That De-Cluttering Thing

It is Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend, and it's raining.

This - a little reminiscent of when, it seemed like every Memorial weekend our family planned to go camping, it looked on the Friday like it was going to pour rain and our trip would be cancelled. I remember once driving up to the mountains anyway and the skies were clear and blue and our weekend was fabulous. I also remember another time, arriving at our destination where it was freezing cold, we huddled in our tent trailer to play games most of the time, I walked our doxie to work up some body heat...and finally it snowed. So we packed up camp, drove home, and ate Burger King Whoppers for dinner.

Yes. And now in fact I usually don't travel on this weekend anymore, unless I am already in Sicily like I was last year where it was hot and sunny on the Saturday and poured rain on the Sunday and Monday, come to think of it...but this weekend I am staying close to home because I have self-committed to the dreaded task of, de-cluttering.

For months Antoine has asked me to get rid of my now-former-office in our living room. Since I can use my MacBook from anywhere now, including the floor of the living room, I no longer need the ugly desk and its entourage of papers, accessories, etc., that uglify that corner of the room. I have gotten rid of the desktop that was there, so it's not like I haven't gotten started.

(The 8x10 framed AC Milan team photo does get to stay, somehow, some way though - to his chagrin I'm sure - because it is a constant reminder to me of how much beauty is in the world.)

I have, to my credit, cleaned out my file drawers over there and have put other things in relatively neat boxes and, do have plans to shop with my friend Tina tomorrow to perhaps find some other receptacles that I can live with, to store things...Meanwhile, my room has yet again, an overflowing dresser of clothes and things I think I need most of but since everything is just thrown in there at the moment I'm not entirely sure. Then there's the closet "filled with all Diane's shoes" Antoine once advised another visiting French guy (I wish, was my response to that inaccuracy) that really does need another ruthless clean sweep (but most of the shoes will make the cut).

What I really would like to do is purge everything in this whole place, and start all over again. That would just be so freeing, so .... different. Lots of people have new homes and don't furnish them right away. I could very very very very very easily do that. I probably would keep my bed, the TV (because Euro Cup starts 2 weeks from today), and the refrigerator you know, because SportsBites is my signature.

It's 10:08 and the fun really must begin shortly. I think I'll put some coffee on and if it's not raining too terribly, I'll duck out now and walk over to the French bakery to buy the day's baguette. I'll pretend like I'm in France.

I'm sure that will make everything else that waits for me back here at De-Clutter Central so much easier to deal with.

As you want...

Come vuole. Two of my favorite Italian words when strung together. 

As you want. They also sound pretty good in English too. 

I love you

I miss you

I'm waiting for you/I'll be waiting

My pleasure

and

Back to bed ...

Sigh...all of these little strings of words in my opinion just sound...beautiful.

But back to As you want...

It was brought to my attention by someone close to me, that I talk about a lot about soccer on my SportsBites radio show and, people "here" don't care about soccer. They don't want to hear about it. They don't get the soccer channels on TV. They want to hear about American sports, like they talk about on all the other sportsradio shows.

Their case in point was, I shouldn't spend that much time on soccer.

Hm.

This reminded me immediately of Hugh Grant's and Sandra Bullock's characters in Two Weeks Notice when she insists that "all men" think or do something, and he asks her, "How do you know? Do you know every single man? Have you asked every single man if he does/thinks that?" And of course she has to say no.

Then I was reminded (after this conversation ended, about the feedback on too much soccer) of when I had a little freelance stint with a local beach newspaper, to write "SportsBites" and I regularly wrote about Europe, especially Italy and, their sports/events/athletes. I was asked, about one year ago, to not write about Europe any more, and write only on local sports. 

Hm. (My thought at the time.)

I could have said a lot of things in response (and come to think of it, could say a lot of things right now) but, I took the high road and wrote a farewell column called "Time to Say Goodbye", exited stage right, and began doing a radio show chatting up as much of Europe and Euro sports as I wanted.

So it occurs to me yet again, as it did last year....do we, as artists, do what we do for others, or for ourselves? Really, the answer is a no-brainer.

