Get A Life?

If you’ve ever thought someone needed to get a life, spare a thought for this guy. I was peddling the treddly through nearby Plaza de la Virgen on the weekend. It’s a very popular part of town. It’s a big open public space. At one end is this fossilised looking guy taking a bath. He’s there day or night I’ve noticed. (Whatever floats your bath I guess!)

Lined with open air cafes at one end, the plaza is always bustling with people. It also tends to attract the arty types. What caught my eye was this small mound of sand right in the middle of the plaza. So there’s this guy with a teaspoon. He looked a bit arty, so I assume it’s in the name of “art”. There he is slowly shuffling back and forth shifting the pile of sand from one side to the other, one teaspoon at a time. He’s moving at snail pace carrying his tiny spoon as if it had an egg on it. Now I like art, don’t get me wrong. But seriously, he would have had to get permission to do that, surely?

I thought about giving him a hand or at least offering him my bike to help get his job done a bit quicker. But he was clearly “in the zone” without the need for my help.

I never got back see if my friend managed to shift his pile of sand. There was much more happening around the city. It must have been national art day. On just about every corner was an artist painting. Buildings and architecture was the common subject. I can see where they’re coming from. To me, whenever I have heard a place described as full of architecture, I’ve always developed this bit of a yawn. Boring. But rather than the academic connotations it’s always conjured up in my mind, it’s actually the opposite. Living within one of the oldest cities in Europe with all its architecture of a bygone era, creates a fascinating feeling of being taken back into such a completely different past world. Add in all these arty characters, whether it’s shifting piles of sand with a teaspoon, painting or filling the different corners of the city with music, brings it all so much to life.

And this opulent looking carriage I came across from the 18th century. It may have been the quickest way to get around back then or send a letter by post. But I still like the idea of just pressing this little button, this one right here, to send this post. Right this very instance. Did you get it?

13 comments On Get A Life?

  • Good post Chris

  • Looks amazing.Chris.I want to know what he did with the sand

    • Scoop teaspoon of sand. Walk 20m. Tip spoon out. Walk back 20m. Repeat. Jo, at the rate he was going he would’ve been still going the next day. But I think the street sweeper would have beat him to it!

  • Can’t be a municipal employee, or there would have been 3 others in the vicinity observing / supervising while leaning on their shovels…(or spoons). Despite the slow pace, you have to admit that of the three basic eating utensils to choose from, the spoon is definitely more appropriate to the task than a fork or knife!

    • Agree Doug. But what I find interesting, is as strange as this little display was, here I am devoting my time writing about it. What does that mean?

  • I think it means you have a certain appreciation for life’s oddities.

  • Sometimes the simple things in life are the best….mind you I would have brought in the bobcat to shift that sand!

    • May be you could offer him a job Ben to help with your current backyard construction project?

  • I think its because you see things differently and that’s what intrigued you, you were trying to get the bigger picture than just the simple actions your eyes were noticing.
    It is widely known people with high IQ scores aren’t just more intelligent – they also process sensory information differently and this is the exciting part as this is where you fit in perfectly.

    Scientists discovered that the brains of people with high IQ are automatically more selective when it comes to perceiving moving objects, meaning that they are more likely to suppress larger and less relevant background motion.

    ‘It is not that people with high IQ are simply better at visual perception, ‘Instead, their visual perception is more discriminating and don’t take things for just simply what you see when perceiving objects or actions in motion, meaning you are more likely to ignore larger and less relevant background motions
    but excel at seeing small, moving objects but struggle in perceiving large, background-like motions.’

    The original discovery was made by asking people to watch videos showing moving bars on a computer screen.
    Their task was to state whether the bars were moving to the left or to the right. The surprise came when tests with larger objects showed just the opposite: individuals with high IQ were slower to see what was right there in front of them.

    ‘There is something about the brains of high-IQ individuals that prevents them from quickly seeing large, background-like motions.
    In other words, it isn’t a conscious strategy but rather something automatic and fundamentally different about the way your brain works.

    The ability to block out distraction is very useful in a world filled with more information than we can possibly take in.

    I hope this helps to explain what makes your brain more efficient than others. An efficient brain ‘has to be picky.. “Your Welcome”

  • It’s amazing to see how people live their lives in other countries. Glad you are having a great experience xx

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