Yikes!

Hey all, I've been losing grip as school has once again overwhelmed me and I've seriously been in lack of time with the upcoming grading season coming to a close. However I'd like to remind you that I'm still here and will be posting more in the future. But all I've got for you today sadly is our company shirt. That will have to do for now! EDIT: Don't try to call that number ;)...

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Spensieri Building Co.

Hello Blog! Sorry for my un-noted absence for the past, wow, almost week and a half. I feel like I let you guys down without a good story. School work has really been getting to me. It's nearly unbearable, and with upcoming winter sports I'll have even less time at this. I'll try my best to keep this up! Just a little short snippet...since it is, after all, 3 AM. Spensieri Building Company was the first business opened by the Spensieri family on the North American Continent. Owned by 4 New York brothers, they opened shop in a 2 story building with a large lot just off of Northern Boulevard in Woodside, Queens. Originally formed as a joint company, there were two separate but equally important units within the company. The first was the real money maker. The upstairs of the building was...

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New Look!

Hey guys, what's going on? Sorry for the delayed post, I haven't been really able to post as much recently as I just took a couple test in school. Studying tends to overwhelm me, especially at night. I just wanted to post a quick notice to people who haven't seen the new look on the site, check it out! It's based off another HTML I found elsewhere with many tweaks here and there, links added and all good to go. I hope you guys like it! Hopefully within the next coming days I can post more. I should be off of school for the rest of the week starting at 12pm tomorrow. (Yay!) If you haven't followed my blog, nows the time! Just click the "Join This Site" button under "Followers" Checked out my Twitter yet? No? You can click the button in the top right hand corner, and bam, you're there! ...

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Some Pasta!

So I really don't have a "Timeline" topic as I'll call them, but I'll just let you guys in a little nip of our cuisine. Pasta makes up a large portion of the Italian diet, among many things. It's also relatively cheap and easy to cook and/or create delicious meals from. It's a very flexible food with hundreds of combinations when it comes to sauces, additives, spices, makes, shapes, sizes, cooking styles, and much more. Making pasta is, well, sort of a pain. I won't go too in-depth or in detail, but it involves loads of paitence and time, along with lots of space for drying longer strands. Personally, and according to my family, Barilla is...

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Just a quick snippet

I had an after-thought about the last post I had made about our beloved uncle who landed on Manhattan island via rowboat to start a prosperous life. One of my key questions was to why the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921 was even implemented, whereas Immigration was increasing the population to unprecedented levels globally. I gave it a little thought and may have a reason as to why the act was passed. When Ellis Island and all immigration ports were opened for the New World, particularlly popular in the early 1900's or the turn of the century, the general aspect was to receive a wide range of immigrants with different working and living backgrounds. Particular to the Italians, the American Government had actually expected a large percentage of the arriving Italian immigrants to become...

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"The First Spensieri"

Sorry for the absence! I have been trying to balance my school work with other things and I have just finished a few test and ready for some blog action. How bout' it followers? With the help of a very close relative I've been able to learn more about "Uncle Nashy" Sadly I never got to meet him, but I am sure he was a brilliant soul. He was the first Spensieri to land in America, at least in our branch of the family. Ignazio “Nashy” Spensieri was born in the quiet town of Vinchiaturo, Italy 1905. He was theFirst Spensieri from my grandfather’s immediate family to come to United States (1922-23) at the age of 17. He was unable to enter the U.S. legally due to the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921 which restricted immigration into the U.S., particularly from Europe. Prior to 1921 the annual...

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Little Italy

Historically, or tourist-thought, Little Italy is the largest area of Italian communities in New York. I've come to falsify this and bring a bit of light when you go to New York and think about Little Italy. Starting in the early 1900's, Little Italy was populated with mass amounts of Italian Immigrants, primarily because there was cheaper rents, job opportunities, many Italians already located there, and it was not too far off where the Italians had hit the island on their own. Not quite sure where else to head this was an ideal location for them. The neighborhood was massive, nearly all of what is the Lower East Side was once this "Little...

