"Of all the gin joints in all the world..."

Oh my goodness, I'm so excited to post about this topic. I think it's just so fascinating.

Moroccan Art. Why this particular form? you may ask. I'll tell you.

Morocco is a country steeped with culture and a rich history. Yet, their art has typically remained the same throughout the ages. Tile mosaics (or zellij mosaics) have long been the norm in this culture. They adorn walls, floors, fountains, palaces, doors...everything.

The Berbers - one of the oldest settlers of the region - quickly turned this desert into a thriving trade post. However, they are a stubborn culture (I just love that...). After 4000 years, their art is still the same. This is odd, particularly for a hub of trade, where cultures and peoples mix and clash and talk and mingle. You'll see mosaics in the Berber style in Ravenna, Tripoli, and Constantinople (Istanbul). But will you find a Venus or Apollo in Tangier? Ha! No.

The focus on this style of art is draw the viewer into the higher realm. Because Islam does not allow images of people or animals, their art focuses on complex geometrical designs with colorful shapes to bring the observer to the truth.

But here is the most fascinating concept in the art (at least, to me). Islam does not believe that any thing or any person is perfect besides Allah. Therefore, nothing can be perfect. Meaning, an artist may create a stunning piece of artwork, an exquisite, almost flawless masterpiece. They can line up the tiles exactly, make sure the tiny squares are the same shade, and the design is divine... in short, everything has the potential to be perfect. BUT. The artist will purposely tilt a tile out of place. Just... ever so slightly. Probably barely noticeable.

Because only God is perfect. And man should not think to be greater than Him.

It's sort of an interesting lesson in humility, don't you think? I think He wants us to be as perfect as we can be and constantly strive to achieve perfection. But I like that this little corner of the world acknowledges that He is perfect, and the art focuses on drawing us closer to Him, rather than - as western culture has - focus on the glory of mankind. We are puny in comparison, you know?

So, the fun for me in Moroccan art is to try and find the error. Try to find the humanity. Try to find the part of the artwork in each of us that needs God's mercy to make us truly perfect.

Can you find it?

Please excuse the upcoming hiatus. I am going on a long, GRAND adventure. The kind of stuff people dream about their whole lives!

CoLpSeEnD

"...Humanizing people is good, right? But what about people with reprehensible views? Do they deserved to be humanized? By giving Jerry Falwell's moral universe a fair look, am I putting myself in his shoes? Or am I validating his worldview? What's the difference between what I'm doing and what certain Iranian presidents who want to "do more research" into the Holocaust?

Where's the limit to open-mindedness?

...I reach this conclusion: humanizing is not the same as sympathizing. You can peel off the stereotypes of a person and not see a beautiful human being. In fact, humanity can be very ugly."

-Kevin Roose, An Unlikely Disciple

Such a good book.

I love his last line - "humanity can be very ugly". This is something I know in theory. We all have our mean, nasty, insensitive, and careless moments. After all, the natural man is an enemy to God.
In Middle School I was asked to write an essay - with supporting quotes - about whether or not man was good or bad. We had just read excerpts from The Leviathan, so, my impressionable mind wrote what the teacher wanted to hear. That life was "...mean, nasty, brutish, and short", and men would generally make the wrong decisions.
I didn't believe it then. I emphatically don't believe it now.
Hobbes failed to humanize the masses, I think. The tone of his writing is rather condescending, to me... so perhaps I am biased.
As to the nature of man, I don't feel the need to compartmentalize something so complex into such paltry terms as "good" and "bad". In fact, I don't feel the need to compartmentalize it all. I feel the need to give everyone their own chance, and not let individual actions define their race, religion, state, or family. We are all our person. That is the inherent gift of Free Agency. We become what we choose to become, and act as our conscience guides us.
That being said, some people have found a way to silence their conscience. This, I understand. "Humanity can be very ugly."
The operative word is CAN.
But I choose to think that usually it isn't.

Alrighty, I talk about literature a lot. Next time, I promise to do something non-lit.

