明けましておめでとうございます。。

I want to wish to everyone I know a...


may this New Year bring you
many good and happy moments ^__^ !

LiveJournal ~

Hello minna-san!
From now on I'll post Tomalicious new releases on the following site:

please check it! :D
またね！

Christmas town

I'm relieved ^^

This time Christmas atmosphere has been quite warm.. so even if it has not a real sense for me to celebrate this event, I'm glad to have an opportunity to show affection and create an illusional or even real harmony.
Yesterday evening and also today I celebrated and felt at ease.
Last year I was so angry at this kind of nostalgic event that I couldn't bear it at all. So I hope these good sensations mean something positive. I'm so sorry though that not all my friends were able to spend Christmas in a good way (Sephi-chan recover soon!! >.<).

Being less serious, I also received many wonderful presents!! :D Minna, hontouni arigatou :D ! When I opened them I really felt like a little child (like most of my time I guess ._.). I had also beautiful surprises XD !

So, after this quite-useless-post good night ^__-

Early Merry Christmas..

Hi!

Tomorrow I won't be at home, so I want to wish everyone Merry Christmas.
I hope you can spend a nice and happy Christmas day :)

Last year this celebrations wasn't so merry for me, so I hope that this year
it will be better ^^
We're celebrating today and also tomorrow and we already have many
presents ^__^ (and many things to prepare!)!
またね！

Lucca comics and games 2007 ^__^

Yai! :D

This year I managed to go to Lucca Comics and Games 2007 and it was great, really!!!
I got so excited that it was difficult to go back to University lessons and all the normal stuff after that.
We went there by car and stayed only for one day but it was really worth the effort ^^
Leaving early in the morning we got there at 11 am and we walked around all the stands until 7 pm.

I love the way they organized it this year.. all the stands were disposed around the city and some of them were so big and full of many things!! ^__^
There were manga of course, anime and so many gadgets.. I also found a stand selling idols’ and dramas’ stuff (like magazines, posters) and other with Gothic Lolita clothing and accessories.

In the RPG section there was also a part of the stand where they sold gothic and medieval dresses, weapons and others accessories. Unfortunately when I found out this place I had no money left ^^;; !
Walking around we saw many cosplayers.. there were also Death Note’s ones *__* and a very well-made L !! ** It really seemed to wander in a sort of wonderland ^^ I couldn’t help but running all around in excitement!! :D
At lunch time I ate my bento and we sat near the cosplayers’ stage, where people dressed like Saint Seiya were performing anime’s song ^__^ it was so funny!!

I took some pictures.. even of the cosplayers, but I don’t know if it would be all right to post them here... if I’ll do it I hope anyone will complain ^^;;
I bought some nice items: L’s plush doll, 2 posters (Death Note and Cloud in Advent Children **), a magazine about idols with Yamapi and Kamenashi Kazuya on the cover (the girl who was selling at the stand was tired of me I think, because I made
her opening all the magazines looking for something about Toma!), a pen case and a notebook of Tarepanda (かわいいー！), an art book by Victoria Frances: Favole 1 (I love her drawing!), Ouran Koukou Gakkou Calendar (ahaha, I have big pictures of Tamaki now ^__^) and.. that’s all I think. If only I had more money I would have bought many things more!!! ^__^

When we came back home I was so tired I almost fell asleep the moment I sat in the car =__= !! (thanks to the driver... he is a hero!!)
I hope I’ll be able to go there next year as well ^^

.. and that’s all XD ! じゃね！

Trick or treat?

Yesterday me and my boyfriend made a cute Halloween pumpkin ^^ and I called it Ragamuffin like Roman Dirge’s character, because it’s a vampire-pumpkin.

I know maybe it’s a bit early to prepare for Halloween but I will be alone on that night and I really wanted to enjoy my home-made pumpkin also on this Hallowe'en.

