Reality Ruminations: A Friend Indeed

In a world determined to reduce friendships to digital soundbyte interactions I often stop and wonder what a real friend is. We all (well I shouldn't assume that but I would think most of us did) had 'best friends' in school who we were inseparable with through all kinds of adventures and explorations (I'm seeing Stand By Me playing in my head but it never got that far out...well we did get chased by a large dribbling Alsation once after cutting across someone's backyard on the way to school) but do we maintain that depth of affection into adulthood...?

The dictionary defines 'friend' as

1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter.
3. a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile.
4. a member of the same nation, party, etc.

I'm sure we can do better than that though - A true friend is someone with whom you can be fully self expressed. How does that sound? The liberty to be completely and unabashedly yourself with someone else (or elses) is a real pleasure. Unconditional love mixed with a commitment to you being the best you you can be. I would exclude 'friendships' built around being feverish, selfish little clods of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy as Shaw would call it. That's just one sod propping up another. The sublime pleasure of slipping into comfortable youness with someone you trust completely can never be undervalued. The opportunity for robust debate where you can engage in vigorous discussions without trampling on the opinions of others or having your own trampled upon is a must too!

Friends come and go. It's a simple fact. Sometimes that parting is painful, sometimes a relief. As the seasons of life come and go aligned entities enter and exit our lives. The can touch us deeply or touch us briefly and then move on as their own journey winds blow them somewhere else. Some are more teachers, some are more students. In the words of Anain Nin “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”.

Can you get this online...? I doubt it. This can only be gotten in face to face interactions, time spent together and laughs shared. Anything else if just a synthetic parody.

Medieval Musings: State of the Art

Now I know that if I am going to discuss my take on some medieval art I need to be overt that I understand that Medieval art covers thousands of years and dozens of periods and styles. When I refer to medieval art for the purposes of my blog (and remember this is not an art blog!... once more...this is not an art blog!) I am referring to the very human looking examples to the right. What I have always been fascinated with in these illustrations is the strange sense of depth you still get in an otherwise cartoony or iconic style of representing things in a rather flat looking piece of work.

They have a quasi religious bend to most of them as well which appeals in a mixed innocent (we are beloved of God) and desperate (oh please come and save us from this terrible poverty and barbarian invasions) kind of way. And the costumes and armour and general attire on them are just great too.

I think the ones I like are "Byzantine" but don't quote me on that. I enjoy their simpleness yet somewhat clandestine iconography (remember that the church well and truly ruled the roost back then so it was ixnay on the questioning of the ristchay).