Good Friends, Bad Luck, and Ugly Breaks

These are our best Roman friends, Giancarlo Ullman and Elisabetta Bruscolini. We had just gotten out of a trolly together after attending the posh opening of Rome's new museum of modern art, the Maxxi. We'd taken a tram because we couldn't get a cab anywhere near the mobbed museum and had exited it in a less busy place neither of them had been before, but where both were sure we could more easily get a cab.

The night before, we attended the Nastri D'Argento (Silver Ribbon) exposure gala where Elisabetta's first produced movie, Dieci Inverni (Ten Winters), earned her a contender's spot beside 4 other Italian producer, all behemoths compared to her. The director of her film was also nominated for best new director as well. The winners will be announced in a month.

Happily for me, Elisabetta introduced me to important faculty members of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, where I will start teaching a "story" workshop to aspiring screenwriters in 2 weeks. Sadly for Elisabetta, while dancing in celebration of the success of her movie in the little village square of the Tuscan village of Castelmuzio the following evening, she fell and broke her wrist.

Heal fast, Elisabetta! I'm betting you have more handshaking to do!

Ah, Internet!

Well, let's see. We have internet now. But first the electrician had to drill a hole through our foot-thick cement second floor for a cable to the receiver antenna. When water started gushing from the hole it took a while to shut it off, calm down, and figure out he hadn't struck the underfloor heating (which would have been a real nightmare). 3 hours of jack-hammering later, with everyone who built the house standing in a circle like engineers trying to figure out why a rocket wouldn't launch, the plumbing was repaired. Now we just have a hole in the ceiling/floor that needs fixing and a big pile of cables and equipment beside the bed.

This is how things go here: one step back, two steps forward. At least we have internet.