Chronicle 82 - I think...

Florence. The city of Art. Even Rome couldn't beat Florence in that artistic aspect. Hell, even the street signs were given artistic makeovers. Italy was famous for producing many talented artists and individuals during the Renaissance. When in Florence, I was better able to appreciate the talents of one such man in particular - Leonardo da Vinci - when I visited the Leonardo da Vinci Museum.

When we hear of great men, we usually associate their greatness or brilliance with a particular set of skills. Albert Einstein was a great physicist, Michelangelo was a great painter and sculptor, and Alexander the Great was a great military leader. Leonardo do Vinci however, was in a world of its own. He was the man that was interested in almost every field of knowledge and was (annoyingly) good in every one. He wasn't as famous a painter as Michelangelo, nor as famous a scientist as Galileo Galilei, yet those who know about his worlds would almost always consider him the the most brilliant man to have ever lived, and someone way ahead of his time. He was an accomplished painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, inventor, engineer, writer, and much more. And no, he wasn't a "Jack of all trades, master of none"; he is a "Master of all trades, committed to none". Even his most famous paintings, Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, were but experiments which he never completed. Yes, that is his one flaw, he has a tendency to leave projects unfinished. Although, he did try to justify himself by saying: "Art is never finished, only abandoned."

Definitely not putting myself on the same level as him here, but I believe that I can sort of understand his reluctance to commit to any one discipline, due to his various interests. It's just too bad that I can't seem to emulate his expertise across almost everything.

Anyway, my plan for the last night in Florence was to take the last train to the Rome airport and stay the night there, and then take the plane back to London. My first train however, was delayed and I missed the last express train to the airport. In the end, I made friends with some people and decided to share a cab. Let's see there were two pretty French girls, Chloe and Lela, and three others. I feel as if I am calling almost every girl I meet pretty nowadays, but then, Chloe was real stunning and attractive - no exaggeration.

Back at Singapore, it was real busy as always. But I have just been given a new client on top of existing duties. This is really testing my limits. Due to the tight manpower resource we have, there has been some kind of unhappiness around the office. I admit that this new client is taking up way too much of our time and I have been neglecting some duties on my other accounts. Naturally, the lead on those accounts wouldn't exactly be happy. While they engage in their little politics, me and my colleague are just struggling to stay above water. Some things pertaining to how this incident was handled made me lose some respect for the company in general.

Recently, I've been out on a few sports outings with a few friends. It's good that they are the sporty types as it would give me more motivation to get some exercise. Hopefully, this momentum can continue. As it stands, the next outing is a picnic???

MINDEF sent me a lovely notification last week, telling me that they would like to charge me for failing to attempt my IPPT. On that note, it's really my fault since I honestly forgot to attempt it. Damn it! Not another fine to MINDEF!

And uh... I was thinking recently if I might have done something wrong when I actually responded to what appear to be umm... flirting? It took a while for me to understand the situation (I think...) considering my retardedness when it comes to matters like these. Needless to say, I was a fish out of the water and didn't know how to react initially. I'm now confused as to whether my responses were a result of my ego wanting to contribute something clever (and cheeky), or whether I was, like other men, simply giving in to a flirtatious tendency at that time. Nah, that can't be it. I have more self-control than that (I think...)


[Quotes]
"Truth is a great flirt" - Franz Liszt

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do." - Leonardo da Vinci

"Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood." - Leonardo da Vinci

"Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else." - Leonardo da Vinci