After Paddy’s day

I know it was two weeks ago, but, to be honest, I don’t really know when I’ll recover from that. I worked six days, five of which we saw numbers of visitors going over 5 thousands….yes, you get it right!

The climax of the week reached on the 18^th when we welcomed 6.500 people.

The result of all this was a Franny really, really, really tired, who would have killed for a hug (I don’t know, this happen when I’m tired!) and who had a great idea to dream, guess what? a huge queue of customers on the 6^th day night! I was dreaming about this endless queue, and I was waving my arm to tell people to go in a certain direction, and when I opened my eyes I saw my arm still moving…I hope it’s not bad as it seems, otherwise I won’t survive trough the summer!

Plus at the moment I’m at home sick and I cannot speak! I really think this is due to the hot breeze from the entrance that day!!! Aaaaaaaargh!

Said that, I feel to share with you a couple of interesting things I learned during those busy days:

-According to a customer the best city in California is San Francisco. He was from there but that doesn’t count!

-In case of emergency you learn to know better people who work with you…even who have your same shoe size! Whatever they say I’m a teamwork person!

-Being a human kiosk is funnier that I thought! I was giving ticket in exchange of reference numbers and I was immerged in paper!

-Receiving hugs when you’re knackered is without price! I’ve always loved hugs, they make you feel better, but I suppose they’re mandatory in these cases! They should put as routine after a day so busy!

-The busiest is the place the number of stupid/rude/impolite people raises….actually I already knew that! I don’t know why and nobody knows! It’s just to confirm!

- I have nice…hum…trousers. That was told me by a guy, I suppose the stag! He was dressed in a lady outfit, giant pink curled wig and giant red rimmed sunglasses. Actually I hope he dressed himself alone! I was so tired that I just said “Wow, nice dress!”. Hence the answer!

-I could confirm that Dutch have the most weird glass frames. I love them, I’ll use some of them for my stories sooner or later!

-It doesn’t matter how many times you see something and how tired you are, there are a few things that are just funny. So I’ll share with you:

It seems that one of the biggest problem people have is with the machine where you can buy tickets with credit card. You go there and you see two buttons on the touch screen: Collect Ticket and Buy ticket. I suppose that now you tell me “Ok, that’s not difficult!”. What I can say to you is that:

a- Loads of people just press Collect ticket and try to enter their credit card number in the line for the reference number!

b- Loads of them, just swipe the card without even choose one of the two options!

Once you manage to press Buy ticket, you should choose what you want and then swipe your card. Unfortunately the majority of people just stay there and keep swiping the card as they think that the computer sooner or later would read their mind!

Then you get your ticket and you go, skipping the queue, straight into the tour!

Now, leaving on the side all the people that apparently prefer queuing for a good half an hour instead doing that and leaving on the side also those ones that try to swipe the card into the door with access the staff lockers, or the ones who try to swipe it on the image of the touch screen, I’ll tell you the scene who won that day!

A man (not telling you where he was from because, really, who knows me and the job, already guessed right!) was sent to buy his tickets on the kiosk. He was between the last two machines, one with the two buttons, Buy and Collect and the other one with just Collect. Of course he was trying to buy on the one saying just Collect.

Me –Can I help you?

Customer- It doesn’t work!

Me- Yes, this is just to collect tickets! You…

Customer- It doesn’t work!

Me- Did you book on line?

Customer-….

Me- So let’s try the other one!

Customer -(tried to swipe his card without pressing what he needed)

Me- Why don’t we choose something first?

Customer- (looked at me, completely lost)

Me- Ok.. (I pressed Buy for him. I was really worried for his little son looking lost. Maybe it was a family matter!) what do you want to buy?

Customer- Two!

Me-Ok, so one adult and one child, right?

Customer-…

Me-Ok… Now you swipe your card….

After this I sent them inside, but believe me, I was so tired that my effort to not laugh in his face was really hard!

But now it’s over….oh no, summer ahead! Poor Franny!

Talk to you soon!

Only for my master- short story

And after a long time, I’m going to post the newest short story I have “Only for my master”.

I wrote it a while ago for a blog game. The game was on the Italian platform Libero, but I wrote the original in English first. Usually these games require a a certain length or a certain number of words but I knew I was going to chop it down. I usually write a lot more!

So you judge it! It is as usual in “Short Stories”

Happy reading!

