The Parallel Universe of Aurelia Gould

[aureliagould]

Spent quite a few hours on YouTube this weekend learning how to propagate and take care of succulents, which are my latest obsession. I have many Crassulas - aka Jade Plants – on my verandas and on my window sill at the office, most of which have been growing at the speed of light and becoming quite leggy, so I learned that I need to remove some leaves to propagate and chop up the rest to replant. I found many of the answers I needed on the channel Garden Answer. Right now I am waiting for the leaves to dry before I put them ontop of soil, as I’ve seen needs to be done. I also created a new Pinterest board (had not done that for a while) to gather info about Succulents and AirPlants (I want to try those as well - they look gorgeous).

While in a gardening mode, I checked out the name of two of my plants that had no idea what they were called. I used the app GardenAnswers to find their names. The one is called Spider Plant or Aiplane Plant [Chlorophytum Comosum]. You can see it on the bottom left photo. It’s got these little babies (or platlets) hanging (you can’t see them) and I learned that you can remove them and have them replanted, after you dip them in water until they produce roots (as I’ve done - middle photo, bottom row).

The second plant I checked out is the one on the bottom right. It’s called Easter Cactus or Spring Cactus. My aunt gave it to me a year ago to put on my window sill at work. Did not look very happy there so I brought it back home and put it next to the terrace window in the living room. This room is kind of dark until about 2pm and as I’ve read these plants do enjoy some darkness. Maybe the change in scenery helped and this year it’s got quite a few blossoms. Can’t wait to see how they look when they open.

[aureliagould]

Another recurring figure of mass transport, faithful to his daily appointment with the public space, never straying from his daily ritual. Can't tell what he does from a distance but it involves papers with things written on them, a yellow manila envelope and correction fluid. A nonsensical task most probably but one that gives him a sense of purpose, nonetheless, a reason to wake up in the morning, a reason to go on living, perhaps. So he comes here every day, same bench, same train station, among people (though he never raises his eyes). As if he wants to be reminded that he is part of the human race, doing his thing, contributing somehow. This old man moves me to tears.

[aureliagould]

The recurring figure of this man is a comforting constant amidst a crowd of unknowns. Today, featuring a red, instead of his regular mint-green, tape player (I wonder what music he likes...) and a bag full of green 'Charleston' peppers. 

[aureliagould]

[outside my neighborhood's mini market] an inspiring example of what psychologists call "actualizing tendency" (the innate tendency, that is, of any living organism to actualize its full potential and become what it's supposed to become, no matter the obstacles)

[aureliagould]

David Bowie - Cat People

A great David Bowie song

Θυμάμαι όταν ήμουν παιδάκι πίσω στα '80s αρχές '90s, τότε που δεν ήξερα τίποτα από μουσική (όπως και από πολλά άλλα πράγματα), η μικρότερη ξαδέλφη μου, που και αυτή λίγα ήξερε τότε από μουσική, είχε στην κατοχή της (άγνωστο πώς) ένα mix tape το οποίο ακούγαμε ξανά και ξανά για πολλά χρόνια κάθε φορά που ανέβαινα για διακοπές στα Γιάννενα. Αυτό είναι το μοναδικό κομμάτι που θυμάμαι από το mix tape (πάντα υπέθετα πως το τραγούδι θα πρέπει να λέγεται Gasoline) και εννοείται δεν είχα ιδέα τότε ποιος το τραγουδούσε ή ότι ήταν ο ίδιος κύριος που πρωταγωνιστούσε σε μια υπέροχα τρομαχτική ταινία που είχα δει ακόμα πιο μικρή και λεγόταν "Labyrinth".

[aureliagould]

Το «όλα θα πάνε καλά»

Θερμή παράκληση εκ μέρους όλων εκείνων που πάσχουν από κάτι σοβαρό και δεν είναι καλά αυτήν τη στιγμή, ΜΗΝ χρησιμοποιείτε αλλόγιστα την καταφατική φράση «όλα θα πάνε καλά». Τι θα πει αυτό; Δεν έχετε έρθει από το μέλλον για να ξέρετε ότι όντως όλα τελικά πάνε καλά. Κανείς δεν ξέρει αν όλα θα πάνε καλά, ούτε εσείς, ούτε οι γιατροί, ούτε και ο ασθενής (ο μόνος που περνάει, παρεμπιπτόντως, το μανίκι). Η φράση αυτή που τόσο αβίαστα βγαίνει από το στόμα σχεδόν όλων να ξέρετε δεν έχει καμία ενσυναίσθηση και δεν βοηθάει καθόλου, εκτός αν ο ασθενής είναι κάποια γιαγιούλα που δεν καταλαβαίνει και πολλά ή, δεν ξέρω, κάποιος απαίδευτος άνθρωπος με άρνηση...δεν ξέρω. Γενικά όμως δεν βοηθάει. Αντίθετα δημιουργεί ένα αγεφύρωτο χάσμα ανάμεσα στον ασθενή και εκείνον που το λέει και ο ασθενής αισθάνεται πιο μόνος από ποτέ. Αν θέλετε να πείτε κάτι ενσυναισθητικό πρέπει να συναντήσετε τον ασθενή εκεί που είναι – και εκεί που είναι δεν είναι καλά τα πράγματα. Εκεί υπάρχει αγωνία, θυμός, φόβος, θλίψη, απογοήτευση κ.λπ. Οπότε μπορείτε να του πείτε κάτι τύπου «δεν μπορώ να φανταστώ πώς μπορεί να είναι για εσένα εκεί, αλλά να ξέρεις είμαι μαζί σου και σου εύχομαι από τα βάθη της καρδιάς μου να πάνε όλα καλά». Σε αυτή την περίπτωση είναι μια ευχή αυτή που εκφράζετε, όχι το απόλυτο «θα πάνε καλά» που τελικά μόνο εσάς εξυπηρετεί γιατί σας βγάζει από τη δύσκολη θέση του τι να πείτε (που πιστέψτε με ο ασθενής δεν περιμένει να του πείτε τίποτα βαθυστόχαστο) και καμουφλάρει τη δική σας αγωνία. Με τον ασθενή να είστε διαφανείς, επικοινωνιακοί, ακόμα και αν αυτό που θέλετε να επικοινωνήσετε μοιάζει άκομψο. Ακόμα και το άκομψο θα βοηθήσει αρκεί να δείχνει τη διάθεσή σας να τον συναντήσετε εκεί που είναι. Και υπάρχει πολλή μοναξιά εκεί που είναι, από όσους ανθρώπους και αν περιβάλλεται. Ο άρρωστος είναι μοναχός του και παλεύει μοναχός του. Μην τον κάνετε να αισθάνεται πιο μόνος με τέτοιες αδούλευτες φράσεις. Κάντε λίγο κόπο και εσείς. Μόνο με κόπο εκφράζεται το πραγματικό ενδιαφέρον για τον άλλον. Γιατί θέλει κόπο το ταξίδι στον δικό του πλανήτη. Σας φιλώ xxx

