In Memory Of Dante

Several friends and contacts have been coinciding recently, talking or writing about memories or, more aptly, lack of them, making jokes about that, etc. Meanwhile, and nearly as many are also writing poems, well not quite correct to say they 'wrote', more that they copied from somewhere or from some of those sites that specialised in canned poems about love, royalty, and friendship mainly. I am sure some of these have found their way into your Guestbooks. Many of them are truly beautiful, impressive and touching.

Perhaps due to all that, or else for no particular reason at all, the name of the famous Italian poet of excellence, Dante, came to mind. Not even 100% sure whether his last name was Alighieri (Sorry if I misspelled it, or remember it wrongly; my very elementary Italian learned for fun years ago has gone from my head for far too long). I can't remember either exactly where, or when, I read some of his magnificent poems, most of them I had forgotten, but one thing I read about him, his legendary and mythical memory, had somehow stayed put always. It would pop up once in a while without my willing it to.

He wrote, or somebody else did about him and his memory: -

'One day, Dante was sitting on a rock in front of a cathedral in Florence. A man passed by and asked him: " What's the best mouthful you have ever had?" Dante answered: "An egg."

A year later, the same man passed by to the same spot, where Dante was again sitting, and asked him point blank: "With what?". Without the slightest hesitation, "With salt." replied Dante.'

Now that's some amazing memory. I love poetry and had once upon a time even tried actually to write a few. But I feel that to be really good at at, one ought to read plenty of work by exceptionally good poets and, more importantly, read every one many, many times till you can recite them from memory. Not so that you can copy, but to absorb every morsel of the essence and retain the inspiration they evoke. To do that, the best way is to, as much as possible, form the habit of reading out aloud; this is also the best way I know to learn a foreign language.

This practice not just helps greatly to memorize good verses, but lets you judge whether what you have written is the best you could do, by listening to the 'flow', the use of words or phrases are, or not, the most correct and expressive, within the limitation of the format or rhyme.

Tags:Dante,poetry,memory

• Current Mood: Artistic

For Ladies Over 60 With Good Humour

** Women over 60 don't have babies because they would put them down and forget where they left them.

** One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5lbs.

** My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.

** The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.

** The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.

** The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.

** Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.

** Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.

** I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and
setting fire to my knickers.

** Every 7 minutes of everyday, someone in an aerobics class pulls a hamstring.

** Amazing! You hang something in your closet for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!

** Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like..."You know, sometimes I forget to eat!" ... Now... I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name and my keys. But I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat.

** A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills ... She has 14 kids but doesn't really care.

** My body is not all that communicative but I heard from it the other day after I said "Body, how would you like to go to the six o'clock class of vigorous toning?" Clear as a bell my body said "Listen witch ... do it and die."

** The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.

** I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are: eating too much; impulse buying and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

I don't remember where I heard said: 'I only consider myself old when I see my children are already old'. Since I don't have children, I would never be old! - Besides, being old is not that bad; the alternative is much worse.

LIVE SIMPLY ... LAUGH OFTEN ... LOVE DEEPLY, WHATEVER YOUR AGE!

Tags:Ladies,Humour

• Current Mood: Chipper

ADSL - Spanish Style

A report of the result of an analysis, carried out by the University of Oviedo and the University of Oxford, had revealed that the quality of ADSL broad band Internet service in Spain is below the 'acceptable standard'! It's situated in 26th place amongst the 42 countries analysed.

The study revealed that for general email, interchanging light weight files and low quality videos are okay, but the rest like watching television on the net, video calls, and projecting high quality and lengthy videos, etc. are near impossible.

I have already noticed all sorts of set backs and inexplicable malfunctions in a great variety of ways, since day one, but never realized it's as bad as what's made known now, always presuming that it's my own lack of technical knowledge and skill that was the main problem.

Yet I believe we, those of us living in Spain, are paying relatively high charges for the privilege of the broadband service. I say this because I have talked about it with people in different areas and countries. I pay 70€ monthly, and the online connection is supposed to be 24/7. In theory that is.

The fact is a different story. 3 years ago there were periods of between 20 minutes to several hours with no connection at all (once the total non-connection lasted 2 days), or sudden breakdowns with no warning to save any half done task, which, should it be an article, would mean losing it all together. Worst, if it was a finished article ready to be saved but not given the time to do so. It's much better now.

Considering there are apparently 24 million Internet users in Spain, and 1 million increase just in private homes alone compared with last year, representing 99%, and putting it in the 4th place in regard to private homes with broadband connections installed, therefore considered one of the most advanced country worldwide in this respect. The news of it having such appalling standard is truly unbelievable not to say shameful.

The Japanese are the best positioned, including surpassing the exigencies of the web standards of the future. The investigating team praised the Japanese Government in deploying optical fibre as 'source of compatibility'. What exactly that means I haven't a clue. I realize I got a lot to learn, but so does Spain. Wonder who gets it first?

Tags:ADSL,Spain

• Current Mood: Cynical