Another Dreamer

The House that My Father Build (2010) ذلك البيت الذي بناه أبي

Iraqi Artist SADIK KWAISH ALFRAJI صادق كويش الفراجي

This extremely moving short (6:00 minute) animation film is part of the larger project featured here earlier that included a massive 6 x 4 meter painting and installation. Here, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji recalls one of the most devastating and emotional events in his life; the passing of his father. Having not been to Baghdad in 20 years, Sadik’s first return to the country and his hometown coincided with the death of his father; an experience that not only made him fully realize the role the diaspora plays in the shaping of his personality and memories, but also one that generated an existential conflict between life and death within his awareness. On this sentimental project, Sadik writes:

Once upon a time:

In the family house, and in my father’s room in particular, which was his guest room and daily sitting area, my feet shook as I entered the room after long years of expatriation. His clothes, which were hanging there in a corner, were the first things I laid eyes on. That was a very intense and emotional moment to me.

This is then what is left of my father?? 

His kufiyeh “head cover”, agal “headband”, praying beads, and traditional clothing. They were all deeply rooted in his identity and sentiment. They, with his big old collection of coffee pots made part of his dignity, respect and sense of belonging.

They were hanging there, high, tidy and clean, as always, ready to be worn, exactly as he used to hang them himself. They were leveled upright on the wall surrounded by lost ghosts and floating shadows, restless and anxious, pacing the room, swaying on the beat of his strong, deep voice which filled the room, together with the smell of fresh roasted coffee and the tunes of old sad Mawaweels.

This is then what is left of my father! A few Objects, Hundreds of memories, A grieving love which still fills my mother’s eyes, And many unfinished tales.

Moana + forehead touches

Hey B*tch! 👋🏻

 Inability to comprehend financial planning or budgeting, sometimes even at a basic level; for example, estimating the cost of the items in a shopping basket or balancing a checkbook.

Inconsistent results in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Difficulty with multiplication, subtraction, addition, and division tables, mental arithmetic, etc.

Problems with differentiating between left and right.

A “warped” sense of spatial awareness, or an understanding of shapes, distance, or volume that seems more like guesswork than actual comprehension.

Difficulty with time, directions, recalling schedules, sequences of events. Difficulty keeping track of time. Frequently late or early.

Poor memory (retention & retrieval) of math concepts; may be able to perform math operations one day, but draw a blank the next. May be able to do book work but then fails tests.

Difficulty reading musical notation. Difficulty with choreographed dance steps.

Having particular difficulty mentally estimating the measurement of an object or distance (e.g., whether something is 3 or 6 meters (10 or 20 feet) away).

When writing, reading and recalling numbers, mistakes may occur in the areas such as: number additions, substitutions, transpositions, omissions, and reversals.

 Inability to grasp and remember mathematical concepts, rules, formulae, and sequences.

 Inability to concentrate on mentally intensive tasks.

I can’t even comprehend what it might be like being a human who doesn’t have all of these characteristics. I don’t know how a brain can possibly just “remember” how to do long division or know what ten feet looks like.

She’s a patron saint of rape and abuse victims

She took a vow a chastity

A low born guy demanded her to be with him and she turned him down

For this she was imprisoned and tortured. This is how she lost her breasts (details not required)

She was repeatedly raped.

The Catholic Church regards her as a virgin for her peity despite the rape. (No matter your views on virginity this is a pretty interesting statement)

She was sentenced to death to burn at the stake but was saved by an earthquake

In her holiday people make titty cupcakes