At Home In Rome

Inspired by “panthropologist” Moscerina, I continue my documentation of subjects in the wild. It’s pretty easy to be stealthy in the urban jungle when you take a picture with your crappy cell phone camera like I do. I just pretend to be checking my messages while holding the phone steady like a camera. Do you think they’re catching on' I don’t. Not yet, anyways. So check out dude in the yellow corduroys on my bus yesterday. Aw. I almost wanted to give him a big,...

I’m really starting to think that a pre-requisite for becoming an employed member of the ranks of front-line postal clerks in Italy, or at least here in Rome, is significant past professional experience either in the fine field of incarceration facilities (a.k.a. prison guard) or perhaps unsuccessful completion of a court-ordered anger management class. What the hell is WITH Roman postal clerks'!? Right. I came here 11 years ago, so yes, this should be old news by now and it’s...

The story of leggerezza begins … well, I don’t really know where it begins, exactly. All I know is that it ends in a tattoo on my upper arm, about t-shirt sleeve length and width, inked on my the weekend of my 35th birthday in Amsterdam by easily the world’s best tattoo artist EVER (Marco Serio I heart you, yes I do!) and designed by the world’s best friend and best artist EVER (Ele my dear you are the one for me!). Folks, what can I say' In June I will mark eleven...

I suppose then that the stick shift is considered the joy stick' All that was missing was that “wacka-wacka-wacka” noise coming from hidden speakers somewhere. And that “woo-woo-wah-wah” noise when your little Pacman guy died. Wait, wait! I can do that for you. Don’t mention it. Just, don’t go all “King of Kong” on me now, ok' What’s “King of Kong,” you ask' Oh, only one of the most exhilaratingly entertaining documentaries...

That’s all. I’ve just been seeing them a lot lately. Highlighter-colored Nikes, et al. Case in point: Nice touch on the matching pink fluorescent stripes on shirt and … what are those' Spandex leggings' I feel the eighties coming back… Not to worry, though. This trend surely won’t take the place of the beloved red pants. Speaking of which, did you catch my “Christmas in March” tweet' Yes, folks. Here you have it, photographic evidence of unsuspecting...

Any excuse to get some early-80s Prince in there. For some reason I just feel like picking a fight. Not really a fight, necessarily, but just… why not stir up some trouble' I am itching to discuss some things that normally don’t get enough airtime as far as I’m concerned. Shall we talk' 1) Cheating on spouses. Does this happen more in Italy, or is it just that I hear about it more and people are more open about it' I know of a number of couples who more or less everyone...

To use the water for your hands, push the pedal. Ok. This is the first time in 8 years in Italy that I’ve seen a sign like this in a bathroom. It reminded me of 11 years ago, when I was in Italy for the first time, and I came out of the bathroom without washing my hands, totally and utterly perplexed. “There’s no water!” And yet, alas, the elusive pedal. Just in case you, too, come to Italy and find yourself in a public restroom “without water” … look...

Mara Carfagna, Italy’s Minister for Equal Opportunity. Not a joke. It’s no secret that women are portrayed in Italian print and television media as sexual objects. I tried to make light of it in a recent post of mine. When I can, I try to look at the lighter side of things here in Italy, while also pointing out some of the cultural differences that puzzle, perplex or even at times irritate me. Just a couple days ago, I read the article Ready for post-bimbo era in Italy from the...

Baci from Alessandra, one of the super sweet scoopers at I Mannari. Here’s a gelato shop in my neighborhood, Poggio Ameno. No one knows where the hell Poggio Ameno is. It is NOT, as commonly believed, on Mars. No. It is near another neighborhood which is *slightly* more well-known, called La Montagnola. If you don’t know where either of those are, then all I can say is that it’s before EUR, on the 30 Express line, just past the ex-Fiera di Roma, across from Garbatella. And...

Testaccio, 1:37 pm