PicoBlog

Nancy RommelmannJournalist at Reason, NYT, WSJ, Free Press. Co-host with Sarah Hepola of Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em podcast (smokeempodcast.substack.com). Author of "The the Bridge, a True Story of Motherhood and Murder." Based in NYC. On Twitter @nancyromm ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kja%2BtzZywq6edorKtucCnpQ%3D%3D

NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — The recently released Preliminary 2023 California Grape Crush Report reveals soaring grape prices in Napa Valley. Exploring further, other reports flash warning signs and reveal conflicting trajectories: While grape prices, particularly for premium varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, are skyrocketing, there's a notable decline in demand for the wines produced from these expensive grapes. Given these contrasting indicators, it becomes increasingly crucial to determine if this continued surge in grape prices represents lasting growth or a bubble on the verge of bursting.

Napoleon Bonaparte was born 254 years ago, August 15. One of history’s most most famous Frenchmen, he was born on the Italian island of Corsica, named Napoleone Buonaparte. France annexed the island only a year before Napoleon’s birth, and he spent his early life detesting the French and supporting Corsican independence.  Despite Napoleon’s hatred of France, his father sent him to the French military academy of Brienne, when he was just eight years old.

Natalie Stoclet is a writer, brand consultant, and interior designer based in Mexico City. Raised in Tunisia, Morocco, Argentina, England, and the United Arab Emirates, Natalie has cultivated a keen cultural sensibility and eye for the hidden marks that make a place unique, a skill that she’s honed in for clients such as AMAN, The Standard and Condé Nast Traveler. Fortunately for me, she also happens to be one of my close friends, allowing me to experience the city through her curious, art-driven lens.

When I was in graduate school at Princeton in the 1980’s, Natalie Zemon Davis presented two chapters of her book Fictions in the Archive to the History Department’s weekly research seminar. It was a memorable moment. Here was one of the greatest historians of our time, having her book commented on in draft by colleagues such as Robert Darnton, Anthony Grafton, Lawrence Stone, Sean Wilentz, William Chester Jordan, Arno Mayer and Christine Stansell.

I have only recently learned that there are three kinds of twilight: Civil Twilight, Nautical Twilight, and Astronomical Twilight. Civil twilight refers to the period right after sunset, when the sun is still within 6 degrees of the horizon but there’s still plenty of light streaking the sky. Historically, civil twilight was important because, surprise surprise, it allowed people to see - and keep working - without the aid of illumination (as 19th-century French physicist Auguste Bravais commented “The length of twilight is an element useful to be known: by prolonging the day, it permits the continuance of labor”).

Hello. I have a lot of thoughts about career changing and I’m still trying to process everything that has happened recently about being let go and figuring out my next move. One of the things that has crossed my mind recently is the fig tree metaphor from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. In the book, the fig tree metaphor brilliantly captures Esther’s paralysis in the face of overwhelming choice. Each fig represents a different life path, such as a career, marriage, or artistic pursuit, and Esther's inability to choose just one leads to her fear that all opportunities will eventually wither away.

I’ve been immunocompromised for most of my adult life, and because chemo has further impacted my immunity, I have been pretty quarantined since the beginning of the pandemic. I haven’t eaten inside of a restaurant in two and a half years. I wear an N95 in public places. I covid-test anyone who steps foot in my house. I imagine that sounds quite extreme to some, but covid, cancer, and chemo are a threesome I’m not masochistic enough to long for.

Grocery shopping is one of those activities I enjoy. Call me crazy, but I like to roam the aisles, pick up products, smell the produce and discover new items I might not otherwise find if I only shopped on-line. When I travel to new countries, it’s always a fascinating experience to go to a grocery store and see how others experience one of the most important facets of their life – finding food to cook and eat!