• Family & Domestic Bliss:
  • I was born November 20, 1954 in Springfield, Massachusetts. My parents are Charles & Nancy Vella of Enfield, Connecticut. I have 2 sisters; Diane & Lori, both younger than I. Diane and her husband, Todd, have a daughter, Lisa. Lori and her husband, Ray, also have a daughter, Nicole. They all live in Enfield, too.

  • Joanne Felt & I were married on May 22, 1994.

    Joanne is a member of the Skidmore Faculty in the Dept. of Art and Art History. (Click on Mona's smile for more information:).

    Joanne works in multimedia: Oils, Acrylics, Watercolors, and Charcoal, to name a few. The following links provide a sampler of some of her paintings & drawings:

  • Joanne's artwork

    Spirits of Euphoria	Eight Seconds, Gaining Speed	Merry-Go-Round
    Lamentation	And They Call the Wind	In the Woods
    Primordial Exhilaration	Acceleration III	Snake Ritual II
    Pilgrimage	Modern Annunciation	Is it Real?

    Joanne has no personal presence in cyberspace as of yet, so this meager space will have to serve for the moment to outline some of her art connections.

    Current/Recent Shows:

    • Several shows at ? Gallery in Schuylerville, NY, the most recent in Fall, 2007.
    • Several shows at Gallery 100 in Saratoga Springs, NY the most recent in Fall, 2007
    • Faculty show at the Schick Art Gallery on campus at Skidmore College. (Fall, 2004)
    • Faculty show at the Schick Art Gallery on campus at Skidmore College. (Fall, 2003)
    • Faculty Show at the Schick Art Gallery on campus at Skidmore College. (Fall, 2002)
    • Faculty Show at the Schick Art Gallery on campus at Skidmore College. (Fall, 2001)
    • Faculty Show at the Schick Art Gallery on campus at Skidmore College. (Fall, 2000)
    • Phidias Gallery - Troy, NY (Fall, 2000)
    • Interlocking Worlds A two-person show with colleague Janet Sorensen at the Schick Art Gallery. (April 13 - June 3, 2000)
    • Davis Gallery in Wellfleet, MA (on Cape Cod; Sept., 1999)
    • Works Gallery in Wellfleet, MA (July, 1999)
    • M^cIntosh Gallery in Atlanta, GA. (1995)

    If you are interested in viewing more and/or purchasing any of Joanne's artwork, you may contact Joanne directly.

    Please note: Some of the artwork depicted above is no longer available!

    

  • After our wedding, we spent a night at the Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing, NY, on Lake George, and then Joanne was off to teach in Florence, Italy, where I joined her later. We visited Florence, Padua, Venice, Rome, & Sicily, among other places. We revisited the Sagamore to celebrate our 10^th anniversary in 2004. Too bad we can't go back to Italy...

    Here are a few postcards from Italy:

    Postcards from Italy

    Venice	Bridge of Sighs	St. Marks' Square
    Colliseum	Trevi Fountain	Sicily

    

  • Just when we thought nothing could top 1994, the next year brought us the birth of our first daughter, Angelina. She weighed 6 lbs., 6 oz. when she was born at 3:06 AM, June 26, 1995. Naturally, we have photos:

    Angelina

    3 weeks old	2 months old	2 months old
    5 months old	6 months old	11 months old
    1 year old	2 years old	2 years old
    2 years old	3 years old	4 years old
    5 years old	5 years old	6 years old

    

    I haven't updated this site in many years, but Angelina is now a middle school student, and is a pretty good soccer player, dancer, and also is taking piano and violin lessons.

  • 1997 proves to be every bit as eventful, as our second daughter Chiara is born at 1:02 PM on May 21, 1997, weighing 7 lbs., 2 oz. The name is in the original Italian spelling, with a hard 'ch' sound. Thus, it is pronounced the same as the more Anglocized version "Kiara". Some photos:

    Chiara

    at home - 2 days old	at the hospital with mom	at the hospital with sister, mom, & grandma
    at home with sister & dad	at home - 3 days old	1 month old
    3 months old	4 months old	1 year old
    1 year old	16 months old	2 years old
    3 years old	3 years old	4 years old

    Chiara is now in her last year of elementary school, is an avid reader, dancer, and also taking piano and violin lessons. In addition she has recently added gymnastics to her interests, and has won a number of ribbons and awards already in her first two meets (fall, 2007.)