Last week I found in a book-shop in Venice an interesting book called “Halloween tales” and it’s a collection of horror-gothic tales both of XIX and XX centuries.
In the book I found an interesting introduction to Halloween tradition that fascinated me, of course. I knew Hallowe'en, (All-Hallow-even, the eve of All-Hallow-Day) better knew as Samhain in ancient times, was a Celts tradition that has been carried in North America by Irish immigrants and then has spread recently in all other countries.
I knew also that following the tradition, on that night the dead people walk on earth searching for everything they desired in life, that is represented by candies and that children use to wear Halloween costumes in order to disguise themselves and seem dead. But that’s not all.

There’s also something that I can feel very close to my perception of things and that everybody may feel, I guess.
Halloween is the end of the Summer season, when light and food let the populations live better than in Winter. After Halloween, November brings darkness, cold and hard work for everyone to survive and in that past time when electric light and comforts didn’t exist, ghosts seem to be everywhere and it was easier to be tricked by fears and terror of our minds.

Well, it’s not something I can really feel directly of course. I have electric light and a house where I can live. I don’t have even a field to work on. But somewhat, this seems familiar.
November for me is the darkest and the longest of all months in the year. October seems to be somewhat connected to summer’s light and atmosphere, but November cut it all away and replace everything with a heavy atmosphere where days seem always night.
It’s not that I don’t like that kind of romantic atmosphere, but getting used to it is different. Somewhat my feelings turn more complicated and everything seems harder to face. Darkness conquers my mind and I can do nothing but surrender to it and become weaker.

That’s all I wanted to say about it, but if you want to know more about Halloween celebration, on wikipedia there’s a very interesting article about it.

For Italian readers I advice the book “Racconti di Halloween – per non dormire questa notte” (edito da Einaudi, a cura di Fabiano Massimi) and for everyone all the tales written by Edgar Allan Poe, in particular my favourite ones (I already wrote them on a precedent article so I won't repeat them), by Lovecraft, Maupassant, Montague Rhodes James, Arthur Conan Doyle, William F. Benson, A. Bierce and all the most famous horror-gothic writers.

A scary Hallowe’en to everyone.

I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it.

" And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!"
(The Raven)

Today I’d like to say something about my favourite writer: Edgar Allan Poe.

First, something about his life. His childhood was not so happy. He was born in 1809 in Boston, his parents were actors but he soon became an orphan. Then John Allan, a merchant from Richmond took care of him.
Also in this new family there were many contrasts and problems, especially with his stepfather, and for all his life, Edgar, had serious problems with alcoholism and gambling debts. Because of these problems he was also expelled from the Charlottesville’s Virginia University, in spite of his good marks.
He managed to become a journalist in the Southern Literary Messenger, and in 1835 he married his little 14 years-old cousin, in Richmond. He died of Delirium Tremens on 7^th October 1849.

His most important novel is “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym”, but he is famous especially thanks to his tales, that have been collected in different collections like “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque” and his poems, like “The Raven” and “Lenore”.
This journalist, with his modest and tormented life probably didn’t imagine the movement and influences that his works would have inspired in the future literature and arts.
His writing-style has been inspired by past writers of the Pre-romantic movement like Lord Byron, or even previous ones like Nathaniel Hawthorne, but the number of artists he has influenced is also remarkable and doesn’t concern only literature.

He is indeed considered the precursor of artistic currents like the Symbolist, the Decadent and the Surrealist movement, and of novels by writers as Hoffmann, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmè, Verlaine, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, and especially Lovecraft whose style is strongly inspired by Allan Poe’s writing. His way of analyse, helped also the creation of the deductive method of surveying, and consequently, of Sherlock Holmes character.
In Visual Arts, Allan Poe inspired the illustrations of some Surrealist painters as Redon who created a collection named “To Edgar Allan Poe” and Felicién Rops who painted “La mort au Bal”, a theme that we can find in the tale: “The Masque of the red death”.
There are also several Short Films and Movies about his Tales and his life, like The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), The Tomb of Ligeia (1965), and The Oblong Box (1969) and Nevermore among many others. Also several theatre theatrical performance have been based on these plots.
In Music composers like Claude Debussy among others has been inspired by the his tales and composed an Opera based on “The Fall of the house of the Usher”.
Lately also in videogames and comics among others kind of entertainment we can find traces of the atmosphere and the images that Poe has created.

