 2 years ago. Yesterday I even discovered I was the first guy he met here Well, after we started to go out together again in the last two months we understood we were really interested in building something together. And now? Well, we are still getting to know each other but we enjoy very much the time together.

O2, can do

says the famous commercial (at least here in Germany). O2 is not only the name of my mobile phone provider (bought by Telefonica some time ago), but it’s also the title of a very cool song. Enjoy!
(ilGrisa will certainly recognize the melody)

This post is to celebrate the upcoming album by Coldplay, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, and its title song shortly released as single and already on top of many charts worldwide. I didn’t think it was possible but Coldplay are probably going to score another masterpiece: I wouldn’t expect less by a record produced by Brian Eno. Viva la Vida, for instance, has a graceful melody and some interesting lyrics:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sweep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy’s eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!

I’m writing this post also to summarize my last day week month during which I didn’t (mini)blog anything.

Work
My job is really challenging and I’m always very busy in the office, last month even on Saturdays. This is a good reason for not blogging much lately. Actually I have to blog for my company too and I don’t have much time for it either The most important thing, anyway, is that I really love my job and I’m very satisfied with it. Surprisingly I’m even happy in the morning when I can go to the office. No jokes.

Japan
I think I never blogged about Noein, a Japanese anime strongly influenced by physics theories of the last century. After all, it was a nice time spent in front of my mac, but now I’m very happy to watch Code Geass every weekend although I’m missing NANA a lot.
I’m also taking Japanese classes which are really interesting: I already learned almost all the hiragana (I miss the last 16 symbols I have to memorize before tomorrow) and how to introduce myself:
はじめまして、わたし は ピノ です。どうぞ よろしく。
For a strange coincidence, my classroom is used during the day to teach physics and it’s nicely decorated with atom models posters, famous physicists pictures and so on

Love
I know there have been some rumors about my love-life for which I’m mainly responsible. Well, let me explain it this way: in the last months I’ve been spending a lot of time with my friends Manni and Christian… You may probably say that I love triangles, but, you know, geometry is not a crime

Family
My sister Giovanna and my mom visited me almost two weeks ago and we had a nice time together, especially because of the gorgeous hot weather (hot for me, at least). We were supposed to go by train to Stralsund and to the island of Rügen but we ended by spending some time at the Karneval der Kulturen on With Sunday. It was really funny and now I’m even more in the mood of celebrating Christopher Street Day in late June. Speaking of which, I feel sorry for Italians… mmm, no, actually I don’t… But I complained with my sister: how can she vote for Lega Nord, which wants ethnic cleansing of gays, while she has a gay brother?

Friends
Last weekend Jörg visited me and I hope he enjoyed his time here (DSDS apart ). He was so nice to help me also with the last part of my relocation too: I’m really grateful!
Currently I’m also trying to find a not too expensive flight to New York City to visit ilGrisa before he moves to Amherst: I’m scared by the hot summer there, but I’m really looking forward to stroll around Manhattan again.

No song titles today for this short post I’ve been just reading Repubblica, as usual, although I’m not really interested in what happens in Italy nowadays, and I found this terrific picture. Two of the men I most despise: both very familiar with controlling, insulting and… killing journalists. One is even mimicking to shoot on a reporter. How tactless But, as usual, I didn’t expect anything else. Did you?
I’ve been also reading that apparently Berlusconi has been voted by the majority of well educated Italians… This is scary and bleak… As I told before: it’s not Berlusconi, it’s Italy. Hopefully my friends would soon better understand why I won’t ever go back there.

Today I reserved a couple of minutes to seriously blogging for my assiduous readers… I’m confident that soon or later I will be on track again with daily posts.

3rd episode: How Dutch am I?
My parents are Italian, I grew up in Italy, I lived there for almost 25 years (oh my gods, 25? no way), I’m definitively a Muggle. I can’t even hope to be a Squib, but if I try hard enough I might become a Muggle-born eventually Ok, enough with Harry Potter metaphors. I’m Italian, this is unfortunately incontrovertible. However, after last Monday’s elections, I feel less Italian than ever: I think that it doesn’t matter whether Berlusconi has too much power (especially on the media) or not, a large majority of Italians voted for him because they believe in him, in his sanctity and his abilities. They recognize themselves in him. I don’t. I feel much more German than Italian, as I several times told to my boss Timo back in Amsterdam. He was kind of surprised, actually
But in the last days I was also wondering how much my Dutch experience signed my life. Two weeks ago I was walking through the market on Hackesher Markt and I found a stand to buy Wilhelmina pepermunt, dropjes, even Calvé pindakaas I felt very nostalgic. Even more last Saturday, when a lot of Dutch tourists were in the city, speaking loud enough for me to grasps some words here and there. On top of that, my iPod suddenly played this song by Bløf:

Alles is liefde
Alles is liefde
Voor iemand zoals jij
Voor hem, voor haar, voor mij

How romantic