Two more shots from the small village:

The Cicerone’s tower:

This place is worth a trip!

Arpino on Wikipedia

Cyclopean masonry

Instead of allowing the housing market to correct to its fair value, President Obama and Barney Frank will attempt to “mitigate” foreclosures. Mr. Frank has big plans for your tax dollars, “We may need more than $50 billion for foreclosure [mitigation]“. What this means is that you will be making your monthly mortgage payment and in addition you will be making a $100 payment per month for a deadbeat who bought more house than they could afford, is still watching a 52 inch HDTV, still eating in their perfect kitchens with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Barney thinks he can reverse the law of supply and demand by throwing your money at the problem. He will succeed in wasting billions of tax dollars and home prices will still fall 20% to 30%. Unsustainably high home prices can not be sustained. I would normally say that even a 3rd grader could understand this concept. But, instead I’ll say that even a U.S. Congressman should understand this.

10 servers

4 SVN repositories

1 Bug tracker system

~100k Lines of code

6M requests / day

1 Intranet

1 Wiki

Make pesto is much easier….

You invest your best years of your life, your energies, your money, everything on it.

You turn 35, confident you built something great, that will last forever.

Then one night you wake up and u realize that you’re done.

You don’t know what to say to your friends, to your family … no needs to tell her … she will understand.

You feel a little ashamed, afraid of people’s reactions so you keep pretending like nothing’s changed.

But you cannot hide it too long.
Your body changes…
Your breath is smells better…
Your skin is smoother…
You run faster…

WTF I always get all the craps

It’s a love poem.

After a While

After a while you learn
The subtle difference between
Holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t always mean security.

And you begin to learn
That kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes ahead
With the grace of a woman
Not the grief of a child

And you learn
To build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow’s ground is
Too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way
Of falling down in mid flight

After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much
So you plant your own garden
And decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting
For someone to bring you flowers

And you learn
That you really can endure
That you are really strong
And you really do have worth
And you learn and you learn
With every good bye you learn.

Veronica A. Shoffstall (1971)

Below his post:

Hello potential roommates! 

I come to you today with an offer you might not be able to refuse. Due to my current roommate’s imminent departure, I have available a large furnished room on the first floor of a three-story walk-up in the heart of the East Village (4th Street and Second Avenue). There are two bedrooms in the place, and yours would be the largest. 

I don’t need to tell you that this is near all the cool spots, including restaurants, bars, cafes, theatres, concert halls, etc. However, the room itself is private, at the end of a long hallways, and very quiet. The dimensions are 15×17, and it has two windows which look onto our interior courtyard. Bed, wardrobe, desk, and air conditioning come with the room. $550 includes all utilities. 

You may be wondering why the price is so low. Well, here’s the twist: I am a 25 year old male with a slight social problem which, to some, makes me an undesirable roommate. 

I’ll get right to the point: I have a compulsion to put ice cubes down people’s shirts. As my roommate, you will likely bear the brunt of this problem. 

Don’t ask me to explain why I do this. It’s a serious psychological issue, and years of therapy haven’t helped. 

Let me emphasize: it will not go ANY FURTHER than the ice cubes. I am not abusive or perverted in any way, and I will never make lewd comments or touch you inappropriately. I also do not drop heavier or steaming hot objects down people’s shirts. Only ice cubes. 

What this means for you: when you are sitting on the couch, or at the dinner table, or basically anywhere in the apartment, I may come up to you and drop an ice cube down your shirt. 

I always have ice cubes on hand. DO NOT thnk you can simply get ride of all ice trays in the apartment. Trust me, I have tried this, as have various roommates. It doesn’t work, I will only buy more. 

I prefer someone who does not like to have friends over, unless they understand my problem. They are prone to having ice cubes put down their shirt. 

Your bedroom door has a sturdy lock, so you will always be secure while sleeping. Ditto for the bathroom. I may turn the doorknob on rare instances, but a stern word is usually enough to send me on my way. 

On infrequent occasions, I have been known to follow someone onto the street to put an ice cube down their shirt. Once, I showed up at a roommate’s place of business. However, this was a wake-up call, and I can assure you it’s something I may not repeat. 

Okay, I think that covers it. As you see, this is a great room in a terrific location, for a very, very low price. Quite simply, you won’t find a deal like it anywhere in the city. However, my roommate will have to be tolerant. It takes great patience, and others have failed. It may seem like a minor problem, but eventually all the ice can become very annoying. 

Otherwise, I am a caring, conscientious person. I work in finance, and enjoy mountain biking on the weekends. 

So send me e-mail me if you’re interested! Please address the ice cube problem and how you plan to deal with it. I need to be sufficiently impressed, because I don’t want to find another roommate after one month. Ignoring the problem only makes it worse. Also include some of your favorite hobbies. 

My current roommate is leaving to move in with her boyfriend, but before that, we had a successful relationship for one year. She even said the ice was something of a relief in the summer months, which can become very hot. 

Females are preferred, but guys, don’t let that deter you! Move-in would be anytime between now and September 1. I’m flexible. 

Thanks for listening!