the carpool lane

2010-07-27T16:56:00.001-07:00

Non-motivated functions of art

The non-motivated purposes of art are those that are integral to being human, transcend the individual, or do not fulfill a specific external purpose. Aristotle said, "Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature." [13] In this sense, Art, as creativity, is something humans must do by their very nature (i.e., no other species creates art), and is therefore beyond utility.

1. Basic human instinct for harmony, balance, rhythm. Art at this level is not an action or an object, but an internal appreciation of balance and harmony (beauty), and therefore an aspect of being human beyond utility.

"Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, there is the instinct for 'harmony' and rhythm, meters being manifestly sections of rhythm. Persons, therefore, starting with this natural gift developed by degrees their special aptitudes, till their rude improvisations gave birth to Poetry." -Aristotle [14]

2. Experience of the mysterious. Art provides a way to experience one's self in relation to the universe. This experience may often come unmotivated, as one appreciates art, music or poetry.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." -Albert Einstein [15]

3. Expression of the imagination. Art provide a means to express the imagination in non-grammatic ways that are not tied to the formality of spoken or written language. Unlike words, which come in sequences and each of which have a definite meaning, art provides a range of forms, symbols and ideas with meanings that are maleable.

"Jupiter's eagle [as an example of art] is not, like logical (aesthetic) attributes of an object, the concept of the sublimity and majesty of creation, but rather something else - something that gives the imagination an incentive to spread its flight over a whole host of kindred representations that provoke more thought than admits of expression in a concept determined by words. They furnish an aesthetic idea, which serves the above rational idea as a substitute for logical presentation, but with the proper function, however, of animating the mind by opening out for it a prospect into a field of kindred representations stretching beyond its ken." -Immanuel Kant[16]

4. Universal communication. Art allows the individual to express things toward the world as a whole.[according to whom?] Earth artists often create art in remote locations that will never be experienced by another person. The practice of placing a cairn, or pile of stones at the top of a mountain, is an example. (Note: This need not suggest a particular view of God, or religion.) Art created in this way is a form of communication between the individual and the world as a whole.[citation needed]
5. Ritualistic and symbolic functions. In many cultures, art is used in rituals, performances and dances as a decoration or symbol. While these often have no specific utilitarian (motivated) purpose, anthropologists know that they often serve a purpose at the level of meaning within a particular culture. This meaning is not furnished by any one individual, but is often the result of many generations of change, and of a cosmological relationship within the culture.

"Most scholars who deal with rock paintings or objects recovered from prehistoric contexts that cannot be explained in utilitarian terms and are thus categorized as decorative, ritual or symbolic, are aware of the trap posed by the term 'art'." -Silva Tomaskova[17]

Either-Or

2010-07-24T19:23:00.001-07:00

Either/Or portrays two life views, one consciously hedonistic, the other based on ethical duty and responsibility. Each life view is written and represented by a fictional pseudonymous author, the prose of the work depending on the life view being discussed. For example, the aesthetic life view is written in short essay form, with poetic imagery and allusions, discussing aesthetic topics such as music, seduction, drama, and beauty. The ethical life view is written as two long letters, with a more argumentative and restrained prose, discussing moral responsibility, critical reflection, and marriage.[1] The views of the book are not neatly summarized, but are expressed as lived experiences embodied by the pseudonymous authors. The book's central concern is the primal question asked by Aristotle, "How should we live?"[2]

The title Either/Or is an affirmation of Aristotelian logic, particularly

* Law of identity (A = A; a thing is identical to itself)
* Law of excluded middle (either A or not-A; a thing is either something or not that thing, no third option)
* Law of non-contradiction. (not both A and not-A; a thing cannot be both true and not true in the same instant)

In Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's work, The Science of Logic (1812), Hegel had criticized Aristotle's laws of classical logic for being static, rather than dynamic and becoming, and had replaced it with his own dialectical logic. Hegel formulated addendums for Aristotle's laws:[4][5][6][7][8]

* Law of identity is inaccurate because a thing is always more than itself
* Law of excluded middle is inaccurate because a thing can be both itself and many others
* Law of non-contradiction is inaccurate because everything in existence is both itself and not itself

Kierkegaard argues that Hegel's philosophy dehumanized life by denying personal freedom and choice through the neutralization of the 'either/or'. The dialectic structure of becoming renders existence far too easy, in Hegel's theory, because conflicts are eventually mediated and disappear automatically through a natural process that requires no individual choice other than a submission to the will of the Idea or Geist. Kierkegaard saw this as a denial of true selfhood and instead advocated the importance of personal responsibility and choice-making.[7][8]

"Something marvelous happened to me. I was transported to the seventh heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a special dispensation, I was granted the favor of making a wish. "Do you wish for youth," said Mercury, "or for beauty, or power, or a long life; or do you wish for the most beautiful woman, or any other of the many fine things we have in our treasure chest? Choose, but only one thing!" For a moment I was bewildered; then I addressed the gods, saying: "My esteemed contemporaries, I choose one thing — that I may always have the laughter on my side." Not one god said a word; instead, all of them began to laugh. From that I concluded that my wish was granted and decided that the gods knew how to express themselves with good taste: for it would indeed have been inappropriate to reply solemnly: It is granted to you."
A; Diapsalmata (Hong Translation, slightly abbreviated)

2010-07-24T18:51:00.003-07:00

In the Buddhist tradition, all things are considered as either evolving from or dissolving into nothingness. This 'nothingness' is not empty space. It is, rather, a space of potentiality.[6] If we take the seas as representing potential then each thing is like a wave arising from it and returning to it. There are no permanent waves. There are no perfect waves. At no point is a wave complete, even at its peak.

2010-07-24T18:51:00.001-07:00

Ulitiarian

2010-07-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

On the quest to re-justify fashion. Just a funny feeling.

It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic,
Of all things physical and metaphysical,
Of all things human and all things super-human,
Of all true manifestations of the head,
Of the heart, of the soul,
That the life is recognizable in its expression,
That form ever follows function. This is the law.
-American Architect Louis Sullivan

One Year

2010-07-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since the last entry. I gave up blogging because I found what I needed. Now I have what I need, I just have time and there are more questions, as there will always be.
Some of the things I have found or invented have been useful to others, which justifies my spending time here.

2009-11-12T16:05:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T15:48:00.000-08:00

love it

2009-11-07T05:50:00.001-08:00

http://antonyandthejohnsons.com/

Wind in the Willows

2009-11-04T18:45:00.000-08:00

“For this is the last best gift that the kindly demigod is careful to bestow on those to whom he has revealed himself in their helping: the gift of forgetfulness. Lest the awful remembrance should remain and grow, and overshadow mirth and pleasure, and the great haunting memory be happy and light-hearted as before.”

Perfection

2009-11-04T17:22:00.001-08:00

The word "perfection" derives from the Latin "perfectio", and "perfect" — from "perfectus." These expressions in turn come from "perficio" — "to finish", "to bring to an end." "Perfectio(n)" thus literally means "a finishing", and "perfect(us)" — "finished", much as in grammatical parlance ("perfect tense").^[2]

More Jean Cocteau

2009-10-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

I CAN'T GET ENOUGH

Jean Cocteau was born in Maisons-Lafitte into a wealthy Parisian family, which also was politically prominent. His father was a lawyer and amateur painter, who committed suicide when Cocteau was nine. However, he had a lasting influence on his son. It is said that this tragic event also created Cocteau's awareness of human weakness, which he compensated by putting himself in the service of the performing arts and the mysterious forces in the universe. Poetry was for Cocteau the basis of all art, a "religion without hope".
In 1915 Cocteau met Picasso and fell under his spell. "I admired his intelligence, and clung to everything he said, for he spoke little; I kept still so as not to miss a word. There were long silences and Varèse could not understand why we stared wordlessly at each other. In talking, Picasso used a visual syntax, and you could immediately see what he was saying. He liked formulas and summoned himself up in his statements as he summoned himself up and sculptured himself in objects that he immediately made tangible." (from Pablo Picasso by Pierre Cabanne, 1977)

Divine States

2009-10-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

Buddhism's four brahmavihara ("Divine States") can be more properly regarded as virtues in the European sense. They are:

Metta/Maitri: loving-kindness towards all; the hope that a person will be well; loving kindness is "the wish that all sentient beings, without any exception, be happy."^[6]
Karuna: compassion; the hope that a person's sufferings will diminish; compassion is the "wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering."^[6]
Mudita: altruistic joy in the accomplishments of a person, oneself or other; sympathetic joy, "is the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of all sentient beings."^[6]
Upekkha/Upeksha: equanimity, or learning to accept both loss and gain, praise and blame, success and failure with detachment, equally, for oneself and for others; equanimity means "not to distinguish between friend, enemy or stranger, but regard every sentient being as equal. It is a clear-minded tranquil state of mind - not being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness or agitation."

Source: Wikipedia

Impersonator!

2009-10-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Indian man as Lenin.

Panic

2009-10-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

Architects and city planners try to accommodate the symptoms of panic, such as herd behavior, during design and planning, often using simulations to determine the best way to lead people to a safe exit and prevent congestion (stampedes). The most effective methods are often nonintuitive. A tall column, approximately 1 ft (300 mm) in diameter, placed in front of the door exit at a precisely calculated distance, may speed up the evacuation of a large room by up to 30%, as the obstacle divides the congestion well ahead of the choke point.

Source: Wikipedia

Snake Rug

2009-09-26T20:43:00.001-07:00

A handknotted snake shaped rug, hides a cable that heats up, warming a cold floor. Buttons on the side make it possible to fix the snake in different positions.

Sylvia Plath

2009-09-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

Holyshit this is what I was ranting about for days. Not that I rant out loud

• I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. I am. I am. I am.

• Let me live, love and say it well in good sentences.

• Can a selfish egocentric jealous and unimaginative female write a damn thing worthwhile?

• Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I've a call.

• I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited.

• Is there no way out of the mind?

• Remember, remember, this is now, and now, and now. Live it, feel it, cling to it. I want to become acutely aware of all I've taken for granted.

• It is a feeling that no matter what the ideas or conduct of others, there is a unique rightness and beauty to life which can be shared in openness, in wind and sunlight, with a fellow human being who believes in the same basic principles.

• For me, poetry is an evasion of the real job of writing prose.

• I wanted change and excitement and to shoot off in all directions myself, like the colored arrows from a Fourth of July rocket.

• I am inhabited by a cry.
Nightly it flaps out
Looking, with its hooks, for something to love.
I am terrified by this dark thing
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.

• If I rest, if I think inward, I go mad.

• Life has been some combination of fairy-tale coincidence and joie de vivre and shocks of beauty together with some hurtful self-questioning.

