My favorite places in the world are those which transport me to eras of history that I am inspired by or curious about — in the case of Café Odeon, it is where my artistic heroes spun great works and rulers caffeinated their power. Odeon has seen the faces and heard the voices of history’s […]
In the absence of a written language, the Inca Empire of the Andean region of South America used quipus (sometimes called “talking knots”) to keep records. Spun from tens to thousands of strands of Alpaca and llama hair, the colorful knots contain numeric and other values encoded by a decimal positional system. They are still widely used […]
Tomasz Rut is regarded as one of the leading contemporary figurative painters alive and was named in 1999 by the Robb Report as one of five most collectible living artists (along with Chihuly, Clemente and others.) More recently, in October 2011 specifically, two of his paintings were blessed by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI before finding a permanent home […]
Horatio Alger Jr. wrote more than 100 books targeting young, working class American men to help them learn how to lead exemplary lives. His first book, Ragged Dick, was published in 1867 and presented an honest young spendthrift named Dick who would go on to achieve the American Dream. In the 1930’s and ’40’s, Alger’s work was called propaganda for celebrating […]
If you are a coffee enthusiast, you are probably familiar with “The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee”, Honoré de Balzac’s grand essay about his deep relationship with coffee. He wrote, “Brillat-Savarin has correctly observed, coffee sets the blood in motion and stimulates the muscles; it accelerates the digestive processes, chases away sleep, and gives us the capacity to […]
The Pears Soap empire of England has enticed consumers with original marketing campaigns from the very beginning. Pears is also the world’s oldest soap company. In the beginning of the 17th century, Pears’ founder Andrew Pears developed the first soap of its kind—a transparent formula with wild foaming viscosity that at that time was not […]
“I used to go and flatten my nose against that window and absorb all I could of his art,” Mary said to a friend in a letter. “It changed my life. I saw art then as I wanted to see it.” She was speaking of her great friend and mentor, Edgar Degas. Mary Cassatt, an […]
“You get out of life what you put in.” British television personality Helen Skelton is thought to be the first woman to paddle the entire length of the Amazon. Her kayak, named Anne Marie, took her 2010 miles (3234.79 km) from the Rio Maranon and Rio Ucayali, Peru; to St. John in the Amazon Delta, Brazil. […]
Let’s start this Monday by first saying, happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. For many, that means a day off from work. Coincidentally, it is also the second Inauguration welcoming President Barack Obama back to his second term in office – a grand spectacle for those of us with a day off to watch. Expand […]
World on a Fork 