curi·ous {Old French curios} Drawn to investigate, prick up the ears, ponder for the sake of pondering. Enticed by mysteriously labeled bottles.
vo·luptu·ary {Late Latin volupturius} A lass devoted to the pursuit of pleasure. An unabashed epicurean, hedonist, libertine, sensualist, lotus-eater.
View of River Tejo from our hotel window. click on image to expand
A few things I have learned on this trip: 1. When looking for budget accommodations over “the holidays” in Europe one can’t always be too choosy. 2. One should always be somewhat choosy because 3. Counting the hours left to endure in a [...]
We visited our friends Klaus and Sabine and their two sons in their vacation cabin for a night. It was heaven, and very much needed! We stayed near Chur, in the Medieval village of Parpan–a magical place that looks exactly like what everyone imagines when you say “I live in Switzerland!” Very Von Trapp.
Parpan [...]
“I am so awake,” Ali says into the darkness. Me too. Late night talk ensues: this weekend marks the halfway point {week 20 of 40} of our time here and as such, the mind turns to evaluate how we’ve been doing thus far.
I had many fantasies about nine! whole! months! to do whatever it [...]
It is perched in a blown glass egg, the base of which reads Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza. The right middle finger of Galileo–this heretic’s reliquary–is tucked in a case among telescopes, celestial globes, solar orbs, and tellurium.
Or it would be, if the museum’s wonderous objects were not mostly hidden away while they [...]
I threw the pearl of my soul into a cup of wine.
I went down the primrose path to the sound of flutes.
I lived on honeycomb.
~Oscar Wilde, De Profundis
I have been writing a character I call My Neptuna. The work is going slowly this week, lots of resistance, and so today I thought, if my mind [...]
Scusi? Quanto Costo? We began the next morning at the Balôn market in Borgo Dora. A bust as far as fleas go, but great for people watching, especially after I left the fellows at a cafe, because the sweet Antonio would not leave my immediate side, tho I am both older and taller than he [...]
Sometimes life gives you exactly what you ordered. This can be good or bad, but probably shouldn’t surprise if you’ve been taking notes or at least not reading Oblivion Enthusiast magazine in class.
This week I taught a class in forensic analysis of surveillance videos. All my media involved people in ski masks robbing banks. The class was for the Transit Authority on Randall’s Island and to get there I left my house before the sun came up.
Randall’s Island is on the East River between Manhattan and Queens. [...]
Greetings from day two of what will be three weeks off from teaching with a slight interruption (teaching).
I woke up cranky yesterday–which given that I survived another six-week class and have all my holiday bidness behind me—seemed odd and out of character. Ali and I “got passionate” (that’s eye-talian for “yelled”) about coffee grounds in [...]
The first thing I did was hang paper lanterns from China Town on all the lamps.
Years of hotel living has made clear the importance of lighting in cozying-up the joint. Or maybe it’s my inner Blanche DuBois. Though the walls are of wood, the studio is modern and airy and not especially cozy for a [...]