• I have the choice of being constantly active and happy or introspectively passive and sad. Or I can go mad by ricocheting in between.

• If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I'm neurotic as hell. I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days.

• Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything it is because we are dangerously near wanting nothing.

• You don't believe in God, or life-after-death, so you can't hope for sugar plums when your non-existent soul rises.

• I talk to God but the sky is empty.

• I love him to hell and back and heaven and back, and have and do and will.

• There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them.

Pier Paulo Pasolini

2009-09-23T15:51:00.001-07:00

Io sono una forza del Passato.
Solo nella tradizione è il mio amore.
Vengo dai ruderi, dalle chiese,
dalle pale d’altare, dai borghi
abbandonati sugli Appennini o le Prealpi,
dove sono vissuti i fratelli.
Giro per la Tuscolana come un pazzo,
per l’Appia come un cane senza padrone.
O guardo i crepuscoli, le mattine
su Roma, sulla Ciociaria, sul mondo,
come i primi atti della Dopostoria,
cui io assisto, per privilegio d’anagrafe,
dall’orlo estremo di qualche età
sepolta. Mostruoso è chi è nato
dalle viscere di una donna morta.
E io, feto adulto, mi aggiro
più moderno di ogni moderno
a cercare fratelli che non sono più.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfFvzGOvZFo

mise-en-scène

2009-09-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

Stemming from the theater, the French term mise en scène literally means "putting on stage." When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement—sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting.^[2] Mise-en-scène also includes the positioning and movement of actors on the set, which is called blocking. These are all the areas overseen by the director, and thus, in French film credits, the director's title is metteur en scène, "putter on scene."

This narrow definition of mise-en-scène is not shared by all critics. For some, it refers to all elements of visual style—that is, both elements on the set and aspects of the camera. For others, such as U.S. film critic Andrew Sarris, it takes on mystical meanings related to the emotional tone of a film.

Recently, the term has come to represent a style of conveying the information of a scene primarily through a single shot—often accompanied by camera movement. It is to be contrasted with montage-style filmmaking—multiple angles pieced together through editing. Overall, mise-en-scène is used when the director wishes to give an impression of the characters or situation without vocally articulating it through the framework of spoken dialogue, and typically does not represent a realistic setting. The common example is that of a cluttered, disorganized apartment being used to reflect the disorganization in a character's life in general, or a spartanly decorated apartment to convey a character with an "empty soul", in both cases specifically and intentionally ignoring any practicality in the setting.

Source: Wikipedia

Bjork

2009-09-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

we live on a mountain
right at the top
there's a beautiful view
from the top of the mountain
every morning i walk towards the edge
and throw little things off
like:
car-parts, bottles and cutlery
or whatever i find lying around

it's become a habit
a way
to start the day

i go through this
before you wake up
so i can feel happier
to be safe up here with you

it's real early morning
no-one is awake
i'm back at my cliff
still throwing things off
i listen to the sounds they make
on their way down
i follow with my eyes 'til they crash
imagine what my body would sound like
slamming against those rocks

and when it lands
will my eyes
be closed or open?

i'll go through all this
before you wake up
so i can feel happier
to be safe up here with you

2009-09-19T20:17:00.001-07:00

Microscope, telescope, when all I really needed was glasses. HAHAHA

Flesh eating bacteria!

2009-09-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

Fantastic! : D

It was late last year that it all happened. It shocked and scared us all at the time, but now there's a beautiful and fish-ridden ending to one of the Tinny's most tragic yarns.

On his first trip back to the scene of the crime, a year after 'the incident', Tom Maher has caught fish. And returned home without injury! Listen to the audio to hear how it all went.

Here's how it all unfolded from the beginning:

Hi, my name is Tom Maher.

I am writing this from a bed in Royal Darwin Hospital.

On Saturday 10 November my wife Lorna and I headed out from the Buffalo Creek boat ramp for a pleasant days fishing in some of our favourite low tide holes in Shoal Bay near "The Rock" in our treasured 4.8m Quintrex Freedom Sport.

On the way over we had a bit of a trawl past the mouth of King Creek just before the turn of the high tide in the hope of hooking one of the elusive metre barra known to frequent the area.

After a couple of runs past the mouth without any joy we reeled in and headed over to the holes between spots five and 15 and settled in with a cuppa and some snacks to wait for the tide to go out.

About 10am the tide was low enough for me to wander off across the sand flats to chase a few mullet so Lorna could be set up with some livvies out the back of the boat while I moseyed around some of the other holes flicking lures in likely looking spots.

As a back up I took a handline with me to set up with a live mullet while casting lures amongst the snags in the holes. After about 15 minutes without any success in the first hole I decided to check out another nearby hole.

I left the handline at the first hole as figured that if I hooked anything with it the fish couldn't go far.

The second hole looked pretty good but there was still an hour or so to go to the bottom of the tide when the barra would be really on the bite so I thought I would go back and pick up the handline and head back to the boat and have a bit of lunch with Lorna.

When I got to the hand line it was apparent that something had taken the bait and headed into the snags. As it was only three or four metres out to where the line was snagged I decided to wade out and desnag it.

The water was just above knee deep and when I got out to the line I felt some sort of marine animal swim between my legs and inflicted a three inch long and half inch deep bite or sting on my right calf.

Bleeding profusely and in a lot a pain I stumbled the 300 odd metres back to the boat. Lorna helped me back in, bandaged my leg to stem the bleeding and settled me in as best a possible on the floor of the boat.

It was still a couple of hours before the turn of the tide and recognising that I was in need of relatively urgent medical attention Lorna tried with little success to get through to the ambulance on the emergency 000 number.

Mobile phone reception was poor so she turned her attention to the marine radio. Neither of us had any idea how to use the radio effectively but Lorna managed to get through to Coast Radio Darwin on Channel 10 who arranged for an ambulance to meet us at the Shoal Bay Boat Ramp once we could get underway with the incoming tide.

The pain from the bite was enormous.

There was very little Lorna could do to alleviate it for me. All I could do was writhe about and scream in agony on the floor of the boat waiting for the tide to come in enough for us to head over to boat ramp.

We initially thought that would be around 2pm but we didn't get underway until about 4:30pm, some five hours after the incident occurred.

On a scale of 0 to 10 with the 10 being the worst imaginable pain, I put my pain at 10 for the entire period. It was great when we finally got to the ambulance at Shoal Bay and they were able to administer pain relief.

Lorna still had to get the boat back to Buffalo Creek and on to the trailer and then back home. Thankfully some other fishos helped her take the boat back to Buff Creek and our neighbour, Owen, helped her back the boat up our steep driveway.

Once I got to hospital I thought I would stay there overnight to allow the doctors enough time to clean wound and put a few stitches in to put me back together.

However a flesh eating bacteria found in the tropical waters this time of year had got into the open wound and resulted in a rapid deterioration in the condition of the wound which resulted in a fist size hole in the calf of my leg within a few days.

After nearly 3 weeks of treatment with massive doses of antibiotics and super doses of oxygen in the hospital's hypobaric chamber (used for treating scuba divers with the benz) the battle with the bacteria seems to have been won. I am now just waiting on a skin graft to start covering up the open wound.

There has been a lot speculation of what actually bit or stung me. Could have been a stingray, a small shark, a baby croc or some other fish. I will probably never know.... but I will probably (maybe) take some regard of Lorna's new rule for future trips to Shoal Bay, that is 'stay in the boat!'

And now Tom has just completed his first trip back to the scene of the crime, a year after the incident. And he caught fish. Listen to the audio to hear how it all went.

And by way of warning the NT Department of Health says the bacteria is known as Vibrio bacteria.

They are a family of bacteria that live in warm sea water and are found throughout the world but are particularly common in large gulfs in tropical areas such as the Bay of Bengal, the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

People with poor immunity, particularly those with chronic liver disease, can get the infection through the skin, when cuts or abrasions are exposed to sea water, or through ingesting contaminated food or water.

The infection can start as a wound infection and can quickly spread to cause overwhelming and life threatening bloodstream infection.

Spiderblog

2009-09-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

I just found a really neat blog. Excerpt:

Thought Experiments: From today, I will be putting down some thought experiments. These are mostly experiments that I would like to do but can't because 1. it's out of my scope or 2. may be un-doable.
Here's the first one. There is a genus called Phonognatha which is called a leaf curling spider, because it places a leaf in the centre of the web and uses the leaf as a retreat. The leaf is usually twisted into a cylindrical shape, hence the name. It would be cool to place an individual in a glass cage and give it only one artificial material, say like a ribbon or something and see if it uses the material anyway. Bit of an art project really, bio-art.

Pachygnatha zappa: "Etymology. Zappa is a noun in apposition. This species epithet is given in honor of the twentieth century composer Frank Zappa (1941-1993), well known for both his serious and commercial music. The dark grey mark on the ventral side of the abdomen of the female of this species strikingly resembles the artist's legendary moustache"

They have a new location

Priapism

2009-09-18T10:59:00.001-07:00

Priapism (Ancient Greek: πριαπισμός) is a potentially harmful and painful medical condition in which the erect clitoris^[1] or penis does not return to its flaccid state, despite the absence of both physical and psychological stimulation, within four hours. Priapism is considered a medical emergency, which should receive proper treatment by a qualified medical practitioner.

The name comes from the Greek god Priapus, referring to the myth that he was punished by the other gods for attempting to rape a goddess, by being given a massive, but useless, set of wooden genitals.

Epitaph of W.B. Yeats

2009-09-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

CAST A COLD EYE ON LIFE, ON DEATH

HORSEMEN, PASS BY!

Magician

2009-09-16T18:14:00.001-07:00

Learning my tarot cards...

Basic Card Symbols

Red & White coloring, the lemniscate (infinity symbol), a small wand, a table displaying a chalice, a pentacle, a staff (wand) and a sword.

Basic Tarot Story

Traveling on his way, the Fool first encounters a Magician. Skillful, self-confident, a powerful magus with the infinite as a halo floating above his head, the Magician mesmerizes the Fool. When asked, the Fool gives over his bundled pack and stick to the Magician. Raising his wand to heaven, pointing his finger to Earth, the Magician calls on all powers; magically, the cloth of the pack unfolds upon the table, revealing its contents. And to the Fool's eyes it is as if the Magician has created the future with a word. All the possibilities are laid out, all the directions he can take. The cool, airy Sword of intellect and communication, the fiery Wand of spirituality and ambition, the overflowing Chalice of Love and emotions, the solid Pentacle of work, possessions and body. With these tools, the Fool can create anything, make anything of his life. But here's the question, did the Magician create the tools, or were they already in the pack? Only the Magician knows - and on this mystery, our eloquent mage refuses to say a word.

