Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Kirigami, Respect and the right thing to do

Pace

(Italian for 'peace')

'The virgin and child with two angels'
Andrea Del Verrocchio, 15th century Italy

Sad news.
A captain who couldn't follow the rules.
A disgrace.

Good news.
A captain who stood up for what is right.
A hero.

They are both captains, although in different branches.
One showed cowardice.
One showed resolve.

One made excuses.
One demanded action.

What makes us one or the other?
Family? Integrity? Base values? Religious views?
We each have our battles to face.
But most of us won't have to face it in the light of the public eye.
Both of these men did,
and one came up woefully short
while another surprised us into respect.

                
Well, no matter how many times I try to make these photos side by side, blogspot thwarts me!
Oh well....
Can we tell by looking at a person's outer shell?
Perhaps a weak chin here?
A look in the eye there?

The truth is, we cannot tell 100% what is inside a person
by looking at the outside.
We may get some clues, but those are up for debate.
We look at past behavior
and we look at current behavior.
We look for body signals,
and twitches of lips and clenching of fists.
But when it comes right down to it,
we do not know what is the character of a person;
we just guess.

So, can I be in judgement of anyone, by just looking at them?
Nope. I'm not God.  I'm not omnipotent.
Let's remember that.

drawing by Andrea Del Verrocchio
late 15th century, Florence, Italy

The photos above Left credits: Captain Gregorio Maria De Falco arriving outside the Italian court at Grosseto, 1/17/2012  photo creds Giacomo Aprili

The photo above Right credits: Captain Francesco Schettino in Grosseto, Italy,
1/14/2012 photo creds ANSA

Here are some pictures to remind us that we are not perfect -
even if we do look good in a naval uniform -

1/18/2012
Giglio Porto, Italy - lifeboats being towed away
photo cred Tullio M. Puglia

1/17/2012
satellite image of Costa Concordia Carnival Cruise Ship
photo cred DigitalGlobe

1/18/2012
cruise ship Costa Concordia off Giglio Island, west coast of Italy
photo cred Max Rossi

Quotes we will remember:

Captain Schettino of the Costa Concordia, undated
photo cred STRINGER/ITALY

"It's dark and I can't see."
(given as reason why he could not return to his ship)

Coastguard officer Captain Gregorio Maria De Falco
photo cred STRINGER

"You get back on board!
That is an order!
There is nothing else for you to consider...
I am giving orders now.
Get back on board.
Is that clear?"

response from Cpt. Schettino:

"I am here with my second-in-command."

counter response from Cpt. De Falco:

"Then there are two of you to return to the ship now!"

Both men refused to return to their ship.....

I just have to love that Coast Guard captain -
a man described as 'soft spoken' and 'unassuming' and 'shy'.

So why is Kirigami in the title?
I had a comment on a Kirigami blog that I have done previously.

In answer to your question:
Many of my kirigami cuttings are from the
Page-A-Day Calender, 'Kirigami'.
I have had a hard time finding it in stores, so have purchased the last two years from the internet.

I really enjoy sitting down in front of a movie (John Wayne or Goldie Hawn or Steve Martin comes to mind) and my Page-A-Day Kirigami, and just start folding and cutting away!
After I have a stack of them, I get a pile of cardstock in all different colors,
sized 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".
I get out my glue stick, and my trusty Aleene's Tacky Glue
some toothpicks and an old CD to use as a glue palette,
and maybe some previously stamped images.
I also have on hand some plain envelopes.
I glue the kirigami clippings to the cardstock,
and glue scraps either on the back for my signature,
and/or on the envelope.
Keep in mind you do not want the Post Office ripping off your work,
so glue down WELL.
Voila!
A pile of finished (mostly) cards to send to friends.
If you don't want leave a blank inside,
then get out your stamps and ink pads and have at it!

Yeah....sometimes I even use glitter.....

Please note the credit for this design goes to
Sharon Schaich
from 'The Book of Paper Cutting Christmas'

Here is one of my papercut kirigami cards
with a rose/leaves that I stamped previously:

and another kirigami design from the calender:


I hope you have enjoyed today's meanderings.
See you soon!

inkspired



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