Old Russia In Color

Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky (1863-1944) was a photographer who devoted his life to developing color photography. Educated as a chemist, he studied in Russia, Germany, and France. Several years ago when I had more time to browse my town’s public library, I ran across a coffee table book entitled Photographs for the Tsar: The Pioneering Color Photography of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II. Sadly, it is out of print, but it can be purchased at the rare bookseller Alibris.com.
On opening Photographs for the Tsar and seeing color photos of old Russia before the revolution and communism engulfed everything, I thought, ‘This has to be fake. There was no color photography a century ago or less.’ How wrong I was. Before Prokudin-Gorsky pioneered his technique, there had been other attempts at creating color photographs even in the latter part of the 1800s.

Prokudin-Gorsky’s research in color photography led to patents in color film slides and motion pictures. Sometime around 1905, he decided to embark on an ambitious project of documenting the entire Russian Empire in still color photographs. His hope was that the pictures could be used as an educational tool for Russian school children. Prokudin-Gorsky went to Tsar Nicholas II with his idea. Of course, Nicholas was taken by the idea and eagerly decided to finance the project since he and his family were avid amateur photographers taking perhaps hundreds of private photos in their spare time. The train on which Prokudin-Gorsky traveled was outfitted with a darkroom. He was given special permits to travel whenever he liked to capture his images.

Between 1909 and 1915, Prokudin-Gorsky was engaged in his photographic documentation of the Russian Empire. His photographs cover the nature, architecture, industry, and ethnic diversity of a Russia that was swept away by the brutal winds of revolution only a few years later. Close to 2,000 images were taken during the seven years of Prokudin-Gorsky’s work and travels.

Prokudin-Gorsky apparently never saw the final finished product of his work because his color photography technique was nothing like ours. It was a complex and time consuming process of taking a photograph three times in rapid succession using red, green, and blue filters which were put on glass plates. How he undertook his technique can be read at Making Color Images from Prokudin-Gorskii's Negatives.

One of my favorite of his photos is this of a couple in a part of the Caucasus called Dagestan. Here is the image from the original glass plates.
Here is the same image in high resolution.Prokudin-Gorsky finally left Russia in 1918, eventually settling in Paris where he died. In 1948 the US Library of Congress purchased the glass plates of his work from his heirs. Years later in 2001 the Library of Congress held an exhibition of Prokudin-Gorsky’s work. It was called The Empire That Was Russia. The images on the original glass plates were scanned and digitally reproduced.

The entire collection of Prokudin-Gorsky’s work can be viewed here on The Library of Congress website. Just type in a topic in “Search” or go to “Preview: All the Images.” The thumbnails can be clicked on and enlarged. Some of the images in high resolution can be found here on Wikipedia Commons.

For those like myself who is fascinated by Tsarist Russia, take your time and enjoy.

Stumbled Upon: “Dr” Remmy Ongala

Like so many of the artists and singers I love, I stumbled upon “Dr” Remmy Ongala’s music by accident. I was in a record shop not long after returning from Peace Corps in the African nation of Botswana. It was the 1990s before the advent of CDs, so my purchase was of a cassette of some Remmy Ongala’s songs. I had never heard of him before.

In Botwana at the time, the talk of the town in the African music world were South African singers and musicians like Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and the scandalous and tragic Brenda Fassie. I had to learn about other African singers outside of the very southern tip of the continent on my own, which I did. Remmy Ongala was one of them. I love his songs which are dance tunes. They call on social change in Africa and also global change. He sings out against racism.

Remmy Ongala was born in Kivu, Congo (now Zaire) in 1947. He has lived most of his life, however, in neighboring Tanzania. He says of life and his music, "The world is a prison. There are people who are proud of their lives and others who are always suffering. Many musicians sing about love, about life. I try not to sing very much of love, [but] to try to illuminate the situation of the world."

Here is a very brief clip with his song, “No Money, No Life.”

Female Intellectual of Senegalese Descent

I read awarding author Sylviane Anna Diouf’s book Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas a few years ago. It was an informative and thought provoking book.

African-Americans have been taught from the slave era that their African ancestors were ignorant savages, and that we should be ashamed of Africa. Dr. Diouf’s book proves otherwise. There are no accurate records, but upwards of 20% of African slaves may have been Muslim. Many were probably literate and could speak and read Arabic.