    

  • As if a new baby and a toddler weren't enough to keep us busy, 1997 also saw us build a new house. We moved in on August 29, 1997. In 1998 we added a deck and in 1999/2000 a pool.

  

• Photo Gallery

  Here are a few more family photos:

  Joanne & I circa 1989	Enjoying some quality time at home	Joanne & I get married
  In Congress Park - Saratoga Springs, NY	Spring, 1996	In the pool
  Joanne's Birthday 1997	Xmas 1997	In the pool again
  Xmas 1998	Fall 1999	Halloween 1999
  Summer 2000		Summer 2000

  

• Opinions
  "...the great man, the great man, Historians his memory,
  Artists his senses, Thinkers his brain, Laborers his growth,
  Explorers his limbs, Soldiers his death each second,
  And Mystics his rebirth each second,
  ...Infinity his goal, mystery his source,
  Civilization he leaves behind,
  Opinions are his fingernails".

  -Robin Williamson (from the song Maya, by the Incredible String Band).

  This section is devoted to some of my opinions related to art, music, & literature. Maybe someday I'll add opinions on other subjects, but I doubt it. When it comes to movies & music, though, everybody is a critic.

  Click on the "fingernails" below

  Literature

  Films

  Music

  

• Other hobbies:
  • Cooking:
    • Joanne & I enjoy cooking the following ethnic foods:
      • Chinese
      • Italian
      • Indian
      • Lebanese (we had an opportunity to experiment with this only once, but it turned out fine.)
    • Other favorite ethnic foods: Thai , Japanese , Vietnamese, Korean, Afghanistani , Ethiopian, Middle Eastern, French , Cajun, Mexican .
    

  • Travel:
    • Foreign:

      I have visited France (Paris & Versailles), the US Virgin Islands (St. Johns & St. Thomas), Italy & Sicily, and briefly Mexico (Tijuana) & Canada (Montreal & Niagara Falls). In Italy, Joanne & I visited Florence (& surrounding countryside), Rome, Venice & Padua; while in Sicily we rented a car and circumnavigated the island, as well as visiting some smaller inland towns such as Canigatti and Naro (where my family is from). Particulary memorable on the coast were Palermo, Agrigento, Taormina (near Mt. Etna, which we visited), and especially Siracusa (home of Archimedes). I'd be hard pressed to name a favorite city in Italy, but if forced, I'd probably say Venice on the mainland (followed closely by Florence), and Siracusa in Sicily.

    • Domestic:

      Over the years, I've visited 45 of the United States, I have yet to visit: Nebraska, Arkansas, North Dakota, Colorado, & Alaska. Some of my favorite places to visit in the USA are Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks, and Bryce Canyon in Utah. Runners up include the Grand Canyon, Muir Woods, Joshua Tree Park, Death Valley, Craters of the Moon, Haleakala Park, Etc.

      Here are some relevant links (to parks I have visited):

      • Yosemite:
        1. National Park Service - Yosemite
        2. yosemitepark.com
        3. A Guide to Yossemite Park

      • Yellowstone:
        1. National Park Service - Yellowstone
        2. Vacation Guide
        3. Yellowstone Raft Company
        4. Yellowstone Geographic

      • Bryce Canyon:
        1. National Park Service - Bryce Canyon
        2. Bryce Valley and Tropic
        3. AreaParks.com - Utah

      • The Grand Canyon:
        1. National Park Service - Grand Canyon
        2. The Grand Canyon National Park Foundation
        3. Canyon Dreams (hiking)
        4. Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce

      • Joshua Tree National Park:
        1. National Park Service - Joshua Tree
        2. Joshua Tree National Park Association
        3. AreaPark.com - Joshua Tree
        4. Joshua Tree Community Website

      • Death Valley National Park:
        1. National Park Service - Death Valley
        2. DeathValley.com
        3. AreaParks.com - Death Valley
        4. Sierra Club - Death Valley

      • Virgin Islands National Park:
        1. National Park Service - Virgin Islands
        2. St.JohnsIsland.com
        3. St-John.com

      • Haleakala National Park:
        1. National Park Service - Haleakala
        2. Haleakala.National-Park.com
        3. MauiMap.com - Haleakala

