October 6, 2011
Computers aren’t big here. Nor is the internet.
Email is seen as a nuisance, and you will rarely get a response from a Sicilian when you send one. (“I don’t check my email,” they explain.)
There’s only one small internet “point” in the village, and one pizzeria with semi-functioning wireless.
People do not bring their laptops to cafes.
Except me.
“Ah,” exclaim people I meet for the first time. “I know you! You’re the Lady with the Computer.”
The Lady with the Computer
Yes, my Apple and I are inseparable. Thank you, Steve Jobs. You helped this Luddite embrace the computer age, and for that I was always a little in love with you.
Ah Jann, I think my husband would fit right in. He refuses to use a laptop and thinks email is a stupid way to communicate. Very impersonal he says. Then again he is from a small mountain town in Tyrol Austria. Sad to admit he now lives in North Carolina. Anyway, I love the pink Mac and the matching scooter, how did you manage that!
🙂 Yes Lauren, your lo-tech husband would love it here! How did I manage the pink-on-pink? I borrowed the scooter when I saw it parked on the street, and pulled out my laptop! Thanks for your comment!
I can’t help but wonder if your portabanana matches the scooter and Mac.
Well, now, that’s a very cool idea. Riding around on the pink scooter with a pink laptop in one arm, talking on a pink telefonino, with a pink porta banana over a shoulder. Must try someday!
I love Google. eg car radio theft in italy. the Rough Guide to Italy. “never leave anything visible in the car when your not using it, including the radio. if your taking your own vehicle, consider installing a detachable radio.”
Oh, Dennis, now I kinda remember–people carrying in their car radios. Gotcha! 🙂
Still true about never leaving anything visible in your car in Sicily! And thank God the radios are now built in.
I wish I could be in Sicily so I could say without guilt, “I don’t check my email.” But I do appreciate some things about the internet: your blog for sure!
Aw, shucks, Margo. Tante grazie!
A very cool picture of you! I love that colour! My ex-husband was a fan of Jobs too, and he left me a wonderful huge-screen computer, that I’m still using…once you use Ma, you never go back!
MAC, of course…
Of course we know what you meant! Pina, every time you leave a comment I get nostalgic for Calabria!
Hi Jann
A vote for staging photos. The purple and turquoise would not have pulled it off.
Remember the days, before anti-theft radios. People carried radios to bars instead of laptops.
Well, Dennis–maybe that was a Washington State phenomenon??? I don’t remember people carrying radios to bars..
You look wonderful with your vespa and the computer…so lovely color…May Steve rest in peace…! I’m sad that he passed away so early…He will be one of those timeless people…!
Yes, a timeless person, indeed.
Jann, Your innovative photo here rivals great Apple advertising. Wouldn’t be surprised if Apple’s marketing department stole it. I owe my entire career/business in desktop publishing/marketing and business consulting to Apple, since 1985. But despite Steve Job’s genius, as far as I know, the company has never spent a dime on charitable contributions and, let’s get real, its products have not addressed or solved any of the world’s primary issues of hunger, equitable distribution, resource regeneration, justice, human rights, etc…. it’s just made it easier for those of us in the Top 5% to communicate with each other more easily. Apple is now the wealthiest company on the planet (thanks to all of our devotion to expensive, groovy electronic products)and there are NGOs, like Charity Water that could provide safe drinking water to the 2 billion people on the planet without access to it for about 2 billion dollars. Maybe now that Steve’s gone (R.I.P.), Apple might spend a small portion of its mega profits on something that will really change the planet? Sorry if this post is kind of a bummer, but I’m tired of the canonizing. Love the photo, bella!
Glad you like the photo!
Can you cite any sources for this? I know that Apple is not the wealthiest company on the planet–according to my sources it’s 47th on the list after a bunch of banks, Wal Mart, oil companies, AT&T, etc etc…. (I think it’s the richest TECH company).
