London, Now and Then
My first impression of London, when I stepped off the Heathrow-Express at Paddington Station, was that it didn’t sound like London. I heard accents and ...
Short Story Pick: “Seasons of Glass and Iron” by Amal El–Mohtar
Amal El-Mohtar’s “Seasons of Glass and Iron” tells the tale of Tabitha, who must walk through seven pairs of iron shoes, and Amira, who sits on a throne atop a glass hill, which she cannot move from. Each woman lives in her own personal prison, but life gets a little brighter when they happen to ...
The Mirror of Erised: What is Your Heart’s Desire?
The Mirror of Erised presents one of the most notable and symbolic moments in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Harry stumbles upon the mirror one night, stowed in an unused classroom. When he looks in the mirror, he finds the image of is parents standing with him. Returning night after night to view the ...
Recycled Metal Sculptures in Las Vegas
Their website advertises crystals, gemstones, fossils and exotic belts under the logo, but Kalifano in Las Vegas offers something even more unique- although, to be honest, they had me at “fossils”. Founded in 1912, Kalifano brings rare and novelty items to Las Vegas shoppers via their stores in The Venetian at the Grand Canal Shoppes ...
Beryl Markham’s West with the Night: A Tale of Africa and Aviation
Reading Beryl Markham’s memoir West with the Night, I was swept up in a fantasy of a dream life in early 20th century Kenya. The book paints images of a childhood running through the farms and plains of Africa, hunting with indigenous people of the region, an independent young adulthood as a horse trainer and ...
Monthly Wrap: January 2018
“Monthly Wrap” is my monthly post about the things I’m loving, find interesting or just feel like sharing. In other words, whatever happens to be taking up space in my brain. Here’s where my head has been recently: Vegas I went to Las Vegas for the first time this month! I’m not big on the ...
Van Gogh Painting or Newly Processed Images of Jupiter?
NASA’s Juno mission has been sending raw images of Jupiter in a series of flybys since July 2016. The mission has relied on the public to process and edit and even get creative with these raw images from the JunoCam. So far, that delivery has resulted in something quite unique and beautiful since their first ...
Most Anticipated RPGs of 2018
Kingdom Hearts III Kingdom Hearts II was released over a decade ago and fans have been waiting for the third installment of the main Kingdom Hearts story for some time. With the release of the trailer last year featuring Toy Story, we should reasonably expect the game sometime this year (though no official date has ...
Nostalgia Head: Mid-Century Hollywood Dance Queens
During the 1950s and 60s musicals were hugely popular on the big screen. Actors like Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire tapped their way into the hearts of American film-goers. However, the ones doing the real leg-work (ha, sorry), were the dancing divas. From Ann-Margaret to Cyd Charisse, these women brought entertainment through their nimble footwork ...
Year Wrap: December 2017
Instead of doing a “Monthly Wrap” for December, I’m doing a year wrap! Looking back, reflecting and preparing for an even better 2018. At first glance, 2017 did not feel like an eventful year. There were no major milestones for me, but after some reflection, I realized it was a pretty fun and accomplished year. ...
Beautiful Celestial Maps from the 1700s
“The Atlas Celeste de Flamsteed” contains early mappings of many well known constellations and stars that we are familiar with today. John Flamsteed was an English astronomer in the late 1600s, who became the first Astronomer Royal under King Charles II. Flamsteed spent his life looking at the heavens and documenting over 3000 stars for ...
