Lox - Archived Entries for 2005 / 12

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Approaching New Year's Eve: [26th - 30th December 2005]

Once again I find myself grouping a bunch of days together, mostly because there wasn't really anything worth talking about. The knee is still giving me troubles to sleep at night, and as you can understand the day is usually rather "slow and sleepy". I am getting fed up with it, it's now 1 exact month of non sleep and I fear that I am going to pay this sooner or later.

On the good news there is Marta, she came to visit me on the 29th and will stay over at my place till the 3rd of January. We didn't have much chance to go out unfortunately, I have had my rehab to follow so a whole afternoon went away.
It was interesting to visit the German Pub on the 29th night. It's a chain store I think, they serve mostly weiss-bier, food is crap but the drinks are good.
We met there to discuss what and who we are going to be for new year's eve, and most importantly where the usual dinner is going to take place. The result was a 14 people partly at Elena's place, it will feature 3 different entrees, 2 first courses, 2 second courses + vegs and at least 3 different cakes.

Yes I know, another eating fest!!:)

Everyone is in charge of making something, but I will not disclose the details today will talk about it on the 1st when I will write something about the party.

On the 30th we even managed to go to the cinema to see "History of Violence". The movie was quite bad in my opinion but I have to admit that the violence scenes were really well made.

It's a strange feeling every New Year's eve. I can't stop thinking about all the good propositions for the next twelve months, hoping that they will be better than the ones that just passed. I guess that everyone thinks in the same way more or less, but I believe that we don't really have a good chronological memory of how the year that is leaving us has really been. in this sense a blog such as this one is a useful thing, reading old posts helped me in understanding how I was feeling and what was happening 4 or 5 months ago.

Anyways, time to go prepare the food, to all of you readers, have a smashing 2006, I hope that it will be a great year for all of us!
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The Eating Marathon: Some call it Christmas, some call it Noel, some call it Navidad... In Italy as far as my cholesterol clotted synapses remember we call it Natale, but in reality is just an excuse, a cover up for food consuption above human possibilities...
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[7 comments]
People Going: [22nd December 2005]

Today was quite uneventful, did my home training, played a lot of computer games, had lunch and dinner.
In the evening there was a meeting with my friends to play Role Playing Games (RPG from now on), one of the things that I have been doing since I was thirteen, and that I still like to play.
It's a way to get away from the real world, to relax the brain and to be together with the people whit whom I shared a lot of experiences and a lot of "life".

Tonight Francesco, one of my best friends, said that he will have to move to Rome for work. He doesn't know for how long, it should happen early in January.

On one side I am happy, it's a work related move, he's been looking for a job for quite some time, and although he's a genius (a real one trust me) he didn't have a lot of luck in the Florentine territory, pretty much like me (though I am no brainer).

On the other side I felt a bit sad. Ok I am not living here, so technically it will not change anything for me, but this period in Florence got me inside my old state of mind, I almost feel like if I have never moved away from here.
Probably what saddens me is the fact that I do put a lot of importance into friendship, I greatly value the group of people here and seeing a piece of this group (an important one to me) going away, makes me feel as if I am going to miss something.

We are all dreamers, in my day dreams I can see myself moving back to Florence and kick start the old life style that I had here, maybe playing 5 a side football on Saturday mornings, or seeing my friends for a game at Doungeons and Dragons or even going out for a movie or a nice dinner laughing and chatting away.
In a way with him going it feels like there is no more point in coming back here, though I know that it's not like that.

But it's a piece of the jigsaw that it's taking it's own route (as it's right for him to do), and I can't avoid feeling a little lonely.
Of course there are many more friends still remaining here, so it's not a tragedy, but it feels like one of those key point in one's life that it's worth thinking about.

Strange isn't it? I live half of the year abroad, travelling by myself to distant countries, spending a lot of time on my own, and if I look back at when I was twenty, I can clearly remember that I would have done anything possible in order to never be alone.
Life brought me to take completely opposite decisions, which is scary, because it seems that I have sold myself and that I completely botched all the decisions taken after I came back to Italy.

Nasty night ahead of me, this 2005 better finish off soon, my 30th year of life is not one worth remembering I am afraid.
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At Night: [Between 21st and 22nd December 2005]

Nights.
They have always been an hurdle for me, I am normally a rather nervous person, mostly because of my job, and I have many memories of nights spent rolling in the bed trying to sleep, with no actual success.

Nights.
They are made to give you pressure, you always feel that you HAVE to do something this or that evening, that the night is too short, that you are missing out on something if you stay at home.

