our life aquatic & the true calling of daydreamers

paperdoll blogger

wood duck fairy and heian era kimono

dear santa

in case you were planning to bring me any furniture for my dollhouse

hot house train

Having recently seen and relished Werner Herzog’s new film, Beyond the Edge of the Earth, and also rode the Getty tram with Sara in order to catch a lecture about plants in Yuanming Yuan, I dreamt last night that we were exploring an alien landscape by train. Gliding by our window were strange varieties of colorful plants which appeared magnified as giants. It was a bright desert terrain, yet host to luscious and tender “trees” – most of them heavy with flowers, and floating rootless above the sand. This dream may also be influenced by reading a translation of “Flowers in the Mirror” by Li Ruzhen, in which curious islands are visited on a sea voyage. I can’t get enough of stories about island voyages. I wish I could do all my medium-distance travel by canoe or kayak. The sensation of passing land with swift and easy motion is real freedom. To marvel at, but pass by, unattached.

diatom slide by klaus kemp

crazy dancing in Turkey

When I was in Istanbul, some friends introduced me to this incredible cinematic moment of dance on camera


recently i found this follow-up:


and the man that the character of Borat is allegedly based upon: http://www.istanbul.tc/mahir/mahir/

All this leads me to wonder....are these dancing guys trying to be funny? Is it a similar impulse to Frank Zappa's attraction to the Shaggs, or fascination with Shooby Taylor - so bad that it's genius? Are they so uninhibited because of stupidity, intoxication, self-daring or a combination of these things?

Wanted: Bilingual Albanian friends

aya! go zui, kawaii des, çok tatlı, aman-aman!