this is ... my favourite book

It is always a difficult task to choose just one favourite. (Olive seems to have inherited my indecision. If we offer her more than one thing at a time she hesitates for the longest time, hand poised mid-air.)

I was a real book worm as a child and have gone through many favourites over the years but have lost any interest in fiction more recently. I can't quite see the point of making up a story when real life and the present are so much more important and compelling. So I knew that my curent favourite would be non-fiction - most likely art or craft - but to find out which, I had to go to the book shelves and see which one I most wanted to hold. And the winner?

The Taschen 25th anniversary edition of Hundertwasser by Harry Rand. I have blogged about Hundertwasser's architecture already but hadn't mentioned how much I love his paintings and prints too. All those beautiful colours and sinuous lines. Makes my toes wiggle with pleasure just to think about it.





"This is" meme brought to you by three buttons; this week's topic was by Dees of Daisy in La La Land.

this is ... my collection

This is ... my collection of snowdomes.


Or at least, part of my collection. I would have needed to dismantle most of the dining room to capture them all in a single photograph. I'm pretty sure it was the kitsch value that first drew me to snowdomes but they have also been a good way of fuelling my travel bug. My favourite type are the old-school style: plastic dome with blue background, 3D plastic insides and snow (not glitter).


The Kryall Castle dome (at the front on the right) deserves a special mention as the first dome I bought when it was snowing. Which is quite remarkable given that it is located only an hour from Melbourne and it was September at the time.



But my absolute favourite snowdome is of the Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna.

Which brings me to another of my obsessions: Hundertwasser is one of my favourite artists and I have been lucky enough to be able to see several of his buildings in person, including:

The Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna. His first major architectural project which he also personally helped to build. Can you see the wonky floor (supposed to be more organic) and trees growing out of the walls? The trees are fed by the apartment building's sewerage and drainage system.


The Spittelau, a heating plant in Vienna.


The public toilets in Kawakawa, New Zealand. This is the women's but I also got my partner to take photos of the men's urinals. He said he got some very funny looks!


Another incinerator, this time in Osaka, Japan. I hadn't done my research and we just saw it by chance on our excursion to the aquarium. Next time we are there I want to catch the bus out there and go on the tour!