Shiraz

Bienvenue à la page de Vittorio! March Madness has come and gone...and we have to wait yet another year for KU to win it all and cut down the nets! Oh well...c'est la vie as we'd say en Francais! ;) Le coeur a ses raisons que la Raison ne connait pas... To know me is to love me...I suppose -- like everyone else -- I'd rather be well-respected than well-liked and to be regarded as noble and of good character, rather than being "great"... For to be great, is to be misunderstood, n'est-ce pas?
Okay, so I'm in London a couple months ago... you know King George, Boston Tea Party, July 4, 1776, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, London Bridge, Tea, the Queen, etcetera...and I'm really getting back into the habit of having TEA...it's awesome! For those of you fellow Earl Grey or better yet, English Breakfast Tea lovers, you'll understand what I'm talking about... It's simply "brilliant" as the Londoners say... What's also brilliant is a REAL bonafide "fish and chips" lunch... Can't get any better than that... unless of course I was in Paris... well that'll be soon enough :) I'll let you get back to your reading... haha!
Right off the bat, you should know about me that I am a TRAVEL FREAK... and a HUGE SPORTS nut! I used to live in London and Paris..and have now settled in the Dallas area ~ I love playing sports, and attending live events as well ~ I grew up playing baseball, basketball, tennis and football (soccer here in the U.S.)! I became really, really good at basketball, baseball and tennis and eventually played one of those sports in college ~ Even today, I love soccer and the international appeal it has as the World's Game! ~ There are so many correlations between sports and life! Makes for a good discussion...I have a WIDE array of business interests, ranging from project management to business consulting, to cross-cultural and sensibility training as well as business etiquette seminars and providing any and all language solutions (multi-lingual websites, document translation, as well foreign language training seminars).
What else? Yeah...I've sort of stumbled onto a public speaking career, focusing on youth and the importance of making the right choices, as well as educating them about the importance of physical fitness and overall personal wellness ~ Being an athlete most of my life, I've learned that there is no substitute for the core principles in life that transcend any occupational or recreational activity -- those being discipline, perseverance, hard work and a commitment to EXCELLENCE!
With that preamble, I divert your attention to my next area of focus...the Italians call it la dolce vita...I'm hoping to die young at a very old age... I keep in mind the words of Charles Kingsley, the poet, who put it best when he wrote... "We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about." ...For all intents & purposes, I've endeavored to live life to the fullest extent in just over 30 years; I never really wanted to be like anyone else, and I think I've accomplished that. I try to be as asymmetrical as possible (within reason) in another-wise conformist, symmetrical kind of world :)
Voltaire, the great French philosopher and writer during the Enlightment Period, once wrote, "Il faut cultiver son jardin"...translated, meaning "we must cultivate our garden". This particular quote has had a profound effect on me my entire life ~ In running the race, I realize that only one gets the prize, and as many times as I fall (which is often!), I run in a manner to get that prize! Each year seems to be better than the previous...I really can't say I've had many regrets...none worth mentioning anyway.
Each passing season seems to carry with it new adventures, new friends, exciting travels, wonderful discoveries, but perhaps the most important enlightenment is what we give back to life... Great food, wonderful music comprise a large part of my life... Wonderful cuisine, believe it or not, has the unique capacity to unite peoples from all over the world ~ Much like its friend, food, music has the same ability to captivate audiences from around the globe and even soothe the savage beast, as someone once wrote...
Languages, as I mentioned earlier... are also a passion ~ ...so if you would like to one day be able to "parler Francais", let me know...Or perhaps...tu quieres hablar Espanol? Possiamo parlare Italiano se vuoi...In my spare time, I like to function as a "life coach" -- working with some of my colleagues to help others achieve their goals/dreams through a proven methodology of hard work, perseverance, "stick-tuitiveness", drive and spiritual balance...
Let's see...what else? Yes.. I also like to write; presently I am working on my second book which will be a biographical sketch of my late mother ~ Life is all about new challenges, and rising to meet those new challenges, and persevering to the end...I've learned that there are no absolute endings in life...only new beginnings ~ I believe that God put each of us here on this Earth for a specific purpose...not just to drift but to embody the characteristics of hope, peace, love and grace...In the concept of Grace we find all that is good in the world...I think Bono put it best when he said,
"Grace She carries a world on her hips No champagne flute for her lips No twirls or skips Between her fingertipsShe carries a pearl In perfect condition What once was hers What once was friction What left a mark No longer stainsBecause grace makes beauty Out of ugly thingsGrace finds beauty In everythingGrace finds goodness In everything"...It just doesn't get much better than that. Have you found her, Grace? ... In life, you're either moving forward or we're standing still. Don't be caught leaning against a wall!
Finally, I risk pontificating further by adding the following, but the other day I came across a great Shakespeare quote, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name still smells as sweet..." -Romeo & Juliet...II, ii, 1-2. A name -- people always want to know your name. Why don't they want to know what you represent? I mean, your name could be Peace, but you could embody the total antithesis of Peace right? So don't ask someone their name; instead ask them what they stand for, what they represent...but you can call me Vittorio :) it means Victory in Italiano! Vive la France...vive les Etats Unis! Viva l'Italia! Viva Dios!

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