And that's your snack of choice as you and your "please tell me how you feel after you visit all of the continents of the world!" smile, snuggle deep into your soft and yielding sofa to catch HSR AS HE GETS AN EMAIL FROM A WOMAN IN ITALY,
AGOSTINA AGNELLA ALIPRANDO, WHO SEES HIS PICTURE ON THE INTERNET...
AND SHE NEEDS TO USE HIM AND HIS "PERFECT FEATURES" TO FULFILL HER PHD REQUIREMENTS IN ART SCHOOL...
AGOSTINA ONLY HAS LEFT TO COMPLETE, AN OIL PAINTING, A SCULPTURE, A WATERCOLOR, AND A LENGTHLY POEM TO FINISH HER TASK...
AND SHE SAYS THAT SHE LIVES IN VENICE, IN NORTHEASTERN ITALY...
AND THAT SHE WOULD LOVE TO SEE HSR AS SOON AS HE CAN MAKE IT OUT THERE...
SHE EVEN WIRES HIM A ROUND-TRIP AIRPLANE TICKET...
WITH ACCOMMODATIONS IN A FIVE STAR HOTEL FOR THREE WEEKS...
WHICH IS LIKE "AN OFFER THAT HE CAN'T REFUSE"...
SO HSR GETS PREPARED AND FLIES OUT...
AND WHILE COMING IN FOR A LANDING, HE IS IN AWE AT THE WATERWAYS
AND SHRINES AND MUSEUMS AND CHURCHES
AND, OF COURSE, THE...UNPARALLELED URBAN, OLD WORLD FLAVOR
WHICH HEAVILY INFLUENCED THE EARLY SENSE AND SENSIBILITIES OF THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE...AND BEFORE!...
BUT IT'S STILL VERY MUCH AVANT-GARDE IN VENICE!...
OMG! THE EARLY VENETIAN MASTER PAINTERS
MADE REVOLUTIONARY DIRECTIONALITIES AND STATEMENTS THROUGH THEIR ART...
...WHICH STILL INFLUENCES LEADING-EDGE ARTISTS EVEN TODAY!
AND THEIR SCULPTORS CHANGED THE WORLD!...
ANTONIO CANOVA WAS JUST ONE OF THE LEADING AESTHETIC ADVOCATES THAT SHOCKED PEOPLE WITH SO MANY DYNAMIC, DRAMATIC, AND STORY-TELLING STATUES!...
SO, AFTER BUMPING INTO A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE ON THE CROWDED STREETS AND SQUARES,
HSR GOES TO THE PLACE WHERE THE GONDOLAS ARE
SO HE CAN MAKE IT ON OVER TO AGOSTINA AGNELLA'S PLACE...AND HE SEES
A RESTING GONDOLIER, AND ASKS...
"GOOD DAY, SIR... I'M MEETING SOMEONE AT 1329 SANTA MARIA FORMOSA."
"SÌ, SIGNORE!," HE SAYS, "I SHOW EXACTLY HOW TO GET THERE...COME ABOARD!...
AND JUST LIKE THAT, I START MY WATER JOURNEY!...
"YOUNG MAN," HE SAYS, "ARE YOU HERE FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE?"
"I'M HERE FOR ART," HSR RESPONDS...
"AAH! THAT MEANS PLEASURE...TO THE SENSES...
"HERE IN VENICE, WE PLEASURE ALL OF THE SENSES, BUT THERE IS REALLY NO OTHER WAY TO LIVE, AM I CORRECT?"
HSR SAYS BACK WHAT THE GONDOLIER SAID TO HIM, "SÌ, SIGNORE!"
"AAH! YOU LEARN QUICKLY, LAD!" HE SAYS,
"LOOK AND MEMORIZE THE SIGHTS, THE WATER, THE BUILDINGS AND...DREAM ABOUT THEM!"
HSR THINKS TO HIMSELF, "WHOA!...THIS CITY HAS A LOT OF HISTORY...
AND A LOT OF BEAUTY ...AND LOVE...AND FRAGRANCE!"
AND THE GONDOLIER STARTS SINGING...
"DELL'AMO NON SI SA
"FUOCO NEI VOSTRI OCCHI...
"UNA PROMESSA DI AMORE ALLINEARE E PROTEZIONE, OOPS!...WE ARE HERE ALREADY, SIGNORE!" THE GONDOLIER SAYS...
"YOU ARE TO GO UP THESE STAIRS"...
AND HE GIVES HSR THE DIRECTIONS, AND HSR SAYS SOMETHING THAT HE JUST LEARNED, "GRAZIE, SIGNORE" TO THE GONDOLIER...
AND THE GONDOLIER SAYS, "VEDILO PIÙ SUCCESSIVAMENTE!"
AND HSR RETURNS WITH A THUMBS UP, "SEE YOU LATER, TOO!,"AS HE GIVES A TIP...
THEN, HSR SAYS TO HIMSELF, "I'M SUPPOSED TO CLIMB SOME MORE STAIRS...
THEN GO PAST THE BOUGAINVILLEAS...
AHH, YES THERE'S THE FOUNTAIN IN THE SQUARE...
NOW, I'M SUPPOSED TO GO TO ANOTHER SQUARE...
"CIAO, BELLO GIOVANE," SAYS THIS BEAUTIFUL LADY...
"LO HO VEDUTO... ALL'HOTEL"...
...QUANDO AVETE TEMPO...
...HO QUALCOSA...PER VOI...
