Passion Project Update

So far, I'm almost halfway through my project. I have my presentation figured out and a good part of it is done. I need to finish that, which is mostly just research and facts. The next part will be harder. I'm trying to make a donation of $50 so I can get an adoption kit. I can put up most of that money, but I'm hoping my parents can help me with the rest.

Passion Project Reflection

     For my passion project, I am testing out different cookie recipes and making them with the help of my mom. I haven't baked anything yet, but I have collected recipes and have an idea of what I want to test. Since I can't do this in class, I plan to start baking at home as soon as possible (or as soon as my mom is available).

Da Vinci the Outlier

     

     Leonardo da Vinci is regarded as one of the best and most famous artists of all time. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He was able to become so skilled in these areas because of the advantages he had at a young age. 

     Da Vinci was born to a notary and a peasant girl in 1452. Ser Piero, his father, noticed that he had a talent for drawing at a young age. Because he was illegitimate, Leonardo would not be able to become a notary or attend a university. So, as a teenager, he was apprenticed to the artist Andrea di Cione, better known as Verrocchio. Verrocchio's workshop is where he learned skills such as drawing, painting, metal crafting, leather working, making paint brushes, and mixing colors, as well as other things. It is even said that while helping Verrocchio work on a painting, he painted an angel that was so much better than the rest of the painting that Verrocchio put down his paintbrush and never painted again.

     Da Vinci eventually began keeping sketchbooks to record what he learned about anatomy, botany, mechanics, and geology. Most scholars learned about these subjects through what philosophers had already written. However, since he had no formal education and wasn't able to read Latin, he had to discover and study them himself. These years of practicing (coming close to if not surpassing 10,000 hours) led to his mastery of the arts and the ability to begin the first drafts of many useful inventions, including the parachute and the machine gun.

     Leonardo da Vinci's circumstances may seem to have been a disadvantage at first. Being the illegitimate son of two relatively poor people definitely seems like it. However, because he was not able to receive an education, he had more time to pursue and practice drawing and other crafts. His second opportunity that allowed him to practice and improve was his apprenticeship to Verrocchio. At a young age, he was able to work and collaborate with many great artists of the period. The next chance he was given was to make and record his own observations, instead of following those of other scholars. All of these opportunities, and his talent and practice, prove that Leonardo da Vinci was a true outlier of his time.

sources:

http://www.leonardoda-vinci.org/biography.html

http://legacy.mos.org/leonardo/bio.html

http://www.unmuseum.org/leonardo.html

Consider the Hummingbird

     The essay "Joyas Voladoars" explores the beauty of insignificant lives such as common hummingbirds and the inevitable mortality of humans. Its ending comes off as depressing and pessimistic ("You can brick up your heart as stout and tight and hard and cold and impregnable as you possibly can and down it comes in an instant"), but I think it was written with the intent of having readers appreciate their lives. I liked that it incorporated and began with facts, leading you to believe the essay's about hummingbirds, and then later revealing a darker message. One of my favorite lines was "When young we think there will come one person who will savor and sustain us always; when we are older we know this is the dream of a child, that all hearts finally are bruised and scarred, scored and torn, repaired by time and will, patched by force of character, yet fragile and rickety forevermore, no matter how ferocious the defense and how many bricks you bring to the wall."

Wasteland Documentary Response

     For me, the most memorable aspect of Waste Land was towards the end, when we got to see the workers' reactions to the artwork and seeing it in the museum. It was amazing to see how the publicity affected their lives. From watching, I learned two things: one, almost anything can be made into art or used to make a statement; two, there are people out there who you don't know, that have their own lives and their own struggles. Seeing the workers protest and tell their stories really opened my eyes to that. I think that the people involved felt glad that they were getting their message out there; or they thought the opposite, and that the cameras were too invasive. If I were the subject, I'd go with the former-- I'd be glad to spread awareness about what I'm not satisfied with in my life. Our society could probably be represented in a similar way (by using recyclable materials to create a picture) to show the ignorance of modern consumers-- A.K.A. how much excess trash Americans go through every day.

Color: A Photo Essay (Link)

http://prezi.com/qnwmsd5bmj_n/untitled-prezi/

Random Selection in Random Image

Woman Grows Spiderman-esque Powers; Quickly Becomes Confused and Stuck on Wall of Building

     Eighty-two-year-old Laura Harold discovered this Sunday that after visiting a local pet shop and being bitten by a loose child in a Spiderman Halloween costume she had contracted supernatural powers that allowed her to stick to and climb up walls and ceilings. In an attempt to utilize her new found powers, Laura went to a nearby building and jumped up against it, only to discover a moment later that she was unable to remove herself from the wall, much like a cat up a tree. Though she was only about three feet off the ground, local firefighters were called and attempted to remove her from the wall. After about two hours, Laura was finally pried off and safely returned home. Upon being asked if she would continue using her powers considering the incident, she replied, "Of course I will. It was one little wall." (Officials later found her trying to remove herself from the wall facing her backyard.)