A is for ...

Alphabet. I'm sure you know that, but soon you'll know why I bring this up.

I have been in a bit of a funk lately, 2009 did not start with the all the promise and joy I need to get out of the rut that I have also been in. Actually, I think that I'm in something like a runk, part rut, part funk. I have been cooking, but not thinking about it (except when I had 8 people over for dinner, 3 of whom I had never met before, and then I was thinking, gee I hope I have enough food!) I have not made anything brilliant in the pottery studio lately, but I will be posting pictures of some of the presents soon. With all this runk going on, I just couldn't come up with anything to post. If I'm bored, why should I bore you?

As we know, once you stop posting, it is hard to get back into the habit, so I have decided to get back into the habit by doing some alphabet based posts. I will still mix in other random posts throughout, but, like a cheap writers ploy, I will try to have some fun with the alphabet.

A is for Alphabet, Alessi, Art and Abacus

Alphabet, you get the picture.

Alessi!
All through Italy, I would come across their wonderful kitchen products and smile. They have great designs that are functional, beautiful, fun everything you could want. They have all sorts of products and designers in their stable.

If I ate soft boiled eggs on a regular basis, you know I would have to get these:

If I was big on tea, I would definitely get this:

I do drink wine, but I haven't found this corkscrew yet. But at $54, maybe I'll skip it.

Moving on to Art. I can't say enough. I love Art and Artists in all their forms. I love fine art, folk art, 2-dimensional, 3 dimensional, visual, performing... You get the picture. I don't have a favorite, though I do have a weakness for the bold, iconic images of Keith Haring and Henri Matisse was probably my first "love". I loved seeing all types of art in our travels. I love that is universal and provincial at the same time. Aside from seeing the amazing pieces through out Rome, I had great fun crashing an opening in Dubrovnik.
I saw this and had to go in.


The exhibit was an environmental/installation piece. It was cool to be in the middle of, but I have no idea what the artist was saying when she discussed her piece.

And finally an Abacus. This one was on the island of Murano.


Yes it's glass. Each bead was about the size of a pumpkin.

So, what do you think of with the letter A?

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Random Venice

I am still working on sorting the pictures, but have been running around a lot since I got back & I spent some of my day off yesterday throwing pottery (after a too long hiatus. I have gifts to make!) I really have no excuse, my sister-in-law who has two small kids & a full time job put together a neat slide show, which inspired me to do the same. (of course, this is the same woman who ran up to the top of every mountain she could find & biked up above Florence; she has a lot of energy!) Unfortunately, while I am inspired, I haven't gotten organized. But I will, I promise. I have family coming for Thanksgiving & don't want to slog through the 750 pics on my computer. I haven't even looked at the ones my husband took.

I thought this was pretty random. There was apparently some sort of art/theatre school hazing our first day in Venice. We saw this young lady "perform" while being egged on by classmates.



We also saw a young man dressed as Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. (which we saw while at the Uffuzi in Florence) Unfortunately, he was walking the opposite direction on the other side of a canal & I didn't get a picture. Besides, his clam shell got in the way.

My next random photo is an advertisement that caught my eye. My feeling is that even the the ads look better in Venice. Granted it is an art show, but still I like the clean lines of it. I also liked the modern look contrasted against the aging building facade.

And finally, even the protests are more artistic. I don't know exactly what this means, but it roughly means they want to be rid of the big hand of public school, it is our time. I know there is something lost in the translation, but I loved the imagery.

So that is my Venice installment for now. I will have more when I do the slide show, but for the random photos, I'll be leaving town shortly! Thanks for traveling with me!

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More Promises

I really do promise that there will be more pictures of Italy up soon. I'll even post one today, perhaps a little more Venice?

I got back from Italy with 2 ½ weeks until the Pennsylvania Governor's Awards for the Arts. I have helped with this event since 2004, and this year they decided that it might be nice to pay me for my help. (Cool, eh?) But with that paycheck, comes additional responsibilities, ok, actual responsibilities; I mean as a volunteer, I helped, but really it wasn't my job. Now it is. Anyway, I've been working hard on that, trying to make a good impression, and trying to keep all the ducks that need to be in a row in their row, so that has been consuming much of my time (plus working 3-4 nights a week, plus just trying to get caught up with life) So I promise there will be more, but I will leave you with a couple images.

I loved waking up in Venice. The street where I live is pretty noisy. There is a bar across the street that sometimes gets rowdy at closing, and the street alongside my house is filled with kids that are screaming, playing, yelling at the top of their lungs, fighting or generally making noise if they can stand to be outside. (I'm really not kidding—our house-sitters, who are 20-something laid-back artists couldn't believe how much noise was on our block). So Venice, where we stayed, was lovely and peaceful. We stayed in a small B&B in the Dosoduro district, away from the Grand Canal and the tourist hordes. We took a nap one afternoon, shortly after our arrival, and awoke to an accordion being played while a group of Gondola's slid down the canal behind our room. It was peaceful, and haunting and the most pleasant "alarm clock" I've ever had.

The Osteria just outside of our front door was lovely as well. Just look at this menu! Today we have a zucchini dish. There is a fresh vegetable soup, I had the eggplant parmesan (so good! Unlike any I've ever had!) Though the Penne with tuna & eggplant sounded good as well. HP had the grilled salmon, which was very tasty!

The restaurant was called Osteria ae Cravate. (I guess you could call it a "Tie restaurant!") I liked all the ties hanging form the rafters. But I loved the food! And the owner was really terrific! He spent a long time talking to us and helping us with our Italian. We saw him often the couple days we were there, and he always had a minute to say Hi, even if we were just passing by on our way to our door..

If When we return to Venice, I'd be happy to return to our cozy room above the quiet canal and visit the Osteria downstairs again!

The view from the window, the canal is down below the greenery.

A lovely trip indeed.

ps. all images are directly from the camera. I haven't had time to crop, edit, photoshop, or otherwise alter them. Hope they work for ya!

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Working it out

Yes, I'm trying a new look.
Unfortunately, I decided to do this just before I have to leave the house, so there are still some glitches. I'll rework the header another day & get my links back in as soon as I can.

come back soon!

And for my Italy post of the day, have you ever been to Venice?
I have & love it!
(Here are pictures of me & HP, lovin' it)


Here we are at some random canal. A little tired & jet-lagged from our up all-night flight. (We aren't good sleepers on the plane, and neglected to try the sleeping pills from the doctor for fear of arriving groggy. and so we were groggy) Oh well, it was an amazing day!
Here is a ride on the vaperetto for fun (they are the canal busses) It is very short (I had a fear of memory card & battery issues so I didn't use the video much)



Thanks for riding along with me!

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