Sylviane Anna Diouf is an excellent role model for young African-American girls and women who are accustomed to the usual negative stereotypes and who feel their only lot in life is underachievement. She is passionate about history like me. We need more blacks writing and publishing history; not just the history of black folks, but world history.

Blogger in Senegal, Africainement did a post on Dr. Diouf on March 8th which can be read here. In fact, check out all of Africainement’s blog to see that Africa is more than a continent of war and AIDS that the media here in America almost always presents as the case.

Paris Does Turkey: Or I Wish She Hadn’t

When I saw the headline "Paris Does Turkey" on CNN Friday, I was praying that it was the bird not the country. The entertainment news commentators went on to speculate that maybe Paris would take up residence in Turkey since they have had a enough of her and her meaningless antics over here. The comment was even made that the Turks might like her to stay. No comment here. Also Paris just had to make the comment to Turkish reporters that she is delighted to be seen as a role model for young girls. Wonder what the Turks thought of that? The last complication needed in Turkish life is Paris Hilton, but on a more positive note she certainly provided a respite from the more serious issues of life there.

However, everyone including Americans needs a break from our tendency toward bad taste and very low culture. But I guess some people like what we have to offer since some belly dancer in Istanbul, Turkey apparently does. This belly dancer or oriental dancer as the Turks say, invited Paris Hilton to perform with her onstage at the Miss Turkey beauty pageant. The performance can be seen in the video clip. Paris had already been invited by some unknown person to be a judge.

Well, times are a-changing because celebrities once became famous because they had talent. Looking at the Turkish bellydancer with Paris one has to also lament too that belly
dancers once had to be relatively voluptuous and exotic looking. Nowadays, it guess the best we can expect to get even in Turkey is “bone dancing” not belly dancing.

But maybe I am just being a party pooper.

Paris was also given the honor to crown Leyla Lydia Tugutlu Miss Turkey 2008.

And The Romantic Goes On...

Barack Obama may not be the next president of The United States but he will certainly go down in the history books as a first with an eclectically Romantic heritage and persona. The man has an aspect about him which makes him just seem to float through controversy untarnished. He has a dignity, grace, and an ability to be just regular and approachable when he needs to be without being vulgar or common.

The old slogan for Timex watches can apply to Barack Obama because he “takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” Here are some interesting posts about his family that Zeinobia of Egypt has posted on her blog:

The Obama Family Photo Album

Sarah Onyango Obama

From The Passion of Artemisia

I'm a blogger who could do several posts seven days a week, but I do not have time. My brain is generally loaded to overflowing with topics to write about. Sometimes ideas get sidelined or nearly forgotten. When I had my first A Very Fine Romance blog, I even made a long list of topics. I misplaced the list, but in my recent readings about the freelance writing business, I have learned that a good move is to create files where I can store ideas for later use. I hope to start filing writing ideas soon for my blogs and all other writing once I get some other pressing issues settled.

Last Saturday I came across an excerpt from the first chapter of Susan Vreeland’s novel The Passion of Artemisia. As usual, I got distracted and forgot to draw attention to the excerpt here as I had planned. I wrote about the artist Artemisia Gentileschi, the main character of Vreeland’s novel, last Thursday. For those who might be curious and would like a taste of this novel which made a great impression on me when I read it, the first portion of Chapter 1, The Sibille can be read here.

An Iraqi Girl in Basra Smiles

The body count of American soldiers killed in Iraq reached 4,000 this week. A tiny fraction of the military dead in this senseless and illegal war came from my hometown.

I feel nothing but shame when I think of the innocent Iraqis who have died because the government opened a Pandora's Box that brought misery and suffering on the Iraqis more than anything Saddam Hussein did in close to 30 years of running the country. The tragic story of the callous betrayal of the Iraqis can read here.

No one but God may ever know how many Iraqis have died in 5 years. Iraq was first a nation that was sent reeling by sanctions. Now Iraq is a nation that has been murdered. Women have lost their rights. The Sunni minority is oppressed. The Christian community that had existed there for close to 2000 years is either in exile or murdered. Last year I read that less than 10 Jews now lived in Baghdad. They were being looked out for by a Catholic priest who constantly got death threats. Only one of them, a woman, dared to visit the city's synagogue that sits empty and unattended. Obscure sects like the Yazidis are in said to be in danger of extermination.

Five years after the government's promises to rebuild Iraq, the people still cannot get basic services in areas such as health care and safe drinking water.

Still some of the children smile. I am often amazed by this. I am always captivated by the innocence and hope of some children.

