Well, I liked the song the first 37 times I heard it

I don’t remember saying the exact words “Of COURSE you can stay here!” but some way, somehow, that’s what was understood by Graziella Radioli. And I really didn’t mind. I had the space for her (and her driver, Xavier) but I just can’t pinpoint the exact moment I had invited them to stay at my house. I actually like having house guests. But there are house guests and there are those who simply do not understand the 5 day rule.


The Five-Day Rule:

Here’s the deal. I love my friends and I know they truly love me. I mean, I had a BBQ last week with about 100 people at any given time over to my house and I know that if push came to shove, I had at least 20 potential organ donors in that group. Some friends would give you the shirt off your back, well, I've got friends that would pony up a kidney if need be. THAT is a friend. Well, we all love each other for a reason: this group knows when it’s time to go home!

This is more related to vacations than anything else. My college buddy Jim has always commended me on my internal vacation clock. He lives in New York and has been very kind over the years in allowing me and others to stay at his place gratis. He knows I would rather spend my New York vacation dollars in restaurants than for hotels rooms, so he has accommodated my presence many times over the years knowing it will increase my joy (and waistline) during what is often the few days I take off from work in any given year. He is more than willing to let me stay because he knows that on the 5 day mark, I’m on my way. And even though someone may be a good house guest, there comes a time when the host can no longer comfortably hold in gas and really, really wants to be alone. Graziella Radioli is not one of these people.


As I said, I enjoy having house guests. For 5 days. Not for a MONTH! Unbeknownst to me, Graziella Radioli was a Gino Vannelli groupie and she arrived just in time for the Upper Midwest’s Summer Gino Vannelli Season and my house was equidistance from every Gino Vannelli performance in a 32 day period. In his day, Gino Vannelli was a fairly popular singer, and quite a handsome guy, but recent plastic surgery augmentations have given him the vague appearance of a cast member of The Real Housewives of Istanbul rather than the hirsute pop icon he once was. I really didn’t see the draw, but Graziella said Gino was her first rock and roll crush and, to her, he still looked the same as the first time she saw him. That’s love. 

To be continued