Abandonate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate!

The words above the gates of hell, Canto II...

Continuing on with Inferno...

Dante and Virgil continue on into the middle circles of hell, and in Canto VI they enter the Third Circle of Hell, where the gluttonous sinners lie. There they learn that the three most common sins committed by man are jealousy, avarice, and pride (conceit). Dante encounters Ciaccio, and wants to know if some of his fellow poets and thinkers have either been "poisoned in Hell, or sweetened into Heaven".

In Canto VIII they encounter Pluto and the sinners of greed and lavishness, who are forever condemned to roll large heavy stone wheels back and forth in opposite directions with their chests. Dante and Virgil descend lower and come to the river Styx, where they encounter the captain of the boat, Flegias who will take them across. He is not happy to be carrying Dante, who as a human being and not a dead sinful soul has no right to be in this underworld. Virgil accosts Flegias, once again telling another demon that this trip has been willed from above and shall not be prohibited. Flegias takes them across the river into the city of Dis, where the gates are locked and the inhabitants will not allow them entrance for the purpose of Dante not being one of theirs. Even after talking with Virgil, they slam the doors in his face and now Divine Aid comes to the rescue when the pair must wait for an angel from Heaven to descend the depths of Hell to unlock the gates of Dis.

In canto IX they enter into the city of Dis, and the Three Furies, who claw and tear at their own chests invoke the Gorgon Medusa to deal with Dante, and Virgil covers Dante's eyes with his own hands lest Dante be turned to stone from her glance. In the city of Dis in Canto X they encounter the heretics and those who follwed them. There are condemend Shades that approach Dante and Virgil and they are punished with the sight of knowing the past and foreseeing the future, but never knowing what is happening at the present, and when one of them Speaks to the author of his own son, Dante uses the past tense, sending the Shade into sorrow thinking that his son is "no more".

Entering the Sixth Circle of Hell in Canto XI they stop to rest so they may grow used to a most foul stench coming from below. Dante sees the tomb of Pope Anastacio, and here Virgil starts to explain a little of the geography of the lower depths of Hell, saying that in the Seventh Circle there are three smaller circles, each filled with different sinners, blasphemers, and murderers. One circle houses those who have done evil against neighbors, themselves, or the makers of war, including arson, plunder, and extortion.. .etc. The second circle houses those who have done evil against themselves by means of suicide. The third and final ring of the Seventh Circle houses those who have done evil against God, art, or nature. This includes blasphemers, sexual deviants, and money lenders. Dante believed money lending to be a sneaky art, where the lender charged interest on a loan for their own greed.

I'll try to get in a few more lines before bed, but I'm not promising anything. Each Canto gets more and more interesting!

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita....

Okay so I started Inferno and it is actually great. I've gotten through Cantos I-V and it is full of imagery so profound and literarily fantastic that you can't even imagine it unless you read it yourself. From the first line of the first canto, "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita..." (Halfway through the walk of life) we know that Dante is bringing us into a vivid world of the afterlife.

In Canto I Dante is so full of sleep that he has lost his way through the "walk of life". He comes to a hill where he is happened upon by a leopard who blocks his path. Then a lionness and a wolf also meet him and he is forced in retreat, where the figure of the dead poet Virgil comes out of the mist to guide him in the opposite direction, through the afterlife of the Inferno, where the souls of all evil and unjust and impure people lie. Virgil, one of Dante's literary mentors, feels it best to show Dante all three aspects of the afterlife: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. In Purgatory, Dante's true love Beatrice will lead him through Limbo and into the spheres of Paradise, to meet the Almighty Father.

In Canto II Virgil leads Dante into the ante-inferno, or limbo to view the souls of those who were either born before Christianity or without baptism. He is lead down the treacherous mountain of the Inferno, where each circle holds a different host and realm of sinners. There is actually a really good description in the beginning of Canto V where there is an endless line of sinful souls who march up to meet the fearful Minos. Each soul states their name and the sins they have died for, and according to the number of times Minos wraps his tail around his body is the level of the Inferno the soul is to remain. It's sort of like the St Peter at the gates, but the Hell version. Through Cantos III and IV we see the souls of Paris, Helen of Troy, Achilles, Francesca da Rimini, Pietro Malatesta, etc. The endless tempesta, or storm that ravages the souls as they wait in line to find their place in the Inferno would be an awesome scene in a movie, should any director EVER be brave enough to even TRY to make the Divine Comedy a blockbuster!

Well onto more reading! I hope anyone reading is enjoying this so far, hopefully I'll get a little more in depth, but then again I'm not supplying Cliffs notes here...

Ora di leggere!

So since I haven't been doing anything lately or blogging, I've decided to do something quite "literal". Being that my goal in life is to become an Italian teacher at the high school level, and maybe-BIGGGG maybe here-to teach Italian at the University level later on, I need to get pro-active on the literature.

