The Sunday Paper

Whenever friends and I get together for lunch or drinks,  especially if it's been a while, we begin to make an agenda of catch-up items. We don't want to miss any news and views!  Or, if we meet often, we're likely to bring with us our latest clippings - physical or virtual - to share. Let's just say, in either case, we rarely if ever lack for conversational topics. Call this my Did You See? opportunity I'd like to share with you over lunch. Are you going to have wine? Let's split dessert.

From time to time, I will share with you something I found interesting to read and think about. Today I brought this article from the 7/16/17 NYTimes, a lovely piece about what a "real" vacation might be...and it might just be drawing and noticing. 

On a Remote Greek Island, Learning to Take a ‘Real’ Vacation by Alexander Chee

"Drawing is an excellent way to remember a place. In my mind I can still see clearly the towns I drew and the mornings I spent there. Vathi is the luxury resort, the place the yachts tie up, a spectacular cove surrounded by mountains. Heronissos is for the fishermen, the far-flung northernmost town reached only after a long drive braving the winds — the only time I questioned the wisdom of my scooter rental. Faros has ruins on the hill across from the cove that I drew, brick by brick."

"When I left on the ferry home, I could feel I had in fact relaxed, deep down, in some way that was entirely new to me. But also, drawing had opened that new door to the old place. It had brought me back to the pleasure of the art you make just for yourself, where all art begins, easy to lose track of when you become a professional writer. Your own private conversation about ideas and aesthetics."

If you find something in the papers to share, please do let us know!