Basic Tarot Meaning

At #1, the Magician is the male power of creation, creation by willpower and desire. In that ancient sense, it is the ability to make things just-so by speaking them aloud ("And God said 'Let there be Light!' and there was Light"). Reflecting this is the fact that the Magician is represented by Mercury. He represents the gift of tongues, a smooth talker, a salesman. Also clever with the sleight of hand (Mercury *was* the god of thieves!) and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil. The 4 suits laid out before him remind us of the 4 aces, which in the Tarot symbolize the raw, undeveloped, undirected power of each suit. When the Magician appears, he reveals these to you. The reader might well interpret this card as telling the querent that they will be given a vision, an idea, a magical, mental image of whatever it is they most want: the solution to a problem, an ambitious career, a love life, a job.

Thirteen's Observations

If any card in the Tarot is the Tarot, it is the Magician. He's one of the most recognizable cards, always a favorite. He's also the only card in the major arcana that refers to the minors with the "trumps" displayed upon his table. If the reader believes the Magician stands for the Querent, then the Querent either is, or is currently finding himself eloquent and charismatic at this time. Both verbally and in writing, he is clever, witty, inventive and persuasive. People listen and agree with him. He also has an interest in science. He might be, in fact, a doctor or scientist or inventor.

Standing for someone other than the querent, the Magician could be a skillful doctor, scientist, inventor lecturer, salesman, or con-man. It's important to remember that the Magician can as easily be clever as skilful, a trickster as well as a magician. This is someone with a magnetic personality, someone who can convince people of almost anything. For better or worse, his words are magic.

Most importantly, the Magician card stands for the "reveal" - as in a magic trick. The handkerchief is draped over an empty box, the Magician waves his wand, *presto!*--now there is a dove in the box. The Magician card does the same for the Querent--only what it reveals is not birds or rabbits but NEW ideas. Emphasis on NEW. When the Magician card appears, the Querent is likely to say: "Now there's an idea! Why didn't I think of that before?" Truth is, the Querent had that idea in his head all along. The Magician merely revealed it to him. But what will the Querent do with this idea? That's a question for the next card....

Plates

2009-09-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

I found a great site with the most interesting plates : )

Ray Bradbury

2009-09-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

He attributes his lifelong habit of writing every day to an incident in 1932 when a carnival entertainer, Mr. Electrico, touched him with an electrified sword, made his hair stand on end, and shouted, "Live forever!"

painting by Georges Seurat (I saw this one at Orsay : )

More Serge Lutens perfumes

2009-09-11T06:13:00.001-07:00

(Just because I love tobacco)
Fumerie Turque evocatively weaves references to the honeyed tobaccos smoked in the seraglios of the Ottoman empire and the exotic cigarettes flaunted by the Garçonnes in the gender-bending 1920s. It can’t be too much of a stretch to envision Fumerie Turque as Serge Lutens’ tribute to Caron’s trailblazing Tabac Blond – albeit with his trademark Oriental twist.

Smokey wisps of honeyed, fruity tobacco rise from a smooth, vanilla-flavored blend of tonka bean, styrax and Peru balsam, conjuring lazy winter afternoons smoking a hookah and nibbling rose-scented Turkish delights in a leather-paneled room. The rich, floral, faintly animal odor of beeswax rises from floors strewn with ornate rugs and polished daybeds. The scent of late-blooming jasmine wafts up from the palace gardens. Through the intricate wooden lace of a musharabieh, the Bosphorus glints in the sunset. Intoxicating and comforting, Fumerie Turque is the ultimate Orientalist reverie in a bottle. Succumb.
Fumerie Turque Notes
Corinthian raisins, white honey, candied Turkish rose, Egyptian jasmine, smoked leather, beeswax, Balkan tobacco, Peru Balsam, patchouli, tonka bean, styrax, juniper tar oil.
Source

And I love the description of A La Nuit:
If you’ve ever walked down an ordinary street in the dark and unexpectedly encountered the otherworldly scent of night-blooming jasmine, you know how enchanting and disorienting it can be. The shadows seem deeper, the stars seem closer and the air becomes loaded with possibilities. It may be difficult to remember why you were walking down this particular street to begin with, but you want to stay there forever. A La Nuit is a ravishing, ruthlessly true jasmine fragrance. It captures the bloom’s dizzying, head-spinning quality of being euphorically light and darkly sensual all at the same time. At first sniff, it feels like the world has been completely overrun by the glowing white flower, but it quickly settles into just the right amount - fresh and lovely and airy. No matter how light and silky it becomes, it never entirely loses its slink and growl, because it’s jasmine, y’all. It’s always sexy. If you hate jasmine, this will not change your mind, but if you are a jasmine lover, this may well turn you into a jasmine addict. Absolutely stunning.

Actually, what I had come for was the Rose-themed perfume, Sa Majeste La Rose. I first noticed it in Paris by Yves Saint Laurent, and then in I passed by some roses...

All of me - Billie Holiday playing...

Science will keep your world in motion

2009-09-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to find a book called The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour, by Joan DeJean.

(Glamour is very interesting. I'm not interested in it personally, but what is Glamour, really?)

I think it will help me reorganize post-Paris, in a scientific way

When I visited Versailles, I realized how crazy Louis XIV was.
His "War Room" was lined with full-length mirrors. This is the first time it was possible for a man to look at himself in all his entirety.
That says alot... about fashion... and the unconscious "viewing" of self at all times

During the summer of 1676, Louis XIV came up with what some saw as one of the more eccentric of his many plans for the beautification of Paris. He imported hundreds of wildly expensive white swans to add a touch of elegance to the Seine. He ordered a colony established on a small island directly opposite the capital's favorite promenade, the Cours-la-Reine; Parisians and visitors could thus take a stroll, display their latest finery, and observe the exotic birds, all at the same time. The birds were also perfectly positioned so that anyone traveling from Paris to Versailles would have a view of them along the way. Critics pointed out that the noble birds were not cut out for the polluted and congested waters of a river that then bustled with the transport of merchandise to and from the French capital. The King would have none of it. It was style he was after, and style he was determined to get. It is hardly surprising that -- despite the numerous laws that were passed to protect their nests -- many of the King's exotic birds died. What is amazing is that so many of them survived that, more than half a century later, the head of the Parisian police was still personally looking out for their well-being.
Ours in an age in which everything from supermarkets to drugstores to cafes can increasingly be found open, as we now say, 24/7. The frontier between day and night is constantly being eroded because we refuse to wait for what we want. As long as the asparagus are tasty and the blooms beautiful, we don't care where they were grown. Critics may rail against out desire to dominate nature, but it was become a fact of life. And it means that Louis XIV is someone our instant-gratification society can understand. Like us, he wanted what he wanted when he wanted it: baby peas, bright lights, more diamonds than anyone had ever seen. When nature was against him, he had the technology invented that would make it bow to his desires. His life and his person were an advertisement for the passion for aesthetic perfection. The first customers for the fabulous new French fashions and cuisine and design also wanted a piece of the Sun King's very own style.

I'm going to end up typing up the whole book...

Comme il faut

2009-09-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

To be "comme il faut" was extraordinarily time-consuming simply because of the number and variety of activities that demanded changes in costume, creating unprecedented opportunities for the fashion artist as well as the dressmaker. In 1866, a French observer enumerated the sartorial requisites: "A society of woman who wants to be well dressed for all occations at all times needs at least seven or eight toilettes per day: a morning dressing gown, a riding outfit, an elegant simple gown for lunch, a day dress if walking, an afternoon dress for visiting by carriage, a smart outfit to drive through the Bois de Boulogne, a gown for dinner, and a galadress for evening or the theater." (Henri Despaigne, Le Code de la Mode, Paris, 1866)
Fashion plates, in addition to depicting the latest styles, were also conversation pieces reflecting an idealized version of the atmosphere in which society moved. Ladies were portrayed in setting evocative of a world where it was always fair, the temperature moderate, with never more than a gentle breeze, where beautifully behaved children never rumpled their clothes or spilled their cocoa. Dressed in their finery, with no more expression on their serene faces than an occasional half-smile, these ladies turn an untroubled gaze onto nothing in particular wherever the artist decides to place them. Not a flicker of emotion shows on their faces whether they find themselves in the country, at the shore, shopping in town, paying calls, or receiving visitors at home in impeccably furnished interiors.
From Full-Color Victorian Fashions, with an Introduction by JoAnne Olian

I love the descriptions for the illustrations:
Dressy toilette for a young person starts with a coiffure adorned with a chaperon and cornflowers. Dress in tarlatan or white mousseline, with lavaliere bows of taffeta ribbon.

The Marie Antoinette

2009-09-09T05:48:00.000-07:00

Rarely has so much been written about a timepiece as for Breguet’s Marie-Antoinette watch. Let us travel back in time to eighteenth-century Versailles and the court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The queen, known for her love of jewellery, would often seek refuge in her private domain, the Petit Trianon, as well as in the arms of her different lovers. One of them, a Swedish officer of the queen’s guard named by historians as Count Axel de Fersen, is said to have commissioned a watch from Breguet as a gift for his queen.

Carte blanche

The Neuchâtel watchmaker was no stranger to Louis XVI’s court. Fascinated by objects of value, Marie-Antoinette already owned one of Breguet’s perpétuelles, a watch with a self-winding rotor mechanism, invented by Breguet himself. Clearly enamoured, the queen’s suitor contacted the watchmaker in 1783 with an unexpected proposal: to make the most spectacular watch ever seen.

With no limitation of time or expense, Breguet had free rein to create a watch that must leave Marie-Antoinette speechless with admiration. The queen knew nothing of this extraordinary gift. Nor did she live to admire it. When she mounted the scaffold in 1793, the watch was still at Breguet’s Parisian workshop. It was not finished until 1827.

A work of art

It took a full forty-four years to complete the watch, proof indeed that it is a work of art. This stunning piece features the greatest watchmaking complications known at that time. One of Breguet’s perpétuelles, the Marie-Antoinette watch includes a minute-repeater, a full perpetual calendar, an equation of time (that is, the difference each day between solar time and mean time indicated by clocks and watches), a power-reserve indicator, a bimetallic thermometer, a large independent seconds hand and a small centre seconds hand, a lever escapement, a gold balance spring and a parachute anti-shock device. This profusion of technological wonders were housed inside a gold case with a rock crystal dial through which the movement could be admired.

