Caipirinha

Found it. And it is cute ;-) http://toshcommunity.comedycentral.com/Video/A-Kids-Reaction-To-Gay-Couple/050BFFFFF02363580001B014FC326

It was just another wonderful day.

It Just Happened By Caipirinha “Mass you in there?” “Yeah,” I called. The door to my office swung open and my assistant’s new assistant, Tina, walked in with a stack of papers just an inch shorter than her curly auburn hair and just an inch taller than her tweed micro-skirt. “Veronica sent these over for you to look through.” She dumped the stack in my incoming work tray, and flopped into one of the chairs across from me. “She wants you to be as thorough as possible.” “But?”

When I was six years old I found a litter of kittens. I was angry and confused. I was frustrated and didn’t know how to deal with my feelings. I played with those kittens until they were old enough to learn to run. A vicious game of pulling their tails and blowing in their ears. I taught them to be afraid. I taught them not to trust people, only themselves. If I had to beg for mercy to stay alive, so did they. This was hell. They were puppets. I was God. I slept in the basement from the t

An assorted collection of memories, a little glimpse into moments in someone's life.

Born and Raised in Connecticut. 100% Italian and proud, and I mean real Italian, none of this Guido non-sense. I'm also a first generation American. My family grew up in the mountains of Southern Italy (When I explain to people that I speak a dialect of Italian and not proper Italian I jokingly say I speak Italian with a Southern Accent.) My mother's immediate family still lives in Italy, half in the ancestral homeland and the other half closer to Rome. There is a cousin in the UK and I a few Uncles/Aunts/Cousins dotted across Germany and Switzerland. My Father's family almost entirely immigrated to CT, with a small concentration in Montreal, Canada. My Father immigrated to America in 1967(ish) and my mother immigratged in 1980. Fun Family Facts: My mother's maiden name was Lombardi which indicates that her family was most likely at some point from the Lombardia region of Northern Italy, which explains why her family has light eyes (blue and green) even though they have dark skin and hair. Most Southern Italians, (myself included), tend to have have dark brown eyes. Even those who are lucky enough to have to blue or green eyes in the south usually have very dark blue/grey or green/hazel. My last name can be traced back to ancient Latin where if it was used as a slang word or "nick name" for a left handed person. It was most definitely derrogatory though because in Ancient Rome they believed left hand people were evil as proven by the fact that the proper Latin word for Left is Sinister. So my last name, literally translated, means "Lefty." The best part of this fun family fact is that on my father's side no one is left handed.

Maple - Imaginative, smart, and original. You always come off smooth.

Thank you everyone for the Birthday Wishes!

Pleasant surprise to finally finish 15 last night and wake up to 16 today. It's very good, but worrisome.

It might just be wishful thinking on my part but I really want Emily to be a Dark Horse character. I really, really, want her to end up being the voice of reason that reaches out to Milo and that attempts to smooth things over with Milo's father. But that's just wishful thinking.

I'm a huge quote whore, but since people seem to be digging the proverbs here are my favorites: God I ask you not to relieve me of my burdens, but instead for broader shoulders to bear them - Jewish Proverb. Vision without action is a dream, action without vision a nightmare. - Japanese Proverb. We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children - Native American Proverb.

The superstition about not walking under ladders actually has other origins as well. The shape of an open ladder or of a ladder leaning against a wall closely resembles a triangle which in certain cultures and religions is representative of sacred symbols (the Holy Trinity, etc.) or life itself. Think of the famous masonic symbol of a triangle with an eye in the middle. The eye is representative of the eye of God watching over you. These cultures and religions believe that walking through the sacred symbol will anger God or the gods and bring misfortune. It's His/Her/Their portal to watch you through, you have no business trying to get in.

