Muchas grazie!
Just a silly phrase I made up.
I am a bit busy lately; and therefore, I haven’t finished my current read. For this reason, I felt it time to finally address the awards I received and recommend some blogs you might enjoy. In my next post, I will discuss “An Invitation to Sociology” by Peter L. Berger, which I found in the Monastiraki flea market of Athens, Greece for one measly Euro. The book can be thought to be suitable for students (or future students) pursuing degrees in sociology or it’s “cousin”, psychology. Yet, aren’t we all interested in sociology? Breaking down the word “sociology” into it’s Latin makeup basically explains that sociology is the study of societies. Are not you, the blog reader — whether you be a photographer, engineer, traveler, mother, writer, teacher, student, customer service rep, doctor — observing and questioning how other people live and do? Well, you must be…the sea of blogs you read are not all about you.
Before I get to the award discussion, some art to share with you. Here is some art that recently caught my eye beneath a fortress located in Ferrara, Italy.
“Mirliton mandala” by Muffin Bernstein
“Okra mandala” by Muffin Bernstein
Lastly, this one is appropriately named “Time for Reflection” by Vike Pedersen.
The art was eye-catching amidst the backdrop of dreary underground lying in the fortress dotted with ancient cannonballs still arranged in some corners:

The mischievous part of me wanted to topple the lone cannonball away from the others. But I refrained.
Thank you for the Liebster and Versatile blogger awards that I received from several readers. Still in my infancy as a blog writer, I am quite honored to receive such a designation. I do not write with the intention to win awards. One of the reasons why I started this blog was to practice writing in a “foreign” language. At my hours of work, I talk, read, and write in language that is more objective, but as I mentioned earlier, a way to describe me is “estar en las nubes“. So this blog is an outlet for the fraction of thoughts and daydreams that consume my head. Of course, I know you are a smart reader, and you realize to know more about the reasons behind my blogname, the “about me” page can be clicked. And this blog is still maturing. I started this blog as a way to introduce great writing in the endless amount of books I read, but the books I choose always coincide with my randomness in thoughts, memories, experiences, etc. But maybe subconsciously it is such things that cause us to choose the books we choose.
I was also “tagged” by nepaliaustralian so I am suppposed to answer her questions:
- What makes you laugh? Friends and F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
- What is the best part of blogging? To help others see a little bit more tomorrow than you saw today.
- What makes your day? Going to bed at night realizing tomorrow is a new day to end any negativity or to continue any positivity.
- What is your worst fear? Spiders.
- One famous person you want to meet: Caravaggio, who’s tumultuous life and scandulous behavior made him the bad boy of painting. Alive? GOTAN Project because a few days ago a cafe played their music and I was reminded of how much I love their music.
- If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? I want to travel the Middle East for many reasons other than my infatuation with Middle Eastern food. It would be especially nice to attend the Tehran International Book fair that occurs this month. Here is a link to an article by “The Guardian” that wrote about the book fair. The article explains the paradox of its popularity with the Islamic censorship that can ban a book for conditions such as fictional, unmarried characters in the book holding hands.
- What do you think is the single best decision you’ve made in your life so far? Being in love.
- What song always makes you happy when you hear it? Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, namely “Spring“. It reminds me of a time playing violin in one of the orchestras I was in. It is always spectacular to be amongst the makers of the music, but playing and being immersed in this piece brought me especially more joy than usual.
- What are the things you always take with you? At least two hair clips, because I am prone to breaking them.
- What do you know about Nepal? nepaliaustralian teaches her readers so much! Although she presents a a nice range of interesting topics, my favorite lessons are those about Nepal’s festivals.
- What are you thinking right now? I’m craving for honey drizzled on top of ricotta cheese.
I skimmed over the award and “being tagged” rules and I am not much for following rules. Although honored, I will not be tagging others with questions because I believe my best way to learn about fellow blog writers is through following their blogs. Instead, below are just some blog recommendations. The quality of my blog is solely exemplified by the words I admire of good writers — this holds true for the following blogs that deserve your attention:
The largest fraction of blogs I read have to do with cooking because vegetarians don’t eat salads all day. Here is a short list.
- http://homeingreece.wordpress.com/
- http://inpursuitofmore.com/
- http://lapetitecucina.wordpress.com/ : check out her recent menu of Nigerian cuisine.
- http://shizuokagourmet.com/ : his “Missus” makes impressive, tasty artwork in the form of Bento.
The discovery of a new dish does more for happiness than the discovery of a star.
Antelme Brillat-Savarin in “The Physiology of Taste”.
True to Libra form, I am attracted to aesthetics so here are some art and design blogs I like. In my opinion, the up and coming areas for visual storytelling is concentrated in Brazil and Taiwan in which a generation of designers, illustrators, graphic editors, typographers, etc. are talented in providing compelling, culturally relevant materials.
- http://chicquero.com/ : Is a duo that studied grad school in my hometown of San Diego, CA, USA. But they are born and now based in Brazil.
- http://thedailybubbletea.com/ : a guy jumping in Taiwan whom I was following even before he got FP’d. I couldn’t help check out his blog as soon as I saw the name of it, because I love drinking bubble tea.
- http://elbuenoelfeo.wordpress.com/
Others….
- http://justbeingthoughtful.wordpress.com/ : Her writings can reflect my inner girl voice.
- http://raisingmyrainbow.com/ : A Southern Californian mother raising her gender creative son.
- http://slavetothegrape.com/ : wine education
- Infernal Deity of a Psychotic Mind : name explains it all.
I should be back to writing here in a few weeks.
Congrats Frances 🙂 Your blog is delightful, deep and always very well written!