From HH Magazine

Enigma of the mind

2009-09-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

Robert Campbell, Enigma of the Mind

Anton Boisen, who emerged from schizophrenia to become a hospital chaplain, wrote in a memoir: "It seemed that a lot of new worlds were forming. There was music everywhere and rhythm and beauty. I heard what seemed to be a choir of angels. The next night I was visited, not by angels, but by a lot of witches. From the ventilator shaft I picked up paper black cats and broom-sticks and poke bonnets. I dinally not only worked out a way of checking the invation of the black cats, but I found some sort of process of regeneration which could be used to save other people." Eventually, wrote Boisen, "I found that by lying flat on the floor near the ventilator shaft, I could hear the most beautiful voice I had ever heard. It was the celebration of the Last Supper.

When Donald, an autistic boy, was asked to subtract four from ten, he replied, "I'll draw a hexagon"

A crucial aspect of this crippling amily atmosphere is what anthropologist Gregory Bateson called the double-bind phenomenon [...] Bateson wrote of a mother's visit to her schizophrenic son in the hospital: "He was glad to see her and impulsively put his arm around her shoulders, whereupon she stiffened. He withdrew his arm and she asked, 'Don't you love me anymore?' He then blushed, and she said, 'Dear, you must not be so easily embarrassed and afraid of your feelings.'

Waiting for Godot

2009-09-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

Vladimir: Do you remember the Gospels?
Estragon: I remember the Holy Land. Coloured they were. Very pretty. The Dead Sea was pale blue. The very look of it made me thirsty. That's where we'll go, I used to say, that's where we'll go for our honeymoon. We'll swim. We'll be happy.
Vladimir: You should have been a poet.

Estragon: What is it?
Vladimir: I don't know. A willow.
Estragon: Where are the leaves?
Vladimir: It must be dead.
EStragon: No more weeping.

Homeostatis

2009-09-08T03:28:00.000-07:00

IwatchedstartrekandSPOCKwasSOHOT

Stress

Sociologists and psychologists may refer to stress homeostasis, the tendency of a population or an individual to stay at a certain level of stress, often generating artificial stresses if the "natural" level of stress is not enough.

Source: Wikipedia

Ishikawa Goemon

2009-09-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

Ishikawa Goemon (石川五衛門 or 石川五右衛門^?, 1558-1594) was a legendary bandit hero who stole gold and valuables and gave them to the poor. He is notable for being boiled alive after a failed assassination attempt on Toyotomi Hideyoshi. A large iron kettle-shaped bathtub is now called a Goemon-buro ("Goemon bath").

In one version of the story, Goemon tried to assassinate Hideyoshi to avenge the death of his wife and capture of his son, Gobei. He entered Hideyoshi's room but knocked a bell off a table. The noise awoke the samurai guards and Goemon was captured. He was sentenced to death by being boiled alive in an iron cauldron along with his young son, but was able to save his son by holding him above the oil.

In another version, Goemon wanted to kill Hideyoshi because he was a despot. When he entered Hideyoshi's room, he was detected by a mystical incense burner. He was executed on August 24 along with his whole family by being boiled in oil.^[1]

In yet a third version, Goemon stole a prized songbird of Hideyoshi's, but the bird sang.^[2] His whole family was executed, but Gobei was saved by Goemon.

2009-08-31T07:30:00.001-07:00

I like eating merangues. They have the consistency of my heart

Toothpaste for dinner, yay!

2009-08-31T06:11:00.000-07:00

Today

2009-08-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

My notebook got wet and now I hate it.
It's unfortunate.
I indulge myself by staring at it and frowning.
...

Death stands next to you and asks "who are you?" repeatedly
I would like to smoke myself to death
feeling it out, one breath at a time, each one getting longer and slower and greyer and softer
I would like to spend a long time dying

I am possibly sad because I have no relatives.
...

The frontal lobe reaches maturity at the age of 25. I'm excited. Horray for myelin!

Karl

2009-08-31T05:46:00.000-07:00

(I want that bag! (left) It's like the garbage bag I've been talking about)

Karl you, dear

Christian Lacroix

2009-08-31T05:33:00.000-07:00

With his background in historical costume and clothing, Lacroix soon made headlines with his opulent, fantasy creations, including the short puffball skirt ("le pouf"), rose prints, and low décolleté necklines. He quoted widely from other styles—from fashion history (the corset and the crinoline), from folklore, and from many parts of the world—and he mixed his quotations in a topsy-turvy manner. He favored the hot colors of the Mediterranean region, a hodgepodge of patterns, and experimental fabrics, sometimes handwoven in local workshops.
In 2009 the fashion house, owned by duty-free retailer Falic Fashion Group, put the business into administration and laid off all but 12 workers. Lacroix's A/W 2009 Haute Couture was privately financed by Lacroix and each model was paid €50. "I didn't want to cry," said Lacroix "I want to continue, maybe in a different way, with a small atelier. What I really care about is the women who do this work" Lacroix said about his last Haute Couture collection. Throughout its history it never turned a profit and reported a €10 million loss in 2008.

Source: Wikipedia

bric-à-brac

2009-08-31T05:28:00.000-07:00

The term bric-à-brac (origin French) [1] was first used in the Victorian era.
It referred then to collections of curios such as elaborately decorated teacups and small vases, feathers, wax flowers under glass domes, eggshells, statuettes, painted miniatures or photographs, and so on. Bric-à-brac was used as ornament on mantelpieces, tables, and shelves, or displayed in curio cabinets. Sometimes these cabinets had glass doors, to display the items within while protecting them from dust.
Bric-à-brac nowadays refers to a selection of items of low value, often sold in street markets.

Source: Wikipedia

Swiss Alps

2009-08-31T05:20:00.000-07:00

I am in the Swiss Alps where lace is plentiful, windows are lined with hearts, and the river water smells like milk.

More Lanvin

2009-08-31T05:14:00.001-07:00

When I see Lanvin, it isn't very intelligent, like Prada. It is all love.

Lanvin

2009-08-31T05:05:00.000-07:00

Of the fall/winter 2008 show

Q: You set yourself a challenge in each collection. What was the challenge this time?

A: This time was about taking a thread, and make a dress out of that thread, without making it out of fabric, and I kind of find it magical, that you take a tree and make a chair out of a tree and not out of wood.

I hate dress codes. Anytime, anywhere.

Ahem

2009-08-27T10:15:00.001-07:00

Attraction, distraction

Kant

2009-08-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

I really need to do some dialectic reasoning.

I have not been scientific in my great social experiements.

It is difficult to be third-party to yourself.

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

2009-08-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

Poliphili's Strife of Love in a Dream

Poli = many

Phili = Lover

Hypner = Sleep

Eros = Love

Mache = Fight

is a romance by Francesco Colonna and a famous example of early printing. First published inVenice, 1499, in an elegant page layout, with refined woodcut illustrations in an Early Renaissance style,Hypnerotomachia Poliphili presents a mysterious arcane allegory in which Poliphilo pursues his love Polia through a dreamlike landscape, and is at last reconciled with her by the Fountain of Venus. The book was printed by Aldus Manutius in Venice in December 1499. The text of the book is written in a bizarre Latinate Italian, full of words coined based on Latin and Greek roots without explanation. The book, however, also includes words from the Italian language, as well as illustrations including Arabic and Hebrew words; Colonna also invented new languages when the ones available to him were inaccurate. (It also contains some uses of Egyptian hieroglyphs, but they are not authentic.)

The book has long been sought after as one of the most beautiful incunabula ever printed. The typography is famous for its quality and clarity, in a roman typeface cut by Francesco Griffo, which Aldus had first used in February 1495 for De Aetna of Pietro Bembo, for which reason the typeface was named Bembo when it was revived in 1929 by Stanley Morison.

The psychologist Carl Jung admired the book, believing the dream images presaged his theory of archetypes. The style of the woodcut illustrations had a great influence on late-19th century English illustrators, such as Aubrey Beardsley, Walter Crane and Robert Anning Bell.

The book begins with Poliphilo, who has spent a restless night because his beloved, Polia (literally "Many Things"), shunned him. Poliphilo is transported into a wild forest, where he gets lost, encounters dragons, wolves and maidens and a large variety of architecture, escapes, and falls asleep once more. He then awakens in a second dream, dreamed within the first. In the dream, he is taken by some nymphs to meet their queen, and there he is asked to declare his love for Polia, which he does. He is then directed by two nymphs to three gates. He chooses the third, and there he discovers his beloved. They are taken by some more nymphs to a temple to be engaged. Along the way they come across five triumphal processions celebrating the union of the lovers. Then they are taken to the island of Cythera by barge, withCupid as the boatswain; there they see another triumphal procession celebrating their union. The narrative is uninterrupted, and a second voice takes over, as Polia describes his erotomachia from her own point of view.

Poliphilo resumes his narrative after one-fifth of the book. Polia rejects Poliphilo, but Cupid appears to her in a vision and compels her to return and kiss Poliphilo, who has fallen into a deathlike swoon at her feet, back to life. Venus blesses their love, and the lovers are united at last. As Poliphilo is about to take Polia into his arms, Polia vanishes into thin air and Poliphilo wakes up.

The Charities

2009-08-26T13:43:00.001-07:00

In Greek mythology, a Charis (Χάρις) is one of several Charites (Χάριτες; Greek: "Graces"), goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility. They ordinarily numbered three, from youngest to oldest: Aglaea ("Beauty"), Euphrosyne ("Mirth"), and Thalia ("Good Cheer"). In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces."

The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, though they were also said to be daughters of Dionysus andAphrodite or of Helios and the naiad Aeg

From wik;)

Beatrice

2009-08-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

Dante and Beatrice, by Henry Holiday. Dante looks longingly at Beatrice (in center) passing by with friend Lady Vanna (red) along the Arno River

Her birth name is Beatrice Portinari, the daughter of Folco di Ricovero Portinari, and she was known among intimates as Bice. Dante met her at the age of nine when his father took him to the Portinari house for a May Day party. At the time, Beatrice was eight years old, a year younger than Dante. Dante was instantly taken with her and remained so throughout her life even though she married another man, banker Simone dei Bardi, in 1287. Beatrice died three years later in June of 1290 at the age of 24. Dante continued to hold an abiding love and respect for the woman after her death, even after he himself married Gemma Donati in 1285 and had his own children. After Beatrice's death, Dante withdrew into intense study and began composing poems dedicated to her memory. The collection of these poems along with others he had previously written in his journal in awe of Beatrice became La Vita Nuova.

Beatrice Portinari has been immortalized not only in Dante's poems but in paintings by Pre-Raphaelite masters and poets.

