• Anonymous asked you:
• That stanza in Italian at the top of your tumblr—are they lyrics or did you write them? Do you speak Italian?

As much as I would delight in taking credit, alas no - they belong to Canto XXVII of Dante’s Inferno, and form the epigraph in T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” - two of the many formative literary influences in my life. The lines translate as follows:

If I thought my answer were given
to anyone who would ever return to the world,
this flame would stand still without moving any further.
But since never from this abyss
has anyone ever returned alive, if what I hear is true,
without fear of infamy I answer thee.

And yes, I do.

• Anonymous asked you:
• Where are you from, and how old are you?

Oh, Anons, you should know better by now.

• Anonymous asked you:
• List your 10 favourite things to do on a rainy day.

i) remain in dressing gown & slippers at all times.
i) coax some Schubert out from instrument of choice (cello and piano are favoured).
iii) trail my fingers along the spines of beloved books.
iv) choose one of the aforementioned books and commandeer the sofa to attend to it.
v) be struck by inspiration and put it to pen (or sheet music).
vi) be aghast at failure of the former, and dismiss inspiration as spurious.
vii) put on a record of a quavering voice or venetian baroque (depending on mood).
viii) attempt to recreate some torrid vision in charcoal.
ix) find some melancholic film to complement the grey of the sky.
x) bask in utter and complete solitude without interruption.

et plus?