Also, I’ve read that Steve Jobs may have made huge anonymous charitable contributions (many people believe that’s a better way to contribute than doing it publicly)…. and recently, at least, it seems Apple has giving to charity…and who knows what they may do in the future…
Hi Jann,
Great shot and I love the colour! Very sad thinking about Steve.
John
Fanboy in mourning…
Ah, John–I know you’re a major Fanboy of Steve’s, as is mio marito. Sigh.
Love your site. I was born in Palazzolo Acreide and left when I was six. Returned for the first time 48 years later. Visited Ragusa and loved the place. Stumbled onto your site and am a keen follower. I tell everyone that you are living my life. Keep it up. Thanks to apple and Jobs for making it possible for this to happen in such an elegant way.
Hi Rosario–I’m delighted to hear from you!!! I love my little Ragusa Ibla, but my alternate villages would be your birthplace, Palazzolo (it has the best summer festas ever and is so lovely & quaint) or your namesake, teeny-tiny Buscemi–a precious, sleepy little gem–just across the hill from Palazzolo. Thanks so much for reading & commenting.
———-Jann,
Brilliant, Priceless Photo :))
Your readers are thrilled that you have your pretty pink computer…believe me. and that bike is FABulous. X
RIP Mr. Jobs.
Thanks, Kim! (Wish the bike were mine, too!)
Yes, it is sad about Steve Jobs. Let it also be remembered that Jobs was his adopted name, that his real name is Steve Jandali, his father Abdulfattah John Jandali, a Syrian. His biological sister, also adopted, is Mona Jandali,now known as the American novelist Mona Simpson, a professsor of English at UCLA. Only in America, as they say.
Ciao Henry–thanks for this comment! I just read this in the NY Times–so interesting… Sad, though, that he apparently remained pretty estranged from his biological father. Yes, the mix of nationalities is a classic American story.
Hate to burst your bubbles ladies, but let it be known that Jobs had a child out of wedlock with his high school or college sweetheart, denied it for forever, long after he made zillions and only paid child support when it came out that the mother of his child was on welfare. He did good but was kinda dickish too…. Just sayin’
I know niente about his personal life, Wayne, but I do know that what he achieved professionally was AMAZING!
Jann, this shot is fantastic! I love the matching Vespa and Mac cover! I had to smile at you being called, “The lady with the computer”! I believe this not only distinguishes you, it gives you a bit of celebrity status. hee hee!
“Celebrity” status–not so sure, Bella. More like “weirdo” status.
The matching scooter/laptop is so Italian! I love it! When we moved here to Seattle from Sicily, I was shocked to see the coffee shops filled with people on laptops. It was so very strange compared to what I was used to. I still don’t have a laptop, but I do enjoy having the internet on my phone! Rest in peace, Steve Jobs. I’m happy that we have the technology to connect with far away friends and follow the adventures of a total stranger living in a land I miss dearly!
Yes, Americans use cafes as offices, while Italians use them as places for conversation, so it’s really different. Thanks for following this “total stranger” Amy, and I know that Sicily misses you dearly too.
This is totally Apple Chic! And so Sicily. Me too, I love Apple, loved them since I got my first mac plus in 1989, loved it when Steve came back. A genius, he was, and his legacy lives on. Can’t claim it for my own, but on twitter yesterday I saw this, among all the RIPs for him. Just one word that says it all— iSAD. Susan
Thanks for commenting, Susan–love that: iSAD.
DITTO—–I feel connected to Steve Jobs with my MAC, and morn his passing like he was a good friend.
Great Shot! Did you photo shop that color? Fabulous.
BACI-Christine
Wow, Christine! It didn’t take you long to fall in love with Apple! No photoshop involved here. The pink-purple thing is a cover you can buy for the Airbook.
From one lady with a computer to another…love your comments and I love Steve and Apple too. He made it possible to do what I do and connect with special people like you and visit a place I wish to be everyday! But, I have to know… is that you on the purple vespa, holding a purple iMac? Complimenti! 😉
Yup, that’s me with my pinkish-purple Mac, though it’s a “borrowed” Vespa.. It’s so nice we Italy-obsessed computer ladies stick together!