Why, thank you!

A few years ago one of my friends told me that if I was a song, I would be Waterfall by Jon Schmidt.

Why, thank you, I love that song.

But I'd rather be this one.

It makes me feel like wind in the trees. Aspens, preferably.

peanut butter

sometimes i feel like peanut butter.
it's an acquired taste.
spreadable.
goes good with lots of things.
and horrible with many others.

if bread were life, then I am spread reeeeeeaaaaallly thin. i'm going every direction at once, so fast i can't even look before suddenly i'm somewhere new.

dad tells me i talk fast.
i write fast.
i sing fast.
i walk fast.
go go go go go.
i think fast.
bam bam bam.
not always nonsense though.
sometimes it's useful.
sometimes it's crazy.
but there's always a little reason in madness.


this post has been an exercise in stream-of-consciousness writing. brought to you by the letter Q and the number 5!

Stream of consciousness is a style of writing that is fun to write, but sometimes hard to read. Popularized by Joyce, Sinclair, Dostoevsky, Faulkner and Salinger, the style allows you to get into the character's head. Done right, a reader can become the character. It's more emotional. It's rugged, raw, human, and incredibly creative.
Try it sometime.
Let loose.
Let go.
write.

Deus Ex Machina

I think HIS sense of humor lies mostly in irony.

He certainly uses it with frequency in my life.

Why do I always think I know best, and why am I always convinced that I know what's right?

I don't and I'm not.
But He does and is.

Oh the irony. oooooooh. the IRONY. Gosh, i just love it. He can keep it coming for the rest of my life. it always makes me smile.

where's the emoticon for a wry smile? that's what this post needs.

it's like resurfacing...

today is a meandering day.

this post has no rhyme or reason. bear with me.

i had a long overdue chat with my best friend. finally, at last, someone told me all the truths i've been dying to hear. that's what i love about best friends. there's so much love between us, that there is no pretension. i know she's not being malicious, or saying what she says to hurt me. she loves me. she wants me to be better. she loves to help me.... and i love it when she does.

my nearest and dearest have been besties for 9 years now. we are so excited to be besties for the rest of forever. HE could not have put 4 more different girls together, who have come to love each other with such unconditional craziness. we have been through our own rough patches... and we always come out on top.

you know the part in JOB when his friends just sit with him as he mourns? we've done that.

you know the part in pride and prejudice when they stay up all night talking and giggling? yeah, we've done that. you know the part when one of them has an emotional breakdown and the others band together to help her through? yep, done that too. you know the part where your inside jokes have inside joke that have inside jokes? check. you know the part where you don't even have to talk to know what the other one is feelin? done. you know how there are no secrets between people who have shared so much together? it's blissful.

so here's a shout out to the most amazing people in my life. to those girls who are the only ones courageous enough to call me out on my ridiculousness, talk me through my stress, make me laugh when i'm crying, still think i'm beautiful (somehow), always say the most comforting things, effortlessly blend spiritual guidance with street-smart common sense, and love me through it all.

we left childhood together, stumbled through happy teenage years, accomplished dreams, laughed till we cried, cried till we laughed, philosophized, dramaticized, pranked, mourned, worked, and loved together.

here's to 900 million bazillion quadrillion more years of this... this bliss. i love you.

"My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me."
- Henry Ford

How do you know?

Today I was told I would be a good mother.

By a lovely woman I respect and admire very much.

It made me think....

What qualifies as "a good mother"?

discipline. gospel. love their father. letting them make their own mistakes.

These are what my mother taught me.

But I think fun is important too. I want to have nerdy fun with my kids. We'll play with sine waves in jump ropes, make mouse-trap racecars (go energy conservation laws!), rake leaves and then throw them at each other, play with slinkies and yo-yos and do homework creatively, and have pillow fights.

I hope I'm a good mother. I hope that when they drive me crazy and won't behave and keep smacking each other and refuse to sleep... that I'm still a good mother.