a dictionary of spectral curiosities
Found these two lovely photo-postcards at a flea market in Italy. Judging from the clothing style and  the automobile, I'd date them to the early 20th century, possibly the 1920s, but please do correct me if I'm wrong. They were displayed together with other photo-postcards in which various people from the group photo also …
Memory - in all its forms - is another topic that fascinates me, and since today appears to have been a good day for thinking about this, the token poem, unsurprisingly tackles the same theme. I hope you enjoy! (DAY 16) Remembrance I don't remember you, but, writing down these lines, my hand remembers: the …
I haven't felt very inspired to write today, so I had to push myself a little. The result was a rather heavy, bulky poem that reflects a lot of my wishful thinking. Especially the bit about the carpet bag - hell, I've been wanting a carpet bag ever since I first read the Mary Poppins series as a …
Phew! Long day today. Very long. And not over yet, as I've still much work to do. The day 8 prompt invites us to try writing in ottava rima — an Italian form that, in English, usually takes the form of an eight-line stanza of iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c. I can't …
Just about time I shared my new haul of vintage photographs with the world, isn't it? I bought these in Bucharest, at a Christmas/ winter holidays fair, after some negotiations with the vendor. To be fair, though, he didn't seem to mind my haggling. Actually, he looked quite happy to finally find someone who was …
Continue reading "Added more ghosts to my ever-expanding collection…"
I was unlucky in my quest for vintage photographs for a while - the local market has been yielding nothing but black and white photographs of cats and dogs and some tacky birthday cards. But my luck turned just as soon as I paid a visit to Camden Market, London. Have I ever mentioned how …
Continue reading "From Camden Town to Istanbul in a Single Stride: Vintage Memorabilia"
NaPoWriMo day three. Today's prompt was to go ahead and pen an epithalamium, but I just wasn't up for the task, I'm afraid. Today was not a day for celebration. So I went and played with another form of poetry instead, the tanka, a traditional Japanese form that requires the poem to have 5 - …
So. I promised some comments on the recently posted photo-postcards. I've chosen to have a closer look at some that particularly picked my curiosity. The first would be the photograph showing the phantomatic silhouette of a woman, pasted onto a black carton "frame" with a postcard-style verso: The look of it - the silhouette fading …
After complaining about LiveJournal's incompetency for about half a year, I've finally decided to switch to a more - hopefully - professional blogging website. I was getting too tired of all the spam comments, the compulsory flashing ads and, most of all, the all-powerful ddos attacks under which it regularly succumbed. I have successfully managed …
Having decided to get over the various generous offers of intimate and intensely satisfying (guaranteed!) services that are the only comments I get these days, here I am sharing yet another one of my finds with the universe. I do love flea markets, and I usually end up leaving with at least one abandoned memory …
Encyclopaedia Vanitatum 