A Comparison in High-Fiving

Brought to you by the Association for Social-liberation
from the Hazards of Atypical Winking (ASHLAW)

Dear newest member of ASHLAW,

A high five is a celebratory gesture made by two
people, each raising one hand to slap the raised hand
of the other — usually meant to communicate mutual
satisfaction to spectators or to extend
congratulations from one person to another. The arms
are usually extended into the air to form the "high"
part, and the five fingers of each hand meet, making
the "five", thus the name. In addition to the standard
high five, several variations exist in order to add
uniqueness to the experience and to maximize
satisfaction. (ie. amazing!)
If one initiates a high five by raising a hand into the
air and no one consummates the celebration by slapping
the raised hand, the initiator is said to be "left
hanging."(or feeling bummerish) This is considered to
be a somewhat embarrassing faux pas. Initiating a high
five excessively can also be considered a faux pas.

The wink is an intentional facial expression made by
briefly closing one or both eyes. A wink is a form of
semi-formal communication, which indicates shared,
unspoken knowledge. (while easily posing all sorts of
unrecognizable confusion)
A "naughty wink" can silently indicate a shared secret,
such as if a salesperson gives a customer a brochure
and says, "Here you go... it's free". Infrequently, it
may also mean "got it" or "yes, I understand".
In Western cultures, women may wink to men they are
interested in dating, but this has grown out of
fashion, though still used occasionally. Winking is
also done by men to women, often to convey a message
of "I like what I see here" or "Hello, I am interested
in getting to know you". In most male-female contexts,
it has come to mean communicating explicit sexual
intentions. A stranger male's winking at a woman is an
explicit invitation for sexual act. (thus winking can
sometimes be incredibly dangerous and potentially
disarming)
In Latin American cultures, winking is also a romantic
or sexual invitation, but can also be used a casual
sign of recognition or of acceptance of behavior among
friends. In Nigeria, winking is a signal for
children to leave the room. Many Asians, especially
Chinese and Indian women, consider winking to be
rude.
Not all humans are able to wink voluntarily, and some
can only wink one (usually the non-dominant) eye but
not the other, while others are far better at winking
one eye and find it awkward to wink the other.

It is then conclusive that high-fives have a far
"higher" potential in initiating a more wholesome and
unifying experience in comparison to the derogative
implications that may be brought about through
winking. For instance if one were to teach their
children to utilize one of these particular gestures
for recess activities or socializing with friends it
would be surely unanimous that high-fives are much
more accessible and versatile for a wider range of
friend-making and social dynamics. Not to say that
winking has only negative implications for the
population as a whole but it does offer a narrower
range of physical expressions given the cultural
taboos that have been implied throughout the several
past centuries and prospectively the many to come.

Not to mention that the intense energy of high-fiving
may only further the inspirational feelings embed in
the human spirit while surely cultivating a more developed sincerity
to life which may be useful when trying to
be an insightful and positive person. It has been
documented that several individuals, in fact millions,
have refrained from substance addictions including:
coffee, tobacco, alcohol etc……(actually there are
three hundred and seven more but you get the idea) and have
become healthier and more sociable persons merely
through the humble and glorifying act of
high-fiving.(!!!!)

Hence the founding of High-Five Camp Florence 2008
coming into full swing starting this Saturday October 11th.
Bring friends, family or complete strangers
anyone is welcome to the wonderful world of
high-fives…..but surely bring any stray helplessly
confused miniature poodles from around the city for
they are in the utmost need of attention out of any of
us.*
Techniques such as "the double handed"…."the top to
bottom"…."the midair slow-motion snapshot"……"the
no handed lastminute
fallonthegroundlaughingeventhoughyourleg
reallyhurtsbad"…."the relaxed likewhat?icandig
noproblemamazing"…..and many others will be
practiced until the utmost perfection is achieved. For
we as an association are not out to convert social
expressions from one of lesser to one of plenty. We as
an association are brought together only to convene
with the deterioration of each and every culture spanning
the globe….the impossible
confusions brought to gender, age, race and social
class……and at last the pointlessness and
confounding autocracies brought through the useless
and outdated practice of winking.