When I do my show each week, it is the hour I feel most alive. Whatever inspires me, whatever I talk about, especially if it's Euro or Italian football (soccer), or food, or baseball, or the Giro d'Italia going on right now - this week's show theme - I about feel like I'm going to jump out of my skin I am so excited. It seems to me, that only good can come from that kind of passion. 

I've been told my listenership is expanding and steadily growing. That sounds and feels good.

The show will become even more and more international-oriented. World sports and world cuisine fascinate me and you can guess that I am not in the mood to stop what I love doing.

I do not do well when tweaking who I am, to make others more comfortable or solicit their approval. It is painful. Excruciating might be a better word to describe how it feels when I'm asked to do that.

First thing this morning I found this quote in my email:

"If all the great artists, inventors, mystics, educators, and geniuses of history, waited for the world to understand, accept, and be ready for them, we would still be in the Stone Age."

--Alan Cohen

Here's another pearl:

"You have never really liked being told what to do."

-- Ask and it is Given

A few years ago there was a brilliant sports story about an exceptional high school athlete, who had only one hand. He was a pitcher at Mater Dei, and was aggressively sought after by college after college.

The young man talked about how everyone once told him he couldn't be an athlete - for gods' sake, he only had one hand! When asked how he dealt with such seeming ignorance, inconsideration, and lack of encouragement, he indicated that his philosophy was the following.

Just ignore what everyone else says, and do what you want.

I am eternally grateful to this fine young man who summed up the clearest code I live by, in a single sentence.

Correction - Mi dispiace, Milan

AC Milan actually did win today, 4-1, with Udinese and, that wasn't enough to put them ahead of Fiorentina in the final standings see, because Fiorentina also won, and that goal by Pablo Osvaldo was the only - and winning - goal in the game and he is from Argentina and has played well in the past for Italy's national U21 (under 21) team I trust, because he has Italian roots and passport. See how much research I get done on Sunday nights?

I just probably would do well not to blog and watch spotty highlights in Italian, considering I still have not mastered my second language yet.

So sorry, Milan...I'll try to get all your wins and losses straight in the future, I promise.

xo

Back to Camp, and Serie A finale

Buona sera!

Just a quick post - or so I'll try to do that. We know how I get on a roll and it's hard for me to zip it.

I just wanted to report that I had SO much fun at Camp Getaway last month, Fearless Leader Patti let me come back for a special weekend with just 16 of us total, and all but 3 of us were scrapbookers, or croppers...that might be the real word. 

Anyway, this was such a great group of ladies, from all over SoCal mostly (one from Wyoming). Patti and Janelle and I were the short staff this go around; I helped in the kitchen and Janelle was the resident nurse and massage therapist. Instead of all being in separate cabins and 'commuting' to a main lodge, this time we all stayed in a large cabin with two sides of the house separated by a kind of great-room - nice kitchen and living area mostly taken up by...scrapbooking tables. The bunks were much nicer and I had my own room! It reminded me of a b&b room in Europe.

I was asked if I 'scrapbooked' and I said no, because that would just equal my having more stuff. 

I read tarot cards per request, and traded Janelle a reading on Friday night for a massage on Saturday. What a fabulous trade. Both the reading and massage were extraordinary. The jury is still out on who did better on that deal. Great fun. This morning we practiced yoga together on the deck, with ants. We read about ants in an animal totems book and only learned that ants like "social". What a revelation.

OK so nice hot weekend in the mountains where it actually was a little cooler than here at sea level...and I am home in time to do one of the things I do best on Sunday nights. I am watching Domenica Sportiva on RAI TV to see what I missed in Italian football this weekend - (there was a TV up there but they used it mostly for movies - as if Italian football would have been a priority for anyone else).

InterMilan won the Scudetto - the Serie A league title; Roma were 'champions for an hour' per the show here. I really wanted Roma to bump them out of first place but we see that didn't happen. This whole show tonight, just about, has been about those stories and I wish they knew that we heard them the first time (lots of revisiting) and we'd like to see some of the other match highlights, thank you.

Now they are finally showing clips of AC Milan's match with Udinese, and how they LOST and came in fifth place in the league, since today was the last day of the season. Fiorentina (as in, Sebastien Frey) came in fourth -- this is all important in the league because unlike our American sports, the Euro leagues have Champions League, and relegation...more than I'll go into here and now; this is good info for SportsBites in the future.

