Raphael's Beauty

There was a study done recently by the Washington Post. A very talented violinist who gets $110 a ticket for his performances, played in a New York City subway. The violinist proceeded to play the songs he was going to play later that night at a concert. The songs are supposedly some of the greatest and most challenging violin songs known and the violin he was playing with is worth over 3 million dollars. The study was to see if anyone would stop and listen.

After he finished playing it turns out that no one stopped for more than about half a minute. And the only ones who really appeared intrigued were the children who were dragged away by their parents. He made about $30 from people dropping money to him.

The study supposedly gives us insight into how people perceive beauty. No one seemed to realize the fact that one of the world's greatest violin players, with one of the most beautiful violins in the world, was playing the most beautiful violin songs right in front of them. I suppose a lot of conclusions could be drawn here. But I think too much is being read into this study. First off beauty is really hard to objectively define. It is extremely subjective. However, there do seem to be some universally accepted themes of beauty. Such as a beautiful sunny day with green grass. I doubt many if any people are going to argue that they tend to prefer overcast days with brown grass.

In the case of the violinist I think part of the problem is that more likely than not, most of the passerbys in the subway had no way of appreciating the music. Everyone can appreciate a sunny day. But not everyone is going to appreciate what to them is a random violin song. Instead, maybe only someone who has an ear can see the beauty in the violin music. I myself probably would have been one of those people who just walked on by. Although, I have always loved watching performing musicians on the street so I just might have lingered for a bit.

Anyway, so my point is that unless we've been trained or have experience with the subject, we may not be able to appreciate the greatest beauties the subject can offer. Another example is art. I love art and going to museums. And I think most people can appreciate it to some degree because we've all drawn on paper before. In fact I don't know a child who doesn't love to draw. They want to pick up a crayon or a stick and just go at that paper or mud. They are so eager to create. And when we find ourselves in a boring lecture, we may find ourselves continuing to doodle at a rather advanced age.

Recently I finished a drawing, and I like it and want to share it. Now in order to not sound like a braggart I am also including a picture of the original that I tried to recreate. And it gets back to my original point. Many people may look at the original and say that's amazing. Because like I said, all of us have taken pencil to paper, and we can appreciate the masters. But after trying to actually recreate this drawing, all I can say is that Raphael's practice sketch is my best. You can click on them to make them bigger.

I've hung this up next to the entrance door of my apartment. I tried to make the two look a little happier because it's my way of making my guests feel welcome. Both the young and old are excited they are here.

Here's mine:



And here's Raphael's:



Finally here is Raphael's painting. See if you can find the two. They don't appear quite so welcoming.

Making Snowflakes

It has certainly be awhile since we've met. Nearly a month. So you might be thinking that I have many marvelous stories to share with you. No. I had hoped to have all sorts of good things to share, but now I think I'm going to call this year the year of stand ups. There are two ways I define being stood up. The first is when someone extends an invitation to another and that other person acknowledges the invitation and does not say no but then offers no further response. So if the invited person says yes and both neither shows up nor calls to cancel that is being stood up. If that person says I'd like to but I'll have to see, and does not call with a final confirmation one way or the other, that in my book is being stood up. If the person just gives a non-commital response then I don't consider it being stood up if that person doesn't call with a final confirmation, but I do think it's rude.

The second way to stand up someone is by offering an invitation and not following through. So if someone invites another to partake in an activity, but then does not show up to that activity and also do not call to say it is canceled, that is standing up the invited person.

So going by those two definitions, in just the past four days I was stood up 6 times. Twice Sunday, once Saturday, once Friday, and twice Thursday. 6 times I had plans with people who agreed to partake in an activity with me, either by my invitation or their own, and then both did not show up at the planned time and did not call saying not to expect them. In fact not only did they not call, but in all cases I never even got a call after the fact. I know these things shouldn't be taken personally, because far more important things do come up that can distract our attention. Still this was all in just the past four days, and it's no fun being completely forgetable. But yesterday, Sunday, while I was trying to come up with new plans when it became apparanet that my two activities were canceled I had a laugh. Here I was upset about being bailed by a couple people when probably earlier that day Jesus had millions of people not say "Hi". So I guess I have nothing to complain about.

