Freedom for Rossella Urru

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Freedom for Rossella Urru

La cooperante italiana è da quattro mesi nelle mani dei suoi rapitori

Rossella Urru is a 29-year-old woman from Sardinia, Italy. On the evening of  22 – 23 October 2011, she was kidnapped (along with two colleagues) in Algeria. She was working for the company International Committee for the Development of Peoples (CISP).

She has been held hostage for 128 days, 18 weeks, 3072 hours, 184,320 minutes and 11,059,200 seconds. (Recorded on February 27, 2012)

There is a wonderful Italian blog dedicated to Rossella Urru, where you can leave/read letters of support, up-to-date recent press releases and poems written for Rossella by family, friends and strangers.

The blog is a meeting point for the immediate liberation of Rossella Urru.

It is time to bring Rossella Urru home.

Two Hours in the Mountains | Sardinia, Italy

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She walked beside me and jabbered on. Her broken, high-pitched accent threw me for a loop. At first glance, she seemed so Sardinian, but as she talked that speculation evaporated. She told me that my spoken Italian is not the greatest, we laughed. She said “nor is mine.” We laughed again.

She moved to Sardinia sixteen years ago and brought with her half of her home village from Romania. Her energy spun around the warm air as she explained the sylvatic goodness of Sardinia’s wild roots and I found myself basking in the newfound education.

We hiked two kilometers together through the beautiful Sardinian wilderness, before she turned around and headed back to town, back to work.

We said our piacere’s and parted ways. I continued on the voyage.

What did you do today?

Carrasciali Trinitaiesu | Carnevale Trinita 2012

Gallery

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This gallery contains 7 photos.

Last night marked the end of Carnival. The crowds came out in numbers to watch the floats and dancers go by. The atmosphere hung steams of happiness and moments of crisis’ momentarily forgotten. Carrasciali Trinitaiesu Devils, hippies and fairies oh … Continue reading →

The Rule of Thirds | Understanding Photography

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Photography has been a hobby for some years and I’ll be the first to admit that I know nothing of this snappy profession. What I do know is that I love to take pictures, of anything, and everything.

A few days ago I went shutter happy on some beautiful cows and calf’s in the hilly mountains of Sardinia, Italy. I then asked for some advice.

Michele over at Our Italian Table offered me the best advice a beginner could ask for!

The Rule of Thirds – A Beginners Guide

  • When you look through the viewfinder, or the LCD display on the back of your digital camera; imagine a perfect tic-tac-toe board displayed. (Most digital cameras have a grid setting which will display the grid automatically for you … hey, I found mine, you can to.)
  • The first horizontal line, at the top is the Eye Line. This is where you put your subject’s eye, line.
  • The second horizontal line, at the bottom is the Horizon Line. This is where you want to level your horizon.
  • You can play with the horizon on both horizontal lines, it all depends on what type of photography you wish for the final picture.
  • A high horizon line creates depth in the photo.
  • A low horizon line helps eliminate boring foregrounds.

Rule of thumb

The experts agree, if you want a dynamite photograph that pops out from the page, or a photo that expresses justly a moment in time – then do not center your subject in the middle of your grid.

By centering the subject in the middle of the grid, you are creating a static photo. A static photo has no depth, movement or flow. A static photo is boring, and who wants boring? I don’t.

Remember …

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Video – My Sardinian Mom the Artista

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My Sardinian Mom is my husbands second cousin, her passion is paint and colour. Her house is a museum of beautiful colourful paintings, each one over the years hung on every wall space available.

She paints landscapes, women and children, fruit and vegetables. She paints on glass, canvas, leather and cotton. Her art is fantastic and truly Sardinian.

Her name is Maria Caterina Satta. She is an extremely humble person who has painted for over sixty years. In the last two years she has finally opened her art for the world to see.

Art critic Andrea Diprè and his team flew to Sardinia late last year to film a fifteen minute segment for his popular show on Italian TV.

Check it out for yourself.

The YouTube clip is in Italian. But you get to see her art!

What do you think?

Tag You’re It

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My Sardinian Life has been tagged!

A big thank you to Prettierinpink for the nod in my direction. It`s always appreciated.

On-line blogging games can be time-consuming, annoying, joyous, fun and can increase traffic to your blog.

My job in these last few years months has been blogging. I`ve learned a lot, and for me, one of the most important factors in blogging and or writing is feedback. Most of us write in the virtual world to get seen, heard, liked and respected. We all want that fifteen seconds of fame, right? Even if it`s fleeting.

With pleasure I pass this wonderful childs game on, but a few rules first …

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Roadside Finds in Sardinia, Italy

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I went on a little winter walk this morning, just around town. It was a very cold, sunny morning but I had to get out to shake the winter away.

I found the following sign on the road side, well after I had stepped onto its cold pavement.

What do you think?

Ladies Skull | A Photo

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The other day, a little
lady bug
came out to play
she stuck around
not touching ground
till she found
the skull

The $4 Million Dollar Question | Amanda Knox – Her Side

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Amanda Knox. The American college girl who had dreams of the beautiful life in Italy. She’s maintained her silence, has been portrayed as a she-devil by a prosecutors and labeled loose by the Italian and British media. American media show Knox as the innocent girl who went abroad, for which unforseen circumstances happened.

She spent four years in Italian prison for the murder of British beauty Meredith Kercher.

Knox’s sentence was overturned in October 2011. She returned to her hometown of Seattle with open arms and fanfare. She’s kept her silence until now.

HarperCollins has paid Knox $4 million dollars to tell her tale of events.

Knox has sold her story! $4 million!

Is this amount just in todays economic crisis? What about the still grieving family of Meredith Kercher? What about the Kercher’s legal bills? Has a publishing house offered them millions of dollars to sell their story of a girl denied the right to live?

Knox’s family have upwards of $1 million in legal fees still to pay.

$3 million in the bank, sick.

Sometimes we forget the innocent who’ve fallen when sensational stories make the headlines.

Let us not forget Meredith Kercher, who was brutally taken while living the dream in Italy.

Are you an expat in Italy and have followed this story? Do you think Amanda Knox should still be behind bars? What really happened on that fateful night, and how much does Amanda really know? Is this another case of justice being un-just?

I’d love to hear your opinions.

Will you be reading the new Amanda Knox book?