Category Archives: Inspiration

Bloghiversario & Book Review

25 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Blogging, Inspiration, Libri

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Caspita, il tempo vola! Non ci credo che oggi è bloghiversario numero 4 per Un po’ di pepe!  How time flies. I can’t believe it is already 4 years since publishing my first post on Un po’ di pepe.

This was another exciting blogging year.  I wish I could post more often, but until I can manage to get 27 hours out of a day, twice a month will continue to be the average. Here are some highlights of the year…

  • Blog love!  In June I met photographer Flynn at my mercato bancarella. He bought a tiny print and wrote a very nice and well-timed post on his blog about inspiration and art.
  • I was interviewed by Silvia for her blog in October.  It was amazing that someone actually wanted to interview me.  Now I actually have the ability to quote myself-as I did in my last post, and will continue to do so as often as I can! Just because I can.  Link to the bilingual post here.
  • In February, honorary Calabrese Karen of the blog and book Calabria: The Other Italy nominated me for the Unique Blogger Award.  This is a pay-it-forward, share-the-love blog vehicle.  Nominees answer a set of questions, then nominate others. I have not found the time to respond yet, but Karen did say there was no pressure, no time limit.
  • To celebrate follower#250, Mlle Cher was sent one of my ‘Espresso per Uno’ linocut prints!  Hopefully it arrived before she left NY for Pietrasanta.
  • I managed to squeeze in a spontaneous ‘extra’ trip to Italia in November to attend an art retreat and Fucacoste e Cocce Priatorje!
  • Many of you enjoyed my attempt at contemporary art criticism in La Grande Cacata.  The title says it all!
  • I joined the #DolceVitaBloggers linkup for my last post.  The group posts on a selected topic from the 7th to the 14th of every month.  I hope to participate again!
  • You may have noticed those pesky ads for things like toenail fungus removal have disappeared from the bottom of the posts!  Yipee!  I upgraded my wordpress plan.  Now I can use videos, once I learn how to load them.
  • My pronunciation guide Italiano per Ristoranti continues to be the most viewed post.  I am still planning to turn the downloadable PDF into an e-book once I figure out how to do that. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

    Bruschetta (broo.SKET.tah)

Today is also La Festa della Liberazione d’Italia, the anniversary of the liberation of Italia from Fascist occupation in 1945.  Viva la libertà!  Last year, I said I was going to write about Le Donne Partigiane-women who were partisans in the Italian Resistance. Well… that post is not written yet, so instead, I will include a book review of a book with una donna partigiana as the main character.

Bridge of Sighs and Dreams is written by fellow blogger Pamela Allegretto.  I loved it and here is my Goodreads/Amazon 5/5 star review:

 

Grazie to all of you for taking the time to read, comment, send messages and especially for giving me an excuse to research and write about things that interest me!  If you have any suggestions for posts or just want to say ‘ciao‘, leave me a comment.

Grazie a tutti per leggere e darmi una scusa per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono.  Lasciami un messaggio se hai un idee per un post o se vuoi dice ‘ciao’.  Un abbraccio, Cristina

Buon Anno 2018

01 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by in Blogging, Inspiration

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Topnine2017a

Buon Anno a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’, vicini e lontani!  Spero che 2018 porta buona salute e gioia a voi e ai vostri cari. Happy New Year readers of ‘Un po’ di pepe’ near and far.  I hope 2018 brings you and your loved ones good health and joy!

WordPress sent me some stats which i find so interesting I need to share them. In 2017, Un po’ di pepe had almost 7,700 views from 101 different countries!  I wish I could visit even a few of them!  This post is also a milestone, as it is post number 100!  Last month I also reached 250 followers.  Number 250 is the lovely Cher who I met at my exhibit in Pietrasanta, Lucca. Cher, if you are reading this, I will be sending you a ‘prize’ soon!  Based on the number of views, the most posts of 2017 were:

#9 A post full of sundrenched photos from my daytrip to Trani this summer#8 At first, it seemed like this post didn’t get as much love as I thought it deserved, so I was felicissima that Hairstyling in Ancient Roma made the list! I am an archeology nerd, and obviously some of you are too!

