Stephen's Secure Blog #101
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students, in the 1950's. This was from a time before computers
would fit on a desk, and when people communicated with friends in other
countries by actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote
225 of them to a friend. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he
still wanted to record his life, in case he lost his memory again, and
wrote 30 entries in his first logbook. Then he wrote to an artificial
intelligence called Geenee, in the master computer in his school for
gifted students, which he started attending in 2016. Now it's after
2018, and he's continuing to save his memories in a secure blog.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 14 in this story, in the Summer, after the end of year 4 of
his special school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #101 "Smithsonian Again"
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I asked Pete and Tomba if they would like to make another museum
donation with me. More stupid question comments. I didn't want to do to
them what I did to Percy, so I showed it to them first, in Pete's
office. It was an egg, about 12cm tall, on an ornate filigree base of
platinum, with pink star sapphires and pale green and while diamonds in
the scrollwork. The egg was plain, of the light blue star sapphire,
with the cut to orient the star on the top. I said "Think they will
accept it?" Pete said "That isn't the question. They'll take
practically anything which looks nice, if it's free. The real question
is, will they keep it on permanent display. I think they should, but we
know from experience that they are not all as smart as they should be."
I said "How about I include this." I ported something to my hand and
put the egg inside it, and put it back on the stand, so that the prongs
the bare egg had rested on, went through holes in the pierced carving
of the thin translucent white jade hinged form fitting cover, with tiny
faceted white diamonds sprinkled all over it. Tomba said, "That will do
it!" Pete said, "Was one of your incarnations, a jeweler to the Russian
the owner of the shop, and not even the chief designer. I do have to
admit I was inspired by his Easter Eggs, in trying to figure out what
to do with the original rock, which I have pictures of, and of some of
the cutting, and the contract. Should we make an appointment, or
surprise them?" Pete said "I vote for the in-their-face surprise. AND
with mention of going to the Metropolitan." Tomba said "That's bad." A
pause. Then he said, "Lets do it!"
We went to the Smithsonian, and back to the office of the curator of
gems and minerals. He was in, and agreed to see us. I said "I have
another donation to make. Here, or to the Metropolitan. Same terms. I
live here, so you get first refusal. Want to see it?" He said "Yes,
please." I pulled the stand out of the box Pete carried. Then the egg,
and put it in the stand which was on his desk. I said "It's all
natural, from my own sources." he said "Wow!" He picked up the egg and
looked at it closely. He said "What size was the original rock?" I gave
him the pictures, which had rulers on the stone. He said wow again,
then, "What did you do with the rest of it?" I said "You wouldn't
believe me if I told you, and I wouldn't want you to." Pete grinned and
poked me. Tomba successfully hid his smile. I said "There is more to
it. If you hand the egg back, I'll show you." He did, and I put the
cover on it, and handed it back, and said, "That's white jadeite and
diamonds, and the whole thing still fits on the stand, if you line it
up properly. Do you want it, for display?" He said "Are any of the
other pieces of the original stone available?" I said "No." He said
"Please pardon me. I need to make a call. Please stay." He called the
nice director and told her what we brought, and asked for her decision.
She said she will be right over. I said after he hung up, "She didn't
decide without seeing it. Smart." He said in surprise, "You heard
that?" I said "Sure. How else did you think I would know what she
said?" He didn't know what to say, without making himself look even
more stupid.
The director came in, and immediately saw what was on the desk. While
she was fondling it, I told her what it was made of, and the donation
would have the same terms as the other one. She said to me, after
looking at the pictures, "I think I see something of what you're doing.