      • Florida Everglades:
        1. National Park Service - Everglades
        2. Everglades Home Page
        3. AreaParks.com - Everglades

      • Cape Cod National Seashore:
        1. National Park Service - Cape Cod
        2. LLBean.com
        3. Paine's Campground

      • Craters of the Moon National Monument:
        1. National Park Service - Craters of the Moon
        2. Unoffical Guide
        3. Volcano World

      • Shenandoah National Park:
        1. National Park Service - Shenandoah
        2. Aramark - Shenandoah National Park
        3. Shenandoah.National-Park.com
        4. Area Parks.com - Shenandoah

      • Mount Rushmore National Memorial:
        1. National Park Service - Mount Rushmore
        2. Black Hills Online
        3. South Dakota Mount Rushmore Page

        

      • Acadia National Park:
        1. National Park Service - Acadia
        2. AcadiaNet, Inc.
        3. Acadia Institute of Oceanography

      • Niagara Falls:
        1. Niagara Vacation Guide
        2. Thunder Alley
        3. Falls Net attraction and Guide

      

      For beaches, nothing can beat the US Virgin Islands or Hawaii (especially Maui), but Cape Cod and coastal Maine have a lot to offer also.

      

    • Joanne, Angelina, Chiara & I have made it an annual tradition to go on (sometimes extended) camping trips in our travel trailer. In our maiden voyage down South (Spring 1996), we visited Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. In the summer of 1996 we visited Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, & Niagara Falls (Canadian side). We are members at the Lake George Escape Resort, and usually spend a few weeks there every summer. That's as far as we went in the summer of 1997 and 1998 since we were in the midst of building our new house as well as adjusting to life with our new daughter. The Summer of 1999 brought us two trips to Cape Cod, MA, where the kids had their first ocean beach experience. On one of the trips we took the ferry to Martha's Vineyard for a short bicycle trip and some time on the beach there. We also visited friends & relatives in Virginia, where we also made an appearance at Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home. In summer of 2000, we repeated our 1996 trip: Iowa (Des Moines), Illinois (Chicago), Ohio (Seaworld in Cleveland), Michigan (Marshall), and Niagara Falls (while we did travel through Canada between Niagara and Indiana, at Niagara Falls this time we visited the American side, including a ride on the Maid of the Mist. In 2001, we stayed relatively near home, camping near Lake George a lot. We did spend the last week of the summer on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard.

    • Of course, now that our daughters are a bit older, we have taken the plunge for a family vacation to Disneyword in Florida, and this year plans for a Disney Cruise are in the works. We also (January, 2008) recently visited the Smuggler's Notch Resort near Stowe, Vermont for a weekend of skiing with my sister Lori & her family.
  • Other:

    I have been known to occasionally dabble in:

    • Amateur Astronomy
    • Coin Collecting
    • Joanne likes to collect/refinish antique furniture and work in the garden
      

    • We both like attending plays, concerts and opera , especially at the outdoor Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). Besides several years of attending the Jazz festival (where we saw the likes of Chick Corea, George Benson, Grover Washington Jr., B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Tony Bennet, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Branford Marseilis, Bela Fleck, and Andy Summers, we also have enjoyed dozens of operas, a couple of ballets, a presentation of Philip Glass' Dancepieces, and the following rock & pop shows:
      • Eric Clapton (1991 or 1992? at SPAC)
      • The Modern Jazz Quartet at Skidmore College (1993?)
      • The Traffic reunion tour (1994 at SPAC)
      • King Crimson (11/17/95 at the Paramount Theater in Springfield, MA)
      • Steely Dan (7/31/00 at SPAC)
      • Paul Simon (8/1/01 at SPAC)
      • King Crimson (12/8/01 at the Orpheum Theater in Boston, MA)
      • The Kronos Quartet at Skidmore College (2002)
      • King Crimson (3/8/03 at the Orpheum Theater in Boston, MA)
      • Aztec Two Step - Caffee Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 9/13/03
      • 21st Century Schizoid Band, Middle East Club, Cambridge, MA, 4/26/04
      • John Renbourn & Jacqui McShee, Caffee Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 5/9/04
      • Aztec Two-Step - Caffee Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 2/9/07
      • Aztec Two-Step - Caffee Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY 8/9/08

  

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