北斗七星: my Saptarshi (सप्तर्षि) across the blogsphere

Several months ago my little blog here was awarded the "Versatile Blogger Award" by my artist friend Ingrid Lee.  Here is what she wrote, "Thanks for sharing your the creative passion with others, you share art and culture which is close to my heart, and I'm always happy visiting your site. So I naturally thought of you when particpating in this award. (...) Poetic Oneirism, by Ting-Jen Hwang, [is] an insight into the beauty and inspiration of music, art and culture." Thank you once again Ingrid and my apologies for the very long delay...

To accept this award, I am supposed to write seven things about myself, in addition to nominating/re-gifting it to seven other - in my own words - 'virtual places of my heart.' However, I decided to instead choose ten (yes!!) songs of my favourite Chinese singer Faye Wong, with a link to each song for all my lovely readers to appreciate. These songs are listed in no particular order and I have also included some of the lyrics that I like very much. Is this not even more fun than talking about myself...? :-)

i. 臉 Face: 
呼吸是你的臉 你曲線在蔓延 不斷演變那海岸線 長出了最哀艷的水仙 攀過你的臉 想不到那麼蜿蜒 在你左邊的容顏 我擱淺 我卻要 繼續冒險 最好沒有人會明白我說甚麼 只有你聽懂我想甚麼 你一臉沉默 甚麼 我沒說甚麼 濕濕的汗水不只一點點 你眉頭是否碰上黃梅天 來吧滋潤我的滄海桑田 你每一臉 是我一年 已好久不見 抽煙抽象的眼 雨綿綿 讓我失眠 一點一滴的沉澱 累積成 我皺紋 在你的笑臉 
(music: Faye Wong/ lyrics: the *brilliant* Lin Hsi)
*Here is another stunning live version with Faye's signature humming, "invented language"...

ii. 寒武紀 The Cambrian Age:
故事從一雙玻璃鞋開始, 最初灰姑娘還沒有回憶, 不懂小王子有多美麗, 直到伊甸園長出第一顆菩提, 我們才學會孤寂; 在天鵝湖中邊走邊尋覓, 尋覓; 最後每個人都有個結局, 只是踏破了玻璃鞋之後, 你的小王子跑到哪裡? 蝴蝶的玫瑰可能依然留在幾億年前的寒武紀, 怕鏡花水月終於來不及, 去相遇... 
(music: Faye Wong/ lyrics: Lin Hsi)

iii. 白癡 Idiot (music: San Bao/ lyrics: Lin Hsi)

iv. 彼岸花 Flowers of Paramita:
看見的 熄滅了 消失的 記住了 我站在海角天涯 聽見土壤萌芽 等待曇花再開 把芬芳留給年華 彼岸沒有燈塔 我依然張望著 天黑 刷白了頭髮 緊握著 我火把 他來 我對自己說: 我不害怕 我很愛他 
(music: Faye Wong/ lyrics: Lin Hsi)

v. 浮躁 Restless: 
九月天高人浮躁 九月裡 平淡無聊 一切都好 只缺煩惱 
(music & lyrics: Faye Wong)

vi. 誓言 Pledge (music: Faye Wong & Dou Wei/ lyrics: Faye Wong)

vii. 無常 Impermanence: 
夜風微涼 樹搖月晃 雲兒在飛 我在想 水流 花兒香 一片夜色放心上 喜中帶憂 暗中有光 怎麼度 怎麼量 田野 山崗 美麗之下的凄涼 無常 你看那山色湖光 你看那藍天白楊 看不到一絲渺茫 你再看海天碧浪 你再看晚霞曙光 禁不住匆匆忙忙 把希望留給失望 
(music & lyrics: Faye Wong)

viii. 開到荼蘼 Last Blossom (music: C Y Kong/ lyrics: Lin Hsi)

ix. 討好自己 Ingratiate Oneself: 
討好自己 現實逃避 不知不覺 抽離 漫天的是非 做我的真理 一團和氣 處事道理 遮遮掩掩 臉皮 其實都自卑 其實都自欺 討好自己 現實逃避 不知不覺 飄離
(music & lyrics: Faye Wong)

x. 流浪的紅舞鞋 (from 4:35) The Wanderer's Red Dancing Shoes
藍色黃昏 流浪兒 慵懶的歌 紅馬車 梧桐遮住了 舞蹈的鞋 馬戲團描出聲色 不管 你有一分錢或黃金萬貫 不管 你是一隻螞蟻還是個上帝 我願意翹盼 安然的醉酒微酣 紅鬍子的老人 微笑多恬淡 我的舞鞋旋轉 歌唱到瘋癲 我願棄世登仙 旋轉的車輪 來為我獻歡 我怎會疲倦

*Bonus: 明天我要嫁給妳 I am marrying you tomorrow...
**Bonus ii: 傳奇 Legend (I just love this song...♥)
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And finally, here are my seven blogs of choice (in alphabetical order), which I named after each of the seven stars in Saptarshi asterism, as they are indeed brilliant stars in their own right.

i. 天樞/貪狼 (Dubhe)  Alas de mariposa

Like a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, Alas de mariposa is an imaginarium of the darkly fascinating and exquisitely curious. At times achingly beautiful (as well as stunningly grotesque in equal measure), it enchants you with romantic classicism and Gothic lyricism - perhaps not unlike the creative mind behind this oneiric universe, the gorgeous Eurídice, her hair of black satin and skin of pale, translucent alabaster. A world of unchained imagination and poetry beckons...

