Cosmo's summer research project

My son Cosmo is 9 going on 10 in a month- he is a Waldorf kid- enjoys his school and really believes in many of the principals of the Waldorf culture- all except the limits on computer games- specifically his favorite game (and only game) : Minecraft.
Cosmo loves Minecraft - it is a game of creation- of building his dreams. He basically builds his own environment out of blocks of various (computerized) materials. I have to say, it's pretty cool.

Florence Italy's famous red dome of their Duomo

Cosmo's dad is from Florence Italy, home of the jewel of Renaissance architecture, the Florence Cathedral also known as the duomo. Home of the Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge, with it's gold merchants and its elevated private corridor.
Cosmo loves building so much I thought I'd use it to encourage him to learn about his father's culture.
His summer project?  Cosmo has decided that he wants to build all of the famous cathedrals and buildings of Italy. He can do it on minecraft, his favorite game. It's a HUGE project, filled with history, engineering, architecture and Italian culture- a Huge project, and he's super excited about it.
Win win!

Cosmo wants to write about his Minecraft experience:
"Well I love minecraft and we got an idea.We said you can make a place, a castle, and why not Italy?"
We will be keeping a blog journal of this project, updating you about the completion of different landmarks. So far he has completed a version of the Ponte Vecchio (Florence) and is working on a copy of the Spanish steps and basilica (Rome) I will post pictures of them when I figure out how to get a jpg capture of his work.

Buon Viaggio! ciao- Maureen

yuma shadows

yuma shadows
Originally uploaded by cosmosmoonjewelry

I love taking photos of reflections and interiors...I remember being gleeful after I found this shot- I knew it would be interesting!

I look at this image as if it was a painting, flattening out the space and looking at the composition and colors...I think, oh.....I should do some painting again..............
I can feel the call of the canvas.......

OK, so all I want to know is when are they going to offer good cloning services, so I can be cloned and have time to do all the things I want to do????

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!