In his writing he managed to combine his wild imagination with a rigorous technique. In his surreal plot, reality is altered through shadows, noises, and suggestions that constitute it and let our mind slip in what Burke, talking about the Sublime, defined “that state of the soul in which all his motions are suspended with some degrees of horror”.
In most cases, this situation is not altered by occult or preternatural events, as we may imagine, but only by the deceits of our mind, unable to fully understand a reality more unpredictable and bizarre than any fanciful dream.
We can find an example of this in the tale “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”. I think that a great influence of this way of representing fear in found also in Maupassant’s tales, like “Sur l’eau”.
Allan Poe’s tales are similar to nightmares, pieces of dreams, made of dialogs, apparitions, fears, and the most frightening, dreamy and unfathomable emotions.

Some of my favourites tales are:

- The fall of the House of Usher

- The Masque of the Red Death

- The Pit and the Pendulum

- The Murders in the Rue Morgue

- Eleonora

- The Thousand-and-second Tale of Scheherazade

The home in which Poe lived is in Baltimore, preserved as the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum and the oldest home in Richmond, is in use as the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, though Poe never lived there.

"Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence — whether much that is glorious- whether all that is profound — does not spring from disease of thought — from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect."
(Eleonora)

----------------------

Oggi, vorrei parlare un po’ del mio scrittore preferito: Edgar Allan Poe.

Innanzitutto, partiamo brevemente dalla sua vita. La sua infanzia non fu felice, nato nel 1809 a Boston, figlio di attori girovaghi, rimase presto orfano, e venne adottato da un mercante di Richmond, John Allan. Anche nella nuova famiglia ebbe molte crisi famigliari e contrasti, soprattutto con il patrigno, e per tutta la vita portò con sé il problema dell’alcolismo e dei debiti di gioco a causa dei quali venne espulso dalla Virginia University di Charlottesville, nonostante i suoi buoni voti.
Egli diventerà in seguito un giornalista del Southern Literary Messenger e nel 1835 sposa a Richmond, la cugina, appena quattordicenne. Muore di delirium tremens il 7 ottobre del 1849.

Il suo romanzo più famoso è ”La storia di Arthur Gordon Pym”, ma è conosciuto soprattutto per i suoi racconti, di cui troviamo diverse raccolte come ad esempio “I racconti del Grottesco”, e per le sue poesie, tra cui spicca “The Raven” (il Corvo).
Questo giornalista dalla vita umile e tormentata dal vizio dell’alcool e del gioco non immaginava probabilmente il movimento che la sua opera letteraria avrebbe ispirato nella letteratura e nell’arte in avvenire. Il suo stile è stato ispirato da scrittori del periodo pre-Romantico, come Lord Byron e da alcuni di epoche precedenti come Nathaniel Hawthorne, ma il numero di artisti che ha saputo ispirate è notevole e non si limita al
campo letterario. Egli infatti viene indicato in parte come l’ispiratore dei movimenti Simbolisti, Decadenti e Surrealisti, e di opere di scrittori tra i quali Hoffmann, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmè, Verlaine, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle e soprattutto di Lovecraft (1890-1937), che ebbe in lui la sua fonte di ispirazione primaria, e il cui stile gli deve moltissimo.
Senza di lui non vi sarebbe la nascita del metodo d’indagine deduttivo e con questo, di Sherlock Holmes.

Nelle Arti Visive, Poe ha ispirato le illustrazioni di vari pittori Surrealisti, tra cui Redon, che creò una serie di illustrazioni intitolata proprio “A Edgar Allan Poe” e Felicién Rops che nel suo “La mort au bal” sembra riprendere il tema del racconto “La maschera della morte rossa”.
Sono stati prodotti vari Cortometraggi tratti dai suoi racconti, come Il pozzo e il pendolo (1961), La maschera della morte rossa (1964), La tomba di Ligeia (1965), La cassa oblunga (1969) e Nevermore, tra i tanti. Anche le rappresentazioni teatrali basate su questi racconti non sono mancate.

