tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11389783263516583912026-04-20T15:32:05.048+02:00This blog is where I bring my multiple interests together, inviting you to join me as we see how everything is connected.Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.comBlogger233125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-63156702038350986092017-09-11T20:53:00.001+02:002017-09-11T20:53:46.641+02:00

A Bookish Affair: Review: Botticelli's Muse by Dorah Blume

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-66128425939640545992017-01-22T16:43:00.001+01:002017-01-22T16:43:14.103+01:00

A groundswell call-to-action to the people, by the people, for the people. Mr. Trump, you owe us the courtesy of a response! We're all waiting . . .

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-3736975011974868572016-08-07T04:40:00.000+02:002016-08-07T04:42:56.800+02:00

My last night in Silvi Marina I visited a miniature Luna Park, a name given to any place with a few amusement rides. The next colorful sight was this street art in Rome just a few steps from the actual Vatican wall. One of the biggest highlights of my visit to Rome was our trip to CineCittà where so many sets have been made for blockbuster films. Can you guess which two of the five shots

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-14510563151662130622016-07-14T23:54:00.000+02:002016-07-14T23:55:23.547+02:00

Words aren't coming easily tonight, so here are some pictures with captions to get current. My one souvenir from London—a canvas bag commemorating the Queen's 90th. My first view of the Arno from the bus from Pisa Airport. The painterly view of the Umbrian countryside from my room in Rancolfo. The castle near Perugia where gifted artists spend six weeksworking on their projects.

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-75074101558520556872016-07-03T15:26:00.000+02:002016-07-03T15:27:07.939+02:00

This all started when I moved to LA for April and May and rented out my Boston place as an airbnb destination. Can't go home again now until July 29. So I've been on the move enjoying my adorable granddaughter in LA and now finding long time friends in Europe. The European leg started on June 4 in London, continued on to Perugia, and since the 21st, I've been holed up in a little known seaside

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-5305932163520049232016-01-21T17:23:00.000+01:002016-01-21T17:23:59.863+01:00

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-34858459233895701682015-04-05T17:50:00.000+02:002015-04-05T17:50:44.008+02:00

Certain activities in my neighborhood mark my city calendar in my head telling me that time is passing. Spring brings Anime Boston, the Marathon, and this year the melting of the ice on the Charles River. Out walking a couple of days ago, I saw this guy in the open water negotiating between the floating blocks of ice. Then a few days later the street was dotted, then crowded with hundreds of

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-43923416483389022442015-02-24T17:48:00.000+01:002015-02-24T17:48:02.251+01:00

I'm not one who's won much, but gaining the title of having lived in Boston during the worst snowfall in recorded history would be some kind of badge of honor, especially when the rest of my family is on the West Coast. And who wants to be in second place? A few more inches of the white stuff will take us to the top of the charts. Bring it on! On March 7, 2007, on a balmy day that promised an

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-55627792908069895282015-02-10T23:17:00.001+01:002015-02-10T23:17:28.174+01:00

Yesterday when I ventured outside for a walk I broke the spell of being officially snowbound. As I was walking with my Yak Trax cleats I noticed that even along the sidewalk my feet were getting more exercise, more massaging than I would normally when walking cleatless on a flat surface. Wobbling through the heavy snow it felt like walking through a sand dune or deep mushy sand at the beach.

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-31271508330062732502015-02-09T20:24:00.001+01:002015-02-09T20:26:50.805+01:00

I love snow days. But after too many of them I get into a snow daze. I feel my body expanding and my mind shrinking from not enough oxygen. My friend Claire who lives in the wilds of Maine challenged me today to get myself walking again. She said, "Go get some of those cleats you put onto the bottoms of your shoes."  I admitted to having a pair I bought years ago but never liked because

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-38797606832628457182014-12-31T00:00:00.001+01:002014-12-31T00:00:45.001+01:00

Don't know exactly why my blog life got interrupted for so long, but here I am saying hello and happy new year after more than a year away from the blogosphere.    Maybe it was the birth pains of reinventing myself as an ESL teacher in 2014, but I've been wrestling our illogical English language with several different student populations since January: Chinese children (7-13 y. o.) in

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-73029713826942366192013-12-15T20:21:00.000+01:002013-12-15T20:21:08.695+01:00

Santa Sprinters outside of the Pour House on Boylston St. I never know what I'm going to see along Boylston Street. Yesterday as the snow was beginning to fall, I saw this trio of Santa Sprinters hovering together outside the Pour House restaurant in the frigid air. They happily smiled for me. They were about to do some santa sprinting to stay "warm" while spreading holiday cheer. I asked if

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-52824571704716428082013-11-04T19:30:00.002+01:002013-11-04T19:32:09.379+01:00

Last night's Zentangle, complete with Celtic Square Knot In the last few days, I've become infected with a new obsession: Zentangling. Started by the artists Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, the art of the Zentangle is a meditative way to take your intuitive act of doodling to new heights. Zentangle patterns and textures augment your own visual vocabulary, inspiring and moving your creations

