December, from Maurice Sendak's Chicken Soup With Rice, 1962 Merry once merry twice merry chicken soup with rice.

For those of you who are a tad sun-deprived, here is a pic from my walk near #Kotor today, as the morning mist rises from the sea

By the time this is posted, my lemony #beet soup with lentils will be simmering on the stove – I will conquer the #lemon tree’s bounty through cooking

So far #DoctorThorne is not as delightful, hilarious and all-around brilliant as the previous Barsetshire volumes by #Trollope – though the cover (a William Morris wallpaper design) is exquisite. Thoughts, @nonsuchbook.bsky.social? #Booksky 📚

To celebrate #Caturday, someone is helping me with my reading… #CatsofBluesky

My friend’s #lemon tree is covered in fruit so I’m making #marmalade (or rather a kind of jam which uses the entire lemon – it’s an Italian recipe)

I love looking out an #airplane window – today I went from Venice to Tivat via Belgrade

Here is some peaceful golden foliage to make up for my last 2 posts’ stilted highbrow vibe (which is actually very me, I admit…)

At the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, I discovered the wild works of Argentine ceramic artist #LucioFontana (1899-1968). Here are one early work & one late piece.

My friend Marianna, whose gifts always expand my horizons, sent me this fascinating #autobiography of translator Lilianna Lungina (1920-1998), whose life pretty much coincided with that of the #USSR. Much of it is chilling.

On Nov. 21, #Venice remembers the end of the 1631 #plague with visits to the Santa Maria della Salute basilica – I’m not a Christian but I’m willing to hedge my bets, so I lit a candle too… #Venezia

I can’t resist a book about/by #ballet dancers – and Karen Valby’s The Swans of Harlem is positively enlightening to boot

This golden #gingko is for @sparrowpost.bsky.social, who always comes across magical trees on her walks

Terrific panel at the #VeniceNoir festival about how realistic murders are (and should be) in #crimefiction – featuring a legit British pathologist surrounded by lively, fiery novelists @annamazz.bsky.social @ianrankin1.bsky.social @tombenjamin.bsky.social

Like writers’ work, the work of professional translators has been pillaged by #AI companies to train #LLMmodels so it’s disheartening when a wonderful #bookfestival features an AI translator (with an awful output at that)… #VeniceNoir @annamazz.bsky.social @davidhewson.com

An appropriately eerie, foggy #Venice hosts the #VeniceNoir festival as of today – the Trial of Casanova panel was brilliant, both fun and thought provoking #Venezia #ReadingVenice

Today it’s the Festa di San Martin – children in #Venice enjoy Saint Martin-shaped biscotti covered with candy and frosting, and go around their neighborhood banging on pots and pans to demand candy from storekeepers. #Venezia

I found some #quince at the farmers’ market so I made dulce de membrillo, a treat that reminds me of my grandparents’ native Uruguay… #dulcedemembrillo

Churches in #Italy often feature tiny #thriftstores. At a church in #Venice I just got a used checkered button-down shirt (100% cotton, Made in England) as a replacement for a beloved plaid shirt that a friend gave me 30 years ago, when I was a teenager, and that’s now literally threadbare

I’ve been taking #vogaveneta (Venetian-style #rowing, standing up) lessons for over a year now and it’s not getting any easier… #Venice #Venezia

So comforting, delicious and nutritious – my #stracciatella #soup with #rainbowchard (instead of the classic spinach, which I couldn’t find at the farmers’ market), dried tomatoes and a couple of beaten eggs #vegetarian

My #JosephConrad spree continues with Typhoon

They built a temporary floating bridge between #Venice and the San Michele cemetery for the Day of the Dead weekend #Venezia

A wonderful exhibition about writer #MarioRigoniStern highlights his WW2 experiences, his friendship with Primo Levi and his lifelong passion for nature, especially his native mountains around Asiago. At the Palazzo Bomben in #Treviso

I love it that the EMERGENCY EXIT sign is reflected in this #selportrait of Edvard #Munch, now on display at the Candiani Center in #Venice-Mestre

Fresh #gnocchi topped with chopped #walnuts and #parsley – simply scrumptious

Today’s sunset

A new Scottish tartan memorializing the (mainly) female victims of the Witchcraft Act has been officially registered, created by Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi, founders of the Witches of Scotland campaign #WomensArt via Smithsonian Magazine

Apparently #LaFenice gives my beloved Alban Berg’s #Wozzeck in Italian [gasp]

Another Saturday, another Venetian #sailing (vela al terzo) lesson #Venice #velaalterzo

So simple yet so scrumptious – 2 fried eggs from my #farmersmarket supplier, whose sign, complete with pics, advertises “free and happy hens”

In awe of the master, as always – #JosephConrad. I’d never read his short story collection Within the Tides but it seemed apt to read it on a boat, even if it’s just a vaporetto… #Booksky 📚

Many #Venice bars & #wine shops are currently displaying signs advertising the arrival of the #torbolino – a new wine, very fruity and sweet, available only for a few weeks in the fall.

On Saturday October 18th, I’m asking you to attend the No King’s March in your local communities. We have witnessed the increasing authoritarianism and its policies in our country. We dissent.

The road to Carpaccio! @naguibmechawar.bsky.social

#Baking #bread is kind of taking over my life. I’m not ready to join the sourdough starter crowd just yet but it’s merely a matter of time…

Reading A Drop of the Hard Stuff by #LawrenceBlock makes me miss NYC, but that may be because I always miss NYC #Booksky 📚

#Munch alert!

Chicagoans: Attend this virtual Rapid Response training on Wed 10/14 at 4pm to learn how to help protect our neighbors during this occupation. zoom.us/webinar/regi...

When you live in #Venice, admitting you’ve only read a couple of #DonnaLeon crime novels may be even more embarrassing than reading one in public… I’m trying to fill the gaps in my #CommissarioBrunetti education with Death in a Strange Country #ReadingVenice #Booksky 📚

During a vela al terzo (Venetian sailing) outing today, I spotted this altar in the lagoon #Venice #Venezia

Congratulations to new Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado for her courageous struggle to bring democracy to Venezuela.

Sprinting to the #library to return this pile – novels by #LallaRomano (a revelation!), #LawrenceSterne (dazzling) & #DonnaLeon, and #MarkKurlansky ‘s absolutely fascinating history of salt

Doesn’t this sunset look like it’s trolling J.M.W. Tuner? #Venice #Venezia

On smaller boats there are removable keels but also retractable. There's a boat (log canoe) that used to be used for fishing but now for racing. They use a retractable centerboard. A pretty interesting rig as well though today they have massive sails so capsize easily.

One of my great grandmothers immigrated from Italy to Uruguay so I’m excited to attend a conference about Italian women who emigrated to Latin America, hosted by the Ateneo Veneto in #Venice.

Every time I meet a very large #cat I start hoping I just stepped into The Master & Margarita by #Bulgakov…

Lesson 2 of my #velaalterzo (Venetian #sailing) course! #Venice #Venezia

It was hard not to eat them all in one sitting! #plums

Some people live their bliss and enrich everyone and everything around them. Goodall was such a soul. RIP.