My favorite one has got to be the first one. Geometric shapes are so trendy right now. I learned that Nabokov's hobby was the study of butterflies. He proposed a theory about their evolution that everyone thought was ridiculous but which somebody recently proved to be true. I love it when things like that happen - you intuitively make an educated guess about something but 'technology' isn't advanced enough to prove it until ... decades later! He also wrote a poem about how the only thing he wants to accomplish in life is to discover and name a new type of butterfly. Also, when his dad was imprisoned during the war, he went to visit him and brought him a butterfly - he was eight years old at the time. His dad was the one who introduced him to the 'hobby'. I don't know if it is appropriate to call it a hobby ~ he seems to have been quite good at it and really serious about it. He is such an perspicacious person. Everything about him exudes sensitivity and understanding and amazingness. I spent all of Saturday drawing butterflies because I felt envious/admiring of his tenacity. I am currently going through a phase of renewed appreciation for him, Herman Hesse, and Haruki Murakami. If there were no time, distance, or language barrier, those three could have been best friends.
And who is/was Vera?!
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