Monday odds and ends

I appear to have a new recurring anxiety dream: i'm trying to start a car from a stop on a hill, and the clutch won't engage. And then the brakes won't engage. And so the car goes sliding backwards into the car behind me. I always wake up at the moment of impact, so at least so far I haven't had to dream about exchanging insurance info with another driver.

Bah. I like the recurring dream about fighting cybermen with my friends better. More cameraderie. (Plus, I get to marvel at my subconscious mind's firm hold on continuity: when we fought "Tenth Planet" era cybermen, we did it in black and white.)

My mother just phoned me to tell me that she's tooling around the Florida interstate with four pistols in the car. No, she hasn't adopted a life of crime, she's been entrusted with my late grandfather's small collection of antique firearms. The newest dates from 1905; the oldest may be Civil War era. i don't think my grandfather was much of a collector, so I think these may just be pistols that belonged to my great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather that he never got rid of.

Review: Aegean Dream by Dario Ciriello

Aegean Dream by Dario Ciriello

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I probably would not have picked up this book if Dario were not a friend and Clarion West workshop classmate of mine. "Americans go and live abroad and learn life lessons" stories have become a genre of their own in recent years, and I tend to expect them to be a bit sentimental and pat. (I should note that Dario is not technically American, being Italian by heritage and British by birth, but I'd be proud to call him my countryman any day.)

However, I'm really glad that I picked up this book, because while there's sentiment here, there's also humor and honesty. The book is an easy and entertaining read, and you really find yourself rooting for Dario and Linda as they try to make new friends across barriers of language and culture (a task at which they succeed admirably), or go head to head against the Greek bureaucracy (at task which ultimately defeats them). As something of a foodie, I also particularly enjoyed the accounts of Dario and Linda being introduced to Greek cuisine, and introducing their Greek friends to American cuisine. (If I ever need to make friends fast in a foreign country, I'm hoping I can go armed with Linda's chocolate chip cinnamon roll recipe.)

This book should absolutely be required reading for anyone thinking of packing up and moving to a foreign country. But even if you've never had the urge to emigrate, you'll find plenty of entertainment and food for thought here.


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