Park Avenue, New York, 1981. Photographer Arthur Elgort.
Me in Santa Margherita, Italy in 1996. No, not Santa Margherita … Portofino, just across the bay.
My maternal grandfather, Abraham Ballin, who fled Riga, Latvia for Sheffield, England at the turn of the last century. Part of the exodus of Eastern European Jews taking flight from the Russian pogroms.
William Shakespeare’s Ophelia. From Hamlet.
Bubbly, on the occasion of Monique’s birthday.
A glove shop in Rome. Longing to return.
Italian gelato.
Tortellini in brodo.
An elegant meal for one in Bologna, Italy. Longing to return.
The beach in Nice.
Those loungers aren’t free!
My favorite sweets from Provence: candied clementines, praline “birds egg” chocolates and almond calissons. Longing for some right now.
Freedom.
Juliet in Paris
Terrific photos. Your grandfather must have been quite the man…as for the Shakespeare photo, as you may know, it is an example of Pre Raphaelite Art from the mid to late 19th Century. It was manifest in the visual arts as well as literature.
My particular favorite from the era is a length poem by Christina Rossetti, whose father, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was one of the most influential artists of the period. The poem is Goblin Market, characterized not only for its unusual rhythmic rhyme scheme, but for its latent sexuality, very bold considering the Victorian era of Rossetti’s time
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44996/goblin-market
Sherm
That painting of Ophelia can be found in the Tate Gallery, London. The artist is John Everett Millais.
Yes, we have seen it…I know how much you love to read, and thought you would enjoy reading Goblin Market. I first became acquainted with the poem when it was dramatized some years ago by a small Chicago theater company, using only the poem’s text for the script.
Sherm
I had a look at the poem, Sherman, and it is very very LONG. It’s not a poem, it’s an opus!
A small correction: Dante Gabriel Rossetti was Christina Rossetti’s brother.
Take your time with it and enjoy the rhythm 😇
We too long to return to Italy. What with Covid and whatnot, it’s been too long. We used to go every year. We plan to return this Spring. Great photos. Thanks for the memories.
Prego.