Conscience
“Obsessions…
…make my life worse and my work better” - Stefan Sagmeister
Living in a box: heartbreaking images of Hong Kong’s poor…
Via mymodernmet Many people who live in New York City might believe that they have a ’small’ apartment. But, after seeing this photo series of cramped apartments, you might reconsider. And that’s exactly what the human rights organization Society for Community Organization (SoCo) was going for when they commissioned the project. In the middle of 2012, Hong Kong was ranked as one of the world’s most livable cities. But, the issue with these types of glamorous rankings is that, often times, a city’s major problems are pushed aside. In an effort to raise awareness about the inadequate housing concerns in Hong Kong, and about the percentage of people who survive in extremely tiny living quarters, SoCo developed this photo campaign that features an aerial view of incredibly crowded apartments. Often no bigger than a large cubicle, the apartments average about 40 square feet and are the result of dividing already small spaces into smaller, partitioned rentals. Each wide-angle photograph, shot from overhead, highlights individuals and families, along with their belongings, surviving in these very crammed and extreme conditions.
Poema Invertido - Clarice Lispector
(Original in Portuguese)“Não te amo mais.
Estarei mentindo dizendo que
Ainda te quero como sempre quis. 
Tenho certeza que
Nada foi em vão.
Sinto dentro de mim que
Você não significa nada.
Não poderia dizer jamais que
Alimento um grande amor.
Sinto cada vez mais que
Já te esqueci!
E jamais usarei a frase
EU TE AMO!
Sinto, mas tenho que dizer a verdade
É tarde demais…”
TRANSLATION:
Read the poem from top to bottom, and then read it again line by line from bottom to top for a different interpretation.
Inverted Poem - Clarice Lispector
I don’t love you anymore.
I would be lying if I said that
I still want you like I always wanted. 
I am certain that
Nothing was in vain.
I feel inside of me that
You mean nothing.
I couldn’t ever say that
I had a great love.
I feel more and more that
I have already forgotten you!
And I never used the phrase
I LOVE YOU!
I feel, I have to tell the truth
It’s too late…
Houses of sand
“Somewhere along the line as a society,We confused the notion of home —
With the possibility of an investment opportunity.
What kind of creature wants to live in an investment opportunity?
Only man — The fox has his den. The bee has his hive.
The stoat has his, erm, ‘stoat hole’.
But only man ladies and gentleman, (the worse animal of all) —
Chooses to make his nest in an investment opportunity.
‘Mmm, snuggle down in the lovely credit.
All warm in the mortgage repayment.’
But home is not the same as an investment opportunity.
Home is a basic requirement of life, (like food) . . .
British houses are full of sculptures of nothing.
Sculptures of nothing, in houses of sand.
Artfully back-light by designer lamps,
Against neutral beige backgrounds.
(Cause that’s what estate agents told us would sell the house) . . .
Sculptures of nothing, in houses of sand.
Standing nowhere, with nothing to say.”
Good Cop / Bad Cop
Since 2008, favelas around the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil have slowly been taken over by the UPP (Police Pacifying Unit) in a bid to expel the control of drug traffickers in these neighbourhoods and therefore reduce crime and increase residents’ well-being. This system has been both praised and criticised alike, but how do the innocents who live there feel about this takeover of their turf?Gathering first-hand feedback from members of these communities, Sarah O’Sullivan (journalist and lover of Rio) gives the voices of the unheard a microphone as she follows police attempts to clear gangs from Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. Listen to her radio documentary, unveiling the feelings of those directly affected by these changes, here: THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN SILENCE
Read about how Sarah’s love story with Rio began and her personal views on UPP ‘triumph’ below:
Fernando Schmidt showing how pacified communities are, and how they could be
Love at first sight
My connection with Rio started nine years ago, when I spent Carnaval, sharing a tiny flat in Copacabana with around ten girls from Ireland, England, Australia, and Israel. My plan had been to spend Carnaval in Trinidad, and was on my way north to look for a boat when an Irish friend Laoise successfully harassed me into coming to Rio. A huge city, Rio was not on my itinerary for my trip around south America, preferring to keep it local kinda styling. Best laid plans and all that - coming to Rio changed my life. I instantly fell in love with the beat, the smiles, the energy, the messiness, that was and is Rio de Janeiro. I knew I wanted to spend some part of my life living in this city that made me feel so very alive and excited by life.