I have had a copy of Dante's Inferno since I was probably in 8th grade, when my obsession with the Italian culture, language, and country began. It sat on my bookshelf dusty and unread for about four years or so, when in senior year I began flipping through its pages, trying to make sense of the vernacular, terza rima lines that Alighieri wrote, flowing so beautifully on the page. However, I never made it past the first few pages as I was constantly reading other books for required reading, working, didn't have any actual study guides or teachings to help me fully grasp its concepts or my attention for long....however it wasn't long in college before I once again picked up the now yellowing copy of Inferno, actually reading a passage here, passage there for my literature classes for my major. However, I want to experience it more and actually be able to possibly use it for reference and understand it even more the next time I have to read it for more advanced college courses, or for even teaching it. Nobody, I think, will ever be able to say they fully understand Dante's work of art, but here's to trying!

Soo here's my goal: I went out to the bookstore yesterday, bought Purgatorio and Paradiso, and I am going to read La Divina Commedia in tutto, or the whole Divine Comedy.

I will give myself until Easter Sunday...which is I believe the time at the end of the Divine Comedy where Dante ends his story.

It begins on Good Friday and ends on Easter Sunday...so three books, 100 cantos, and thousands of lines later is only supposed to take three days in real time, so pray for me. Will be starting Inferno tonight and hopefully will have blogging material by Monday. I want to at least get 3 cantos in per blog...this whole idea of the 3 meaning Trinity in Dantespeak. (No not Dante's Peak like the 1997 movie with Linda Hamilton and Pierce Brosnan....Dantespeak, like a language..hahaha....I'm a nerd.)

Buona Fortuna a me!

I feel that I need to address the whole Michael Phelps issue. Over the weekend an international magazine hit newsstands depicting Phelps using a bong on the cover. Of course, the whole controversy being about the drug, bad judgment, etc. 

While I do not smoke marijuana, I don't blame him for blowing off some steam. I think he might have done it in a more private manner so he wouldn't have gotten caught, or like in the bathroom or something. not in full view of other partygoers.  However, I certainly see why a lot of people would be up in arms over that. Here he is an American 'hero' that has brought home 15 medals from the past two summer Olympics, making him a shining example to a younger generation who idolize him, and an athlete that people were admiring for all the right reasons. Endorsement deals, campaigns, lots of good publicity (prior to this) and now over one picture he may lose his followers. 

I hear that Speedo and Omega are keeping his endorsements, but I do believe some damage has been done. Not to mention the fact that a few months after the Summer 2004 Olympics he was pulled over for a DUI, and now here he is again in a drug related headline after another successful Olympics. 

Again, I don't blame him for blowing off steam. I'm sure there's a lot of pressure that comes with what he has to deal with. I think he should have found a different outlet for releasing that pressure, but then again who was taking pictures of it? It had to be a person at this party he went to, and why would he let them take the picture?  So now with everyone's faith a little shaken, Michael phelps I would actually think about your actions prior to doing them. Come on, you're a famous athlete who was admired and idolized to all of us. Blow off steam in some other way. Go skeet shooting or something, throw darts, go to a bar and drink like a respectable person.

25 Random things.

I'm feeling a bit rambly tonight, so I've decided to expand on my "facebook" list of 25 random things about myself, and share them with you, the blog readers of blogger.com...

 No particular order here, but here's 25 random things that maybe will g

ive you some insight into who I am, what I like, fears, thoughts, etc. 

1. I love to laugh. Serious laughing. 

2. I am a bit of a jealous person, I just am mature enough to hide it.

3. Everyone thinks I'm so nice at work, but some days, I just want to be nasty and get away with it like others do.

4. I can't stop myself when people use poor grammar. I have to correct it.

5. I hate spiders. HATE THEM.

6. I don't like certain people at work because they are mean to everyone that I do like.

7.  I say "I'm sorry" way too much. I apologize for things that aren't my fault. I think sometimes I feel it is just a conversation filler for people who are complaining about something.  When I don't know what to s

ay to them, I say "I'm sorry". Or I apologize for things I shouldn't have to apologize for, but then if I don't say "I'm sorry"  I feel like I've offended someone.

8. I hate confrontations. I wasn't taught how to handle tough situations, I don't have the balls to say what I think, stand up to people, and that's why people walk all over me.

9. I cannot look people in the eyes when they are up close to me. It's easy to look at someone's eye when they are at least 10 feet away, but when I have to talk to a customer or a friend that is less than five feet in front of me, I cannot look them in the eye. I think it's a challenge or something.

10. I give blood whenever I can, because with all the health problems that are rampant on my mom's side of the family, I feel I am aiding in their survival should they ever need a blood transfusion. Plus there are millions of people who need blood, and my one pint saves three lives.

11. I go to church once a year on Christmas Eve. It's pretty, and I always feel a little guilty about it cause again, I only go once a year like a million other people. 

