My Personal Journey

My library forums were a lot of fun, as I explored through photos and recollections the multitude of experiences that comprise Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey, i.e. my 21 years of Italian travel. Not sure if I will do any additional forums beside Kingston, Saugerties, and Woodstock, and since only about 40 people actually attended the three lectures, I decided to record the presentation I gave for posterity. So last Friday's show was basically a rehashing of those forums, except that I didn't do the two readings from my book as I had performed. It didn't matter, since my remembrances of most of my highlights were very clear in my mind. I didn't do much planning, since the forum album was prepared long ago, and I had performed it three times already, there wasn't much to do.

Ellen and I were smooth as silk, winging our way through the 60 minutes (plus the 15 minutes or so with sound checks, etc). The only glitch was that I had mental blocks for three things, the name of the northernmost town in Cinque Terre, the first name of the representative from the Five Star Movement, and the name of the owner of the hotel in Orvieto. Absurd !!!! The former I made a big deal about on the show, the second I referred to him as Mr. Martellini, and the third I just didn't focus on the error at all. At the end of the show I referred to the final Cinque Terre Town of Monterosso al Mare, and then as I rode home I remembered the other two. Same deal as always, live show, trying to put extra pressure on myself to remember everything, etc. etc. The usual that by now I have become so accustomed, I hardly think about making a mistake much, so I just carried on flawlessly. So, of course, Andrea Martellini and Gianni popped into myself sans pressure.

Of course if was fun talking about the five people who have had such a wonderful impact on my life of Italian travel, and how I managed to get there so many times. The whole story is quite amazing in retrospect, and worthy of people taking an interest. And so that story is now on Youtube for all to see and hear and perhaps take some kind of inspiration from, even my solo trips during which time my lows were VERY low, but highs very stupendous. I don't ever want people to think that ANY of my trips to Italy were easy ! They all challenging, all anxiety producing, and every one a very meaningful and very personal journey, a significant part of my life. Only my extraordinary determination not to be swayed off the path of my life's dreams and goals gets me through. I would be happy to help others fulfill their dreams as well.

Then I went home, downloaded, uploaded, etc etc. and everything was fine. I even spoke with my computer tech savior, Dan, who made changes in my website for me in his usual efficient and friendly manner. He IS the best !!!!!  My hero. My website, incidentally, now indicates a preview of the next two months of shows, so my viewers and followers can get an idea of what's coming up. Also, the link to Youtube is now to a page which lists the past shows numerically from last to first, so that it is easy to read the names of the actual broadcasts. Also, I will try to have the upcoming shows of all the producers (who are interested) at WPAT submit future events to me for printing in the Woodstock Times on a weekly basis, if they permit. I hope that works out, because many people produce very interesting shows, many of which few people actually know about. I am referring to Thurman Greco's superb interview with our Assistant Town Supervisor, Liam Kahn, and the horrid bullying that occurs in local schools. The interview was quite sweet and wonderful, both Thurman and Liam, clearly amazing people ! So I hope my letters to the editor, known locally in the paper as "Feedback" serves that purpose.