Gone fishing … in Bali
I’ve never been much of a fisherwoman. I love eating fish, but I don’t have the patience or passion to go out there with a fishing rod to try to catch them myself. My oldest son, on the other hand, loves fishing. So when I was in the coastal area of Nusa Dua in Bali,…
Read MoreThe devil’s in the details
“Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it’s work … Belief and reader absorption come in the details: An overturned tricycle in the gutter of an abandoned neighborhood can stand for everything. Or a broken billboard. Or weeds growing in the cracks of a library’s steps. … The details are always the starting place in…
Read MoreThe winding streets of Nice’s old town
The French Riviera city of Nice is a beautiful place to visit. I especially loved wandering Vieux Nice, where I could be forgiven for thinking I was back in Italy. The old quarter used to have a reputation for being dangerous, but today it’s a beautiful area to wander and enjoy the views into the…
Read MoreCoca Cola, chocolate bar … and a short story?
Viva la France! If we hadn’t reach that conclusion alone in these weeks after the events of Paris last month, we would have arrived there by the admirable appreciation of culture and literature in that country. France – and specifically the pretty, southeastern mountain city of Grenoble – is the first city ever to offer…
Read MoreCooking pasta in Vitorchiano, Italy
I’ve already written about my pleasant trip to Vitorchiano, an adorable medieval town north of Rome. While there, I was also lucky enough to take part in a cooking course. After all these years of living in Italy, I finally learned how to make homemade fettuccine pasta. Some in my family might say ‘About time’……
Read More400 posts … and still going strong
Excuse me a moment of crowing. But after almost four years of blogging, I’ve reached my 400th post, and sometimes it’s worth it to simply stand back and pat ourselves on the back for managing to do what we set out to do… and to reflect on how we got here. Back in 2012, I…
Read MoreAthen’s spectacular Acropolis Museum
I’ve already written about visiting the Acropolis on your next visit to Greece’s capital, Athens. Just at the foot of the ascent/decent is the spectacular, newly restored and absolutely-not-to-be-missed Acropolis Museum. The museum has been planned since the 1970s, since the earlier museum was hardly impressive enough for all the splendors it contained. The new packaging…
Read MoreA Nobel laureate’s views on women’s stories
Women tell things in more interesting ways. They live with more feeling. They observe themselves and their lives. Men are more impressed with action. For them, the sequence is more important. Svetlana Alexievich 2015 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature quoted in the New Yorker, 26 October 2015 I was struck by this observation by Svetlana…
Read MoreAutumn colors in Vitorchiano, Italy
I was staying outside this pretty medieval town in northern Lazio, north of Rome, for work for a week earlier this month. Unfortunately, we weren’t out of the conference structure much, but I did sneak out for an early morning jog each morning so that I could enjoy the town as it was waking up.…
Read MoreIt’s National Short Story Week 2015!
It’s that time of year again. 16-22 November this year marks National Short Story Week. Readers, writers and listeners of short stories are asked to focus attention on this important literary form. Take a look at the whole range of events and resources here. For those of us who love short stories, we often have…
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