Hello! I've missed this.
I hesitate to say this is a comeback, it's more of a circle back.
The blog has been quietly sitting on the shelf for a year without any movement. Not without reasons, only a few legacy websites and blogs have managed to stay alive after the shift to social media (and now Substack, which I am grateful for as it feels a little bit like my old RSS feed.)
But, I never closed it. I couldn’t! It was such a huge part of my life that when I delve into it now I can actually remember writing a specific post, what I was feeling or the excitement of discovering something that I wanted to share.
It took a long time for me to stoke that little flame back up, and hopefully it keeps burning…
So here are some stories I have posted lately, if you’re interested.
The Louvre and its visitors
“Brazilian photographer Alécio de Andrade lived in Paris for almost 40 years; working as a press reporter, Paris correspondent of the weekly Manchete and also as an associate member of Magnum Photos. But it was his photos of everyday life that had a certain magic element to them…”
I want to live inside the paintings of Sophie Treppendahl
“When I saw Self Portrait with Franny by Sophie Treppendahl I could actually feel the warmth of that moment wash over me and pictured myself in that scene, enjoying a quiet moment with a sweet cat called Franny.”
I love mugs.
“An odd thing about me, and I have spoken about this before, is that I love mugs. An excellent mug will stop me dead in my tracks. This is something you can gift me for my birthday or Christmas and I would be delighted.”
Raymond Biesinger’s wonderful vintage prints
“Raymond Biesinger is a talented illustrator from Montreal who has a prolific portfolio; but it is his wonderful prints inspired by vintage publications from Canada’s Department of Agriculture that caught my eye. I NEED that egg print!”
A Workout Mix
“Sometimes you want to do an exercise walk and actually break a sweat, and for this I find the only thing that helps is a workout music mix that is the exact BPM that will get you trotting like an olympic power walker.”
Thanks, and have a great weekend!
Note: You might ask why I don’t just post fully on Substack, and the answer to that is simple - as a South African I can’t monetise it, and the little bit of money I make from ads on the blog basically pays for my hosting fees. Also I like having control of things, visually :) But most of all I want the content to be free!
Soooo happy to hear from you! I’ve loved your blog for years and have definitely missed it. You have such a keen sense of taste.
I love your blog Diana (it ranks up there with my favourites) so I was very happy to read this, and will be reading your latest posts pronto. I didn't know you were on Substack, happy to discover that too, although give me old school blogs over Substack any day!