Fanart, Fanfiction and Fangirling

I did manage to go on holiday: in the end I went to Pesaro, in central Italy. From there I visited Urbino and Frasassi's Caves, plus I spent three lovely days on the beach doing nothing. Well, that's not true, I finally read Neil Gaiman's "Trigger Warning", which I bought last year in Edinburgh and hadn't read yet. He's definitely one of my favourite authors.

I ate a lot (oh, how I love hotel breakfasts), walked a lot and relaxed. I also realised that, for the third year in a row, I visited UNESCO World Heritage Sites totally by chance. This could become my own personal tradition: visiting a new UNESCO site each year. It shouldn't be too difficult, given the amount of sites in Italy alone.

I also had some time to draw and write! I was inspired by the lovely DTIYS by MartinaH. over on Instagram. First I drew some fanart, then I wrote a short ficlet to go with it. They're both posted on AO3.

Anyway. Holidays are over, I've been back at work for a week. Thankfully things are still quiet, as most offices are still closed for summer holidays. We'll see how things go in the next couple of weeks.

When we finally think the world will stop making fun of us because of our Prime Minister, THIS happens:





*headdesk multiple times*

I'm sorry to say this, because it was a tragedy and people died, but really? Did the captain really think he could get away with such a ridiculous excuse? He deserves all the mocking he's getting.

Guess what was the first piece of news on the BBC News website 5 minutes ago?



Of all the things he did, he might go on trial for that? And I say "might" because, knowing him, he'll think of something to avoid going to court. What a laughable country.

schwimmerin! flaschengeist! I got your cards today! :D

Jenny: your card is adorable, both the illustration and what you wrote, I had a :3 face the whole time I was reading it. <3

Maike: the card is hilarious! Poor Santa, is he allowed to bring liquids on board? XD And the fic was fantastic, especially Lestrade's comment at the end. XD

To anyone who asked for a Christmas card: please let me know when you get yours, so I know it didn't get lost.

I've had a hell of a cough for the last 3 days, I can barely talk. But there's some good news too: today I was told that, starting from January, I'll get paid for my articles! It's just a small reimbursement, but it's still better than nothing at all.

In other news:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11992034

Photoshop crashed (twice!) while I was trying to save the pic after resizing it. Photoshop must be a filthy communist...

If you're still wondering why I sometimes feel ashamed of being Italian and why I've been thinking of moving abroad:

Something rotten in state of Italy

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk

And the post I wrote on the subject in my Italian blog: Osteria Italia.

In short: yesterday Prodi (the current-almost-former Prime Minister) lost the vote of confidence at the Senate and all hell broke loose: a senator fainted, some were insulting each others and some were even drinking champagne to celebrate the fall of the Government.

Why can't Italy be a normal country? We've got so much potential, with tourism and art and fashion and design, why do our politicians have to ruin everything?