Anyway, life passed a few years, and I suddenly noticed how bored I was in my Dublin life, so decided to take the plunge and move to Rio, with my young daughter (she was two at the time). It was a spontaneous decision, and immediately seemed daft when I arrived to a wet and rainy city, not knowing a soul, and not speaking the language (turns out my fluency had been greatly whetted by Cachaca the first time round). Stubborn to the core, I didn’t admit my mistake, and stayed for the long haul.
Conscience: Proust by Alain De Botton
It is not the contented or the glowing who have left many of the profound testimonies of what it means to be alive. It seems that such knowledge has usually been the priviledged preserve of, and the only blessing granted to, the violently miserable.
Nevertheless, before subscribing uncritically the Romantic cult of suffering, it should be added that suffering has, on its own, has never been quite enough. It is unfortunately easier to lose a love than to complete In Search Of Lost Time, to experience unrequited desire than to write De L’Amour, to be socially unpopular than the author of The Birth Of Tragedy. Many unhappy syphilitics fail to write their Fleur Du Mal and shoot themselves instead. Perhaps the greatest claim one can therefore make for suffering is that it opens up the possibilities for intelligent, imaginative enquiry - possibilies that may quite be, and often are, overlooked or refused.
How can we do neither? Even if the creation of a masterpeice plays no part in the ambition, how can we learn to suffer more sucessfully? Though philosophers have traditionally been concerned with the pursuit of happiness, far greater wisedom would seem to lie in pursuing ways to be properly and productively unhappy. The stubborn recurence of misery means the development of a workable approach to it must surely outstrip the value of any utopian quest for happiness. Proust, a veteran of grief, knew as much…
“The whole art of living is to make use of the individuals through whom we suffer”
Fyi, syphilitics are people suffering from syphilis - l had to check that one out cos l didnt know. That’s because, as anyone whose been ill (with syphilis or otherwise:-/ ), knows that your brain opens up in a whole new way of thinking when your health is in jeopardy. Just thought l’d clear that up 
There are few things…
… humans are more dedicated to than unhappiness. Had we been placed on the earth by a malign creator for the exclusive purpose of suffering we would have good reason to congratulate ourselves on our enthusiastic response to the task. Reasons to be inconsoliable abound; 
the frailty of our bodies, the fickleness of love, the insincerities of social life, the compromises of friendship, the deadening effects of habit. In the face of such persistant ills one might expect that no event would be awaited with greater anticipation than the moment of our own extinction.
Brazil: A Melting Pot?
These gorgeous shots were taken from a protest outside the entrance of 2012’s Fashion Rio in Gavea (way back in May - please excuse the lazy delay). These beautiful creatures were making a (somewhat stunning yet controversial) scene in an act against the low number of black models used in Rio’s fashion week. Summoned by NGO Educaagro, the org claims that only 10% of the models used in Fashion Rio are black. See more about this project (in portuguese) here: Radialist
The Hours
But what does it mean?
What does it mean to regret
when you have no choice?
It was death.
I chose life.
Apparently…
… it is something to do with the pressure of countless unknown dimensions (beyond the regular three) and string vibrations that make the conditions possible for us to be here.
We are the result of those conditions.
Smart phones, stupid people
A few weeks back and somewhat uncharacteristically, I found myself reading this Guardian interview with George Lamb (actively pursuing ‘celebrity’ gossip isn’t something I make a habit of). When asked for his thoughts on social media, Lamb underlines a shared observation I’ve increasingly encountered many times myself, stating:
“There’s so much noise coming at you from everywhere at the moment. I went on a skiing holiday recently with a bunch of people and they were all pretty bright, the kind of people who would sit round a table and have a conversation and yet at points, everybody in the group was sitting there on their laptops, their iPhones and iPads.”
This is just plain rude really — I’m sorry, but is this social interaction not interesting enough for you?
