well, hello there.
my computer is broken.
it is being fixed right now, and therefore is absent.
what happened to it, you ask?
well.
the hardware broke. specifically, the screen did.
even more specifically, the bit connecting the screen to the rest of the laptop did.
if i lift my screen above 75 degrees,
the screen goes black.
i could sort of get it to not go black halfway up by sort of pressing it down from the back
in a particular spot, but eventually that stopped working.
so it’s being fixed.
but anyway. i’m sorry for the absence of posts.
i’ve been busy these couple of weeks.
i’ve been at camp, studying architecture.
it sounded mighty boring to me, but i’ve discovered that i may have taken a liking to it.
i’ve done things like it before with a T-ruler and a drafting triangle.
very technical but also very design-oriented at times.
very challenging. a particular TA told me he liked to challenge me
because supposedly i had the basics down.
darn.
anyway, today i went to a site in shanghai,
where i suppose is a place for designers. it’s called The Bridge8 (website in Chinese)
and to be honest, i fell in love with the place.
i’ve always liked it, but now i love it, from an architectural point of view.
it’s beautiful.
i want a studio there.
i don’t know what i’m going to do, but i am going to live there someday.
i used to live around that area, and so i took the bus to a mall i used to frequent.
in there is a bookstore i also used to frequent.
i was reminded of a book that i read a long time ago, and i thought
that it would be fun, interesting, insightful, curious, and quite frankly,
a wonderful game to play with you all on this blog.
(have you noticed i’m feeling quite euphoric today?
i got some quality alone time.
and i dreamed about the future.
and what could be if only i grabbed the opportunity.
and i walked down nostalgic roads.
and i had bibimbap.
the bibimbap had everything to do with everything else.
truly.)
so the game, it’s called the cube game.
it’s a game that you can seriously play only once in your life, ever.
because once you play it, and i tell you the secret to interpret the results,
you’re not likely to forget the secret.
i still haven’t forgotten, after a year or so.
i don’t believe i will.
so remember this:
it’s a perfect capture of your character, at this moment in life.
your surroundings, your personality, your emotions, it all becomes the result of this game.
do you still want to play?
you do?
okay, let’s start, then.
it’s an imagination game.
nothing is right, or wrong. just see what you see, and remember it.
you’re watching your own movie here.
if it helps, close your eyes and imagine a screen.
HD, preferably. with surround sound.
now…
first, imagine a desert.
you know. it’s simple.
horizon line. sand. sky.
you could throw in some dunes or cacti in there, i don’t mind.
got it?
seeing it?
now imagine a cube.
it can be anywhere inside this desert of yours.
so tell me.
where is it?
above the horizon, or below?
how big is it in relation to the desert?
what’s it made of?
what colour is it?
hollow or solid?
describe your cube to me.
got it?
seeing it?
now imagine a ladder.
again, anywhere in this desert.
where is it in relation to the cube? the desert?
how tall is it, in relation to the cube?
taller or shorter? or just the same?
how many rungs does it have?
are any of them broken?
what’s its relationship with the cube?
is it anchoring the cube to the ground? leaning on it? lying down in front of it?
it’s your ladder. are you seeing it?
got it?
seeing it?
now imagine a horse.
you know where it should be.
but is it even there?
what is it doing?
what kind of horse is it?
what colour is it?
is it doing anything to the cube or the ladder?
is it running? galloping? sleeping? dying? nonexistent? peeing on the cube?
tell me about your horse.
got it?
seeing it?
okay. now. imagine a storm.
it can be any kind of storm. what kind of storm is it?
is it here, all around you? or is it far away in the distance?
what’s it doing to the cube, ladder and horse?
is it destroying any of these things?
or are they still just sitting there, unperturbed?
how long does the storm last?
does it just keep going? or is it gone as fast as it arrived?
experience your storm. feel it.
i sound like a therapist.
got it?
seeing it?
now imagine flowers.
you know flowers, right?
there’s many kinds.
many colours.
where are they, in relation to everything else?
how many are there?
what kind? colour? specimen?
are they in bloom? or just seeds?
now you have these five things in your desert.
a cube,
a ladder,
a horse,
a storm,
and flowers.
tell me about them. describe YOURS to me.
they are yours and nobody else’s.
i will be replying as soon as i can to everyone’s responses by email privately,
so that those who want the secret can have it, but those who don’t won’t.
i hope you have fun with this.
i did.