According to the autobiographic La Vita Nuova, Beatrice and Dante met only twice during their lives. This statement, however, is highly questionable, considering that they both lived in Florence the entire time Beatrice was alive^{[citation needed]}. Even less credible is the numerology behind these encounters, marking out Dante's life in periods of nine years. This amount of time falls in line with Dante's repeated use of the number three or multiples of, derived from the Holy Trinity^{[citation needed]}. It is more likely that the encounters with Beatrice that Dante writes of are the two that fulfill his poetic vision, and Beatrice, like Petrarch's Laura, seem to blur the line between an actual love interest and a means employed by the poet in his creations.^{[citation needed]}

Following their first meeting, Dante was so enthralled by Beatrice that he later wrote in La Vita Nuova: Ecce Deus fortior me, qui veniens dominabitur mihi ("Behold, a deity stronger than I; who coming, shall rule over me.") Indeed, she and Dante frequented parts of Florence, his home city, where he thought he might catch even a glimpse of her. As he did so, he made great efforts to ensure his thoughts of Beatrice remained private, even writing poetry for another lady, so as to use her as a "screen for the truth".

Dante's courtly love for Beatrice continued for nine years, before the pair finally met again. This meeting occurred in a street of Florence, which she walked along dressed in white and accompanied by two older women. She turned and greeted him. Her greeting filled him with such joy that he retreated to his room, to think about her. In doing so, he fell asleep, and had a dream which would become the subject of the first sonnet in La Vita Nuova.

In this dream, a mighty figure appeared before him, and spoke to him. Although he could not make out all the figure said, he managed to hear "Ego dominus tuus", which means "I am your Lord". In the figure's arms was Beatrice, sleeping and covered by a crimson cloth. The figure awoke Beatrice, and made her eat Dante's burning heart. An English translation of this event, as described in La Vita Nuova, appears below:

...And betaking me to the loneliness of mine own room, I fell to thinking of this most courteous lady, thinking of whom I was overtaken by a pleasant slumber, wherein a marvelous vision was presented to me: for there appeared to be in my room a mist of the colour of fire, within the which I discerned the figure of a Lord of terrible aspect to such as should gaze upon him, but who seemed there-withal to rejoice inwardly that it was a marvel to see. Speaking he said many things, among the which I could understand but few; and of these, this: "I am thy Lord". In his arms it seemed to me that a person was sleeping, covered only with a crimson cloth; upon whom looking very attentively, I knew that it was the Lady of the Salutation, who had deigned the day before to salute me. And he who held her held also in his hand a thing that was burning in flames, and he said to me "Behold thy heart". But when he had remained with me a little while, I thought that he set himself to awaken her that slept; after the which he made her to eat that thing which flamed in his hand; and she ate as one fearing.

This was the last encounter between the pair, since Beatrice died eight years later at the young age of twenty-four in 1290.

Dante's love for Beatrice

The manner in which Dante chose to express his love for Beatrice often agreed with the Middle Ages concept of courtly love. Courtly love was a secret, unrequited and highly respectful form of admiration for another person.

Yet it is still not entirely clear what caused Dante to fall in love with Beatrice. Seeing as how he knew very little of the real Beatrice, and that he had no great insight to her character, it is perhaps unusual that he fell in love with her. But he did, and there are clues in his works as to why he did:

"She has ineffable courtesy, is my beatitude, the destroyer of all vices and the queen of virtue, salvation."

Dante saw Beatrice as a saviour, one who removed all evil intentions from him. It is perhaps this idea of her being a force for good that he fell in love with, a force which he believed made him a better person. This is certainly viable, since he does not seem concerned with her appearance - at least not in his writings. He only once describes her complexion, and her "emerald" eyes.

He wrote of her, following her death:

“

The love between them was wholly spiritual; after her death Dante realised she was more alive than ever.

”

^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Beatrice's influence on Dante's work

Beatrice appears to Virgil at the start of Paradiso, in an illustration by Gustave Doré.

Beatrice's influence was far from simple inspiration, she appeared as a character in his two greatest works - La Vita Nuova and Divine Comedy.

She first appeared in La Vita Nuova, which Dante wrote in about 1293. The book was filled with poems about Beatrice, and entirely complimentary to her; she was described as "gentilissima" and "benedetta" (meaning "kind" and "blessed" respectively).

Having already referred to Beatrice as his salvation, this idea is further touched upon in Divine Comedy, where she appears as a guide through Heaven. Here she is described as being "maternal, radiant and comforting".

Although they converse in personal terms, this is no more than the imagination of Dante. Since their relationship had no contact, the Beatrice of his works was shaped entirely by his own mind. He once called her "La gloriosa donna della mia mente", which means "the glorious lady of my mind".

Evidently from Wikipedia

Primavera

2009-08-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

By Sandro Botticelli

Various interpretations of the scene exist. For instance, the Primavera was also read as a political image: Love (Amor) would be Rome (a palindrome for "Roma", then Italian and Latin name of the city)

Venus is standing in the center of the picture, set slightly back from the other figures. Above her, Cupid is aiming one of his arrows of love at the Charites (Three Graces), who are elegantly dancing a rondel. The Grace on the right side has the face of Caterina Sforza, also painted by Botticelli in a famous portrait in the Lindenau Museum as Catherine of Alexandria. The garden of Venus, the goddess of love, is guarded on the left by Mercury, who stretches out his hand to touch the fruit. Mercury, who is lightly clad in a red cloak covered with flames, is wearing a helmet and carrying a sword, clearly characterizing him as the guardian of the garden. The messenger of the gods is also identified by means of his winged shoes and the caduceus staff which he used to drive two snakes apart and make peace; Botticelli has depicted the snakes as winged dragons. From the right, Zephyrus, the god of the winds, is forcefully pushing his way in, in pursuit of the nymph Chloris. Next to her walks Flora, the goddess of spring, who is scattering flowers.

One source for this scene is Ovid's Fasti, a poetic calendar describing Roman festivals. For the month of May, Flora tells how she was once the nymph Chloris, and breathes out flowers as she does so. Aroused to a fiery passion by her beauty, Zephyr, the god of the wind, follows her and forcefully takes her as his wife. Regretting his violence, he transforms her into Flora; his gift gives her a beautiful garden in which eternal spring reigns. Botticelli is depicting two separate moments in Ovid's narrative, the erotic pursuit of Chloris by Zephyr and her subsequent transformation into Flora. This is why the clothes of the two women, who also do not appear to notice each other, are being blown in different directions. Flora is standing next to Venus and scattering roses, the flowers of the goddess of love. In his philosophical didactic poem De Rerum Natura the classical writer Lucretius celebrated both goddesses in a single spring scene. As the passage also contains other figures in Botticelli's group, it is probably one of the main sources for the painting: "Spring-time and Venus come,/ And Venus' boy, the winged harbinger, steps on before,/ And hard on Zephyr's foot-prints Mother Flora,/ Sprinkling the ways before them, filleth all/ With colours and with odours excellent."

Kathryn Lindskoog maintains that the Primavera is an illustration of the Garden of Eden from the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. In her reading, the figures, from left to right, are Adam, the three Theological Virtues, Beatrice, Matilda, Eve, and Satan.^[1]

The Annunciation

2009-08-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

By Raphael Sanzio
I love this moment.

Sol Invictus

2009-08-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") was the Roman state-supported sun god created by the emperor Aurelian in 274 and continued, overshadowing other Eastern cults in importance,^[1] until the abolition of paganism under Theodosius I. By far the earliest appearance of an inscription linking the unconquered emperor with the sun is the legend on a bronze phalera dated by its style to the second century, in the Vatican collections: INVENTORI LUCIS SOLI INVICTO AUGUSTO.^[2]

The Romans held a festival on December 25 of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun." December 25 was the date after the winter solstice,^[3] with the first detectable lengthening of daylight hours. There was also a festival on December 19.

Source: Wikipedia

Aureola

2009-08-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin aurea, "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure.

The aureola, when enveloping the whole body, generally appears oval or elliptical in form, but occasionally circular or quatrefoil. When it appears merely as a luminous disk round the head, it is called specifically a halo or nimbus, while the combination of nimbus and aureole is called a glory.

A Mandorla is a Vesica Piscis shaped aureola which surrounds the figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary in traditional Christian art.^[4] It is especially used to frame the figure of Christ in Majesty in early medieval and Romanesque art, as well as Byzantine art of the same periods. The term refers to the almond like shape: "mandorla" means almond nut in Italian. In icons of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the mandorla is used to depict sacred moments which transcend time and space, such as the Resurrection, Transfiguration, and the Dormition of the Theotokos. These mandorla will often be painted in several concentric patterns of color which grow darker as they come close to the center. This is in keeping with the church's use of Apophatic theology, as described by Dionysius the Areopagite and others. As holiness increases, there is no way to depict its brightness, except by darkness. In medieval Christianity, the mandorla generally represents the Ichthys, the wounds of Jesus, and Mary's birth canal which was the path by which Jesus entered the physical world.

The symbol is also used in non-Christian cliness increases, there is no way tontexts. In various religions the almond seed has been associated with divine virgin birth. For instance the virgin nymph Nana miraculously conceived Attis by putting a ripe almond in her bosom.^[5] [1]

In a famous romanesque fresco of Christ in Glory at Sant Climent de Taüll the inscription "Ego Sum Lux Mundi" is incorporated in the Mandorla design.[2]

Christ in majesty in a mandorla, surrounded by emblems of the evangelists: ivory plaques on a wooden coffret, Cologne, first half of the 13th century (Musée de Cluny)

The tympanum at Conques has Christ, with one of those beautiful gestures carved in romanesque sculpture, indicate the angels at his feet bearing candlesticks. Six surrounding stars, resembling blossoming flowers, indicate the known planets including the moon. Here the symbolism implies Christ as the Sun. [3]

In one special case, at Cervon (Nièvre), Christ is seated surrounded by eight stars, resembling blossoming flowers. [4] At Conques the flowers are six-petalled. At Cervon, where the almond motif is repeated in the rim of the mandorla, they are five-petalled, as are almond flowers -the first flowers to appear at the end of winter, even before the leaves of the almond tree. Here one is tempted to seek for reference in the symbolism of the nine branched Chanukkiyah candelabrum. It should be remembered that in the XII century a great school of Judaic thought radiated from Narbonne, coinciding with the origins of the Kabbalah.^[6] Furthermore, at Cervon the eight star/flower only is six petalled: the Root of David, the Morningstar, mentioned at the close of Book of Revelation (22:16) [5] ( In one of the oldest manuscripts of the complete Hebrew Bible, the Leningrad Codex, one finds the Star of David imbedded in an octagon )

In the symbolism of Hildegarde von Bingen the mandorla refers to the Cosmos.

Source: Wikipedia

Light

2009-08-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Greek Gods:
Helios = Sun
Selene = Moon
Eros = Dawn

Eurynome

2009-08-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

In Greek mythology, there were many women with the name Eurynomê (Εὐρυνόμη), with the possible significance "far-wandering" (eury + nomos; compare nomad).

