Throughout the month I come across a fair number of articles, blogs, images, books, or videos that I’d like to share with readers, but they don’t necessarily work into my typical format. So, I’ve decided to create a monthly post that briefly highlights some of the Internet gems that have…
In June of 2019, I wrote about Rudy Kurniawan, Extraordinary Forger of Fine Wine. Kurniawan’s story is told in the documentary film, Sour Grapes, and in an award-winning book, In Vino Duplicitas. In short, he was a young and charismatic wine dealer who scammed wealthy wine collectors out of millions…
In recent weeks, I’ve been making my way through The Story of French, a history of the French language. In a chapter devoted to French spoken in Canada, I was reminded of the history of the Acadian people. The authors made note of an epic poem, Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth…
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Paris attacks that took place across the city in 2015. That evening, suicide bombers and gunmen with automatic weapons carried out 6 separate attacks including one inside the Bataclan Theater where a rock concert was underway. 130 people were killed and 413 wounded.…
On Friday, my daughters Rita and Rose turned 18. It was a joyous occasion. My husband Andy and I are now the parents of 3 adults! Our son is 20. Those who know us, know that we did not take the usual route to parenthood. Our first offspring were businesses,…
Since getting serious about blogging last spring, I’ve started visiting other blogs to gain insights and inspiration. In doing so, I’ve discovered a vast and varied online community of people that typically write well about their passions and perspectives. One popular subgroup contains book enthusiasts that read scads of books…
Throughout the month I come across a fair number of articles, blogs, images, exhibits, or videos that I’d like to share with readers, but they don’t necessarily work into my typical format. So, I’ve decided to create a monthly post that briefly highlights some of the Internet gems that have…
Two weeks ago, I wrote about a love letter that Victor Hugo wrote to his mistress, Juliette Drouet, shortly after fleeing France to live in exile. In that post, I remarked that over the course of their impressive 50-year relationship, Juliette penned roughly 20,000 letters to the storied author. It’s…
