I began Ivaldi during my undergraduate years at the University of Texas at Austin. Douglass Parker, a professor of Classics, taught a course in Parageography – the geography of fantasy worlds. The reading list ranged from The Odyssey to Tolkein, and I remember vividly the day Dr. Parker came bounding into class, waving a book… Continue reading Fiction: Ivaldi
Category: bio
Largo al Factotum… Why People Think I Know Opera
Those of you who know me from Adaptec/Roxio days probably remember the tag line appended to my every email and newsletter: “Largo al Factotum del CD-R.” It’s a pun on a line from Figaro’s song in the opera in “The Barber of Seville.” The original phrase is “Largo al factotum della citta’” (“Make way for… Continue reading Largo al Factotum… Why People Think I Know Opera
Servants: Household Help in Developing Countries
If I mention that I grew up having live-in servants, many Americans assume that I must have been filthy rich. But, when I lived in Asia, most foreign families there (and many local ones as well) had servants, and needed them for very practical reasons. Picture yourself as the wife of an American diplomat or… Continue reading Servants: Household Help in Developing Countries
Just Another Brick in the Wall
In the past year, with a daughter struggling in middle school, I’ve had occasion to reflect on the various evils of various educational systems. And of course Woodstock School is much on my mind, as I consult live and printed sources to try to understand what makes that particular school great, preparatory to writing a book… Continue reading Just Another Brick in the Wall
Car Stories
I have never yet driven in Europe. We moved to Italy when our daughter was 15 months old. During a trip around the US when she was 3 or 4, we talked about what we would do on the next leg of the trip, when we got to California: “We’ll rent a car at the… Continue reading Car Stories