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I can't believe I forgot to put it in the post for yesterday, I guess I was sidetracked by the Chicago Cougar Squad, but I received final word from the home office regarding the celebutard's tour. It has been canceled. While it means I don't get to see Giuseppe Giacobazzi again (for this trip anyway) it does mean that I don't have to deal with the headache of the LA folks. It changes my pay structure for this session of tours also, and yet I have additional free time. I can deal with this. However, if something crops up and the home office can book another group at the last minute they will be sure to let me know.
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Walking over to meet Diana from La Diva Cucina at Mercato Centrale I heard the song “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles in a coffee shop. I keep hearing it over and over. Part of the refrain is what's doing it to me:
Set me free, leave me be
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall
Just the way I'm supposed to be
Bleargh. Earworm.
The menu today at Diva was a repeat for me, from the second day of my last group's session with Diana, but I am totally okay with watching it being prepared and eating it again. She mentioned that I looked lost in thought today. I guess I am in my head a bit more than usual today.
Besides, the group dynamic was different even if the menu was the same. These gals really get along well and you know they are the best of friends as well as comfortable working with each other in the kitchen. From the joking around apparently one of them did meet a prospect last night in the bar, but it doesn't seem like things came to fruition. Why exactly do I need to know this?
I put their man hunting out of my head and concentrated on lunch. So much good food!
While the ladies took the afternoon break to shop their feet off, I returned to the hotel to catch up on writing and fact check some dates and details. We wouldn't want the tour leader to give out incorrect information after all.
I've been using the computer to provide me with background noise while I write, usually an old tv program, but since I've had that song on a loop in my head I guess my brain is telling me it's starved for music right now. Since I don't like the pop-crap that permeates Italian radio I was listening to some old standbys: the soundtracks from Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. It was beautiful outside and I had the windows open to the street below. I'm on the second floor (called the first floor in Europe for some reason) and I know I was absentmindedly singing at full blast. Every once in a while I would catch a snippet of someone singing the song from down below. No doubt they could hear me too. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing afternoon to myself
I collected the ladies to escort them over to Il Latini for dinner. There was the usual crowd outside for the first seating at 7:30. It's a crapshoot; I hope they have a better experience than I did. I walked up to the door and popped my head inside, to more than a couple of scowls from the mass in front of the door. They weren't open for business yet, but I told the guy at the that the “Strano” party of four was out there and pointed them out. He found my name in the book and told me they would be well taken care of. Good luck ladies, I'm off to find myself some pizza and beer. And the karaoke bar. Apparently I need to to sing, because I've been doing it all day.
At Trattoria da Leo I watched part of the Serie A futbol game of Cagliari against Inter. I don't follow them, but there were plenty of people in there who do. A “quattro stagioni” pizzetta was all mine – spicy salame, olives, mushrooms and artichoke hearts on a thin wood-fired crust. Yum!
I had seen a sign on a bar we passed by a few times that said “Karaoke! Ogni Sabato!” (every Saturday) so I headed over for the place and found it not incredibly crowded. It was still early. The singing started at nine, and I flipped through the books until I found the one I wanted: Me & Mrs Jones. It's one of a few standbys I have. Most of the songs were in English, so either they cater to an English speaking crowd or they don't have much of a selection for Italian karaoke distributors. My turn came and I did it. I actually prefer singing to a room full of strangers than people I know. It's not that I have a bad voice or anything; I just know I am not likely to see these people ever again, so I don't care how it turns out.
Returning to my seat, the people around me gave compliments and bought more drinks to fuel a return performance onstage. I went back up there about an hour later, after some truly “unique performances” from other patrons. Second song for me was Ray Charles' “You Don't Know Me.” More compliments and another round of drinks bestowed. I could get into this singing for booze. Whoo hoo!
It was getting late and I had given myself an 11pm curfew. If I start hanging out all night I will not be fresh as a daisy every day. Besides, I can keep myself awake all night on my own without hootch. The song selections were getting livelier as the evening wore on, not many slow torchsongs were being chosen, and I complied. I'm versatile. The DJ guy laughed when he saw my choice. “Proprio quando pensavo che cantare solo le canzoni tristi lenta, sorpresa me, signora!” Just when I think you only sing the slow and sad songs, you surprise me madam!
And I threw down the Beastie Boys' “Sabotage” - which turned into a yellfest with the crowd. A winner! Lots of fun, but I had to get going.
I arrived back at the hotel and found I had two telephone messages. From Giorgio back in Venice. I checked my phone and saw I had missed two calls from him. Whoops. Too much noise in the karaoke bar. Giorgio had emailed me an attachment. I called him to see what was up for opening it.
Aside from his everyday job of managing the bar and restaurant at the Europa Regina, Giorgio is the head of the Italian Barman Association, and sits on the board of the International Barman group too. He teaches courses at the trade schools, and speaks around the country and the world at conferences. A few years ago I helped edit the manual they use to teach with. Just managing the colloquialisms and transliteration issues that arise from non-native speakers writing for a common language presentation.
He apologized for the short notice and asked me to do him a huge favor. Giorgio has a keynote address to make next week in Athens and he asked me to look over the PowerPoint and edit anything that was glaringly awful. No problem! But I couldn't open it. I called him back again and asked if he would convert it to a PDF file I would make notes of anything and call him back to go over it page by page.
Good thing I hadn't gotten hammered while I was out. It was a simple enough task. His English is very good but there were some minor misspellings due to homonyms (week instead of weak) and prepositions getting jumbled. We took care of the changes, he sent another version the PDF and we were done by 1am.
I'm happy to help my friends out. They do more for me that I could ever ask for, so any chance I have to return the favor I am more than glad to do it. Giorgio never lets me pay for my drinks at the bar, he always says my money is no good, and being able to return the favor is welcomed. Plus it makes him look even better than he already does in his international community.
Lights out!
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