Nei suoi scritti egli ha saputo coniugare la sua fervida fantasia e immaginazione ad un certo rigore tecnico. Nella sua trama delirante, la realtà si deforma, si altera attraverso le ombre, i rumori, le suggestioni che la abitano e la compongono, e fa piombare la nostra mente in quello che Burke, riferendosi al Sublime definisce “that state of the soul in which all his motions are suspended with some degrees of horror”. Questa realtà nella maggior parte dei casi non è realmente soggetta ad azioni sovrannaturali come la situazione ci porterebbe a pensare, se non a quella degli inganni della nostra mente, incapace di indagare a fondo una realtà molto più imprevedibile e fantasiosa di qualsiasi sogno fantastico. Un esempio di questo l'abbiamo nei "Delitti della Rue Morgue". I suoi racconti sembrano incubi, proiezioni oniriche, squarci di sogni, fatti di dialoghi, apparizioni, paure, intrise delle emozioni più angoscianti, sognanti ed insondabili.

Tra i racconti segnalo i miei preferiti, ovvero:
- La caduta della casa degli Usher
- La maschera della morte rossa
- Il pozzo ed il pendolo
- I delitti della Rue Morgue
- Eleonora
- La Milleduesima Notte di Schahrazàd

A questa pagina si trovano molti dei racconti in italiano.

Oggi, la casa in cui Poe visse, si trova a Baltimore, mantenuta come “Casa di Edgar Allan Poe e Museo” e la vecchia casa di Richmond è in uso come Museo anche se Poe non vi ha mai vissuto.

"Gli uomini mi hanno definito pazzo, ma non è ancora ben chiaro se la pazzia sia o non sia la più alta forma di intelligenza e se la manifestazioni più meravigliose e profonde dell'ingegno umano non nascano da una deformazione morbosa del pensiero, da aspetti mentali esaltati a spese dell'intelletto normale."
(Eleonora)

*Images credits:
1) Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe
2) "The Raven" by Gustave Dorè
3) "The Raven" by Odillon Redon
4) "La mort au Bal" by Felicién Rops

Viaggio in Liguria ^__^

I just came back from my 4-5 days trip in Liguria. It was lovely!

After the English exam I really needed some relax and it seemed the perfect place.
But let’s talk about it: the place.

Before going there, I couldn’t imagine it was so beautiful, but Riomaggiore, one of the 5 lands of the natural park placed on the Levante coast, really charmed me, especially with its clear sea and its nature landscapes.
Riomaggiore is a small and coloured town built on the coast. It has narrow streets, 2 churches and an interesting castle where sometimes some art exhibitions take place.

Near the sea there’s a small harbour where vivid coloured boats rest and then, beyond the white rocks where some tourists decide to sunbathe, there’s a little beach, made of stones. It’s lovely, and the sea is very clear, so it’s a pleasure to swim and bath there. In the water there are also coloured fishes and other animals like crabs, shrimps, etc.

We were in a nice and cheap flat in the middle of the town, and the place was so quiet that
the only sound we heard was the bell tower and some voices from the neighbourhood.

In this place there was not only the sea though, but it is also possible to take a walk and go for example to visit the Sanctuary. It is really worth the effort, because from there it is possible to have a wonderful sight of the town, the sea and the nature around.

Near the railway station there’s also the famous Love’s lane.
It is the first part of a longer lane that links the 5 lands: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Unfortunately, since we had only 4-5 days and we wished to relax we only visited Manarola among the others lands.

The sight from the lane is very romantic, especially at sunset, but it’s a pity that to take a walk on the Love’s lane now costs 5 euro .__. It’s not very romantic indeed, but after 8 pm the access is free. There are others things that are not very romantic lately on the Lane: another “love’s pub” has been opened and the way is full not only of some pretty drawing, but also of the usual silly writing that we find on every city's wall.
I don’t mean to offend anyone’s love’s expression, but please if you can’t control yourself about writing on the walls, please don’t write on the plants!!!! >.< they don’t care about your romance!

I’m attaching here some pictures we took and I think they’re very nice. The sunset seen from the beach was delightful.

