THUNDERCLOUDS AT SUNSET

 

I WAS ALWAYS A LOVER OF BEAUTY

18-05-1995 on return from my "dream year"

"I am a lover of beauty. But more than that, I love the wonder that beauty instills. I am thankful that I am simple enough in intellect to be amazed every time I look at the prairie sky or gaze at a familiar mountain range or ponder the intricacies of the human body. I live in wonder...

• Tonight I sleep with my window open for Gerdien. I did situps in Tracy's memory. I say, "Yeah!!" for Fran and "Yup" for Uli. I stare at the face of an acquaintance in wonder as I see another's personality, and marvel at a personality so familiar, yet known in a different habitus. Amazing!

• I long to express this beauty, this wonder but am satisfied with the ability to wonder and to see this beauty.

• I am 23 and still don't know what the purpose of my life should be. Wonderment? Help? Mourning? Which or how much of each?

MNEMOSYNE

Today I was in a paper store called Note Bene, on Park Avenue. There was a lot of choice. My friend was admiring the pens, but I liked seeing notebooks from France (Clairefontaine), Germany (Leuchtsturm) and Moleskin. I saw a series of notebooks called Mnemosyne, and found myself googling the name that was so familiar, and likely a root to mnemonic.

Mnemosyne was the mother of the 9 muses with Zeus (his dwelling place is Mount Parnassus). She was the Titan goddess of memory and remembrance. She and Zeus created the goddesses of arts, literature and science. Each had a domaine, and are identifiable by their attributes seen in paintings and sculptures from the second to the twentieth century.

In alphabetical order, the nine muses (all minor goddesses) and their domains and attributes, in Greek mythology were:

Calliope (the superior muse, inspiring Homer to write the Iliad and the Odyssey- Epic Poetry, rhetoric, music, writing - Writing Tablet, also laurels in one hand and two Homeric poems in the other
Clio - History - Scrolls, also book in left hand and clarion (trumpet) in her right
Erato - Lyric (love) Poetry - Cithara (Lyre family) and love arrows with bow.
Euterpe - Song and elegiac (death, love and war) poetry - Aulos (flute-like)
Melpomene - Tragedy - Tragic Mask
Polyhymnia - Hymns, Geometry, Grammar - Veil, looks to the heavens
Terpsichore - Dance, Harp, Education - Lyre, wreath of laurels on her head, dances
Thalia - Comedy - Comic Mask
Urania - Astronomy -  Compass, Stars, Celestial Sphere


Pope Julius II commissioned four frescoes to represent the four areas of human knowledge for the Palace of the Vatican. Parnassus, with Apollo, the nine muses, and 18 poets, represent Poetry. The other three frescoes represent philosophy, religion and law.

INSPIRATIONS IN GEOMETRY

I was browsing pinterest when I saw this gorgeous pattern. It reminded me of a quilt and I figured it must have simple rules to construct to be cut into baking or sew into a blanket. I found it on Nicola's Tasty Kitchen and it is her beautiful kibbeh dish.

This doodle inspired me to summarise first Corinthians chapter 13. It was a really fun exercise!

FIRST, divide the circle into eights by bisecting two radii perpendicularly, twice.
FROM here, run parallel lines vertically on each side of the quartered lines, sparing an inch in the centre, skipping, and joining chevrons in each quarter.
FINALLY, mark chevrons every inch horizontally.
STAND BACK and enjoy.
Correct as necessary.