The journey continues. There are clearings and clarifications approaching in some cases; in others, we are moving towards acceptance or resignation. For your information, the Stanley Cup 2033 is nearing its end. I’m on May 21st, and both the Bears (leading 3-1 vs. Syracuse Crunch) and the Capitals (leading 3-0 vs. N.Y. Islanders) are one step away from yet another final, which will see them face the Calgary Wranglers (the former) and one of the San Jose Sharks or Colorado Avalanche (the latter). I’d prefer the Sharks; they’d be a novelty, relatively young! The Avalanche are a hodgepodge of veterans—I’d flatten them without effort.

This is just to say that I will soon have to see if I am still capable of composing noteworthy songs that are different from the ones I have already made. I am very scared, and as I said, I feel like an old man trying to masturbate to see if he can still get an erection. I hope I can pull it off. I alternate between excitement and performance anxiety. I know that once I start working, everything usually passes, but the fear lies in the fact that the more songs you make, the higher the risk of doing things already done. Self-plagiarism would be a pathetic activity and must be avoided, especially to keep from getting further depressed. We’ll see what the future holds.

Oh, since we are still in “The Soul Edge” period (we will be until the beginning of the new year, 2026), I invite all of you to watch the introductory video for “Soul Blade,” a 1995 video game for PS1. That song is an example of the “essence of hype”—a song that, with the right adaptation and editing, manages to get you excited, making you want to play and restart the game just to hear the intro again. These are the songs I would love to compose—songs that create addiction, like this one (The Edge of Soul is the original song, but the stunning version is “Soul Edge Opening”) and “Song 2” by Blur! Pure hype!

Good. Now, let’s talk about the title I gave this post, in Italian, because it’s the title of a song, and I am against translating original song titles: “Dall’aurora tu sorgi più bella” (More Beautiful Than the Dawn You Rise) is a song sung during processions in honor of the Madonna or the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. As soon as I hear it, it makes me think of my mother, who passed away on December 7, 2024. She particularly liked it, or I got that impression (yes, until I was 13-14, I was forced to accompany her to processions, the Way of the Cross, the Immaculate Conception. She would just go and take it for granted that I’d accompany her, with the excuse that I needed it for my Confirmation!).

Well, now I often curse, more out of relief than anything else, and always when I’m alone or when I’m sure I won’t hurt those around me.

Sometimes, thinking back to my mother, I get emotional because I was unable to love her as she would have wanted: maybe a son respectful of religion and who showed her a little more affection… of course, I didn’t have any examples in my family of how to express love and affection, but I feel deep down that I never got along with her, and I regret it very much. Then, with the onset of Alzheimer’s, any possibility of establishing a damn dialogue ended. I looked after her, dressed her, washed her, and even cooked for her in the last period after my father passed, but it was more of a duty than anything else. I remember that when I brought her food, she simply replied by saying “Thank you!” Perhaps I should have kissed her on the cheek now and then, but I had a kind of chained heart that inhibited all these actions. Maybe it was the situation of total inadequacy I found myself in, the hopeless future, I don’t know.

I used to go shoot archery, then one day I came home and found her kneeling on the balcony, leaning against a chair with her pants down, and she didn’t know how to get up. That’s when I understood I couldn’t go shooting anymore. In that climate, I became even drier, and, paradoxically, it was the period in which my support for her reached its peak—between one curse and another—but in my head, I was always trying to make her feel good as long as I could. I chose this photo because it doesn’t seem too bad. Like me, she is also “photo-obscene,” she doesn’t photograph well, so it was difficult to find a decent one; I like this one.

I give you an unsolicited piece of advice… always find an activity to occupy your days, and pay close attention, I used the term “activity“; watching TV is a “passivity“! Play sports, read books, draw, trim the hedge, the lawn, chop wood, go shopping, walk in the park under the pines, ride your bike in the park (so you don’t bother drivers on the road!), dance, do yoga, Aikido, crosswords, play poker, chess, volunteer, do theater, play tennis, five-a-side football with friends, write memoirs, play music in your spare time—in short, always keep your damn brain active because you can have all the physical ailments you want, but if the “control unit” stops working, you’re finished. Be active, proactive, creative. Can you do group activities? Great! Can’t you? Okay, I’ll do something individual that allows me to be with others. Yes, maintaining a network of friends is essential for living well.

Always keep busy like a bee!