Virtual silence

Yes, my blog has been on hiatus lately, because I cannot get on the Internet at home. I spent $250 to sign up for Dell's on call service (you get a year and four problems), but after about 3 hours on the phone, in three or four separate calls, no dice. I actually had one woman (in India, of course) say, We've been on the phone for an hour and I have other customers to help. Um, okay. So what did I spent $250 for? Another woman said: Well, I don't have expertise on this but I can try a few things if you want me to..... Not confidence inspiring. My friend, who was on the phone at that point and frustrated (and SHE is a software engineer as opposed to a technophobe like me) said NO!! I don't want you to try a few things if you don't know what you are doing!
Other adventures in Dell Customer Service: We were transferred to another department (turns out it was the wrong department, but we didn't know that), and every time we tried to get them to address my internet problem, they said: Your hardware warranty has expired. They must have repeated this phrase 10 times. It was quite Kafka-esque, a real bureaucratic nightmare. The upshot is I still have no internet service at home, but more testing has revealed that it might be a Time Warner Cable problem, because another friend's lap top didn't seem to work in my place, either. My wonderful brother-in-law is going to come to my apartment on Sunday night and deal with Time Warner Cable and do all the plugging and unplugging. Because he has what I don't have: a Y chromosome!

Meanwhile, my trip to Sardinia and Rome is shaping up. Staying with friends on the outskirts of Rome for a few days when I arrive, then flying to Sardinia and staying at a hotel at a little fishing village for two days, then going on to Cuglieri to stay in a house with friends, then back to Rome for 2 days in Trastevere with another friend. HEAVEN.
Ciao--
Paola

Day off!

1) slept til noon
2) did laundry, recycling, household chores
3) lounged on couch with coffee and talked on the phone
4) didn't really do much book-work other than for 5 minutes (whether that's a positive or negative, I'm not sure, but I have to start CRANKING again)
5) ran around the reservoir. it was soooo easy. it feels so good to be in shape again.
6) going on a first date tonight.....
Ciao--
Paola

Spitzer, man.....

WHAT IS IT WITH THE MALE SPECIES, that's what I want to know! I can't understand this, no matter how I look at it. Why didn't he just have an ordinary affair? Why risk his career (because he now has to leave politics) to have sex with a $4600 prostitute--and pay for the transaction with a credit card!? A friend and I were talking about the concept of paying nearly 5K for a little less than 2 hours of sex and decided that the only possible way we'd pay something like that for sex is if it was with George Clooney and it took place on a beach in Tahiti--for a WEEK.

Does power make a man sexually voracious? Does sexual voracity make a man powerful? Are men just scum, deep down? (Not you, dad, and all the guys I know and love--I'm excluding you all.)
Ciao--
Paola

The winner!

It's my favorite, too, only I'd have a crumpled piece of lingerie in place of the shoes. And the mirror would be on the back of a bedroom door, so you'd see edge of bed reflected. I'd go a little more obvious. But I love the color (it's the exact color of my bedroom--kind of a peachy apricot that makes everyone's skin look good) and I think there's something inherently compelling about a half open door, even if it is cliche. So, we'll see. My strategy is to start stark and elegant, even a bit severe, so that if they come up with something that's more of the chick lit ilk, we can meet more easily in the middle. Of course, I'm blowing my whole strategy by stating it on my blog!
Ciao, belli--
I'll be in Italy--Sardinia--in a bit more than a month. I haven't done ANYTHING to plan. Gotta look for flights!
Paola

Vote for your favorite image for my forthcoming book!

Those aren't the real covers--my wonderfully generous friend Andrzej Jankerka, former art guru at SELF and now the design director at AARP magazine, listened to my vision for the cover, which is as follows: elegant, clean, simple and a little sexy; graphic, even a little stark. It can't look like porno or cheesy chick lit because of the title (Behind the Bedroom Door: 27 women on getting it, giving it, loving it, missing it), otherwise, women will feel embarrassed to read it on the subway. That's my standard: Women have to feel good reading it on the subway--therefore it has to be classy and slightly literary yet compelling and serious. I sent him a bunch of book jackets I love (check out rodrigocorral.com--amazing stuff, including cover for A Million Little Pieces), and he mocked these up for me so I can present them to Bantam. I know they won't do exactly what I'd like them to, but I do think I'm conveying my idea strongly and clearly.

Anyway, VOTE! Then I'll tell you my favorite! Lemme here your comments people!
Ciao, belli--
Paola

Cashmere socks

..are a necessary luxury, as far as I'm concerned. I have about 10 or 12 pairs, in all different bright colors and patterns. They are so soft and warm and I feel happy whenever I put them on in the morning. Which is why they're worth $15 each.

Other ridiculously expensive yet relatively low-cost splurges:
1) Mrs. Meyers eco friendly cleaning products and candles, in geranium. I seem incapable of getting sick of them. Too bad the detergent costs $16.

2) 400 thread count sheets. We sleep for half our life, no?

3) $169 jeans, worth it if they make your butt look amazing. (The brand I like is Lofli and okay, I admit, these last two examples aren't exactly low-cost.

4) Charmin toilet paper & Kleenex tissues

5)good coffee

Can you tell I'm a sensualist?
Ciao, belli--
Paola