-Eddy Winterbee
President, Humanitarian and co-founder of ASHLAW



*it has been brought to our attention that poodles have
been viciously spreading the act of voluntary
winklement throughout our city streets with such a
fervor that a great epidemic has been taken sight. it
has been spreading into our schools, libraries,
grocers and even our homes and has been dealt with as
a grave concern. their fluffy demeanor has only till
now given them sizable cover until the 2006 act:
Engaged Poodle Syndrome and the Potential
Deterioration of the Human Species Through the act of
Winking (EPSPDHSTW ).

made a long venture to the other side of the city today in hopes to find the most perfect area rug for my bedroom. something brown with green and maybe yellow flowers. but all i could find were several antique draping rugs that cost way too much money. i cant tell you how much of a difference a rug will make in my life. something potentially with a little elevation to it. fluffy or shag-like. so i can lay on the floor in the center of my room and stare at the ceiling while being oblivious to the cold colorless tiling just centimeters bellow. I've come to realize that everyone probably should own some kind of rug. even if they already have carpeting in their home. a good rug can fill the space better then upholstered furniture with matching window curtains. or assorted tropical plants in color coordinated ceramic pots....it can open the space up to colors and pattern-dynamics that were never thought possible. if you were to relate it to food it would be the butter for the bread. or the icing on the cake..... if you got tired of sitting in chairs or sleeping in beds you can always resort to the rug space. something neutral but conveniently located. possibly the most transitional space indoors and potentially the most tranquil.......well depending on the rug. a rug made of wool may be too itchy. or a rug made of silk would slip from under your feet. or maybe it just depends on your mood. sometimes having more than one rug can be a good thing. you could even collect rugs to line the walls! definitely wont have to worry about falling into things. could even wear sunglasses after sunset with the room dimly lit b y a single candle. it would also be that much more inviting to invite your friends over for roller skating parties and at the same time you would surely save on heating bills in the winter.

twenty six blue buttons
scattered on the street corner
a five minute walk from here

the feeling that you get
when surrounded by several
strangers in a very small room

making time in the afternoon
watching shadows drift
slowly along the rooftops

each one a phrase pinned
to the bottom side
something like "lacking of a better word"

or "time to take time to take time"
the sound of a mosquito drifting
through the air

still this way lying in the open
sitting graceful as the stem
and the brittle corners of a recently fallen leaf

apprehensively arranged
the colors turn slowly to
the colors of the pavement

broken, dreary, plastic at times
waiting for the sunlight
sending shadows from bare limbs

memories like a paper envelope
or the dog eared corners
of an old phone book

discarded box's litter the
sides of rusty handled trash bins
and always the sound of rain

a polaroid photogrpah of a curly haired dog named nelly.
a lime green sweater for two euro at the market smells not of lime but of age.
my bicycle makes far more sounds then it use to.
i gave an indian man some of my laundry detergent today for free.

tiny pieces of paper lost in my pockets and scattered about my room.
the sunset is only possible by the river.
people wink more here then using highfives.
ive now talked fourteen people into a highfive. eight were strangers.

from the window of my house the weather looks like buildings.
from the street it looks like streets.
from the river it looks like rivers.
from the park it looks like park benches.

overcast and the air is light and clear. the lacking of shadows makes everything more transparent. its feeling very weekendish. easy to take time and do nothing.

standing near piazza san lorenzo......the sun finaly steps in front of the clouds. that angle where it is difficult to see much beyond a great draping cloth of light. while the rain continues to sprinkle downward. one of those questionable moments with the sun and rain together. maybe easier just to admire such contradictions.

puts into perspective my experience inside the museum today. to me impressionism is both confounding and poetic. i tend to enjoy images that portray light as the most valuable source of information. particularly between shadows and the object that is casting. as of now Alfred Sisley's paintings. anything to do with snow and trees. for i find myself to be nostalgic in the fall. and yes michigan snow is something i have a considerable longing for.

what draws me towards impressionistic painting is both its defiance towards the literalisms capable in photograhy while essentially expressing a nuance that is similar to the making of a successful photograph. something composed almost entirely to a rhythm.

what i tend to enjoy about a photograph is its compositions with light and their distinctive gradations. yet to me impressionism conveys an impenatrable quality that seems evaisive of depth both by lacking contrast while still implying gradation. something essentially more transparent then photography when under-analyzed yet possibly more two-dimensional when over-analyzed.

my shoes have several holes in them. when it rains i feel all the water in the streets. it is sometimes refreshing to have wet socks. sometimes it is better to have dry socks.

i have now moved into my painting studio! the school was generous enough to carve me out a space. now i make it into my house. stacking boards around me. table lamps and thickly painted paper stuck to the walls. it was becoming

 to much of a mess to paint inside my room.