The Oceanid, or daughter of Oceanus. See Oceanids.
Wife of Ophion (may be the same as the following).
Mother of the Charites (may be the same as the following).
Daughter of King Nisus of Megara and mother of Bellerophon by Poseidon according to Hesiod's Catalogue 7 and Hyginus 157.
Mother of Leucothea whom Helios loved, whose father was the Persian Orchamus, as given by Ovid in Metamorphoses 4.208ff.
Wife of Lycurgus of Arcadia and mother of Amphidamas, Epochus, Ancaeus, and Iasus; from Apollodorus 3.9.2.
Daughter of Iphitus and mother of Adrastus of Argos by Talaus, as given by Hyginus 70.
Waiting woman of Penelope in the Odyssey

Source: Wikipedia

Tiresias

2009-08-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

In Greek mythology, Tiresias (Greek: Τειρεσίας, also transliterated as Teiresias) was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo;^[1] Tiresias participated fully in seven generations at Thebes, beginning as advisor to Cadmus himself.
Tiresias was blinded by Athena after he stumbled onto her bathing naked.^[4] His mother, Chariclo, a nymph of Athena, begged Athena to undo her curse, but the goddess could not; instead, she cleaned his ears,^[3] giving him the ability to understand birdsong, thus the gift of augury.
On Mount Cyllene in the Peloponnese,^[5] as Tiresias came upon a pair of copulating snakes, he hit the pair a smart blow with his stick. Hera was not pleased, and she punished Tiresias by transforming him into a woman. As a woman, Tiresias became a priestess of Hera, married and had children, including Manto, who also possessed the gift of prophecy. According to some versions of the tale, Lady Tiresias was a prostitute of great renown. After seven years as a woman, Tiresias again found mating snakes; depending on the myth, either she made sure to leave the snakes alone this time, or, according to Hyginus, trampled on them. As a result, Tiresias was released from his sentence and permitted to regain his masculinity. (This staff later came in to the possession of the god Hermes, along with its transformative powers, becoming the symbol caduceus)
In a separate episode,^[7] Tiresias was drawn into an argument between Hera and her husband Zeus, on the theme of who has more pleasure in sex: the man, as Hera claimed; or, as Zeus claimed, the woman, as Tiresias had experienced both. Tiresias replied "Of ten parts a man enjoys one only."^[8] Hera instantly struck him blind for his impiety. Zeus could do nothing to stop her, but he did give Tiresias the gift of foresight^[9] and a lifespan of seven lives.

Stripped of its narrative, anecdotal and causal connections, the mythic figure of Tiresias combines several archaic elements: the blind seer; the impious interruption of a natural rite (whether of a bathing goddess or coupling serpents); serpents and staff (Caduceus); a holy man's double gender (shaman); and competition between deities.

Tiresias's background, fully male and then fully female, was important, both for his prophecy and his experiences. Also, prophecy was a gift given only to the priests and priestesses. Therefore, Tiresias offered Zeus and Hera evidence and gained the gift of male and female priestly prophecy. How he obtained his information varied: sometimes, like the oracles, he would receive visions; other times he would listen for the songs of birds, or ask for a description of visions and pictures appearing within the smoke of burnt offerings, and so interpret them.

As a seer, "Tiresias" was "a common title for soothsayers throughout Greek legendary history" (Graves 1960, 105.5). In Greek literature, Tiresias's pronouncements are always gnomic (compact) but never wrong. Often when his name is attached to a mythic prophecy, it is introduced simply to supply a personality to the generic example of a seer, not by any inherent connection of Tiresias with the myth: thus it is Tiresias who tells Amphytrion of Zeus and Alcmena and warns the mother of Narcissus that the boy will thrive as long as he never knows himself. This is his emblematic role in tragedy (see below). Like most oracles, he is generally extremely reluctant to offer the whole of what he sees in his visions.

In Hellenistic and Roman times Tiresias' sex-change was embroidered upon and expanded into seven episodes, with appropriate amours in each, probably written by the Alexandrian Ptolemaeus Chennus, but attributed by Eustathius to Sostratus.^[10] Tiresias is presented as a complexly liminal figure, with a foot in each of many oppositions, mediating between the gods and mankind, male and female, blind and seeing, present and future, and this world and the Underworld.^[11]

Source: Wikipedia

Rome

2009-08-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Im in Rome.
I hope that helps justify not using the apostrophe. I cant find it.

I,m (haha, longitude) made up of little white lies.
White butterflies that cover my body
Like background paper

Rome?
The name is lovelier than it sounds...
Although that,s probably because I,m with my family,
My family is like a very small, very drunk elevator.

funny!

2009-08-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

So there's a page I ripped out of my dictionary on my wall with diagrams of poisonous plants. The light from my lamp is pointing directly at this poster. Punchline: the straggling male mosquitoes and moths and aphids are all buzzing and scampering around this poster.
lol!
Oh those summer nights...

2009-08-19T13:41:00.001-07:00

i'mgoingtoparisandIfeelsobeautiful

Belle Époque

2009-08-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

Fin de siècle
Belle Époque

More notes to self.
I love love.
I love perfection.

This is a nice time, end of 19th century France.
I wonder what it would be like
to be the zeitgeist that rules each decade
To be able to change clothes from an endless closet, a perfect revolving mirror,
to watch the drapes of my coat scatter on cities,
drag through streets and sands
mark the doors with an "x"
of my wand
To not imagine, but be imagined

Apotemnophilia

2009-08-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Apotemnophilia is the erotic interest in being or looking like an amputee.[1][2] It should not be confused with acrotomophilia, which is the erotic interest in people who are amputees.[3] When experienced very strongly, some people with apotemnophilia come to feel discontented with their bodies and want to actually remove an otherwise healthy limb, a condition called Body Integrity Identity Disorder. Some apotemnophiles seek surgeons to perform an amputation or purposefully injure a limb in order to force emergency medical amputation.

Source: Wikipedia

somniferous virtue of the poppy

2009-08-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

I hear that in the graduating class of Jean-Paul Satre, his writing came in second to Simone de Beauvoir... this is the only fact that attracted me to her.

Simone de Beauvoir's introduction to The Second Sex

FOR a long time I have hesitated to write a book on woman. The subject is irritating, especially to women; and it is not new. Enough ink has been spilled in quarrelling over feminism, and perhaps we should say no more about it. It is still talked about, however, for the voluminous nonsense uttered during the last century seems to have done little to illuminate the problem. After all, is there a problem? And if so, what is it? Are there women, really? Most assuredly the theory of the eternal feminine still has its adherents who will whisper in your ear: ‘Even in Russia women still are women’; and other erudite persons – sometimes the very same – say with a sigh: ‘Woman is losing her way, woman is lost.’ One wonders if women still exist, if they will always exist, whether or not it is desirable that they should, what place they occupy in this world, what their place should be. ‘What has become of women?’ was asked recently in an ephemeral magazine.
But first we must ask: what is a woman? ‘Tota mulier in utero’, says one, ‘woman is a womb’. But in speaking of certain women, connoisseurs declare that they are not women, although they are equipped with a uterus like the rest. All agree in recognising the fact that females exist in the human species; today as always they make up about one half of humanity. And yet we are told that femininity is in danger; we are exhorted to be women, remain women, become women. It would appear, then, that every female human being is not necessarily a woman; to be so considered she must share in that mysterious and threatened reality known as femininity. Is this attribute something secreted by the ovaries? Or is it a Platonic essence, a product of the philosophic imagination? Is a rustling petticoat enough to bring it down to earth? Although some women try zealously to incarnate this essence, it is hardly patentable. It is frequently described in vague and dazzling terms that seem to have been borrowed from the vocabulary of the seers, and indeed in the times of St Thomas it was considered an essence as certainly defined as the somniferous virtue of the poppy.

I don't agree. She is very smart, but I don't agree.

I think existentialism is the very opposite of feminism.

Because there is no fighting, there is no race.

Men say women are irrational with their inchoate dreams

Men want to live forever

Women want it the other way around...

Everything is trailing... in that way, it is forever.

Renaissance man

2009-08-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath

I haven't even read this article yet. It's just a note to self.

*Will summarize at a later date

2009-08-19T10:10:00.001-07:00

“every intelligent family has an insane member". - Erica Jong

Lockets

2009-08-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Lockets are usually given to loved ones on holidays such as Valentine's Day and occasions such as Christenings, weddings and, most noticeably during the Victorian Age, funerals. Lockets are generally worn on chains around the neck and often hold a photo of the person who gave the locket, or they could form part of a charm bracelet.
Another kind of locket is/was made in a filigree style with a small cushion in the centre to which a few drops of perfume should be added, perfume lockets were popular in eras when personal hygiene was restricted and sweet smelling perfume was used to mask the odour of a person or their companions.

(I don't have a picture but I got one today <3)

Oleander

2009-08-17T18:32:00.001-07:00

Oleander (Nerium oleander, (pronounced /ˈniːriəm ˈoʊliː.ændər/) is one of the most poisonous plants known. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Nerium. Other names include Adelfa, Alheli Extranjero, Baladre, Espirradeira, Flor de São Jose, Laurel de jardín, Laurel rosa, Laurier rose, Flourier rose, Olean, Aiwa, Rosa Francesca, Rosa Laurel, and Rose-bay (Inchem 2005), закум [zakum] (Bulgarian), leander (Hungarian), leandru (Romanian), zakum, zakkum, zakhum (Turkish), zaqqum (Arabic); harduf (Hebrew: הרדוף); Kaneru (Sinhalese);arali (Tamil and Malayalam - South Indian languages); kanagillu (Kannada - South Indian language); kaner (in Hindi, and, also, in Punjabi-the language from North Indian state of Punjab); and in Chinese it is known as jia zhu tao (Chinese: 夹竹桃). The ancient city of Volubilis in Morocco took its name from the old Latin name for the flower.

There are innumerable reported suicidal cases of consuming mashed oleander seeds in southern India.

I want to plant one of these. I love poisonous plants! Poison is the most beautiful beautiful

"It completely overwhelms the health service. Often young people use it as a way of getting back at people. They get scolded and they take a yellow oleander seed.

"I remember one girl said her mother wanted her to get up and do the shopping. She said no, her mother scolded her and she took a Yellow Oleander seed.

"I remember a Muslim girl - her mother said she couldn't watch TV during Ramadan, so she took a seed in front of her mother.

"We had no ambulance to get her in time and we had no good treatments. She died."

It's not just young people. In a remote hospital in Pollonaruwa, where Michael Eddleston has done much of his research, I met an old man, a strict Buddhist, recovering from a suicide attempt.

