The influence people have on us

"Such journeys have convinced me that it is not always possible to restore one's boundaries after they have been blurred and made permeable by a relationship: try as we might, we cannot reconstitue ourselves as the autonomous beings we previously imagined ourselves to be. Something of us is now outside, and something of the outside is now within us."

— The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid 

If you want a prince...

I have found this on the net and I wanted to share it with you:

I totally agree! How do you prefer to say it? You reap what you sow? You attract what you are? Law of attraction? It's easy to explain. All your actions do have consequences. If you want a prince, behave like a princess. If you want a prince, be ready for a prince.

What is the point in wasting your time on people who presume upon you?

What is the point in wasting your time on people who presume upon you? I always fall into that trap. I try to help those I consider being friends. And they take advantage on me and on my generosity. But I merely fall into wasting my time, wasting my patience and goodwill. Attributes and personal features that I could easily dedicate to those who really love me and who take care of me and do not use me as if i was an object. People that call me just because they need a special information and then end up without even asking me how I feel. You are lame, malicious and self-centred.

Sushi is healthy

I had Sushi a few weeks ago, so I thought I could dedicate an entry to this delicious food. Apart from the risks, which are very low if we consider that a huge number of people in the world loves eating sushi nowadays, it also has tons of health benefits. Did you know that?

For a person with normal health, sushi has many health benefits. All dishes [...] are low in saturated fat and high in protein. There may be a slight load in carbohydrates in thick sushi rolls, but it is negligible for nigiri sushi since they are small in amount.

High content of fish oil is the main health factor which promotes a healthy cardiovascular system. The hikarimono, or shiny fishes [...] contain the highest amounts of EPA and DHA omega3 fats. [...]. These fishes are also high in vitamin E which is a powerful antioxidant.

Nori contains a great source of minerals found in the ocean and vinegar acts as an important factor in promoting cell metabolism. [...]

from Sushi Encylopedia

Have I convinced you? :) Do you like/eat sushi? I love both sushi and maki, but I have never tried Sashimi. How is it?

Sushi and Maki I ate

Syllogism

Syllogism are fun. I quite like them. But they are not always true. I was thinking about this one yesterday:

I hate those who hurt me. Only those I love can really hurt me. So, I hate those I love.

How come? Ha ha. However, it is also true that we tend to have problems mainly with the ones we care about. We have problems with them because we need them. But hate is another thing.

Dance

I want to dance. I really want to dance! When I hear some good music I can't help but move my bones. Does this happen to you as well? Either alone or not, I need to dance. Dancing is relaxing. It is a way of relieving from stress. It is natural and sometimes spiritual. What else is dance connected to? I would dance all the time.

Negative sides about positivity

Nowadays the so called "Be positive, think positive" theory has gained much currency among people. I consider myself as a supporter of it in a sense, as I firmly believe that if we think positive things can definitely go better, even though I sometimes fail and fall in my wirlwind of negative thoughts. However, I get quite confused if not even upset when people talk about the necessity of being surrounded by positive people only. What if pessimistic friends need your help, will you leave them on their own? I think we should really put some limits to these new considerations as well as we should bear in mind our role: the more you tend to wish only positive people around you, the more you tend to be focused on yourself only rather than on other people. As a result, the most self-centred you become, which in my opinion is extremely dangerous and has no benefits at all. One should think positively for his own health, for his beloved ones, but narrowing down the list of people around you, just according to their mood is really selfish if not even cruel. Denying other people the possibility to be better, refusing them some help (which is a friend's duty and role) is cruel.

Difference

What is difference? Have you ever felt uneasy with people you do not go well with? Have you ever judged people negatively because they were unsimilar to you? That's the point. More often than not we do not go well with people around us because they do not share the same values and customs as we do. It might sometimes be a matter of good and bad. Yet, some other times it could also be a matter of background: the greater the discrepancy, the bigger the inadaptability. What do you think? I personally have had many occasions in the past in which I could not really get on well with some people and I attributed everything to their unfriendly attitude. Eventually, I have thought and came to the conclusion that the centre of this uneasiness is merely due to the fact that we shared two different ways of being, two different lines of thought and behaviour. I was in a context in which many people shared the same code and I did not. Had I shared it, I would have felt better.

Lunch at the restaurant

I hardly ever eat at the restaurant. Here is what I have just eaten at the Locanda Lo Scudo, near Verona, Italy. The food was amazing, especially because I love fish and those prawns were really amazing. You know, I am italian and I love yummy food.

Prawns with bean sauce and vegetables

Spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce and fresh prawns

Dessert: hot chocolate cake with ice cream

International Holocaust Rememberance Day

“In Italy, the country where fascism was born, we have a particular relation with the Holocaust, but as a turning point in history it belongs to everybody in the world. It is a part of humanity.”
- Roberto Benigni

I would like to spend a few words as I am very sensitive to the Holocaust. Rembembering is a necessity. The knowledge of what has happened is also a necessity. Nobody must forget. We are brothers and sisters. Dislike is natural, hatred is not. You can dislike your brother, your friends and whoever is around you. But you cannot kill them so brutally. Everyone should learn from the Holcaust.
I also would like to remember all the other peoples that were sterminated. We only tend to rembember the Jews. I would like to remember also the huge number of Native Americans. The great number of Poles that were sterminated by Stalin. And all the other peoples we tend to forget of or not know of.

Molly and my London book

My Ragdoll cat Molly sleeping on my favorite book about London's history ❤ It seems we really do get on well and we like the same things! It is an amazing book I highly suggest anyone interested in London history. The title is London: the illustrated history and you can find it here - it is very cheap!

Yummy pizza

Disclaimer: I reckon this is an incredibly silly post. I am eating this and it is so so yummy! Pizza with tuna and onions. I generally have other favourite pizza toppings, but I so much wanted this tonight! I normally prefer mushrooms, ham and cheese on pizzas. What are your favourite toppings?

Yummy italian pizza

Narcissism

“In the end the narcissist must compensate for this core vulnerability he carries and as a result an overestimation of his own importance arises.”
- Joshua Braff

Is this really so? Is narcissism a form of vulnerability, the display of a sense of inferiority and a sense of (shared) mutual quest for acceptance? I doubt it. I think that narcissism is the sum of features such as vanity, egocentrism, self-interest. Narcissists love themselves at such an extent that other people merely exist, and are so self-centred that everything turns around them. Narcissists cannot be insecure. Insecure people might display their feelings in a similar way, but if you take for example Ovid, he clearly states in his Metamorphoses that Narcissus was so proud that he even disdained those who loved him. Insecureness would not disdain. On the contrary, vulnerable people would tend to depend on other people’s opinion, feelings and lives. Narcissists would not.