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DaVinci The Unreliable

We just came across something satisfyingly soothing in the January 14, 2013 issue of The New Yorker.

In a review of a new book--Leonardo and the Last Supper--we learn that in his time, Da Vinci had a reputation for being a "dilatory and even unreliable worker whose career was strewn with abandoned projects."  According to author, Ross King, he was as hard on himself as we can be, moaning to his diary, "Tell me if I ever did a thing." When the commission for the Last Supper came in, Da Vinci was juggling work on a giant bronze horse (never finished), various flying machines, and a joke book.  For a genius, he was, it appears, quite human.

Ai Wei-Wei at The Hirshhorn Museum

We spent the weekend visiting colleges in Washington, DC and Baltimore with Maxie, our daughter.  A highlight of the trip was the Ai Wei-Wei exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum in DC.

We left the show feeling moved, exhilarated and sad.  It became clear why the Chinese would want to silence him.  He speaks truth.

Announcing the NEW williamabranowicz.com!

After months of combing the archives and editing roughly 34 years of photography, we are very excited to announce the new and improved williamabranowicz.com. Click HERE to have a look at Bill's new personal website, with design by Doyle Partners. We hope you love it as much as we do.

Photographs Our Daughter Makes

Each of our kids has an interest in art.  Our boys sit and sketch for hours, but our daughter favors the camera.  While she has a good SLR, her preferred camera of choice is the iPhone.  She rounds out her visual vocabulary through tumblr and other websites.  She and I did a one-on-one, week-long photography workshop together in Greece this past summer, and her growth as a photographer continues to be a source of pleasure for us and for her. 

Her portfolio, like those of her brothers, is being honed down to a beautiful body of work.   The camera gives this shy young woman great cover in social situations.

A Gift for the Spring

A dear friend came by last night to drink a glass of bubbly and exchange some holiday cheer. Her gift was a box of seeds gathered from
her beautiful garden. 

What a gift it will be when they bloom in our
garden this spring.

Enough Already. We Support Gun Control

Another Day, More Deaths: Two Police Officers Shot and Killed in Kansas....3_Year-Old Accidently Shoots Himself, Dies...Gunman At Large After Shooting Victim 4 Times...Man Shoots Wife...One Person Shot in San Antonio, Gunman Later Shot by Cops...Woman Shot at Campground...Woman Shot to Death, Son 'Thought She Was Sleeping'...3 Gunned Down in Grand Rapids.  Enough Already.  We need gun legislation now. 

Get Bush Smart

We have worked with a number of great stylists.  Among the very best is John Davison.  Bill's worked with John a number of times on Ralph Lauren shoots.  John would often talk about his seriously intrepid mid winter slogs in the most remote places--in the most severe weather.  Now we've word that John and Kevin Sterling have a new company called Bush Smart. 

With all things heritage coming to the forefront, they've developed a line of the most beautifully crafted camp gear we've ever seen.  The craftmanship and magnificent design combine with perfect functionality.  The gear is truly impressive.  Check out Bushsmart.com and especially the Jackadashery and the Heroes sections on the site.  Get stuff and get smart..

In Memory of Oscar Niemeyer

 In Memory of Oscar Niemeyer, 1907 - 2012.

VOTE

Zander, our son, sent us this Cavafy poem translated by the great Phillip Sherrard and Edmund Keeley (who wrote the introduction to The Greek File).

 

 

Waiting for the Barbarians

By C. P. Cavafy

Translated By Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard

 

What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?

      The barbarians are due here today.

Why isn’t anything going on in the senate?

Why are the senators sitting there without legislating?

      Because the barbarians are coming today.

      What’s the point of senators making laws now?

      Once the barbarians are here, they’ll do the legislating.

Why did our emperor get up so early,

and why is he sitting enthroned at the city’s main gate,

in state, wearing the crown?

      Because the barbarians are coming today

      and the emperor’s waiting to receive their leader.

      He’s even got a scroll to give him,

      loaded with titles, with imposing names.

Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today

wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?

Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,

rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?

Why are they carrying elegant canes

beautifully worked in silver and gold?

      Because the barbarians are coming today

      and things like that dazzle the barbarians.

Why don’t our distinguished orators turn up as usual

to make their speeches, say what they have to say?

      Because the barbarians are coming today

      and they’re bored by rhetoric and public speaking.

Why this sudden bewilderment, this confusion?

(How serious people’s faces have become.)

Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,

everyone going home lost in thought?

      Because night has fallen and the barbarians haven't come.

      And some of our men just in from the border say

      there are no barbarians any longer.

Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?

Those people were a kind of solution.

C.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems
Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard
Translation Copyright © 1975, 1992 by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard

Remember to Vote. 

Common Ground For Peace

On Monday, our sons had the honor of attending "Common Ground for Peace," a two day forum at Syracuse University, where Simon is a freshman.  Leading the conversation among the many luminaries from the world of politics, policy, and journalism, was His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and it was a thrill for our children to hear his message.  To paraphrase, focus on what makes all human beings the same: we sleep, we dream, we eat, we work. Among humans, our most common traits are just that, common to us all.  Please take a few moments to listen for yourself.  He comes in to the video at 24 minutes.  You can view it here.