When you find something truly unique, you want to share it with the
world, touched by your own artistic sensibilities." I said "Exactly! I
shouldn't have to tell you that I really appreciate your intelligence
and understanding, but finding that is so rare in my experience, I just
have to." She smiled with embarrassed appreciation, and thanked me. I
said "I try to let the beauty of the material show itself, with just a
little enhancement and encouragement from me through my hands. So, do
you want it?" She said "Yes. And more. Come see me directly if you have
any more desires to share. I expect we will take them all." I said
"Well, I have another, which is very different. One of my full
sculptures. I was going to put it in one of my private galleries, and
offer it for sale. Would you like to see it?" She said, "Wild horses
laughed. When I could, I said, "That's the best one I've heard in a
long while. Thank you very much! No, not wild horses, but I could do
another painting of them, if you want. For now, how about something of
a feline nature?" I pulled out of the box a 9cm tall and 18cm long
sculpture of a lioness with cubs, in a savanna clearing. While she was
staring at it as if in a trance, I said, "Made from golden chrysoberyl
cat's eye material." Pete said, "Your museum should take pride in
having that," I laughed really hard, and Tomba laughed, too. The
director hardly noticed that. Then she said, "Such fine carving! I
don't know how you can do that, in this kind of stone. And so
expressive. I can almost feel the love in them for each other." I said
"That's what I was trying to express. I love cats."
She said "You said you were going to offer it for sale. How much?" I
said "I doubt the museum would want to pay what I think it should be
worth. The last time I sold, well, actually, I haven't sold anything
like that. The others were of more precious material, and started at
the equivalent of $400,000. The much larger charging tiger went for
over a million." She said "I want it. For ME!" I said "I don't know
what to do about that. Does the museum have a conflict of interest
policy?" She said "Not that would affect this situation, but it would
be revised soon after, I'm sure." I said "There might be a way. If I
presented it to you for evaluation, as a kind of loan, and you kept it
be noticed and admired, and I would tell them who made it, and that
things like it were for sale." I said "There is one issue you might
think of, which isn't going to be a problem. Pilfering. I made it, so I
have a connection to it. I will be aware of each individual touch it
receives. If it is stolen, I will see it is returned." She looked
questioningly at Tomba, who said, "Stephen doesn't just give special
gifts, he has some of his own." She said "I believed that before you
spoke." He bowed to her. I did too, the same Buddhist way.
I said "As for selling, well, I don't need the money, but would to a
good home. I do this because I'm an artist, and I love people. Anyway,
what do we do now? Do we leave the egg here?" She said "Yes." I said
"Then we will walk with you to your office, so you don't need to carry
it." She looked reluctant to part with it, and I said, "Don't worry,
you'll get it back. I'm not lion about that." She laughed, and Pete
took it from her before she dropped it. We went to her office, and Pete
put it on her desk. She said "I know you have some big secrets. I hope
someday you will trust me with them." I said "It isn't so much a matter
of trust, but of presenting things which you would later wish hadn't
been done. Some times too much, even of wondrous things, is troubling,
when they are then not available to one." She nodded, and said to
Tomba, "Is he your student, too?" I said to Tomba, "If you agree, I
think we can tell her the truth of that." He nodded and said, "Stephen,
in his previous incarnation, was my hero of a rescuer, and teacher." I
said "And I fully remember that incarnation, and many others." She said
"That explains your wisdom, which is beyond your genius intelligence."
Pete said "He was my teacher as well, and still is, and I have to agree
he is wise."
I said "Well, we have enough of that. I do other art, too. Anything
you would like, let me know. Some of what I have done, most of it,
actually, can't be put on display. They have features and materials
which would cause too many questions." She grinned and said, "Like the
ones I have." I said "Yes. By the way, where did you get that curator,
and why?" She said "I know what you mean. Good technical education, but
"He should stay with his rocks. They might be able to help him with his
people skills." Pete played the straight man, and said, "But they don't
have any." I said "Would still be an improvement." She laughed, and
said, "He was here before me, and I can't fire him because of absent
people skills he doesn't need to use very often." I said "That's too
bad. There have been other things I would have liked to donate, such as
unusual mineral samples, but I didn't, because dealing with him is so
unpleasant. They went to another museum, where I have a VERY good
relationship with all the staff." She said "You are not going to tell
me which one." I said "Astute of you." She said "But could you describe
what you donated?" I said "You care. It would be torture for you." She
said "Torture me." I said "I hope nobody was eavesdropping just then!"
