Currently working on the next sketchbook project. Yes. I know I'm an over-achieving ass, but this is all for my eventual AP Portfolio.

New term to interperet: "mirror."

So I'm thinking about making a piece using kabbalah teachings and mythos.

One of the ten sefirot, Shekhinah is the inner female embodiment of YudHayVavHay (aka. Yahwey, Jehova, the God of Abraham, God, and most recently: Alanis Morrissette). She is essentially the nourishing force that allows all things to live (not to be confused with fertility, the force that creates).

She is also the force called love. Whenever a person shows love or affection for another, Shekhinah is present. Thus, she is sometimes presented as a bride while her groom presents the nine remaining sefirot.

Talmudic teachings say that Shekhinah is the aspect of God within the People of Israel. The ailments which the Israelites suffer are felt by Shekhinah as well, and there for the only chance for humanity to attain divinity is through her purification. But how does a God purify itself? That ties into the whole Messianic tradition.

Associations with Shekhinah: blue, black, the mouth, the moon, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge, mirrors, and the end of all thought.

It's amazing what one can learn on the internet.

So somehow or other I want to portray whatever sort of purging one must go through in order to obtain "purity," and associate that with Shekhinah. Something about the battles over the holy land by the three religions of the God of Abraham seems quite appealing. I may (or may not) just scrap the whole "Spirit of the Israelites" notion for something more personal and introspective.

Moreover, what medium should I use? I could do another sculptural piece like I did the last one (which is still at school at the moment because Michaels wanted to take a few slides of it, as well as sis') but sometime this year I want to do a short film/ music video. Oh well, time to scour the list and see if there's anything that looks appetizing.

And in other news: Christina Aguilera. Dear lordy. Nice to see that she's not holding onto her good-girl image (and a bit reminiscent of Ms. Pak's "Adult Ceremony"). You can't help but have some measure of respect for the courage it takes for anyone to expose that much... genital area... in any situation. Especially during a music video.

Still loving the new song though.

::looks around, then pops in his Something Corporate CD::