menala petala kepala
A Three-Bedroom Apartment in Mumbai: Stunningly beautiful and simple. And I admire those photographs behind her set, that streak of saffron against that grey wall.
mgt
The empire - when animated - frankly, becomes cute. (via)
I hate playing tag. But this makes it look fun. (via)
Op-Ed Columnist - Triumph of a Dreamer - NYTimes.com
Any time anyone tells you that a dream is impossible, any time you’re discouraged by impossible challenges, just mutter this mantra: Tererai Trent.
Love & Architecture: Aline and Eero Saarinen
A relationship based on mutual admiration, love of aesthetics and the ideals of modernism.
“Greatly in need of comfort and support, I said to Elder Corelli, “I don’t suppose you’d let me hug you?”
He shook his head. “You know I can’t, Sister Welker.”
I stared at my hands, tangled in my lap. “Can I hold onto your shirt sleeve, then?”
He nodded, so I grasped the edge of his sleeve between my thumb and forefinger and held it, trying to pretend it was a form of human contact that offered any solace.
In any event, it was all I had.
”
Excerpt from Holly Welker’s Modern Love - A Mormon Missionary in Taiwan
Just got back from the Anthropology Department’s talk by Roxana Waterson loosely based on her book Paths and Rivers : Sa’dan Toraja Society in Transformation. Very worthwhile albeit short talk, and afterwards she was gracious enough to answer our burning questions. Memorable points:
Ambivalence, on the difference between the roles of women and men - being equal / same but different, OR, of being different but basically the same. And I thought ambivalence usually meant a love / hate relationship. Conceptually significant.
Cross-dressing priests, the idea of which when one is in touch with both the feminine and masculine within oneself, the interaction with the deities will be more significant since the deities themselves are believed to be hermaphrodites. Also of the priest who went to the haj pilgrimiage twice, once as a man and once as a woman.
Toraja roof eaves, that of the extended roof ridge curving upwards. This pattern is repeated throughout the Austronesian region, and was built using various techniques. This meant the overall aesthetics was symbolically significant, and was not derived from a constructional constraint (say, like the Chinese bracket system). Also, I love that her blurred hands in the photo above seems to trace the shape of the roof eaves.
