Muertos...

Dia de los Muertos

A day late, I know...

Exit signs

Well, that road sign did turn out to be for me. My usual exit, times two this year. Pretty good considering I expected not to leave the road to nowhere this year. Unfortunately, it's been keeping me extremely busy and very stuck to reality. But I'll come back to my dream land, you just wait and see. There's only so much reality one can take....
And speaking of escaping reality, here's  something weird...

On and on... about a shack

Years ago, back in Germany, I used to stop everything to watch this video whenever it came on. What really appealed to me, although I like the song, was the video itself. What an interesting little house that was, and by the way, what was it? I only found out years later... But first, the video:

Now, there's nothing glamorous about the house. It's just a shack, probably like many in the South and the video has that 'Colour Purple' feel to it, which means we're definitely not looking at the lifestyles of the rich and pointless. But seeing as it was just a video, I kinda dismissed the shack as being nothing more than a set.
Years later, while looking for typical New Orleans houses, I came across a floor plan that reminded me of the video. In fact, it could almost have been the floor plan of that shack: four rooms connecting directly to each other, no hallways. This is nothing new. I knew that for many centuries houses did not have hallways, people would just go from room to room, going about their business. Early American houses, and we're talking 17th century here, were no exception to the rule. In fact, rooms tended to have multiple functions, depending on the time of day.

Parlour by day                                         Bedroom by night

If you wanted privacy, well, just pull the curtains! Why do you think beds had posts?

Four poster bed                                         Box beds               

So, the privacy issue was no real surprise, although I was a little surprised at how much more recent our notions of privacy are than I actually thought. It's just that after researching these old houses up north, it was interesting to see how different they were down south! Mostly because of climate. Up north, small, closed off rooms tended to preserve heat in the cold winter months. Down south, interconnected rooms allowed better ventilation in the hot summer months. So, this particular style of house developed in the South: two rows of several interconnected rooms and porches outside, which were almost like an extra room. It's called Creole style and the shack in Badu's video seems to be in that style.

Something silly...

Here's something silly...
It's a funny post, and it's a great song too...

The road not travelled... by me

This video reminds me of the road I should be travelling by now but am not... I like the song, though.

Two for the road...

I tend to think about these songs a lot when I'm 'on the road'...

Apartment life...

I love this song and the video is just awesome. I remember the first time I saw it, it took me a long minute to figure out what was off. And then the little lightbulb went on... It's a very interesting concept. This is 'Protection' by Massive Attack featuring Everything But The Girl. Enjoy!

Our house in the middle of our street...

I always think of this song when I think of houses. It's madness, I know...

Por enquanto...

I don't know why, lately I've been listening to Legião Urbana a lot. They were a great band and I love their songs. This one has been playing around in my mind...

 

 

Seasons changed and nothing changed

But I know  that something happened

Everything is just so different…

Do you remember when we one day actually believed

That everything was forever

Without knowing that forever always ends…

But nothing will ever change what remained

When I think of someone I only think of you

And then we're alright…

Even with so many reasons to leave everything as it is

And not even give up, or try

It doesn't matter now

We're going back home...

Road to Nowhere

So summer is here and once again I'm travelling the road to nowhere. It has become a sort of ritual these past few years. Fortunately, by the end of summer, a sign saying 'Work Here' pops up at some point and I travel that road for a while, filled with a short lived sense of purpose. Short lived because when summer approaches, I know I'll be back on that old familiar road again. And the way things have been going lately, this year there might not be any exit signs interrupting my stroll to Nowheresville...
Let me tell you, the landscape around this road is not inspiring and it gets bleaker and bleaker with each passing year. So I've decided to ignore the view as much as I can and replace it with nicer things. As far as I know, dreaming is still free, although I'm pretty sure someone will come up with a tax for that too someday... and probably for the air we breath. But while it's still free, I'll be doing it... and sharing it. Who knows? Maybe somebody else out there needs some dreams too.
By the way, here's an homage to that old familiar road...