What challenges and/or issues do you face as a youth living in Vaughan?



What solutions can you and/or youth offer to overcome them?



How can the Vaughan Youth Cabinet show support?

I travelled to Egypt for the first time this past week (Feb 28 - Mar 05) for two conferences, at the biblioteca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt.

The following list was written on the plane ride from Cairo to London, on the way back to Toronto. Here are some lessons learned:


Experiences, Insights & Lessons Learned

Don’t expect others to react to a situation in the same way that you would. ‘They are not you’

Make things happen for yourself – knowing when to act on impulse and inspiration

Changing conditions of environment to stimulate creativity, reduce stress, learn

Creating your own opportunities for learning

Importance of a nutritional breakfast to last over a long day

Meeting with ‘celebrity’ figures (i.e. nephew of President of Libya)

Bazaar hotel experience (sweets)

Extreme living conditions (riches and poverty)

Managing time and prioritizing constantly

Music as a form of relaxation in awkward or demanding moments

Willingness to take adventures (riding a horse & camel in the desert)

Enjoying Egyptian food, Sheesha, mint tea, strawberry juice, Celep (drink), Belly dancing

Expanding vocabulary in Arabic (10 words)!

London Airport – enjoying the lounge, massive shopping mall, LONG walk between terminals

Touching the Mediterranean Sea

Aggressive negotiations when shopping

Receiving many gifts and words of affection

Poolside view of the pyramids in Cairo

Feeling like the ‘exhibit’/celebrity at historical sites (school groups)

Utilizing eye contact and body language as a major form of communication in order to overcome language barriers

Knowing when to let go of worry, doubt and uncertainty

Utilizing your powers

Law of attraction – wishing for something and having it manifest itself

In Sh’Allah – trusting in powers beyond yourself, call to prayer as an invitation to give thanks

How different people react to crisis

Understanding boundaries and

Choosing your moments to speak up and voice opinions (Arab Youth Forum)

Having patience for success

Making the most time out of limited time

Breathing deeply to center self

Mind over Matter - How to sustain yourself on less than 3 hours of sleep and little time to eat

Overcoming jet lag by convincing yourself that you have already adjusted

Performing at your personal best and letting go of excuses

'Winging it' rather than fearing it - when you aren’t able to fully prepare yourself

Go with the FLOW

Don’t let past fears hinder or direct your current actions

Don’t argue just to be right – seek to understand more than to be understood

Remember that you are not alone – appointed

Balancing act of multiple roles

Avoid depending on a single source of strength

Laugher and humour as a way to manage anxieties and build friendship across cultures

Facing your fears

Don’t dwell on the past – reflect, analyze, learn and move forward

Value of documentation and capturing experiences in order to remember and preserve sacred moments and experiences

Focus on what you CAN control – which is how you react and respond to your circumstances

I don't know where to begin.

It's been ages.

Well, almost a year, since I've posted.

I really don't know if I have the energy to go through everything that has happened in one year, as it is currently 2 am, but I'll give it my best shot.


Vittoria La Neve is now:

.23 years & 10 months old
.A University GRADUATE!
.a single woman
.still
.i guess this is a good thing
.still indecisive :P
.an accomplished business woman and piano teacher!
.a York University Full-Time Staff Employee!! (For Summer)
.a future University of Western Ontario, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, STUDENT! (Starting in Sept...)
.(still) a TIG volunteer :)
.the chair and executive director of the VyC (Vaughan Youth Cabinet)
.somewhat of a 'regular' on OMNI italian news haha :P
.a girl who is learning about wisdom development
.an individual who is in search of answers
.a person who is learning so much about herself and her life at the speed of light that it scares her
.a woman who is trying to count her blessings on a weekly basis
.in love with cranberry juice
.in search of welch's grape juice (apparently it has no sugar!?)
.a fan of the italian soccer team now that they won lol
.a fan of cannavaro & toni` (something about those boys and light eyes, i tell you)
.a motorist who still has stayed true to not distracting other drivers by placing any or 5 million italian flags on her car :-D
.missing italy
.thinking about the future
.not on summer vacation
.able to carry a conversation with anyone, at any time, on any subject, because she is amazing at reading people
.looking for love
.tired of lust
.interested in direction
.interested in knowledge
.interested in living life...

alla prossima. ci sentiamo...

-V

So I turned 23 on Monday.

...

Where to begin?

...