He had fallen out with his wife, over his habit of feeding the neighbourhood dogs. You care more about those dogs than me, said the wife.

The man, feeling that his Buddhist principles were under attack, walked out and swallowed a seed from a tree in his garden.

Luckily, relatives discovered him and got him to Pollonaruwa in time.

Many of these protest suicide attempts are only semi-serious but up to 10% of them are fatal anyway - a much higher percentage than in the west, where we have good anti-poisoning drugs and facilities.

Michael Eddleston wanted to do something about that.

The poison from Yellow Oleander is similar to a drug used in the West to treat heart beat irregularities, digoxin. Digoxin slows down the heart beat.

Dramatic effect

An oleander seed is like 100 digoxin tablets in one container, and the effect on the heart is dramatic: it gets slower and slower, and then stops.

Source: Wikipedia and BBC

Value

2009-08-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

I'm looking up noteable sales from the two major Auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's. ...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christie%27s

Fasctinating, isn't it?
Value...
The value of things that we fight for, love, argue...
The price of an argument
How loud you are willing to raise your voice for their consent
How much virtue you'rewilling to give up
Fascinating...

("..." I realize my writing has become very humble. I used to yell from a tower. Stark, clear, punctuation. Now I ask questions in every direction. What to do, what to do : \ )

Garçon à la Pipe

2009-08-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

painting by Pablo Picasso. It was painted in 1905 when Pablo Picasso was 24 years old, during his Rose Period, soon after he settled in the Montmartre section of Paris, France.
On May 5, 2004 the painting was sold for US$104,168,000 at Sotheby's auction in New York City. Sotheby’s did not say who bought the painting.[6] At the time, it broke the record for the amount paid for an auctioned painting

Motto: story of my life

2009-08-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

Things I stole from work today:
2 large packs of post-its
2 small packs of post-its
a wooden giraffe

From an antiques store:
A locket with a baby face inside

From yesterday:
Heart-shaped sunglasses

*Searches up kleptomaniac on wiki*

Field music

2009-08-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

English Translation of itsumo nando (Always be with me) from the end credits of Spirited Away

I mean, I knew the song was nice, but the lyrics are wonderful. I think the translation can be better though. I wonder what "the body changes to zero (zeroni narukaradaga )" actually means in Japanese...

I wonder if that field I see when I hear the song is real, like, if it's a real place in Japan.

it's calling out from deep within the heart I always want to dream cheerful dreams
sadness can never be counted but I will be able to see you on the other side
every time people repeat mistakes, they know the blue of the simply blue sky it seems as if the road continues endlessly but these hands can find light
the quiet heart when parting the ear listens as the body changes to zero
living, mysterious, dying, mysterious the flower, the wind, the city; they're the same
it's calling out from deep within the heart let's draw out dreams always, numerous times
instead of stating the number of sadness sing softly with the same lips
even in the closing memories, there are always whispers that cannot be forgotten even on the shattered mirror shards, a new scenery is reflected
the quiet window on the beginning morning the body that is changing to zero is being pleased
I won't search beyond the sea from now the shining thing is always here, it can be found within myself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b50tThvbyA

Flapper

2009-08-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Flappers had their own slang, with terms like "snugglepup" (a man who frequents petting parties) and "barney-mugging" (sex). Their dialect reflected their promiscuity and drinking habits; "I have to go see a man about a dog" often meant going to buy whiskey, and a "handcuff" or "manacle" was an engagement or wedding ring. Also reflective of their preoccupations, they had many ways to express approval, such as "That's so Jake" or "That's the bee's knees," or a more popular one, "the cat's pajamas."

Many terms still in use in modern American English slang originated as flapper slang, such as "big cheese," meaning an important person; "to bump off," meaning to murder; and "baloney," meaning nonsense. Other terms have become definitive of the Prohibition era, such as "speakeasy," meaning a place to purchase illegal alcohol and "hooch," which means liquor.

Called garçonne in French ("boy" with a feminine suffix), flapper style made them look young and boyish.

Then I found out there were MORE

Modern Girls (モダンガール, modan gaaru) were a group of Japanese women who followed Westernized fashion and lifestyle in the 1920s. These rebellious moga were the Japanese equivalent of America's flappers, India's vamps, Germany's neue Frauen, France's garçonnes, or China's modeng xiaojie. Modern Girls often lived in the cities, were financially and emotionally independent, chose their own suitors, and were apathetic towards politics.

Lolita

2009-08-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

FINALLY got these sunglasses. Although they are too big. I want the ones EXACTLY as in this poster. Because sex is the best as a 12 year old.

My goodness, I'm going to regret saying that.

Paris

2009-08-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

I'm researching Paris in preparation of my trip. In the 1860's Napoleon III hired Houssmann to renovate Paris. And that he did, my friends. He made the streets alot cleaner and anarchist-free (widening roads, etc) and he also sent all the impoverished packing to the countryside by replacing the slums with bourgeoisie housing. From wiki:
Because of Haussmannisation, that is the creative destruction of something for the betterment of society, the 1860s was a time of intense revolt in Paris. Many Parisians were troubled by the destruction of "old roots". Historian Robert Herbert says that "the impressionist movement depicted this loss of connection in such paintings as Manet's Bar at Folies." The subject of the painting is talking to a man, seen in the mirror behind her, but seems unengaged. According to Herbert, this is a symptom of living in Paris at this time: the citizens became detached from one another. "The continuous destruction of physical Paris led to a destruction of social Paris as well."

Lovely.

2009-08-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Today I stopped breathing.

ideas! ideas! ideas!

2009-08-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

1. brown-bag (lunch) purse
2. twisty straw glasses
3. Newspaper hat
4. Boat hat
5. Money bow-tie
6. Newspaper-rimmed glasses
7. basket bag with cellophane flowers

and the crowd goes wild!

Catherine Deneuve

2009-08-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

Someone's rough translation. (Charming)

Only one holiday does not cause irritation at me - this day of sacred Catherine . Sacred Catherine - patroness not of married women. This is a holiday of main. I always considered, what name " Madam " - this how superfluous wrinkle. You will be older on 10 years. I am remember, not any man was not able to change my opinion. I once made nonsense and was married, but this marriage lasted not long, seems 2 month I am sing badly, but in ''Cherbourg umbrellas'' I sung with great relish, because I was happy. My son it was 3 month, when the shootings was began. All was there happens easy, how to be only singly in life. Therefore I am remember all dialogues so far by heart. If I now again need to play, rehearsal me was are not necessary Sometimes me seemingly, what love it is only pain. I sometimes checked himself in order not to fall in love. There needs to be very cautious. But this is not mean, that I am cold and done not test strong feelings. I will look with cold because I am a blonde and at me not very mobile mimicry. I am a person of passions. Holiday for me - this is began loves, firsts of chapter of history. After a numbers of years I learnt to feel approach of ending and leave firstNow all who liked me died, they left, but it is a light sadness. From my heart they are left earlier. I like to recall, but I do not live late. This don't wash style. My children today give me pleasureJournalists speak, that I always was himself beautiful actress of France. Is it difficult to be beautiful? Why was? I and now try to keep then, what was given to me by nature. I did not ever go on victims for the sake of beauty. For example, I yesterday went in ''Big theatre'', and afterwards drank vodka at the restaurant. I do not refuse in little pleasures. I am smoke, I like sweets and ignore I what such diet.Who said, what I am happy. This not truth. I was happy 40 years back. I now simply like life. Happiness- this is privilege of youth.

People only die of love in the movies

...and all the wonderful lines she delivered on nip/tuck and such and such undiscovered things.

I think I want to be her. (And I quote, I leuve Deneuve)

Yes, I need cookie-cutters.

I enjoy being put on the spot like this. Like the world is one thing; a lollypop tied to my forehead that I can follow around. I don't care if I'll be done with it soon.

I have not smiled in a long time, not purposefully...

Smiling makes me feel a million miles younger.

I want to age... I want to be ancient.

I want my skin to feel detached to my body...

I also want nude nail polish, so that they look like the rest of my hands...

Like a mannequin.

I would also like grey hair please!

I would like to practice italicizing just one letter for awhile

I think each letter deserves that special attention... a birthday, if you will.

Latin phrases:

2009-08-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

a caelo usque ad centrum = from the sky to the center
Or "from heaven all the way to the center of the earth". In law, can refer to the obsolete cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos maxim of property ownership ("for whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to the sky and down to the depths").

ab imo pectore
from the bottom of my heart

Accipe Hoc
Take this
Motto of 848 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy. (hahhahahahahaha)

ad astra per alia porci
to the stars on the wings of a pig
A favorite saying of John Steinbeck. A professor told him that he would be an author when pigs flew. Every book he wrote is printed with this insignia. (Although vengence doesn't really interest me...)

ad fundum
to the bottom
Said during a generic toast, equivalent to "bottoms up!" In other contexts, generally means "back to the basics".

Virgil's Eclogues X.69, Omnia vincit amor et nos cedamus amori ("Love conquers all; let us all yield to love!").

Walk

2009-08-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

We should walk with hands on hips, arms bent slightly forward. Very stiff. I think it will be wonderfully prominent and confident. Walking and talking with an exclamation point!

Space

2009-08-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

Clouds and ballet : )spS

2009-08-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

I just want a red poppy flower to pin around.
Flowers... are a good idea.
*cures boredom*
ta-tang!

New York

2009-08-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night, and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. I liked to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I was going to enter into their lives, and no one would ever know or disapprove. Sometimes, in my mind, I followed them to their apartments on the corners of hidden streets, and they turned and smiled back at me before they faded through a door into warm darkness. At the enchanted metropolitan twilight I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others - poor young clerks who loitered in front of windows waiting until it was time for a solitary restaurant dinner - young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Loneliness

2009-08-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

Shakespeare first coined the word "lonely" in Coriolanus, Act IV Scene 1.

The Alphabet according to Angela

2009-08-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

A is for Abracadabra
B is for birthday
C is for cake (as in, "let them eat cake")
D is for dinner
E is for existentialism
F is for fun
G is for gigantic
H is for human
I is for interesting
J is for Jupiter
K is for kill
L is for love
M is for man
N is for New!
O is for honesty
P is for pee
Q is for quack
R is for reverse
S is for sonnet
T is for tornado
U is for umbrella
V is for very
W is for wonderful
X is for kisses
Z is for Zap!
@ is for attention
! is for shark!

Vogue

2009-08-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

They really shouldn't allow a veil like this. All the men should rise in a body and make it a law for any woman to be so attractive. It's just a frill of black lace, but it has been attached to the inside fo the hat, just where the crown rests on the head. It really should be stopped - men have a hard enough time in this world as it is.

