Which Reminds Me

I also cannot say that I ever read Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy" in its entirety, although we did study the Inferno portion in Spanish translation in Spanish literature class. We spent so much time studying hell that we did not have time left for Purgatory and Paradise, where Dante is said to gaze upon Beatrice, the love of his youth who died at an early age. We had to move on to the next book before we got that far.

Which Reminds Me

I do not recall myself ever claiming to have read the Decameron in its entirety, so it was strange that you should be accusing me of such a lie. However, I do vaguely remember reading something of an excerpt or introduction to the Italian Boccaccio classic, in English translation of course, which gives me the general idea of a group of a dozen or so young persons of the aristocratic nobility who, while disease and plague is raging in the city, retreat to a palace where they can be free of contamination and sit around exchanging stories. A similar device, that of a pilgrimage, was used for Chaucer's Tales. But of the actual primitive and sometimes crude stories themselves we would prefer not to say very much. We are required to read these books in school due to their historical significance of cultural tradition and language development even if we might not want to invite these rowdy characters to our homes.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that my mother said that during college she worked as a domestic servant for a rich family in Newport Beach. I don't know that she ever said the name of the rich person that I should remember who they were. Besides which, they were persons listed in the Blue Book, of which I know almost nothing and if you have to ask me about that then you probably are not listed in the Blue Book either.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I almost forgot, you were asking me if I had read the book by Niccolò Machiavelli, called "The Prince," published in 1531. Actually no, I have not read that. It is generally not recommended unless you are a student of evil, which I am not. I sort of get the idea just by reading reviews or references which give me no desire to put that in my head. Anyway, there are so many other good books I have not read. So many books, so little time.

Which Reminds Me

Interesting how, when looking at pictures of Italian aristocrats of the Renaissance, some of the people in the portraits seem to have reddish hair. These were the D'Este's, the Medicis, the Gonzagas, della Roveres, etc. But were they really redheads or is that a painter's touch to add highlights? Or is that a hairpiece tacked on to her head? In such elaborate headdresses of the time it is hard to tell what is real or just an artistic gloss. How sad that so many of their children succumbed to various diseases: malaria, tuberculosis, food poisoning, stranglings, not to mention the syphilis prevailing amongst those hedonistic libertines of the "nobility." Very clever.

Which Reminds Me

Nellie Duncan married Elmer Fell and that is how she came to have two sons to inherit whatever is left of the Rochester works.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I suppose that some smart alecky person would want to make some snarky commentary out of the story of the five Duncan sisters who, while doing so much spiritual work, at the same time had so many marital problems. Only Nellie 'Fell' managed to leave behind some children to multiply and populate the earth. Olive Work doesn't seem to have any children, or at least nothing came up so far in the searches. Hmmm.... And there is also the Duncan sisters' sojourn at Lima, in New York that is, although not the Lima in Ohio that was the hometown of the Barth great-grandparents. Likewise our great-grandmother Mary was the daughter of Nellie Smith, and she had seven children. So I suppose that some persons give added significance to the name of Nellie that not intended. Oh, I had not noticed that.