He was seventeen years old and already wore the red. Cardinal Raffaele Sansoni Riario was the grand-nephew of Pope Sixtus IV. Although still studying canon law in Pisa, he had been invested by the Holy Father with the diplomatic powers of a Papal Legate. It was under the Pope’s authority that he was in Florence.... Continue Reading →
I keep a commonplace book where I collect phrases, proverbs, sentences, or ideas like a haphazard bouquet of wildflowers. I pick them as they come to me, with no curation save what I share on this blog. In this series, I’ll offer a quote and meditate on why it deserved to be preserved in my... Continue Reading →
I keep a commonplace book where I collect phrases, proverbs, sentences, or ideas like a haphazard bouquet of wildflowers. I pick them as they come to me, with no curation save what I share on this blog. In this series, I’ll offer a quote and meditate on why it deserved to be preserved in my... Continue Reading →
Conan casts a mighty shadow over the swords and sorcery genre. You might even say, Conan is the genre. At the very least, he is the gold standard and all sword and sorcery fare is measured against the Cimmerian, regardless of the fairness of it. The half-clad, sword-wielding barbarian is the trope de jour in... Continue Reading →
Am I qualified to talk about music? Probably not, I haven’t read a lick of sheet music since I was in High School; the last instrument I played was for my Junior High String’s band. That said, I know what I like and I have a deep appreciation for music. It has always been a... Continue Reading →
The Salon at Elfland 