May 29 2021 - What Cost $1 Billion? Crazy Stuff

 

Do self-made billionaires buy different things than other rich people? I wonder that with all the tech billionaires.  It doesn't seem so when you go through the items that you would "never imagine" excessive amounts of money buy. The headlines (and there are lots of them) are consistently full of superlatives:  10 of the weirdest things 16 craziest 13 strange 20 insane bizarre spending 15 outrageous These adjectives seem "outrageous" at first, but then reading through the lists, it seems that the superlatives are accurate.  Such strange and amazing things people create and buy. What caught my eye was the inclusion of Bill Gates in the list of outrageous things bought by the rich. What did Bill Gates buy? "Bill Gates and Leonardo da Vinci have a lot in common: They're both math geniuses who also changed history. It's only fitting, then, that the Microsoft founder would be interested in the musings of the original Renaissance man. In 1994, Gates spent $30.8 million to own the Codex Leicester, a 72-page manuscript that da Vinci compiled in the early 16th century, complete with the master polymath's diagrams, writings, sketches and ideas for future inventions." What was the cost:  $30 million in 1994 That seems modest in comparison to a $1.2 billion super yacht, a $1 billion house, and a $5 billion car collection - the three top items on every list.  In case you want to daydream (remember that's a relaxing activity), there are lists of things that cost 1 billion dollars.  For example:  A baseball team or the Solomon Islands (a country).   This is a Finalist in the BP contest this month - the 1st and 2nd place winners have yet to be announced, so it could move up.

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Submitted for your approval - June is a Summer Month

June is astrologically in spring, and meteorologically in summer.  Perhaps gardeners are in the meteorological camp.  It is hard for me to consider the current garden a spring one.  Peonies, irises and lilacs all say summer to me.  The early roses are blooming.  Wisteria, laburnum, the Carolina Silverbell have finished.  This morning, I found some blossoms on my tiny Styrax - also known as Japanese Snowbell tree. I got to smell the sweet scent that they are known for. For those who watched television in the 1950's, there was a wonderful expression in Rod Serling's series The Twilight Zone.  It was: "Submitted for Your Approval".  I find out that it was only heard in three episodes.  It is a phrase that most of us associate with the series. This phrase came to my mind as I looked at my Finalist image of a tulip in the Betterphoto's April contest.   For me, a tulip embodies spring.  Having tulips in the garden in June seems out of synch with the season we're in - meteorologically early summer.  The phrase "submitted for your approval" came to mind.  It is an invitation to consider that we've arrived into summer.