GG Central - Summer Break

GG* is taking a much-needed break for the remainder of August. While we are away, please check out the links on this page, particularly Darfur Peace & Development Organization, Ante Up for Africa, Washington Animal Rescue League, Raise Hope for Congo, Enough Project, UNICEF, & the World Food Programme.

Please remember that Haiti remains in desperate need. Here is the link to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

As we write this, millions of Pakistanis--including children--are suffering terribly from the recent & continuing floods. Here is a list of American & international organizations collecting funds for aid.

For fun, comic relief, & also to help our dear animal friends visit Earl, Mooch, Chickpea & other great dudes at Mutts Comics website. (Yesh!) GG's editor would be delighted to hear from people via her bricolage blog.

ciao-meow/GG Central

*Giulia's editor is taking the break. Giulia is taking life with her usual equanimity (+ occasional bouts of wild celebration to prevent tedium).

Update - GG will return after Labor Day.

[photograph at the Lido di Ostia by Giampaolo Macorig via flickr details set]

GG's Circus in Three Rings

Circus-y links from GG's harried editor. Pignouf's lovely Vintage Poster site (in French but you'll understand, trust us). Also Vintage Circus tumblr, is here. An intriguing post at The Clever Pup (August 2009) about Carnivàle Lune Bleue. Highly recommended reading. A new film starring Jane Birkin & Sergio Castellito, Around a Small Moutain...opening soon near you. Finally, for children of all ages, read about ancient Roman leisure activities on the BBC - Primary History page.

ciao-meow/The Ringmistress

[circus images in Freiburg by Thomas Totz; Solveig Dommartin in Wings of Desire, via tumblr]

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

GG & her editor extend warmest best wishes, a lei, & a virtual slice o'cake to President Obama. We'd say "have a perfectly wonderful day" but we cannot work miracles, sir. GG hopes you have your favorite meal tonight (in Chicago), though.

ciao-aloha-meow/GG Central

From today's Writer's Almanac: Today is President Barack Obama's (books by this author) 49th birthday. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on this day in 1961, despite whatever you've heard of the contrary. He's the author of the New York Times best-selling books Dreams from My Father (1995) and The Audacity of Hope (2006).

[GG photo collage from many sources who are not very nice about baby or grown-up President Obama. (Shame on you!) So we'll attribute the family photos to "the Googley-tubes"]

Pasqualina & Pinta - Italian Goat Goodness

Do you know adorable Pasqualina & Pinta? Do you know what 'capra' & 'capretta' mean? No & no? Well, you should & you can find out on Goat Berries. This is Michelle Fabio's fairly new venture. Goat-y goodness, cute kids, & general merriment. It's a lot of fun to visit both Goat Berries & Michelle's deservedly widely-read & beloved Bleeding Espresso. (She's a fellow Pennsylvanian--even if we no longer live there, we're still Pennsylvanians. Yep.)

There's more to the menagerie than goats, though. Check in on pups Luna & Stella; Giordano, a handsome ginger tabby (GG swoons--an Italian gatto); & two double-yolk producing hens & a rooster. (In the time it's taken to type this entry, there are probably more resident animals.) Michelle & her husband P. are two busy people with their ever-expanding realm in Badolato, Calabria. GG's editor is trying to think up some sort of financial scheme to take herself & GG to southern Italy in autumn 2011. We would love to see this empire up close & personal.

Don't forget to check out Michelle's Bleeding Espresso recipe archives. Always an inspiration when you just can't think of what you want. It's a go-to for GG's editor.

ciao-meow/GG Central

[photographs by Michelle Fabio/Goat Berries/Bleeding Espresso/all rights reserved]

Black-Eyed Susan

How can it be August already? It's been so hot that GG & her editor (who has neither brown, nor black eyes, by the way) have spent much too much time inside. That's how. Anyway, to get August going, here's a pretty illustration of an old song* (& play) & a little history of Maryland's state flower. We're off to our friend Maria Caterina di Perugia's on Monday--she has heaps of these for the asking. (We will!)

ciao-meow/The Management

*there are many versions & it would seem that every country in Europe & North America claims the song. We'll not take sides, seeing as we don't know the answer. But can't we just share? No. Oh, dear.

[illustration by Walter Crane via LIFE archives; brown-eyed susan photograph by Shelby Raymond]