Update for Everyone VIII: He who laughs have the last laugh

[Battista Minola 1616]

I have decided to try and give up coffee for Lent. To be fair I technically started one day late (i.e. I only thought about this in the middle of Ash Wednesday) but whatever - I could frame this in secular terms too.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Today is my 21st birthday! In before the inevitable "NOW YOU CAN DRINK BOOZE LEGALLY IN AMERICA xD LOL" quips.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Today is the Ides of March. Watch your back Virginia.

'Beware the Ides of March' may be one of my favourite lines, certainly the best I ever said on a stage.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Today is the Ides of March. Watch your back Virginia.

'Beware the Ides of March' may be one of my favourite lines, certainly the best I ever said on a stage.

Do you think your character's name was rather ironic?

You mean that a soothsayer is supposed to bring sooth augury and instead foretold ominous events? Perhaps.

[Battista Minola 1616]

On vacay in northwest Italy atm, and man, I'm actually livid that Germans are so stuck up about  how progressive they are and how backwards southern Europeans are, yet:

- trains are cheaper and more frequent in Italy than in Germany
- trains are cleaner, more modern, and break down less
- internet is faster, cheaper, and more reliable
- i can pay with credit card virtually everywhere and cash-only places are rare

You of course already know this (by the way: that was a great day!) but I can guarantee everybody that these things shock Italians' preconceptions at least as much as they shock Germans' ones.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Yesterday I took a ride on a carousel because I felt like it, even though I am so old it was probably a decade since the last time I had done. It was fun! Embrace the madness.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I have decided to try and give up coffee for Lent. To be fair I technically started one day late (i.e. I only thought about this in the middle of Ash Wednesday) but whatever - I could frame this in secular terms too.

Lent has finished, Easter has passed, and today maybe I'll have some coffee. Though I arguably broke the rule a few times because I did not realize the amount of coffee they put inside ginseng and stuff...

[Battista Minola 1616]

I just tested positive for COVID... this is really annoying for a few reasons but it's also not worse than the mild case of common flu I had three weeks ago, and honestly almost hilarious given the point in time we are at.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I just tested positive for COVID... this is really annoying for a few reasons but it's also not worse than the mild case of common flu I had three weeks ago, and honestly almost hilarious given the point in time we are at.

Yesterday I tested negative again so now I am back and free. It was a boring nine days but I suppose it could have been worse (although it definitely could have been better too).

[Battista Minola 1616]

My father recently had solar panels installed on our rooftop. They're now fully working and I feel pretty happy about this.

[Battista Minola 1616]

My father recently had solar panels installed on our rooftop. They're now fully working and I feel pretty happy about this.

Not otherwise knowing you, I'd assume this means your dad is an exurban, conservative-yet-environmentally-friendly technical specialist or engineer working in a red state.

My dad is an urban, conservative-yet-environmentally-friendly lawyer working in a (former?) red region. But of course, you already know this...

[Battista Minola 1616]

Today I finally got my pay of 208€ as a poll worker in June's local elections. A nice way to transition off a particularly underwhelming period (or so I hope).

[Battista Minola 1616]

I am lying in bed posting on Atlas while another Atlas poster sleeps next to me. AMA.

Is the bed sheet dyed in the colours of a wiphala? Many people are saying this.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I am on a road trip on the other side of Italy. In the past two days I've been to the regions of Molise and Abruzzo for the first time in my life and visited places in Umbria and Marche for the first time in 15 years. Now I am only missing Apulia (and actual stops in Basilicata)!

[Battista Minola 1616]

Today is Saint Simon the Zealot, which happens to be my name day.

I am also visiting a friend in Perugia for the first time. This city is beautiful, certainly similar to others in the hills of central Italy but with various distinctive features.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Today one of my two pet budgerigars died after some six years and a half. I just buried it. I feel sad and very strange.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Tirana is absurdly beautiful. A must for a revisit. I hate to accord this status to a non-Slavic capital. Hopefully Sarajevo or Zagreb can unseat it.

Love it or hate it, Albania is certainly unique. I was talking to a friend of mine last night from New York who says she never wants to visit Albania because old Albanian women in the Bronx keep thinking she's a witch and either try to get her to put a curse on someone or tell their sons not to associate with her. I kind of want to do a compare/contrast trip to Albania and Chechnya to try to learn their whole family/clan culture.

The stereotype of the diaspora population in SE MI is sort of boilerplate for post-communist and/or South European immigrant groups... gym bros, flag obsessees, hookah smokers, probably involved in low-sophistication organized crime, their dads own liquor stores or diners, the female stereotype would probably be a Kardashian wannabe (ironic?), etc. There are maybe some added layers like hair or beard styling owing to Middle-East-adjacency as well.

This is interesting. I of course live in a country with one of the largest Albanian diaspora populations, they are kind of everywhere and I have met quite a few Albanians in my life, but at least half of those stereotypes are foreign to me. In particular the idea that they would be adjacent to Arabs or Middle Easterners (hookah?) is fairly strange. Instead, I'd say the main stereotype here is that Albanians are construction workers - and anecdotally this is not just a stereotype.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Arriving in Zagreb the night of the World Cup was a mistake. Like... if they'd actually played tonight I'd be out there with them. But how is this justified!?

Welcome to the fake Slovenia club! A nice FF compromise between Italy (whose avatar I don't like) and Croatia (whose avatar doesn't exist yet unfortunately for you).

[Battista Minola 1616]

Venice is beautiful but I have no reason to ever come back here.

Sad! What happened?

[Battista Minola 1616]

Venice is beautiful but I have no reason to ever come back here.

Sad! What happened?

Tourist trap with no trace of organic human life and fast food restaurants that demand way too many logins to gain wi-fi access. I also insisted on walking from the mainland to the island (my fault), which had me in a foul mood. Also sooo many effing pigeons.

This is fair but you lose all of your complaint points for going to a fast food restaurant, smh. It is said that the best time to see Venice is at night or dawn (and then go into hiding when it becomes crammed I guess).

[Battista Minola 1616]

Today I went to the funeral Mass for my great-uncle (the husband of my paternal granddad's sister), who died a few days ago. I didn't know him particularly well, but this is the first time in my life I've been to a funeral, so it felt sort of significant. RIP.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I am about to fly to Lisbon for a holiday with two friends of mine! I have only been there for a layover before and I have long wanted to spend more time in Portugal.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I guess last night I ticked "partying outside with international strangers met at the hostel in [European city]" off the list of things to do when you're in your twenties (and I am definitely not a club person). Almost as good as the azulejos or the live fado.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I am back to Italy after the best holiday of my life, which happened quite unexpectedly like so many good things do, and which also made me reflect a lot about... all.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I was in Genoa today, I met with a friend and we explored various parts of the city I'd never been to. The D'Albertis Castle is amazing and in many ways such a beautifully representative landmark, I regret never having been before.