Bibliomotocarro

Antonio La Cava (pictured) was a schoolteacher in Italy for 42 years.  After retiring, he wanted to continue to spread the love of reading to children. He created the Bibliomotocarro by restoring and modifying a used Ape motorbike.  It is a portable library housing 700 carefully-chosen books.  Antonio has been traveling throughout Italy in his cheery bookmobile ever since.  Don’t you just love this?

Side note:  The name of La Cava’s contraption, Il Bibliomotocaro, really tickled me.  I’m currently trying to learn the Italian language and always joke that you can add ‘o’ to the end of English words to translate them into Italian (perfect-o; fantastic-o…) – this moto carro sort of follows my rule.  Sort of.

via Messy Nessy Chic

Go Pro

This is what a go pro looked like in the sixties.  We’ve come a long way after all...  via Swiss Miss

Jake

Have you ever typed LOL while staring stoney-faced at your computer screen?  We’ve all done it.  This video, from Bill Cosby’s Kids Say the Darnedest Things, made me actually laugh out loud, at my computer screen, alone.  Real-life-LOL.

Please watch it.  You’ll love it.

A-Z of Dance

F is for freestylin’ around my bedroom right now.

A Hot Bath

There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them

- Sylvia Plath

Moves Like Jagger

Mick Jagger in a shoulder stand.  Just cos’.

I went to see The Rolling Stones in Abu Dhabi a couple of weeks back and renewed my appreciation of how awesome this man is. 

(Thanks Diana, this brightened my Monday!)

New Year’s Resolutions

(in no particular order)

Be kinder

Eat more fruit and vegetables

Write letters

Find a way to be with that person I need to be with

Learn some Italian

Finish the Day Zero Project

Exercise

Be outdoors

Drink herbal tea

Relax

Keep my room tidy

Spend time with friends

Stay warm

Drive less

Read a ton of books

Get dressed up

Listen to people

Have a bedtime routine

Be thankful

Tell the people I love that I love them

Work harder

Wear bright lipstick

Take lots of photos

Breathe

Save money

Go to bed early

Hang out more with children and old people

Lose those few pounds

Compliment people (genuinely)

Spend time alone

Smile

Watch less T.V.

Nap

Make lots of lists and start crossing things off

Be brave

Stop gossiping

Dance

Read the Newspaper

Sleep-in at the weekend

Be gentle

Laugh

Cook more

Bake more

Get a massage

Be yourself

Survive another year

Sleeping on Strangers

This video makes my heart sing.

Once, after a couple of sleeping pills knocked me out on a long flight, I awoke to find myself resting on the rigid, bony shoulder of one of my fellow passengers: a young boy (no more than twelve years’ old).  A small drool patch was beginning to form on his t-shirt.  I remember thinking, underneath my mortification, how sweet it was that he didn’t shrug me off.  He let me sleep… for God knows how long.  Now, whenever I hear people complain about ‘kids nowadays’, I like to remember that one.

Do it for her

For those of you who are not Simpsons fans (really?), Homer first worked at the Nuclear Plant to earn enough money to repay his debt. Once he had done that, he quit his job to work at the bowling alley: his dream job.  Then Marge got pregnant with Maggie and he realised his new gig couldn’t support them.  Depressed, he had to beg Mr. Burns for his old job back.  Mr.Burns granted him the position and put up a plaque that read “Don’t Forget: You’re Here Forever.”  In this episode, when Lisa asks Homer where all Maggie’s baby pictures went, Homer explains that he keeps them where he needs them the most.

This is The Simpsons, so why is my face wet?

Bowl of batter, what’s the matter?

Marc Johns, you always find a way to make me smile.

Your Weekend

I hope you have a real weekend.

I hope your bed is warm, and your pillow cool.  I hope you wake up late.  I hope you eat doughnuts for breakfast without giving it another thought.  I hope the breeze through your kitchen window makes you want to take your coffee outside.  I hope you forget all about the dirty dishes and to-be-folded laundry.  I hope you smell sunscreen this weekend.  I hope you breathe salty sea-air and sink your toes in the sand.  I hope your weekend includes fresh flowers from an outdoor market, a bubble bath, a mostly-downhill bike-ride, ice-cream, a long afternoon nap.  I hope you watch a feel-good movie while shovelling popcorn into your mouth. I hope there is a happy hour in there somewhere.  I hope you find some time to yourself.

I hope you have a real weekend.  Really I do.

Money and Happiness

Everyone says money can’t buy you happiness.  Not entirely true.  There are (at least) three things that I could buy, with money, that would make me happier:

1. A puppy

2. A Vespa

3. A karaoke machine

If you had the money, how would you buy happiness?

Photo via Le Blog de Betty

That Video

It’s that video that’s gone viral over the last few days.  I’m as enamoured as everyone else.  Have you seen it?