Update n°7

As I mentioned in my last update, I’ve started at the beginning of February a 10 weeks children’s fiction course run by Jane Mitchell.

I love it and it makes me feel better with all these things that are going on around me. I’m not in a happy mood lately for a series of problems but writing is my personal lifejacket so I’ll grab it and I won’t let it go! I don’t want even to think about what I could do without writing.

Let’s talk about the course! During the first lesson we introduced ourselves and then Jane explained how the course works. All the most important novel topics will be touched and ideally by the end of the course we should have a 5 chapter’s book draft. This is amazing! If this comes true I’ll have three drafts in my computer, one of them finished at least!

The story is about my fantasy world, Sonrisa, once again, but it is set many years before the event of the first book I wrote took place. I don’t say anything more for the moment!

We had homework to do for the following lesson: we had to jot down the writing project and also read a book. I didn’t think I could read a book in one week. Ok, it wasn’t The Lord of the Rings (something that I’m still reading…yes I’m still at the first book since last year…I won’t say it defeated me though! At least so far!) but fairy long: House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. She’s the English queen of fantasy, full stop and I’m not going to spoil a single word out of the book, you just have to read it! I wish I’ll have such fantasy and ability sooner or later!

I feel proud anyway I managed to reach the goal although at least a couple of people in the group read two or even three books. This is something it’s not likely to happen until I’ll retire! Or until I’ll be a writer able to live of my writing!

The second lesson, we had last week, was about characters. Nice challenge I’d say. The small exercise we did in class was about finding a coat owned by our character and telling five objects we find inside it, in order to describe who he/she is without give any other information. The homework was describing our character eating something, using only food, tools and custom. I’d never tried to think in this way. And, believe me, it was harder than just describe your character in the “standard way”!

I suppose that the rule “show don’t tell” is a bit clearer in my head, but still difficult to apply.

To add some notions more I read chapters about character from Fantasy and Science Fiction by Philip Athans. The odd and nice thing was discovering I was doing some of the right things without knowing I was doing them! Although I know I need a lot of hard work to do I feel good for the find.

Another nice thing about last week. I was home sick, I then decided to follow my partner’s advice and stay in bed at least for one day. At the end of the afternoon I finished to read one whole book. Nothing big, fantasy book for young adults, but still I remember that I was in high school the last time I did that! I felt good!

Finally on Tuesday I went to the third lesson. We touched the setting and its influence on the character. How the character perceive the setting according to his/her emotions. As homework we have to write about the perception of the same environment by a character in two opposite situations! That will be fun!

I love Jane’s style of teaching. Every time I attend a different course I learn something more and something different. I just feel awkward at times, because I’m the only non-English speaker but this is the path I’ve chosen so I have to live with it and give my best!!!

Talk to you soon!

New Pirates

Why have people always hated pirates?

Because they were dirty. Because they were criminals. Because they were violent. For all that, they were told dangerous for the society.

And yes, for a certain point of view they were all this. Well, they were all of this, but not only!

I know that probably you wouldn’t believe me because everybody who knows me a bit more is aware of my love towards those mythical scurvy dogs and the golden age of piracy. But this is not the moment or the place where I’ll try to explain my fondness! I’ll do in one of the next posts.

What I’m here to say is that piracy is not gone! It still exists in the world, in our everyday life. And don’t tell me “Oh, yes, what a news! We all know that! We all read the newspapers!” because I’m not going to talk to you about the facts happening in the Middle East or that kind of stuff!

I’m going to speak about those pirates that live among us and that usually are thought cool by the most.

They are not even true pirates, they are more like privateers. They’re allowed to behave like that by the established power.

For those who don’t know anything about the privateers let me explain. They were basically pirates, like the others. So they robbed, killed, destroyed villages, raped and kidnapped, all for the vile money! BUT (because it is a big but!) they were allowed to do that by the governors and trough them by the king himself who, to be honest, sit on his throne in Europe hardly knew what happened in the new world for sure. They paid the governor a percentage out of the booty or slaves to ensure their freedom in action.

Can you imagine whom I’m talking about? No, no it’s not the politician….they actually are included in the category, it’s obvious. What I’m talking about it’s something you don’t think immediately at: the management class (let’s be honest, you cannot define them otherwise) in every big company.

The biggest is the company the worse and more violent are the pirates.

I’m saying that because they behave like them, kidnapping our neurons, destroying and robbing our brains and raping our way to be.

