Caipirinha

This one might only work with bartenders, but my lame friends and I do it fairly regularly. Essentially it's just a regular cocktail party with a competitive twist. The host arranges for and provides basic bar stock (In my circle of friends it's usually limited to Vodka, Tequila, Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, and Sour mix. And of course glasses and ice) and the guests of honor, i.e. the ones who will be doing the bar tending for the evening, bring whatever assortment of Liquors, Liqueurs (yes there is a difference), and Mixers they plan on using for the night. From there it turns into a friendly competition to see who can mix the best/most original drink. It's a phenomenal way for bartenders to try out new concoctions and I'm pretty sure it's not that hard for the spectators to enjoy either. And of course it comes with neat little variations. I've been to ones where at the end of the night every one invited actually voted for their favorite new drink and the creator won a prize of some sort. I'm also been to "Maverick" style ones where everything is provided for you, you just don't know what you actually get to use to mix until it's your turn to come up with something. I know it sounds like it would turn out to be one giant drunk fest, but it's really not (unless your intent is to get completely schnackered.) It's fun but you do have to be super responsible when you do it, so don't invite that many bartenders ;-) Oh, and also if drinking isn't your thing, we've done the same type of thing with food. (The host provides, say, an assortment of pasta, and the people who will actually be cooking are responsible for everything else they'll need to finish off a pasta dish etc.)

Happy Birthday. :-)

Dear DomLuka, I came back to America from Italy specifically to wish you a Happy Birthday. Tanti Auguri, Caipirinha

Alexander the great? You mean Alexander the FABULOUS!!

No you're not. ;-)

It looks a lot harder than it actually is.

So I figured I'd just offer the variation I grew up with. On the Crucifix you make the sign of the cross followed by the Apostle's Creed. On the first bead you pray the Our Father. On the middle three beads you pray the Hail Mary. On the last bead you pray the Glory Be (Some people pray the Fatima Prayer, I was never taught to do so).On this bead you also announce the first Mystery of the Rosary (There are 4 sets of Mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous) Each set has 5 Mysteries. Each decade of the rosary is supposed to be dedicated to a different Mystery.) Once the first Mystery is announced you use the same bead to pray the Our Father. You then following the decade praying the Hail Mary 10 times. The beads in between decades are used to finish the decade by praying the Glory Be, announce the next Mystery, and begin the next decade by praying the Our Father. The Rosary itself is finished off praying the Hail Holy Queen and the sign of the cross. At the Catholic school I went to, every year in May we formed a human Rosary and prayed the whole Rosary, all 20 Mysteries/Decades, outside for the Parish. It was essentially grade schoolers and senior citizens, and boy was it a spectacle to behold. Especially when the second graders, who were on the verge of making their first communions, forgot the words to the prayers. Come to think of it we used to Pray the Rosary every day during May, (Possibly October?), Lent, and Advent.

Now: (assuming I remember to watch...) Brothers and Sisters Ugly Betty Desperate Housewives Dancing with the Stars (Yeah I don't understand the attraction either...) America's Next Top Model Then: (Prepare yourself for the nostalgia) Roseanne Murphy Brown All In The Family The Jeffersons Bewitched I love Lucy Basically anything that has ever been on Nick at Nite. All Time Favorite Shows Ever: Project Runway I will be on this show someday. Top Chef I wish I had the time to watch then all on a regular basis, but as it is I find myself recording episodes of my top favorites so I can watch them in the crack of time between work and sleep. Oh well, c'est la vie, right?

Speaking from a purely artist stand point: The body is there, the face is both interesting and exotic, the eyes are startling, and either your skin or your mastery of photo shop is flawless. Also, not for nothing, but your self confidence shows in every photo you have posted. You have a look that could turn heads. Definitely the attributes artists look for in models. Face it kid, you were cut out for print work.