Milk Chocolate: A Love Story

I am a devotee of YouTube. From time to time I search out humorous clips and music videos there, but being the amateur intellectual and scholar along with other contradictions, I actually use the site for research, hunting down documentaries. YouTube is a learning tool for me.

This is usually my bedtime, but this afternoon after coming home from work and later taking a package to UPS to have it returned to its’ place of origin, I came home exhausted and took too long a nap. Now it is past, midnight I am still awake.

While heading in the direction of videos I have saved on YouTube to gather three I planned to use on one of my other blogs, I happened to see the cute video that is above. Easter is past. I believed in bunnies and eggs and could not wait to get an Easter basket full of chocolate goodies and pastel colored glazed eggs with sweet, white, fluffy centers when I was a child, but now as an adult I know and love the true meaning of Easter.

I am always late. Late by a few minutes or a few centuries as my love of history and the Romantic here is proof. Easter is over, but this video is so cute.

I had planned an historical and intellectually musical offering since I am still awake and had the urge to write, but after happening on the above video which is so cute, I decided instead to delay what I had planned for later. Enjoy Milk Chocolate: A Love Story.

Artist of Passion, Pain, and Triumph: Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1651/1653/1656) was almost unknown until recently as one of the greatest artists of the Baroque Period. Even though I have been a devotee of art since I was child, took art history as a university student, and minored in art, she was unknown to me until I read Susan Vreeland’s novel The Passion of Artemisia. Artemisia’s story was so amazing and that such a woman of spirit, courage, and ingenuity existed and moved in the circles she did in a male dominated age was to me beyond belief. She was a pioneer and triumphed over extreme adversity and prejudice against her sex.

Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome. She was the daughter of Orazio Gentileschi who was also a great painter influenced by the school of Caravaggio. Caravaggio was the chief innovator of the painting technique called “chiaroscuro” which involved using dramatic mixtures of light and shadows. Orazio was a master of the technique and Artemisia also become so. Nonetheless, father and daughter’s styles were dissimilar.

Artemisia practically grew up in her father’s studio observing the craft along with her brothers. She was the eldest of all the Gentileschi children, and showed far more aptitude in painting than her brothers. Before she was 20, Artemisia had displayed such talent that she attempted to gain admittance to several art academies, but was denied because she was a woman. Her father had partnered with another painter named Agostino Tassi and had also hired Tassi as Artemisia’s private art tutor. Tassi did not have the talent of Orazio or his daughter. He was also a very sinister figure which Orazio must not have been aware of because Tassi later raped Artemisia.

When Orazio learned of the violation of his daughter, Tassi tried to remedy the damage he caused by promising to marry Artemisia. He may have only made such a promise so he could continue to seduce and rape Artemisia. When Tassi continued to stall on his promise, Orazio took him to court. The trial lasted for 7 months during which time Tassi accused Artemisia and all the women of her family, her sisters, aunts, and dead mother, of being whores. He claimed that he had actually tried to safeguard Artemisia’s honor and keep men away from this young woman he described as an “insatiable whore.” Tassi was lying because Artemisia had been a virgin at the time she was raped.

During the trial period in order to find out the truth, Artemisia was subjected to an examination by midwives to see how recently she might have lost her virginity. She was tortured by thumbscrews and a device made of rope was tied around her fingers and tightened to extract a confession from her, thus injuring her fingers. Living in such a time and culture, most of the blame was laid on her shoulders. Some were only too eager to believe she was a loose woman even though evidence against Agostino Tassi was mounting. It was learned that he had raped his previous wife, her sister, had possibly had his wife murdered by bandits; plus he had planned to steal some of Orazio’s paintings.

Agostino Tassi was sentenced to one year in prison, but Artemisia’s reputation was wrecked. In Susan Vreeland’s The Passion of Artemisia, Orazio Gentileschi’s timid and placating behavior in court towards Agostino Tassi begin to sow seeds of bitterness and distrust between father and daughter which is only brought to a resolution at the novel’s finale. Vreeland’s book is excellent and one of my favorite novels, but it also has a feminist bent which sets well with me too because I would say I am a moderate feminist with a traditional feminine bent.

