A hodge-podge...even for this blog

This version of classical Rome ("Rome Reborn") seems far, far too surgically sterile, but makes the ancient city seem more tangible than anything short of an extensive museum exhibit (such as the Pompeii/Herculaneum one that Dearest and I saw in Quebec two summers ago).

During yesterday's "book bender," I couldn't resist adding "Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day" to the stack. I was so stoked that John Julius Norwich has another sweeping history (the kind he does best), this one on the Mediterranean. I typically revel in rediscovering his "Venice: a History" every few years, but haven't been able--shockingly--to justify the expenditure for all three volumes of his "Byzantium".

A friend sent me this link, "Women in Art", which is an animation of a different sort. I had a laugh at how many I recognized via costume research. There is also much to chuckle about in how men want to perceive women. Do they mentally airbrush us in real life? I can't help but wonder. There's more than a little irony in the fact that the friend who sent it to me has such an incredibly keen eye for beauty, except where he himself is concerned.

And, sort of on the same theme of beauty and perception, I darned near Snoopy-danced in my chair when I learned that the thought-provoking "Evolution" ad that Olgivy and Mather did for Dove won a Grand Prix.