Before you watch the video (and you must watch it), there’s this thing I want to tell you about.  It’s about this time when I was driving back home from Dublin Airport.  My Mam and Fiona were in the car with me and we had just returned from a lovely long weekend in Krakow, but were beginning to feel the blues set in at the thought of resuming the banalities of everyday life.  While stuck in the usual traffic at Harold’s Cross, I glanced across at the car in the next lane and there was the driver, singing along to whatever song happened to be on the radio.  I mean really going for it – eyes closed, fist-pumping, top-of-his-voice singing.  There was nobody else in the car with him.  I wish you could have seen him, to understand.  We couldn’t catch the song.  I imagined it to be Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing, but that doesn’t matter.  It really doesn’t matter at all. 

The point is this:  I love that man.  I think about him often.  I think about him after I’ve read in my local paper about someone beating up an old person or hear about someone being broken up with in an email.  I remember him when I’m beginning to think this is a horrible messed-up world we live in.  I can be having a really shitty time and be feeling like the world is against me and all I need do is remind myself that there are people like that man in the world.

In this video, the singing is not even the best part – the best part is that you get a little glimpse of one of those truly happy relationships that are more special and rare than we think.  I’m sure this pair have their bad days too but it must be a lovely comfort to know that another person so clearly and openly thinks you’re awesome.

This is beauty, indeed.

Auguri!

Earlier this month, Damien and Fiona (my sister) got married in Taormina, Sicily.  It was the most beautiful day.  I’m going to share some pictures on here soon, but every time I look back through all the photos (which is often), there is one that always makes me smile:

After the wedding ceremony, we drove around to a few picturesque locations in the town for photos.  The wedding car was a teeny Fiat 500 that could barely fit the newlyweds, me and the driver so my brother, Richie (who was also the photographer) had to jog alongside the car to each place.  As we motored through the narrow streets, all we could hear were shouts of Auguri! Auguri! from friendly passers-by.  It’s one of my warmest memories of the day.

Birthday Balloon Surprise

This is an awesome thing Lucy and Marie did for my birthday!

The night before the big day, they snuck down to my apartment and taped black plastic (from bin liners) to the sides of my apartment door, creating a giant ‘pocket’ on the outside.  Then they filled the cavity between the door and the plastic with 100 balloons and a ‘Happy Birthday’ message.

As I rushed out the door to work on the morning of my birthday, 100 colourful balloons cascaded on top of me!  It was the coolest thing!

I never thought I’d say it while living here, but this might have been the best birthday EVER! 

They also made me my favourite chocolate brownies even though they have both given up chocolate for Lent.  They couldn’t even lick the spoon!  That.  is.  love.

Thank you girls so much xx

Things to be happy about (20)

Forehead kisses;  tight hugs; hot showers;  waking up in the morning and feeling like you’ve had enough sleep;  the first bite of a meal when you’re really hungry;  flannel sheets;  hammocks;  drinking from the hose;  listening to stories of how people met;  finally peeing after ‘holding it’ forever;  boarding the plane;  picking up something that turns out to be a lot lighter than expected;  peeling dried glue from your fingers;  people who help you to park;  being on someone’s shoulders;  when the person you’re meeting is even later than you are;  picking things up with your feet;  when the metro doors stop right in front of you;  drinking whiskey from a coffee mug;  Electric staplers.

Amélie

Amélie is probably the most beautiful screenplay ever written, not to mention my favourite fictional character of all time.  Oh, I’m making big statements today.  It’s a feel-good movie that somehow escaped my list!  (Thank you for bringing that to my attention in the comments section).

One of the (many) things I loved about this movie was how characters were introduced by their likes and dislikes.  It’s often how we’re taught to introduce ourselves when, say, learning a new language, but rarely how things go in real life.  I can’t ever recall a time when I’ve said “Hello my name is Thelma and I enjoy reading, watching tennis and going for long bike rides’.

In the movie, Amélie likes dipping her hand into sacks of grain, cracking creme brulée with a teaspoon and skipping stones in St. Martin’s canal. 

It’s funny how much those little things that make us happy can reveal about us.

Have you seen Amélie?  It’s so lovely, really!

How to be Happy

How to be as ‘appy as a ‘ippo.  Simple and true.

Hotel Citta Del Mare, Sicily

Oh yes.  This exists! 

In exactly 10 weeks’ time (but who’s counting?), I’ll be watching my sister, Fiona take Damien as her lawfully wedded husband in a beautiful little church in Taormina, Sicily.  All our family can talk about right now is how excited we are.

The part about it being in Sicily makes it even more exciting.  It means that on dull Wednesdays in January, I can get all wanderlusty looking at pictures like this one.  Even though the Hotel Citta Del Mare is on the opposite side of the island, and it won’t exactly be swimming season in April, we’re still planning a brief trip to check this out.

Have you ever been to Sicily?  I’d love to hear your suggestions on what to do while I’m there.  I’ve heard The Godfather Tour is a must. 

Emergency Compliments

In case of emergency, when your usual bunch of reassuring fans friends aren’t around, there is always Emergency Compliment (.com).  I love both the concept and that most of the compliments are based on things we are secretly and inexplicably proud of (but would never be complimented on under normal circumstances).