Many countries have academies in Rome, the most famous of them probably being the American Academy in Rome. Artists of various stripes enjoy a stipend and a variably good life, generally working on something to do with the city, and the various academies open their artists' studios to visitors from time to time. These are usually great fun, for art and for socialising. Last night was my first time at the Spanish Academy in Rome.

Wow!

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Barely a day goes by now that my podcasting email doesn’t receive two or three not very enticing emails. One today offered “Lucrative Ventures”. Another wants to convert YouTube content into podcasts in a “network of health and wellness programs”. The third tells me, to paraphrase, that my restaurant menu sucks, which is odd as I don’t have a restaurant.

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Being old with a bit of a magpie brain does have occasional compensations, like when some whippersnapper johnny-come-lately gushes Why don’t we just eat grass?.

So can we cut the animal out of the loop and mechanically turn grass into milk?
Yes! Both Imagindairy and Perfect Day are creating...

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While I was away a friend gave me a copy of The Perfect Loaf, by Maurizio Leo, and very fortunately there was just about enough room in my suitcase to bring it home with me. Over at my baking site I wrote about baking his introductory Simple Sourdough, which proved to be an interesting exercise. M...

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Many of the annual reviews from other people that I’ve read so far seem to agree that 2022 was not a great year. I’m not so sure. It wasn’t nearly as disrupted as 2021 and, aside from certain health-related restrictions, for me personally it was actually quite an enjoyable year. At least, looking back, I cannot recall anything absolutely horrible about it. That said, I remain aware of how privileged and fortunate I am; how could I not?

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