{*Eurídice is also the author of the entrancing space Gabinete de Curiosidades.}

ii. 天璇/巨門 (Merak)  Couleurs

Clouds and sunrays (verso), formerly attributed to Richard Parkes Bonington. Graphite, bodycolour on paper (pale buff, stained)

An ethereal and intoxicating realm of pure elegance and poetry, pure "dreamscapes." A ceaseless stream of jewels and inspirations, with silent melodies filling a musical state of consciousness as beautiful as the sound of jade - 剔透, 清澈, 玲瓏. This is one of my favourite blogs in the virtual world, perfect for one's quiescence of light and solitude.

iii. 天璣/祿存 (Phecda)  Eric Hwang Lab

Technically speaking not a blog, but my scholarly brother's brilliant and beautiful website simply has to be included in my Saptarshi (just look at his incredible images!). Although I have mentioned this in my blog before, my brother's encouragement and confidence in me is the reason why Poetic Oneirism is here in the blogsphere today, not only as a collection of my personal inspirations (which was originally my sole intention) but it has prompted precious encounters with other creative/artistic minds and connected me with friends who now introduce me to wonders after wonders, challenge my thoughts and inspire me, in the best of ways!

iv. 天權/文曲 (Megrez)  Ingrid Creates

Ingrid is one of the most multi-talented and creative persons I know: all forms of art which include (but not limited to) oil paintings and watercolours, bakery, cake decoration, nail art, porcelain painting, embroidery, writing etc. A self-taught artist who delights in sharing her love and passion, Ingrid very kindly included my little space Poetic Oneirism in her "Versatile Blogger Award" which was the catalyst behind this post.

{*Ingrid now has a new blog, purely about her artwork and journey as an artist - Ingrid Lee Art.}

v. 玉衡/廉貞 (Alioth)  Japonisme

Lotusgreen's Japonisme is as exquisite in its poetic beauty as it is rich in its information. It is, quite simply, a blog that you must head over right now to experience the pure loveliness, the pure poetry... Amongst so many things I have learned on Japonisme, one of the most precious discoveries (well, in fact, it was lotusgreen who kindly introduced to me) has to be painter Elyse Ashe Lord. As she so kindly said of my little world,

"...it's always wonderful to be discovered by someone with a blog that makes you, well, swoon. post after post in this woman's blog, poetic oneirism, somehow make you want to use the word utterly."

And this is indeed how lotusgreen's Japonisme makes me feel - swooningly gorgeous, it utterly captivates me...

vi. 開陽/武曲 (Mizar)  Tang Dynasty Times: all the peonies of Chang'an...

How can one not fall in love with this blog simply by looking at its name "All the Peonies of Chang'an?" Leanne is a beautiful writer and true intellectual who has created a dreamlike but incredibly knowledgeable world of her thoughtful, poetic, and philosophical meditations which time and time again charm me. When I have a grown-up(!!) blog, I would love for it to be like hers, elegantly written with clarity and insight (alas this shan't happen anytime soon due to my sloth nature)... We share so many similar interests and passions that if one day I do decide to pursue a doctorate degree, I hope very much to have a supervisor as generous, knowledgeable and encouraging as the lovely Leanne. As Kyoto Journal aptly puts it:

"Leanne Ogasawara’s blog, Tang Dynasty Times, was the catalyst for this special themed issue [Silk Roads] of Kyoto Journal. In posts that read as dispatches from outposts on a journey of exploration deep into the history of relations between East and West, she reflects on aspects of what a truly global culture might encompass, presenting Tang multiculturalism and Silk Road cosmopolitanism (and much, much more) as reference points for our present times..."

Elated by the spring breeze
My horse quickens its pace
In but one short day
Do I view all the peonies of Chang'an

昔日齷齰不足誇，今朝放蕩思無涯，春風得意馬蹄疾，一日看盡長安花。

~孟郊《登科後》Meng Chao (中唐, 751-814)

(From one of my favourite blogposts of hers: All the Peonies of Chang'an - although there is not a single article in her Tang dynasty world that I do not love...!)

vii. 瑤光/破軍 (Alkaid)  Things of Beauty

Georges de La Tour's Candlelight {via}

My artistic dancer friend Michiko has piercing perceptiveness to beauty. Being aesthetic in everything she does, it is of little surprise that her blog Things of Beauty is an irresistible, inspired collection of art, music, dance, photography, words and so on... She has introduced me to numerous artists (in all artistic fields) whom I now consider to be very dear to my heart, and pieces of music which will stay with me forever. Her blog is a world where I always enjoy being in - the quiet (perhaps above everything else), simple elegance and subtle beauty - distantly alluring and yet it forever draws you in. Like a veiled diamond or Georges de La Tour's candlelight behind a Japanese screen...

I dearly miss our exchanges of each other's love and passion for art, culture, beauty, and basically everything girly. And our little conversations... Hope you are well M, and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Meanwhile, one just has to visit your poetic realm even more frequently to make up the void!