**
Do you like psychology games?
PS: If you know about this game, and have played it before, please don’t reveal the secret. It just spoils it for everyone else, plus I’ll delete your comment and put you on the blacklist. This game is that important to me.
PPS: I hope to add a regular series like this. Let me know if you guys are interested in reading things like this.
Oooh, fun game! I love psychology and games and psychology games… after all, I am a psych major! Okay, here goes… (I hope my results don’t mean I’m a serial killer or something dastardly… that would be disturbing!)
Big, flat desert. Lots of reddish-brown sand. Mostly flat, nothing out there. It’s dusk or dawn or something, just dim and not the middle of the day nor the middle of the night.
And then there’s this cube… kinda like a prism. Looks like it’s made of glass, hollow on the inside, but reflecting some sort of light so it’s all rainbow-y and such. It’s just floating out there in the desert. (Yes, floating. Don’t judge… well, unless that has something to do with my results; then I suppose you can judge.)
But the ladder is leaning against the floating cube. You know, the bottom’s touching the ground and the top’s touching the cube, so I suppose you could climb up there if you wanted. But that’s not the point. Anyway, the ladder is quite sturdy and strong… looks like it’s made of gold… shiny and pretty.
Then the horse. It’s a black horse. A very strong, regal looking horse. He’s looking up at the cube… yep, just standing there looking up… kinda curious, but not concerned… waiting for something to happen I guess.
The storm is in the background, way back towards the horizon. Big, dark, scary, stormy clouds. You can see lightning every once and while, and distant rolls of thunder… you can even tell it’s raining back there, but not up here yet. It is kinda windy, though.
Oh, look! Flowers! Lots of cute, tiny-little flowers. I don’t know what they are… they’re just itty flowers. Deep pinks and purples mostly, scattered randomly around the place, popping out of the sand. Too small really for picking, but sweet to look at.
Okay, I think that’s it. Did I do good?
And is it weird that this reminds me of Salvador Dali? It sounds like it could be one of his paintings. (Maybe THAT means I’m a serial killer… he was a pretty weird dude.)
(Oh, and I’m totally kidding about the serial killer stuff. Maybe I shouldn’t post any of that? But I am anyway. I’m just being silly. Give me a break… I just took the GRE and need to de-stress. Too much seriousness hurts my brain right now.)
Hmm, so… I wrote out my super-long reply yesterday… and it said it posted… but obviously not? So I’m wondering if you ever saw it? Or if I have to type out my answer all over again. Hrmph.
Ah, it’s there now! I’m glad you were the first one to reply. I think that it marked your comment as spam because it was so long :P I’ll try to analyze your answer as soon as I get my computer back. :)
Wei-Wei
Architecture camp sounds fascinating! I’ve always loved the design aspect of it, but I don’t know if I would want to bother with all the physics and the calculations (actually, who are we kidding, I hate physics, and I’d probably design buildings that can’t even stand up by themselves). Bridge8 is gooorgeous.
I also love psychology and games and psychology games, although you’ve gotta admit that some of them are absolute bs :P I guess I’ve kind of played this game before, but only the cube in the desert part, none of the rest. I kind of remember the general gist of it, but I’ll do it again just for kicks (and also because I was never asked about ladders and horses and flowers and storms).
‘Kay, so last time I said the cube was huge and made of chocolate, and I’ll go with that answer again. The ladder is made of wood, has 21 rungs, and leans against the cube; its base burrows into the sand a couple feet away from the bottom of the cube. A beautiful chestnut horse is galloping in circles around the cube (and he is most definitely NOT peeing on MY CHOCOLATE D:<). The storm is a desert thunderstorm that lasts exactly 21 minutes and has no effect on anything. The flowers are roses that grow along the base of the chocolate cube (yes, because roses grow really well in a chocolate-and-sand environment).
this seems really fun! I love these kinds of games, though I don’t actually know of many with set interpretations.
