hey sailor

Aphrodite-esque dresses that I wish I owned…

The family home of architect Sami Angawi, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

So I looked at it and knew it was using the open courtyard and the pools and fountains to do a lot of the work of cooling the house, but it’s also got drip irrigation for all of those plants (which adds more moisture to the air and also helps cool it in addition to being an effective and efficient way of watering the plants), it’s got a roof garden and other eco-conscious stuff. It combines modern construction techniques with classic Arabic art and architecture.

And his home is a cultural center.

He holds lectures, concerts and salons in his home, with guests and speakers from around the world. He’s founded multiple institutions to preserve Islamic history and architecture. He’s an activist against the extremist factions he says are trying to hijack Islam.

His home is going to be part of an international institute offering degrees in Islamic history and science, as his legacy, housing a collection of over one hundred thousands of his photos, drawings and writings about Islam and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

This is serious real-life Islamic solarpunk for real.

Tumblr likes the idea of solarpunk, even if there’s not a real body of work about it yet. Well, we’re missing that people are already doing this for real, and have been for a long time.

“have you ever been in love?” “once.” “how did it end?” “it hasn’t.” (the get down, 2017)

“I try to be kind to everything I see, and in everything I see, I see him.” (hanya yanagihara)

when you kiss me, heaven sighs (la vie en rose / edith piaf)

“the heart is the toughest part of the body. tenderness is in the hands.” (carolyn forché)

oh, if only I could nestle in the cradle of your cabin, my arms around your shoulders, the windows wide and open (amoreena / elton john)

“the curtains stir. there you are on the bed, like a gift. like a touchable dream.” (carol ann duffy)

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm, your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm (that’s no way to say goodbye / roberta flack)

“you’re in a car with a beautiful boy, and he won’t tell you that he loves you, but he loves you.” (richard siken)

love me always, love me always (oscar wilde in a letter to his lover)

“with you, intimacy colors my voice. even ‘hello’ sounds like ‘come here’.” (warsan shire)

if I could fly, I’d be coming right back home to you (if I could fly / one direction)

Where the waters are as blue as the petals of a cornflower and as clear as glass, there, where no anchor can reach the bottom, live the mer-people.