Beautiful places

 Publishing news will be late this week.

I find myself thinking about beautiful mosaics this week, such as this one in Praiano, Italy:

Don't know why that's on my mind, just a piece of interesting artistry seen on my honeymoon that has stuck with me.  

Of course, the natural artistry of the town (i.e. its view) is also spectacular.

Speaking of gorgeous natural and man-made scenery, there's a place much closer to home with a view, in Edenton, NC.

It's a lovely little town, full of kind people (who are willing to help a bride and groom on the way to their wedding with a broken-down car!), and has a beautiful salt marsh lighthouse. If you ever go through there near sunset, head out onto the boardwalk and see the lighthouse lit gold under an umber sky. If you're early, check out the Soda Shoppe and get yourself some ice cream.

What's something beautiful you've seen, or always wanted to see?

Hope you have a good Friday! 

Fish market

Publishing news will be up this weekend.

Until then, enjoy a visual tour of a Taiwanese fish market.

Fresh fish--really fresh!

Just steam and eat.

Or have some dried fish.

Does this make any other sushi lovers hungry?

Upstairs is a restaurant where they'll cook some
of the bounty up and serve it to you.

Weekend at the Beach

Some sounds can make silence both more silent and more beautiful. The crashing of the waves on an empty beach, for example, create a haven from city noise, drowning out traffic and making you feel like you're the only around for miles. The calling of the gulls are the only voices, and if it weren't so lovely it would be lonely. But there's a primal feel to it, where even the sting of sea-breeze blown sand on your ankles is pleasant, and the salt-laden air may be occasionally burdened by the foulness of decaying sealife, but even along the crab-corpse strewn beach debris it's still salt-scented, still better and fresher than the odors of streets.

Though in February the seabreeze cuts ice cold, and you're not quite sure on getting home if you're sun-burned or wind-chapped, it's still a walk in the sand. Though the sand blows into your sneakers and grits between your toes, and gives way beneath your sliding steps as you walk, making every half mile the effort a full, you feel more refreshed for having made the effort. And though the wind cuts through your jacket, the sun fights to warm you, so you're never quite at the wrong edge of cold, even if your skin when you get home is red and your hands white despite hiding in your pockets.

Even in winter throes, the beach has an innate beauty that soothes the soul. Especially in the sort of winter when a little silence is the balm you may have needed anyway.

Productive weekend

Went on a writing retreat this weekend with a friend, and it was a lot of fun. We made good progress and did a lot of writing, plus worked in some Christmas shopping and delicious food.

Our hotel room was, um, a bit more homey than I might have expected, and did not make the best first impression the night we rolled in. The table needed a couple of strategically placed crushed cups to be sturdy enough to hold the teapot, and we may have found the lack of curtains so delightful that we covered the LED light outside the window with a pillow case. That and a washcloth over the bright display screen on the phone made it adequately dark to sleep.

Working on the sequel,
la ti da ti da...

It's a good thing it was a nice cool LED lightbulb and not a normal heat-making one, is what I'm saying.

Still the beds were warm, the room was clean, and the lobby was cute. It was a good deal and a great location, so the price was right. In the evening, we sat by the lobby fire and wrote nice and cozy. We had a fridge and microwave in the room, and were therefore perfectly able to make tea in the microwave-friendly teapot, too. The staff was friendly, too.


Though it wasn't perfect, there was nothing that was an absolute deal-breaker in a room for me. We could fix the little problems we found, at least enough for our purposes. So while the room hadn't made a perfect first impression, it was basically just what we needed, and if I've been in better light-proofed rooms with sturdier bedside tables, I still found it perfectly satisfactory for a writing weekend, and was sad to leave by the last day.

It turns out that perfection isn't what most people look for in most things in life. We just want something that serves our goals (in this case, productive writing and a good time with friends). 

What makes a hotel room adequate for you for a writers' weekend? And what will you absolutely not put up with?

