Once a week I go dancing. But not just dancing. I go Folk Dancing! Last time I folk danced, I was in third grade, once a week, in the long pause. It was for whoever wanted to join. Now I am 30 years old, again it came my way. At the beginning I just sat there to listen to the music, you know keeping up with time. Then I looked at the people’s faces as they were dancing, so happy, content with the movement and the music, floating [...]
It was almost eight o’clock in the evening when we arrived at the restaurant of which Catharina had spoken of. We were ushered to a private corner and the waiter brought us “bruschette” with fresh tomato paste and garlic. Apparently the restaurant decided what their clients were going to eat, as nobody seemed to be able to order anything. Patiently waiting for what was being prepared for us, we discussed our strategy for the visit [...]
Couples wondering if the love will last could find out if theirs is a match made in heaven by subjecting themselves to a mathematical test. A professor at Oxford University and his team have perfected a model whereby they can calculate whether the relationship will succeed. In a study of 700 couples, Professor James Murray, a maths expert, predicted the divorce rate with 94 per cent accuracy. His calculations were based on 15-minute conversations [...]
As a bartender and trainer at a national restaurant chain, Rebecca Brown earned a couple thousand dollars in a really good week. Now, as a dancer at Chicago’s Pink Monkey gentleman’s club, she makes almost that much in one good night. The tough job market is prompting a growing number of women across the country to dance in strip clubs, appear in adult movies or pose for adult magazines like Hustler. Employers across the adult entertainment [...]
The old lady looked weary and tired but her tears had dried up and she had regained her composure. I could see that her face had certain, distinct aristocratic features that I hadn’t noticed before, and she suddenly looked less frail and old to me than during my initial impression. Involuntarily I had to think of Catharina’s remarks directed at Giselle the day before about Catharina de Medici. And even though I had never seen a portrait [...]
Should we always tell our partners the truth? What can we, or should we keep to ourselves? And if we do have a dark secret, or if something has in fact happened to us that we are sure our partner would never accept and might be hurt as a result? Even if it didn’t happen, but the intention was there, should we still let him in on everything for the sake of honesty? And you know that he will get hurt. Only you feel uncomfortable yourself, [...]
Catharina looked serene the next morning as we set out to travel. Nothing in her composure revealed anything about the sensual intermezzo of the night before. We took an early train, and with un-Italian timeliness we left the station without any delay. We were on our way, following the coastal track for Piombino, where we planned to take the ferry to Elba. Except for a tormented looking old lady, wearing spectacles with one black lens [...]
I decided to stop whining about how it is and how it’s supposed to be. I decided to accept my life the way it is. Wherever it may take me, there I will be, no planning, no judging what others are doing or having. I decided to concentrate on my life, how it looks to me in the mirror, how it’s working for me. No more jealousy or influences whatsoever of what is seen on TV. To live a simple life, one day at the time, trying to make [...]
(continued from: “Latin Dreams”) Giovanni returned around midnight, smiling from ear to ear, and in the company of his French girlfriend Giselle. After being introduced, Giselle immediately started to complain about the perceptible smell of garlic on our breath. She kept on going about garlic being the food of the lower classes, and about the superiority of the French cuisine. Giovanni ignored the outburst of his girlfriend by looking [...]