Nevertheless I do have one story to share. After watching a little bit of "Elf" and seeing that scene where he decorates the store overnight, I wanted to revisit the craft of making paper snowflakes. It had been years since I had made a paper snowflake, particularly because I was never any good at it, and I wanted to add some Christmas-time decorations to my apartment. So about two Saturdays ago, I spent a few hours figuring out how to properly fold the paper and create a snowflake. I'm still not any good at creating something geometrically pleasing but I can create scenes, like of snowmen. Eventually I came up with a design that I snapped a photo of on my phone and sent home. Dad said it was the most impressive thing I've done all year and Mom said it was so beautiful I should sign it and frame it. Well I don't know about all of that, but I was impressed about how nice it came out. It's one of those things, where minimal effort can create something that looks amazing. I would attach a picture but I don't have a camera at the moment. But yes, paper snowflakes do look impressive and they aren't too hard to make.

Now that Saturday evening I had a date. Yes, I had a date. I had been talking with a girl on one of these dating websites. She is Catholic, in medical school, lives in town, and, as I soon discovered on the date, is quite attractive. But the date itself wasn't too great. It just never felt at any point in time that we clicked. Things felt almost a little tense. So after the date, I told her that I would like to hear from her again, but she never got back in touch. I thought about calling her again but decided against it. It turns out that she is only in town until June, then she is going to Ohio for the last two years of medical school and she wants to permanently live there. Also she works until 9 PM Monday through Friday. So I didn't see a relationship coming out of this and decided not to pursue the matter any more. But it's not like she called me back either. For my part, I tried to be charming and pleasant on the date. But maybe she didn't like my responses to some of the questions she asked me. For example, this is how one of the questions went. Her: "So what did you do today?" Me: "This afternoon I spent a few hours making paper snowflakes."

Another Outing Amongst Friends

Last weekend I got to visit WAM. Like last time the ride was amazing. It just goes by so fast once you get into the hills. And once I got there it was nice to find that WAM is still very good at making people feel welcome.

I think we may have done even more during this trip than the last time I was there. We hiked up a mountain, went to an apple orchard, shopped the campus town, went book hunting at the library, saw an OWS encampment, had a taco and sausage breakfast from the local farmers, and saw a Basset Hound calendar.

Being a very giving person, WAM offered a generous portion of advice on everything I need to do to acquire a girlfriend. Unfortunately I forgot to bring a notebook.

As before the food was amazing. This time I had probably the best meatloaf I've ever had. This trip WAM was eager to have me try several of her favorite foods. She even made me breakfast, which further confirmed to me how lucky her future husband and children will be.

But despite having written several Tasteful Thursday articles since the last trip, her taste in movies is still quite horrible. Just awful. She should feel shame. Unfortunately I could really do no better since everything I wanted to watch was unavailable. Apparently WAM's poor taste in movies extends to the entire citizenry of Charlottesville.

Nevertheless, an awful cinematic experience couldn't stop the smiles, and we tried our best to capture these happy moments on film.

Celebrating All Those Who Have Their Halos

Proper children do not have to be told to go outside. No matter what the season or weather, children love to play outside. Or they should. Sometimes they do not want to go outside no matter how beautiful the day. During the most exceptionally nice days, if the child does not want to go outside, sometimes the parents get involved and say something like, "get outside and go have fun". They understand that on days that marvelous it is not time to be inside watching tv or doing whatever. On those days it's time to be outside and enjoying it.

Today is All Saint's Day and it is a Holy Day of Obligation. Today is when we celebrate all those who have gone on to Heaven before us, and also ask them for their prayers of support. Now some people may not like being obliged to go to Church. However, in reality these are like the improperly ordered children who would rather be inside on a beautiful day. This day is so wonderful that we are obliged to celebrate. The Church has said you need to go have a good time.

