"By the power of the force, which is strong within us!"

We tried to save the world on Halloween, but we got mislead and went seeking for salvation in a pub instead...
Thanks to Jo and her crazy ideas, a cold evening turned into a colorful mingling through a pink pair of improvised glasses :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf052uxFF58

 It looked like a mad squirrel's nest..... full of small golden things, foils, ribbons etc. Slowly it was turning into 5 costumes: red, green, pink, blue and black. Balloons popped and the helmets were born.
And that evening I met Yoko Ono in Chapter House...

The streets of Collegetown were full of undergrads. Those returning home stop for a pizza slice at the corner, those seeking more fun are waiting for friends. Books, Mac and coffee during the day, high hills and innocent belty-skirt and hot pants on the streets in the night. Observers' naughty thoughts are not their problem. Daddy's girl is growing...

Niente paura, si dice. Non c'e n'e, navigando a gonfie vele, occupati dal mantenere la rotta, qualsiasi essa sia. Quella creata per andare, per sfuggire al mondo monotono,nel quale ci siamo ritorvati aa sentirci prigionieri a causa delle nostre scelte. E la decisione di levare l'ancora. Si sa che e la cosa giusta, una cosa maturata nel tempo, dopo innumerevoli meditazioni sui pro e sui contro. Ma ancora il dubbio, quel dubbio che rimane sempre li, ad ammonirci che stiamo per incamminarci su una strada che non abbiamo scelto a caso. Ne saro capace? Cosa sto facendo? Come ce la faro? Non sarebbe meglio aspettare ancora un po? Cosa e cambiato nell'ultimo periodo per sentirmi tanto piu sicura delle mie decisioni? Ma lo sono davvero? O e solo una maschera?
E un viaggio. In se stessi e con se stessi. Tollerandoci, accettandoci, sentendoci. Ed e il viaggio piu difficile da fare. Ammettere che ogni cosa che si sente dal profondo, e la cosa piu giusta al mondo. Sii onesta con se stessa e verso te stessa. Solo cosi puoi dare qualcosa a chi ti sta vicino. Una delle rare lezioni di vita che ho avuto occasione di sentire da un uomo che rispetto per i suoi principi e per i suoi sogni, irrazionali, ma reali e pieni di passione, mio padre.
E vado, divago e viaggio, cerco e sogno, che da qualche parte approdero. E sara bello, quasi perfetto, perche perfetto non lo e mai, e sara mio, quello che conta di piu.

"And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The truth will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll."

Birthdays

People have birthdays. It's something everybody has. They just need to be remembered.
Joanna. A bunch of people, Mexican music, cerveza, seasoned meat, vegetables, chopping, chopping, chopping, corn tortillas and too much chili. It turned out really good. Tequila, balloons and a cake made of balls. You don't get your "happy Birthday song" in seven languages every day. The beauty of living in an international community. Happy Birthday!

And then..... just another traditional dinner at The Habitat (that's how our crib has been baptized). Plantains, macaroni-cheese and some new hedonistic nasty version of the Brazilian sin.... this time a chocolate chip brownie covered with brigadeiro, along with a white coconut variety of brigadeiro. And a birthday 6000 km away. Some ad hoc candles, a sudden call in the middle of the European night with the happy birthday song. Buon compleanno, Kristian!

Plantains, from Puerto Rico with love

Macaroni-cheese, from Scotland with love

"So Long & Thanks for All the Fish!"

People come and go, exchanging, working, studying, traveling. Suzana returned to the Brazilian warmth, Xavier returned to the mild Catalan winter. We met on a Saturday afternoon at the house he's been living for 6 months in the middle of Newfield woods. A peaceful wooden refuge with two campfires in front of it and two large pans for paella. The calming rhythm of preparing the food gathered around the fire, talking about this and that and looking the raw ingredients slowly transforming into a delicious meal. Eating starts with your eyes.

A quite different experience was the Hibachi Restaurant Kyushu. I made a reservation for 9 at a hibachi table, that means the food is prepared in front of you. So you can admire the cooking ability of the chef. Well..... there was a lot of ability in the performance, but it was more in a circus tone than else.... Sorry that the longest video is too long to be uploaded... Too many "yeah yeah yeah" I guess. Perhaps the audience was not from the right part of the globe to fully appreciate it. Too demanding to amuse. Anyway, we went there to eat, not to get amused. We were perfectly able to entertain us. And we did it. And had lots of fun. Tripped also into the magical world of stuffed animals.

You just HAVE to tip

Welcome to the penguin sanctuary

Today I caught my first snowflake with my tongue. The air is crispy and cold, the blowing wind refreshes my mind and sweeps away the last leaves from the trees. A couple of weeks ago there was still Autumn... Walking around the campus, strolling down the Commons to the Farmers Market. I went from buildings, where you can breath tradition and enjoy the perfect harmony of a blue sky over red bricks and colored leaves, down in the center, where you can hear the melancholic singing of a free street artist aiming at some appreciation of his entertainment in front of the national bank. How ironic. Sitting in the middle of that short pedestrian street with a cup of warm coffee. The more you relax, the more details you start to notice. And the colors of the lively Farmers Market. I think they'd be thrilled to see the daily market in Ljubljana, or anywhere else in Europe that I've been. Here choosing to buy local and fresh and being aware of the quality of your food is something that makes you different from the others. Better. More aware. More healthy. I'd say you're being just normal.....

Willard Straight Hall

October 22, 2004 @ Barton Hall: John Cleese

The Cornell Store and Barnes Hall on Ho Plaza

McGraw Tower

Ho Plaza

Sage Chapel

Baker Tower and Cayuga Lake down the Libe Slope

Willard Straight Hall entrance

Commons

"Child of Ithaca" - an educated young  with a cup of coffee and a book. A student.

.... and I went to the "great" Wegman's, where you can find anything. I stepped through that door and was sucked into a colorful merry-go-round of bread, cheese, international dishes, cookies, bagels, muffins.... and found some known stuff.