"NOW I'M 64"

And the only way to deal with it, I've decided, is to view it as the new 35!

I've had a pleasant day, with lots of lovely greetings from friends.

Simi sneaked out by herself in the week and got me these jimjams:

No birthday in Sicily is complete without some local pastries, including, as it's Carnevale, some chiacchiere:

Naturally, I have had to play me this song all day and inflict it upon others, having waited 47 years in order to do so. Ah, how impossibly old 64 seemed way back then! The "many years from now" have flown by and, although some of them have been hard, including the last one, I've lived long enough to know that we should be grateful for every one of them.  

Here's to you, dear readers.

The Beatles - When I'm 64

READY

I don't think my red, white and green plastic necklaces were the kind of jewellery the late John Lennon had in mind when he famously told an audience to "rattle their jewels" at a Royal Variety Performance back in 1963 but I'll definitely be rattling them for the Azzurri tonight!

I am otherwise prepared, too. [My nails just caused a sensation in the bar, by the way!]

Forza Azzurri!


The Beatles - "Rattle your jewels" [John Lennon] and Twist and Shout - 1963

SABATO MUSICALE - JOHN LENNON

There is only one songwriter that I can feature today, on what would have been his seventieth birthday.  Thanks for the memories and the dreams, John:

Gino Paoli - Imagine - Italian version

John Lennon - Imagine - con sottotitoli in italiano

BIDING MY TIME AND DRINKING HER WINE

My friend Marcello has been absent from this blog for over a year because he has been working in the north of Italy, where his wife, Silvia, still is.  But he's been visiting his elderly parents for a few days and we met for coffee on Friday.  For newer readers, Marcello is the man whose English consists of lines from Beatles songs. He is always changing his job and I can't keep up.  Despite what Marcello says, Silvia continues to adore him.

Me: Ciao, Marcello, come stai?
Marcello: I OK but you know it ain't easy. You know how hard it can be, haha!
Me: What? Having a barrow in the market place?
Marcello: Haha! No, now I Mr City Policeman sitting...
Me: Where? In a jar by the door?
Marcello: No, it's just a rumour, haha!
Me: How's Silvia?
Marcello: She changes from day to day.
Me: Tell me why.
Marcello.  She said that living with me was bringing her down.
Me: And what did you say?
Marcello: Oh, I just sat on a rug, biding my time, drinking her wine.
[Waitress suddenly appears with two ice creams.]
Me: Where did that come from?
Marcello: She came in through the bathroom window, haha!
Me:  You're going to lose that girl.
Marcello: Ah, you speaking words of wisdom, haha!
Me: I'll let it be.
Marcello. Well, I meeting a man from the motor trade.  Ciao!
Me: Ciao, Marcello. Say hello to Silvia.
Marcello. I tell her things we said today, haha!

myspace backgrounds

SILLY WEEK: CREAM TANGERINE AND MONTELIMAR

I was sitting in the Altro Posto this morning, half reading the paper and half musing upon the fact that what Silly Week needed from this blog was a "Marcello" post, when a familiar voice from the terrace called,
"Buongiorno. The sun is up, the sky is blue"
and there he was! Marcello is the man who talks in Beatles lyrics and now I think he must be telepathic as well.

Me: Ciao, Marcello. Come stai?
Marcello: It's getting better all the time, haha! I'll get you anything my friend.
Me: Un caffè, per favore.
[Marcello orders at the counter, then joins me at the table.]
Me: E Silvia, come sta? [Silvia is Marcello's wife and my friend.]
Marcello: She's happy as can be.
Me [quite proud of this]: She said so?
Marcello: Sì, sì, she waits at the window, haha!
[Silvia is much too busy to wait at any window. At this point the waiter brings a very tempting gelato and puts it down in front of me.]
Marcello: 'Ere you are. Cream tangerine and montelimar.
[It is lemon ice cream with strawberries.]
Me: Il tuo lavoro, come va? [How's work?]
[Marcello, even in these hard times, manages to change his job whenever he gets bored.]
Marcello: I quit my job as a policeman and got myself a steady job, haha!
[Don't worry: he has never been a policeman.]
Me: Ah, sì? Cos'è? [Oh, yes? What is it?]
Marcello: Take some insurance on me, baby.
Me: No, grazie. Ti piace questo lavoro? [Do you like this work?]
Marcello: I working eight days a week and in this world there's nothing I would rather do, haha!
Me: Sono contenta per te. [I'm happy for you.]
Marcello: The future still looks good, haha! [Changing his expression to a pathetic one]: So how come no one loves me?
Me: Ma Silvia ti ama! [But Silvia loves you!] She's a woman who understands.
Marcello [feigning being moved to tears]: I wanna hold your hand.
Me: Anytime at all.
Marcello: You speak of time. At twelve o'clock a meeting round the table, haha!
Me [enormously proud this time]: A splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Marcello: We see you. Sunday morning go for a ride?
[I am just about to reply when through the open door I spy......]
Me: Lovely Rita meter maid!
[The female vigile across the road is looking at Marcello's car with interest.]
Me [calling after him]: Salutami Silvia! [Say hello to Silvia!]
Marcello [calling over his shoulder as he sprints across the road]: I got a whole lot of things to tell her when I get home.

myspace layouts