Pistacchio

Day 6, makeshift group of 

me, Ian, Reese

Great trip ,make fists at those who won't

leave me in peace

The kinda fellow saying hi to Donatello's

Sitting here feeling mellow and the moment is

not brief

When you see me in Firenze, please dude address me

as the kid who spits off the top of the dome, Brunelleschi

And those pesky, vendors

selling Italian pretenders

Don't impress me, ingesting a fresco

to see a fresh scene

Jet stream, at least it feels like I'm in it

463 steps to heaven, you better finish

And the view is worth it

Inspiration in marble, what can you do with purpose?

Can you bare your soul, show beneath the surface?

Spend your heart in your art,

when no one will reimburse it?

When it's one take, no mistakes

no chance to re-rehearse it?

Grab your chisel, free a form

Make your creed your purpose

Stay hard edged, don't nerf it

Because if you do, you'll spring through the summer

and fall when the turf slips

Marry the winter so when you re-bloom

it's perfect

My denouement will be a monument

that I'm interred with

Italian Soundtrack by C.A pt. 6:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9gvHwgwkok

Today, I awoke for the sole purpose of climbing to the top of Brunelleschi's dome at Santa Maria del Fiore. It was visible from the girls' room , so I've been thinking about it for the past few days. 463 steps up, 146 ft in diameter, the dome required  more than 4 million bricks. After breakfast, Ian, Reese and I formed a like-minded coalition and headed out to climb. Brunelleschi managed to build the largest dome before modernity by making two, a softer, inner shell and a harder, wind-resistant exterior. If you are claustrophobic, I don't recommend climbing. It is dark for most of the way and the narrow hallways make two-way traffic precarious at best. This is all without mentioning the strain that 463 stairs puts upon your buttocks. The view is absolutely worth it though. 

Facade completed in 19th century

Giorgio Vasari's "The Last Judgment" Dome interior

The church was completed in the 15th  century, including the dome in 1436. The facade however was not completed until the 19th century in a Gothic Revival style.  The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white. It's quite stunning up close

















You always hope you can return to a place. In my head, I can make the distinction between plausibility and wishful thinking, but the romantic in me has no concept of reality. I'll never see these things again. I've seen about 300 triptychs, countless tons of marble and brass and as soon as I turn my back to it, I know it is over. Blank slates stare at yet another youth stumbling towards an exit. Would I like to come back to Firenze? Yes, of course, However, this is a luxury I can not afford myself more than once a decade. If I am to create something of myself, I must make something of this-th very thoughts I now scribe. Foreseeably, my recourse is to consume myself. the most powerful energy a mortal can harness is life, a fuel that is necessary to stoke the flames of creativity. Do you want to be one of the many nameless busts in the Accademia  or be the reason the busts look down upon the crowd. I'll be 21 in seven days. I can honestly say that I have nothing to show for it. Michelangelo completed the Pieta when he was twenty-four. In otherwords, I have three years to change the world. More than ever, the race against time has been made apparent to me, as has time's indefategable nature. So now, while I still have the strength, I must fight. I must finish this leg of the relay before the anchor of team hourglass leaves me in the dust. No pressure.