Card 14

The Bubble Man

Marian and I went out looking for take-out from a deli, which she had thought opened at 4:30 ... but the steel grate was closed and there was nothing - I mean NOTHING - even evidencing that it was a deli or alive at all. A shopkeeper across the street said 5 pm ... so we wandered a bit, "killing" some time, and found the bubble man in a small campo or square a few blocks away. He obviously loved what he was doing. Kids played, popping the bubbles. About 1/3 of his audience was foreign, the rest looked local Venetian. I shot some images, but what they don't evince is the kaleidoscope of colors spectrally playing over the bubbles as their shapes modulated in three dimensions. To an ex-computer graphics programmer, it was stunning. Simple, but stunning

I also took a kind of quick-time movie, but the resolution was only news-grade quality, and the size far too big to drown you in for a mere visual "sound-bite".

Last night we all went out at 10:30 PM to ride the vaporetto up and down the grand canal which was all lit up and lovely. Unfortunately we went out so late that we almost missed the last vaporetto back and had to stay on the nearby island called Lido. Fortunately a late boat showed up at 11:30 and brought us back to the apartment. -- Julie

The Museum drawing sounded fun. Yes, the perspectives here in Venice are very complicated. And there is always so much detail. I haven't tried it yet but I am looking forward to it. I am still working on my simple still life, a piece of Venetian zucca (pumpkin). Today the town is covered in a grey mist but we might go out to the islands to have something to do. It makes a big difference with friends here, making everyday sunny and warm. We are looking forward to seeing you. Get ready for the five flights of stairs!

Yes, you could bring something for me! Would you please bring a measuring cup! A plastic one will do fine. Last night we had sausages and wild mushroom polenta and broccoli. But I had to guess at the measurements. I did OK but a simple measuring cup we make it easier.

And I am glad your dog has four legs. -- M

The restaurant food here is really mediocre and not a good value but the market foods are great. It seems that cooking at home is the only good way to get a meal. Good wine is cheap too. JB is very good at getting good things to cook. Yes, I am eating fishy things. Meat here is useless except for prosciutto and little bird things like quail. Last night JB got some take away...squid, cuttle fish and octopus. The pizza here is good but I haven't eaten as much of it as I like. -- M