7 facts about me

I have been tagged by Seth Dickens for the ‘Seven Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me’ Edubloggers thing. I’ve done a couple of these in the past so forgive any repetitions for those who’ve read my past lists.

The rules say you have to:

• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog
• Share 7 facts about yourself in the post – some random, some weird
• Tag seven people at the end of your post
• Let them know they’ve been tagged

Here are my 7 facts:

1. As a child, I used to sing at weddings, on stage with the live band…my parents would always buy 45s (anyone remember those?) of new Italian songs and play them incessantly. By the time I was 2 or 3, I was singing Il cuore è uno zingaro at weddings (not very appropriate, eh?).
2. I saved my neighbour years ago (when I was in university and still living with my parents). One hot summer afternoon, my mom sent me to drop something off at her house and when I got there every shade was pulled, every light off and every window closed. I peeked through the sliding door in her kitchen and saw her sprawled on the floor. I managed to open (I don’t know how) her living room window without breaking it, slid inside and called 9-1-1. Not truly heroic but helpful.
3. As a part-time university gig I worked at CompuCentre (a Canadian chain of computer stores in a mall) for minimum wage & commission. It took me at least 4 months to sell my first computer (actually sold 2 of them that same day). Customers would come in and “talk” to me about computers, but would by them only from the male employees because apparently I wasn’t “geeky” enough.
4. I’ve don’t like video games…never have. I don’t know if it is a hand-eye coordination thing, or rather I don’t like to play if I can’t win thing…
5. My first teaching assignment as a graduate student at my alma mater was an introductory Italian course. There was only one professor who was an expert in second language pedagogy but he did not train TAs unless you enrolled his course. The senior lecturers who led the program did not provide any training either and it was baptism by fire. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was not going to teach Italian the way I had been taught it but it took me a quite some time (and some grad courses) to learn strategies and techniques for language teaching.
6. I enjoy physical labour. This is something I inherited from my father. Although I do enjoy it, I’m not good at it. I walk away with cuts, scars, scrapes, bruises and other injuries that I won’t mention here.
7. My dad was a white hat (i.e., foreman) of a construction corp. in Toronto pretty much since he immigrated to Canada. He was very much a “hands on” worker and I admire him for being able to, even after he was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease, be productive and accomplish so much. So now every time we are in Toronto and do something that requires us to drive by one of the highrise complexes or skyscrapers that he worked on, he starts his “I was working on this building when…” tour of Toronto. He remember precisely the year, the company with which he worked and the memorable family event that occurred while he was there.

Now I choose my 7 victims:
AJ Kelton
Laura Nicosia
Claire Siskin
Sarah Robbins
Sharon Scinicariello
Gina Miele
Michael Heller

Twitter’s “what are you doing?” is making families

Months ago, when I first turned onto Twitter, I had a question … who cares what you or I are doing? In October, following my Twitter friends, I stumbled upon a post We are family from @stefigno that was so striking as it gave me an answer to my question. And I really want to share it with my non-Italian world (any errors and omissions are mine and mine alone). Mille grazie Stefano!

Mesi fa, quando ho scoperto Twitter, anch’io avevo una domanda…ma a chi importa ciò che faccio io o fai tu? In ottobre, attraverso i ragazzi di Twitter, ho trovato il post We are family di @stefigno che mi ha così colpito perché è riuscito a rispondere alla mia domanda. E adesso lo condivido con il mio mondo non-italiano (qualsiasi errore o omissione è della traduttrice). Mille grazie Stefano!

A great symbol of humanity and etiquette that is repeated daily and gladdens my heart comes from guys (and girls!) on Twitter. On the wings of that little blue bird, it is clear that we love each other. Since the world is controlled by violence and malice and permeated by corruption and negativity, why not join us on Twitter too?

Twitters always say good morning to each other, they never forget to say hello—giving you a little wink ;). Still wearing pajamas, they smile at you, or wrapped in blankets, they wish you a good start to your day. There are those who will offer to make you coffee, bring you a croissant…and if a day goes bad right from the start, well then reading that stream of greetings will warm the cockles of your heart.

At lunch no one forgets to detail their respective menu. One will be envious of another’s penne pasta with salmon sauce, yet another will be tempted by pizza and rice balls, but no one will forget to say “buon appetito”.

In the height of the afternoon, when work stress starts to show, so does boredom, annoyance, irritation—for others too? Forget about it…let’s take a break. Tea? Herbal or regular? A bit more coffee? Serene are we, Twitters, who will never desert you. Occasional lack of affection will pop up here and there (after all, remember, we are human), as do various requests, curiosities, doubts: on Twitter there will always be someone who will send you an affectionate kiss, who will caress you, smile at you or send you that oh-so coveted link.

Then night falls, what are we doing? Some are studying, others are reading; some are working, others are making love, but goodnight wishes are always exchanged even at the craziest and most despairing hours…between yawns and psycho-physical melt downs. Another day has passed for us guys (and girls) and it has been simply pleasant being on Twitter…see you tomorrow?