#7 Torta Caprese all’Arancia the delicious flourless chocolate cake recipe I posted to celebrate receiving a Cannolo Award makes the list again this year

#6 My grand amico Peppe Zullo Il Cuoco Contadino will be thrilled that the post about him and his Azienda Agricola made the list!

Peppe Zullo nel vigneto. Photo Nicola Tramonte

#5 Pomodoro Day is a new post with links to 2 previous posts about the history of  pomodori and my family’s annual passata di pomodoro canning.  There are a lot of photos and they are very red!

#4 An introduction to my paese Benvenuti ad Orsara di Puglia made the list again this year.  Viva Orsara! I need to publish a photo essay of black and white photos taken this year.

#3 I am so happy to see Mercato Inspiration in the top 3! This post is a link to a photography blog post written by someone who purchased a small print from me. He writes about how meeting me and talking about art inspired him.  Molto cool!

#2 is my About me/Chi sono page but since it is not an actual post, the #2 spot goes to another old favourite.  Grano Arso is about a resurfaced gastronomic tradition in Puglia that honours the resilience of our contadini ancestors.  In September I read a piece about grano arso at the Association of Italian Canadian Writers Conference. It will be published in a special edition of the journal Italian Canadiana in 2018.

#1 by a long shot once again is Italiano per Ristoranti my handy Italian menu pronunciation guide.  This post is from 2014, and updated in 2016.  It is available from the post as a downloadable PDF.  I would like to expand on this post and make it into an ebook once I have time to figure out how to do that!

Bruschetta (broo.SKET.tah)

In October, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by fellow blogger Silvia Spatafora.  The link to her bilingual post is in L’Intervista con Silvia. Also molto cool!In 2017 I saw U2 perform live for the 7th time and I went to Italia twice!  If you read the posts In Partenza and Autunno in Italia, you know that the second time was not planned very far in advance.  Spontaneity is good!  I have several blog posts coming in 2018 related to the short trip! I also have a few book reviews to post.  My goals for 2018 are simple….less stress, more exercise, more art and writing!

I would love to hear which post was your favourite.  What would you like to read more of in Un po’ di pepe?  Looking forward to writing more cose interresanti /interesting stuff in 2018.

Vi auguro un 2018 piena di gioia e buona salute!  Ciao, Cristina

L’Intervista con Silvia

25 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Bilingual posts, Blogging, Inspiration, Italian language

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One of the greatest things about blogging is virtual ‘meeting’ and collaboration with other bloggers.  Recently, I received a very nice email from fellow blogger Silvia Spatafora, of Il Blog di Silvia Spatafora:

‘Trovo molto interessante la tua storia, il fatto che tu sia nata in Italia ma che ti sia trasferita da piccola in Canada e, soprattutto, la tua passione per l’Italia! Il tuo blog è davvero interessante. Adoro che scrivi un po’ in inglese e un po’ in italiano e sarei curiosa di scoprire di più su di te, il tuo blog e il modo in cui mantieni allenato il tuo italiano. Per questo avevo pensato che sarebbe carino farti un’intervista scritta da pubblicare sul mio blog.’

In inglese:  ‘I find your story very interesting; the fact that you were born in Italia but moved to Canada at a young age, and mostly your passion for Italia.  Your blog is really interesting.  I adore that you write a bit in English and a bit in Italian and I would be curious to discover more about you, your blog and the way you keep up your Italian.  For this reason, I thought it would be cute to do an written interview with you to publish on my blog.’

Silvia was born and went to university in Palermo, and has been living in Madrid since 2010.  Silvia is passionate about teaching Italian! She teaches Italiano per Stranieri/  Italian for Foreigners at several schools in Madrid, as well as privately and also does translation.   She published my intervista on her blog today in both Italiano and inglese.  Read it on Silvia’s blog here. 

Grazie Silvia!