Nights.
I have spent the last 5 years doing mostly nothing at nightime, no disco, no party, no alchool, no nothing. It was ok when the day was full of interesting things to do, but what happens when the day is a boring ball of boredom rolling on and off your brain?
What happens is that you realize that tonight it might have been good to go out with some friends.

Nights.
I still cannot sleep, I KNOW that tonight I will not sleep, so I am trying to delay the inevitable, without kidding myself into thinking that it will be different today, because it won't be.

The thing that I hate most is the fact that it seems all like wasted time, I could be doing something else, but for some strange non-written rule I never get up and do it (read a book, write something, eat), because it's not meant to be like that.

Nights.
I seem to live them only here in Florence, when I go out, meet friends, maybe just go to the cinema and a pizza, but it's not enough, I feel as if I was given a glass of water after 3 months in the desert!

Oh night, tonight, some rest...

Please
[4 comments]
Crutches and Lasers: [Monday 19th December 2005]

Today my rehabilitation program stated "full blast", meaning that I will attend the jym three times every week. Together with the usual physical work, I am now allowed to undergo a Laser therapy, where basically a nice little laser heats up the part onto which it's projected (a rudimental microwave oven for my understanding).
This treatment should help me in reducing the bruises and the leakage of liquid around the knee.

I am now walking with only one crutch, nothing major but it's an improvement.
The strange thing is that the improvements on the leg in regaining movement capabilities, are not followed by the same improvements in pain reduction. A bit of a bad feeling if you ask me...

Real life is also picking up again, this week I am planning a night with some friends to watch the football, a night playing very complicated board games such as Snakes and Ladders, and a couple of afternoons out, simply walking around the block, maybe popping at the news agent to buy some comic.

Work falls hardly into this picture, it has been 20 days without a thought about it, of course I receive a lot of phone calls and emails, but it's not the same as I am not there. Surely under the mind point of view there will be an improvement at the end of this period.
On the other side now that I feel a little better it's also a good time to start looking for chances here in Florence, that was part of my little plan from the start, let's see if I get a bit more lucky!
[4 comments]
The World Outside: [Saturday 17th December 2005]

Laughing and joking seventeen days have passed without being able to do practically anything apart from vegetate.

The is why today I decided that it was time to stick my head out for a bit, so I went out for lunch with my dad.
Unfortunately the occasion was not one of the best, as it seems that he too has to get a surgery, to his right eye, as there is a detachment of the retina which might be dangerous in the future.
Of course he was not too happy about it, I really hope everything goes well, but it was strange to play the "don't worry everything will be fine" part while I am still recovering from my surgery...

In the afternoon managed to "walk" for a bit with my mum, went to the supermarket to buy a couple of things, by the end of it I was totally knackered.
It is clear that I am really unfit and that all this movement is only good as brings the system back to normality.

Shame that the pain and general nuisance from the joint has not gone away yet. I am not fighting it anymore, I take it for granted, sooner or later I hope it will wear off and I'll be able to be back at normal.

Another important point of being sick is that I have done practically no presents at all. This is quite shite because I like the shopping bit, but there was no way around it. I delegated my sister, Marta and my Mum to buy them, I will be the "capital mover", so to speak.

Today I have also spent quite a bit of time at the computer, which means that I watched no TV. I already feel a lot different, my brain was going to be a pulp...
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Lovely Fortnight: [30th November - 16th December]

It has been a very lovely fortnight for me, and by the looks of things, there are strong chances that is not finished here.
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[6 comments]
Surgery Update: [Monday 12th December 2005]

Frankly speaking I would have thought that the surgery was going to be easier on me that it actually is. I still cannot sit properly, so I cannot update the blog as I would like to, but I think I have sufficient strenght to write a small post.

Basically the op went ok, what is not going ok is the pain that I feel every night, basically it's 12 nights that I don't sleep and this long time is taking quite a heavy toll on me.
Tonight I will have a medical check up with the doctor so I should have some answers from him regarding this condition (that I think is NOT normal....)...

Ok gotta stand up now :( Leg is killing me again :(
[2 comments]
Surgery: Sorry guys I haven't been able to post anything recently. Trust me I really wanted to but the surgery revealed a LOT worse than it actually was "sold" to me in the first instance.
I think that I'll be able to post a nice diary of these days in a couple of days, IF pain subsides.

Sorry again...

Lorenzo
[3 comments]

Lox, Lorenzo... ME!!: A little introduction about the author and the blog itself. Plus contacts and CVs... You never know!
Pictures: A Selection of the best pictures that I have taken all over the world during the years, all nicely indexed by year and geographical area. Jolly good!
History of this Blog: A collection of all the articles that I have wrote so far, divided by month/year.