fasting collage

during my last Bahá'í Fast in the Holy Land, I decided to take one picture every day and upload to instagram. there wasn't necessarily much thought that went into the pictures that were chosen, although they did have some meaning or relevance. on Naw-Ruz, I also took one picture, making it a total of 20. at the end, I decided to turn it into a small collage, and I must say it turned out quite nicely:

although obviously surrounded by beauty, I think there is something special in being able to see and appreciate beauty everywhere we are.

fresh paint: light and darkness

here's another simple painting with fresh paint. this time I was thinking about light and darkness, and how it manifests itself in our soul:

in short: there is always a speck of light in any darkness; likewise, there is always some darkness in the light. these two are interconnected, and it is up to us to decide which way we go.

very simple, and very quick to draw. but fun!

pi digit connections!

I just saw this picture, and it's beautiful:

trying out fresh paint

fresh paint was just released for windows phone 8, and I decided to give it a go to see what would come out. this is a quick thing I made:

I might continue with this... it was a lot of fun to learn the different brushes and all!

the virtue of limitations

straight copy/paste from artemy lebedev's blog:

More than anything else a designer needs limitations.

To prove this statement right let’s run an experiment. We’ll invite a designer and offer him all kinds of money.

— Will you do some design work for us for a very large sum of money?
— I’ll be honored.
— We have one request: we don’t want to limit you in any way.
— That is amazing, you’re my dream customer. All my life I was suffering from having my hands tied, but now...
— Excuse us for interrupting you.
— Most certainly. I’m all ears.
— Please provide us the best design in the whole world.
— A design of what?
— Our request was: no limitations.
— Aaa... Uuh... Hmm...

The designer’s brains explode.

There’s no creativity without limitations. The best design specimens arose as a result of painfully strict requirements. Modifier “the best” is applicable to a 60 by 90 cm two-tone poster announcing a certain band concert to take place in three days (so the job must go to the printers in four hours), printed on newspaper stock and using Baskerville typeface set at 72 points and incorporating such and such logo. Now, this is limitations, this is a real creative opportunity. A designer receiving such an assignment would do a good job, while a designer asked to do “the best something” would produce nothing.

When in their professional circles designers complain that a customer requested they “add some red” or “blow the logo up” it’s a typical example of ridiculous and unprofessional cowardice. A job can be done right with any combination of limitations. So the only thing for the customer to worry about is if he’s treated respectfully as a person and if his project is even interesting. Strict limitations could be and should be in place and in abundance.

The author’s personal experience was earned under very high pressure of the money being scarce and the demands unrealistically high. Instead of dwelling on the lack of financial means the author posed himself a question of how to do a good job under the current circumstances. The answer to this question is the result itself.

Knowledge: good design only exists within limitations.

stop-motion excel

this is seriously amazing.

nachos!

quick and easy, and tasty:

creative food days!

I've had three days of food-related creativity, and am finally able to post pictures for it!

first one was a sushi dinner we made happen... brought together some friends, made the whole thing ourselves, and ate and enjoyed it. this is what the table looked like before:

(unfortunately I have no after pictures!)

the next event was a dinner at home. it was slightly pot-luck, but we ended up making salad, rice + meat, and dessert. this is the ever so delicious chocolate mousse being made:

I can tell you it was yummy!!!

finally we went out to a café last night with a group of friends, and these lamps were among the coolest I've seen:

if it's not clear, those are spoons being woven into it!

30 days of creativity, day 15: moon eclipse haiku

eclipse of the moon
like veils covering your eyes
burn them with your love

random rock poem

today is day 14 of 30 days of creativity! here's a random piece of poetry that I saw on a rock on the street, couldn't help but take a picture of it:

it seems to say:

An angel face smiles to me
Wader (?) a hidlight (?) of tragedy
That smile used to give me warmth
Farewell, no words to say beside the mark on your grave
And the lord's forever burning candles

after a bit of googling, it seems to be a song by nightwish, angels fall first:



and here are the lyrics:

An angelface smiles to me
Under a headline of tragedy
That smile used to give me warmth
Farewell - no words to say
beside the cross on your grave
and those forever burning candles

kitchen haiku

30 days of creativity, day 11:

refrigerators
are more than just keeping cool
a kitchen haiku!

inspired by threadless t-shirt

new uses of the violin

who said the violin should only be used to play classical music? here's a creative example of other things that can be done:

on creativity

pick-up line of the day

girl: my grammar is good
guy: my vocabulary is good; do you want to get together and make some sentences?

courtesy of sahar, believe it or not....

30 days of creativity, day #4 - picture!

a picture of a hibiscus:

30 days of creativity, day #3 - creative cooking!

today I followed up on my first day of creativity, where I was cooking. this time I was aware enough of what I was doing and took pictures. I made a simple but very tasty sandwich with onions, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, some cheese, mayonnaise and mustard. this is what it all looked like:

step 1: chop up some onions and mushrooms and fry them. (I used the oil from the sundried tomatoes)

step 2: chop up some sundried tomatoes and add to the mix.

step 3: add a slice of cheese and stir it around

step 4: this is what it'll look like - a bit messy, but oh so tasty!

step 5: prepare a pita with some mayonnaise and mustard

step 6: slice of cheese, and then the mixture on top of it

step 7: slice up some feta cheese and eat!

my first bite was an explosion of epic taste in my mouth. yumm!!!

30 days of creativty, day #2!

a picture through a wrist warmer, giving a cool homing effect:

30 days of creativity, day #1!

30 days of creativity is a social initiative encouraging people to create stuff (anything) every day for 30 days in june. I decided to join, and so every day I'm going to try on doing something... day 1 was making a sandwich!

ingredients:

• mushrooms
• sun dried tomatoes
• slice of cheese
• baguette
• red onion
• fresh tomato
• feta cheese

fry mushrooms + onion + sun dried tomato + fresh tomato. cut the baguette in half, put everything in, warm up the oven, put it in. eat. enjoy.

unfortunately I forgot to take a picture. but it was good!

the end of class

While we wait for the mousse
Everything else is coming loose
We're sharing our arts and creations
And we find there are no limitations

Poems, paintings and songs
We find ourselves in different lands
As what we've done leaves our hands
In the arts we see no wrongs

With the help of water color
The tune of a guitar
Using modern technology
And even some ground tea

This evening marks the end of three months
We've shared laughter, joy and many songs
Walls come down, fears gone away
And we all end this, with a big fat YAY!

what a power is love

What a power is love!
What a power is love!
It gives light
It brings hope
How wonderful love is

If you desire
Love with all your heart
It will reach the minds of men
It will reach the minds of men

What a power is love!
What a power is love!
It lights the way
Gladdens the heart
The greatest of all things

If you desire
Love with all your heart
It will reach the minds of men
It will reach the minds of men