 

Mercato Inspiration

30 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Art, Art projects, Inspiration

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Sometimes you unexpectedly find inspiration when you really need it.  I had a bancarella at the Mercato Italiano at the Italian Cultural Centre a few weeks ago.  I was selling cartoline, incisioni e monotipi stampato a mano- cards and hand-pulled etchings and monotypes. Setting up and organizing is a lot of work, but it is always fun to meet people and discuss the art process at these events.

Last week, I was having una settimana di merda-a really crappy week….until I received a lovely and very encouraging email from someone I met at the mercato.  He had bought one of my small drypoint etchings and commented on how much he enjoyed our conversation and continued to enjoy the print-so much so that he wrote about it on his blog!

The Print MakersPhotographers should hang around artists. I’ve talked before here about the benefits for a photographer of going to art galleries and shows. If you are thinking about your craft seriously these events will get your mind churning. I am not talking about photo exhibitions. That becomes intellectually incestuous. No, I am talking about getting out amongst other graphic artists to see how people in other mediums represent the world we all share.

Take last Friday night for instance. Here in Vancouver we have a very active Italian Cultural Center and in the summer they hold a series of Italian Markets in the parking lot of the Center. Last Friday was the first market for this year. Susan and I were walking through the stalls looking at the wines, breads, flowers and crafts on display when I came upon Cristina Pepe’s booth where she had some of her hand made prints for sale…….

Read the rest of the post here or at http://flynngraphics.ca/print-makers/ 

Here’s to mutual inspiration!  Ciao, Cristina

‘Petaloso’

02 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Inspiration, Italian language, Parole piacevoli

≈ 13 Comments

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Petaloso

Last week, #petaloso was one of the top trending topics in Italia.  Just over a month ago, an 8 year old boy named Matteo in 3rd year elementary in Ferrara used the adjective ‘petaloso’ to describe a flower.  His maestra (teacher) Margherita Aurora marked his assignment as incorrect, but she thought it was a beautiful word.  ‘Un errore bello’ to be exact.  So she said to Matteo ‘Chiediamolo alla Crusca’ (Let’s ask the Crusca).Fiore profumato petaloso

L’Accademia della Crusca, literally ‘The Academy of the Bran’, is the oldest linguistic academy in the world.  It was established in Firenze in the 16th Century to safeguard the study of the Italian language. They are notoriously purist-as they should be, and don’t like foreign words and anglicismi (Anglicisms).  The name sounds kind of strange, but it refers to separating the wheat from the bran, or as we would say in English ‘separating the wheat from the chaff’.

Petaloso is the noun petalo (petal) with the suffix ‘oso‘.  Petaloso means ‘full of petals’or ‘petalous’.  Matteo and Margherita submitted the word for valutazione (evaluation) by ‘La Crusca’.  I’ve been inventing Italian words by mistake my whole life and didn’t know this was possible! Most of my new adjectives are not appropriate for polite company so I don’t think La Crusca will be hearing from me!  Valutazione is usually a long and arduous process, but they received an adorable response from La Crusca in 3 weeks.

‘È una parola ben formata e potrebbe essere usata in italiano come sono usate parole formato nello stesso modo come peloso e coraggioso’.  (It is a well-formed word and could be used in Italian like we use words formed in the same way).  The letter went on to say that new words don’t enter the vocabulary unless they are used and understood by lots of people in everyday conversation.  For example, ‘le margherite sono fiori petalosi, mentre i papaveri non sono molto petalosi’ (Daisies are flowers full of petals, whereas poppies are not very petalous).

#petaloso was one of the top twitter tweets for Feb 23rd 2016, as everyone tried to help Matteo spread it around. Margherita’s response ‘per me vale come mille lezioni di italiano’ (for me this was worth a thousand lessons in Italian!’

Senz’ acqua

03 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by in Inspiration, Italian life, Orsara di Puglia

≈ 17 Comments

This morning I woke up to find out the water was being shut off soon.  Luckily I live in the Centro Storico (historic center) of town, which is downhill, so had time to run around filling up the tub and all sorts of pots and bottles with water.  We will probably only be senz’ acqua (without water) until this evening, or let’s hope so anyways. I was reminded of something I wrote exactly 2 years ago tomorrow, when we senz’ acqua for almost 4 days:

senaacqua1

Senz’ acqua, Agosto 2013

On Friday a truck from the comune (co•MOO•neh) or city hall, went around announcing that at 5pm the water would be turned off.  They didn’t say for how long, but everyone filled up their pails, bottles, and bathtubs anyways, assuming the water would be back on by the next morning.

