Polish movies: Ida meets Pan Tadeusz
We saw two Polish movies recently, both on Netflix. Ida The movie Ida one reviewer says is the best movie of 2014. Ida the movie regularly appears on the list of best movies of 2014. Take a look at...
View ArticleA View from the Other. Part 1
The Other. A person that’s not me. A group that’s not us. In this contentious world of clashing religions, clashing beliefs, and clashing desires, the other usually is the Muslim world—to a lot of us,...
View ArticlePinocchio Truth: Fearful Teenager Dreamt of Drones
From theguardian.com: “We dream about drones.” Take a look at this theguardian.com video. A teenager described his constant feeling of terror from the United States drones. He had a good reason to fear...
View ArticleWinter Through My Window
It’s one of those beautiful winter days that make you think of summer. At least in the East Bay. San Francisco is wrapped in gauzy mist. Then you remember it’s this kind of day that means the drought...
View ArticleA View From the Other. Part 2. A Muslim Woman from Morocco
In Part 1, I referred to the Other as “a person that’s not me,” “a group that’s not us. In affluent Western countries, those that aren’t “us” are minority, often disadvantaged groups. In France, the...
View ArticleCelebrations: 1. Oaxaca
I have a huge collection of photos from our travels. I was looking through them a few days ago and found a goldmine from which to cull photo-based posts. Here are some pictures of a colorful procession...
View ArticlePainting Set Free―J.M.W. Turner and the French Impressionists
I was hit with a curious thought while previewing a few paintings online by Joseph Mallord William (J.M.W.) Turner, intended for an exhibit of his paintings at the de Young in San Francisco starting...
View ArticleSelfies. Narcissism. Totalitarianism?
I keep hearing about people taking selfies―taking your own picture. Usually with your cell phone. Sometimes with a special pole adapter which makes the gaze more natural. What do people do with these...
View ArticleCooking and Baking in Paris
It’s been ages since I bought a cookbook. The ones I have, I hardly ever consult anymore, since I have my own collection of recipes all organized in my iPad recipe app. But for me if you throw in...
View ArticleWars R US. Pawel Kuczynski’s Satirical war cartoons
All art in this article are the works of Pawel Kuczynski. The United States no longer produces much. Except wars. Since World War II we have been producing war after war, more or less continually...
View ArticleInspired Pairing: Pear and Almond Cream
I made a dessert tart yesterday and it came out so scrumptious I just had to share it here. It’s a pear tart we enjoyed many times in Paris. Somehow to me, like macarons, this tart is quintessentially...
View ArticleAdventurous Foodie in Florence
We travel to eat. Isn’t that, after all, a crucial part of any culture? It’s easy to have memorable taste experiences as an adventurous foodie in Florence, our favorite city in Italy. Florence—home of...
View ArticleFlorence For More Than Just A Day
Pages From Our Travel Journals: Florence It’s a long journey from San Francisco to Florence. Our summer flight took a fairly uneventful 17 hours of air and waiting time at airports. For a month our...
View ArticleParis Mon Amour: mindful journeys
Paris Mon Amour: Pages from our travel journal I cannot say exactly when I fell in love with Paris. I suppose I came by it gradually. Before I was aware that this love had seized me irrevocably, I...
View ArticleDo you like winning? A Valentine Giveaway
Do you like winning? Try A Valentine Giveaway Who doesn’t like winning? If you want to try your luck, join me at In The Kindle Book Review’s $800 Valentine’s Giveaway for a chance to win one of four...
View ArticleA Paris Autumn: Leaves
When you’ve visited a place many times and taken pictures of must-see sights as well as sights (including happenings) that you want to remember or which uniquely strike your fancy, do you stop taking...
View ArticleMy Amazing Discovery: New type of human being
I’m seeing, but not understanding a new person, perhaps even a new type of human being. Programmed and engineered A marvelous accelerated evolution brought about this new type of human being in 2008,...
View ArticleMaking Art With Stray Calla Lilies
“Come and see what I found on the side yard today,” my husband said three days ago while we were in the garage. He sounded so excited that, instead of rushing my bag of fresh groceries into the house,...
View ArticleMilan — Italy As Innovation And Design
Milan. We like it. Quite a lot. Some guide books talk about how Milan isn’t really Italy and many tours exclude it from their itineraries. Maybe, they mean it’s not Italy as they have romanticized it....
View ArticleThe incredible shrinking American taxpayer
I mailed my quarterly tax payment to the IRS. Again. This time I paid on time. No late fee for me. Trudging down to the post office, I tried to decide whether to pay for insurance to mail this grand …...
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