We also tried the typical food like the famous "pesto" (a sauce made mainly with basil and pine nuts), walnut sauce and the lemon liquor. I would recommend to visit this place to everyone who loves quiet places and a beautiful nature, and my advice in order to save money on the accommodation is to prefer flat over hotels.

じゃね！

-------------

Eccomi di ritorno dai 4-5 giorni che ho trascorso in Liguria. Sono stati incantevoli!

Dopo l’esame di Inglese avevo davvero bisogno di un po’ di relax e quello si è rivelato il posto ideale.
Ma parliamo appunto del posto.

Prima di andarci, non avrei mai immaginato che fosse tanto bello, ma Riomaggiore, una della 5 terre del parco naturale situato sulla Riviera di Levante, mi ha davvero incantata, specialmente con il suo mare limpido, e con i suoi paesaggi naturali.
Riomaggiore è un paesino piccolo e colorato costruito sulla costa. Nel paese ci sono viottoli stretti, 2 chiese e un interessante castello dove a volte vengono presentare delle mostre d’arte.
Vicino al mare c’è un piccolo porto, in cui riposano barchette dai colori vivaci, e poi oltre gli scogli bianchi dove qualche turista decide di prendere il sole, c’è una piccola spiaggia, fatta di sassi. E’ davvero carina, e il mare è trasparente perciò è molto piacevole nuotare e fare il bagno. Nell’acqua si trovano anche pesci colorati e altri animaletti come granchi, gamberetti, etc.

Alloggiavamo in un appartamento carino e poco costoso, nel centro del paese, e il luogo era così tranquillo che gli unici rumori che sentivamo erano la campana del paese e qualche voce dal vicinato.

Tuttavia, in questo luogo non si trova solo il mare, ma è anche possibile decidere di passeggiare e andare per esempio a visitare il Santuario della Madonna di Montenero.
Ne vale davvero la pena, perché da lì si gode di una fantastica visuale del paese, del mare e tutto ciò che vi sta attorno.

Vicino alla stazione c’è anche la famosa “Via dell’Amore”.
E’ la prima parte di una più lunga via che collega le 5 terre: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza e Monterosso. Purtroppo, avendo solo 4-5 giorni e dato che volevamo soprattutto rilassarci un po’, delle altre terre abbiamo visitato solo Manarola.

La vista dalla Via, è davvero romantica, specialmente al tramonto, ma è un peccato che ora percorrerla costi 5 euro .__. Infatti questo non è molto romantico, ma dopo le 20 l’accesso è gratuito.
Ci sono altre cose non molto romantiche ultimamente sulla Via: hanno aperto un altro “bar dell’Amore” e la via è piena non solo di alcuni disegni carini, ma anche delle solite scritte banali che si trovano sui muri di ogni città.
Non intendo offendere l’espressione d’amore di nessuno, ma per favore, se non riuscite a controllarvi nello scrivere sui muri, non fatelo sulle piante!!!! >.< le povere agavi non sono molto interessate a ciò che scrivete!

Allego al post alcune foto che abbiamo fatto e penso siano molto carine ^__^
Il tramonto visto dalla spiaggia era incantevole.

Abbiamo anche assaggiato i prodotti tipici del posto, ovvero il pesto, la salsa di noci e il limoncino ^__^

Consiglierei di visitare questo luogo a chi ama i posti tranquilli e la bellezza della natura, e il mio consiglio per spendere un po’ meno per l’alloggio è cercare un appartamentino piuttosto che un hotel.

Ciao, ciao! :)

いただきます！

A while ago, I bought 2 little bento (弁当) on ebay, and last week they arrived! :D

They are tiny but really cute ^^ ! From the same online-store I also bought a pair of chopsticks and various accessories to make bento’s food :) I really like those chopsticks! XD I think they’re sooo cute!! >.<

Bento is a lunch-box used in Japan and there are various different types of them. Often it appears also in anime/manga's stories.

Here on the wikipedia page there are many information about it.

The traditional bento consists in a meal with rice, fish (or meat), and cooked vegetables and usually the aspect of the food is colourful and with cute shapes.