It turns out there was a ‘guasto’ (GWAH•stoh)-a water main break that was more serious than originally thought.  It was between Troia and Foggia, about 40 minutes away. Now it was starting to sound like we would be senz’ acqua for 2-3 days!

senzacqua2

The next day, the temperature was 38° C.  The population of Orsara was increased by about 1,000 because of families visiting, the Festa del Jazz, people living in Foggia coming for the weekend to escape the heat and the Festa della Madonna della Neve coming up.  I was taking bottles to fill up at one of the fontane (fountains) so we could wash dishes and flush the toilet, when I heard there was an autobotto (water truck) at Ponte Capò.  By the time I got there it had moved to La Benzina (the gas station) and was going to San Rocco.  I was out of breath when I finally managed to find the autobotto and fill up my 3L bottles.  I brought them home and then heard that Acquedotto Pugliese was giving out rations of 4L bags of water.  Mannaggia what a scene it was.  The vecchietta (old lady) in front of me said ‘ma vieni di nuova la Guerra!’, the war has come back again! The man behind me had 10 family members from France staying with him and was trying to get extra.  It started to get kind of ugly, but they ran out of water anyways. We carried out water bags home and arrived ‘in un bagno di acqua’-bathed in sweat.  It was stinking hot and 6L of water gets heavy when you have to carry it up a steep old stone stairway.

senzacqua3

This reminded me of when I used to come to Orsara di Puglia as a child/ teenager.  In an effort to conserve water in the hot summer months, it was only available from 8am until noon, then shut off until the next morning.   Laundry, showers and washing hair all had to be done before noon.  This was a common practice in Southern Italian towns in the 1980’s.  I’m not sure it actually saved any water because every household would fill up their tub and every imaginable jug and container with water before it was shut off.

At 5pm the TV went off, which seemed odd, so I tried the lights and they didn’t work.  I heard someone outside yell ‘Ma no!  Anche la corrente no!’-‘but no! Not the electricity too!’  Mamma and I ran around looking for the flashlight and candles for later. No running water and no power!  The neighbours packed up and went back to Foggia.  Luckily the power was only off for an hour so at least we were only lacking 1 utility.

Water in the tub or from the fountains is used for washing then toilet flushing.  Dishwashing water is also later used to flush the toilet.  Acquedotto Pugliese 4L bags are only for cooking and washing food.  Bottled water is for drinking. It’s amazing the simple things that we take for granted today.  Have you ever thought about how you would manage if you were ‘senz’ acqua’ for 3 days?  In many parts of the world, people still don’t have electricity and running water in their homes.  Take a few minutes and think about how you would survive this ‘medieval camping’ situation.

Primo ‘Bloghiversario’

24 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in Feste, Inspiration

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Bloghiversario3Ciao Amici!  Oggi facciamo ‘un po’ di festa’ perché è il primo ‘bloghiversario’ di Un po’ di pepe!  Today is a bit of a celebration as it’s Un po’ di pepe’s 1 year ‘bloghiversary’!  Exactly 1 year ago today I finally hit the blue ‘Publish’ button.   The year has gone by so fast.  It seems like just yesterday I was struggling to find a blog name that was available and also relevant and meaningful for me.  I couldn’t believe that ‘Ciao Cristina’ and everything else I could think of was taken. Mannaggia!  The frustration was worth it though, because ‘Un po’ di pepe’ is an awesome blog name.

What has this year been filled with?  27 blog posts, 94 subscribers, 2450 views, an average of 7 visitors per day, and lots and lots of ideas and inspiration.  One of my blogging highlights was when my cugino Biagio told me that he used my 2nd post ‘Il Gigante-Michelangelo’s David’ to teach his class on Renaissance history.  Isn’t that molto cool?

