By popular demand, I’ve decided to post one celebrity entry a week. Of course post on Mr. da Vinci is only part one, so you’ll have to wait with baited breath for the rest of the series. Mua ha ha! I’m evil, aren’t I?
I found Leonardo to be a fascinating interview. I hope you agree!
Me: I’d like to reach way back in history now and interview Leonardo da Vinci. Can you get him, Erik?
Jamie (gasping): Leonardo da Vinci! That’s so cool!
Me: I know!
Jamie: He left.
Me: Okay.
Jamie and I chit chat about the Christmas present I sent her and my threats that Erik will rat on her if she opens it early.
Me: Who you got there, Sweetie?
Jamie: Yeah, Leonardo has a middle name.
Me: Oh, really? What is it, da? (I laugh.)
Jamie: Da da da da da dat da Vinci.
Me: So, it’s a long name, huh?
Jamie: Yeah, it’s like four syllables. Buona something maybe.
Me: I’ll look it up latter.
Jamie (giggling): It sounds like a wine!
Me: Hello Mr. da Vinci!
Leonardo: Good Morning!
Me: Good morning to you! I’m honored!
Jamie: He’s showing me as probably 40-ish.
Me: Okay.
Jamie: He’s not old and gray or anything or anything, but he does have a healthy sized beard.
Me: Okay. Mr. da Vinci, I so respect your work. I cannot think of a more prolific and gifted inventor, scholar, artist, teacher and scientist than you. Were you able to time travel? Is that how you got the whole helicopter idea thing, for example?
Jamie listens to Erik and Leonardo.
Jamie (to Erik): Okay.
Jamie: Erik’s coaching him.
Me: Aw. Coaching da Vinci? Seriously?
Jamie: I know!
Me: Whoa!
Erik (to Leonardo): Yeah, just tell them how it is. You don’t have to use the old English. You can just talk the way we talk.
Me: Good!
Erik: Kind of make it a little more cool, a little more cool and down to earth.
Me: Oh, you want Leonardo to be all hip.
Jamie (giggling): He’s enjoying the talk from Erik. He’s patting Erik on the shoulder. Erik is taller than he is.
Me: Oh, wow.
Leonardo: You wouldn’t call it time travel. I would call it vision of the future. Since I was a little boy, the circumstance of how I came to life was quite by luck. It was out of a romantic encounter that wasn’t meant to last a lifetime (He smiles.) So, I feel like I snuck in, and I feel quite happy about that.
Me: Well, we’re happy you did.
Leonardo: Seriously! And ever since I was a boy, I had pictures in my head that would come to me like a storybook, and I felt like it was my job to write them down, just like the great inventors of your time, like Steve Jobs.
Jamie: He’s comparing Steve Jobs to himself.
Me: Wow. Well, I can see that.
Leonardo: So, when I began as a young child to study painting with Verrocchio (Jamie struggles with the pronunciation of the name), I was given the opportunity to start being able to draw accurately what these pictures were in my head. Maybe they were pictures of the future or pictures of the past. To be able to answer that, you must be able to tell me what time really is.
Me: Hmm.
Leonardo: Do you care to tell me?
Me: Well, I just think it’s a human construct just like the sunrise and sunset. We need time to structure our days and nights, so we’ll remember to eat and sleep, have sequential thoughts and language, cause and effects, timelines and so on.
Jamie: He loves it! He loves listening to you! His eyes are really intent and gentle, and when he thinks he kind of rubs his beard like a comb.
Me: Okay.
LAST DAY TO SIGN UP FOR TOMORROW’S CONFERENCE CALL! Check yesterday’s post for details. Once you sign up, Jamie will give you the phone number, access code, and other instructions! Have fun!
