12-29-2004, 11:19 PM
Hi,
Well, christmas was the usual exchange of so-so presents, sprinkled abundantly with gift certificates and cash).
But I did receive a present last year that I treasure. I have the rare privilege of numbering among my friends a true renaissance man. Not in the watered down modern meaning of one who knows a lot of trivia, but in the original meaning of being proficient in disparate fields. Not only does this individual have a Ph.D. in physics, experience as a Boeing engineer, and served as director of one of the EU labs in Brindisi, but he is also an accomplished artist. So accomplished that he supported himself with his art alone for a number of years in Italy, where artists are common and starving.
Besides a twenty-five year friendship, we share a birthday (we are exactly nine years apart).
This year, for our birthday, he gave me a painting that might be a winter tree in a snowy landscape. Or it might be the ninth tao. Or it might simply be beauty in black and white.
Whatever it is, it nourishes both the eye and the mind.
--Pete
Well, christmas was the usual exchange of so-so presents, sprinkled abundantly with gift certificates and cash).
But I did receive a present last year that I treasure. I have the rare privilege of numbering among my friends a true renaissance man. Not in the watered down modern meaning of one who knows a lot of trivia, but in the original meaning of being proficient in disparate fields. Not only does this individual have a Ph.D. in physics, experience as a Boeing engineer, and served as director of one of the EU labs in Brindisi, but he is also an accomplished artist. So accomplished that he supported himself with his art alone for a number of years in Italy, where artists are common and starving.
Besides a twenty-five year friendship, we share a birthday (we are exactly nine years apart).
This year, for our birthday, he gave me a painting that might be a winter tree in a snowy landscape. Or it might be the ninth tao. Or it might simply be beauty in black and white.
Whatever it is, it nourishes both the eye and the mind.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?