My Napolitana Grandma, Adele Roth–Adela/Adelina Zollo/a Roth, was a firecracker. Pictured left with her two brothers (I think?). Definitely il fratello Louis/Luigi on the right, the famously charismatic and gifted musician I had the privilege of meeting with his partner, Carl, in my early years. She used to make me cry as a child because…
Month: October 2017
Emotional Hygiene
I just used a bidet for the first time. If me saying that reads as TMI (too much information), that proves the point that there are some kinds of hygiene we under-privilege and under-normalize in the United States. In Europe, say the word “bidet” and it’s as if you said “sink” or “shower.” (Image source) Next…
The Things We Carry
My favorite bookstore in childhood was “The Bookery” in a place called Placerville, California (Pictured above, source and source) Every day-after-Christmas from the ages of 0 through 9, my dad and uncle (and sometimes my mom) would take me there. We would spend hours. And I would spend all of my holiday gift money on stacks and…
A Love that Blinds / An Ode to Home
I’m sitting in a loft on the edge of Piazza Amadeo in the early morning hours. The twenty-four hour clock on my phone reads 06:07. A rhythmic creak of a bed frame next-door accompanies the whirl of the street cleaners out my window. Here I am in Napoli, Italia. In a city that is truly…
Dynamic Duos
Let’s talk about a different 45. The almost-45 years that my parents have been together. No, they never thought they’d be a trio with me in the mix–what brought them together like magnets was music. They lived for music and their spiritual quests in tandem. When I was on a 9+ hour flight a day…
Excerpts
It all happened alongside a beach bonfire. I had recently come back to town–Santa Cruz, California that is, and some creative, inspiring, interesting folk I used to know invited me to the beach. There’s something about bonfires. They’re old world. People throughout history have gathered around flames to warm themselves and share stories. They’re a different…
Normalizing Character Development
One of the problems with Harvey Weinstein and the myth of binaries is that we’re let off the hook. If there are only 1% of “bad” people, and all the rest of us are “good,” the world of injustice continues without a hitch. A few seconds ago, I typed “Me too” into my Facebook status–acknowledging…
hannah mello 