corner view: music

I created an operatic itinerary for myself in Italy this summer.

PUCCINI! I've always loved Lucca, Puccini's hometown, so I knew that it wouldn't disappoint, but Lago di Massaciuccoli, Puccini's later home, was a revelation. The decorations in his home had all the flair and style of the art nouveau posters that advertised his operas. And having the audioguide recorded by the Maestro's granddaughter was just icing on the cake (just like the icing on the cake in the competition for the best Puccini-inspired store window in Lucca). The lake, itself, was a serene jewel. I wish that I had had time to go to its nature reserve.

ROSSINI! Thanks, Rossini, for "forcing" me to go to Pesaro. There, I discovered the beach (for some reason I didn't think Pesaro was right on the beach); the lovely late 19th-century Italianate houses (at least we call them Italianate. I guess Italians just call them houses?); and the life al mare. Rossini's museum was .... well, underwelming. Most appalling, two rooms of his house were dedicated to an exhibition called "L'ingrassamento di Rossini."  It showed a series of portraits of how he had gained weight throughout his life. I have made all my close relatives swear to me that, should I ever create world-famous works of art, they never let my museum put my weight gain on display. Poor Gioacchino. (My family, by the way, thought it was a pretty safe bet to agree to my conditions.)

VERDI! Dear, beloved Giuseppe, until I have access to a car in Italy (and the nerve to drive one), I'm afraid that I won't be able to visit your homes. One day, we shall meet. Ti prometto.

GALILEI? The idea for opera--Hey! rather than a whole chorus singing about something, how about having one person sing at a time?--was developed among the Camerata de' Bardi in the late 1500s. (In an interesting side note, one of the members of the camerata was Vincenzo Galilei, Galileo's father.) Even knowing the address where the camerata met, I walked by this tiny, faded sign a few times in Florence before I located it. When you have a city as loaded with history and significant artistic events as Florence is, I guess poor opera gets second billing. [My town, in contrast, was briefly home to a young Langston Hughes (a poet in the Harlem Renaissance). We have two plaques marking where he lived and have named an elementary school after him. When you don't have a lot of history in your town, you have to exploit it with all you have.]

Puccini on opera: I will feel it as an Italian, with desperate passion. I think it's time to put on some Butterfly...

Corner View's theme this week is music. To experience a taste a note of music around the world, please visit Francesca's site and scroll through the comments.

Alley love mystery

Were you the heartbroken or the heartbreaker?

Dear Victorian killer,

You bought a big, bold purple Victorian monstrosity and you tried to civilize it. Shame on you. Do you think all that expensive stonework will get your Victorian curves in line?

And then you painted it tan? TAN? in Lawrence??

And then Mission garage doors? I'm pretty sure that they cost more than my entire house. It's good to know that not everyone is suffering in this economy, but do they really go with your house?

So, what allows me to be so judgmental? I'm an anonymous blogger. I have a license to say anything. Duh.

Al Jolson?

Is this Al Jolson? Why is it stenciled in a back alley of my town??

corner view: silly

I've been told that my very un-silly great-grandmother would not have approved of this, but I smile every time I see my silly old farm dog trying to fit on her repurposed dog bed.

For more silliness -- and, really, who doesn't need some silliness in their lives? -- take a hop, skip and a jump over to Francesca's blog.

Details matter

I think these are used to tie up your horses. Details matter ... in Florence.

sad, sad sign of the times

I do my own ballet with the poverty line, so I know that a trip to the market is getting more and more limiting. But when your local grocery store uses this sticker as a marketing device, that's a sad reminder of what your neighbors are facing as they walk up and down the aisles.

Gray house and...

This house is for sale. Can I appeal to my Realtor-friend to get me in? Because I want to see if the inside is as mod as the outside.

I really, really, really, really want to love this acqua, but...

Sunshine.

Dear elephant ears,

YOU.FREAK.ME.OUT

corner view: iconic

I'm not really a truck person, but for my corner of the world, few things are more iconic than a good ol' red Silverado Chevrolet pickup truck.

These days, pickup trucks look more like this one, and cost more than luxury sedans.

I drive a pickup truck. I always back in. I don't have to park on concrete. I drive a pickup truck, dammit. I make my own rules.

Of course, I prefer the older ones. If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right. Bonus: towing notice on the driver's window.

They don't make cars this color anymore. Why not?

Those headlights look like they could blink.










A little creepy that I found you in the funeral home parking lot. A Lawrence-style hearse?

Pea green

Butter yellow (I think I just got hungry looking at these trucks.) I don't think this one is too old, but I dig the hubcaps.

For more iconic images throughout the world, visit the comments section on Francesca's site.

project's done

The post-it note features the name of a book that I came across while working on this project at two in the morning called The Energy Bus. I have a feeling that only one thing in this picture is recommended by the author. But it got the job done, didn't it? I only drink sodas when working on projects.

Chicken/egg question. Is the American economy where it is today because of Diet Coke? Or is the American economy where it is today because of Diet Coke?  Deep. Better pour a cup of coffee and contemplate this.

Dear optimism,

You must be what fuels this gathering of supplies. I can't wait to see what project requires that many ladders and that much scaffolding. Was a new highrise going up in my neighborhood that I didn't know about?

This is the same house with the boat and not-so-effective fence, so I'm very intrigued by this seeming burst of activity.

Dear neediness,

FOUR welcome signs? I just walked by briefly and started getting phone calls and text messages asking me when I was going to come back. Can a house be clingy?

corner view: indispensable

Sad to say, but with the Mediterranean in the background, my computer is my indispensable piece of equipment. Hello. My name is Debra, and I'm an Internet addict. (By the way, friends with amazing vacation homes are a pretty indispensable thing in my life, too!!)

To see what else is indispensable around the globe, please visit Francesca's site, the host of Corner View. 

Dear blah new housing,

For those of you who live in new housing developments whose exterior paint choices are limited to only three colors--cream, tan and taupe--I offer you Lawrence's rainbow:

RED:

ORANGE: You might think that it is difficult to find an orange house, but there are two orange houses on the same block, almost facing each other. How odd that when giving directions you can't simply say, "It's the orange house." 

YELLOW: Here's a mustard yellow, but I could offer you a butter yellow if you prefer.



GREEN:  Lots of greens to choose from, but I went with this one:

BLUE:

INDIGO?

VIOLET: We should, intrinsically, be an anti-purple town, so I was afraid that I would have to venture a long way to find some violet examples. However, while the other houses in this post are all on my walking route to work, these two homes were just three blocks off my regular course. UPDATE: Just saw another purple house in the neighborhood yesterday! UPDATE (2): And another one!

So, after a few days of walking around, taking pictures of rainbow houses (and HOURS uploading the pictures here), I discover that I could have taken a much easier route.

No, thanks

Do ya wanna hang out on top of my porch?

Do ya wanna hang out in my treehouse?

Dear towel,

You belong on a towel rack in the bathroom, not on the back of a chair in front of wide open windows where my sad, dripping body has scuttled over to grab you TWICE in the last week.

Dear local weatherman,

Kudos to you for using the word igneous to describe the weather today. But now that you have built up the vocab of the local youth, don't you think it's time for a halt to this igneous summer? I mean, fall usually ends before December 2 and spring ends before June 2. Can't summer end by September 2? 104 degrees! I can't wait until you describe the weather as algid.

Ok, so these sunflowers are kinda pretty. But are they worth the spirit-sapping heat? See you next year, sunnies.

Dear dog,

Yes, you can come in.

No, you can't go out.