Anyway, the Milan match today had the beautiful Roberto Rosetti for their referee so I missed a LOT, god I hate when that happens. AND Pippo Inzaghi peeled off his jersey and threw it to the crowd; at least they showed that on the highlights here. GRRRRR.

At least I have now just noticed a certain Pablo Osvaldo with Fiorentina's highlights since he did this fabulous bicycle/scissor kick to score a great goal, and he was just interviewed. Yum.

See, this is what I tried to tell my fellow lady World Cup Champions fans about two years ago...if you follow the club teams in addition to the national team, you get to see the World Cup guys again, and their teammates. But no one really took me up on it. Never mind.

Euro Cup starts June 7. It's like the World Cup all over again, only with just European teams. This is such a wonderful consolation for Serie A ending now. As I always like to say, life is so good.

Stay tuned for more on that!

Date Sauce and Pigsty

This morning I could have slept in til 4:30, but I woke up at 4 - and stayed awake. You know, just in case I accidentally fell back to sleep for too long, perhaps lost in a dream about nursing the beautiful, now-injured Vincenzo Iaquinta back to health in time to play for Italy in the Euro Cup this summer...

No, nothing like that. I woke up half an hour early because I was nervously thinking of at least 6 or 8 more things I was going to need for the food styling I was scheduled to do at 7, for Tony Danza and his son Marc, so they could make Date Sauce.

OK yeah. I'll back up.

Thursday, on my way home from hiking in the hills, I got a call on my cell phone from the lady who turned out to be Tony Danza's publicist. She was asking about my availability less than 24 hours later, to style food for a morning segment on Good Day LA. Tony and his son Marc have written a memoir cookbook, and they would be making Date Sauce for the segment.

Now. I had had my coffee already, and granted I was located kind of off the beaten track when I was speaking with this lovely person I'd never met before but, I had to ask, "Now are there dates in the sauce, like the dried fruit? Or..." (even though I was quite sure I'd heard her correctly).

No, she said. It's a sauce you make for dates as in, a romantic dinner at home.

Oh. Yes. That kind of sauce. Oh. Fine. Yes. I can make those.

We made plans to email or speak again when she had more details and, now I was committed to a job that could conceivably take on a life of its own if it tried (this kind of thing happens regularly). That afternoon I had originally made plans to explore Japanese noodle places during a late-lunch R&D excursion with my sister on behalf of R&D for Melting Pot Tours. 

Now instead, after SportsBites radio, I shopped - again - at Crate&Barrel. 

It took until after 10pm last night to get everything shopped-prepped-packed for Date Sauce. Which brings us back to my waking up at 4, not dreaming about Iaquinta...getting to FOX studios early actually, to prep for the TV segment, meet the Danzas, etc., it all went well. Then the even- better part of my day arrived.

My sister Suz teaches first grade, and today her 14 little students were hosting their mothers for a Tea Party, and a little Mothers Day program they have been long preparing for. Suz needed quality grown-up help, and as we always want these things done right, we recruit family accordingly. My mom, Lisa, and I arrived by 11am with our sleeves rolled up.

It was difficult not to fall in love as soon as I walked into the classroom. 14 beautiful little people were very excited about their new guest because they'd never met me before. Some children were doing math, others were painting little cakes with frosting. I wondered out loud, right away, what was wrong with that picture, and was told very calmly by my sister that "we are taking turns." Of course.

I was already in food mode, so immediately I was on strawberry detail (rinsing, slicing), then we made tea sandwiches with the children. Ours were cream cheese and cucumber, yum.

We also made cream tarts topped with the sliced strawberries, bananas, and mandarin oranges. Then my mom and I made ham and cheese sandwiches while the children were at 'lunch'.

When they came in there was still grown-up work to do to get everything ready for the moms' arrival at 1pm. To keep the children entertained, I was ordered gently but firmly to "read them a story!"

I was handed a picture book called Pigsty - what a laugh. Its hero Wendell has a messy room and while uninspired to clean it, some pigs move in and his life gets more complicated. Hilarious. Perfect for even those of us who love to honor their 6-year-old child inside.