[aureliagould]

[aureliagould]

That’s what’s cool about public transport!

[aureliagould]

This video popped up one day in my youtube suggestions and I’ve been hooked on this ballet dancer ever since, following her video log diligently every day, checking out what’s she’s been up to.

What grabbed my attention about Joy Womack was not so much her ballet skills (even though quite impressive), because in this video she’s still only 16 years old, still in training; it was her perseverance and sheer passion. I don’t know many Americans who would, in their right minds, leave the paradise that is the USA (especially when they are still kids essentially) and go and make a life for themselves on the other side of the world in Russia, a country so different in every single respect. Joy Womack did it out of her immense passion for Russian ballet and that I cannot but respect. 

She went there, learnt the language (and what a difficult language) and at the tender age of 15 she tried to survive in a very conservative country that I bet must have been somehow put off by an American showing up and stealing the show, so to speak. But she fought her way into this difficult country and into this competitive field and, see her now, she’s a principal dancer at the Kremlin Ballet Theater in Moscow! And she’s still diligent, working harder it seems to me than all the rest (maybe because she still in a way needs to prove herself in a country that is not her own), creating her own business (the Prima Bar), doing her daily video blogs (personally, I think they are her way of connecting with a world outside of Russia and a way of maintaining her humanity), roaming the world dancing and teaching. 

I really look up to her and I am, what, almost 20 years her senior. I guess I have huge respect and admiration for people who pursue their dreams against all odds and who never rest on their laurels, but continue to work hard at what they do in an effort to constantly create a better version of themselves.

I wish Joy great things in the future. And maybe one day I get to see her perform live. 

[aureliagould]

Love from outer space - Pluto flyby photo by Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft

[aureliagould]

Alternative Prayer Book

[aureliagould]

The fact that I am moved to tears and uplifted by such music reminds me of how very little in common I have with the inhabitants of this planet. I have yet to find fellow aliens.

[dailydoseofstuf]

[aureliagould]

This ‘80s photograph got me thinking that I may belong to one of the last generations of children that could genuinely get enthusiastic about a present in this manner. Children in western societies, nowadays, even if they cannot have everything, they are certainly clued in about almost everything. The joy of discovering new things seems to stop quite early in their lives, since things, nowadays, have a way of finding them, before the children go out looking for them.

I am thinking that this holds true for us adults as well. It’s as if the element of surprise has eclipsed from our lives. Nothing seems truly new or original any more. Once upon a time, an insignificant, from a modern viewpoint, technological accomplishment, or a new product would make people stare in awe. Nowadays, very few things are awe inspiring. Maybe that’s why I like to re-visit older decades - because I envy their innocence and the fact that people back then still had things ahead of them to discover.

Maybe the only thing that still holds surprises for me is traveling. I could also add people. However, few people around me are truly available for exploring (people don’t even explore themselves, let alone allow another to explore them), and those who are, most of the times, unfortunately, hold no surprises; they are simply a nice wrapping, and very often not even that.

[aureliagould]

I fell in love with what Federico Babina, an Italian architect / graphic designer, has done. This is how he imagines the houses of world renowned film directors would look like if they designed them. I like his quirkiness and sense of humor. Follow the link below for the entire series.

(via ARCHIDIRECTOR - federico babina)

[dailydoseofstuf]

[aureliagould]

I miss the taste of tomatoes. When I was a kid back in the ‘80s, I remember in the summer my grandma would chop the top off a tomato and then give me the rest to eat with a spoon, as if it were ice-cream; so delicious they were. I haven’t had a tomato that tasted like a tomato in ages...

[aureliagould]

Mood of the day [”Some quiet please!”]

[aureliagould]

Happy Birthday Frankie!!

Today is Frankie Manning’s birthday. If you don’t know who he is, you can read all about him in my blog post.

Swing Mix #20: Eight tracks that Frankie Manning used to dance to, according to the book "Frankie Manning – Ambassador of Lindy Hop" [Frankie Manning and Cynthia R. Millman], including music by Count Basie, Chick Webb and Benny Goodman.

It’s no surprise that these are the songs that he and his fellow dancers preferred to dance to. Don’t tell me you can’t feel the swing in these tracks...it’s making you want to dance to them!

If you like swing music, you can check out the rest of my mixes at 8tracks.