Memento Mori from Pompeii

As you may know, today is is Ash Wednesday today, the beginning of Lent. To mark the day, I have decided to share one very famous Memento Mori, from Pompeii. I took the picture in one of my childhood books about Greek and Roman mythology. This image has always fascinated me. It is an allegory of the transient nature of life. The skull represents death, there is the wheel of fortune, the soul is represented by the butterfly, etc. You can find more details about the moseic here. In the end, I think it's a cool image to encourage people to make the most of their life.

Dreaming of a volcanic holiday

This picture was taken in the Natural History Museum of London. "A Londra, è vero". But it is of Italy I am thinking about. My wife and her friend (the mother of the girl who has Buffy) are planning to go on holidays and they are seriously considering Italy, maybe Naples. This is where of course Mount Vesuvius is and thus where the ruins of Pompeii are, where these remains have been taken (I think). My wife and I are planning to go on another holiday in a different place, but I have been wanting to go back to Italy in ages and I'd love to try Naples, for many reasons. Because I want to exercise my Italian and improve it, and Naples would be fitting, as I have been told at least once that I have a Neapolitan accent. But it is because of the ruins especially. Because it would be nice to go there before the Vesuvius bursts again (hey, it will happen one day). Because once in my life I want to be near a volcano. There is something beautiful about them that the aura of menace only enhances. And I think it enhances as well, or makes us more conscious of, the beauty of the place itself, of Naples and Italy itself. Even in the above picture, which my wife didn't like one bit and thought it was both scary and sad, there is something like a sinister aesthetic to it. Anyway, I'd love to spend some time near Mount Vesuvius, while it is still sleeping. So I hope they pick up another place.