12. I hate the N word, and all racism in general. It's ignorant and it's wrong. The color of another persons skin does NOT make them any less than someone else. Sorry it's a hot button issue with me. 

13. I really want to teach Italian.  

14. I watch It's a Wonderful Life every year on TV and I do some hardcore crying at the end. 

15. I wish I knew how to do stuff like my father. Fixing an appliance, cooking extravagant dinners, baking bread, crossword puzzles, etc.

16.  I love dogs. Medium to large size breeds mostly. Labs, Shepherds, pointers, and the dog that I want the most Weimaraner. I also like German Shorthaired Pointers. 

..that's all for now. I'm going to have to continue this later, I'm tired. Plus I've got to think about nine more things about myself. 

Friends

Soo...I haven't been blogging lately cause I've just been too busy, or I haven't had anything worth blogging about. As I was settling in for the night it occurred to me that I had a little problem that needed talking out, so here goes. 

I have been friends with S for about eight or nine years. It's a shame that I really can't pinpoint the actual years, but it's been since about junior year of high school, which is going on nine, so there. 

Well, S is only one year younger than me, and she had a child when she was 16. At that point, she dropped out of school, and I pretty much started being a good friend at that time, going over her house all the time, visiting, playing games, etc. Keeping her occupied, basically because the boy with whom she had a baby kind of wasn't in the picture. So i was like her best friend almost at that point, you get the picture, blah blah blah. 

So now about three and a half years ago S came to me to tell me she was pregnant again and this time with a different guy named T. At first I have to be honest (and I'm sure he felt the same way) we didn't really care for each other, mostly because I thought he was rude and he thought I was trying to move in on S, which I wasn't. It took a good year or so before we relaxed with each other. Anyway, I'm rambling. Since S sort of lost touch with all of her old high school friends (due to dropping out and having a kid) as is the case with some young parents, and since I was the one around a LOT I became probably her best friend by default, even though there was maybe one or two slacker friends along the way. 

So after she had her second child, S and T stayed together and we all sort of became friends, hanging out where and when we could, movies, bowling, pool tables, etc. Just being young and having good times. So now S and myself are in our ninth year of being friends, and prob. about last summer my position started to change. 

Now I know what you're all thinking. Guys and girls can't be best friends, yadda yadda unless it's a Will and Grace kind of thing. Well first of all I'm not gay so it's not that, we just became friends through unordinary circumstances which I would have to explain at a later blog. However, since I had been pretty much her only friend for so long I admit I got a little too comfortable. S started working with a girl our age called M and we all went out bowling one night in the summer and we had fun. Then S started hanging out with M a lot more, and calling me less and less. She does still invite me over for like game nights with M involved, and I have absolutely nothing against M. She is a fun person and we have a lot in common actually. I think I'm just insecure about friendship issues, so even when I do come over for game nights, S and M are so chummy and more in sync with each other that I sort of feel like the 3rd wheel, even though S's boyfriend (fiance) also joins in, but the feeling like the 3rd wheel remains. 

I mean, it's only natural that girls would be more chummy with another girl right? Do my feelings have any validity? I'm just feeling a little dumped by S because we've done so much stuff together that now it's like all coming to a halt. And she is planning to get married to T in June, which she never really even told me directly, it was actually at a party recently that she told someone else the date, and it was like I heard it secondhand.  So that was like another blow to my ego. We always say we're gonna rock out to Baby got Back at her wedding cause that's our favorite song, but she really doesn't share that much with me anymore. 

Okay so at the risk of sounding like a big softie I don't know whether to hold it all in (like a typical male) or actually tell her what's going on. Thoughts? Suggestions Anyone??

Mr. Sunshine

SO I went to the mall with my cousins tonight and a thought occurred to me...Why do we go crazy buying material things for family for Christmas? 

My cousin was worried about what to get everyone, who to get for, how much she had to spend on each person, and I basically feel bad because I don't have a child like she does to worry about, and I only buy for the people in my immediate family. I don't kill myself buying gifts, but I tried to drill it into her head that Christmas doesn't need to be all about the gifts and the materialistic stuff...

And I understand that everyone likes to give and feel good, but with today's economy and the fact that money is soo tight is there anyone out there who feels that it's okay if there aren't a bunch of presents under the tree? I mean really, you could buy gifts like that all year round, why even stress out trying to buy them all at once and for multiple people...

So my whole opinion on this is that Christmas might be about giving instead of receiving, but it should also somehow be tied into giving LOVE and/or togetherness and then we wouldn't have to stress out about buying all these presents and making sure everyone is pleased with their gifts. 

I mean, yes, at a time when I was younger I could never imagine a Christmas without a lot of presents, but of course now that I'm older I appreciate the other aspects of Christmas, and I am just blogging to say that before the actual Christmas season comes in full swing, this is what people should be considering.