I recently saw an exhibit in Portland titled Da Vinci: the Genius.  Among the sketches and inventions were the details of his "failures."  Did you know?  Following years of design, the bronze for his "world's largest horse" was taken for cannons, the plaster model used for target practice.  His fresco of The Last Supper started deteriorating three years after it was finished.  Modern engineers have built his designs to find: his tanks don't roll.  His flying machines don't fly.  He was notorious for leaving things unfinished.  He was, above all, a chaser of ideas.  The exhibit inspired a child-like joy; it made me want to go home and draw, build, explore.  What a privilege, I thought, that this is my job.  And so, back to the drawing board and the next attempts.