Thank you all so much for reading and for giving me an excuse to write about stuff I love and share my images.  You know….’Devo fare ricerca per il blog'(I need to do research for my blog) is my new reason to do all the things I want to do!  It has been a wonderful experience so far!  Please leave a comment if you have suggestions for posts, or you just want to say ‘ciao’.

Un abbraccio, Cristina

Bloghiversario4

Ciao Amici! Oggi facciamo un po’ di festa perché è il primo ‘bloghiversario’ di ‘Un po’ di pepe’! Non ci posso credere che sia passato già un anno da quando ho premuto ‘Publish’. Sembra solo ieri che mi preoccupavo di trovare un nome per il blog, perché ‘Ciao Cristina’ non era disponibile. Mannaggia! Trovare un nome alternativo è diventanto un vero grattacapo ma quella travagliata ricerca è valsa la pena perché, dopo tutto, trovo che ‘Un po’ di pepe’ sia un nome stupendo per il mio blog.

Di che cosa è stato fatto quest’anno? 27 post, 94 iscritti, 2450 viste, una media di 7 persone al giorno che guardano il blog, moltissime idee e tanta ispirazione. Uno dei momenti più esiliranti per me è stato quando mio cugino Biagio m’ha detto che aveva usato il mio primo post, ‘Il Gigante-Michelangelo’s David’, nell’insegnamento del suo corso di storia rinascimentale. Che figata!

Grazie a tutti per continuare a leggere e per avermi dato una scusa per usare le foto che ho scattato e per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono. Ormai posso usare la scusa ‘devo fare ricerca per il blog’ per tutto quello che voglio fare. Lasciatemi un messaggio se avete delle idee per un post o se volete semplicemente dire ‘ciao’.

Un abbraccio, Cristina

Il Torchio

25 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by in Art, Inspiration

≈ 6 Comments

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My new torchio!

My new torchio!

Finalmente!  I finally have my etching press (torchio per incisione)!  It’s a Richeson 11 inch ‘Baby press’.  I’ve been waiting to buy this bambino for a long time.  During the 2010 Winter Olympics, I ‘accidentally’ rented out my guest room to a very nice couple of lawyers from Michigan.  I decided I would use the money to buy myself the Baby press from Daniel Smith in Seattle.  I knew 3 printmakers who had one so I knew that it was small but sturdy and very well-built. I made several attempts to get one in Seattle, but something always went wrong.  One time I called ahead to make sure they had one in the store, but by the time I arrived it had been sold, another time the only one available had a dent in the press bed, another time I got stuck in traffic and didn’t make it there before closing time, and when I went to see U2 in Seattle, I was with too many other people and it was out of our way.  Uffa! I thought I would never have my little torchio and be doomed to printing with a pasta machine!

I recently found out that a printmaker I know bought a bigger press, so I asked her if she wanted to sell her bambino.  She was apprehensive at first, but I assured her he would get a good home and lots of love.  She finally agreed to the adoption and yesterday I picked him up from her studio.  It only took me 4½ years to get my torchio!  I can’t wait to use it for monotipi, punta secca and xilografia (monotypes, dry point etching and wood cut).  Grazie Mitch, Ellen and Kari!

Bambini, Soccer and World Peace

23 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Culture, Inspiration, Italia, Italian life, Orsara di Puglia

≈ 4 Comments

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orsaracampetto
Bambini are amazing. My 9 year old nipotino (nephew) Vito loves soccer (aka calico/football/futbol) and all things associated. He had predicted Germany would win the World Cup before it even started. Vito came to Orsara di Puglia this year, and really wanted to play, so our Zia called a friend whose son played and arranged to have them meet ‘sotto la sveglia’ (under the clock) at Porta San Pietro at 9pm. When we went to meet him, I also saw my friends’ son and asked him if he liked to play. Within minutes, all of the 10-11 year old boys in the area had gathered and enthusiastically arranged to meet the next morning at ‘il campetto’ (the small soccer field) for a game, then they all went for a passeggiata. It was the cutest thing ever and could have been a TV advertisement for the next world cup!
The next morning, they all showed up and there were enough boys for 2 teams. They played for 2 hours and Vito was excited that they all played as enthusiastically as he did. He understands Italian quite well, and even with all the loud ‘friendly arguing’ in dialetto and hand gestures, they had no problems communicating.  They were adorable, and got together to play 2 more times while Vito was there.  They even played in the afternoons in the narrow streets, and went out for pizza Margherita or a passeggiata in the evenings. I think that if bambini were in charge….. maybe there would be hope for world peace?