When my grandparents and parents left the old world for the new one, they naturally brought their culture and customs with them, including superstitions. And as anyone who has ever met a full blooded Italian knows, we are HYPER superstitious. The Malocchio! - Also known as the evil eye, it is a curse placed upon you by the extreme jealousy of someone else. Something as simple as a compliment can cause it, especially when complimenting a new baby. Always says “God Bless Him/Her” after complimenting a baby. You can ward of the Malocchio by making a fist with only your index and pinky finger extended and pretending to spit. Men often times also wear a charm in the shape of a devil's horn to ward of curses placed on their manliness. To test if you are cursed with the Malocchio you drop a couple drops of olive oil in a bowl of water. If they stay in drops you are safe. If they spread out you are cursed. If they form one large drop, it is said to be the evil eye itself ad you are especially in danger. There is a prayer that can be used to cure you of the curse but the prayer itself also has several superstitions surrounding it. Only women are allowed to know the prayer; if you teach it to a man he will immediately forget it and the prayer can only be taught by a mother to a daughter at midnight on Christmas Eve/Day. Peacock Feathers – Are said to represent the evil eye and are forbidden in the house. Owls – Are the harbingers of death. If you hear an Owl someone will get sick. If you see one, someone will pass away. Lucky Numbers – 13 is very, very, lucky. 17 is very, very, unlucky. Hiccups – Means someone is talking about you. In Italian there is a chant you say when you have the hiccups that roughly translated means “Hiccups, go to the well and find my friend, see what she says to you, and come back and tell me!” The chant is supposed to stop people from talking about you and cure your hiccups. Also guessing who is speaking about you is supposed to stop them from gossiping about you and cure your hiccups. Sitting at the corner of the table – If you sit at the corner of the table you will never be married! Moving in to a new House – When you move in to a new house you have to sweep out the entire house with a brand new broom to sweep away any bad spirits the previous owner's left behind. “Buon Anima” - After you say the name of a deceased person, you immediately follow their name with Buon Anima (equivalent to May he Rest in Peace) to keep the spirit from becoming angry with you and cursing you. Blessing yourself (Making the Sign of the Cross over you in the Catholic world) – You bless yourself on certain occasions for certain reasons. When you pass by churches to stay in God's good graces. When you pass by cemeteries to keep evil spirits from following you. Shaking out a table cloth – In Italy it's customary that after a meal a table cloth is taken outside and shaken out to get the crumbs etc. off of it. However you can never, ever, ever do this after sun set. After sunset Angels come out and shaking out a table cloth after dark could cause you to cover the Angels in bread crumbs, angering them and bringing bad luck. Dropping forks – If you drop a fork while you are eating, you are basically guaranteed to have unexpected guests, usually arriving right after dinner. Horse Shoes – Horse Shoes are always hung upside down over a door way so that the bad luck raining down on the house will slip off the sides instead of collecting inside. Black Cats – Black Cats are the moniker of a Witch. If a black cat comes to you in the night they are trying to steal you away. Once they appear they have 30 days to steal you away, if they do not succeed they can never come back to try again. Hearing a cat sneeze – Is said to bring very good luck to every one who hears! Not Sleeping on your back – You can only sleep on your side or stomach. If you sleep on your back you are more susceptible to being stolen away by a witch. Also if you sleep on your back, if a bad spirit that is trying to kill you enters your house they will do so by kneeling on your chest and suffocating you. Witches – Witches are to be feared and respected. They can just as easily cure you of an ailment as they can curse you with one! (My Aunt was cured by a witch as a baby, but since this post is already turning in to an epic novel I'll leave that for another post.) If you are cursed by a Witch, a wise man or woman can tell you a remedy and you must immediately obey it to get rid of the curse and also to protect yourself and future generations from Witches (I'll also leave my personal stories about witches out.) Protecting your house – To protect your house from a Witche you hang open scissors over the windows and doors. It's said Witches can not pass beneath the open blades of a scissors. To protect your house against Vampires you either hand a small broom or a fishing net over the windows and doors or sprinkle a line over sand at the foot of a door or on the window sill. They believe that Vampires are obsessive compulsive so they would have to either count every grain sand or every straw in the broom or untie every knot in the fishing net before they could enter. It would take them so long that by the time they were done the sun would be rising and they would have to return to their homes to avoid being burned by the sun. Wooden Spoons – Sauce always tastes better when it is stirred with a wooden spoon. If you make a sauce and it comes out bad you have to throw out the wooden spoon or else everything else you stir with it will also turn out bad. Pregnancy – To find out if you are having a boy or a girl when you are pregnant you hang a threaded needle over a pregnant woman's belly. If it swings in a straight line it represents...ehherm...boy parts and you are having a boy. If it swings in a circle it represents...ehherm...girl parts and you are having a girl. New Years – We believe that how you spend your New Year's Eve and Day is how you will spend the rest of the year. So we try especially hard not to fall sick around these times. We also try to surround ourselves with family and friends. You never, ever, fight with someone or you will fight with them all year. And gifts of money are given out in hopes that the following year will be prosperous for you. I'm sure I could go on but the list is already enormous. I'll leave you with three last superstitions from other cultures that I believe. High Heels and Pregnancy – This is a Portuguese superstition that says if you wear high heels while you are pregnant your child will be born cross eyed. One of my English teachers in high school was attacked by a crazed group of Portuguese women at her first teaching job out of college. They forced her in to a chair and took off her shoes and would not let her walk until one of the ladies actually left school to go buy her a pair of flats to protect the baby! Helping Spirits – In Brazil they believe that if a spirit visits you it is trying to get help. They believe that you have to explain to the spirit that you are very sorry but you can not help it, but you know where they can get help. You say The Lord's Prayer out loud and repeat out loud directions to the nearest church and you tell the spirit that if they go to this church there will be Angels there who will be willing and able to help them. Cats with bi-color eyes – In China they believe that if you own a cat with two different colored eyes it will bring you good fortune. (My friends bought me a kitten with two different colored eyes for my 19th birthday! Best cat ever!) Okay. Sorry this post is a million miles long, but as you can probably infer I LOVE superstitions, they are so interesting. There are many more, but these are the ones I grew up believing, and I'm sure even after this ridiculously long list I am missing some!

I am very deeply saddened and sorry for your loss. I would offer you the world to make you feel better, but I know I couldn't deliver and also that it wouldn't help. I can however offer you a sympathetic ear to talk to should the need arise. I wish you the strength needed to heal from this and the courage to adapt in a positive direction. And I also wish you the hope of finding comfort in the small things like I did after my father died. Just remember; There are flowers every where, for those who want to see them. One day you'll want to see flowers again, hopefully sooner than later. With all my love, Luigi.

Can't claim credit, but it is my favortie 'Haiku' ever: Haikus are easy, But they don't always make sense. Refridgerator.