Drinking Water

Talking about how much I enjoy and love life, is as if I've to talk or post about drinking water. Of course. Naturally. Is there any other way?

I enjoy ...

• walking
• smell of cows
• watching colour and components of flowers
• listening to the sound of birds
• look at airplanes flying over and wondering where they come from and where they go to and why
• talking
• reading
• buying books
• laughing
• teasing
• to give and receive love
• be a teacher and student
• wonder what the names are of all those little insects
• colour and smell of grass
• sound of wind in trees
• looking at people how the walk and talk
• dream of countries and places I'll probably never visit
• hay in pastures
• clouds in the sky
• writing
• you, me and us
• look in your eyes
• you in your ... - not telling you
• freshly washed linens
• early morning and late evening sun
• smell of woodfire 
• use all my senses
• simple

Last Saturday I went with my daughter L and one of her best friends to a Agnes Obel concert in Liège (Belgium). I expected one lady behind a piano but it was a band of four woman. One on drums. Two of them playing on string instruments. Agnes singing and playing piano or keyboard. I loved their cloud of music very much. For me something between: Kate Bush, piano, mysterious, poem, sounds of nature and simple. In one image: warm cloud of voices, music and down to Earth words. Lovely!

I made a couple of pictures. Not of great quality but just to give you an idea how it looked like.

Que Reste-t-il?

Que Reste-t-il ...
Of that what was, must and should have been?
Of a child I've never seen?

Que Reste-t-il ...
Of the rendez-vous (encore) we never made?
Of the photo that we didn't take?

Que Reste-t-il ...
Of love-letters that noone will ever read?
Of your eyes on me?

Que Reste-t-il ...
Of drinking coffee from the same cup as you?
Of clouds passing by slowly?

Que Reste-t-il ...
Of walking hand in hand?
Of little kisses?

Que Reste-t-il ...
Of your empty hand when I flew away?

Of my empty hand when you flew away?

Que Reste-t-il ... 

O luz antiga o fim da tarde?

O saudade?

Que Reste-t-il De Nos Amours?

Image-Atom

Is language shaping the way we think? And write? And convey ideas?

Yes, I think so too. To be more accurate I think that images or metaphors are the atoms of our communication. Images are bigger than a written or spoken language. It's the very structure of what we say and think and how we act.

Words are image-atoms. Every single word! Sentences are a group of image-atoms with their own image-atom(s) as structure. Compris? Do you grasp how deep this goes? Every single word!

I think a lot of people will laugh mildly about the fact that Ancient Egyptians thought that writing down a hieroglyph meant that it was born. Coming alive! It sounds like a magic that passed away long ago but for me it's still true. It never died! The moment we use a new image-atom a new universe is born. With its pros and cons, (dis)advantages, pitfalls, (ab)use and ... - there must be more. With its own magic!

I don't know if different languages produce different image-atoms. My intuition tells me it's the same hardware but sometimes software is able to change the very hardware too. So? All what I wrote down before these words are: image-atoms. The question is: can we think beyond, above, under, on and ... - there must be more - image-atoms?

Et puis, there is always the magic of meeting familiar souls - the ones you know since childhood in retrospect - who play in the same sandpit. Or just sit next to it. Just a few words. Just a few minutes. And my life, your life and our lives change. Change as water flows through a river.

It Must Be Wrinkles

Where does my interest for Ancient Egypt come from? I don't have a clear and ready to pick answer on that question. So here a couple of different tracks to the top of the same mountain:

• At a very young age. The treasures of king Tut and the curse. The pyramids of Egypt #gold #VeryOld
• For six months I lived near Sharm el Sheikh in the Sinai (South Camp, MFO) #desert #sun #NotTouristLiveHere #selfconfidence
• Puzzling on hieroglyphs #QA more
• Looking for an answer 'What is definition (or definitions) of happiness for Ancient Egyptians?' #QA #happiness more
• Antidote against Ancient Greece and Rome #antidote more
• Ancient Egypt as (partly) birthplace of Western civilization #fringe more
• THAT in Aswan #enlightenment more
• And in old Egypt? Some crafts(wo)man made a lovely goddess out of wood #PlayboyBunny #wrinkles more
• ... - there must be more

As you can see this is a long list and in between lines you can read that Egypt and Ancient Egypt is entwined into my personal life. In a way I grew up with it. #GrowingUp

If I put it in images: I entered a world of Others when I set foot on Egypt soil in 1987. Sun, yellow and empty desert instead of rain, green, houses and roads. When I came back to The Netherlands I knew I was changed. Making fuss about loose tiles in the pavement (more) while people starve of hunger! 

Next to that I am still puzzling. I read a lot about Ancient Egypt but still I don't fully comprehend them. It still feels as a world of Others. In a way I am looking for their "magic". Better: I am trying to re-live their magic world. The magic that somewhere is hidden behind, above, underneath or ... - what image to use? - their eyes who "see" sun and not a huge pile of money when they use gold. #magic more

P.S. Different tracks to same mountain? I wrote about this earlier in blog post 'Frozen?' (2010).