Buondì. I got up promptly this morning, knowing I needed to write something for the club before spending an hour or two tidying up our little sailing boat, which we’ve neglected all winter. But then… I had no idea what to write, which is rare, as I am by nature a person with lots of […]
Happy Easter, Kiss Your Parents’ Feet!
Buondì. And Buona Pasqua! Though you should note that here in Italy, Venerdì Santo (Good Friday) is a religious holiday but not a national one, that is to say, it’s a normal working day. Most of Europe is closed, but not Italy. My bank has been warning me for a month that any transactions I […]
What to do after falling off your bicycle
Buondì. A short one today, as I have a busy morning ahead (a job interview!) And in fact, it’s been a busy period since, when? Mid- to late-March, when we had our Spring Sale, which was a lot of work. Then after that I was writing some poems – I’m now waiting for some ideas […]
Thirteen point four six percent of my life
Buondì. I was looking at visitor stats for the club website this morning, which got me thinking statistically. I recently reached the ripe old age of fifty-two. If memory serves correctly, (that’s a fairly big ‘if’) I registered the domain ‘OnlineItalianClub.com’ back in 2012, so seven years ago. Since then, the calculator on my laptop […]
Psst! Wanna join an exclusive club?
Buondì. No, not THAT sort of exclusive club, silly! I was listening to a marketing podcast yesterday evening, and the interviewer made some remark to the guest along the lines that normal people these days (so you and I) get served by algorithms such as voice mail or A.I. (artificial intelligence) systems rather than by […]
Dante’s selling like hot cats & Easy Italian News reminder
Buondì. Dante, gatto vagante is selling like hot cats, I mean cakes. Thanks to everyone who’s supported the club by buying a copy. I hope you’ll find the material engaging. In the end, that’s more or less all that matters with langauge learning – managing to stay interested in the long term, over the months, […]
Dante sets off on his misadventures. And two more FREE poems!
Buondì. Dante il gatto vagante of course, not Dante the writer who died in 1321. I published the free sample chapter on Friday, you’ll remember. Several people wrote to say they liked it. Download it here (.pdf) if you missed it. ‘In via eccezionale’, because we’re talking cats here, which I know is a very […]
Venice and cats, what’s not to like?
Buondì. It’s a rare Friday morning that I don’t already have ideas about what to write to club members. However, due to the fact that most of my creative juices have, this week, been flowing towards my newly-selected career as an unpublished (and no doubt unpublishable) poet, I was, at least until moments ago, quite […]
It’s the wild west out there
Buondì. Short one today. I know, I always say that, but this time – really! The vegetarian daughter is coming home from college this evening, so I’m busy brewing up a concoction of borlotti beans (otherwise known as cranberry beans, apparently) and whatever vegetables and bits I can find from the neglected veg compartment at […]
How to keep learning even when you’ve stopped studying
Buondì. A quick one today, as I have lots of getting back to normal to do after ten days of the ‘Spring Sale’ (which ended last night). There are over two hundred orders to check and ‘mark as completed’, for example. Plus there’s the accountancy to catch up on, the bank account to balance, and […]