Many thanks! Always a pleasure to be admired by a writer/photographer whom I admire in turn!
Interesting as always. You help me to see the world far beyond my window.
It’s comforting (and at times a bit scary) to know what world lies outside our windows =)
I love the arts .They look amazing. Great post 🙂
Yes, they are quite hypnotizing.
Thank you for the special shout-out, Frances. I loved the art pieces you have shared here but it’s always your own photos and what you say about it that I always catch my attention the most. My favorite to M’s question is #7. Megan (the voice behind Walking The Labyrinth) has helped me realized that being in love is not something one should regret having done.
Congrats on the awards. You know you deserve it. 🙂
Congrats Francis…you have a lovely blog, you deserve the award..
Thanks very much for the shout out Frances! And thank you for introducing me to some new blogs, what a great way to start the week. Also, I just love that quote from Antelme Brillat-Savarin! It’s spot on.
You deserve the shout out because you are art is not only limited to your dishes, but to the layout and writing in your blog. Your blog really reflects your passion for cooking! Yes, the quote is representative of a “foodie”.
Congrats, Frances! And thanks a lot for including my simple foto-blog in here as well, very flattered for sure.
And thanks for sharing those pieces of art, nice to be mentioned in the same post.
Greetings, Ron
The simplicity of your photo-blog allows the your photos to shine more brilliantly.
Congratulations on the awards, your blog is truly wonderful!
Many thanks!
You have exquisite writing…you deserve such awards!
…and also, wonderful photos!
Congratulations. Beautiful writing is an art and you have it.
I like the big cup of tea …
Congratulations, not just for the amazing awards but for choosing love and laughter among friends. Without love, personally my life would be empty. It may not always be heaven, you may even get hurt sometimes but it makes you feel alive. And that is a great thing. I enjoyed your post immensely. Thanks.
Muchas Grazie for both of your compliments!
to no. 6:
Islamic censorship that can ban a book
for conditions such as
fictional,
unmarried characters …
+
yes, many things are strange there …
You have a great eye and the subjects you covered above are rich and tasty… The mandalas caught my attention… I love them. 😉
Yes, the art is quite hypnotizing…yet cheerful.
I like your art sharing, Frances. I believe you should check this guy’s work out, number one. And number two, change your name to Clio Ames and read The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall! Your vignette about buying a book in Greece brought some images from this fantastic novel to mind as well as the eclectic nature of your thought process! Love!
Thank you for the book suggestion! When I was reading the synopsis about Ames’ book, it gave me the sense it would be like reading David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” which I found to be somewhat confusing because of the way the stories were organized. But I will add “The Raw Shark Texts” to my reading list and see why you and other readers world – wide found this book to be popular.
Not just popular. A solid look at the distances we create within ourselves both through the extensions of technology, and the fluid dynamics of stress in our modern world. How do we deal with it?
Not just popular. A solid look at the distances we create within ourselves both through the extensions of technology, and the fluid dynamics of stress in our modern world. How do we deal with it? I hope you enjoy!
This was the best award acknowledgment I’ve read!! It’s great. You made it so interesting with all those pics. I LOVE the man reading the big book with the big cuppa tea. That’s just so great 🙂
Noeleen
http://www.VodkaWasMyMuse.wordpress.com / http://www.WordsFallFromMyEyes.wordpress.com
Many thanks for visiting!
Wow, love the pics. The first two have a kind of magic-eye feel to them!
Yes, it must take a lot of talented to produce the symmetry in order to give a “magic-eye” type of feeling!
Congrats on the awards! I totally know what you mean by “estar en las nubes”. I didn’t realize until now that we had the same mother tongue. Me encanta tu blog, encantada de conocerte!
Vivid! You always give me something to think about, and something more to add on to what I already have. Keep posting and stay well : )
Mille gracias for the mention of my wine blog and putting me in such good company. I love the three art pieces you used for this post!
A bientot,
SlaveToTheGrape
Seeing the pictures provided a pleasant viewing experience. The pictures are beautiful and proportionate. Excellent art work.
Oh, nice pictures of the vegetable madalas! That is possibly the only good use ever made of okra, which I understand is considered inedible by 99% of the world’s population.
Yes okra can be quite “slimy” to eat , but what is good is to slice fresh okra in half, then pan fry them a bit and sprinkle with some salt. The sliminess is diminished and it is a healthy, tasty dish!
I like the last pic! Books & tea! 🙂 Yay!
I nominated you for a versatile and beautiful blogger award!
http://www.spilledcookies.com
“Hepl others see a little bit of tomorrow” I like that.
Thank you…as a fellow blog writer I’m sure you have such effects on your readers.
Hello! I’ve always been fascinated with the topics you share & the way you write so, may I just present to you this blog award? 🙂
Here’s the link: http://altheasarah.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/im-getting-paper/
Frances – I so wanted to nominate you for a Versatile Blogger Award but I see that I’ve been beaten to it! My reasons are: I love the way you write, your eclectic take on things, the great visuals and I look forward to your posts hitting my Inbox. Congrats on the awards!
Sally, many thanks for this and your generous compliments!
“estar en las nubes” nothing wrong with that! It’s fun to be a dreamer.
hey, congrats on the awards 🙂 m enjoying exploring your blog!!
Thank you so much for this. I’m a blogger coming from Oakland, United States and what I just read here on wordpress.com couldn’t be
said much better. Reading through this post kinda reminds me of my past roomie, Antoinette.
He persistently kept preaching about this. I most certainly will send these
ideas to him. Pretty sure he will have a very good read.
I am grateful to you you for posting this.