I started the day by receiving a phone call at 3:30 in the morning from my sister (love hearing the phone and having a heart attack that early in the morning) and received phone calls throughout the day.

...

Had my first full day of classes at York and wasn't quite sure what exactly I was doing in any of them, as the weather outside was a high of 29!!!!!!

This year/semester I'm taking 3 courses:

1. Full year = Dante Aleghieri Course ...in italian... and we will be reading the Divine Comedy (in italian), complete two major essays and an exam. So basically sink or swim. It's quite ironic that we're starting with the INFERNO, 'cause I found myself feeling as thought I was living in hell already when I read the course outline...

2. Half = New Media Forms-The Datacase ...in computer language... aka PHP! Yes, all you techie TakingITGlobal people should offer your free tutoring advice to me this semester, as I have no clue what I'm doing already... (1st day experience: "please re-type what you see on the main screen in BBEdit..." ... "uh Sir, my computer only shows two words once I type out all that info... omg, you mean to tell me that we have to code all that stuff just for two words to appear!!?") fun times.

3. Half = Interactive Installation & Performance (this was my Tuesday class) ...in computer language hehe.. AKA MAX/MSP (?) and Jitter... um, basically some type of software that allows you to manipulate sounds and midi I think (and if that means the same thing, forgive me :-P).

ya, this course scares me a bit.

I jus wanted to make a website this year. lol :-S

...

I didn't make a big deal of my bday this year for the simple fact that it landed on a Monday and for a number of other reasons lol.

Though I did appreciate the phone calls and msgs.

Actually, I was surprised by the number of singing msgs I received too! You guys have a lot of hidden talent!

...

It was understood that whoever saw my MSN name all weekend (Milestones 8:29 Mon we're drinking like it's 1982) made the effort to come out Monday night to celebrate. Some even saw the name and didn't come and some who don't even use MSN and called and asked and came. Made me jus realize a lot of stuff about the human condition , how people forget , how they remember, how you don't expect and they surprise you good and bad, ..effort, ..chivilry and jus plain human interaction in general u know? Yea, def somethin I hadn't experienced or witnessed in a while.

and miss.

...

It was nice to see familiar faces that had become, well, not so familiar throughout the summer because of .. well, busy lives.

At Milestones I enjoyed a watermelon martini, sipped a bit of a bellini and ate my FAV appetizer (goat cheese with the cranberry thing on the side and the pita bread mmm), opened some gifts, had a few laughs and then we all went on our merry way.

...

the rest of the week has been hectic, haven't been on msn, have been in meetings, adjusting to UNI life, figurin out life, trying to put ME first and as always looking towards the future. hehe and tryin to be hopeful about it in the process ;-)

Lots can happen in a year.
...
sept 06 will be here before you know it!
...
Time will tell.

...

and now, the time has come, for me to go on my way....

enjoy your day!

Hey y'all.

So I checked out the Launch Party of the Toronto Independant Music Awards last night and it was great! I do not consider myself a 'rock' person, but I do love music and so watching the different bands at this event was really fun and made me realize there is so much talent out there! I liked 'TallyHall' group from Michigan in particular... they're presentation and clothin uniform was quite unique! They remined me a bit of the 'Killers' band.

It was great to run into some familiar faces and visit some of the different booths (yay TIG!) that were affilited with the Pandemonium Project aka the org that put this together. Big coodos (spelling?) to Daniela Oliva for putting the whole event together!

Two thumbs up!

~V

CLICK HERE

STUDENTS... YOU ROCKED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


SO SO PROUD OF YOU!


1ST ANNUAL RECITAL AT CITY PLAYHOUSE IN THORNHILL... IN ASSOCIATION WITH A STROKE OF ART INSPIRATIONAL ART STUDIO VISIT WEBSITE! .

PICTURES COMING SOON!!!

vyc poster. voila.

this is the poster for the charity bbq.

Hi. It's June 5th already. Time flies when you're working for free... (I'll explain in a minute)

So where do I begin? Let's start with April 30th:

I finished exams, my work/study contract with LSP (Learning Skills Program) at York and my bronchitis were both coming to an end and it was time to get focused for summer (4 months too long when you don't have an income) break.

