From Siberia to . . .

This has been the most brutal winter I have known since moving to France. Next week I will be in Bangkok and Siem Reap. Just checked the weather forecast for Siem Reap. Heat index: 132 F !! This is going…

Anticipation

  Headed to Bangkok in February and reading a book about street food (of course) in preparation. Shall I eat cubed duck blood? Drink cold chrysanthemum tea or pickled plum juice? Stir-fried morning glory? Definitely may have to visit the…

Quote for 2012

“Now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” Ranier Maria Rilke Still looking for the source!

2012 in books

Will I keep a list this year? Here’s a start: from the To-Read Shelf:   Poet of the Appetites: The Lives and Loves of MFK Fisher, by Joan Reardon   Every time I read about MFKF, I think of how…

Two memorable quotes, recorded here for cyberposterity: "After all everybody, that is, everybody who writes is interested in living inside themselves in order to tell what is inside themselves. That is why writers have to have two countries, the one…

Went to Raleigh today to see Rembrandt in America. Some very fine paintings to admire.