Here’s one the most amazing parts of the whole tour: the cathedral is still under construction, so a small cadre of artists and craftsmen continue their work under the eyes of tourists. One critical component of Gaudí’s method was the use of plaster models — this workshop continues to produce those models so construction can continue.
Gaudí obsessed over this cathedral, and realizing it would never come close to completion during his time, labored with absolute dedication in the latter part of his life to drawing up plans, models, and details so that work could continue long after his death. Unfortunately, most of his work was destroyed during the revolution, but was painstakingly pieced together again when the political climate stabilized. These reconstructed plans direct the construction today.
Not so long ago, somebody looked at the heaps of tennis shoes and car tires piling up in landfills and thought “we can grind these up and sell the pieces!” Since then, these useful scrap rubber bits have been employed in a variety of ways, including replacement for gravel on playgrounds.
The material is, in many ways, an improvement over gravel: softer when trod upon, a nice radiator of heat on those chilly Minnesota spring days, and a good use of material that would go to waste. Unfortunate side effect: warm rubber has a biting, putrid scent. You can’t smell the fresh cut grass or the summer breeze; it smells like you are inside the world’s biggest tire.
I am just so unbelievably excited to own my own business fixing people’s teeth, I can barely stand it. If you’re in the Twin Cities area five years from now, and your tooth hurts, please do look me up.
Here’s a man that time forgot… not in a historical sense, but in the sense of doing any actual aging. Abdoulaye Wade is the president of the historically stable but deeply troubled country of Senegal. Look at his picture in that first link. Just look at his picture and then switch back here.
How old would you guess he is?
42? 48? Try 82. He is, unquestionably, the youngest looking 82 year old man I have ever seen.
You were born on third base and your parents put you
there, and you think you hit a triple. It’s not true. It’s time
to give back.
Even though Ben Stein has “publicly denounced the theory of evolution,” I still respect his viewpoints on what he has written about our parents. Thanks, university-based education, for allowing me to understand that people aren’t 100% right or 100% wrong… politicians aren’t sports teams and nuances matter.
Then “Respect The Time You Are Given” gave me a
push. That lasted for about as long as it took me to jot
it down. For the moment I am hooked on “What Would
The Hero You Do?”. When I start to feel lazy or trapped
I think of a perfect version of myself and try to imagine
what he would be doing right then and there. I don’t
always emulate him (my pecs aren’t big enough),
but it serves me well…for now.