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Futbol

Our family may have moved from the Italian farmlands and rolling country side but we never, ever once lost our love for Futbol. We have a deep compassion for the sport, not just for watching but for playing. On a sunday gathering the first activity you see on the outside is a group of us kicking the soccer ball against the school walls in the lot across the street. The tree provides great shade and a nice way to run around while dinner is still being prepared in the early afternoon. The smell of the food entices us to play more aggressively as we realize how hungry we actually are. This all, of course, assuming that a match is not on concerning the Serie A or the World/Euro Cup. There are many indifferences in our family on who likes what team. My grandfather and I personally pull for AC...

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Montreal

Through our families there was quite a divide on where the North American continent should be settled. The 4 younger brothers had chosen their spots in New York, situating themselves on Long Island and the city boroughs. But there were the other two families whom spread throughout Montreal. Separated from their brothers they had it rough but made it through. Instead of adapting English as a main language they learned French too. When I went to visit them I was astounded at how many languages their children and grandchildren (Cousins, Cousins, more Cousins...) could recite! It really made me feel as if the American system of education (Which it does fail to provide for) a multilingual system. When I went to High School my first two years I took Latin because I had no intention of learning...

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The Start of an Enterprise

When my Grandfather lay his eyes upon New York's harbor, I'm not really sure what he thought. His dream was to come to America in hopes of building a new life upon the soil of the city. We already had relatives within North America, but his 2 oldest brother was in Montreal in Canada. All he had known within New York were his pictures and he had some older relatives living there that were able to take him in, his uncle and aunt. He took up a job at a local coat-hangar factory and labored there for the next 4-5 years. It must have been a tough job, those coat hangars are twisted all in a particular way. Until his other 3 remaining, he lead the poor life. However, along with their uncle they had made quite a little bit of money. At the bright idea of his uncle, my grandfather and at that time...

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Back from the School Shock

Hello Blog, how's it going? It's been quite a while since I posted so I was hoping I'd get to post a story. This is more recent and hasn't really followed the timeline I had been sharing but I want to share our love for Scopa. For those of you whom are Non-Italian probably do not know what this card game is, if you do then you haven't seen a family play it like ours. Scopa is italian for "Sweep" and is a commonly played card game. There are some key differences, such as the 40 card deck that is used rather than the 52 card deck. (There are no 8s, 9s, nor 10s. In a Napoletane deck it follows Ace-2-3 and so forth to 7, then goes to Jacks, Knights, and Kings. Sometimes the Jacks are portrayed as Women or Queens. The suits are also as follows: Swords, Clubs, Coins, and Cups, Coins being the most...

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And I thought I had it hard...

Whenever I have the thought for even a moment that my life is unfair or that I have a tough one, doing the simple chores but hacking away at the back of a computer screen and walking to and from school I had always looked back on what my family used to say to me. My life is likely 10 times better than the generation before me... Now that I look back I see they were much right. My grandfather was the 3rd child of 7 brothers, one whom died at a very, very young age. He grew up with his family on a small farm and helped his father maintain the animals day in and day out. He almost grew up on what any small child would think of as a stereotypical farm, raising Cows, Pigs, Chickens, and a special goat, he always reminded me of that goat. Growing up after the war they were very poor and could not...

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It all starts in Vinchiaturo...

It all started with the Spensieri's. A broad group of us have descended from the area for centuries...I can nearly trace back our family to the 1400's. Those ancestors must look down from the heavens and be quite confused on how large we have grown. To jump forward to more recent past, during the second World War. My great uncles, and my grandfather were born in Vinchiaturo, a small farming community in Italy. Their mother and father were both very poor, but owned a farm and each of the children did not lead glamorous lives like most children now a-days. Countless stories have been handed down to myself and my own siblings, which I hope to elaborate on in the future with this blog. I'll be using substitutes for our names for their sake. My Italian family is quite a large one...

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