Thesaurus

As affirmed from the beginning, writing in English is the main point of this blog.
And Word`s® Thesaurus is one of the tools facilitating that objective.
I placed the option Thesaurus on the heading of the program, next to copy, past and cut, and I use it generously.

Of course, an exaggerated utilization of this facility may bring to incongruous results, but there is where I count on the reaction of the readers (not very frequent, so far).

I also use the interactive dictionary distributed by L’Espresso, and the GuruNet resource, very useful, but needing connection to the Internet (you may find the details below).

The use of the Thesaurus is anyway the option I prefer, as it permits surprise and creativity (and I could have written revelation and imagination, or shock and inspiration, or wonder and resourcefulness ?..)

Riferimenti: GuruNet

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Orchids

The purchase of two phalaenopsis in IKEA inaugurated our dealing with orchids.

Soon after that, I travelled to Madagascar and at the Flower’s market I did buy more than 20 little plastic bags with orchid’s seeds, from pleasant and amused sellers. I took note of the different names and colours, and only once back home we discovered from Internet that you do not sow orchids.

The reproduction process of these plants is an odd one, recently defined, that need a germ-free environment and particular conditions.

Not discouraged by the incident, we bought in Thailand some plants and two bottles, where, immersed in a “primordial soup” there were more than 40 little sprouts, Vanda variety, a real orchid champion as the lady-seller said.

We are very proud about our first plant (the IKEA one), which engendered a keiki (new plant coming out from the stem of the “mother” one) that you can admire below.

PS to import those plants from Thailand we went to the local office of CITES (international agreement for the protection of tropical species) to get the official authorization

Travelling through La Mancha

During the Easter holidays we went to Manzanares, at the hearth of the Mancha region, to call on the family.

We visited the mills, bought the cheese, ate any kind of traditional Easter cakes.

The space is huge and boundless, well cultivated, everywhere fields, green or brown, olive trees, vineyards, plough tracks.

We went to Ciudad Real and Toledo, beautiful but wrapped up in pointless shops, and many little pueblos.

We followed the processions, observing the masked cofradias, the crucifix and the sacred images carried on people’s back.

Allusion to Mexico and America, amplitude and traditions, colours and loneliness.

Enough is enough

Patricia de Lille, former leader of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania in Capetown, launched this slogan in 1994, during the campaign for the first democratic elections in South Africa (tomorrow they vote again, for the third time).

delille

“Enough is enough”, very narrow agenda, anti-political, not the programme you would expect form a credible alternative for government. But a manifesto that I would subscribe for Italy. And that many voters did endorse in Spain, some days ago.

Utility Blog 1

Some of these blog’s notes should be useful for the readers. Therefore, I start today sharing some useful information I have got in my long years of searching.
The first utility blog is the address of a French web site informing about vacancies in the international organizations.
There are many similar web sites, but I consider this one particularly functional, as it gives immediately the indication of the posts available in the different organizations. Afterwards, one can go to the specific web site to get the details.
You can find the address below.

PS regarding the title, I wanted to express the concept blog di servizio, as it is used for trasmissione di servizio, but I couldn’t find a better formula than utility blog. Any suggestion?

Riferimenti: France diplomatie

Ida Margar

Ida Margar didn’t use to work on Mondays. In the last years, she performed only once.

It was the day she had to help an enchanter who needed someone to enchant.

Ida was among the crowd, with the fingers narrowed around her leather belt.

At the moment she had to intervene in the show, she was distracted by a pair of doves that, after being extracted from the top hat, were wondering what to do.

So, it happened that the enchanter had to enchant himself and, for a fate’s joke, he disappeared.

Miss Margar was not disappointed in the role she had played in the departure of the nosed magician and, back home in time for dinner, she thought she would rather prepare a tortilla.

 

London, 1993.

Aznar stays alone

After the bombs, the manipulation of the information, the widespread popular reaction, Mr. Aznar and his party keep on their suicide attitude of hostility towards other parties and social forces.

They decisively contributed (as reported by today’s newspapers) to create the conditions for a general agreement among the socialists and all the other parties. This agreement excludes the PP from the Presidency of the Senate, where they got the majority of seats, and only 4 seats less than the absolute majority.

The reason of such an approach is not obvious, to explain it, psychology more than politics should probably be summoned up. (not bad this summon up?)

It remains the question of the influence of the terrorist attempt on the election results. I think it is a false question. That situation showed clearly to everybody what kind of people were directing the country. The electorate were truly asked to choose their future government. And in this crucial time and situation they chose rationally and consequently.

Let’s hope in Italy they will learn the lesson.