Darren's 40th Birthday

Happy Birthday Darren,

Your generous laugh and charm resonates through many memories of us cycling and hiking together.

With love and best wishes.

Amore: the soul's deepest voice

Amore: la piu' profonda voce dell'anima.

Il tema relativo al concetto dell' amore inteso come voce dell' anima umana, permea il tessuto filosofico di molte opere dantesche. Con il presente studio si intende rilevare, attraverso l'analisi di specifici tratti delle sue opere, il movente base di tale concetto e l'impellente necessita' umana di seguire 'la voce dell'anima', o istinto naturale, per raggiungere il massimo della propria perfezione, sia a livello morale che intellettuale.

Tale sviluppo potra' essere seguito mettendo in evidenza la dinamica di specifiche scelte umane e di fattori che, secondo il criterio del Poeta, determinerebbero l'ideale iter di perfezione.

Ten days

This morning as I walked along the coast cocooned by the crisp and misty sea air, I decided that I wanted to give myself a gift..."ten days". Ten days to pursue my ambitions.

Can it be done? Mmmm. Possibly. But it doesn't really matter whether I succeed or not, the important thing is to plunge into life and see where it takes me.

So here goes. I'll see you in ten days.

Jewels of the North

Gorgeous Florentine Jewels,

I apologise for writing in English, but my Italian is too embarrassingly scant to attempt to write in Italian.

Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking of you and hope that everyone is well. Any news...? Where is everyone going for their Summer holidays?

Autumnal weather has began to settle in Melbourne. The streets are lined with beautiful coloured leaves and bare branches. In the early morning the mist and chill which settles around the bay where I live, is very atmospheric. It has started to get cold and when I recently wore my little brown mink to work, it brought back found memories of Firenze and the conversations, laughter & friendships I shared with special people there.

I'm happy in Melbourne. I have come to accept that for now I will stay in Australia, work on my career, enjoy living by the beach, art pursuits and spending time with family and close friends.

I was fortunate to have lived in Firenze and immensely thankful for the vivid and amazing experiences and opportunities I had whilst there. The ambers from Italy continue to burn bright in my heart, and I will return, but now is not my time.

My plans to undertake the medical expedition in Tibet and present at an international health congress in South Africa later this year, have been suspended due to some health concerns. However I am considering returning to Europe for a brief holiday towards the end of the year, and I hope to return to Firenze to collect and arrange shipment of my personal belongings. Naturally when I return to Italy, I will be in contact, so that we can all be together once again.

Best wishes and love to you all.

With deep affection & fondness.

Jules

Health concerns

News: Today I received the rather daunting news from my GP that my anaemia is so bad, that I've been advised NOT to attend the Himalayan Health Exchange (medical expedition in Tibet) in October............. (sob, sob, ARGH!)

Resuscitation guidelines

This weekend, Meredith,, Jude, Janet, Sue and I attended the Spark of Life Conference in Hobart, Tasmania.

As always the conference was intriguing; however at this professional level, I find that I attend the seminars with a critical mind. Hence, rather than simply accept the research findings, I found I scrutinised and analysed the data a lot more than I have done in the past.

With the exception one presentation... Meredith articulated her research project clearly and given the amount of questions she was asked, obviously stimulated a lot of interest. Very engaging.

The conference aside, I had a wonderful time...Great wine, fabulous seafood, laughter and banter in our Pj's until late, a stroll through Salamanca markets with hot chocolate crepes and lattes and inspiring female company.