VII.2

Riassunto della seconda novella della settima giornata

Ci sono quattro personaggi importanti in questa novella: Madonna Filippa, suo marito Rinaldo dei Pugliese, il suo amante Lazzarino de Guazzagliotri, e il giudice il nome del quale non sappiamo. Madonna Filippa è stata scoperta nelle braccia del suo amante da suo marito. Il marito diventò arrabiato e lui vuole ucciderli, ma quando pensava alla punizione che gli potrá succedere a se stesso se lui uccidesse loro, lui si è fermato. Durante questo tempo, nel paese di Prato, c’è il statuto che dice che se una donna tradisce suo marito, o se lei è una prostituta, la punizione è bruciare. Poi, quando Rinaldo ha scoperto che sua moglie lo ha tradito, loro vengono davanti a un giudice. Perché Madonna Filippa è così bella, il giudice non vuole punirla, e le dice che deve scegliere le sue risposte attentamente. La donna ripose al giudice di chiedere a suo marito se lei non gli aveva dato il piacere ogni volta che ha chiesto. Il marito ripose che si, infatti, lei gli ha dato il piacere ogni volta e completamente. Allora, lei chiede al giudice che lei doveva fare con il piacere che rimane, buttarlo ai cani? E madonna Filippa dice che questa è la sua ragione per avere un’amante. Tutta la gente da Prato è stata al tribunale durante la causa e alla fine, tutti loro sono felici perché la donna ha vinto con la sua furbezza. Così, la legge è cambiata e ora, e solo la prostituzione può essere punita dal bruciare dal morte.

Summary of the second story of the seventh day

There are four important characters in the story: Madonna Filippa, her husband Rinaldo dei Pugliese, her lover Lazzarino de Guazzagliotri, and the judge whose name we don't know. Madonna Filippa is discovered in the arms of her lover by her husband. The husband becomes enraged, and wants to kill them both, but when he thinks of the punishment that may befall him, he stops himself. During this time, in the village of Prato, there was a statute that said if a woman betrays her husband or if a woman is a prostitute, the punishment is burning alive. So, when Rinaldo discovers that his wife has betrayed him, they go before a judge. Because Madonna Filippa is so beautiful, the judge doesn't want to punish her, and he tells her that she must choose her answers carefully. The woman responds the judge to ask her husband if she didn't give him full pleasure each and every time he asked for it. The husband responds that of course, she had, in fact, given him pleasure every time he asked her for it. So, Madonna Filippa asks the judge what she was to do with all the love she had left over, was she to throw it to the dogs? And Madonna Filippa claimed that this was her reason for having a lover. All the people of Prato were in the court during her trial, and in the end, they were all happy because the woman had won, thanks to her cunning. So, the law was changed and now, it is only prostitution that can be punished with burning to death.
(Note: As far as I know, this law is still in effect in the town of Prato.)

small miracles

this one would be that I'm still awake........
I have determined that I have only slept something like 11 of the last 36 hours...........can anyone say exhaustion?? But I must forge ahead and write a brief (how come no matter how I spell that it never looks right?) summary of novella seconda dalla settima giornata (VII.2) del Decamerone .........This one was a particularly great one.......when I finish the summary I'll post it with a translation

so I am now officially an anarchist.......I have stolen something from somone who stole it as well........this comes from everyone's favorite Knit Witch
and now, for the theivery.........in the immortal words of Maurice Sendak: Let the wild rumpus begin!!

48 things

1. FIRST NAME? Jolie

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not really.....My aunt had a friend whose name was Jolie, but considering how her life turned out (the friend not the aunt......although.....), I'm thinking that my parents just liked the name

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Last evening I got choked up, but no real tears......the last time there were real tears was last friday

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sometimes, it depends on my mood, speed, ink and writing implement

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? I don't eat meat

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yes

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Unequivocally

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cold: Grape Nuts Hot: Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? If they're my combat boots yes otherwise, no

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Cioccolato e Nocciola

14. SHOE SIZE? 36/6.5

15. RED OR PINK? Crimson

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? The fact that I sometimes hurt those that I love without meaning to

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? I miss everyone who's gone in different ways

18. WHAT FOOD WILL GET YOU OUT OF BED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? There isn't much that will get me out of bed in the middle of the night, so I would have to say the food that's on fire would be the food to get me out of bed in the middle of the night

19. WHAT COLOUR TROUSERS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
blue jeans red t-shirt no shoes

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? almonds and dried cranberries

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? the refrigerator

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Violet
SIDE NOTE: I ate a red crayon once when I was little because I wanted that red to be inside me.............the crayon tasted terrible

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Lavender

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mother

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTCE ABOUT PEOPLE? it depends, what's most apparent usually, their third eye......

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON YOU STOLE THIS FROM? Absolutely....She's great!

27. FAVOURITE DRINK? Water

28. FAVOURITE SPORT? Auto racing or motocross

29. EYE COLOUR? Dark Brown

30. HAT SIZE? Small

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No

32. FAVORITE FOOD? The one that's in my mouth

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Scary movies with happy endings......I especially love it when the annoying white girl with the nasal voice gets hacked to bits!! Now that's a happy ending!!

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Both

37. FAVOURITE DESSERT? Chocolate mousse cake

38. WHAT SIDE OF THE BED DO YOU SLEEP ON AND WHY? The outside because I need to be able to fling myself overboard in the middle of the night

39. IF YOU DIDN'T MAKE THE DECISION TO GET MARRIED AND HAVE A FAMILY, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING TODAY? What??? I got married?? DAMN!!!!!! No one told me!!!!!!!! I hate it when this happens!!!

