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Birds of Marche
European Starling This will be the last post in my Birds of Marche series, which began with species highlights of the Black Redstart and Rock Pigeon. Among the birds I was most excited to see during my visit to the Marche region of Italy are the Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, and Blue Rock Thrush.…
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Life Is Too Short…
If you are someone who is fairly new to reading as a pastime, someone who is trying to make reading more of a habit, or someone who wants to dive into the world of literary classics but sense you have a daunting task ahead of you, then this post is for you. Adding a book…
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Where the Journey Begins & Other Art
Where the Journey Begins, paper collage, 2026 Here are some collages I made this week. Most of these are two and three pieces, which are at once the simplest and most difficult compositions for me. They’re the simplest because they have few component parts, and for that reason, they are also the most unforgiving. In…
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Deep Space Lounge & Other Art
Deep Space Lounge, paper collage, 2026 Here are some new experiments in collage art. Most of these collages come from a stack of 1930s-1950s National Geographic magazines I recently acquired. I’ll probably be working with those magazines for awhile, as they have some really terrific images in them, which I’m excited about. Not all of…
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A New Curriculum
Why Not Books?, Ethel C. Taylor (1920), public domain image from Artvee For the past six months or so, I have found myself wanting to do something different with this blog, yet having only a very vague sense of what that means. I have been creating less in terms of both poetry and collage artwork…
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Birds of Marche: Rock Pigeon
While Rock Pigeons are a common sight across the US, I don’t see them particularly often. It was, therefore, nice to spend some time watching the large flock of wild pigeons that hangs out on the rooftops of the town where I’ve been staying in Marche. You’ll notice there are some pretty significant variations in…
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Birds of Marche: Black Redstart
adult male I have been visiting the Marche region of Italy for the past two weeks. (I am returning home later this week.) While I don’t normally take my camera with me when I travel–because I prefer to travel light–I decided this time it might be fun to bring my camera and do some birding…
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On Classic Mysteries
If the little grey cells are not exercised, they grow the rust. – Hercule Poirot, The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie If you are a fan of detective fiction like I am, you are probably familiar with the silhouette above. If not…well…allow me to introduce you to Agatha Christie’s iconic, lovable, and incomparably well-mustached Belgian…
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Birds of Early Fall
Northern Flicker (female) Early fall might be my favorite time of year. For as much as I love summer, by late August, I almost always experience an end-of-summer malaise. And this year was no exception. By that time, the heat and high humidity have worn out their welcome, and when the first signs of fall…
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Birds of Late Summer
Brown Thrasher It’s been several months since I’ve published a collection of photographs from the backyard. The reason: summer is my least favorite season for photography. The heat and humidity have a lot to do with that, as does the light in my backyard, which I think is at its least optimal in the summer…
