[extropy-chat] Domiciles

[Amara Graps]

At 12:00 PM -0700 11/8/03, Spike wrote:
>
>  > Robert J. Bradbury:
>  > ... is Spike's front lawn most extropic as-is or
>>  after it has been subjected to a delivery from space of birthday
>>  eclairs?  R.
>
>Hey that gives me an idea.  (As Robert's posts often do.)
>We should have an extropic lawn contest.  Or rather an
>extropic domicile contest, where entrants suggest ways
>in which their digs promote extropy.  Having shelves full
>of cool books is a good start, but what we want are ideas
>and designs that promote extropian style and aesthetics,
>which may be considered by some unenlightened sorts as
>merely a subset of geek chic.
>
>Golden ratio ellipses in the lawn would count, as would
>voice activated light switches and automated control of
>appliances and such.  Lets see some of that perpetual
>progress and dynamic optimism, expressed in our immediate
>personal surroundings.  Websites count as part of the
>home in a sense, so Anders and Greg Burch are strong
>contestants already.  One's conveyance is also a part
>of one's personal environment, so if one has a car that
>expresses extropian ideals, that counts too.
>
>Artistic sorts like Natasha and Anders could perhaps
>judge the aesthetics, and the hard core techies such
>as Robert and Damien could judge the technical merit,
>kinda like the figure skaters who get two scores which
>are then sold to the highest b... I mean *averaged* to
>get the final score.


The following is a description of parts of my domicile. I don't
propose it for a contest entry (I'm still building furniture...),
but you might like the description of the parts I like best. Thank
you for helping me look at my home in a different light, Spike.

If I were to describe my domicile, I would call it "Amara's Road (*)
on the Edge of the Eternal City". Why? One window overlooks the city
of Rome, another window looks to a 710m mountain called Monte
Cavo, through which an ancient Roman road (Via Sacra) meanders.
Traveling, motion and pieces of the Universe (mostly the Earth) are
primary themes that move through my home (but please ignore the
boxes!)


Library
--------
In my largest moves, I've towed my faithful library behind me. My
books collectively weave the cloak, which I wear to keep me warm.

(~1000 books: mostly math, physics, astronomy, numerical analysis,
software, languages, poetry, classics, philosophy, psychology,
mythology, photography, art, science fiction)

      * my favorite books from my bookshelf here:
        http://www.amara.com/aboutme/renhuman.html
       
      I find languages both fascinating and a bit scary, but I
      must know some because they are my bridges in my physical
      and intellectual travels. Languages help me to enter into
      the worlds of the people I meet, as well as learn something
      from human's and my family's past.

      Language (learning+general) books: German, Latvian,
      Italian, some Estonian, some Polish, some Czech, and
      Dictionaries (in above languages + French, Russian, Finnish,
      Portuguese, Spanish, Greek, Hawaiian) Tasting is part of
      the traveling, therefore, in my kitchen I have food recipe
      books, in Latvian, Estonian, Hungarian, German, Greek, and
      Italian languages in addition to English, and some notes
      of translations of cooking measures such as 'teaspoon',
      'Tablespoon'...


Photographs (blown up, matted, framed) on my walls
---------------------------------------------------

On my smaller moves, my bike(**) and my camera have been typically my
companions.

      (~10 of my photos, mostly b&w, some color)
      some can be seen here:
      http://www.amara.com/photo/NBSunset.jpg
      http://www.amara.com/photo/beachsunrise.jpg
      http://www.amara.com/photo/KlamathLake1.jpg
      http://www.amara.com/photo/KlamathLake2.jpg
      http://www.amara.com/photo/TreePath.jpg
      http://www.amara.com/photo/YosemiteRoad.jpg
      http://www.amara.com/photo/JoshuaRoad.jpg
      http://www.amara.com/photo/FoggyFarm.jpg
      http://www.amara.com/photo/LonelyBranch.jpg
      (web gallery here: http://www.amara.com/photo/photo.html)

     (two Etna volcano shots, taken by my best friend)
http://www.educeth.ch/stromboli/etna/etna02/etna0211southvent/icons/s55.jpg 
(left)
http://www.educeth.ch/stromboli/etna/etna02/etna0211ashandpeople/icons/p52.jpg


'Beaches'
---------
I have a collection of
shells/sand/glass/driftwood/seagullfeathers/glass fishing floats/
etc. from some places I've lived in or visited since 1961. In 1998,
when I moved to Germany, I found I missed the ocean alot, so I
constructed a small beach in a large rectangular baking dish from
elements of my collection. Over time I've mixed the beach elements
together, so now I have a kind of 'World white sand beach' with
beach elements from Oahu, Maui, Molokai (Hawaiian Islands), Southern
and Northern California, Sagres (Portugal). I am in the process of
creating a small black sand beach with beach elements from
Stromboli, Vulcano, Lipari, Pantelleria, Hawaii (the island). A
friend gave me white sand he collected from Easter Island, so I keep
that separate in clear wine glass with an outline of the map of the
world.

The snapshot of my mind covering my refrigerator door
-------------------------------------------------------
I like to buy refrigerator magnets from places to which I travel
because they are relatively cheap souvenirs that fit easily in my
luggage. I have many and it is with these magnets that I pin to the
refrigerator the images from my mind. From bookshops (usually) I've
found interesting and artistic postcard-sized images or images+words
that reflect some part of my present thinking and emotions. Some are
thoughts of ways of being, other cards are dreams, and other cards
are moods. I have a hundred or so of these, so I rotate the snapshot
of mind on my refrigerator door every few months.


Web: http://www.amara.com/
(many layers deep, an extension of my mind, so no site map exists)


(*) Polaroid Snapshot of a sign in my home: "Amara's Road"
http://www.amara.com/aboutme/medsign.gif This sign existed in my
childhood in Haleiwa (Oahu), Hawaii. The cross street was
Kalanianiole Highway. When I was young, it was a dirt road. My
friends lifted this sign as a going away gift to me when I moved
from Hawaii while the road was still a dirt road. The city of
Haleiwa replaced it with a green Amara Road sign. When I was older,
Amara Road became paved. Then when I was in my late teens, Amara
Road was paved over to become the parking lot of a supermarket.


(**) Amara's faithful steed:
http://www.amara.com/port/parkedbike@Sines_50.jpg

-- 

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Amara Graps, PhD          email: amara at amara.com
Computational Physics     vita:  ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt
Multiplex Answers         URL:   http://www.amara.com/
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"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." --Anais Nin