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thin books
Quite a few years ago, I participated in a thing called National Novel Writing Month, where the goal is to write a 50,000 word manuscript during the month of November. I made an attempt to explain what I was doing to some family members who were – to put it as delicately as possible – not regular readers. That led to a conversation where I assured Party 1 that novels were fiction, that fiction was what made it a novel, that fiction and novels were the same, that fiction was “made up”, and on for a few more rounds. It did not go well. And just when I thought the conversation could not be more frustrating, Party 2 chimed in and said, “Yes [Party 1] – all novels are fiction. The other kind is autobiography.” So there you have it, you lovers of other so-called genres of writing – there are only two. Sort of a binary option, if you will.
I’m not sure how that impacts the veracity of this sign, which is also binary, only the categories here are “thin” and “thick.”
But the good news is that, per the sign, a thin book is priced at one-quarter of a cent, which is indeed a bargain. Or, rather, would have been a bargain except that the place is being torn down.
Lorenzo, Texas
photographed 4.18.2025
i think her head is on backwards
I found a treasure the other day, on the corner of 5th Street and Harrison Avenue, in Lorenzo, Texas. There’d been some sort of retail operation there (A thrift store, maybe? It was already out of business on the 2023 Google Street View.) but the building had been lately torn down. Across the back of the lot were piles of bricks and ceiling tile and boxes and inventory. I spent some good time exploring.
This mannequin seemed creepy enough at the time to warrant a photo, but it got weirder after I got home and edited the picture – that’s when I noticed that her head had spun around until it was completely backwards on her shoulders.
Lorenzo, Texas
photographed 4.18.2025
most of a chair
This? Oh, just part of a chair.
Part of a chair that’s suspended from a window.
Part of a chair that’s suspended from a window in the usual fashion.
Hardly even worth mentioning, really.
Monreale, Sicily
photographed 1.30.2025
two saints and jesus
Yesterday I posted a photo of ancient Roman tiles on the floor of a villa.
Here’s more tile, this time Byzantine glass mosaics dating from the late 12th and the mid-13th centuries. These mosaics (6,500 m2; 70,000 square feet) cover the interior of the Duomo de Monreale, which is considered to be one of the finest examples of existing Norman architecture. Work on the cathedral was begun in 1174.
Fact check: According to a legend, William II of Sicily fell asleep under a carob tree while hunting in the woods near Monreale. The Holy Virgin appeared to him in dream, suggesting that he should build a church there. After removing the tree, a treasure was found in its roots, whose golden coins were used to finance the construction. It is more likely that the church was part of a plan of large construction in competition with the bishop of Palermo, who had ordered the large Cathedral of Palermo.
Duomo de Monreale
Montreale, Sicily
photographed 1.30.2025
roman candle
A detail of Roman mosaic floors inside the Villa Romana del Casale. The structure dates from the 4th century Common Era and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
The tiled floors cover approximately 3,500 square meters (nearly 38,000 square feet) and are remarkably well preserved because the site was flooded and then covered with landslides.
Villa Romana del Casale
near Piazza Armerina, Sicily
photographed 2.3.2025
PS – I love it that Wikipedia gives the Sicilian translation of the place name – Villa Rumana dû Casali. Linguistically, Sicilian is considered an independent language; it evolved directly from Latin rather than from Italian.
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