Leo on the Rodin sculpture at the High

Here's Leo's take on the Rodin sculpture on the front lawn of the High Museum in Atlanta:

"He not moving. He not get down."

So true.

My view of the world today (feed the mind's eye)

I have this little obsession with what I put atop my chest of drawers. As if the little items have a certain power, perhaps, to remind me of what is right. Not that I need reminders of the people in this photo. But maybe sometimes I need a reminder to be grateful.

Signs of Christmas (for Jeanne)

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

For me, it is.

I have my Buon Natale sign up. It's finally time to whip out my favorite CD of Christmas songs, Robert Shaw's Festival of Carols, which I swiped from my parents. (I can't start listening to it too soon. That would ruin everything.)

And as soon as I cue it up, I have to start baking cookies.

Pretty soon, it will be time for the ultimate Christmas tradition.

But not yet. Not yet.

Happy Holidays!

Elena Ferrante quotes (#2)

From Elena Ferrante's Q&A with the Financial Times:

Q. When did you know you were going to be a writer?
A. I still don't know -- and I never will.

Q. What does it mean to be a writer?
A. Pursuing what we are not able to say. Writing during any scrap of free time and without worrying about getting published.

For more of this intriguing interview, go here:

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7f1c9ed4-4269-11e4-9818-00144feabdc0.html/

The New York Times also had an article about Ferrante this week:

http://nyti.ms/1zogEeC/

Io (Leo) and Loud Noisies (not a typo)

One little person -- my little person -- loves “loud noisies.”

Not loud noises, loud noisies.

My little Leo finds ways to distort the language that instantly sound like a vast improvement over the original.

He also refers to himself as "io," which he pronounces as "ee-oh." It turns out 'L' is a tough letter for little tongues! So to say his own name, he says "Io."

This linguistic misstep turns out to be anything but. Indeed, for me, it's magical. Little does he know "io" means "I" in Italian. Little does he know the importance of Italian to me -- and to him.

Elena Ferrante quotes

From Elena Ferrante's La Frantumaglia:

“Il bisogno d’amore è l’esperienza centrale della nostra esistenza.”

[Trans.: "The need for love is the central experience of our existence."]