Omnia Vanitas

Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas. -Ecclesiastes 1:2
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

Vanitas, -atis, f. (L)- falsity, unreality, deception, untruth, bragging, lying, vanity, worthlessness, frivolity

One of my favorite painting styles is the Vanitas still life, a medieval kind of symbolic art that captures the transience of the mortal life, the futility of material possessions, and the inevitability of death. Wikipedia article, I couldn't have said it better myself. Some examples:


David Bailly. Self-Portrait with Vanitas Symbols, 1651.

Oh great, this is cluttered, this is as messy as a dorm room desk, but there are always some things that I don't understand, so many different layers of complexity. The man holding a portrait of himself as an old man, for example. His expression is unreadable. What is he feeling? Does he know that he is going to die?


Charles Allen Gilbert (1873-1929). All is Vanity. This image is more popular in the optical illusions circuit, I'm afraid. I think this painting would be better if the mirror were broken.

An artist by the name of Alain Khadem has done some 21st-century retakes on the vanitas style to fit the "absurdities of our fast-paced modern life. I especially like the one with the Molotov cocktail, and Overacheiver/Underacheiver.

/absinthe.

Megalomaly

chronological anomaly = Anachronism

I was looking down my flixster queue and realized that I had several movies about Guantanamo Bay on it. In the future, hopefully, we'll look back on Guantanamo as a horrible relic of the Bush administration, or even think of it as a place like Auschwitz.

To think of it, a third of my life was spent under the Bush administration and wartime conditions.

Barack Obama: he completes us.

I saw this on the Daily Show when Obama first accepted the Democratic party nomination in November, and it's still as inspiring today, after the inauguration.

Engrish

Some Great Instructional Videos.

How to be Happy.

Step 6: Stop Dwelling.
Leading psychologist Sonia Lubamersky has found that the happiest people don't dwell on negative or ambiguous events. Furthermore, excessive introspection may sap your mental resources, making it harder for positive changes to occur. So turn off that Morrissey record and go outside!

How to Give a Man Hug.