Naturally, when LSP called me to do Data Entry for one week at the beginning of May, I went. After that, I became more involved with the City of Vaughan's Youth Strategy Task Force initiative. Which, to make a long story even longer means that I volunteered my time to raise awareness about youth in Vaughan, their needs, creating a new cabinet and proposing the idea of a new Youth Councillor (to our City's Councillors --and other youth at the Deputation on May 16th). While creating posters and liasing with youth and business members in my community for that initiative, I sat on another committee (the Children's Miracle Network Campaign) for a local TD Canada Trust Branch. This committee wanted to put on a Charity BBQ Fundraiser, with all proceeds going towards the Children's Miracle Network, an organization that supports children's hospitals. Needless to say, I think there was a rumor going around that Vittoria loves to work for free (or is really good at helping out in challenging times ;) ) because I ended up being the print media artist (created posters/flyers etc), communication coordinator (contact media/members of council), had my piano students perform at the event (they were so cute!) and performed myself!

That charity event happened yesterday...luckily the rain stopped by 11 a.m and the turnout was great! I ended up playing a keyboard number with the Jazz Band (without a rehersal!!!!!!!!!) and accompanying a gentleman who insisted I play while he sang a Sinatra tune, using my Karaoke Machine Microphone!! Yes, LOVE to work under pressure... ;)


and now it's sunday june 5th, 20 minutes to midnight.
I watched Napolean Dynamite tonight, and it had no point, but totally hilarious which was exactly what I needed.
...
..
.
I apologize if this update is grammatically incorrect or sucks at punctuation, but seeing how my brain is not working anymore, clearly i don't care what you think of my english writing skills (that's a lie, i do care, seeing how i aspire to be an elementary school teacher, but too tired to edit this at the moment lol).

Thank you and have a great evening.


OH! HOW COULD I FORGET! I met Tiziano Ferro IN PERSON, Friday night and an Autograph Signing and watched him live in concert (Love those free concerts at Wonderland!) along with Alexia last night after the Charity Bbq... they're awesome performers, Alexia reminded me of the Italian Version of Mariah Carey with those Soprano notes she was hitting! Tiziano, clearly a showman and knew how to gain the applause from the audience! I couldn't believe how many people showed up to watch them (and Riccardo Foglia..). Definetly a great show overall (and Carlo Coppola performed too!).

ok bed time for real now. CIAO

V

soooo
it's been a while.

How are ya?

April has been quite entertaining for me to say the least. Where have I been? Mainly, homebound, with quite a number of illnesses! I have never (at least I don't think), remember a time where I was continually sick for 8 weeks (Mar 4 05 was the first time I went to the walk in clinic!). What did I have? Well, it started with Bronchitis...then strep throat...fever...sinus infection...and last week was told I have asthma. Oh ya, and somewhere in these past two months let's not forget all the final projects and stuff due for school..and that my mom was in the hospital at one point too. Good times!--not--. Luckily, I was able to get last week's final exam postponed. Let's just say I'm looking forward to finishing up with my last exam this Thursday so that I can move on with my life senza esame AND the ability to breath through my nostrils and lungs again in a healthy manner!

On a lighter note...
All this being sick nonsense has made me realize that it's time for a vacation! However, due to the lack of funds at the moment that will have to wait. Dream destination? A beach and warm weather. Maybe Mediterrean Sea? Maybe Wasaga beach. lol

At this point, though, my action plan is to get this week over with (exam), go out and celebrate this weekend (on a tight budget of course! lol) and then go into power mode... aka job hunt and/or advertise for piano students.

Or .. just take a few weeks to breath :)

Ok. My apologies for the not so fun update. I'll work on having more fun in my life so that the next post will be more entertaining ;)

Be well!

~V

Find Vittoria La Neve, click where it says "FLUID 2" in A3 column.

http://www.yorku.ca/facs-mm/sw/tradlab3930.php?coursenum=FACS3930&acadyear=W05&lab=3

If none of the videos, sounds or images appear, don't tell me.

lol
IT'S DONE.

Finished putting this game together last night...

This assignment 2 (A2) is for my Screen Based Fluid Interfaces course (i like to call it my multimedia/director class!)...

See if you can click more then 35 icons in 60 seconds!!

Want to play?

Visit the LAB 3 STUDENT WORK PAGE, find my name (VITTORIA L) and click where it reads "PLAY WITH ME?" in the "A2" column. You can skip reading the description on the next page, by just clicking on the gif image that reads: Beat the clock! Good luck!

From August '04..
Mel just sent it to me!

From left to right:
Emma,(Back)Marisa,(Front)Melissa, Me!