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-17509348990928640022013-11-02T17:54:00.000+01:002013-11-02T17:54:22.006+01:00

 So much happiness all through the streets of Boston today as the Red Sox nation—players and fans— celebrated their recent victory. Even I, an ignorant sports fan, had watched the final game! I don't know the names of all the players, which beard belongs to whom. Here are some shots from this morning's parade that conveniently passed right by my front door on Boylston Street. I think I got

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-76691918937733881152013-09-26T18:09:00.001+02:002013-09-26T18:14:09.268+02:00

Just outside the Berklee Book Store If you can't perform inside Symphony, you can do it today, just outside it . . . Thanks to the program streetpianos.com you can sit yourself down and plunk away. The red piano below is just outside Symphony hall and free for your enjoyment. On my walk in Boston's Fenway area yesterday I passed by three of these uprights, each one uniquely hand decorated.

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-54025870891959013482013-09-23T19:12:00.000+02:002013-09-23T19:12:03.812+02:00

List price $5,800 for this Aged Bronze Water Closet by Jemal Wright Bath Design Ever since taking a dump in a hole in Mumbai, where I had to sweep up any miss-aimed matter with a primitive broom that looked like the kind witches fly, I have had a fantasy of writing a book called, "Toilets of the World." My visit to a famous shrine in Kyoto back in the year 2000 brought me to a

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-11812338804821288552013-09-03T15:11:00.000+02:002013-09-03T15:11:40.526+02:00

Every now and then I vow to get off of "the white stuff." Not talking about white powder one sees in crime shows, I'm talking about dairy, sugar, flour, and all combinations of same. Time for my next cholesterol screening is approaching and I always do much better after a few weeks off the white stuff. Something about this picture of a reclining "Hello Kitty!" that I took at the Prudential mall

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-830101630932302642013-08-16T17:24:00.001+02:002013-08-16T17:27:26.612+02:00

Just read these words on a recent email introducing a new fashion statement (above), "The Giger collection is inspired by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger, particularly his visual effects work on the Alien movies. While Solo’s first line, Specimen, was extremely floral-driven, Giger is “a little more of me,” he says. “It’s darker and edgier.” Solo also looks to Alexander McQueen and other

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-25622898882063746452013-08-10T21:55:00.001+02:002013-08-10T21:56:57.067+02:00

On a recent stroll through the Prudential Center Mall, I saw this lovely being sitting all by herself, quietly looking out from beneath her wrapping. When I asked if I could photograph her she nodded permission. Pretty soon there was a crowd gathering trying to guess who she was and why she was there, but she did not utter a sound. If you click on her picture, you'll see more detail, especially

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-87883663985148737562013-07-24T06:30:00.000+02:002013-07-24T06:30:43.242+02:00

How can it be "making art" when a whole class ends up painting the same picture? But then again, isn't that what I did in the 60s at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy? Then, each student was expected to render his/her interpretation of the live model—we were each painting the same subject but in our own individual way.   At the Paint Bar on Newbury Street, participants are

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-39978025812861342512013-06-30T06:00:00.000+02:002013-06-30T06:01:41.405+02:00

They left their convening site at Boston Common Band Stand at 10 p.m. tonight, June 29, and hit the road on their Fourth Annual World Naked Bicycle Ride Boston to raise awareness! It worked. I was walking from the Kendall Sq. movie, just in front of MIT on Mass Ave., when a slew of nude cyclists flew by. I fumbled for my camera to catch some skin before they passed. One guy was on roller

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-57390411255441547852013-06-24T16:31:00.002+02:002013-06-24T16:36:30.170+02:00

If you click on this picture you can really appreciate the players

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-53555198216850946772013-06-18T07:11:00.000+02:002013-06-18T07:15:23.210+02:00

As I walked home from a meeting on Peterborough Street past the Victory Gardens heading toward the Prudential, the light shining through the rain told me there had to be a rainbow somewhere. Once I hit Boylston Street, there it was, a double rainbow, too. Everyone stopped to record the phenomenon with their smart phones. Everyone smiling, chatting with strangers at the miracle. Happiness

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-52440394951008399162013-06-10T00:39:00.001+02:002013-06-10T05:58:31.507+02:00

The Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence full of Pride. In spite of the 7-hour power outage that blackened my neighborhood this morning around 3 a.m., I love living on Boylston Street! Even without checking the papers or websites for Boston events—just walking out my front door— I run smack into surprises. Last month there was the Annual Animé festival where thousands of people dressed up

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138978326351658391.post-81424818284349143832013-05-05T13:45:00.000+02:002013-05-05T13:45:26.385+02:00

For the last few days, I've been wanting to post some of these images from Boylston Street and the memorial site in Copley Square. Often, as thoughts mull around in my brain I get a sense of what I want to say in the post, then  let myself ramble on towards some kind of conclusion, but this time I want to give those of you who can't be there in person, a glimpse of the outpouring from

Deborah Bluesteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149668727755324866noreply@blogger.com2