Memorials at the National Mall

I visited DC recently, and got a chance to see the memorials on the mall. I found the quotes on the Roosevelt Memorial particularly meaningful. Some wisdom from the past that we should continue to keep in mind:

"In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of
social justice... the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man.

"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their
background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred,
is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

I also checked out the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. I'd not had the chance to see it before, and it is very impressive.

You can find out more about the
symbolism of the memorial here.

 And of course, while I was there, also saw the World War II memorial, the Washington monument, and the Lincoln memorial.

I notice that our memorials of the past all have some things in common: embrace equality and love of mankind regardless of borders or origin, seek freedom for all, cast aside prejudice and hatred, and remember the high cost of war and social oppression.

So. There is the hard-earned wisdom of the past. If you ever get the chance, take a walk around the National Mall. And make sure to read the writings on the walls. You'll be glad you did.

Museums of the World

Statue from outside the
National Palace Museum in
Taiwan, outside Taipei.

I have a fondness for museums, though I don't get around to visiting them very often.

When I was young, I wasn't too interested in them, unless they were interactive and kid-themed. But as I've gotten older, I have come to appreciate the wealth of history and culture, and the beauty of what can be found.

Illuminated Tao Te Ching from National Palace Museum

It's not always possible to work in a museum visit, but when it is, I enjoy the experience. I'm no art major, nor a historian, but it's still intriguing. On my recent trip to visit my in-laws in Taiwan, I had the chance to visit the National Palace Museum and the Jade and Coral museum in Taipei 101. The ancient ceramics and artworks at the National Palace museum were a huge highlight for me, and I was stunned by the artistry at the (admittedly far more commercial) Taipei 101 collection.

I once had a chance to explore the Louvre, but I hadn't nearly enough time to really get a sense of it. I think I would have been in love if I'd had more time to explore. Meanwhile, the Museum of Modern Art in New York was pretty cool, especially seeing Starry Night in person, but honestly I think I had more fun overall at the Museum of Life and Science closer to home in NC, because of the beautiful butterfly house. Of course, that's a lot easier to visit, and has a giant tree fort, so maybe that plays a part in my preference.

When you travel, do you take the time to visit museums? What are some of the favorite museums you've been to?

Jade sculpture from jade and coral museum
at Taipei 101

What's your best travel story?

Maybe my best travel story is the time my friends and I, in high school, set off to the beach (in the era before any of us had GPSs, let alone smart phones), and wound up turning a 3-hour straight drive into a 9-hour tour through the middle of South Carolina due to missing a few exits.

Or perhaps it was the trip to the International Youth League Conference in Prague (for which my brother and I did an impressive amount of local scholarship-gathering, me a senior in high school and he in college), wherein, accompanied by an international coterie of college-age students and following a couple of trips to pubs, my brother's roommate had been dared to knock on the first door in the girl's dorm and propose. Poor guy; to save his life from my big brother's wrath, I'm afraid I had to break his heart by turning him down. Also, my own roommate and the entirety of the coterie may have roused the hall with their laughter.

There was also the Thanksgiving at the beach in which we adopted one of my friends for the holiday. She and I decided to try the hot tub, but after having been joined by a rather creepy old man in the indoor one, relocated to the outdoor hot tub. As it was in the low 40sF, Creepy Guy did not attempt to follow. After warming up in the hot tub, we sprinted across the icy sand to plunge into the winter ocean water, and fled, shrieking, back to the hot tub. Several times.

Beautiful city, beautiful island,
and a wonderful trip, friendly
cults and all!

Or there was the time when, on a visit to my fiance's parents in Taiwan, they decided to take us to a new nearby temple over Chinese New Year. They'd thought it was very impressive-looking Buddhist temple, and taking me to experience some local culture was the perfect excuse to check it out. Oh boy, were they mortified when the giant laughing Buddha temple turned out to be a cult! We still laugh about it together. Although as the cult was devoted to happiness and members were required to cultivate friendliness, it was actually quite the fun tour for me!

What's your favorite travel story/misadventure?