Che c'e di bello?

What is beautiful here?

reflections in the fish pond at Boboli gardens

Florence is a city of contrast- there are certainly problems, as with most cities, but she also has much beauty. Today I thought I'd share some of the beauty- (after all of my griping about the brutto- ugly- graffiti)so- here are a few of my favorite images of la Bella Firenze.....

the Neptune Fountain in front of Palazzo Vecchio

Annual Telescope Trek

Last Saturday we went to visit the telescope that my husband works on- it is located in Safford Arizona, on the top of Mt. Graham.

The Large Binocular telescope (or LBT as it is commonly known) is just beginning to gain acclaim in the astronomy world and beyond, It was one of the featured telescopes in a recent National Geographic magazine (click here). Guido has been working on this project on and off since 1990- both for the Italian team in Florence Italy (where he grew up and went to university) and also at the University of Arizona (Tucson) where we live today.

The Annual friends and family gathering is usually held in October- just after the scorching southern Arizona oven is turned down for the fall. The drive there from Tucson is a couple of hours of desert, followed by an hour and a half of mountain road. Our son Cosmo is learning how to deal with car sickness on that road.....now, thankfully, he knows to request a short stop - so we pull over and get out of the car until his tummy stops swirling and we get a good breath of mountain air.

We reach the summit through an iron gate flanked by yellowing fall aspens- and from there it's a short drive, past the Vatican telescope, and the German SMT (Sub Millimetric Telescope) to the tippy top, where the imposing 200ft tall LBT telescope is seated.

Inside the building we go to the control room and kitchen, where everyone (and their goodies) are gathering- We then commence to pig out on all the treats that the scope folks bring. The control room is open for viewing, with a scientist there to explain each computer screen and image- Soon people start to go up to the scope chamber-
right at sunset the show begins!

sunset w pope scope
Originally uploaded by cosmosmoonjewelry

We have a chance to walk around, go to different levels (even on the top observation deck, where I took this picture) then, once we all are
inside and ready for a show, they begin...

The walls of the telescope chamber begin to open........
then...the telescope begins to move....It is breathtaking, even now after I have seen this many times, how smooth and fast the scope rotates! Well, at that point everyone is really impressed, but it's not done yet....the third and fourth walls open (along with the cieling of the chamber) and then.....the building begins to rotate!

It goes around and around, with the scope moving, and the sunset brilliant in the distance...and we see Science and Nature, Technology and Trees...the beauty of nature from the earth and heavens.
and it is a wonder to behold.

health care debate

ok- so here I go throwing my hat into the ring..

I believe strongly that we should have a public option for healthcare in the US-
and if that is considered "liberal" or...gasp.."socialist", so be it. I am proud to be someone who cares about living things- be it plants, animals, or even..humans

I would be dead today if Italy didn't have socialized health care- My appendix ruptured while I was living there (actually, right after I returned from a long trip to the US) I was operated on, and stayed in the hospital for 6 days- all without paying a penny.

OK, so, the room wasn't private, and no TV, plus you had to go down the hall for the bathroom..and things weren't super modern.. (after all it WAS the hospital that Leonardo daVinci used to do his anatomical dissections in)

But the point is that I HAD health care in Italy- no questions....

and I Still wonder if my appendix had ruptured one week earlier, while I was visiting the US...and had no insurance (because at that time I was living in Florence)
what would have happened to me? I most likely would have tried to "tough it out" and avoid the ER, because I would have been worried about being saddled with a lifetime of medical bills-

While I was in the hospital a young american girl was admitted to my room.

She had been backpacking in Europe and ended up also with appendicitis while in France..she was operated on there, and decided to join her friends in Italy after they discharged her from the French hospital..

Well, needless to say, not a good idea...she ended up in incredible pain, and came to the Florence hospital straight from the train station...

I became her interpreter- and when her father showed up from the US, he was so grateful to the doctors for helping her...

The only thing I had a hard time translating for the father was when he asked where to pay the hospital bill.. He couldn't believe that his daughter was taken care of by a team of doctors and admitted to the hospital without charge. It was profound for him..

During this time of debate over health coverage in the US, I wonder what he (the father) is thinking about socialized medicine... I'll bet that he isn't out in the packs of demonstrators waving pics of Obama as Hitler.. No-I'll bet that he goes and hugs his daughter

coca cola assassina

coca cola assassina
Originally uploaded by cosmosmoonjewelry

an image of the sad state of many walls in the historic center of Florence Italy... The problem with graffiti in Florence (Firenze) has been on the increase over the past 5 years-

I am fortunate enough to travel there on a yearly basis, and have even spent 3 years (97-2000) living there full time.( My husband is from Settignano Italy, a village in the hills just outside of Firenze proper)While we lived there, we stayed in a building in the San Frediano area of the historic city proper. 

I can say, that in the past 3 years I have really noticed a huge increase in tagging...and here I must make a distinction between tagging and graffiti...Tagging , to me , is similar to when a dog lifts it's leg to mark it's territory. Graffiti, while usually still illegal can also be an artful and creative expression (when well done) . Tags are indiscriminate scrawls, graffiti , when well done can even enhance or inspire. 

Unfortunately In Florence, I have even have seen tags on the Duomo and other Masterpiece churches as well, such as Santo Spirito, in "my" neighborhood. No, I'm not at all religious, but I appreciate the masterful architecture on these amazing historic buildings.

Usually, (with Florence at least) the government makes a big show of concern about these things, then sits on it's hands and does nothing. (this was the case while we lived there and belonged to an initiative to enforce controls on traffic in the historic city....many meetings, a few appearances from "il Sindaco" -the Mayor...but nothing realized except a pretty, wider sidewalk on  a section of our busy street...and that took 8 years to come to fruition!

I realize now that I have a voice that can be heard about this problem, and will be tweeting/posting images/blogging on a regular basis about this, to bring to light this rape of one of the world's Historic treasures. 

Save Florence from Blight! Un ambiente sano per la citta! 

New Rings and "Franco SonoStanco"

" Maremekko" ring

I'm introducing a duo of solid silver rings

this week in my Etsy shop.

"Paisley Silver"

these were made during my time studying engraving

in Florence Italy.

And When I met one of my many Mentors...

My instructor is known as one of Florence Italy's most versatile

Master Jeweler.

He continues today to teach stone setting and hand engraving

4 nights a week at Fuji studios (via Guelfa). He is also the head goldmith for Graziella Jewelry, Florence Italy.

His name is Franco Benevieri,

but I always call him Franco "sono stanco"

(Franco "I'm tired"...)

He would come in and teach

5-10 of us (mostly foreign) students

the art of hand engraving and stone setting

after he put in a full days work at the bench.

Sitting in the Big arched entry hall of the studio,

smoking countless "MS" cigarettes..

sometimes listening to soccer...

He would come around to the bench and do

a quiet demo...

in simple Italian
for those who didn't yet speak the language..

and

All the students would leave the program with

at least a few phrases..

"fai Buchi"- drill holes,

"e' torto"- it's distorted

"fatto male"- made poorly

and if you were lucky......

"Brava"( good) usually followed by..

"coolo"- slang for lucky...

and of course,

" sono stanco",

(cause the guy works all the time

and is exhausted by the end of the day)

I got to visit him last summer..

here's a pic...

Thanks (Grazie) Franco for all of those days

that you go to teach, even when

you are "stanco morto".

Your knowledge and expertise are so valuable, and sharing it

will help many other metalsmiths continue

to uphold the standards and traditions that you teach.

I hope to see him again this summer... until then..

Fai Buchi!

Ciao!