Been busy.

1. The color scheme will last through Saturday. You'll survive until then.

2. Went Christmas shopping on Monday, which was fun. The kids will, as they say, plotz on Christmas morning.

3. We finally have, wonder of wonders, a high speed internet connection. Adios, modem. Hello, download times that don't involve geological ages for reference.

4. Posting will occur at whatever pace is feasible.

5. One last bit of Byzantania:

This is from a mosaic at Santa Maria Assunta on the island of Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. Until the course of the river changed, and rendered the waters around it a "dead" [read: non tidal circulating] lagoon, Torcello was a city of approximately 20,000 people. Now it's home to 60, and is off the beaten Venetian tourist path. It shouldn't be. Santa Maria Assunta is home to a 10th Century Byzantine mosaic collection that rivals Ravenna or St. Mark's on Venice proper. The above is the only extant Byzantine mosaic depicting the Last Judgment. The cutoff piece in the blog's right sidebar is from another cycle in the church. It's really one of the most stunning places I have ever visited, and it rendered my Byzantinofever incurable.