(my computer has that problem too, but I have yet to get it fixed… haha… I might just get a new computer… maybe. eventually.)
also I love bibimbab. for some reason when eating korean food I never eat quickly. it’s a good thing :)
OKAY.
the desert is plain with lots of different waves of sand (if you get what I mean.. small hills) and a few cacti.
the cube is like the gamecube logo except full. like a rubik’s cube with the middle hollowed out and a tiny sphere in the middle. it’s below the horizon in my perspective but is in front of me. it’s about as big as a rubik’s cube. I’m not sure what color. transparent/blueish.
the ladder is to the right. it has 5 rungs. it is not very tall. it’s just standing there. it’s a plain wooden ladder. looks dangerous and unsturdy actually.
the horse is in front of the cube. it is brown. it’s just standing there.
the storm is far away and here at the same time. it’s a lightning storm and the lightning is striking the ground but not hitting anything. incidentally it’s making some pretty lightning strike sand natural beauty gems.
flowers… flowers pop up everywhere. all different kinds. everywhereeeeee.
man my answers are not too exciting haha! :D can’t wait to find out.. >:3
A really interesting post! I’m excited to hear what you have to say about my results as well.
Okay, the cube is a hollow, thick glass, clear cube and it’s centered right in the middle of my desert, below the horizon. It’s not enormous, but not small by any means – maybe like 12×12 inches? And it’s sparkling from the sunlight.
The ladder is on it’s immediate left, standing tall with maybe 10 or 12 rungs, none of which are broken. It looks new. It’s definitely taller than the cube.
The horse is on the cube’s right side and it’s standing sort of facing the cube. It’s a dark brown horse, with white near its hooves. It’s not really doing much of anything except standing there.
The storm covers the entire sky, the whole thing turns dark grey and ominous. The wind is whipping sand around. Nothing is destroyed, the ladder topples over and the horse is a bit annoyed, but other than that everything is okay. They storm lasts for a bit before disappearing completely. To make room for the flowers!
And finally the flowers. They pop up in bunches all throughout the desert. They are all different, bright pastel colors. Pinks, lilacs, yellows. They’re in full bloom, of course, and so pretty.
This was actually really fun to visualize! I would love to see more things like this in your blog :)
OOOH I LOVE PSYCHOLOGY GAMES! (ps. I’m sorry your laptop is broken.)
Okay…
My dessert is cool looking. The sky is all pink and purple and blue and it’s sunset, and there’s a random cactus over to the right. It’s seafoam-coloed (you know, like the crayon?)
My cube is right in the middle. If my desert is the size of a computer screen, the cube is the size of my fist. It’s totlaly 3D. It looks like it’s made out of metallic blue-ish glass/plastic (weird, right?) and it is a tube that is twisted into the shape of a cube. Hard to explain, really, but whatever. It’s definitely hollow. Okay so it’s smack-dab in the middle, right above the sunset. Just floating. Don’t ask me how, it just is. =P
My ladder is made of wood. (yellow pine to be precise) it has 6 wrungs and is just long enough to reach the floating cube. (it’s leaning against it) no wrungs are broken or anything. The ladder is just plain. Not too interesting.
The horse is to the right of the cube and ladder. (but closer than the cactus) and it’s brown and pretty small (like a donkey) and is just staring at the cube/ladder. It doesn’t seem to interested. It seems like he’s thinking “so I am just a figment of this girl’s imagination? that’s pretty boring” Yeah he’s not very enthused about being there. He’s just like “whatever” lol. Boring horse, boring ladder, AWESOME cube.
The storm is ALL THE WAY to the right. Beyond the cactus. It’s a tornado actually. with a few lightening flashes, but nothing too scary. (ironic, no? ITS A TORNADO) and the horse is still chillin where he was, and the cube is floating and being awesome and the ladder is still leaning.
The flowers are on the ground all underneath the ladder and cube. They’re light pink, yellow, light blue and violet. They seriously are cartoon flowers. They look like they’ve been DRAWN by a 6-year old. Just a circle for the middle, 5 oval-shaped petals, and a straight green stem. There are quite a few of them. But they’re nice! I don’t know if you ever read that one story about a bull who didn’t like to fight, he just liked to smell flowers — but they’re the kind of flowers in the book. The cute, fun, happy, childish kind.
I’m really excited to hear the results!
Thanks wei-wei!
♥Alexandra