Like a sommelier pairing wine with food, I like to layer my life with a delicious, yet distinctive, blend of art. Sometimes the perfect mix just comes to me like Athena springing from the brow of Zeus and a theme presents itself as a sort of amuse-bouche of fate. Tonight, it has been a combination of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Theodore von…
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Ophelia Through the Kaleidoscope
Shakespeare began Hamlet with the ghost of a slain king, but if there is a lasting phantom that haunts us from the play, it is certainly the character of Ophelia. She has inspired countless works of art, and each generation attempts to explore and reconstruct her in a myriad of ways. My current rabbit hole is the gleeful pursuit…
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Lessons from ‘Possession’: The Myth of Melusine
(Part one of a series.) Possession is an intricate novel written in 1990 by A.S. Byatt. A combination of mystery, myth, and romance, it is a book that delves into the lives of two 19th century poets and the pair of 20th century-era academics that attempt to piece together the poets’ lives. When I assess the books I have loved…
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#WombatFriday: T-Dub Visits the Rossetti Clan
T-Dub Photobombs Great Moments in Pre-Raphaelite History. September 1863. Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, photographs Dante Gabriel Rossetti with his sister Christina, mother Frances, and brother William. Thaddeus Fern Diogenes Wombat, known to friends as T-Dub, crashes their little soiree, much to Rossetti’s perplexed delight. Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, wrote a charming account…
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Embracing Natural Magic
We all need a bit of magic in our lives. Some of us have more than others. Part of it may be influenced by our personality. If we have a natural flair for seeking that particular kind of beauty, we can usually find it. But another part of savoring magic is paying attention to ourselves and knowing what works for…