the building is old with tiny dusty nooks to pass by. there is a rooftop terrace that we are not supposed to view from. last night the security guard came at 11:30 and smiled at me. motioning that the hours for use have expired. its good again to be alone at times in so much space. i keep remembering my life in East Hall. having a studio so large that one could run laps if they got bored. stuck in the basement till two in the morning sometimes till six. that feeling of being isolated but having so much space and time to deal with. making puppets from ductape, clothing patterns and a million miles of string.

maybe i will hide in one of the many cabinets to avoid the security guard next time. maybe i will wait on the terrace and sing opera to the moon. or run around the building flailing my arms like a lost pigeon. or maybe i will just make a sign and tape it to the door reading "do not disturb".

today faculty from the university and myself sacked out in the airport greeting students. handing out packets of information and house keys. making sure they know what street to take their taxi to...... etc... etc... never thought i would intentionally wait around in an airport for ten hours.....mostly it was a good chance for me to read and receive lunch and breakfast paid for! not to mention having the strange feeling that i was supposed to be going somewhere. whenever in the airport this is what i am used to. heading away or to some different or familiar destination. i made myself eat a piece of pizza to convince myself that i am staying here in Italy. so far i have had two pieces of pizza. both in airports. i'm working myself up so i can endure something fantastic outside of airport quality.. don't want to rush into anything for it may be hopeless to find higher ground....but anyways pizza really isnt all its cracked up to be. i mean so much bread and cheese. sometimes it just sits in your tummy like piece of highly dense unshaped lead though without all the poisonous attributes. i prefer blending spinach in water and drinking. much easier to assimilate! my friend Kathy would call it pond scum....maybe this is why i love turtles so very much. (but roscoe.....or i mean robby...yeah robby man...its still a tasty piece of pizza pie even the airport stash is a stones throw away behind Martini's)

lately there has been a cultural festival happening in Florence based around the democratic party here in Italy
http://www.festademocratica.it/?gclid=CObDhffUwZUCFQuH1QodmVEyRQ . with a short five minute walk from my house all sort of things to see and do. a cheap fifteen minute shiatsu massage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiatsu , live music, all sorts of ethnic foods, ancient Vespa scooters on display, a game where if you kick a soccer ball into one of the holes cut into a green painted board with nets behind you win a prize, art galleries, book stores, installation films, democratic debates..... a crazy elderly bearded man playing a self tuned and eccentrically built guitar....oblivious of the world singing from scribbled notes with colors of paint and expressionist lines adhered upon canvas nearby, flanking him from side to side..with an ancient top-hat color beige and matching disheveled broken-in suit jacket and pants......probably the creator of the universe as far as i am concerned......................you will find them from time to time as long as you keep more then just your eyes open.......

the first night i came to the festival my flat mate encouraged me to go down to see the Wailers and the hippies of Florence. the property is of a castle built in the mid 16th century and is surrounded by a giant wall with an emptied trench reaching far bellow...yesterday i had mt first coffee here in Europe at the festival from a modern little coffee maker on display where you put a plastic container inside the top (like a creamer) and viola instant hot very potent coffee with a mysterious thickened brown foam on the top.... with the visual appearance of hot chocolate...it took me a bottle of water and a good thumbs worth of fresh ginger to get the taste from my mouth. reminded me of the last time i was here you could vend instant pasta on the streets corners......still searching for those again.

finally settled into an apartment with this instillation/video artist named Andrea
http://www.myspace.com/ciboideale .....what i know of so far is that he projects films onto melting ice in public spaces. dealing with questions and topics concerning the environment. he is a big fan of good simple Italian tasting food and is a writer of poems and likes chocolate very much. kind of reminds me of the fraggle rock....maybe one of the more sleepy of the characters...but somehow seems to get the most done......... or ALF. yes maybe he is like the ALF. but with less center of attention.
ok confession....i think that everybody reminds me of the ALF in some way shape or form. maybe it is my bias from childhood and my strange affinity for puppets. maybe i presue an exsistance that hopes to live up to the morale and ethics of the melmacian race......ahhh... those were the years. when one could see a freshly debuted ALF episode from the genuis and ingenuity of NBC and writer Paul Fusco. maybe someday television will take back what it is most appealing. aliens merged with stuffed animals and house pets...... brought into the human characature of an elderly man and the innocence that of a child......brilliant!