Rome and the Human Mind

My friend Tom Adams sent me this.

It is amazing what the human mind is capable of. This is simply stunning. Dude accurately pencils an overhead panorama of Rome...from memory...on a 5 yard wide canvas.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2MBBxU

Cool Moon Last Night

Last night there was a cool moon in the sky with clouds around it. I decided to try the different settings on my cell phone camera and see what resulted. These are some of the results.

From The Rime of the Acient Mariner The moving Moon went up the sky. And nowhere did abide; Softly she was going up, And a star or two beside- By Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

My mom is doing great!

I'm visiting my mom and sister in Italy and she is doing wonderfully! It's as if she had never been so ill two years ago!

From Viva Vienna Festival

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Saturday - Goals for the Day

1. Finish writing my article on Raptivity for Learning Solutions magazine.
2. Go for a long walk - start getting in shape! I'm sooo out of shape.

If I get the above done, then:

3. Do some organizing in my office
4. Clear out my inbox.
5. See what else is on my long list!

Foggy Philly

Our Travails at the Italian Consulate

One of our sons, who is 24, is moving to England. He, like his brother and I, are all dual citizens (Italian and American) but we have never exercised our rights to get official Italian paperwork, like a passport. However, for my boy to live and work in England, he needs to be a member of the European Union, so he really needs his Italian passport.

We went up to the Italian consulate in January and obtained the paperwork and instructions. We were told then that once we mailed everything to the Consulate, they would send my son his passport in 2 to 3 weeks. I sent it all up to them and we waited. Last week, while I was out of town, my son called to say he had received a packet from the Consulate. Unfortunately, it didn't contain the passport. Instead, it contained all the paperwork we had sent up with an attached letter. The letter said that this could only be done in person by appointment and that the next available appointment is...is...is....August 2011!!!

So Monday morning we drove the 4 hours back to the Consulate and there we waited an hour to speak with someone. We felt a lot of relief when the nice lady said that we shouldn't worry, they would make it happen now. About the time we were being helped, visiting hours were almost over for the day (noon) and we still needed to get photographs made, so we left and booked into a hotel. After we took care of what we needed to do, we went to see the Liberty Bell and settled in for the night.

The next morning we went back and waited an hour and finally finished up everything. They even made the passport right then and there and showed it to us! But, they said, they couldn't give it to us right away but that it would be sent to us. How tantalizing!

After all that, we are very grateful to the personnel at the Consulate for accelerating the process!

So I am thinking of starting to post to my blog again...

What do you think? Should I? I've been pretty active on Facebook but haven't updated my blog much at all. Let me know if I should start updating my blog again, all!

29 INCHES! That's 78 CENTIMETERS!

A huge snowfall today! See the pics I took last night and today...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeganci/sets/72157623243263873/

A Day in Washington with my friend Pasquale!

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

We made a quick stop in Portsmouth. It's a lovely town!

Portland, Maine

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

We loved Portland! We want to go back!

Visiting Family in NYC

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

My aunt and uncle talking on Video Skype with my mom and sister in Italy!

Hartford, Connecticut

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

A real quick stop in Hartford on our Northeast trip!

In Boston

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

We had a lovely time in Boston on our trip Northeast!

From Here On In...

So it's been tough to find the time to post both here and on Facebook so I've decided that I'm going to post on my blog the following:

1) Links to my Flickr account for when a good set of new photos are there.
2) Stories from my life. I promise they'll be good!

So for everything else, you can look at my Facebook account:

www.facebook.com/joeganci

I hope to see you there too!

Love to all
Joe

The Mazzei Family

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

A wonderful family!

Portillo's Hot Dogs

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

A mighty good chain I had never heard of until now! As seen in Barlett, Illinois.

Jain Temple in Bartlett, Illinois

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Quite a remarkable site to find in the middle of a Chicago suburb!

DC Fireworks Finale

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

The weather was gorgeous!

Evgenia and her Dad Vladimir

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

We went to the Independence Day fireworks in DC!

Receiving a Sweet Kiss

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Either I'm doing something right, or Lauren-Claire is giving me a birthday kiss!

Walking in the Fairfax County Independence Day Parade!

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Dateline: July 4, 2009, Fairfax, Virginia

Joe Ganci once again walks in the Fairfax County Indpendence Day Parade as part of the Fairfax Sons of Italy Lodge. The crowds cheered....all for me, I'm sure!

Two and a Half Months Later...

And it's still going on!

See http://joeganci.blogspot.com/2009/03/times-are-toughand-junk-mail-preys-on_01.html

Evgenia's Parents

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Last night our friend Evgenia's parents came to visit from the Ukraine. We ate a wonderful dinner at Sweetwater Tavern. Conversation was a mix of English, Italian, Russian and Ukrainian! It turns out that Ukrainians are terrifically nice people!

Lovely Frederick, Maryland

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

After all these years living outside Washington, D.C., I had never until today visited Frederick, MD, only 45 minutes North of where I live. I had read about an Arts Festival happening there and decided to go visit. What a beautiful town! I really enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, on the way up there was a section of road where headlight use was mandatory. Normally I use the automatic setting for the headlights and unfortunately my car doesn't warn me when I leave them on so when I got back to the car, the battery was as dead as it could be.

A lady who was sitting on her porch nearby offered to help. Thank you to Jessica for all her help today!

Sunday at Great Falls Park

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

A beautiful day Sunday at Great Falls Park!

Lots of Meat

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Viva Vienna today in Vienna, Virginia. I couldn't help but take this picture of a ton of meat and the man wearing a Big Fat Daddy's shirt. A carnivore's bliss, a heart surgeon's job security!

The Fountains of Kansas City

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Originally uploaded by Joe Ganci

Nice 14-block area of fountains and shops. Did you know that Kansas City has more fountains than any other city except Florence, Italy? Also, many of the fountains in KC were sculpted by Italian artists. All this was due to the founder of Hallmark, who loved fountains and Italy.

Click the photo to see more photos.

Kansas City, Friends and Barbecue!

I met my old friends John and Jeanene Underwood and Chris Phillips at Jack Stack Barbecue while working in Kansas City. Yum - very good barbecue! Interestingly, when I was flying to KC, my seatmate was on her way there to visit her grandchildren and she told me that her niece works at Jack Stack and to ask for her, but her niece was still away on maternity leave. :-)