After many moons of unrelenting sun and heat, the rain is finally upon us. I find it really invigorating to hear raindrops tip-tapping on the roof. Hope you find these gems I turned up on my recent forage in the vast forest that is the Internet just as invigorating.

Check out Eben Goff's amazing body of work, I especially *heart* his monotypes. Shown above is one of his many beautiful prints. Totally swoon-worthy.

Also having some major hots for this eclectic collection of animal parts and object by Bob de Graaf (below), though it's probably not everybody's cup of tea.

A beautifully animated Japanese haiku entitled 化粧する花 by Izuru Aminaka. I don't read a lick of Japanese, but luckily for me, beauty transcends all earthly boundaries :-) Still, if anyone's up for translating, I'd be mightily grateful!

I dig show-and-tells detailing the process of how something is made or done. Here's an insight into how gorgeous washi paper is made. I found the link via Upon a Fold, a fantastic store of paper goods with an equally fantastic blog.

And lastly, making the rounds in the ol' blogsphere today, an illustrated guide to a Ph.D. Interesting food-for-thought?

PeekaBoo!

I'm tired of looking at my blog with all that blue text and no pretty images so I thought I'll share with you the image that's captured my heart recently, Zimmerlinde by Wolfgang Tillmans. I love the juxtaposition (look at me using fancy art terms) of the flowers with the frosted glass, feels like I can get lost in daydream staring at that scene. Insert obligatory wistful sigh here :-)

Before I leave you, allow me to share a few links I came across today:

–-> This demonstration of the proper Japanese way to bow made me chuckle endlessly, heh heh.

–-> And while the Dog Poo Project is for a noble cause, there's still room for some humor. (Hard not to, given the subject matter I suppose)

–-> Lastly, I haven't tried any of the recipes, but I'm dying to. One of the things I find most frustrating about baking is having to assemble ingredients that I don't normally stock at home. This annoyance is followed closely by the near-impossibility of following instructions to recipes I found online that aren't accompanied by pictorial guidance. (I'm all thumbs and a total novice when it comes to all things baking). So while the mom in "mom it down" doesn't apply to me, her non-fuss style speaks VOLUMES to my inner baker. Itching to try her Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting and Mini Cheesecake. Wish me luck!

So it looks like cicak hasn't been cheeky so much as cicak has been absent. To be truthful, I just didn't feel like I have anything to add to blogland. Some days, I think that pretty much all there is to say is already said by someone somewhere sometime. And my take on that is, why add to it unless I really feel the need to. Right?

Anyhoo, popping back in here just to say hi, hope everybody's doing well and to let you know that I continue to update links I ♥. I know I keep calling it blogland, but really, there are way more sites out there than can be defined. I love visiting some of them for the visual pleasure, others for the eye-opening reads, and yet others for some vague sense of company. Whatever you want to call the sites on the list (intentionally left un-categorized), they've never failed to serve me as a source of inspiration. I hope you find them the same too.

What is art about?

Yeah, on that, I'm still looking for answers :-) However, I do know that what it does do for me, today, is give my blue soul a bit of an uplift. Case in point -- Friederike Hamann, whose work is bringing the corners of my mouth north-wards.

via Come Darkness, a small exhibition of art pieces curated by Maria Vettese.

Hello, anybody out there?

This poor dead blog o' mine. But no eulogies for it yet as today, yes today!, it's getting a wee jolt of life. It's always so inspiring to see beauty originate from as humble a source as discarded envelopes and newspapers. And Kristiina Lahde's work is so inspiring that I felt I need to shout it out to the world from the top of the mountain (or, okay, from the seat of my chair via a blog). I *heart* her Envelope series.

link via Camilla Engman.

Hi!

Wow. I didn't think it was possible to stay away from my techie alter-ego for that long. It was a sort of packed end-of-July, in terms of head space, that is :-) A couple of deaths to deal with, a birthday, a missed deadline, ill-health and an assortment of other pesky things nagging away. These eat up not only the hours of the day, they also tire me out, body, mind and soul (clichéd but true!).

However, at the end of the day, it's good to remind oneself that life is about keeping forward. It's alright to stop for air, but once you start thinking you're comfortable and that it's ok to stop at where you are, it can get tricky. A good quote that jolted me up today was uttered by John Maeda, the president of the art and design program in Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) who used to be a professor at MIT (yup! that one). He tweeted, "Being well is much more than, well, just being."

So basically, life is more than just surviving the daily trials. Simple, right? Hmph, if only. Anyhow, for some poignant (IMHO) reflection on life, check out this article about artist Song Dong's mother's life in the New York Times.