I made story hour interactive - too much fun! I started by asking the children if they knew what a pigsty was, and every single one of them did in fact know that word. We wondered if we knew ANYbody whose room was like a pigsty? We learned that there are farms in France and Italy, since one of the pigs in the story arrived with a big suitcase with Rome and Paris stickers on it! We had tremendous fun with the story and were all disappointed when it had to end, which punch line I wouldn't dare spoil for you.

It was time for the mothers to arrive, and they did. It was such an incredibly beautiful afternoon for them, for all of us. The food was of course very delicious, and the interaction between these beautiful little children and their moms was so moving. I loved every second of it. 

My sister is a genius. She has taken (originally) very difficult little people, and since September has inspired them to be so much more of who they really are. I am so proud of her. It was a joy, pleasure, and privilege to be with her there today to share their very special day.

And, I collected hugs all afternoon, one little girl has the same name as me so we're new best friends, one little boy is a big soccer fan, one even looks like a miniature Bruno (France)....I can't wait to go back and visit them again. Plus, they all really enjoyed cooking, what's not to love.

I promised Suz I definitely wanted that reading a story opportunity again, at which request she and Lisa agreed that I was so much fun and that the kids really liked me! What a wonderful compliment. What a fabulous day.

It's a no-brainer. I really am only 6 years old inside.

Soccer Men Sing

I'm afraid there's a new object of my obsession.

Last spring when I was in the French Alps for about a week, one of the first nights I spent nestled in my own little apartment (for which keys Antoine had given me when we parted company in Paris; his family owns the apartment), happy as a clam. I had made dinner with exquisite groceries then relaxed to watch TV. I was lucky to have about 5 channels. Two were Italian and the other three were French.

One night on Italian TV, there was a music show that had contestants, of which I gathered were teams made of one celebrity and one non-celebrity. I say this because one celebrity looked just like Fabio Grosso of Italy's national soccer team. But as he was all decked out in jeans, a Marilyn Monroe TShirt and blazer, I wasn't sure until...they introduced him as Fabio Grosso and the crowd went crazy. He was the hero that made the last penalty kick for Italy to win the 2006 World Cup.

So here was one of our favorite Italians, with a microphone. I wondered if he was going to sing and, what that would sound like. He has a great voice and sang beautifully. It was pure pleasure to watch his equally great presence on stage as if he did this all the time. It appeared as though his club team (Lyon, France, actually for the last two years) perhaps just gave their players a night off once they won the league championship...

He sang a song after his 'competition' (he didn't win; couldn't tell you why not) that was very high-spirited and as fun to listen to as it must have been to sing, which the entire crowd did. I figured it must have been a 'soccer song' because they have those in Europe...here, sports songs like this? Not so much.

Fast forward one year...I get an email from the wonderful Steve Amoia, who is one of my new best friends. He writes extremely well on many subjects including his favorites...Italian football and world soccer. He forwarded me the link to his Calcio website that includes a 'best of the web' list of articles and videos on all sorts of splendid things, including Italy's national team.

One video is "Azzurri Players Singing". It is a charity singfest by the national team from about four or five years ago and includes some of the present top players.

Can I guess how many times I've watched this? They are singing Azzurro, the same song I first heard by the beautiful Fabio Grosso one year ago. (Azzurro is the color blue, in Italian.)

Fabulous. I am in heaven, because now, at least 23 Fabio Grosso types are singing joyfully, and they sound - and look - fantastic. The solos by some of the biggest stars are especially impressive. The jazzy, sexy bridge between verses backs up footage of them goofing off and having too much fun. 

At the end, the bonus minutes show a commercial, set in the dark, starring one beautiful goalkeeper (but this was before Buffon's time), then 5 or 6 other players at the end. They're all wearing Under Armour type clothing. 

So worth a look.

Now I am addicted to the entire video and am on a tear to learn the Azzurro song. The lyrics are neither complicated or difficult; it's a little story about the summer and taking a train "to come to you".... something like that.

My favorite line is about "the train of desires in my thoughts".

Yum. That would definitely be worth the price of a ticket. 

Even in twice-the-dollar Euro.