As I was driving along the Tuscan highway a couple of days ago, the white mountains came into view. Not a ski resort (although there are many in Italy) but the quarries where white marble has been excavated since the 2nd century BC. The area is Tuscany and the provinces are Massa and Carrara. You know the marble and the mountains better than you might imagine. Can you picture how white the perfectly carved marble of Michelangelo’s David is? Or his Bacchus? How about the Pieta in the Vatican? All marble from Carrara, where Michelangelo spent years choosing the perfect stone for his projects. In our modern-day, can you envision the white marble imported from Italy and used to make kitchen counter tops, tiles, pillars, statues and decorative borders? Also marble from Carrara and Massa. Visiting this area is a dream come true for me. This time of the year, I am very much aware of how old meets new and how 2012 is meeting 2013. Somehow, if these white mountains can still b......

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26 December 2012 is La Festa di Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day) in Italy, which marks the announcement of the birth of Jesus and the arrival of the Three Wise Men. It also means all of the stores and most of the restaurants are closed and the streets are pretty empty. A perfect day to arrive in Florence, exhausted and needing to catch up on sleep. I arrived around noon, checked into Hotel Villa Fiesole and then walked uphill to the center of town. Fiesole is a small hillside town with spectacular views of Florence. It’s about 5 miles from Florence and was discovered between 9 and 8 B.C. As I walked into the center of town, I passed ancient stone walls. Il Duomo beckoned to me in the distance behind a translucent wall of clouds. Speeding cars passed me, one almost cutting my trip short since if he were any closer I’d be in the hospital. The Medici built a villa in Fiesole, which I walked by on my way to lunch. Fra Angelica lived here. Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas ......

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            It is Christmas Day and I leave for Italy in a few hours. I am going by myself but I will not be alone. The spirits of the Italian Renaissance masters that I have been writing about and studying for years will surely be with me. Definition of RENAISSANCE according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary a : the transitional movement in Europe between medieval and modern times beginning in the 14th century in Italy, lasting into the 17th century, and marked by a humanistic revival of classical influence expressed in a flowering of the arts and literature and by the beginnings of modern science b : the period of the Renaissance c : the neoclassic style of architecture prevailing during the Renaissance d: a movement or period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity e: rebirth, revival             Starting with Giotto and Dante during the pre-Renaissance, then into the early Renai......

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List of oxymoronic phrases I heard this week while listening to the news on television....

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More of my favorite Oxymorons...

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In From Point A to Point B, Writing and Rock Climbing, Part One, my theory that writing and rock climbing are similar was mostly proven. Here, in Part Two, I examine writing and climbing terms that compliment each other. The climbing definition is listed first, followed by the writing definition.  Enjoy, and when you’re done, get back to writing or climbing! Approach  The path to the beginning of a climb. The path to the start of writing a novel. Beta Advice on how to successfully complete a climbing route. Advice on how to make changes to your story. Booty  Gear left behind at a climbing location. What a writer sits on while writing. Bummer  A difficult route. A difficult plot twist or scene. Font  The French grading system for bouldering. A particular typeface and size. Friend A namee brand of a spring-loaded camming device.  Someone who never says no when you ask him to read your work. Grovel  To climb with poor techniqu......

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Starting today, I plan to post each Wednesday morning my “favorite” oxymoronic phrases. An oxymoron is a phrase that conjoins two contradictory words or terms. As a writer, I have a love affair with words, their use and misuse. I find oxymoronic uses amusing although I do recognize their effectiveness as a literary and dramatic tool when intentionally employed for that purpose. My reason for posting my favorite oxymorons here and in subsequent weekly blogs is to call attention to them and, hopefully, to learn from you, my readers, those oxymoronic phrases I haven’t yet come across. I do enjoy knowing them! I also will occasionally post my favorite oxymoronic statements – many of which have been attributed (correctly or not) to former New York Yankees’ catcher Yogi Berra or to Yankees’ manager Casey Stengel. Please comment by posting your own list of oxymoronic phrases or statements. Post them as a Comment or as a New Article on my web page at:  http://www.stevenmroth.com/blog. Here is my initial list of phrases: Exact estimate Deafening silence Clearly confused Act naturally Same difference Here is my favorite oxymoronic statement: “When in life you come to a fork in the road, take it.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ...

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            I started writing when I was eight years old. I first began indoor rock climbing when I was in my twenties. Loving the indoor wall, I decided to try it outdoors. While in Maine, I went to Acadia National Park, hired a guide and set off to expand my love of climbing. Except, it didn’t turn out that way. I was petrified outside and, as a result, I hung up my climbing shoes and carabineers and didn’t climb again until about eight months ago. It didn’t escape me that during a different period of my life, I had also stopped writing due to fear.             Now, I’m tackling 5.9s and 5.10s indoors, writing like crazy and noticing the similarities between writing and climbing. Sure, one is sedentary and solitary while the other requires physical fortitude and a partner. But they both begin with a blank canvas, determination and trusting those who have gone before. &nb......

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The best predictor of our future behavior is our past action. ...

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I wrote my first book when I was eight years old. It was a book about the weather and it was called, of course, The Book of Weather. I took construction paper and drew the sun and wind and clouds, wrote about lightning and thunder and fastened the pages between two pieces of cardboard taken from my father’s new button-down work shirts. I covered the cardboard with green and yellow wallpaper that had bright and bubbly orange flowers dancing along it. The wallpaper had been left over from decorating our 1970’s Long Island kitchen. I was pleased with my book but nothing made me prouder than when the librarian placed it in my elementary school library. I visited it every day. I don’t recall anyone checking out my book, or if it was given its own listing in the card catalogue or even a Dewey decimal number, but I didn’t care. There it was on the shelves. My book. I was a writer. And a writer I was determined to be until the day came when practicality usurped my ......

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