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Locus: Focus
Henna Pattern derived from
Islington architectural ornament and the flowers in my vase.
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I stayed in a
student dorm in London, Islington, Pentonville Road. I was very comfortable
in this room. I had one drawer of clothes, one drawer of paper and
pencils, one laptop, one camera, one chair, one bed, and one small white
bowl for eating and drinking. For 6 weeks all I had to do was focus
on henna history, traditions, chemistry, patterns ... nothing else. Wonderfulness.
I liked listening to Islington
sounds at night, though they gave me nightmares. I liked living alone,
speaking to no one, though I think it made me a little feral.
Women
in 17th century Afghanistan hennaed, and in one manuscript you can see
patterns on the backs of their hands done in indigo, complimenting the
henna, in six pointed shapes similar to that at left. |
I was
an observer rather than a participant in dorm life ... I was old enough
to be their mother if not grandmother, and they couldn't figure out what
I was doing there. I did wonder many things, like how many James
Dean movies did that Japanese kid watch to acquire such impeccable cigarette
smoking inhalation technique, and did the Sikh guy with the purple turban
ever stop talking politics and did he actually proposition me (the man
must be blind or insane).
I appreciated
the fact that the Chinese guys completed the sequence of getting plastered,
singing loudly, and passing out relatively early in the evening. The Brits
took longer to peak, and the sound of vomit hitting the sidewalk outside
my window generally woke me up about 2
am.
A note to students in dorms everywhere ... if you MUST to get totally wasted
and vomit curry in your bed ... please shake out the chunks before you
take the linen to the washing machine, and don't abandon it there either.
Someone else is going to need to use that washing machine and it may be
me.
Research
Grant
Locus:
Focus
Set
Breakfast #1
Executive
Breakfast
Where
is Captain Peacock?
Measuring
Man
Method
Madman
Museum
Street
The
Bucket Women
Eleanor
Rigby has Gryphoemia
Phone
Sex
The
Answer
Tea
Break
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