On the web there are many websites proposing interesting bento’s recipes. I can’t advice any at the moment, because I haven’t used them yet (I will on holidays or when University begins ^^) and even because I’ll have to find or create some vegetarian recipe for them ^_^ !

I attach the pictures of my bento! :D

Appuntamento a Venezia..

Nei giorni 20-21-22 Settembre 2007, a Venezia di terrà il XXXI convegno AISTUGIA di Studi sul Giappone, presieduto da Adriana Boscaro.
Tra le varie conferenze ce ne saranno riguardanti la letteratura, la poesia, l'arte, ma anche temi di attualità sociale come quello riguardante il fenomeno hikikomori in Giappone.
Qui potete trovare il programma completo.

Sperando che gli esami non me lo impediscano, spero di poter essere presente almeno ad alcuni di questi incontri! Anche se non ne ho (ancora) avuto esperienza diretta, penso sia una bella occasione per tutti gli appassionati di cultura Giapponese! :)

On 20th, 21st, 22nd September 2007 in Venice will take place the XXXI AISTUGIA congress about Japan Studies, presided by Adriana Boscaro .

There will be conferences about literature, poetry, art and also nowadays social issues as the hikikomori phenomenon in Japan.

The complete outline of the event can be found here.

Even if I have never experienced it (yet), I think it would be an interesting occasion for all lovers of Japanese culture.

花より男子

Ho appena finito di vedere anche la seconda stagione di Hana Yori Dango! Ma che bello!
Non avevo mai letto il manga di questa serie, però il drama in versione Giapponese mi è piaciuto davvero molto! :)
Ammetto che inizialmente ho iniziato a guardarlo solo perchè vi recita Matsuda Shota, però poi seguire la storia dà dipendenza! >.<
La trama è quella di uno shoujo manga, tuttavia i risvolti non sono per nulla scontati, ci si affeziona facilmente ai personaggi e la storia si rivela divertente ed emozionante.
Su DramaWiki trovate informazioni sulla trama ^^
Ho trovato molto bravi nella parte soprattutto Inoue Mao e MatsuJun!! E le canzoni di Ootsuka Ai e Utada Hikaru si adattano molto bene..


I principali attori sono:


Inoue Mao as Makino Tsukushi




Matsumoto Jun as Tsukasa Doumyouji





Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui





Matsuda Shota as Nishikado Soujiroh (^.^!)




Abe Tsuyoshi as Mimasaka Akira




..e come guests ci sono anche Ikuta Toma (:D!) nella puntata 1 della seconda stagione, e Touda Erika nel finale.

English Fansubs can be found at D-Addicts

sul Monte Adone..

A proposito di animali, ho pensato di segnalare qui una cosa secondo me molto interessante per chi li ama .
Sul monte Adone esiste un centro di tutela della fauna selvatica, in cui ragazzi volontari o che decidono di fare il servizio civile può aiutare a prendersi cura degli animali che abitano questa bellissima zona insieme ad altri volontari.
A questo sito: http://www.centrotutelafauna.org/ trovate tutte le informazioni utili :) !
Quando ne ho sentito parlare avrei tanto voluto prendere parte all'iniziativa! XD Purtroppo per prendersi un tale impegno bisogna avere a disposizione un periodo di tempo libero da poter dedicare unicamente a quello e delle condizioni familiari/lavorative favorevoli. Quindi per ora il progetto è abbandonato, ma mi piacerebbe davvero fare del volontariato per gli animali in zona.
Purtroppo anche guardando in giro qui non ho trovato molto altro, ma può anche darsi che non abbia cercato bene.

Welcome!

.. benvenuto al nuovo micio che ora vive con noi!! ^___^
Quanto è carino!! ^.^

E per non fargli torto metto anche una foto di Spillo ^__^

私のプラネタリウム。。。

.. se siete arrivati su questo blog, benvenuti!
Al momento non so esattamente cosa farne di questo spazio, ma mi piace come è stato finora addobbato, e dunque, in attesa di idee lo tengo qui :)
E'proprio vero che quando dovrei studiare faccio di tutto tranne quello >.< ! Dunque a presto! XD (spero!) おやすみなさい。。