I almost didn’t post anything because I’m slightly overwhelmed with everything I could tell, but at the same time I really do work all of the time and haven’t done anything except the usual living stuff. Being sick has caused me to live more like Dickinson and less like Whitman and I would try to come up with some Italian counterparts but don’t really feel like it.
But in my hermit-like state of late I have tasted arancia torocca (which is blood orange) and I’m think FFCoppola but all those oranges in his death scenes not because of the lovely color or the fact poppy for heroine was grown in orange fields but because they are really, really, really good and he may have wanted to snack on them between takes. And then there are the grapefruits, which the pink ones are more coral colored in the sweet inside and are not sour at all, some subtle tart, but it’s just for effect. If I were an artist, well, I’m sure I’d mess it all up but they are beautiful and worthy of your saliva, attention and time. Florida has nothing on citrus, sorry.
The other recent joy is the hiring of 6 student assistants. I love having help. And they are so young and diligent. I’m going to make every effort to relinquish some control and leave the library for things like lunch or to learn the language. Working from 9 to 6 or 7 is cutting into my wow time with the city.
And I finished a book, A Million Little Pieces, which has nothing to do with Italy and is slightly graphic in its depiction of drug addiction, but has passages in it that make you burst inside. A few involving the dawn. A lot involving fear and need. Anyway, if you have a strong stomach, try it. . . . and speaking of dawn, watched it this morning illuminate the top of Santa Croce and rearrange my inner being for a moment into something like light.
Sorry you only get morning posts. That’s all I have time for. Maybe one night I’ll try to post something, but for now, the nights are all mine — secret and safe.
Around Here 
Wish I had a crate of those arancia torocca for your father’s new Gold Star Juice Extractor. Yes I am sitting here with the tale tell orange mustache of carrot juice. He is determined to get healthy (me too). It is amazing what the prospect of 79 stairs will do motivate old folks! The Mighty Wurlitzer Noice Machine{ ie American television} is having a field day blasting Oprah for promoting “A Million Little Pieces”. Their claim: He exageraated many of the stories in the book! Hello, who cares if it touched the lives of many people. Consider your lack of television a blessing, although I feel that it might have more substance than ours. Don’t be a hermit, it is against your nature. Have fun!!!!
Oprah is sticking by the book because, whether completely factual or not, it still has “redemptive power.” I agree with her that a book can be valuable even if not entirely true as claimed. My problem is not with her but with him- he did embellish AND fabricate parts of it and misrepresent himself. If it’s not entirely true, don’t call it a memoir.
Yes, I heard about all of the controversy, but I agree w/Oprah. And honestly why are people reading something for factuality, shouldn’t we be reading for words and impact. Anyone that believes in a real truth or memoir is probably delusional to begin with. Everything is painted and tainted by our own memories and experience. So, yes, he probably lied. The first person that says they never have, is lying themselves.
One of the issues “the Smoking Gun” has with the book is that he calls himself a Criminal with a capital C. I think if he felt like a Criminal with a capital C then he is justified in calling himself that. I cannot belive that his critics are saying that he wasn’t badass enough–or nat as badass as he thinks he was. I think that I was pretty badass myself, but if I were to write it all down and then have an army of investigators pick through my every memory I’d be laughed out of the badass alumni club.
For me the book was powerful for the insight it provided into the mind of an addict. Having wanted so badly to gain access to the mind of one particular addict, I have to thank Mr. Frey for his illumination.
I have begun listening to it so will wait to respond, but I do have one question. Even if it was billed as a memoir, who said any memoir is TRUTH! It pisses me off that people even think that there is objective true, there’s only perception of experience. Let it be!
OK…is that head cold back? Have you found a pharmacy that has real Kleenex or are you using those sand-paper tissues that were left there??? Heehee…sorry…those things were horrible! The toilet paper was softer and that’s not saying a lot.
I’m so excited about your assistants!!! Do you have any favorites yet? I think I need to hire some myself because somehow I am working 9-10 hours a day again. At least you are in a city where there is something interesting around every corner unlike my “beautiful” drive up 19/41 from Hampton to the DL headquarters everyday so get out there and experience everything you can.
OH…I just wanted to mention that your blog has a wonderful way of making me feel like I am there with you! Tell Sue, Tamara, and Kelly I said Hello!!!
Hi Julia! I’m thrilled to read of your life-changing experiences in Italy!!!! I must make a confession though…I wish I were there too.
Congrats on your new student assistants! Wish I were one of them…but, alas…the Fates haven’t dealt me such great fortune yet.
I’m still in the process of absorbing all that you’ve written. I enjoy the little glimpses of Italy. Look forward to reading more. What would one do without the ability to imagine? Without imagination would words mean as much?
Hey Natalie, I’m glad to see you are reading along. I wish you were one of my assistants! And without imagination words would not exist; only a creative mind could create language. Need motivates, but imagination implements. Si?
Relish in your time of Dickinson, Miss Julia, and remember that it was she who wrote “to live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.” You seem to be in a place which is startling at every turn and light!
Your blog is fab, and it is a treat to read of your experiences.
Have a wonderful birthday!!