donatello

I read it as a child and was very much moved by it. Anne Frank famously said, "I still believe that most people are good at heart." Astounding faith in humanity. Maybe someday I will have such faith, but I'm not so sure. I live in Poland, and have had to drive past Auschwitz many times. The place just looks sinister, with its spooky iron gate still bearing the lie "Arbeit Macht Frei". When I speak with the locals about their time under the Nazis, my blood runs cold. It's eye-opening to be able to speak the local language with the people who live around Auschwitz. I once picked up an old man hitchhiking on the road outside of Auschwitz, and he told me stories that brought tears to my eyes. Scenes he personally witnessed. His father had tried to save some potatoes for his family to eat, the Nazis found the potatoes, and the terrified children gasped as they watched a Nazi officer beat their struggling father nearly to death. The man I picked up hitchhiking was one of those children. My father-in-law actually worked for the Wermacht in the kitchen as a young boy. They had him peeling potatoes. Luckily for him he was blonde haired and blue-eyed, so he did not get sent to Aushwitz. He was a "Nordic Type" for them, and so he lived. Still, they called the Polish kids in the kitchen "Kindershwein" (swine-kids). To this day, he cannot stand the sound of the German language. Ironically enough, we just found out that he is actually ethnically a German, thanks to some genetic testing my wife did as a result of her cancer.

I almost never do it, but potato chips (crisps) with a tuna sandwich. Other than that, I do not keep them in the house. The worst, is that I taught my kids how I learned to eat them in the USA as a schoolboy. We would actually put them inside the tuna sandwich between the tuna and the roll... The worst thing I have ever seen is an absolutely appalling habit that I first saw after moving to Central Europe... The worst imaginable We vacation in the Mazurian Lakes region every summer, and we often cook for family members up there. I am half-Italian, and have learned how to prepare traditional Italian cuisine. I have been cooking since my childhood. I wanted to teach my wife's family members how to make a proper pizza. So one summer we packed plenty of real imported Italian flour (It has to be Durhum Semolina), Italian Olive Oil (Extra Virgine), etc. I spared no expense nor took any shortcuts in preparing what I had hoped would be the best pizza of their lives. Finally it came out of the oven, and without even tasting it, one of my wife's cousins put ketchup all over his first slice. I am sure that the modern translation of Dante Alighieri's famous quote is thus: "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who put ketchup on pizza" Another fraso of Dante's came to mind... Oh creature sciocche quanta ignoranza

I do not need to learn this from book or film. I can only watch the actions of my brother-in-law and learn everything there is to know on the subject. I am certain that he suffers from Aspberger's.

I play the guitar. I played it as a teenager, and had not touched one for years. Then some friends came over with their young son and he asked me if I had a guitar... I did, and promptly retrieved it from the attic. I thought it was great! So I went out and bought a nylon-strung classical guitar and began playing again... but this time, no more rock & roll or Led Zeppelin... just classical, baroque and Spanish guitar. I would show you my videos on Youtube but am not allowed to post links. I am currently perfecting Isaac Albeniz's "Asturias (Leyenda)". Look it up on Youtube. I am also working on the more difficult (for me) "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" by the great Francisco Tarrega. I just picked up a neat and very simple classical piece by the "Brazilian Bach", Heitor Villa Lobos. He wrote it (Etude No. 1) for Andres Segovia as a kind of classical "study", but it sounds really cool and is quite simple to master. I also play electric bass, used to play Italian mandolin and of course a bit of violin. I attended a music college as a teenager and so was also compelled to learn the piano. The furthest I ever got with the piano was Mozarts "Rondo Alla Turco" (Turkish March). I probably couldn't play it today if I had to.

I have just found this forum and currently live in Warsaw, Poland. I am not Polish, but an American and my native language is English. It has been somewhat difficult to find good, rich sources of English Language books that I would like to read. Recently, on a business trip to Singapore, I wandered into the greatest bookstore on Earth. It was called Kinokunaya, and is run by a Japanese concern. I have never seen a better stocked, nor larger bookstore anywhere on Earth. Best of all, it was almost all in English! I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Here's a link to their site. If you are ever in Singapore, it's a MUST SEE! (The website is nothing special though... )