October 26th, 2009

Monday October 26th

I believe I left off with Thursday’s concert and my illness. Things looked up from then on.

Saturday I had lunch with the Coen Brothers and Frances McDormand. They were here for the Rome film festival and their distributor Focus Features knows the academy's cook Mona —ahhh the way to everything must be through food (at least in Rome). So there they were and Marty so nicely and unexpectedly invited me to sit at the table.

I am telling Ethan about the film I am shooting with my 20 year old Beaulieu and he keeps asking are the Fellows actors? Frances is getting in baby time, picking up the gorgeous 4 month old Caroline who starred in my film as MS’s new daughter while Joel talks about his mother being a professor at u of Minnesota in art history and his dad at the same university in economics. I comment that the two sons followed in a way; he demurred, saying— in such a different field. True enough. For the record their mom joined a feminist class action suit in the 70s, won and spent her winnings redecorating the living room! We had a laugh about that. They live and work pre and post production out of NYC and Joel commented that Rome of all of European cities feels the most NY to him.

To me, Rome also feels like San Francisco with the hills and secret staircases I keep discovering. I traveled up and down on some of them Friday when I had to go to a notary. The office was Kafkaesque—notaries here are like lawyers —with bad art on the wall, on his desk a bronze statue of a young girl (14?) jumping rope, her sheer (bronze) top with nipples and budding breasts quite prominent. The guy himself a politely dressed bureaucrat, he sees me for a minute and then the secretary comes in and out and charges 50 euro (that’s $75 us dollars for a signature and pressure seal!) They wanted to see my passport too. So much for Italian bureaucracy. I got off easy. Next week I go to be fingerprinted for my permesso di soggiorno—permission to stay the year. I’m looking forward to seeing the inside of the police station.

Sat night I have my first motorino ride ! with my friend Lauren Sunstein who gives me wine and dinner at her house. Turns out her mom wrote a book on Mary Wollstonecraft and another on Mary Shelley. Am reading the first while LS tries to get the other back from a friend. A fun night in a Roman apartment. Looking forward to going to the movies with L and attending one of her parties, and shocked again at the charmed interrelations that keep happening here.

Sunday was quiet, yoga, walk to the bio market on via giula, naps to cure my cold and great communal cooking in the evening. I did al dente green beans with a light tomato sauce (fresh of course).

And today see/saw the 11 rolls we shot last week: they are gorgeous. I am going to have to edit them some before moving on to more large scale shooting. They are so gorgeous I fear them: how to interrupt the gorgeousness? Sound will be part of it? And the text…..Its a nice challenge.

Even as we plan a trip to Jerusalem, Cairo and the pyramids for February when its cold and rainy here. I am pinching myself again. 71F in the day all week here.Wish you were here?
which leads to: Hey folks--is anybody reading this? please comment if you are. for now
Baci,
Abby