No more Times Select! and other things

[mojosmom]

As of midnight tonight, there will be no more Times Select. For those unfamiliar with this, for the last couple of years the New York Times has required payment for access to parts of its website and archives (unless you were a home subscriber as well). No Maureen Dowd, no Bob Herbert, no access to a lot of stuff without forking over $50 a year. No more!

~joyously tosses newsprint in the air~

I had a call from the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education. I co-authored an article on U.S. Supreme Court cases for one of their books, and now they want me to present on the subject at one of their programs. It'll be in January, given twice, once in Chicago and once in Springfield. The timing is right: it doesn't interfere with my usual January gig at the Trial Advocacy Program. I'm excited.

Last night there was a conjunction of two, no three, of my favorite things: books, Venice and Miss Manners. Judith Martin and Eric Denker (the art historian, though billed on the cover as cicerone) have written a book, No Vulgar Hotel: The Desire and Pursuit of Venice, and they were at a local bookstore last night promoting it. Lucky people - they (along with Miss Manners' molecular biologist husband, who also cooks, and a variety of friends) go to Venice three or four times a year. The bookstore has a small café with a liquor license, so I had a glass of prosecco to honor the occasion. Here's a lovely little article from The New Yorker. The book is delightful, and Martin and Denker were both charming, but I would expect no less from Miss Manners and friend.

Comments

[enigmacat.livejournal.com]

No more Times Select? That is wonderful news. I can finally catch up on Nicholas Kristof and Maureen Dowd.

[alrescate.livejournal.com]

I'll have to put that book on my list!

btw: you should be receiving a book in the mail within two or three days....

[mojosmom.livejournal.com]

I should? Oooh, waiting with bated breath! ;-))

[alrescate.livejournal.com]

*grin* Yes, I'm hoping since it isn't on your BC shelf that you don't have it. Of course if you do, I'm sure you might know someone else that might enjoy it.

[islandmomma.livejournal.com]

I am seriously excited about the first paragraph, which raises some questions in my mind, but what the heck??!!

Woo! Hoo! on the second. Many congratulations.

And delighted to read about the third - I like it when things come together to give you a sense of something/sometime really special. I adore Venice, too, though I was only there once. If I close my eyes I can see it, vividly. Did you see the new bridge? Was it on the news over there??

[mojosmom.livejournal.com]

I did not see the new bridge! We were there in February, and, according to what I've read, the bits weren't brought to the site until August. This was my first trip to Venice, and I fell completely in love. Succumbed to what Ms. Martin calls "palazzo madness"; in other words, I kept stopping in front of the real estate agent down the street from our hotel, to dream about the places that were advertised for sale (not that I could afford any of them!).

[islandmomma.livejournal.com]

I have to tell you that we went into this old, crumbling palace. This is over 20 years ago (I shudder to remember), so I can't remember how this came about, but we had an introduction to a guy who had a glass factory on Murano. Obviously wealthy, but the property was in a delightfully atmospheric state of disrepair. We only saw a part of it, and memories are not too sharp now I'm afraid. I had to think hard to remember if I really did it or saw it in a movie! But we did, unfortunately I don't have photos to prove it, though I do have some from Murano and Burano, where he took us on another occasion. Will you hate me if I tell you we also arrived there on the Orient Express (goodness how life can change), but that was the most wonderful arrival. Departure by plane seemed quite mundane afterwards!

[mojosmom.livejournal.com]

Will you hate me if I tell you we also arrived there on the Orient Express

Of course I won't hate you! Do you know, though, my skin is turning this very peculiar shade of green . . .

;-)

[holmesfan.livejournal.com]

I've also only been to Venice once but remember every second (well almost) of the time there. A truly magical place. Now I try to relive the feelings through Donna Leon's classic who-dunnits and her delightful characters.
My only purchase was a pair of Murano glass earings with which I fell in love. When we returned from travel through several other places I presented our daughter-in-law with a small gift. Don't even remember what that was but I do remember that my precious earings were somehow caught up in the package! DIL was delighted with her gifts!