x/y xoxoxo

For as long as anyone can remember the topic of place vs. space has dominated the endless and seemingly inconclusive discussions of intellectual and artistic communities. Countless works, essays and lectures have approached this subject; ultimately they reveal the illusive nature of these two inseparable and therefore indefinable terms.

I have little interest in engaging in this circular train of thought. I find the indecisive nature of this discussion to be empowering, only as much as I find it to be an overwhelming frustration. On one hand, the nature of this conversation assures me that there is no right or wrong.... Still on the other hand, I can’t help but feel that my time would be better spent on my back contemplating the intricacies of Silly Putty.

That being said, I will join the great artists and intellectuals of the past by boldly defining the intangible. Though my credentials are questionable and my enthusiasm is admittedly forced, the fact that I have a blog should be seen as a testimony of my expertise in said subject matter. Therefore the definitions of space and place are as follow.

Space: the unlimited or incalculably great three-dimensional realm or expanse in which all material objects are located and all events occur.

Place: a particular portion of space whether of definite or indefinite extent.

Mirror:

something that gives a minutely faithful representation, image, or idea of something else.

Cooler in Arabic?

I had said that “it looked cooler in Arabic” but that’s just because I don’t always think before I speak. If I had known that it would have come to this, then I might have tried to think of something more significant to say. What I should have said… or rather, what I may have been thinking about when I said that, was how I enjoy the way in which the words mean absolutely nothing to me. They are so much less intrusive this way; they are so much less confrontational. They completely lack significance and impose nothing upon me. They just leave me alone.

This is the thing that I like most about going somewhere where I don’t speak the language. It is the politeness of words that say on the page and do not jump out at me, the privilege of not having to understand everything I overhear and the serenity of not having to hear, understand or entertain anyone else’s ideas but my own.