bitful

Buon San Valentino!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Literally: 'Good Saint Valentine!'

People with a delicate stomach or sensitive to blood sugar imbalance, please turn away now.
Dr B. has been so good and generous to me lately, and I wanted to show him so much, how much I love him (so much), that I woke him up at 7 with [...]

Belonging to or having the characteristics of both the male and the female.

I just keep a black pen, some sticky notes and a ream of printer paper next to my desk, and that's all I need for day-to-day needs.
However, we have a briefcase full of paper, envelopes, staplers, glue… and a few unidentified objects of the stationery kind:

I have simply removed everything that was double (or sextuple), [...]

Ho mangiato troppo a pranzo
I ate too much at lunch
Literally: '(I) have eaten too-much at lunch'.

My lunch usually consists of some chicken (pre-cooked and packed from the shop, or steamed or oven-roasted at home, no skin) and some cherry tomatoes (straight from the packet, unwashed, I probably have enough pesticides in me to kill all [...]

To direct or impose with authority and emphasis. To prohibit or forbid.

Ho un nuovo giocattolo
I have a new toy
Literally: '(I) have a new toy'.

Last Friday Dr B. received a substantial bonus at work and decided to change his plans and go crazy for my birthday present.
As a consequence, I am now the happy owner of an iPod Touch 32GB. No, make that the very happy owner. [...]

The Royal Vauxhall Tavern will always a special place in my heart.
It is probably the single venue I have visited most often since I moved to London in 2002, a place where I made new friends and met Dr B. too.
I started keeping the wristbands issued by the RVT (it's the kind of place where [...]

One who has the power and position to rule over others; a monarch.

Oggi è il mio quarantunesimo compleanno
Today is my forty-first birthday
Literally: 'Today is the my forty-first birthday'.

Oh poo, I'm forty-one today. Forty was not that much of a shock, but forty-one, man, that's ancient.
Sono vecchio, ma mi sento giovane
I am old, but I feel young
Literally: '(I) am old, but to-me (I) feel young'.

Here are the websites I bookmarked into my del.icio.us account over the past seven days:

WMWifiRouter
'The application simplifies enabling Windows Mobile devices to function as a Wi-Fi access point, giving internet to any other device with Wi-Fi capabilities.'
Videora Free iPod touch Video Converter
'The software [...] can convert all types of video files (avi, divx, [...]

Holding or expressing broad or tolerant views, especially in religious matters.

Ho mal di testa
I have a headache
Literally: '(I) have bad of head'.

I went out with a bunch of friends to The Two Brewers last night.
As it is my birthday tomorrow everyone gave me cards and bought me drinks. Many cards. And way too many drinks. Ouch.
Per favore, parla piano
Please, speak softly.
Literally: 'For favour, speak soft/low'.

If [...]

Sullenly ill-humored; gruff. Threatening, as of weather conditions; ominous.

Another expression for buttock cleavage is 'Dagenham smile'. Via kottke.org.
Before the 19th century picnics were held indoors.
Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Easter are not part of Lent.
'In the past, children in deaf schools did not have personal name signs, but were given numbers'. Via The Linguistics of British Sign Language, page 235.
'If you own a [...]

Quando vieni a casa?
When are you coming home?
Literally: 'When (you) come to house/home?'

I love Saturdays. I love them even more when I get to do stuff with Dr B.
He is out now, so I sent him a text containing the phrase above, followed by the one below.
Mi manchi
I miss you
Literally: 'To-me (you) are-missing/lack'.

If you want [...]

Last September I got rid of half of my clothes. So howcome today I managed to select another third of what was left, to be given away too?
I did the same with footwear yesterday: I thought that last September I had only kept a few pairs, but I ended up counting 21, of which I [...]

To bring together; meld or fuse.

Ho troppe scarpe
I have too many shoes
Literally: '(I) have too-many shoes'.

See my post on decluttering my shoes.
Avevo troppe scarpe
I used to have too many shoes
Literally: '(I) used-to-have too-many shoes'.
If you want to find out more
'Avevo' is one of the past tenses of 'ho' (I have). It translates the English expression 'I used to…'.
The other past [...]

This was an easy one. I'm keeping more recent, less tatty shoes (that fit) and getting rid of older stuff. Fron 21 pairs to 12. And they all fit in my three shoes drawers.
All the footwear I own

Click on the photo above to see an annotated version with date and place of purchase, and price.
The [...]

Completely such; thoroughgoing: an arrant fool; the arrant luxury of the ocean liner.

This was a tough one, because I had very recently taken a lot of books to charity shops, so those that were left were probably there for a reason.
The reason was that they were gifts, and even if I had read them and was unlikely to read them again in the next ten years, I [...]

La lista della spesa
The shopping list
Literally: 'The list of-the shopping'.

Today's phrases are each said twice in the audio files, first by Dr B. and then by me.
Now that Dr B. is getting better at guessing what Italian words might mean, I enjoy sending him emails every now and then in Italian. Today's said:
Ho comprato carta [...]

I was thinking of giving up something for Lent but nothing came to mind.
Then suddenly I saw the clutter that I let into my life and that I am not happy with. Clutter that I cannot get down to reducing because it is too daunting a task. Clutter that is completely useless and bothers me.
I [...]

A person who behaves in a childish, weak, or spoiled way.

Microsoft vuole comprare Yahoo!
Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo!
Literally: 'Microsoft wants to-buy Yahoo!'

I am sure not many are not aware by now that Microsoft has placed a bid to buy Yahoo! for $44.6bn (£22.4bn).
Both Yahoo! and Google have announced this week enhanced versions of their web-based email services, and Microsoft could be trying to protect the [...]

A bully. To bully.

Stamattina ho rotto il mio sito
This morning I broke my website
Literally: 'This-morning (I) have broken the my website'.

This morning I upgraded WordPress (the software that manages Bitful) to v. 2.3.3 (security update) and, even following carefully the step by step detailed upgrade instructions I have written for myself, I managed to delete all the [...]

Perception; understanding.

Ho un nuovo collega
I have a new colleague
Literally: '(I) have a new colleague

A new guy started at work today. I had been interviewed for his job and was told I was very close to getting it, but lost out to him because he has a bit more experience.
My application was marked as 'equally suitable', so [...]

Here are the websites I bookmarked into my del.icio.us account over the past seven days:

Move My Data
'Your content and data should be yours to manage and do with as you please. Your images, writing, tags, profile, blog entries, comments, testimonials, video, and music should be yours to download and move anyplace you want.'
Brad Fitzpatrick [...]