(no subject)

[merchimerch]

stolen from donaithnenvia rahvina

So, say you were meeting a new person--blind date, new friend, who knows. And you wanted them to have some idea of what kind of person you are, and who you are. But you can't actually tell them in so many words. Instead, you have to give them a box, with a dozen things in it for them to look at/read/listen to/taste/whatever.

What would you put in the box? And a copy of your journal or a link to your LJ would be the same thing as just telling them directly, yourself, so that's not allowed.

1. a dutar (or if it won't fit, a picture of one or a replica - no one said how big a box)
2. "Songs of Leonard Cohen" CD
3. a skein of purple yarn and knitting needles
4. An Uzbek paxta gul tea set
5. green tea
6. some of my field recordings of my teacher playing maqom
7. a picture of me and R at Annwfn
8. a tape of the Britten Pears Baroque Orchestra (with me playing on it)
9. dark chocolate
10. an air-cooled VW engine
11. one of my martial arts gis or maybe a yoga mat
12. cat hair

Okay so I guess its going to be a big heavy box with the dutar and the VW engine.....maybe a matchbox car version of daisy and a hand held replica of a dutar would make it more viable.

Comments

[fangaili.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you were into martial arts. What discipline? I'm in a USSD-United Studios of Self Defense, which teaches Shaolin wushu (don't really know what that is other than it's a form of karate).

Re:

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

wushu is really interesting, I've never really done chinese martial arts and honestly I still haven't found a dojo I feel at home at that I can afford, so right now I'm just not training. But I've trained a little aikido, did tae kwon do all through undergrad and did Genbukan taijitsu/jujitsu while I was doing my masters. I loved genbukan so much and really hope to get back to it at some point. So I guess I'm not a martial artist at the moment, but it has played a big role in my life and still affects my perspective.

[sps.livejournal.com]

Huh. The first thing I thought of centred around things I had done: photos I've taken, the (very half-assed) automatic transmission I made out of LEGO, the source code of SLNS, a short story, a poem, the notes for the philosophy book I never wrote. It seems like the other half should be my favourite book, my favourite sound recording, my favourite movie and so on - but then I'd have to pick favourites, which in itself misses the point.

I'm curious; did you find this task straightforward, or was making this list peculiar for you?

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

it was a very peculiar exercise for me, but a good one I think - and I think I tried to list things that somehow had an explanatory function for me - I really didn't list favorites, except maybe the leonard cohen CD - but that is just something that has meant a lot to me for a very long time - I didn't want to put in favorites, because they are so hard to pick, and I'm not sure that the movies or books I like have that much explanatory value toward the kind of life I live right now. But maybe that's just because I don't have much time to endulge in my favorite books, movies, etc.

Re:

[eeminy.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that how you approach the task says as much, if not more, about you as what you end up selecting. Do you see it as an exercise in describing your identity or as an opportunity to define and sculpt a persona? That is, do you choose items that you admire or strive to emulate, or do you try to capture your unidealized self? Do you concentrate on yourself as you are right now, or do you attempt to give the person who discovers the collection a portrait of yourself over time, including pasts you've outgrown and/or future aspirations? Do you pick specific examples or general symbols?

The real challenge for the person examining the collection would be to try and figure out some of what you were thinking when you chose to include various items, so that your meaning, as well as the thing itself, can become part of the portrait.

Re:

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

yeah I was thinking about how if I was doing this for my self that I was 2 years ago my choices would have been very different, 10 years ago even more differnet, and the person i hope to be in 5 years would have still another box.