"Yes. I shall go down in history as the man who opened a door!"

So, at work I am writing a whole day camp called Leonardo's Lab about Leonardo da Vinci. It IS a little daunting to write up the program from scratch as people are already signed up for it and it starts Monday... but since Leonardo is one of my favorite geniuses... even more than Einstein, my OTHER favorite genius... it has actually sort of been fun! (but the above quote wasn't REALLY him... it was him in Ever After.)

I am planning to have them paint a Mona Lisa picture, make a blaster sculpture with a cast of their thumbs, invent ways to protect eggs in an egg drop, learn about linear perspective, design paper airplanes, etc. But also, one of the activities is going to be about how he wrote backwards... like mirrored. And the project (after practice) will be to pick a favorite da Vinci quote and write it backwards on a card. He said some awesome stuff! Anyway, I thought I would share a few of my favorites with all y'all!

ABOUT FLYING:

“There shall be wings! If the accomplishment be not for me, 'tis for some other.”

“For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.”


ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH:

“While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die.”

“As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.”


ABOUT HUMAN NATURE:

“The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.”

“Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge.”

“It's easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.”


ABOUT CATS:

“The smallest feline is a masterpiece.”



ABOUT LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE

“Learning never exhausts the mind”

“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.”

"Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master."

“All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.”

“Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!”

ABOUT FEET:

“The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.”


ABOUT ART:

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”


ABOUT SCIENCE:

“Nature never breaks her own laws”

“He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.”

ABOUT OTHER STUFF:

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

A few that I probably WON'T give them the option of (as they are under 11 years old), but that rather amused/disturbed me:

“Marriage is like putting your hand into a bag of snakes in the hope of pulling out an eel.”

"He who wishes to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year."

"The function of muscle is to pull and not to push, except in the case of the genitals and the tongue."

Hee hee hee hee!

A WACKY man, that Leo. (He's Mormon NOW... acording to Pres. Judd. Hee hee!)

ANYWAY, so that is what MY day has been filled with, in the absense of any kittens or deer...

OH, but when I came home the other night and told the roomie that V had kept Marco and the sadness with our deer and said "Well... we are out of the rescue biz awhile" she said, "Weeeell..."
"What?"
"Check in the bathroom."
A young robin with a broken wing. The bone was sticking right out. Poor little guy. He is eating well, though, and doesn't seem to be hurting, just grounded. So we shall see.

On a completely OTHER topic, this whole ummm thing with Fresno has got me... weird. Like oddly panicked. Because I used to have no problem when we wouldn't talk for a day or something because I would figure "he's busy" and go on. But now I start thinking "oh no oh no maybe he doesn't like me now!!!"


I hate that feeling. YUCK.

So yesterday we didn't talk but I texted with no answer and so today I have been all crying and questioning stuff and getting scared...

and then he called and we talked and I get all giggly and crushy again. I am SUCH a stupid GIRL sometimes.

Yes, I know BEING more girly is one of my Fresno-related-goals. But by that I mean trying makeup more, maybe getting my ears pierced (okay, not likely on the ears thing. *shudder*)... not having panic attacks every time we don't talk or crying over not getting a text back. That isn't good girly. That's just Stupid Basket Casey.

I'm working on it. SIGH. He really is SO cute and funny though. It is too bad I am now back to wondering why he likes ME when he IS so awesome. Bleh. Confidence sucks.