War?  What is it good for?  Absolutely nothing.

T

This Sunday's NY Times T magazine has a cover story on John Derian shot by Bill.  John and his work are perfectly reflected in this 'make-under'.  You can read the online version of the story here.

We Know What He Did This Summer

It has been a while since our last post, but living has won over blogging this summer.  After a long trip to Greece--our first without all three of our children--we are home and eagerly await  reuniting with Simon, our middle son, who flew up to Maine the day after he graduated high school for work.  Simon was a counselor at our beloved Pine Island Camp in Belgrade Lakes, Maine, where he and his brother Zander spent many happy summers in the wilderness as campers.

It's the day after this year's campers have departed, and a now-relaxed Simon excitedly called this morning to tell us that the mother of one of his campers mentioned him in a piece she wrote for the BBC about PIC.

Simon has always had a magical sway over young kids.  From the piece below, we see he hasn't lost his touch.  You can read the article here.

Indivisible America

Not fans of Starbuck's coffee, we've been won over to the company by through its Indivisible campaign and chairman Howard Schultz's effort to create American jobs.  Today, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch had an article on the company's support of The American Mug and Stein Company in Ohio.  It's a very small step but one that we hope will start a trend--creating one job at a time in the US by one major corporation after another.

Photographs from Pine Island Camp in MSL

Our two boys went to Pine Island Camp for a number of years and were counselors afterwards.  Simon, our middle child, is a rowing counselor there this summer. 


We have often said that if there is any hope for the world, it will come out of the values learned at a place like Pine Island Camp.  The current (May) issue of Martha Stewart Living shows why.    

Andrea and Andrea Raisfeld Locations in today's New York Times

“My specialty is really residential,” said the agent, Andrea Raisfeld, the founder of Andrea Raisfeld Locations.  [Photograph: Dave Sanders for The New York Times]

Andrea is featured in today's New York Times article “Homes With Star Quality Are Now Hiring an Agent” by Elizabeth Harris.  

“A talent agent has his or her stable of actors and actresses. My cast is houses and places,” the article quotes.

Check out the whole piece at NYTimes.com or download the full article here.

Show your support – Like Andrea Raisfeld Locations on Facebook!

Our NY based, Swedish Beach House

We are done.  There's still dust to wipe and pictures to hang but our Eve Ashcraft-led paint job is done.  We've gone from black floors to light grey ones.  The walls are cool, the ceilings are warm and in some rooms,  just the opposite.  We've added wallpaper and we are loving it.  It's real renewal.

The Joy of Quiet

Pico Iyer, the author, most recently, of "The Man Within My Head", a tribute to the British novelist Graham Greene, had a front page story in Sunday's New York Times Week in Review,  entitled The Joy of Quiet.  It's a topic we, along with many of our friends, discuss frequently--escaping the constant constant stream of too much information.  If you missed the article, we strongly encourage you take a look at it here.

A Casualty of the Christmas Season

Holiday Kitsch Alert: Sweet and Salty Bark

The other day, while searching new holiday treats to make with marshmallows and cereal (the possibilities would appear to be infinite), I came across a how-to video that made me cry with joy.  Candy sushi.  I know, right???  So while I await just the right opportunity to serve candy sushi (a state dinner for the Japanese Prime Minister?  Perhaps Kodomo No Hi, or Children's Day on May 5, a Japanese national holiday?), I settled upon a recipe that I had torn from Country Living some time ago.  Last night, my friends and I got together for our annual Christmas baking evening, which becomes less and less ambitious each year, and yet, somehow more and more fun.

After several rounds of prosecco and pomegranate seeds, we brought forth the four simple ingredients:

a sleeve of Saltines, 2 sticks of unsalted butter (nod to Paula Deen--I tried to cut that down to 1.5 but it really seems to beg for the 2 whole sticks), 1 cup of light brown sugar, and 1 and 1/3 cups of semisweet morsels.

Trial and error being the best teacher, I went at it again this morning, for my own improvement on the original recipe, which happened to come from country superstar Tricia Yearwood.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a large rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil and crushed saltines.  [The original recipe calls for them to be kept whole, but I like masking what that salty crunch is coming from.]

2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar together and bring to a boil for about  5 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour over the crackers, trying to cover all the crackers evenly.  Put the cookie sheet into over and watch closely (learned that the hard way).  Bake for about 5 minutes, or until just bubbly.  Turn the oven off.

3. Remove cookie sheet from oven, and scatter chocolate chips evenly over the crackers.  Place the cookie sheet back in oven for a few moments, to speed the melting of the chocolate.  Remove from oven, and with a butter knife or spatula, spread the chocolate over the whole crackery mess.   Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so, until it's completely cold.

4.  Break into pieces.  Eat.  Yum!