In 1980, the average Italian drank 50 liters of water per year. Today that number has soared to 200, as bottled water has become more plentiful, affordable and more habitual—which is a good thing, right? Well, the shadow side of all that water consumption is the abundance of plastic bottles, not to mention those nasty […]
Sure, there’s the Indy 500. Then there’s NASCAR Racing. Even Formula Racing. But none of them compares with the racing event held around June 1st in Tuscany. That’s the day for the annual world-class er . . . locally celebrated Cappello Cup. In early summer, we were indeed fortunate to be introduced to this unique […]
We first went to Barcelona in our early 20s. Traveling Europe together on Eurail passes, Hostels and very little money, we intended to experience the cultures from an ordinary perspective and to see every architectural treasure we could get our eyes on. The ultimate jewels in that treasure chest lay in Catalonia where the famous […]
We went to an exhibit at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, which is an incredible experience, even without an exhibition. Fortunately, the Palazzo was the site chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime collection of paintings from around the world by the Renaissance artist Beato Angelico. He was also known as Fra Angelico (Dominican Friar 1395-1455) prior to […]
Grit—”I let the earth collect beneath my fingernails, in the Tuscan hills.” Mornings = coffee. We have a handful of our favorite haunts around town, so on a beautiful sun-filtered San Diego morning, we plucked out a location and off we went. As we sipped coffee, our friend Andrew slid a chair up to the […]
“You’re so lucky!” We often hear that phrase. But actually, we believe that chance and intention are best friends. To quote the Roman philosopher, Seneca, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”. To envision a world where we individually create our own realities with sheer force of will, defies our lived experience. Yet to […]
In 1879, the printer/illustrator Benjamin Henry Day invented “Ben Day dots,” those ubiquitous dots that illustrate comics. This invention opened up possibilities for creative expression. Day concluded that images don’t need to be rendered in full color, but rather, could be made from thousands of tiny equal-size dots with varied spacing, color or even overlapping […]
“How much is that doggie in the window The one with the waggly tail How much is that doggie in the window I do hope that doggie’s for sale” Patti Page popularized the novelty song, “(How much is) That Doggie in the Window?” in 1952, when we had each achieved the magical age of 1. […]
STARDUST In January 2022, Em’s mom, Rose Louise died. After nearly 100 wonderful years, she decided to make a final bow, take a step back and allow the velvet curtain to drop. No doubt, she’s tap dancing through the streets of Heaven, into the Forever. At least, that’s the image we’ve decided to embrace when […]
Our Tuscan adventure taught us that strength, power, intellect, efficiency, and capability are genderless qualities. And sometimes they are named Barbara. We were determined to find a one room art/music studio in Italy—full of romance, abundance, creativity, magic, wonder, and beauty. Essentially, we wanted to immerse ourselves in the powerful Feminine Energy of the Tuscan […]
