by Yule Heibel

It’s interesting how often I sit down to write morning pages, but immediately – before even setting down the date – think of two or three other things I should put on a list or immediately do instead. It’s obviously the busy, chattering mind, driven by feelings of guilt and / or neurotic self-talk. I […]

Taking stock: I feel confused and slightly sad about being back here. We live differently in the “new world.” Most of it I like, but there’s a roughness and brutality to it, too – and interestingly, brutta means “ugly” in Italian, no? – which Europeans (especially Italians with their aesthetic flair) eschew. There’s our climate, […]

This will be a short, short entry. I’m tired, slightly hung over (and consequently not fully rested): last evening we met B. for our farewell drinks and dinner, starting with prosecco at the hotel bar and continuing with excellent food and wine at the Yellow Bar. Great dinner with B., such fun to talk at […]

We climbed the Duomo yesterday. I’ve been on a tear about all the idiotic photo-taking by tourists, and I myself have taken more or less no photos. And I took no photos yesterday, from the imposing height of the lantern, which was crowded with fellow awestruck tourists. But now I rather wish I had taken […]