I hope I can swing back into a more regular posting schedule.

There are many cons to living in a third-world country. Although not of life-and-death significance, near (or dare I say "at!") the very top of the list has to the deplorable state of its internet service. For a country that continually shows off its intention of becoming technologically superb, it ought to be ashamed of how disgruntled the vast majority of internet service subscribers are.

:-( :-( :-(

Sorry for the rant, but it's been stressful trying to get online, and when I strike lucky, the line deteriorates so fast I hardly got to do much. What living thing on earth can put up with 30 kbps???? Anyhow, I've decided to not let it get to me, so this is a quick drop-in to bid you adieu until the line improves. Keeping my fingers crossed it'd be soon. I miss my lifeline. Hope you are having a better week...

As last week headed to a close, it got quite dismal. Not only was the dreaded haze back in full force -- wrapping our little part of earth in a horrendously polluted atmosphere, a young man about to be married to his girlfriend (who is pregnant with their two-month-old) was found dead under very suspicious circumstances and in a very politically/racially charged climate.

I can't quite explain it but I find myself grieving the loss of this total stranger. I suppose it's not unlike how total strangers mourn the death of someone they can identify with, or whose death feels totally unnecessary and of such tragic nature.

Anyway, I should be able to get myself back into shape for a post before the week's out. In the meantime, let me leave you with this. A solar eclipse -- the longest in the 21st century -- will happen sometime on the 22nd. If you can figure out when it occurs at your time zone (I haven't explored this site which seems to be able to tell you), remember to check it out. It doesn't happen everyday. And life is definitely too short not to stop and smell the roses (or witness a solar eclipse)...

The "E" Word

I read this piece at the NYTimes' site today. (You may need to sign up, I had to log in to read it in its entirety). I was surprised but thought it rather nice of the children to have been supportive. What's your take on it?

I believe partaking in that route should be a personal choice. But the danger of it being a choice is that not everyone has the capacity to process this sort of decision. This kind of quagmire isn't new to our species though, is it.

Sorry for the downer of a post, folks. But it is what it is for today. Cloudy days are my favorite, but they also put a melancholic spin on the day, I'm afraid.

Josef Schulz

Currently being 'wow'-ed by Josef Schulz's photography. I am a big fan of the illustrative Bernd and Hilla Becher, whom I learned from a little digging that Mr. Schulz had studied under, so I guess it's not all that surprising that I was bowled over when I first came across the images above :-)

On a totally unrelated note, if you want to ogle at some beautiful photos of old Japanese farm houses preserved in an open-air museum, check out this posting at Ouno. Fantasizing about a luddite existence is a favorite past-time of mine. Is it yours too?

Happy Friday!

Do you ever think that your empty milk cartons could be more than just trash? Here's proof.

Mr. Fix-It turns Macgyver. Ok, Macgyver-ish, to be fair :-)

Dish rack for the adventurous lot.

Those throw-away plastic knives? They could be your next art project.

Use leather bags with a less guilty conscience.

Scrapbooking from trash can be a good class project.

And lastly -- behold the little eco-friendlier cabinet that stole my heart!

Gulp.

Stumbled upon something else that rendered me thought- and speechless. Then again, this one could be due to sleep deprivation ;-p

Tableware casted from artist's own body -- found this at Dezeen. Gotta love the fact that they milked the concept for all it's worth in this image :-)

No vida, no loca

I don't know this dude, but whoa, it's like he pulled the thoughts out of my head. But when it's all said and done, I'll be damned if I weren't still missing the city like the proverbial phantom limb, though. 

Elsa Mora's papercut patterns

I've posted about the amazing talent that is Elsa Mora before. She's now come out with papercut patterns for sale on etsy, and has posted a free tutorial for those new to the craft. I like how she makes it look so effortless, definitely encouraging.

Never say sparse

When I wrote "sparse" in yesterday's post, I didn't think I would be squirming with delight at today's web findings :-) So delighted that I have to write about it pronto.

I'm not usually a big fan of beads, not quite sure why. But it's rare that I would see beads and clasp my hands together in awe. Never say never, I guess, for I'm swooning over Laura Lumaka's beaded jewellery. (via 18kt)

Another find that absolutely, and I mean that, made my day is of Maru the cat. I miss having a cat companion, and since it's really not viable to have one at the mo, sites like Maru keep me going. Many thanks to Maru's guardian(s) for sharing.  (via ii-ne-kore)