Stuff 2 Know
July 20, 2019
Notes from around our human experience, including Philosophy 101, On This Date and an excerpt from one of my books.
PHILOSOPHY 101
His images are unforgettable because he was conceiving new forms and discovering new meanings, not just dutifully illustrating a predetermined text. He works by instinct…his independence of mind opening up new possibilities.
Miles Unger
Michelangelo: A Life In Six Masterpieces
Michelangelo (1475-1564), of course, is as talented a man as our species has produced, one of the few to reach the pinnacle in three distinct forms of human endeavor: sculpture, painting and architecture. He was not content to live the life of an ordinary artist. Sure, he could have become very wealthy taking money from his many patrons and doing as he was told, but he knew he had supreme talent and, equally important, he had a vision for how he wanted to use that talent and was willing to put whatever work was required into maximizing that talent. He paid his patrons little regard. He took their money, created whatever he wanted anyway and told them to take it. He answered only to his inner callings.
It’s easy to follow a predetermined life. Most people do, in fact. Be born, become an adult, earn a living, reproduce, die. If the weather’s nice, people will show up at your funeral and say nice things about you.
That is not all there is in this life, though and Michelangelo has lessons for all of us: find what you were meant to do and then go and do it. Find the talents you were issued at birth and put in whatever work is required to maximize them. Ignore the cacophony of outside distractions and answer your own inner calling.
He works by instinct…his independence of mind opening up new possibilities…
Our instincts and independence of mind will show us fresh prospects every day, all we have to do is let them. We may not live down the ages – or, then again, we might – but that is of no particular consequence. The lesson of following your heart and trusting your instincts are there for all of us, and its fruits are there for the taking.
Miles Unger is an American writer. The six masterpieces he refers to are: the Pieta, the David, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the Medici tombs, The Last Judgment (on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel) and St Peter’s Basilica.
Running The Numbers
Our national debt as I write this is $22.514 trillion. and America has been at war for 10,806 consecutive days.
One Small Step
Apollo 11, man’s first voyage to land humans on another planet, lands on the moon on this date in 1969, fifty years ago today. The landing came after a descent that saw an unknown alarm almost cause the mission to abort and after radar wanted them to land in a boulder-infested area. Several hours later Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would spend two-and-a-half hours walking the lunar surface, becoming the first humans to walk on someplace other than Earth. The entire crew, including Michael Collins, would return to Earth on July 24.
Anchors Aweigh
The USS Constitution, first launched in 1797, celebrates its 200th anniversary by sailing, in Boston Harbor, for the first time since the 1930s, on this date in 1997. Though a museum now, Constitution remains in commissioned service, the oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat in the world.
CHARTWATCH
#1 songs on this date in 1985:
Hot 100 – A View to a Kill…Duran Duran (2nd of two consecutive weeks)
Soul Chart – Save Your Love (For #1)…Rene & Angela (1st of two weeks)
Country Chart – Dixie Road…Lee Greenwood (only week)
UK Singles Chart – Frankie…Sister Sledge (4th and final week)
Album Chart – Songs From the Big Chair…Tears for Fears (2nd of five non-consecutive weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard (US) and Official Charts Company (UK).
TODAY’S KAITLYN BOOK EXCERPT
From my latest novel The Angel and The Captain
In today’s episode, Angel and her Captain are on their second date. Angel is telling the Captain a bit about herself.
I was born in town and had always lived here. I didn’t talk about my dad at all, which may have given him a clue I didn’t have one. He bailed on us when I was three. I now know why, but at the time I didn’t because all Mom ever said was being a dad was harder for him than it was for others. When I was in middle school Mom stopped talking about him with her sisters. I’d hear them on the phone and when they visited, though they didn’t talk about him much. It took me a while to realize they weren’t talking about him at all anymore and maybe my dad was dead. I don’t know.
And it doesn’t really matter! The Captain is not my dad; I wanted to do too many things with him, to him, in bed for that. For example, even though he was old enough to be my dad, I wanted this old man to fuck me and eat me out, but maybe not in that order.
From the very start I felt protected and loved with the Captain. It was more than being attracted to him, which I was. It was a feeling of security that is hard to describe but the feeling is comforting because us girls need that.
I went away for college but I moved back because I like it here. I majored in English with a minor in Rhetoric. People always asked if I was going to be a teacher or a writer, but I said no, I had no desire to do either of those things, I merely enjoy the English language and wanted to know more about it.
I told him it wasn’t all that easy for an English major who had some zero desire to utilize her major to find the type of work that builds a career, but I was still young, even if 30 is getting closer and closer.
The Captain said he had never married, which I thought odd, because I’d always wanted to marry before I was 30. I asked him if he wanted to get married now. I played it off by laughing so he wouldn’t know how serious I was. Because a girl needs a husband and if he was just looking for a twenty-something piece of ass, well, I’d probably give it to him because I wanted him, but you know. I wasn’t looking for something long-term and casual.
Fortunately, he said yes, he was open to a good marriage, which was good to hear because I was, too.
A good second date. His pass was stamped to continue on with the courting process. He was a grown-up, and I was ready to be one, too.
Click here to read more from The Angel and The Captain.