...A GUSTO...
...NELLA LUCE DELLA LUNA!...
AND HSR SAYS, "WOW! I'M NOT SURE WHAT YOU SAID, BUT IT SURE SOUNDS NICE!...
I FEEL LIKE I'VE SEEN YOU BEFORE, BUT I CAN'T PLACE IT!...
NICE SPEAKING TO YOU, BUT I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TO GO TO. MAYBE I SEE YOU AROUND!"
"SI, MIO AMANTE!," SHE WISPS, AS SHE BLOWS A KISS!
"WOW!" EXCLAIMS HSR, "THE PEOPLE HERE ARE SO FRIENDLY!"
NOW, I'M SUPPOSED TO GO DOWN A SLIGHT HILL,
THEN !...TURN LEFT AND "SEMPRE DRITTO" DOWN A HALLWAY...
THEN LEFT AGAIN...
...AND STOP AT THE HOUSE WITH THE RED DOOR...
HEY...HERE IT IS!...
OKAAAY! SUCH PRETTY COLORS OF THE WHOLE RAINBOW!...
MY, THAT BALCONY IS AN IDEAL PLACE FOR HER TO LET HER HAIR DOWN LIKE RAPUNSEL!...
...OR A GOOD PLACE TO BE SERENADED!
I KNOCK A COUPLE OF TIMES, THEN WAIT PATIENTLY...AND...
A NICE WOMAN OPENS THE DOOR...
I SAY, "HI THERE, AND GOOD DAY! YOU'RE AGOSTINA AGNELLA?"
NO, SHE'S MY TWIN SISTER, I'M BIBIANA MAFALDA...BUT WE SHARE EVERYTHING!...
...YOU MUST BE THE AMERICAN SHE'S EXPECTING, MR. REPORT, NO?, SHE ASKS...
"YES, HOLLYWOOD SMLES REPORT," HSR REPLIES...
"GOOD!," BIBIANA SAYS BACK...
"AGOSTINA IS WAITING FOR YOU OUT BACK...
SHE'S WORKING ON HER LOVE STORY...
JUST GO ON BACK," BIBIANA DIRECTS...
SO, HSR WALKS TOWARD THE BACK AND HE SEES A COUPLE OF BEAUTIFUL PICTURES IN THE HALLWAY...
THAT STIR UP HIS AQUATIC SENSITIVITIES...
AND THEN HE TURNS THE CORNER AND SEES...
AND HE SAYS, "HI THERE! I'M FINALLY HERE!...
I SEE THAT YOU LIKE PICTURES OF THE WATERS!"...
AND SHE WALKS OVER TO GIVE HIM A DIZZYING HUG AND ANSWERS, "YES I DO LOVE THE WATER!...AND HI THERE, HSR!...YOU LOOK SO GOOD!
AND SHE CONTINUES, "IN PRIMO LUOGO...
...TUTTI PRENDIAMO UN BAGNO CALDO...
....ALLORA DOPO, ANDIAMO ALLA SCUOLA DI ARTE."
AND HSR DOESN'T KNOW A WORD SHE'S SAYING, BUT HE FEELS THAT HE TRUSTS THE SISTERS THAT HE JUST MET...
SO HE DECIDES TO JUST FOLLOW ALONG!
"Do we also see each other in other worlds?"
The 500 year-old Mona Lisa painting...by the Master Italian polymath Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci...
Whoa!
Her enigmatic and hotly debatable...
...smile...
is a big deal in the Art World!...
And in the Dental world!
But tell me...is she or isn't she?
Taking a closer look at Mona, the end of her smile on the viewer's left side doesn't end in an ascent...
But on the viewer's right side, there is a definite and discernible up curl!...
My big question, among others, is...what was she thinking about?
True to form, da Vinci gets viewers to react, and leaves many of those people, including me, with more questions than answers to contemplate!..
Now, this next test subject has a more angular jaw outline...
...with a visually-palpable uptick on the viewer's right end of the lips...just like Mona's!
I surmise that she just maybe looking forward to an involvement of one kind or another!
...A very small thumbs up on a detectable smile here!
This masterpiece shows a subject caught with, I think, a deeper progression of thought...
...with a more somber, analytical, and even witnessing, facial expression. No smile here!
Maybe it's the lighting, but, this subject seems to be a little more happy but,
...what do you think?
Her expression and lip status reveal to me that her's are churning afterthoughts.
This next portrait shows an ever-so-slightly ascending end of the mouth on the viewer's left side...
Now, she could just burst out with a smile...and end all of this suspense!
But, I think that she is thinking about something that will happen, instead of something that has already happened.
Peering deep into this next subject's eyes...there's a slightly stretched lip situation...and dimple...
...is she still closer to a grin than a growl?...
Okay...it's "flatlined!"...
...But I think that she is probably waiting in anticipation for something ( I can't prognosticate whether it's good or not!) to happen!
Great!...
Finally!...
Now we've got a good candidate!...
Yes!... it's a little bit closer to a "full on!"
But just barely!...
Notice that the ends of the upper lip are not necessarily ascending..
...while, as we go lateral to both sides on the lower lip, the outlines may contribute to the "illusion" of positive smile action!...
And this painter, Jover, is not from the "Old School!"...
However, art is art, and it still counts, though, right?
May you have many...why don't we ever run out of things to do...as soon as I turn around and look, more time has passed...time flies when we have a good time, so just don't have too much fun...smiles!
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