First Many Shades of NYC

Back and alive, the City, my friends, is AWESOME.

First impressions begin in multi faceted Brooklyn, to busy Lexington & UWS, through stinky yet familiar Chinatown, fashionable 5th Ave, TriBeCa, Broadway and Times Square, and life pulsing East and West Village.
Whole Foods was a discovery and the New Yorker a great magazine. The Phantom of the Opera musical was indeed stunning, it lived up to my highest expectations.

I’ve been running after sunset: sunset on the top of the One World Trade center, sunset at Battery Park in Manhattan, sunset from New Jersey, sunset on the road to Upstate NY.

I’ve been running under the rain, I’ve been running after parties, and friends, and passions, and love.

I’ve been talking to strangers, trying to over go my prejudice and see them with different eyes.

I’ve been seeing cultures: korean, japanese, thai, and more.

I’ve been alone, and loved it.

I’ve not been alone, and loved it, too.

I’ve been walking the street with cupcakes in my hands. I’ve been driven on the streets on a fierce black ‘Stang.

I’ve been seeing Philadelphia and Delaware, and learnt how surroundings which are adjacent hide a chasm of social differences.

I’ve been and still am in New York City, the center of the world, writing this post from the window of my flat in Brooklyn.

It’s been three weeks, but it seems like it has been three years.

One of my Canadian friends once told me, if you go to NYC, you’d never wanna leave it. Man, that’s so damn true. I would stay here forever in this magic.

[TBC]

Sunset from top of WTC

In Philadelphia with Mustang

Reflections from WTC

How to make your day from the morning

Sometimes, small gestures can make your day, from the very moment you wake up. And it’s just so simple!

• Wake up early. It’s easy to say, and I’m the first person to sleep til late in the morning, but the best way to begin your day is to have it all in front of you, so you have time to do what you have planned. If you have to go to work or school, wake a tiny bit earlier so you can do thing more calmly
• Open the windows. Even if it’s winter and cold outside, some fresh air is absolutely necessary to start your day in the best way!
• Look out of the window. Your life is wonderful! The world is alive and beautiful!
• Repeat to yourself “today is a great day“. It’s in your mind! If you believe that today’s gonna be a wonderful day, it will be.
• Drink a glass or warm water, with honey and lemon. It’s really good for vitamin C and for your skin.
• Have breakfast. Is seems obvious, but many people forget to take it or think it’s not important. Wrong! breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so take your time and enjoy it! I usually have a banana, yogurt, caffelatte and a couple of cereal biscuits. And then here you go, you have enough energy to face the day ahead!
• Wear what makes you comfortable. Prepare your outfit the previous evening so you don’t waste time deciding what to put on.
• Say hello and be thankful. The greatest way to start your day is to be kind to the people surrounding you. Say hello to you parents, partner, colleagues, neighbours, the cashier at the supermarket. And wish them a nice day.
• Smile. A smile is never wasted. And if you make a smile, you’ll receive it in return. Be optimist, Karma is something powerful.

I can make something today to make tomorrow a better day.

EJL.

Chagall: a retrospective. Chronicles of an epic adventure in Milan

Hello my dear friends,

All started as a casual question: my friend Irene asked me if I wanted to go and see the Chagall Exhibition in the heart of Milan, before its end. Of course I wanted, remembering old good times during high school when I used almost to live in museums and art. So we had lunch, and decided to go.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Piazza Duomo was the seemingly endless queue in front of the entrance. We asked a guy working there how much time we had to wait, and the answer was: at least 2 h 30. WHAAAAAT? ok, we decided to give it a try, we really wanted to get in. So the first half an hour passed without any remarkable event. Second half. Third half. My friend Irene started to sing an old italian song. The girl behind us started offering chocolate around. I started ho have soaring feet.

Fourth half. After 2 hours of queueing, we started to sing all together, Mamma Mia!. That wars the turning point, we all became friends, and the rest of the waiting was made less terrible. New York by Sinatra, the Italian national anthem followed, old wartime songs, it was almost surreal.

The queue behind us

When we finally got it, I was almost sad to leave the choir I met!

The exhibition was totally worth the wait. The 15 or some rooms were organised following a chronological order – you could see how Chagall changed over time. You could see his love for the first wife Bella, recurring in most of the paintings before his exile to New York in 1942. Then Bella died and he still depicted her, as his angel and guardian, but he lost his lightness to be somber and tormented.

The house with the eye. it really impressed me for all the symbols in it

It was a long day but what Chagall taught me is to never give up and always see the colours in life.

“In the arts, as in life, everything is possible provided it is based on love” [Marc Chagall]