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING?
Il Decamerone -- Giovanni Boccaccio
Se una notte d'inverno, un viaggiatore -- Italo Calvino
Fontamara -- Ignazio Silone
Windows -- Harald Franzen
Novelle Rusticane -- Giovanni Verga

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have a mousepad

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? NOTHING I don't watch TV

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Good music, rain, a beating heart, my lover's voice

44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? The Rolling Stones

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Italy (physically) lightyears (mentally)

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? All my talents are special

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? New York NY

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Nobody, I stole it from another blog :-) thanks Colette

roots and tubers

I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up - they have no holidays.
- Henny Youngman
I, too, once wanted to become an atheist, but didn't give up because they had no holidays: I gave up because it gave me no sense of connection (save but to other atheists who are a rather dark and brooding bunch) to something greater. That for me is an important feeling -- the sense of connectedness, of belonging, of knowing.......which is not to say that I know which way is the RIGHT way (all capitals and italics!) but i do know for sure which is the right way for me. I think that is all anyone can ask for: knowing which is the right way for them.
I am feeling less funky by far.........and finally made it to the Hopper show at the Whitney. We tried to go yesterday, but the line was out the door and so we went to the Museum of Natural History instead. We visited the Hall of Biodiversity, Ocean Life (I LOVE squid!! and all the other tasty cefalopods!! YAY cefalopods!! I am also a fan of bracheopods, just for the record) then went to visit Geology. They have some great information on volcanoes, plate tectonics, mountain formation and all the exciting geothermal activities that we know and love.
Then today (which did start out a little funky......damn those clouds and blue hats!!) we made it to the Whitney. Hopper was great!! Also managed to see the Picasso show which was sort of disappointing, Kiki Smith who is a little weird, but some of her stuff is okay (I particularly enjoyed what has come to be affectionately known as the "Circle of Life".......just a bunch of plexiglass sperm arranged in a circle on a platform on the floor) while some of her stuff is just disturbing, and finally to the Josef Albers and László Moholy-Nagy -- Bauhaus exhibit which was really interesting. We also made it to see paintings by Mark Grotjahn which were pretty interesting as well. We discovered that you can tell a lot about a person based on the paintings they like and dislike (and also by their favorite type of volcano)..................

a tree in a world of flowers

So since it's already November (clearly this is not the place to visit for late-breaking news stories) I have realized that I must transplant my rosemary and lavender plants if they are to survive the winter. I also must transplant myself if I am to survive the winter. But I digress............
The internet connection here has been sketchy at best recently and I'm thinking it's the icky weather (I know all these clouds for all these days in a row are sure making me sketchy) but happily, the bad connection forces me to do work and not spend time on the internet (of course, most of the time when I'm browsing, it involves some work project or other). Unfortunately, the bad connection is not conducive to updating here...............
I realized recently that I really miss writing. I mean sure, I always have lots of writing to do for school (especially with all those papers that are due) but it's not the same as writing for yourself. I also realized recently that I really detest bureaucracy. It's just one of those annoying things that makes life more difficult and is prone to constructing all sorts of obstacles and barriers to not only success, but also to general enjoyment of things that would ordinarily be quite fun and exciting.
Well, eventually I'll get out of my funk and be happy again...........
come talk to me after I've gotten some serious knitting done tonight (might I actually finish Hot Lava??) and/or after graduation, after I find a new job, after I stop eating too much chocolate, after I've managed to get a decent night's sleep, after the clouds clear up and the sun shines again.............

successful sleep and other novelties

So I really believe that someday I will be able to sleep again.
Sleep is something that I really miss.....but really........So my big prediction for the weekend is that I will sleep or at least nap once in 48 hours......................I'm not hopeful that my prediction will come to fruition......SIGH
I also predict that I might (might) be able to FINALLY get to the Edward Hopper show at the Whitney Museum which is open late on Friday night (not that that really means anything) and then there's Saturday afternoon.
What I really miss is not having a full time job and going to school and actually having a free afternoon during the week in which to explore my lovely New York City and take full advantage of all the cultural bounties that NYC has to offer.........aaaahhhhhh yes, the noise, the dirt, the nuisance.....home sweet home.....kidding, of course. But not kidding about the free afternoon thing.....
So clearly I haven't had very much time to write or to go and do anything interesting (besides schoolwork and that's not always interesting) though the other night I did manage to make it to a poetry reading of my friend Christine's which was fun.
Boccaccio is fun (fun? did I just say that Boccaccio is fun? clearly I've lost my mind) and always coming up with new and interesting ways to write in Italian. (yes, new and interesting as told by the monster in the Bugs Bunny cartoons........I think the name was Gossamer......you know the big orangey guy with the fur parted at the top of his giant head wearing chuck taylors or some reasonable fascimile thereof). I think he (Boccaccio not Gossamer) really went to town on the whole "watch me construct a sentence where the subject is at the end and doesn't belong there because this IS NOT LATIN" concept......YAY Giovanni!! It makes the sentences really difficult to parse and if the sentences are difficult to parse, imagine how difficult they are to understand. But I admit, I kind of like it: it presents a challenge, and is entertaining (not a combination often found anywhere these days.....though he did write in the 1300's so I guess that doesn't really qualify as "these days" does it?)