Summer Blues

The summer solstice was today and the iced tea post was weeks ago but the mosquitoes have made their appearances, so let's rewind a bit shall we?




One of two photos taken that day, walking from the train station to the museum. Tall rows of pink tulips along Park Ave. I was forcefully trying to channel summer: shorts and short-sleeves in weather that called for covered legs and a light sweater. I paid for it later when I ended up shivering outside of Shake Shack as I tried to finish my lemonade. (Sadly, attire, outdoor location, and beverage type were all my choices.)

"Wa"

Muji x Idee (via For me, for you) It's really a lovely set up.





Idyllic isn't it? Don't forget to play the music to experience what they're trying to sell in its entirety (top right). I thought so too, thinking how lovely it would be to live in a place with tatami again, especially one with a porch and with the wraparound "roka"(hallway). I was all set up in my reverie when that annoying little white Muji bubble pulled me down to reality, because anybody who thinks that a fan is going to cut it in Japanese summers...is not me. I have stayed at a house (and a hostel, in retrospect I suspect that the converted storehouse I slept in was not a legal set-up, more on that in another post) without air-conditioning and I slept fitfully, unable to get comfortable in the heat. Both times I had showered the night before and needed to shower again as soon as I got (not woke) up. Going back to the picture, once I noticed the fan I started thinking about all these other things like, how would you be able to leave the sliding doors open? The mosquitoes would come in. and that wooley-cotton covered couch would become sweat-beaded and damp in the summer. 「季節によるそう住まい」？ Sounding less attractive now.

On a different, related note, a blog post I read earlier today about housing insulation in Japan. I really didn't sell that one well. It's more interesting than I made it out to be though, and if it isn't, it's brief at least.

Back!

I'm not really good at this posting business, but I was away, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

As an aside, southerners really know their iced drinks. and fried delights. Fried green tomatoes with crawfish remoulade? Yes please!

(Pictured: Strawberry Lemonade, one size only, large. My fingers couldn't wrap around the cups the entire way.)

P.S. One of the many memorable exchanges from the trip.
Setting: A bar on frenchman's street.
In response to "What's in a New Orleans Lemonade?", uninterested response by bartender "Lemonade and rum."
"I'll take it."
"You know I say it like that, and people still order it."

Realize would have been wise to take her response into account after taking a sip.

Dancers in NY

お久しぶり。


Via Ballerina Project


Via Swiss Miss originally from Dancers Among Us

The first one looks and feels languid and relaxed, time goes leisurely in this seemingly empty station. The second one looks vivid and full of life (and color); I am half-scared for the dancer. The subject matter and backdrop share many traits, but the mood each evokes is decidedly different. It's fun to think about how the photograph was taken, now I want you to lie down on the platform and extend your arm out over the edge, arch your legs upward now...and just wait for the train to approach; I'll tell you when.
Okay, sure. Easy peasy. Right.

Nicely put!

via Design Crush via FuschiaMacaree.

Europe According to the U.S.

By Yanko Tsvetkov via Design Crush (from way back in October last year)

Totem, Alain Delorme

I stumbled across these images on Black Eiffel, a design blog. They're from Shanghai and while they appear to be photographs, it's hard to believe that they haven't been manipulated somehow. The coloring also contributes to a surreal feeling. It reminds me of photos of North Korea, saturated with bright, garish colors yet somehow washed out at the same time. His site doesn't strictly state that they haven't been altered, but isn't very straightforward about it either. In any case, they stayed with me and I snitched some from his website.

The expressions of surprise on the people around these load-bikers suggest that these are real scenes though.





(For similar color schemes but rather more creepy looking subjects take a look at his "Little Dolls").