SolarBeat: turning the solar system into a musical instrument, for your listening (and viewing) pleasure.
(h/t Mr. Douglas Q. Smith)
FromFlatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
To
The Inhabitants of SPACE IN GENERAL
And H. C. IN PARTICULAR
This Work is Dedicated
By a Humble Native of Flatland
In the Hope that
Even as he was Initiated into the Mysteries
Of THREE Dimensions
Having been previously conversant
With ONLY TWO
So the Citizens of that Celestial Region
May aspire yet higher and higher
To the Secrets of FOUR FIVE OR EVEN SIX Dimensions
Thereby contributing
To the Enlargement of THE IMAGINATION
And the possible Development
Of that most rare and excellent Gift of MODESTY
Among the Superior Races
Of SOLID HUMANITY
“In One Dimension, did not a moving Point produce a Line with two terminal points?
In Two Dimensions, did not a moving Line produce a Square with four terminal points?
In Three Dimensions, did not a moving Square produce - did not this eye of mine behold it - that blessed Being, a Cube, with eight terminal points?
And in Four Dimensions shall not a moving Cube - alas, for Analogy, and alas for the Progress of Truth, if it be not so - shall not, I say, the motion of a divine Cube result in a still more divine Organization with sixteen terminal points?”
Objects and beings in our three dimensional world are distinguished from one another by their visual properties, their personalities, as well as their position in times and space. One way to imagine our position in time is the idea of “time slices”. These function similarly to frames in a movie, infinitesimally small, immeasurable moments that together, like slices of bread form a whole loaf, make up that object or being.
I am getting ready for my last dinner here in Florence followed by a short nap and then I will be off to the airport very early tomorrow morning.
I have been trying to think back to my first days here in Florence, the flight on the way over here and what it was like getting off of the plane. I remember how rusty my Italian was and that I really had no idea what I was doing or how to take a train from Pisa to Florence, and today how I could talk to someone on the phone in Italian (which is like 183462387523 times harder than talking to someone in person) and arrange for my cab tomorrow, and of how many times I have taken that train since I have been here.
I finished all of my finals yesterday and I did not feel the usual relief and void of school that I normally feel after my last class. Instead, it seemed like it wasnt really over at all, like someone was playing a joke, “just kidding, you do have class tomorrow”. I havent really known what to do with myself today, running some last errands, picking up some last gifts that I had meant to buy all semester, taking photos of all the things I see everyday and never bothered to take photos of, trying to cram whatever I possibly could into my suitcases.
Liese and I decided not to get totally drunk on out last night in Florence, unlike our other American counterparts, and instead went to bed early so that we could wake up and go see the sunrise over Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo. We were joking that we should have gone to see the sun rise on our first morning here and the sun set on our last.
I went over to the Cannotieri to say bye. I was so glad to have had the boathouse as kind of a cool off point this semester. It definitely got me back on the erg more that I would have at home.
Even though I was here for more than three months, there are still so many things I didnt get to do while I was here. I guess that just means Ill have to come back.
Ti amo Firenze, mi mancerai Firenze.
Drawing final
Well since it is my last week in Florence I figured I should go see the Duomo, usually the first thing people do when they get to Florence.
12/10/2011
Liese and I woke up early and headed out to the Duomo. It was a little drizzly and since it was still relatively early, there were not very many other people there. We began our journey through a little hole in the wall up and up and up some stairs then around and around some spiral stairs. We finally got up to the walkway around the inside of the dome. It was covered in the paintings by Vassari of The Last Judgement. We made our way up again this time between the two layers, Brunelleschi’s inner and outer domes. The inner dome was constructed as a kind of scaffold for the larger dome sine the project was so huge and could not use a normal scaffold. The stairs were super disorienting since they were verticle and the walls were slanted and curved.
We finally go to the top and were rewarded with a truly spectacular view of Florence. We were both glad that we waited until the end of the semester to make the journey because we were able to pick everything out and see where it all was.
Next we wandered in the direction of a resturaunt named Fibi’s that evidently had eggs. We were happy to happen upon it and had a little omelet before heading back out. Not the greatest eggs I have ever had but since they are quite a rarity in Italy I was happy to have them. Next we walked over to the Christmas market in Santa Maria Novella which was much cuter than the one in Santa Croce. They had some nice handmade things and some really spectacular jewelry. On our way over to Palazzo Vecchio we ran into the agricultural market which was another nice surprise. They had fresh olive oil, cheese, soaps other food items made locally.
We finally made it to Palazzo Vecchio which was really spectacular as well. The amount of painting on the ceiling was crazy. They were really dizzying to look at and were much more imposing looking at them with your head hanging backwards, looming over you.
Finally, we went to the room of maps which had a giant globe and maps on the faces of the cabinets. I was looking at one map and all of a sudden it started moving and a man came out from behind it. I looked at Liese with a puzzled look on my face and then looked around at everyone else…no one else in the room seemed to notice this strange man talking to himself, who had just come out of the wall.
All in all it was a good day and I was glad to knock a few things off of my Florence bucket list.
Riots in Florence yesterday
Firenze Firenze: Duomo e Palazzo Vecchio
