Ciao Readers! And Happy Birthday Mom!

As some of you may remember (and others of you may have heard about from us elders), when I was a kid there was a very popular t.v. show called “Happy Days”  featuring “The Fonz” (or “Fonzie” to his friends).  To my 9 year-old self, the super cool Fonzie was all that and a bag of chips – I actually wanted to be The Fonz, mini jeans jacket and all (not leather at age 9).  So it is with a sad heart that I acknowledge that The Fonz is the unwitting father of the phrase “jumps the shark,” which Wikipedia defines as “indicating the moment when a brand, design, or creative effort’s evolution loses the essential qualities that initially defined its success and declines, ultimately, into irrelevance.”  Just in case you don’t know the actual genesis of the phrase, in an episode in 1977, The Fonz literally jumped a shark (on water-skis).  D’oh!

Which brings us to my blog.  I think we’ve had a good run, yes?  But now I feel like it’s time to end it, before it “devolves into irrelevance,” or “jumps the shark” as the saying goes.  I have actually downloaded a ton more pictures and have drafted several more posts, but they just don’t have the same enthusiastic tone as in the past (whether that be enthusiasm for delicious food or for complaining about lines at the post).  So, instead of forcing out more blog posts at this point, I think I’ll take a lesson from yet another t.v. character, George Costanza, and walk out on a high note.

I thank you, sincerely, dear Readers, for coming with me on this journey over the past year.  I have appreciated your comments, warm wishes, advice and thoughts, and I have enjoyed discovering many of your respective blogs (and getting to meet some of you in person!).  If you’d like to keep in touch and don’t already have my e-mail, post a comment and I’ll send you my e-mail (I can see your e-mail address when I get your comment).

(N.B. – For those of you who haven’t had enough, I am still mulling over the idea of turning this blog and other unpublished thoughts into a book, working title “To Italy and Back Again: An Expat’s Tale” ©.  And yes,  goal42, I am still up for a co-blog post!)

Arrivederci e buona fortuna!!!