With her reputation in tatters, Orazio shows determination and still finds a husband for Artemisia, a much lesser known artist named Pierantonio Stiattesi. In Vreeland’s novel, Pietro, as he is called and Artemisia are contented for awhile. They leave Rome to begin a new life away from the scutiny and gossip. However, Artemisia learns that Pietro’s reputation is just as shot as hers, and rightly so for he apparently has numerous illegitimate children. As time advances they permanently separate because Pietro cannot accept a wife with more talent than he. She is the first woman to be accepted into the Accademia del Disegno (Academy of Drawing) in Florence where he wants to be accepted but is rejected.

Despite a very rocky entrance into the artistic world of her time, Artemisia becomes a professional artist. She moves on to be the respected and close friend of Galileo Galilei and other greats of her day. Her art is patronized by the d’Medici family and King Charles I of England. She is an artistic nomad moving around from Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, and on to London. Though there are other women artists even before her time, she was different because she focused on more than the usual female artistic themes like portraits and still lifes. Artemisia painted heroic and violent scenes of women getting vengeance on cruel men such as in Judith Slaying Holofernes seen below.

Some have analyzed Artemisia’s more violent subjects as being her way of coping with the rape and humiliation thrust on her by Agostino Tassi.

The precise date of Artemisia Gentileschi’s death is not known. She may have died as late as 1656 during a plague in Naples which nearly wiped out an entire generation of Neapolitan artists.

An excellent place to start learning about Artemisia Gentileschi is Susan Vreeland’s fictional account of the artist’s life. After sharing Vreeland's novel with an aunt that adored it, she called me “Artemisia” for awhile because of the similar character traits which Vreeland’s Artemisia and I have. I too could see myself in Artemisia while reading the novel. I think many women might who have a courageous, determined, unique, artistic, intellectual, and sometimes lonely and restless spirit.

An excellent website to learn more about Artemisia, her world, and her art can be seen here. Another excellent book about her life which I have not read yet but plan to is Alexandra LaPierre’s Artemisia: A Novel.

In the 1998 French drama, Artemisia, the relationship between Artemisia and Tassi is fictionalized to the point where the two are portrayed as lovers. This version of Artemisia’s story has upset some purists, and rightly so. I had planned to rent the film on DVD, but after learning about it’s plot, I have very little interest to do so now.

Self-portrait, by Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi, an artistic great which has been ignored for too long.

An 83 Year Romance

Clarence and Mayme Vail have been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest living couple on earth to have remained married. They have been together since 1925, and in a life and marriage so long they have lived through momentous times.

The America they grew up and wed, marriage was still for a lifestyle for the majority of people. Life was indeed simple. Today America’s divorce rate is 52%, with marriage declining, and more people opting to live together rather than tie the knot. Some of our leaders, whether secular or religious, seem to be unable provide us with an example of stable marriages. Hollywood has always had few examples of lasting marriages even in its’ early years during the 1920s. Last week, we were hit with the Elliot Spitzer affair. Elliot Spitzer was the governor of New York State whose term in office had barely begun when it was revealed that he had been spending large amounts of money on prostitutes even though he had targeted with a vengeance prostitution and prostitution rings. He is a married man with three daughters, and last week when he announced his resignation, he brought his weary and worn out looking wife along to the press conference to be by his side to bare his shame, embarrassment, and downfall.

This and similar stories of marriages being tested or destroyed are what we have become used to here. Even elementary school age children have an intense cynicism about marriage. In my job I hear little girls in kindergarten talk and ask about boyfriends. Many have never experienced having their biological father in the home, especially if they are African-American. They only know their mother’s continuing series of boyfriends who use bed and board for a time and are then gon on to the next target. With exposure to such lifestyles they have no real concept of enduring relationships or marriage. The fact that when I was a kid and that age and I had no idea of what a boyfriend or girlfriend was says a lot about the evolution of relationships in America.

Like the products we buy, marriage in America is disposable. The other year I heard a fifth grader the express young cynicism by saying that he could not envision a life with one wife, and that he since expected to probably make a lot of money one day, he would get a pre-nuptial agreement. Well like the old 70s Virginia Slims cigarette commercial said, “You’ve come a LONG way, baby!” but is it not the right way.

We have come a long way since the days when Clarence and Mayme Vail took their vows. Many Americans create their own marital vows now. They seem to view with distaste the old traditionally binding ones which the Vails took in 1925. My parents took these vows and they will have been married for 50 years in 2011. My maternal grandparents took the same ones, and in 1987 their marriage was going into its’ 51st year when my grandfather died.

It is just not fashionable to stick with one person for very long. We want to be like the entertainers and other big shots that change spouses with the changing of the wind’s direction.

