In Love with France, At Home In Italy

If you have been reading this blog over the years, part of the above title may sound familiar (see  CATCHING UP WITH MYSELF  and  STILL TRYING TO CATCH UP WITH MYSELF  from 2013  ).  Procrastination Queen that I am, I had been intending, for some time, to try to post the many blogs-in-progress that have been gathering dust in the Notes section of my IPhone. Many are awaiting the photos from my overloaded camera roll that should accompany them. It shouldn’t be that hard to put it all together, right? Well, maybe not for those who were born into the computer generation. But I am a certified techno-dunce--just ask any member of my techno-savvy family whom I need to have within screaming distance before I even dare turn on the computer. So I let the technical aspects of posting get in the way of finalizing my pieces. And now, the current state of the world makes me feel as if to write about my own mini-dramas might seem a sacrilege.  ...

Dear Donna Leon, Today's "Guardian" published a list of the recipients of this year's MacArthur genius grants. I didn't see your name on the list, but surely that was an oversight. Had I been on the committee, you certainly would have been there.  As smitten as I am by the preternaturally decent Commissario Brunetti, I am loving the frankness of your "My Venice." I see that you've gotten plenty of flack for being "unapologetically opinionated" about loud, fat, ignorant Americans and more, but so what? Some of us try not to, but we can be that way.  As a musician, I love hearing about your passion for Baroque opera. The increased graying of heads among classical music enthusiasts worries me, too. Where I live in Italy, it's currently hunting season, a phenomenon at which you take deadly aim. I'm with you on that. I can't even conceive of preferring the sound of gunshots to that of Handel's  ...