- Makers of Mystery, Vogue, early December 1917

Yvette Chauviré performs The Dying Swan

2009-08-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrKoTiMoOMY&feature=channel

Sleeper Effect

2009-08-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

The sleeper effect is a psychological phenomenon whereby a highly persuasive message, paired with a discounting cue, causes an individual to be more persuaded by the message (rather than less persuaded) over time.

Figure A: Normal DecayFigure B: Sleeper Effect
When people are normally exposed to a highly persuasive message (such as an engaging or persuasive television ad), their attitudes toward the advocacy of the message display a significant increase. Over time, however, their newly formed attitudes seem to gravitate back toward the position held prior to receiving the message, almost as if they were never exposed to the communication in the first place. This pattern of normal decay in attitudes has been documented as the most frequently observed longitudinal pattern in persuasion research (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). In contrast, some messages are often accompanied with a discounting cue (e.g., a message disclaimer, a low-credibility source) that would arouse a recipient’s suspicion of the validity of the message and suppress any attitude change that might occur with exposure to the message alone. Furthermore, when people are exposed to a persuasive message followed by a discounting cue, people tend to be more persuaded over time; this is referred to as the sleeper effect (Hovland & Weiss, 1951; Cook & Flay, 1978). For example, in political campaigns during important elections, undecided voters often see negative advertisements about a party or candidate running for office. At the end of the advertisement, they also might notice that the opposing candidate paid for the advertisement. Presumably, this would make voters question the truthfulness of the advertisement, and consequently, they may not be initially persuaded. However, even though the source of the advertisement lacked credibility, voters will be more likely to be persuaded later (and ultimately, vote against the candidate in the advertisement). This pattern of attitude change has puzzled social psychologists for nearly half a century, primarily due to its counter-intuitive nature and for its potential to aid in understanding attitude processes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). In addition, it has been the most widely studied phenomenon in persuasion research (Kumkale & Albarracín, 2004; see also Cook & Flay, 1978).

Source: Wikipedia

Cryptomnesia

2009-08-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Cryptomnesia, or inadvertent plagiarism, is a memory bias whereby a person falsely recalls generating a thought, an idea, a song, or a joke, when the thought was actually generated by someone else. In these cases, the person is not deliberately engaging in plagiarism, but is rather experiencing a memory as if it were a new inspiration.
"One of the most disheartening experiences of old age is discovering that a point you just made—so significant, so beautifully expressed—was made by you in something you published long ago."
- B.F. Skinner

Source: Wikipedia

Holography

2009-08-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

Holography (from the Greek, holos whole + graphe writing) is the science of producing holograms, an advanced form of photography that allows an image to be recorded in three dimensions.

Holography was invented in 1947 by Hungarian physicist Dennis Gabor (1900-1979), for which he received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1971. The discovery was a chance result of research into improving electron microscopes at the British Thomson-Houston Company, but the field did not really advance until the invention of the laser in 1960.

The difference between holography and photography is best understood by considering what a photograph actually is: it is a point-to-point recording of the intensity of light rays that make up an image. Each point on the photograph records just one thing, the intensity (i.e. the square of the amplitude of the electric field) of the light wave that illuminates that particular point. In the case of a colour photograph, slightly more information is recorded (in effect the image is recorded three times viewed through three different colour filters), which allows a limited reconstruction of the wavelength of the light, and thus its colour.

However, the light which makes up a real scene is not only specified by its amplitude and wavelength, but also by its phase. In a photograph, the phase of the light from the original scene is lost. In a hologram, both the amplitude and the phase of the light (usually at one particular wavelength) are recorded. When reconstructed, the resulting light field is identical to that which emanated from the original scene, giving a perfect three-dimensional image (albeit, in most cases, a monochromatic one, though colour holograms are possible).

To produce a recording of the phase of the light wave at each point in an image, holography uses a reference beam which is combined with the light from the scene or object (the object beam). Optical interference between the reference beam and the object beam, due to the superposition of the light waves, produces a series of intensity fringes that can be recorded on standard photographic film. These fringes form a type of diffraction grating on the film.

Once the film is processed, if illuminated once again with the reference beam, diffraction from the fringe pattern on the film reconstructs the original object beam in both intensity and phase. Because both the phase and intensity are reproduced, the image appears three-dimensional; the viewer can move their viewpoint and see the image rotate exactly as the original object would.

Because of the need for interference between the reference and object beams, holography typically uses a laser to produce them. The light from the laser is split into two beams, one forming the reference beam, and one illuminating the object to form the object beam. A laser is used because the coherence of the beams allows interference to take place, although early holograms were made before the invention of the laser, and used other (much less convenient) coherent light sources such as mercury-arc lamps.

Source: Wikipedia (xoxo)

Viktor & Rolf's new Eau Mega fragrance

2009-08-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

(omega, get it?)
The campaign image, Raquel Zimmerman shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, is based on an old 80's ad that the duo found online of a woman standing over a city and owning it, but not in that power-80's way.

The spritzer is activated by squeezing the big V&R golden seal—or "megamizer," designed by Fabien Baron—while the nozzle is just for show. Apparently that technology took two years to develop.
From Hintmag : )

I vant it dahling *vamp teeth*
And yes, maybe just because of the name.
Always, always, always, judge a book by its cover. Those are the wisest words a woman can say.
We are all so contained. So much more than we know.

Mandrakes

2009-08-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

I was reading about Solanium, or nighshades, which intrigued me by their list of participants: Datura (Jimson weed), mandrake, deadly nightshade (belladonna), capsicum (paprika, chili pepper), potato, tobacco, tomato, eggplant and petunia.

Their name comes from Man-dragon.

According to the legend, when the root is dug up it screams and kills all who hear it. Literature includes complex directions for harvesting a mandrake root in relative safety. For example Josephus (c. 37 AD Jerusalem – c. 100) gives the following directions for pulling it up:

A furrow must be dug around the root until its lower part is exposed, then a dog is tied to it, after which the person tying the dog must get away. The dog then endeavours to follow him, and so easily pulls up the root, but dies suddenly instead of his master. After this the root can be handled without fear.

"...Not poppy, nor mandragora,

Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,

Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep

Which thou owedst yesterday."

Shakespeare: Othello III.iii

Salman Rushdie's novel The Enchantress of Florence reads "[...] mythical plant the locals called ayïq otï, otherwise known as the mandrake root. The mandrake – or “man-drag-on” [...] screamed when you pulled them up into the air just as human beings would scream if you buried them alive." Then the novel tells a story of boys trying to grow mandrake using hanged archbishop's semen. The mandrake has very powerful healing powers and is exclusively used to help cure illnesses.

Instant Karma

2009-07-31T10:09:00.001-07:00

Imma be buyin this lovely album today, proceeds go to help Darfur.

I'm glad they've organized this. It's very convenient.

Thank You!

Catherine Baba

2009-07-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

She is TOO awesome, but I her snobbish style is turning me off. Jeez, I hope I'm wrong about it and she's a lovely, humble, down-to-earth person.
Probably not.
Poo.

Hepburn and Givenchy

2009-07-27T17:56:00.001-07:00

Jesus, speaking of icons
My favourite dress from Sabrina. Although the white number is amazing too.
mmmmmm bows! Shoulders!

2009-07-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

GACK ASPHYXIATION
This dress is TOO beautiful
I just had to share it
I still haven't even found out who made it.
OH GOD
THAT NECKLINE

So today I went to la bookstore (yay) and got:
My story - Marilyn Monroe
Carl Sagan - Cosmos
Maryln Monroe LIFE Magazine
10 Magazine (YES!YES!YES!)
10 magazine is TOO good to be true.
Why. is. life. awesome.

Watching all these Chanel commercials I realize I should rewatch Gilda. I never appreciated all its rouge the first time I watched it.
I was young. I was innocent. I was cynical.
*Goes puts on red nail polish*

On an angry note, let's take turn a critical eye on the phrase "Cannot be expressed in words";
Well, what do you think words are for? Those 5 words are the reason why there is less poetry in the world. Honestly, laws are turned at all the wrong things.

P.S. Someone please help me find out who made that gress. gross, I mean dress.

Janjaweed

2009-07-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

Much of the violence in Sudan, which has created over 1 million refugees, has been attributed to militias known as the Janjaweed.

Who are the Janjaweed?
The word, an Arabic colloquialism, means "a man with a gun on a horse." Janjaweed militiamen are primarily members of nomadic "Arab" tribes who've long been at odds with Darfur's settled "African" farmers, who are darker-skinned.
Until 2003, the conflicts were mostly over Darfur's scarce water and land resources—desertification has been a serious problem, so grazing areas and wells are at a premium. In fact, the term "Janjaweed" has for years been synonymous with bandit, as these horse- or camel-borne fighters were known to swoop in on non-Arab farms to steal cattle.
The Janjaweed started to become much more aggressive in 2003, after two non-Arab groups, the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, took up arms against the Sudanese government, alleging mistreatment by the Arab regime in Khartoum. In response to the uprising, the Janjaweed militias began pillaging towns and villages inhabited by members of the African tribes from which the rebel armies draw their strength—the Zaghawa, Masalit, and Fur tribes.
Government involvement
In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in June 2004, a field researcher with Human Rights Watch stated that the Sudanese army was openly recruiting horse-owning Arab men, promising them a gun and a monthly salary of $116 in exchange for joining a Janjaweed cohort. The International Crisis Group says that money that gets paid to the Janjaweed "comes directly from booty captured in raids on villages," giving them an additional incentive to act with extreme brutality.
There are numerous reports from international aid workers maintaining that Janjaweed raids are preceded by aerial bombardments by the Sudanese air force, that Janjaweed commanders are living in government garrison towns, and that Janjaweed militiamen wear combat fatigues identical to those of the regular army. Those who've interviewed refugees from Darfur also allege that Janjaweed commanders are using racism as a rallying point, encouraging their charges to rape the dark-skinned villagers they encounter during their raids.
The Sudanese government has strongly denied offering any support to the Janjaweed.

The Sudanese government has been accused of tampering with evidence, such as attempting to cover up graves. The Sudanese government has also arrested and harassed journalists, thus limiting the extent of press coverage of the situation in Darfur.

While the United States government has described the conflict as genocide, the UN has not recognized the conflict as such. On 31 January 2005, the UN released a 176-page report saying that while there were mass murders and rapes of Darfurian civilians, they could not label the atrocities as "genocide" because "genocidal intent appears to be missing".

Brendan I. Koerner on Slate and Wikipedia

Darfur

2009-07-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

Everyone has the potential to be perfectly happy.
Or they should.
Save the world.
http://tavi-thenewgirlintown.blogspot.com/2009/07/hey-hi-look.html#links

I'm just posting these on twitter right now.
I should do more ... : \