personal takes on life, the universe, and everything
What should the painting look like? I want to paint some of the landscapes I saw in 2020. Perhaps like this. These are tourist site photos of some the cliffside towns in southern France.: For want of time I never painted anything precisely like this while I was there. But watercolor was never entirely satisfactory, …
Landscape Painting 2: Inspiration, Materials, Sketch Read More »
I’m going to post a word, and I want you to tell me what mental image you get when you read it. Ready? Penknife. So what picture did you get in your mind? Maybe an object with short blades that fold up out of a protective cover? Or a Swiss Army knife with seventeen other …
More than the blinkering strangeness of the COVID pandemic loaded with fear and vituperation and the baffling denial by anti-vaxers and mask mandate resisters. More than navigating the unchartered waters of retirement amid the relentless creep of aging. It’s easy, too easy, to blame my rising pessimism on social media. Before people gathered on Meta …
Those of you who have been around this blog for a while may recall that I occasionally paint. I have too much creativity, and it overflows from fiction to knitting to, lately, painting. Because it’s not my core strength, I actually do not paint that much I knew that 2020 was going to be the …
Follow Thor and me as we lose ourselves in the fascinating maze of canals and narrow lanes of extravagant Venice. NOTE: Since travel is still iffy with the pandemic continuing, I started a blog series offering a virtual vacation and time-travel to my first big trip with Thor in 2008. Italy! Starting with highlight photos …
The Rambling Writer’s Italy, part 26: Lost in the Venice Labyrinth Read More »
I’d be willing to bet that most people have had the experience of reading a headline in a news article (or media chyron) only to have the content of the report fail to live up to the headline. This happens so often in some media outlets that I simply redact everything in the headline except …
The Things People Say: Headlines, Fault Lines and Colorization Read More »
This is one of those rich, buttery, sweet, cold-weather recipes we forgive ourselves for eating because it’s cold. And maybe the holidays. And it’s vegetables, right? AUTUMN APPLE AND SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE Preheat oven to 350. Peel and slice equal amounts apples and sweet potatoes. Microwave the sliced sweet potatoes on high until they’re half-cooked, …
BVC Eats: Cold-weather apple and sweet potato casserole Read More »
JENNIFER STEVENSON’S TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES WITH WHISKY-SOAKED CHERRIES Here are the richest, most evil brownies you will ever eat. They’re quick to prepare as long as you soak the cherries in advance. I keep a jar of cherries soaking in whisky at all times. So at least one night before you bake, and up to …
When Lord George Cavendish, younger brother of the 5th Duke of Devonshire (or should I say brother-in-law of the famous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire?) inherited one of the family homes in London, Burlington House, he didn’t expect to be plagued with lackadaisical Londoners using his side garden as a convenient dumping ground for their trash. …
Mall-rats, Nineteenth Century Style–or, Meet the Beadles! Read More »
The husband and I went to the Oregon Coast for a few days just before Christmas. Our celebration of the day is my celebration of the day, because the husband eschews the day and anything associated with it. Something to do with getting only underwear and ill-fitting jeans for Christmas. Also his birthday is on …
Your Virtual Italy Vacation continues in Venice as Thor and I take the Secret Itinerary tour through the Doge’s Palace and the adjacent prison where Casanova was held. NOTE: Since European travel is still a no-go with the pandemic continuing, I’m continuing my blog series offering a virtual vacation and time-travel to my first big trip …
The Rambling Writer’s Italy, part 24: What Happened to Casanova? Read More »
Who remembers writing letters—you know, sitting down with some stationery and a pen and being chatty or pouring out one’s innermost thoughts onto the page, then putting the results into an envelope and mailing it? I used to love writing letters; my husband and I each still have the letters we wrote each other mumbledy-mumble …
As the weather marches into colder country, we think of baking. Now that I’m on this darned low-carb diet, I think of it all the time. Some days my thoughts yearn toward pies and cookies. Other days, a simple Pop-Tart would be enough to meet my craving. Not that I surrender to craving. But if I …