She laughed, and then said, "Were there?" I said "No." She nodded. I
said, holding my hand as high as my head, "Crystal formation this high,
of near gem quality emerald." She was ready to cry, and I said, "I'm
sorry, but you asked, even after I warned you. I hope you will take my
advice more seriously now." She tried to smile and said, "Thank you,
but I probably won't." I said with a smile, "Such foolish bravery
should be rewarded. If I find something like that again, I'll drop it
off here in your office. You will know who it came from. When do you
think the egg will be put on display?" She said "I'll light a fire
under him. A week at the most." I said "That fire idea sounds
interesting. Better than thumbtacks." She laughed. I said "I'll check
back then. Before we go, there is something of who I am I would like to
share with you." I held out my arms, and she thought she knew what that
meant. She got up and I hugged her with love. She was in an astounded
daze as we left.
Pete said, "I never tire of seeing that." I said "I learned something
of that from Jeremy. I said to Shan once, with a very embarrassed
Jeremy present, if we could bottle enough of what he does, there would
be no more hate in the world. Shan agreed. Now we can, with crystals,
but sharing that way would cause too many intrusive questions." We all
hugged. I said "Tomba, I have something maybe to say to you, but I
don't know if I should, or shouldn't. It's not bad, and it involves a
possible gift to your Temple, you might want, or if you don't want it,
could cause you some disturbance." He said "You have said enough to
cause me to give an educated guess. Is it a precious statue of The
Buddha?" I said "Would you want such a thing? I ask, because your
specific faith might not approve of such riches, and there is the
practical side of being a target of dangerous thieves, if it became
known. And if known, it could cause the Temple to be a draw for mere
gawkers, like the Emerald Buddha, which isn't an emerald, in Thailand.
I think in your position, I wouldn't like that. Nor do I particularly
respect Idol worship. I have not made such a thing, but I could, in
seconds, with the material I have ready for it." He said "I understand
your concern. But a gift from you, ANY gift, would be precious to us
beyond measure." I said "That does NOT help at all!" He and Pete
laughed. I said "I'm asking for your advice, not adoration through
apothegm." He said "If you you insist on being so worldly in discourse,
you make it, we'll take it. Bring it on, man!"
I said "Still not enough. Do you want it for itself? That's what I
want to know. If you're going to use it to worship me, it aint gonna
happen." He said "That depends on what it is." I said "Could be a
statue of the sitting in lotus Buddha, of a HUGE chunk of emerald, or
any other natural gemstone. It could have robes carved into it, or them
made of solid gold, with precious gems, or all of that in any style.
While I could do it of engineered diamond, I think natural is better
for the Temple." He said "That last, I agree with. Which would give you
the most pleasure to make?" I said "The reason why I like emerald for
this, is it's the best gemstone for gold robes. Unlike other gems,
nothing near it changes the actual or perceived color of the best
emerald, being unusually close to monochromatic. But that's just the
artist speaking. I think the religion should speak louder." He said "I
agree with both statements. Artistic beauty can draw the Eye into inner
beauty. I say the emerald with plain gold robes, would be the best
compromise for all positions." I said "Then let us proceed to the
Temple. Where I put it, will probably where you will want to keep it,
because it's going to be HEAVY!" He said "Then let us not proceed to
the Temple. If you give me the possible dimensions and weight, we can
build the appropriate room for it." I did, and he said, "Wow!" I said
"It might be a little smaller, depending on how the flaws allow the
caving." He said "No matter. If we will build it, he will come." I said
"You don't want to have any baseball games anywhere near it!" He said
"Going to bat for your work, already!" Pete and I groaned, while he
smiled. Then we hugged and kissed, in love.
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Grant
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