May 14, 2021 at 2:47 pm (Books, Explorers, Recommended, Surprises)
Tags: COVID Reading, history, medicine, nonfiction, reading lists, science, spring, Venice
The word quaranta came out of Venice during the period of the Black Death: self learns new things every day!
Over the following centuries, the plague struck certain cities with particular frequency, including Venice, where traders from across the world did business. Shortly after an outbreak, Venice would ban foreigners from the city; captains who disobeyed were fined and threatened with ship-burning. Closing the port was the authorities’ preferred way for preventing the spread of disease.
Quarantine, which involved isolating newcomers for forty days (quaranta in Italian) was invented during this period.
— Chapter 8, A Short History of Humanity
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
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May 25, 2020 at 4:57 pm (Books, Explorers, Memoirs, Personal Bookshelf, Recommended, Traveling)
Tags: COVID Reading, inspiration, memories, Mendocino, Mondays, nonfiction, The Philippines, Venice, writing process
Self has many thoughts about the sea because … well, she comes from one of the 7,100 islands of the Philippines.
When she visited Venice, some years back, she encountered the Maritime Museum (off San Marco Plaza), and first encountered the Venetian expression “married to the sea.”
In the writings about the sea, the sea is referred to as feminine. Also, mercurial.
Perhaps this is why she chose to write her novel. It’s about the sea, of course. And she’s been reading about seafarers ever since.
Two years ago, she was teaching in Mendocino. One of her favorite hangouts was Gallery Bookshop, corner of Albion and Kasten in Mendocino Village (the most fabulous bookstore, with its own resident cat). She found a book written by a retired US Admiral.
She just started reading it (thank you, Corona Virus). Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans
The Introductory Chapter is called The Sea Is One:
It is worth remembering that each of us is, essentially, largely made of water. When a human baby is born, it is composed of roughly 70 percent water. It has always fascinated me that roughly the same proportion of the globe is covered by water — just over 70 percent. Both our planet and our bodies are dominated by the liquid world, and anyone who has sailed extensively at sea will understand instinctively the primordial tug of the oceans upon each of us when we look upon the sea.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
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October 7, 2016 at 4:19 pm (Artists and Writers, destinations, Family, Places, postaday, Publishers, Traveling, Venice, Women Writers)
Tags: Calyx Press, Fridays, Italy, Margarita Donnelly, memories, nostalgia, postaday, postaweek, Venice, Wordpress
More from the watershed trip self took with Margarita Donnelly (founder and managing editor of Calyx Press) in April/May 2013, less than two years before she succumbed to cancer. We rented a small two-bedroom apartment in Ca’ San Toma, Venice. Margarita’s adventurous spirit far exceeded self’s.
The Bridge of Sighs, April 2013: View From the Doge’s Palace
San Marco Square on a Rainy April Day
Self on the Rialto Bridge, April 2013: Margarita must have taken the picture. Even though self’s face isn’t visible, she really likes this picture for the mysterious red umbrella.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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October 3, 2016 at 4:01 pm (destinations, Links, Places, postaday, Traveling, Venice)
Tags: Italy, Margarita Donnelly, memories, Mondays, postaday, postaweek, Venice, Wordpress
- For this challenge, show us what nostalgia means to you — perhaps a moment or scene that makes you feel wistful, happy, sad, or somehow longing for the past.
— Jeff Golenski, The Daily Post
Self went with Margarita Donnelly to Venice in April 2013. Margarita was battling breast cancer. She passed away in December 2014.
What self remembers of that trip was that she was always getting lost. The streets of Venice are labyrinthine.
These pictures have a melancholy feel. Her Venice is more the Don’t Look Now Venice instead of the hectic, tourist-packed place it really is.
This was self’s second trip. The first time was when she was 11:
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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June 27, 2016 at 9:29 pm (Artists and Writers, Family, postaday, Traveling, Women Writers)
Tags: England, memories, Mondays, Oxford, postaday, postaweek, San Francisco, Venice, Wordpress
“. . . give us subjects that are in tune with each other.”