I like that. Again, the Church tends to get serious about having a good time, and today is one of those days. So have an extra scoop of ice-cream tonight, and be sure to send up some prayers to your favorite saints. And with today being All Saints Day and tomorrow being All Souls Day, here is a song that I think helps us remind us that today and tomorrow are supposed to be celebrations rather than sorrowful memorials.

Up For Sale

Yesterday I decided to put up my Jaguar for sale. After having it for about two and a half years I couldn't keep up with the repairs. They were just too expensive and there were far too many of them that were needed. Which is unfortunate because fundamentally the car is still tip top, it just has a bunch of aesthetic problems.

The poor thing has so many problems I don't want to list them all, but I'm going to try anyway. The cup holder is broken, apparently that's a problem on all jaguars of my era. The apolstry up top is coming down. The radio antenna no longer goes up and down, it is stuck in up but at least the radio still works. The chrome finish on the hub caps is peeling due to corrosion from driving it in the winter on salty streets. The back bumper is all scratched up and was likely in an accident before I got it. The left back brake light has a crack in the glass. The trunk has a most unfortunate dent in it. By the gas tank there is an odd coloration on the paint as though a chemical was spilled there, possibly gas I suppose. In the tank itself there is a good deal of rust, although the rust itself is not on the structure of the car. The front grill is a little loose. The inside dash is a little loose. The front right leather seat is cracking. The front right leather seat has a hole. The electrical wiring has gone bad and now the car always thinks the coolant is low and that ABS and traction control are off. The sun roof is broken because you are not supposed to try using the sun roof when it is covered in ice. There is a large stain on the back left carpet. The brake light in the back window has come off the back window and is now sitting on the dash. There are two small scratches to the back left window's tint. There is a small dent in the back right door. After driving for about 15 minutes, the oil pressure starts to sink and you will be warned about low pressure while sitting in idle.

But other than that, the car is tip top.

Homemade Masquerade

The annual costume and chili contest was held today where I work. Last year I went as the Joker and won the costume contest. But by not voting for myself in the chili competition I placed second. Well this year I won the chili competition but I lost the costume competition.

Winning the chili competition was a given because my Mom makes the best everything, and since I used her recipe, and this year executed it correctly, no one had a chance.

Losing the costume contest was a surprise. But that was because I constantly forget just how little taste and appreciation others have for fine arts and anything that requires even a modicum of skill and time. But I'm trying to be a good sport about it all and not have a fit. While I would have upended my chili in a fit of rage over losing the competition, it was completely depleted by my co-workers. I think next year I will make it exceptionally spicy. At any rate, even though I lost, I was very pleased with how my costume turned out and knew I couldn't really have done much better.

Having always like Venetian masks, this year I decided to try and make one. I'm actually not sure why I like them, because that scene in Labyrinth where I first saw them always seemed a little creepy to me as a little kid. But I got some paper mache and paint and went at it. Below are some photos of me in the final product.

Birthday Response

Having recieved her evening presents, Sarah called me up around 9:30. She wanted to say that she loved them and was really happy to get them. Then we talked for a short while to play a bit of catch up. She said that during the past week or so her life had gotten even busier. She had been thinking things would wind down some, but instead they picked up. And as a result she had little time for anything, and her parents were coming in that weekend too.

I mentioned that I wasn't even in town because I was home celebrating my 10 year high school reunion. That surprised her, because she hadn't realized yet that I hadn't delivered the presents.

Despite being told she was busier than ever, I was still elated. Sarah had both called me up and was really happy about the gifts. We didn't have any official dates planned, but at least I knew I was on solid ground. I would have asked if we could have tried to do another lunch on Tuesday, but I knew that week and this coming week I would be teaching so I wasn't going to bring it up. I had hoped she might, but that didn't happen. Still I have found her to be much more talkative, by text that is, since following her birthday. The only problem is that we have discovered that not only does she not receive all my texts, but I haven't received at least one of hers. I suppose that just means I will be calling her more often. She is busier than ever, but the texts she sends are nice enough to indicate that we do have some chance.