5 people I'd like to meet....

I'm in the middle of reading Revolution of hope by Vicente Fox and Robert Allen. It's the biography of Vicente Fox, Mexico's first democratically elected president in 60 years. Driving down the road I was thinking how much I was enjoying listening, because he writes in a very conversational style, to Vicente and that it would be interesting to meet him. That got me asking the question of myself "Who are the 5 people I'd like to meet and why?". I quickly realized that I desired not just a meet and greet, or a sit down interview, but to develop a long friendship where we are both changed by our interaction. I left out people that are currently influencing me. For example, I left of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit because I am currently in relationship with all three.

At first I thought 5 people would be a stretch, then I realized that I had to break them into 3 categories, real people past or present, fictional people and Biblical people. And then I realized there were many more than 5 in each category. So what began as a one day post will be broken into three posts.

The real people past or present I'd like to meet:

• Georgia O'Keefe - She saw detail, beauty, light and color in the most mundane of objects. She painted light, sound, music and changed perceptions with her interesting perception and ability to express that perception. Like those who paint a painting within a paining, Octavio Ocampo is one artist that comes to mind, I want to know, and learn, to see how she saw. I had the opportunity to visit the O'Keeffe museum the last time I was in Santa Fe. I began to connect with that ability. All that I have read about her paints her, no pun intended, as a very strong woman who was ahead of her time. More on her here.

• Piter Lik - Love his photography. You can see his work here. When we ran into his work during our last trip to Hawaii, I was impacted by how he frames his pictures. I was exposed to the idea of taking one picture but cropping it several ways, though at this point the majority of my photos are "framed" as I take them and require little to no cropping. He shoots regular film on a negative that huge, if I remember correctly it's 5" square. This gives the brilliancy and incredible detail to his work.

• Ansal Adams - A master at shooting black and white. Don't like the idea of hoofing it to the paces he hoofed to photograph, don't always like the subjects he shot, but his ability to capture contrasts in black and white astounds me.

• Michelangelo - He once said something to the effect that all he did, referring to the statue of David, was to chip away the parts that were not necessary. While we were in Rome, what impressed me about the Pieta was the incredible detail, as well as the life to the marble. While you could attribute that to polishing the statue, it was more than that, something was released as he carved it. And the Sistine Chapel... All of the paintings in this room are amazing. There was a huge difference in impact compared to all the other art/paintings in the Vatican museum. I remember looking a the sidewalls of the Sistine Chapel and seeing how each generation interprets scripture and "paints" it in their own timeframe. If I remember correctly, Michelangelo painted all nudes but the powers that be demanded that they be clothed. I don't believe he painted the clothes on them, but the style of clothing wasn't from Israel, but rather portrayed current fashions. The ceiling was amazing. I would have loved to lay down and spend hours looking at it, I think my response, in part, was because I felt the Spirit hovering up along the ceiling. There were no chairs and you were only to speak in a whisper, but it was crowded with several hundred people and the ushers kept coming around to tell people to be quiet. You can read more about him and his work here.

• Leonardo DaVinci - his curiosity intrigues me. He dabbled proficiently in many areas. When we toured the Man|Inventor|Genius exhibit at the museum of flight I felt a desire to get to know a man who worked on flying machines and perpetual motion. Who journal-ed and doodled. Who painted, played music, created his own instruments and conceptualized solar power. More on him here.
  

• My maternal Grandmother. Though she died only a few years ago, I never really got to know her. Her primary language was Spanish, and my Spanish is not, at this point in my life, good enough to carry on a conversation. I would like to know about her life, about my ancestors and family, and what made her faith so strong.

• For that matter, my paternal Grandmother. I never met her, she died either before I was born or shortly after. The only image I have of her is a painting my Uncle Sec made of her. She is wearing a mantilla and looks very regal. I'm told I have her white streak.

• Some of my ancestors. Reading my family genealogy recently I found there were some very interesting people - who they were, when they lived, what they did and who their friends were that intrigue me.

• And I know there are spiritual people, as well as others not known for their spirituality, that did not come to mind as I created the list. This is itself was a bit of a surprise and highlighted to me just what kind of a "season" I am currently in...

I'd love to hear your choices. If you're reading on Facebook, please post your comments to my blog so that others can see your responses. You can get there by clicking here.