| About Me !!! |
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| My name is DonnaMarie, however, my grandparents always called me Donamaria. I'm 2nd generation Italian-American since my grandparents were born in Italy, but my own parents were born in the USA. When I recently visited Italy and introduced myself by my "Italian" name, I received quite a few raised eyebrows! At that time, I had no idea that when women use "Dona" ( long "o" ) it usually means they're an aristocrat from nobility, or want to be thought of as such. Well, I'm not aristocratic or from nobility - nor do I want to be thought of as such, but I enjoy referring to myself as my grandparents did. DonnaMarie is my first name... which translates into "Donamaria..." A few of my favorite things - My passion is PAINTING! I have recently begun to paint after never having picked up a brush. It would be fair to say that I was looking to add more substance to my life... add more joy... I felt a need to "feed my soul" with something sustaining, and then I decided to paint. I'm a beginner and trying to be kind to myself. Some artists I know told me I have to learn to "love the ugly" because all pieces we paint are ugly before they become beautiful. I'm trying to remember this... I'm also trying to learn to paint with "reckless abandon" - an internationally known Canadian artist told me to try to paint with reckless abandon, like a child would normally do. So, I'm trying. I love sitting on bookstore floors and reading, eating sushi (not just the california rolls) fine dry wines, and of course, I love these animals and the love they offer in return. They're very affectionate and sweet. I love the game of golf, however, I don't often have the opportunity to play. I'm a pisces so I feel right at home on a nice white sandy beach on any ocean, gulf, or sea and love being in the mountains. I was born and raised Catholic... consider myself a deeply spiritual person and a Christian. And, I don't think I need to tell you that I love Italy - and everything about it. |
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| Oliver swinging on his play tree. This tree is over 5 feet tall with many branches, and he loves to climb around and watch Marbles below. |
| Oliver - on top of his climbing tree, which makes him about 7 ft tall! |
| Marbles - She's Ally's baby! She's part manecoon and tri-colored tortoise shell |
| I moved to the Gulf coast of Florida near the end of 2004, and love the weather! As an adult I also lived in Nebraska, Kansas, back to Nebraska, Alabama, Virginia and Maryland. I love the climate of the south, and could do without the heavy snows in the north. Being "old" is OKAY, being "old and COLD" isn't! ;) I remarried married in August 2002, I have 2 wonderful kids - Ally who recently married a great guy, and Alex... They own my heart... Oliver is an African Grey parrot. He's a real charmer and is developing quite a vocabulary. Some of his favorite phrases are: "Psst psst, got a quarter? Oliver wants drink of water - Oliver's a good, good boy! - Hello Oliver! - Did you miss me? Bye bye, see you later, be a good boy while I'm gone! What a good boy! - Hello Marbles! Hi Marbs! Oliver wants a tickle!, Oliver what are you doing, huh? Want to go upstairs? Want to go downstairs? Pop-cornnnnn! Want some ice-cream? Ice-creammmmm. Playing with your toys? and about 5 different versions of Hello," as well as many household sounds. Oh yes, and he shakes foot to hand too! Now, with the addition of Zoey to our family, Oliver loves to call her by name - "Good girl Zoey," "Ahh ahh ahh, no Zoey!" "Zoey come here" and "DId you see Zoey?" He's truly a treasure... and his vocabulary has just gotten way too large to repeat everything he has learned just by "listening" to us in our daily routines. He has now taken to making his own sentences by rearranging words he knows. Sometimes, they are just too funny. African Greys are known for their ability to speak and Dr. Irene Pepperberg who owns "Alex" the infamous African Grey, has done extensive reseach on Greys and cognition... I have no doubt Oliver understand much of what he says, and can clearly make a connection. An example of this would simply be that we ask him "Want a tickle?" and he says "Oliver want a tickle!" and proceeds to put his head down for a petting. Pepperberg's research indicates that they have the emotional intelligence of a toddler of 2 or 3 years old... Their life expectency is approximately 50-60 years. |
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| Next ~ Links |
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| Zoey - The newest member of our family. She's a Boxer/American Pit mix. What a joy she is and so full of energy! |
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| Zoey relaxing in her new home |
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| Oliver says: |
| November 2005 |
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| To see lots of beautiful Italian art, click on one of the Zazzle Logos to the left! To see my art click and type: "Donamaria" |
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