— Michelle W., The Daily Post
San Marco Square, Venice: November 2015
San Francisco: October 2015
Joan McGavin, Jenny Lewis, and Jenny’s Granddaughter Abigail in Oxford, UK: July 2015
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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April 2, 2016 at 12:23 am (Places, postaday, Traveling, Venice)
Tags: Fridays, memories, New York, postaday, postaweek, travel, Venice, Wordpress
The Daily Post Photo Challenge this week: LANDSCAPE.
- “Show us your best establishing shot, out in nature or in an urban setting.”
Here are shots of two of self’s favorite cities: New York and Venice.
Late Afternoon, Heading Into Manhattan By Train, September 2015
Manhattan, November 2015
San Marco Square, Venice, November 2015
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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March 5, 2016 at 6:02 pm (Family, Links, Niece, postaday, Traveling, Venice)
Tags: Italy, postaday, postaweek, restaurants, Saturdays, travel, Venice, Wordpress
The Daily Post Photo Challenge for the week is HARMONY.
My take: “A blissful state of contentment. Only achieved when mind/body/emotions are in a state of peaceful awareness.”
First Photo: Venice, November 2015
Second and Third Photos: Tuscany, November 2015
Self and Irene, Café Florian, San Marco Square, Venice: November, 2015
View From a Vineyard in Tuscany, November 2015
More of Tuscany: November 2015
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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March 5, 2016 at 5:19 am (Artists and Writers, Books, destinations, Family, Niece, postaday, Traveling, Venice)
Tags: art, fairy tales, Fridays, Italy, Mendocino, postaday, postaweek, travel, Venice, Wordpress
This week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge is HARMONY: “the quality of forming a pleasing and consistent whole.” So here are three attempts to illustrate the quality: the first two are examples of harmonies of color. The last is an example of harmony of shape.
First, an illustration from a child’s picture book: Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Wild Swans,” illustrated by Susan Jeffers. The subject is Elise, lying in the forest. Her gown is green, and other shades of green are all around her:
A Susan Jeffers Illustration for Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Wild Swans”
Next, a handmade book by an Artist-in-Residence at the Mendocino Art Center, Mary-Ellen Campbell. Self loves the delicate (tonal) harmonies and shadings:
One of Mary-Ellen Campbell’s Handmade Books. She is having her own solo exhibit at the Mendocino Art Center, April 1 – 30, 2016.
Finally, from a quickie trip to Italy that self and her niece Irene took last November, the immortal La Serenisima, Venice:
San Marco Square, Venice, November 2015: The curves are repeated in the windows the lampposts, the round tables, the aluminum chairs, and the bowl of ice cream in the foreground.
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February 2, 2016 at 12:53 am (Places, postaday, Traveling, Venice)
Tags: memories, photography, postaday, postaweek, travel, Venice, Wordpress
The Daily Post Photo Challenge this week is VIBRANT.
Self thinks the photos below, which she took in Venice in November 2015, vividly fit the bill:
Throng, San Marco Square, Venice: November 2015
Red Coat Woman, San Marco Square, Venice: November 2015
Sidewalk Café, San Marco Square, Venice: November 2015
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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January 23, 2016 at 1:39 am (Family, postaday, Relatives, Traveling, Venice, Weather)
Tags: Fridays, Italy, memories, postaday, postaweek, Venice, Wordpress
This week, the WordPress Daily Post Photo Challenge is OPTIMISTIC.
“How do you fuel the fires of optimism?”
Self’s answer is: by traveling. Because traveling makes self rely on a very specific skill set: adventurousness, curiosity, and determination.
And every time she goes on a trip, she has reason to confirm that she still possesses each of those qualities, in spades.
Here, a picture from a recent trip self and her niece, Irene, took to Italy.
The entire trip was Irene’s idea. Self cannot thank her enough. We used Florence as home base and explored outward.
San Marco Square, Venice: November 2015
Irene and Self! San Gimidgiano, Italy, November 2015
It never rained, not once. The weather was perfect: sunny and warm. Almost T-shirt weather!
Irene is a woman of great energy and positive drive. A great traveling companion.
Oh what a perfect time was had by all! Florence, Italy, November 2015
That trip was surely one of self’s best trips, ever!
Stay tuned.
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