A lot of us do not like to use too many big words here in the states anymore, but nevertheless I will risk saying that for to many Americans commitment in marriage is too PROVINCIAL nowadays. But call me a Romantic and traditionalist too.

The Vail’s story can be read and watched here. Notice that what kept them together was not a life seasoned with constant excitement. Romance as we usually define it is really not mentioned. However, more lasting, timeless, practical, and meaningful concepts are.

Continental Drift

I don't believe in evolution, but...

For those who find the caption difficult to see: (Well, looking back I suppose it's been going on for some time, but I only noticed we were drifting apart during the last 50 million years.)

A Medley of Amr Diab Videos

The Egyptian pop artist Amr Diab is one of the best selling singers of all time in the Middle East. He is a year older than I, and one of my favorite Arab pop singers. Here is a montage of videos ranging from his early days on the Egyptian music scene to more recent years.

The Venus de Milo Up Close and Personal

Yesterday while looking on the CNN video website, I saw an advertisement for The Museum of Beauty. I went to it and saw that the site was created by Konica Minolta so that people with internet access could experience the beauty of the Venus de Milo. The presentation is absolutely breathtaking.

The Aphrodite of Milos or Venus de Milo is one of the greatest and most well known sculptures from ancient Greece. You are probably more familiar with the title of Venus de Milo which is the Latinized (Roman) version of the name. Aphrodite is the Greek form. Aphrodite or Venus is the goddess of love and beauty. The Venus de Milo is believed to be of the goddess. It was discovered by a peasant in 1820 on the Aegean island of Milos and was a unique find mostly because it was uncommon for the nude female form to be depicted in ancient Greek art.

The base or plinth on which it stood had the inscription that the statue was sculpted by an Alexandros (or Andros) of Antioch on the Maeander River in what is now Turkey. The little that is known about Alexandros is that he must have been an traveling artist since a statue of Alexander the Great attributed to him was also found on the island of Delos. The statue of the Greek conqueror, like the Venus de Milo, is also in the Louvre. Several plinths have been found in other locations with his name. He lived sometime during the Hellenistic period (4th-1st century BC/BCE.).

Even though I have all of the computer requirements to view Museum of Beauty’s presentation, it goes slow the first or second viewing. After that, it runs at the normal speed. Nevertheless, the wait is worth it.

Enjoy the beauty, mystery, and artistry of the Venus de Milo here.

A Weather First: Tornado In Downtown Atlanta

Last evening at about 9:30 what was believed to be a tornado tore through downtown Atlanta, Georgia causing widespread damage around the CNN center and Centennial Olympic Park among other prominent areas. There were power outages, gridlock from fans leaving sports events, extensive debris, and frighten people. Windows were blown out in hotels in the area. Furniture and other hotel furnishings were thrown into the street. Traffic lights were smashed. Power lines littered the ground along with broken grass that looked like large pieces of ice. Insulation from buildings dangled from trees. The glass in vehicles was shattered, and some cars and taxis were fully destroyed. Despite all of this damage no one was killed, but many people received injuries.

One couple who were driving when the storm hit said that while it was raining hard with thunder and lightning, debris from buildings and elsewhere started whirling. They looked up and though they could not make out a funnel cloud, they saw blue and green lights. I have seen the sky turn a very eerie green or reddish orange when the weather was tornadic. Perhaps what they saw WAS a tornado. Other witnesses who were tornado survivors said they were certain that the storm contained a tornado. A number of people said they heard what sounded like a freight train.

This is the first tornado to hit the heart of downtown Atlanta. In 1975 a tornado damaged the governor’s mansion on the north side of the city. It is a myth that tornados do not strike metropolitan areas where there are skyscrapers. They can strike anywhere.

Atlanta is the capital city of my state. It lies 65 miles west of Athens. It is the birth place of Martin Luther King, Jr., Margaret Mitchell who is author of the Romance Gone With the Wind, movie producer Spike Lee, actor DeForest Kelley of Star Trek fame, and rapper Kanye West. Atlanta also hosted the 1996 Summer Olympic games.

As I write this, a thunderstorm has begun and more severe weather is expected today.

Videos concerning the storm in Atlanta can be viewed here on the CNN website.

Up, Up and Away Over Myanmar

A hot air balloon floats over Bagan in Myanmar. Bagan is the country’s main archaeological site. More luscious photos and information about Bagan can be found here.

What Will They Be Wearing in the Year 2000?

