March 2011 Archives

In spite of all the looming deadlines and self-imposed regimens, I've still been able to indulge in a bit of time to myself. To knit, to climb (really, to train to climb), to read. Those sacred hours of sanity kept me going, a few times sleepless into the following day, but don't most things occur in peaks and dips? And who am I to let an opportunity slip away? And so, life....

  #

My reading time was drastically reduced, but a bookworm will always, always, always find a way to squeeze in a few pages here and there. I daydreamed about last year's Venetian holiday, and it carried into the books I borrowed some weeks ago:

It was really John Berendt's book about the rebuilding of the Fenice Opera House by Save Venice that sparked my interest in knowing more. More about the history, the architecture, the people. While Henry James' novel was fine, it was Ian Warrell's overview on JMW Turner's Venetian watercolors that inspired, for Turner was a maestro in atmosphere and color. And *such* color. Huck Scarry's Venice Sketchbook is another book of watercolor views, but decidedly less lavish in painterly style. (And if that name rings a bell, you're correct. Huck's father Richard Scarry authored many, many much-loved children's books, and Huck the cat was a recurring character.) For history I turned to Alvise Zorzi's Venice: The Golden Age 697-1797, and for (gentle) humor Judith Martin's
No Vulgar Hotel: The Desire and Pursuit of Venice did the trick. Below, Judith writes about navigating through the neighborhoods:

"It is a truism among Venetophiles that although you will never be able to find the particular attraction you have set out to see, you will find something just as interesting that you did not know existed, and the one you originally sought will pop up unexpectedly on a later, equally misdirected, expedition."

  #

So, so true. *ahem!*

Tomorrow is April 1. And you know what April 1 means, don't you? Have a good weekend!

Top100 KnittingSites « Knitting Blogs » Lace Knitters « Fair Isle Knitters » Norge Knit « The Spinning Wheel » Lendrum Spinners

About : Contact : Copyright © 2003-2012 Mary Joy Gumayagay and Indus3ous.com. All rights reserved. Do not copy or reproduce this site's content without proper attribution and express permission. See Copyright for more information. Movable Type 4.1 : Dreamhost