But there is a huge difference between these new pirates and the legendary ones. And you mind, I want neither you agree with me nor that you think I totally justify the old ones.

But the matter that counts is that the old pirates and maybe the privateers as well had a moral code. Yes you heard correctly!

Although they were immoral for the most they had a code and most importantly they respected the code between them, no matter the grade you were wearing or your race or your credo. They were really the same for the code.

Apparently you have the same thing among the new pirates, but this is exactly what I hate with all my heart: appearance!

They eat each other no matter what. And everywhere is the same because what it counts is the money….but no rules, no rules in sharing the booty…nothing!

And now just do answer: which one do you think is worse?!

Talk to you soon

PS. I was editing this post when I watched this video by mistake. I think it could fit the cause.

Those are pirates too, but the worse kind. They seek kids and prevent them to think with their heads from such a young age. This is just disgusting.

But, you see, it’s not just Christians…after the last post you might thing I’m sticking on them. Here it is another nice one! (for the few who didn’t got it, the last bit was ironic!)

Zeitgeist: moving forward

As I promised you recently I’m going to link you the video Zeitgeist: moving forward.

Before I do so I want just to point out a thing.

Listen to their words carefully and mostly try to understand that racism, hatred and ignorance don’t bring us anywhere.

We should know what is right and what is wrong, we should stop to hate each other and we should stop with all these differences and mostly we should love our planet most.

As Jacque Fresco says: “This shit’s got to go!”

ZMF

Update n°6

Here we are again for a new update.

I wrote my January issue telling you what I wanted to do and now I think it’s right telling you what I managed to do so far. I know January hasn’t finished yet but I also say that it’s better start from the very beginning. In this way I’ll also keep track of my personal improvement.

What I’ve done so far was drawing again the map of Sonrisa with A.’s help. Now, it’s tidier but still it’s full of stuff. I think that, when I’ll end up with the main project, I’ll have a couple of spare ideas to write about! After all it’s an entire world I’m building up, so I suppose there will be loads of stories to tell!

I drew in 10 sheets of paper the races that live in my world and they’re attached on the wall in the kitchen (believe it or not, my partner hasn’t killed me yet!) so I have a general idea of the whole and it’s easier for me pick up a race and invent new characters.

Also that helps me with a top secret project I’ve started, still set in Sonrisa, but detached from the main one. I cannot speak about that right now but I will sooner or later!

I also gathered a few encyclopaedias about history, geography and other topics, but I’ll tell you about them little by little.

The one I’m studying for the moment is human geography. I started history of the world and crimes against humanity too, but I think it’s better I concentrate on one per time. I knew already I needed time, so no rush, Franny!!! (Ah ah ah…Franny’s brain’s laughing!)

What I’m not doing and I hoped I could improve a bit it’s reading. I’ve finished a couple of books I dragged with me from 2010 and also I’ve started a new one, a fantasy, although I still have some unfinished waiting on the bedside table!

What I haven’t started again is writing seriously after the NaNoWriMo effort! I’m lost among the planning of the world, the planning for the main project, blogging and writing the top secret thing… there is no time left for my good old routine. Or so it seems!

I suppose that once I’ll finish planning at least I’d be able to resume the morning pleasure. Let’s hope for February!

Also in February I’ll start a new 10 weeks writing course at the Irish Writers’ Centre. I hope I can go a step forward in my planning and writing. I’ll keep you updated on that too, no worries!

On the top of it I keep working full time and I’m more tired than ever, but I’ll go on. Until my body will decided to stop me in one of its genus way, like a cold or something alike, I’ll go ahead!

For the moment that’s that!

Talk to you soon.

Our world

We should love our world.

Sunday I went to the worldwide release of this documentary: Zeitgeist moving forward. It was amazing. I agree 100% with what they say and I hope that sooner or later everybody will understand that we need to change.

I’ll tell you when the whole documentary will be available on-line. It should be in a few days.

If you’re interested, there are two documentaries preceding this one. Zeitgeist.

And then the Zeitgeist Addendum

If you want to understand more about the Venus Project then I suggest you to watch Future by design.

And this is the website.

As you may notice I didn’t explain anything about that. Firstly because the immages are clear enough and secondly because I don’t want to influence anybody with my point of view. I think you can understand alone!

2011

Here we are again, on my good old blog. A new year started, the holidays are finished, my guests are back to Italy and the house is quiet again. I kind miss the mess to be honest!