Perché questo blog? / Why write a blog?

25 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by in Bilingual posts, Blogging, Culture, Inspiration

≈ 17 Comments

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Sono contenta che hai trovato il mio blog/ I’m glad you found my blog. Why did I decide to start writing a blog? I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. The biggest reason is creative inspiration and stimulation. I don’t remember when I didn’t have a passion for words and images. I could always be found with my nose in a book, reading, writing, or sketching. This is a place I can combine all of my interests; writing, art, photography, travel, and exploring Italian culture. I can share my photos, images, and all of the half-drafted ideas I have lying around. Whenever I think of something interesting, I scribble notes down on scraps of paper… post-it notes… menus….the computer, and now even on my phone, because ‘one day’ I’ll write an article about it. Well, ‘one day’ isn’t happening. I also have several emails I keep sending over and over to friends who are planning travel to Italy, and this is a better place to share that information. I have a strong belief in maintaining cultural ties, and I travel to Italy every year. I hope to encourage the same in other ‘italocanadesi’ who read my blog and to connect with others who have a passion for art, Italy,and anything else I think is interesting. I hope you learn something new every time you visit, whether it’s about a new place you’d like to visit, discovering a new artwork, learning a few new words in Italian, or maybe you’ll even be inspired to pick up a brush and starting painting yourself! I might write a few of my posts in Italian, but for now, it will be just little snippets. I’ll apologize in advance for any grammatical errors I might make! I don’t like to use online translating because it makes more mistakes than I do! Let me know if you have any suggestions for new posts. You can read more in ‘About me/Chi sono’  and L’Intervista con Silvia. The name ‘Un po’ di pepe’ means ‘a bit of pepper’….because everything can use some spicing up! Iniziamo l’avventura! / Let’s start the adventure!

In Italiano:
Sono contenta che hai trovato il mio blog! Perché ho iniziato a scrivere un blog? Ho vari motivi. È da tanto tempo che ci sto pensando. Mi piace scrivere, e questo è un posto dove posso scrivere di tutte le cose che mi piacciono. Posso usare tutte quelle cose scritta a metà e poi abbandonate, scritte o schizzate su un pezzetto di carta strappata…su un menù….sul computer, e adesso anche sul telefono, perché ‘un giorno’, queste mi serviranno per scrivere un articolo interessante. Nel frattempo, questo ‘un giorno’ sembra non arrivare mai!
Credo molto nel significato di mantenere legami con le miei radici italiane, e vado in Italia tutti gli anni. Spero con il mio blog di incoraggiare lo stesso interesse in altri italocanadesi. Scriveró di tutto quello che mi piace, soprattutto di arte e cultura italiana. Spero che ogni volta che lo visitarete, vi possiate imparare una cosa nuova…che si tratti di scoprire un’opera d’arte nuova, un posto da visitare, di imparare qualche parola nuova in italiano (o per quelli che parlano già l’italiano, di imparare qualche nuova parola in inglese!) o di essere ispirati a prendere un pennello in mano e cominciare un’opera d’arte tutta vostra! Forse scriveró anche delle volte in Italiano, ma per ora saranno piccolo frammenti. Fatemi sapere se avete qualche suggerimento per nuovi post. Chiedo scusa in anticipo per i miei eventuali errori grammaticali! Potete leggere un po’di più in ‘About me/ Chi sono’  o in L’Intervista con Silvia.

Ponte Vecchio, Firenze. Photo Shannon Milar

Ponte Vecchio, Firenze. Photo Shannon Milar