So...I've always wanted to see California...and I do have a cousin who lives in Palo Alto. I just need to decide if I can really handle any more traveling. I mean, Florida this past week. Italy/Paris in a month. Can I handle California 3 weeks later? I guess we'll just see ;-)

You just need a really good Travel agent who knows when to buy tickets. I'm going to Italy in September. Our travel agent found us tickets for $400. I recommended her to my boss (who leaves for Spain/Portugal tomorrow, coincidentally) who bought her tickets for $525. We bought our tickets for Italy last December during a Christmas sale of some kind. If we had waited until now, our tickets would be in the 875 or higher price range. It's mostly just a matter of knowing well enough ahead of time to be able to snag early booking savings, holiday specials, seasonal deals, what ever air lines have to offer. If you keep that in mind you can easily find affordable air fares to just about anywhere.

Coming home last night to a house filled with Casa Blanca Lilies. :-)

Happy Birthday :-)

Not that's he's my number 1 or anything, but I totally squealed when I saw Jake Shears on the list.

I wish I had something comforting or more profound to say, but I don't. The only thing I can say, is that it's just like Old Bob said, as time goes on it becomes harder and harder to remember the bad because you realize how great the good was. I wish I could do more to help. All my love in thoughts and in prayers, Luigi.

Happy Birthday :-)

Happy Birthday my fellow Mika lover. :-)

Happy Birthday :-)

Happy Birthday :-)

I guess we'll never drive together: When I'm driving over a bridge I like to drive as close to the edge as possible so I can look out over the water. And when I'm driving with friends who are scared of bridges I've been known to scream "OH SHIT!" and jerk my hands as if I was suddenly turning the wheel and aiming us over the edge. ;-)

Probably not my most embarrassing moment ever, but one of my favorites. As a bi-lingual 21 year old I realize that other languages don't use the same expressions and euphemisms as English. As a 6 year old, I did not. The first time I went to Italy I was 6 years old, not easily embarrassed, and talkative. A friend of my Aunt Teresa invited us over for dinner one night. While we were there, my brother and I ran into a slight road block: they were serving fish, which neither of us ate. I however was at least willing to try it. After trying I found that it was actually kind of good. The host saw me eating it and he asked me with a smile "So how is it?" to which I immediately replied "It's not too bad!" which was met with the hostess mocking a mortified look and the whole room exploding in laughter. In my 6 year old American mind I was saying "Ooh hey! This isn't bad! It's actually pretty good." In Italy however, where they've never heard such an expression I was saying something more to the equivalent of "It's horrible, but I guess I'll live." They had a laugh about it and chalked it off to me being a verbose 6 year old, and I forgot all about it. Until I went back 14 years later. I should explain a little something about the family that hosted us that night. They were absolutely lovely people; the husband was born and raised in Milan, and the wife although Italian by heritage was born and raised in Tunisia. So in the 14 years in between my ages of 6 and 20 every time I went back to Italy they were M.I.A. At one point living in Milan, at another vacationing in Germany, and at yet another point visiting long term in Tunisia. However during the in between years of my visiting Italy they had always been back to Rome and had kept in good touch with my Aunt Teresa and her family. Well this past year when I went to Italy they just happened to be in Rome at the same time as we were and once again invited us all over for dinner. My brother and I vaguely remembered them, and their daughter, when we went over for dinner, but once again they were congenial enough for the entire dinner to be comfortable up until the point where the husband of the couple, after finishing his meal, leaned back in his chair, clasped his hands behind his head, and said "Well that wasn't too bad, what did you think Luigi? Was it better this time around?" The room exploded into laughter once again, with the exception of my brother and I. Now like I mentioned, at this point 14 years had passed and I had absolutely no recollection of the events in question. My cousin Anna noticed this and was quick to remind me of what I had said so many years ago, and I was rightly quite embarrassed for being so insulting. The husband was quick to assure me that it was a memory that they looked back upon very fondly. And the wife was quick to assure me that for the past 14 years, every time he had tried something new or different, as soon as he was finished he would lean back in his chair, clasp his hands behind his head, and say "For Luigi, it wouldn't have been too bad!"

Luigi I sort of forgot you'd be able to understand that. Maybe I should add 'present company excluded.' Please Don't. You'd be lieing if you did. ;-)

I'm sorry to hear about your pot scraper. And I love your little Italian rant. ;-)

I balanced my checkbook! Correctly! Bwahahahahahaha! Sorry, it's the small things in life...

Oh Man, I LOVE that movie. I can't believe I forgot about it! Also, I don't know if anyone mentioned this one yet, but "Bully"