I actually feel sorry for those who can not pry themselves apart from such devices, unable to divert their full attention to what is in front of them. I can’t find the exact clip online, but comedian Sean Lock vents his frustration at smartphones when used as a means of fact checking a speculative topic amongst friends in the pub — effectively taking all the fun out of said trivial musings and killing the conversation in the process…
Nairn Marnie
“well makers…
…lead the water [wherever they like]; fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood;
wise people fashion themselves.”
words Dhammapada & image Yuko Shimizu
“Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe…
…or we are not.
Both are equally terrifying.”
Authur C. Clarke
Film stills: 2001 Space Odyssey
“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it - then I can achieve it.”
Muhammad Ali
The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life’s Journey
Christopher Hitchens (1949 – 2011)
“The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more.”
Winehouse & Hitchens? Really 2011?? You fucking suck.
(Sasha)
“You say they create their own reality”, said Veronika, “but what is reality?”
“It’s what the majority deems it to be. It’s not necessarily the best or the most logical, but it’s the one that has become adapted to the desires of society as a whole. You see this thing i’ve got round my neck?”
“You mean your tie?”
“Exactly. Your answer is the logical, coherent answer an absolutely normal person would give: it’s a tie! A madman, however, would say that what I have round my neck is a ridiculous, useless bit of coloured cloth tied in a very complicated way, and which makes it harder to get air into your lungs and difficult to turn your neck. I have to be careful when I’m anywhere near a fan, or I could be strangled by this bit of cloth.
“If a mad person were to ask me what this tie is for, I would have to say, absolutely nothing. It’s not even purely decorative, since nowadays it’s become a symbol of slavery, power, aloofness. The only really useful function a tie serves is the sense of relief when you get home and take it off; you feel as if you’ve freed yourself from something, though quite what you don’t know.
“But does that sense of relief justify the existence of ties? No. Nevertheless, if I were to ask a madman and a normal person what this is, the sane person would say: a tie. It doesn’t matter who’s correct, what matters is who’s right.’
“Certain people, in their eagerness to construct a world which no external threat can penetrate, build exaggeratedly high defenses against the outside world, against new people, new places, different experiences, and leave their inner world stripped bare. It is there that Bitterness begins its irrevocable work.
“The will was the main target of Bitterness (or Vitriol, as Dr. Igor preferred to call it). The people attacked by this malaise began to lose all desire, and within a few years, they became unable to leave their world, where they had spent enormous reserves of energy constructing high walls in order to make reality what they wanted it to be.”
Veronika Decides To Die
Paulo Coelho
Essential viewing… press play now!
PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
Ukiyo-e is…
… Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating; … refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we call the floating world…
The word ‘ukiyo’ is literally translated as “floating world” in English, referring to a conception of an evanescent world, impermanent, fleeting beauty and a realm of entertainments (kabuki, courtesans, geisha), divorced from the responsibilities of the mundane, everyday world.
This one’s for you Fifi… love you so much!!!
Live for this…
From someone saying what needs to be said as good as it can ever BE said…… to someone who ain’t sayng a Goddamned thing!! Sorry but I have to ‘lol’ at this… seems Yeezy is still seriously burned from the whole Katrinagate debacle and seems to have had his jaw re-wired shut for this dubious apprerance with Daddy “wait til I get you home” Simmons, (something distinctly familia about this coupling). So, I know we ought to be in awe of the Mouth Of The 21st CenturyTM demonstrating such silent resolve but fruck that. I’ve spent months, YEARS of my life hanging on his words - now is definately not the time to be silenced! Besides, Mr West, all your brain farts are from the heart & that’s why we love you….
FYI, Some YT commentator mentioned that this vid outta be called, “Russell Simmons occupies Wall Street for Kanye West.” 
Just Love it!!
Quietly, quietly my heart
Sways in the lap of the night,
Softly the darkness fades
To faery light.
The jasmine and the rose
Breathe glory in the dusk,
Entwining in their wine
Dewy Musk
And heavy lies the dew,
And all the fragrant flowers
Embalm the sleepy land
In their showers.
Come back, O wand’ring bird,
Come back to the empty nest,
To the couch that ever waits –
To my breast.
O night, with your cold white stars,
And your silence and your wind,
Can ye not bring her back,
So unkind?
