Five things you don’t know about me

Petty-Change tagged me, and since you already know that I can be a real slacker, I'm just going to link you to a very similar post that I had blogged about almost a year ago.

Shear Genius!

I don't consider myself a very logical person, but I'm always intrigued by paradoxes and oxymorons...though I will not be inclined to draw any derivations out of them - just something to tease the brain, and I'm happy. Here's one very interesting one:

A very dedicated barber shaves all men (and hirsute women) who do not shave themselves. Under this scenario, the question is "Does the barber shave himself?"

Check out the rather above-my-head explanation here.

Randomness

Can you come up with random things about yourself? By random, I mean eccentric or quirky – something random enough that it’s not an essential characteristic, but it’s still you. It’s actually a difficult Q, and I had to think hard to come up with mine. Maybe I’m not weird enough. Uff – normal is so boring.

1. I had 2 imaginary friends with really weird names. I was 9-10 by the time I realized it was probably time to let go of their friendship.
2. I press the toothpaste in the center; not from the end, and it drives L insane.
3. The clothes in my closet are arranged by color – from whites, warms to cool shades.
4. The toilet paper roll has to unwind from the top; it really upsets me if it’s unwinding from under.

And no…I don’t solve Sudoko on toilet paper!

Juxtaposition

I find juxtapositions in architecture, or indeed any art form most intriguing. Post-Modern against medieval, fusion music, the suspense of a tangy mango chutney with Cuban cuisine – I believe it’s something to do some kind of sensory overload; where the first reaction is “Oh – this doesn’t fit” and finally it grows on to you, as if you think it existed since time itself.

Centre Pompidou is an exoskeleton of “inside-out” activities, meaning it has the building functions such as plumbing, escalators, heating on the outside in order to maximize space to house modern art, and is located in Paris’ medieval quarter. It’s difficult not to gasp at the ugliness of the building, but I was equally flattered by its design after walking through the building and going up the escalators.

I was less impressed with IM Pei’s pyramid in the Louvre; maybe I just didn’t get the concept of the entrance to the museum – not sure it had some subliminal message about the openness of space against the traditional architecture.

Somewhat unrelated to art but certainly within the realm of this topic is a fun place in Baltimore for Tex-Mex cuisine called Gecko’s which serves the most delicious mango chipotle enchiladas. Yum! Truly a burst of flavors.