Crazy Lady

Merry Christmas 2009.

Pope got bonked by crazy lady...not me.

But, how many times do crazy ladies have to do it
before they get your attention? Huh? Mr. Men of the world?

Look, I feel bad about the Pope. I mean, I don't particularly
like this one, but I still don't like to see old guys roughed up.

However, and you may not care to agree with me,
but I'm convinced that deep inside...I mean way down deep,
we all get a thrill when we see the Kings and Emperors
cut down to size...or tackled, as the case may be.

These (mostly) men walk around with
golden robes or multi-threaded hand made suits of excess,
with Mossad-trained, ear-wired henchmen
in cars with blackened, bullet-proof windows...

and they smile unctuously in the camera...

and they live in palaces of gold and marble splendor...

and they have all these yes-men, lackies, and oooo-er's and awe-er's hanging around them...

...

they're sorta like quarterbacks.

It's good to see one tackled behind the line of scrimmage once in awhile.
Makes the game more interesting.
Keeps us all watching.
Tuned in and turned on.

It's like my Dad yelling at that first base umpire at the Dodger game he took me to
a million years ago. "What are ya lookin' at me for! Keep yer eye on the ball!"

Anyway...

So, tonight here in the Eternal City they ran some old Sophia Loren movie.
I like to see her speaking her native language, being the Italian she is.

I got inspired.
I made a ragu that I think she would have liked.
It was really good.
We ate a lot and washed it down with a nice Cannonau Di Sardegna.

So...

Otherwise, here in Roma, things are nice and quiet.

The Romans split two days ago.
They went to grandma's house or to the ski chalet
or to the Caribbean
or wherever they went
and then went en masse.
They were sitting in airports and train stations
in a big clump, stumped by weather
mad as hatters.

Some friend's relatives tried to get on the Autostada.
After three hours, with the little children in the backseat
crying and complaining,
they returned home and tried again the next morning at five a.m.
They got to their destination, Napoli, two and a half hours later
without any fuss.

We walked around the silent streets of the city this morning
and logged in all the empty parking places.
Now that we have a car, we are always noticing empty spaces.
The center is full of empty parking spots this day.
Our car is nicely parked, but we thought seriously of getting the keys
and moving the thing just because we could!

This is how it is with the "little" people of the world.
Always on the look out for that little bit of advantage...
that little bit of paradise...
that little piece of the pie.

Maybe that's why we like to see the high and mighty come crashing down.
Makes us feel like, yeah, now he knows what it's like to be down looking up.
Now he knows what it feels like to be down trodden, at the mercy of unseen forces.

Maybe...
but, probably not.