Usually, at the beginning of the year, I do a list with all the things that I want to do, all the aims of the year.

However a recent happening caught my attention forcing me to complain with you right from the beginning. I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way!

A part from the high number of unlucky things that are happening to me for some unknown reason, the recent happening I’m referring to is the end of the world.

No really, it’s the end of the world!

Do you remember the prophecy told by Mayan calendar? They forecasted that the end of the world will be in 2012. There is a film also and I’ve even found a literary competition on the matter. Everybody seems to get ready for the event!

But a genius, one engineer now member of one of the million Christian churches existing in the world, says that the end of the world is this year indeed. Now if you surf on the web there are so many different dates about this, but certainly the one the most of them agree on is the 21^st of May, which for them will be the Judgment Day.

A few days ago I was in work and literally a pamphlet rolled in through the door. I thought it was about a museum I hadn’t seen yet, but when I opened it the title read “21^st May 2011….Judgment Day!”. I laughed immediately, really people believes it?

My knowledge on the matter is really limited, I admit that, but I couldn’t help to read the paper and think about a couple of comments.

First, it seems that they want to get more people for the Church just scaring them, they count of the people’s fright of the death. I quote “As you read this pamphlet, please carefully consider the verses quoted from the Bible, for they are the Word of God, and as such, posses absolute power and authority. Our only salvation is through the reading of the Word of God”. Now the question is: how can loads of people believe in such prehistoric book? Something that was put together during a council of human beings choosing what they preferred most? It is something to brainwash people, that’s it. But still there are a millions of people of the world who believe in it.

And just to scare a bit more at the end they reinforce the idea repeating “As you read this pamphlet, please carefully consider the verses quoted from the Bible, for they are the Word of God, and as such, posses absolute power and authority” …again, do they know that something called science does exist? I wonder what they do when they feel sick…go to the church or to the doctor? That’s tough!

Secondly, they say that now the words are clear and they can read it properly. What does it mean? Was it written in a different language before? Did you read for once in hangover? A Book is not alive or better, it is, but not in the way they think…something that is written before it will be written after still…it doesn’t change the words, in particular if you say that it is written clearly!

Immediately after, there is a list “Timing of important event in history”. I’m sure that other dates were important in that period, but it seems that only a few of them are taken into consideration. Why? Because after only one page, the dates are used to make a calculation according to which the date of the judgement day is given. Not only, they also give us the date of the end of the world which is on October 21^st. It’s like you’re scheduling the appointment with the doctor in a way! 21^st of May, the Judgment, check. The 21^st of October, the End, check. Just consider that they reached this conclusion using the Hebrew calendar or so they say…what? In hundreds of years did nobody think to this solution? Again, I think they want just to put panic amidst the people, a real Deus ex machina!

The more I read into the pages the more I felt angry. The things I was thought when I was younger are all lies. I thought he was the God of benevolence and he was fair and good and loved his creatures.

Here they talk about someone who’ll destroy what he’s done to kill us all if we don’t like his principles. It’s like a parent who kills his child because he or she misbehaved… Where is the love? Where is the mercy? Also I quote again “He is giving us advanced warning to what He is about to do”… From May to October five months of terrible things will happen. So, He loves his creature, give us the warning, because he love us…right, BUT if we don’t do what He “says” he’ll made us suffer in the most unimaginable ways…where the hell is the mercy? It seems more sadist. Mercy would be:

“Stay with me?”

“No”

“Instant death then” and puff, we don’t even realize it!

Than it is written that people will rise from their graves. The good one are ascending while the bad are staying here and wondering around like zombies.

Well, if all the people who don’t believe in Him are zombies, in China they’ll be packed! So it says the pamphlet “Death will be everywhere”…no seriously…Mr. Romero, do we want to do something about that? Let’s do that, come on!

After all the quoting there is a web site address. There is no way to speak with other people and exchange opinion as far I could see. It’s a website full of things to download.

But as they say “Read the Bible with your family (especially your children) and along with your reading, pray for mercy”….that’s the perfect example of brainwash and early recruitment!

I’ll leave you now, from the next time the posts will be again the usual standard, I hope.

I just want to say a last thing. 2011 is the year of the rabbit, and it is supposed to bring lucky….well, if the year keeps going like this, I’m going to get that damn rabbit and cook it!