goofy pour moi?

Good Monday morning to y'all! Hope that everyone has had enough rest because I would have preferred more of it myself. And I thought my week was busy, the weekend was hectic, and I was rushing around getting things that I've procrastinated done. I decided to brave the weekend army of people in IKEA to purchase a mirror but I didn't expect how busy IKEA can be. It was a sight! I often wondered why we don't have 3 day weekend. Fine, I understand that Sundays are for prayers but why can't Fridays be another day off because with the same reasoning, it is also a religious day for some. Perhaps I should petition a survey for a 3 day weekend.

Anyway, while rushing around I've had time to reflect over the weekend and new interesting question has arisen from it - How do we classify identity in architecture, especially in countries that have successions of turbulent history? Since the fall of the Soviet-bloc, these 122,000 sq miles of land have gone through enormous political & economic transformation. And like all 'new' countries, the changes have been drastic, rapid and constant. These tremendous developments have made Poland the leading figure among the other Eastern European countries but its paying at a huge cost. In Poland, national identity is a great debate because as it grasps the idea of a 'new' state, inevitably the discussion of national pride emerges. A discussion of such triggers its past history linking it with the Soviet, an idea it's trying to distance itself. Donald Tusk gave a forceful speech regarding it during an international memorial service in Gdansk, 'to remember who started the war, who the culprit was, who the executioner was in the war, and who the victim was of this aggression'. Where I am sitting, topics about the modernism and Socialist architecture has moved on but in Poland, these discussions are at its infancy.

For architects, these questions are vital because how would one manifest these identities to the world when they are judged in a determined global platform? Could they follow the framework of other multi-national countries or should they look at inter-racial states? More interestingly, local architects are not only attached to their country but also the region and city they are from. As a result, they have had little exposure to building large infrastructural/cultural projects. But this is not their fault entirely especially when there was a lack of public projects in the past. Identity also involves local regions and its apparent with the younger generations of its architects. I know, I know, a lot of question going through my head at the moment. These questions regarding identity are the same ones that have troubled me personally and architecturally. In the end, I guess the future of identities is rapidly merging into a single global identity. Whether it's good or not, that's a discussion for another day.

As you know, it has been snowing recently and the weather is cold but for some reason I've not felt it. In between my mirror purchasing and clothes shopping, a customary drink was in order. So, here I was sitting by the bar (of course), when my fellow drinking neighbour tap me on the shoulder and said 'Wow! You are hot'. No! it's not the kind of you're gorgeous, now let's get a room kind but more like my body was radiating lots of heat. So much so, that she could feel it sitting next to me. How does one respond to a comment like that? I replied a sub-conscious 'I know'. She smiled. Several drinks later, I got home safely, positioned my new IKEA mirror and noticed on the reflection the retro Goofy t-shirt among other things I had purchased. Well, I guess my body temperature isn't 37 but 40. Which begs the question, does it mean I'm slowly sauteing my brain? Oh no!