LATE-NIGHT POOL

Thursday, February 20, 2003

17:11 the Noord-Holland province

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Sunday, February 16, 2003

18:44

Pretty satisfied after spending much of the last few days working with Oskar on this section of the Noord-Holland province. The final printed version (ca. eight meters long) will be seen, sort of pleated, behind the news presenters of TVNH. We're also working on a semi-transparent layer showing the geological composition of the soil. The thing looks really nice.
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Friday, February 14, 2003

23:38 Fuzzy V
I was walking to the studio this morning when a young man with a heavy Irish accent asked me if I knew where he could find a flower shop. I pointed him one and thought that it was a nice and unusual question. Only much later I realized it was Valentine's day. I'm still not used to it, after all these years. Back in Brazil we had Dia dos Namorados (which I think is celebrated on the ~~second Sunday of May~~ 12th of June (thanks Vá)) and that's pretty much something between lovers and it definitely does not include sending cards to your grandmother or grocers or neighbours. I guess Valentine's day falls under the fuzzy category of things of the world I feel I should have learned about but haven't yet. Was it always like this or did it start as a lover/spouse-only sort of thing? The lover-spouse section is clear to me, but how does the fuzzy section work? Do you just elect some adorable people? Are there basic criteria to discern those who are and those who aren't V-material? Is it free from sexual intentions? Can people get offended/intimidated? Can you be cynical or ironic (hope not; that's bad)? Where does it really come from? Are those sugar hearts with vague words on them that also part of it?

I know I could find the answers using Google, and I probably will, but right now I am dealing with the questions. And I haven't written much lately (oh) so I am sort of trying to get the hang of it again.

(a short while later)

I went to Google to check if 'getting the hang of it' really exists and not only is their logo celebrating the day but also there's a link to a UIP article on the origins of Valentine's day. Let's see.

(a short while later)

Ah, various stories from Roman days, this one not especially interesting but quite appropriate in face of the current news:

Roman Emperor Claudius II had difficulty drafting men into his army, so believing men did not want to leave their families or loves, canceled all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, a priest in Rome at that time who aided Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, was stoned to death and later made into a saint in one version.

Something that sounds a bit more Roman:

Lupercalia was when young Roman males would sacrifice goats, put on the goatskins as a loincloth and then run around striking young women with thongs from the same goatskins," Aveni, a professor of astronomy and archeology at Colgate University, in Hamilton, N.Y., told United Press International.

"This was taken seriously by women because it was a rite intended to eliminate feminine barrenness and awaken the powers of fertility."

This gentle "flogging" was to stimulate sexual organs in anticipation of spring and fertility.

How auspicious! Note: I received this morning the Caligula DVD I ordered on line.
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Thursday, February 06, 2003

14:11 I woke up this morning feeling all mushy from the dreams I just had: in one of them I clearly revived childhood moments when my mom drove me to school or just took me around with her for errands; I remember thinking, still while dreaming, that those were to be some of the most peaceful, protective memories of my whole life.

I got up and opened up all the windows for the day: it is still cold outside but not too cold and the day today is crisp and sunny in a shy sort of way. I had an 9:00 appointment with Oskar at the geological museum of the Amsterdam zoo to look for images for a project. The zoo is just a few blocks away from home. It's a good life.
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