Robin Hardy's Abbey Lands
The Stories of the Abbey of St. Benedict on the Sea
Random Mutterings
The Romanian Athenaeum
Oct. 17, 2025: The Romanian Athenaeum is a concert hall in the middle of Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. Designed by the French architect Albert Galleron, it was begun in 1865 and opened in 1888, although work continued until 1897. In 1992, the building required extensive reconstruction to prevent its collapsing. The work was done by a Romanian construction company, and restoration painter Silviu Petrescu contributed to the refurbishing. The Athenaeum is now a major tourist attraction.
Stories Feed You
Oct. 14, 2025: Be discerning about the stories you take in. They don't just affect you, they fill you, like food for the soul. After you've consumed a particular story, how do you feel? Uplifted or beaten down? Encouraged or depressed? Clarified or confused? Clean or dirty? If you don't put nasty things in your mouth, then respect your soul as well. You need to be strong for the battles to come. Okay? (Art by Tyler Miles Lockett)
Technological Progress
Oct. 11, 2025: Everything you see in this photo (besides the guy) is now on your smart phone. Some of the things I see here are a boom box, landline telephone, camera, video camera, TV, watch, alarm clock, voice recorder, computer, calculator, tablet, CDs and player , DVDs, cassette tape and player, and timer. What am I missing?
Polymer Clay Dragons
Oct. 8, 2025: Sandy Huntress is an artist who creates all kinds of wonderful, whimsical things out of polymer clay. She specializes in dragons. Here are three of her pets that I just bought. I expect them to guard my knickknacks.
J.R.R. Tolkien's Letter
Oct. 5, 2025: For all the Lord of the Rings fans, this is J. R. R. Tolkien's handwritten letter in Tengwar (the script of Sindarin, the language of the elves). The letter is from Aragorn, King of Gondor, to the hobbit Sam Gamgee, in which King Aragorn informs Sam of his future visit and expresses his desire to "greet all his friends."
Have a Seat!
Oct. 2, 2025: I don't know why, but I've been looking at chairs, and have found a few I'd like to try out. What do you think?
This is a cute Alice in Wonderland chair by John Suttman. I don't know that anyone could actually sit in it without sliding off.
Here are three variations of the chairs above. I have no idea who designed them, but they may be for viewing only.
Here's another along the same lines by Tony Paul Peacock. At least you won't be sliding off, but you might not want to lean back.
This green leather chair is by Nodic Design. I'd love to test it out just to see if the leather folds hold up. But since it costs about $2,000, I'll just speculate.
You could call it Chataine's Guardian 2.0