This newsreel from the 1930s predicts what would be the fashion trends of the new millennium. How close were their predictions to reality?

My City and The Ancient Greek Connection

Several weeks ago I received an introductory e-mail from a gentleman in Greece named Christos. Christos is also a blogger. He has two, one on politics and another with his poetry, and both are in Greek. I have joked that native speakers of languages like Greek or Arabic have to be born smart to become fluent in such wonderfully complex and complicated languages.

The roots of Christos' family are in Turkey. In 1917 they were forced to leave during one of a series of population exchanges between the crumpling Ottoman Empire and Greece. His family had held prominent positions under several Sultans. He has worked several times in Istanbul and loves the city, so down the drain goes comments I have heard from some Turks that all Greek people despise Turks.

In 2003 I traveled to Greece and later on to Turkey with a group exploring the regions where the early church germinated, traveling in the footsteps of early founders of the church like the Apostles Paul and John. Our first leg of the trip took us to Athens, Greece. When Christos wrote me, I could not resist telling him that my hometown and present location is named after his country’s capital city, Athens (Athina). Athens, Georgia has a population of about 110,000. My Athens is called “the classic city.” Athens was the chief city of classical/ancient Greece being its’ cultural and intellectual heartbeat and moving on to be the birth place of Western civilization. The concept of democracy was birthed in the Greece of the ancients.
In front of one of Athens, Georgia’s newer cultural centers which is The Classic Center stands a statue of the Greek goddess Athena. I told Christos about the statue and I also told a few other Greeks about it when I was in the country nearly 5 years ago. Here are some photos I recently took of my city’s statue of Athena.

In the last few weeks the classic and classy Romantic crooner Engelbert Humperdinck has performed at The Classic Center. Academy Award nominated actess, singer, and dancer Debbie Reynolds sung there last night. The last show was a few years ago when I attended The World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions show which was pure magic with horses leaping in the air, "doing ballet," and "dancing" to classical music like that of Johann Strauss the waltz king.

The goddess Athena was called Minerva by the Romans and she represented wisdom and the arts and sciences. She was the companion and supporter of Greek heroes. The city of Athens was named in honor of her, and the Parthenon or the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis towering above Athens was dedicated to her. She was the protector of the city. Athena was called Athena Parthenos or “Athena the virgin” during high point of her popularity as the patron goddess of ancient Athens. She was indeed a virgin goddess like Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt, the hills and the forests. There were numerous cults to Athena throughout the ancient Greek world.

Several variations on Athena’s origins exist. One of the most well-known is that her father Zeus on learning that the offspring the goddess Metis was carrying by him would be more stronger and powerful, swallowed Metis in the hope that the prophecy would not come to pass. His consuming of Metis was fertile because Athena was born anyway, bursting forth out of Zeus’ forehead as a fully developed adult and fully armed. What a headache that must have been for poor philandering and conniving Zeus! Later Athena became one of Zeus’ favorite children.

At the base of the statue of Athena here in my town is The Athenian Oath which all the young men of ancient Athens had to take on reaching the age of 17.

For the lover of Greek mythology, loads of information can be found on this web shrine to Athena.

A Very Fine Romance Returns

After near writer’s block, stress, disappointment, shock, confusion, sadness, distress, in other words a huge mix of emotion, I am giving a second life to my weblog A Very Fine Romance. Like my welcome notice says on the upper right hand corner of the page, the first blog of the same name was hacked into and deleted. This incident happened nearly 3 weeks ago.

I am fairly sure who deleted my blog and I forgive this person because he/she who did it is a very disturbed person. The police here says that the hacking into and deletion of my work was a cyber crime called “computer theft” and I was pressed to allow them to go after this person.

After long discussions with family members and others, I decided to not go that complicated and exhausting route. The person is not a US citizen and was someone I helped to get a travel visa last year. This person is a very disturbed and immature individual who has moved beyond reason. I decided to not be the one to provide the rope this time, because sooner or later this very foolish person will eventually not escape the rope if he/she does not change. I sincerely hope that this person comes to his/her senses.

Not only did I experience an eerie feeling after having my Blogger account deleted, but other accounts of mine were hacked. This is the first time I have been a victim of a crime. I once loved this person like a member of my family, but I lost the feeling when he/she turned out to be a habitual liar and blunderer. I will say no more about this. This is in the past. It is history now in the course of my life. I am not a quitter. Now on to the positive.

A Very Fine Romance returns.

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