I am not sure what I am doing....

Nope, not a clue. Nor do I know what type of content is expected from the blogs- probably a question I should have asked on Monday- but ill give it a shot. A response to Mondays lecture and Humanism reading (9/9/2013) I don’t really have anything interesting to add to Monday’s lecture, nor any questions aside from figuring out this whole blog thing, but I do have a response for what I found to be interesting from Monday. The most interesting part of class, for me, was the documentary on Leonardo. Not only was it delightfully outdated, it had a dry humor about it that helped hold my attention and made me want to see more. I was genuinely disappointed when 9 o'clock hit. I never had a prior opportunity to learn about the life of Leonardo- but it should be of no surprise that an such a brilliant mind did not come from an orthodox upbringing. I had no idea that he was taken from his mother simply because of her social standing and raised as if he was inferior to the rest of the family for that same reason. He was eventually pawned off onto a master artist- as if it was an inconvenience to his family. I guess it baffles me why he wasnt just left for his mother, and unclaimed by his father. It is interesting to think of “what could have been” had he been more included in his family’s interests. But of course it was the cold shoulder from his family and his opportunity under Verrocchio, his mastery artist, that helped make him into the brilliant mind that we still study about today. According to the readings by Martines, Humanism was an intellectual movement that was not for the masses, but instead intended for the upper, ruling classes. The basic training of the humanist was rooted in speaking and writing well. It emphasized the value of continued growth in human beings, individually and collectively. What struck me most about the reading was how focused it was on the social class as an intended target. I interpreted the reading that humanism was something that even within the elite- upper, ruling class, only the lucky ones within that group would move on to study it. I thought it was interesting also that the movement began to encourage looking into classical, pre-Christian sources for learning and studies. It is what I feel is a transition of focus from church to the sciences. It is interesting to me to think of how very alive this movement is in todays times. I apologize for my grammar and spelling- its not my strongest quality. At least I tried..