Germaine Greer recently took it upon herself to comment on the debates about gay marriage. Now, first I have to say that I have a great deal of respect for Germaine. She’s difficult, noisy, articulate, passionate, awkward, intelligent and all kinds of other adjectives. She says what she thinks, … Continue reading
I’m not a huge fan of three act structure if it’s talked about as the ONLY structure available to writers or other creators who work with narrative, or – as in this TED talk created by the educator Matthew Winkler – people say that it’s a universal mythic structure that … Continue reading
Ray and Rosalie just forwarded me this review of Rupetta in The Tablet, a Catholic periodical. I was pretty worried about how the reviewer would respond to the quite critical portrait of (an) organised religion in the book, let alone to the oodles of lesbians romping around in the book. … Continue reading
I respect kindness in human beings first of all, and kindness to animals. I don’t respect the law; I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in … Continue reading
The architecture of Amsterdam is one of its most unique features. Tall, narrow houses lean forward into the streets, over streets paved with small, ochre bricks. The houses are built this way partly because, at the time many of these houses were built, their owners were taxed on the amount … Continue reading
Rembrandt’s astonishing painting of the anatomy lesson is temporarily housed at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. I couldn’t wait to see this painting. In fact, I’m afraid I rushed through rooms full of many of the other paintings that are temporarily housed there while the Mauritshuis is being renovated … Continue reading
Dutch writer and illustrator Marie (Rie) Cramer was born in what was then the Dutch East Indies (Java) in 1887. Her father was often at sea, and two of her older sisters were sent to school in the Netherlands in the 1890s. By 1896, however, Rie, her sister Erna, and … Continue reading
I’m going to write a whole slew of really LONG posts soon. In fact, I have drafts of about six on my hard drive, but while I have intermittent internet access it’s a bit challenging. I promise. Really. Coming soon, blog posts on: Frans Hals Museum, The Anatomy Lesson of … Continue reading