Ext: “The Saffron Wings of Dusk” by N.P. Graham
I remember a book that my friend Claire mentioned she didn’t like. It was that Mexican one with the weird name - a number for a name. It’s really thick, the size of about three novels together. I remember her saying that she didn’t like it – not in a, “its’ shit”, kind of way but of all the stories that were told, she said none of them had resolutions and it gave her a really bad feeling. She read the whole thing but said wish she hadn’t.
I’ll never forget her saying that.
English Rose
& a few weeks ago we lose the most talented.
I mean seriously - what the fuck is going on??
Ten years ago today…
…Babygirl passed away and we lost, without doubt THE classiest female artist of a generation.
Miss you always xxxxx
I’m the first to champion the versatility and depth of the English Language, but emotive language is always where we seem fall flat…
Love this…
Honourable mention; Saudades Brazilian Portuguese which means somthing more than missing, but more like a deep and enduring yearning for someone/thing.
Via
Once upon a time,
high in the heavens, a dispute arose between the Wind and the Sun as to which was the more powerful of the two. The Wind (always a blow-hard) challenged the Sun to a contest that could resolve once and for all who was the stronger. Looking down, the two could see a lone traveller making his way across the land it was agreed that whichever would be the first to strip the man of his cloak should be accounted the victor.
The Wind began, and blew with all its might with blasts as cold and fierce as a Thracian storm; but (of course) the stronger and more furiously the Wind blew, the closer the Traveler wrapped his cloak around him, and the more tightly he grasped it with his hands. Finally, exhausted, the Wind gave up in despair.
Then the Sun (which had been hiding behind a cloud) came out and simply shone with warmth and brightness in almost no time at all the Traveler felt the genial warmth, took off his cloak, and cast it on the ground.
Thus the Sun was declared the victor, and it has ever since been deemed that persuasion is better than force. The sunshine of a kind and gentle manner is more efficacious than the force of blustering authority.
Babydoll at her best…
Not another living artist could leave the gap you do, but I agree - like “fuckery” do you follow ‘Jones’ with ‘Rehab’…remember that when you sing among the stars tonight
Love you forever…
‘Narco Culture’ by Shaul Schwarz for Getty Images
“Let’s face it, the heroes these days are not the lawyers or the politicians, the heroes are theguys flashing the money,” says Narco music promoter Joel Vasquez outside a Narco-Corrido club in Los Angeles.
“The market is bigger than ever. I think we can be the next Hip-Hop.”
While death statistics have been documented ad nauseam, far less has been said about the broader social reality created by the drug trade and affecting the lives of millions of Latin-Americans. For many here, narco traffickers provide the only models of fame and success. Greed, drugs and violence have now created a new culture – a Narco Culture.”
Extreme Weather
Mayan descendants pray during a ceremony in honor of the upcoming summer solstice at the Mayan archeological site of Tazumal in Chalchuapa, El Salvador, Sunday June 19, 2011.
Central London covered in smog, April 2011
A plume of ash, estimated six miles high and three mile wide is seen after a volcano erupted in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 575 miles (920 km) south of the capital, Santiago June 4.
Lightning flashes around the ash plume above the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain near Entrelagos, Chile June 5.
Images from Boston.com
Salomé, you know my white peacocks, my beautiful white peacocks that walk in the garden between the myrtles and the tall cypress trees. Their beaks are gilded with gold, and the grains that they eat are gilded with gold also, and their feet… are stained with purple. When they cry out the rain comes, and the moon shows herself in the heavens when they spread their tails I will give you fifty of my peacocks. They will follow you whithersoever you go, and in the midst of them you will be like the moon in the midst of a great white cloud.
.
Oscar Wilde.
Sentimental music has this great way of taking you back somewhere at the same time that it takes you forward, so you feel nostalgic and hopeful all at the same time.
.
High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
Death’s Dance
I love dispatch I strike at once
The wit, the wise, the fool, the dunce;
The steel-clad soldier, stout and bold,
The miser with his treasur’d gold;
The studious sage, and matron grave,
The haughty noble, and the slave,
I strip, with unrelenting paw,
The ermine from the man of law:
Disrobe the prelate of his his lawn;
And dim with clouds the op’ning dawn….
The haughty noble, and the slave,
I strip, with unrelenting paw,
The ermine from the man of law:
Disrobe the prelate of his his lawn;
And dim with clouds the op’ning dawn….
.
