Wednesday, June 21, 2017

An Unintentionally Weird Picture

A couple of weeks ago, as I was walking in downtown Jerusalem a small golden throne, spinning rather quickly on the dashboard of a parked car, caught my attention. It was a battery powered Hindu or Buddhist prayer wheel, not something one sees every day in this heavily monotheistic city. Intrigued, I decided to take a picture of it with my phone.
Because of the bright sunlight, I couldn't see very well what the camera was picking up, and I more or less forgot about it till today. Now, when I happened to look at it again, I saw that it's a virtually indecipherable image. The reflection on the windshield of the car makes the golden throne appear to be floating in front of the facade of a building, and the graffito, "Being Sad is Part of Getting Happy," which is on the side of the building, appears to be reversed and floating alongside the golden throne.
Cities are full of strange sights which, strictly speaking, are not inexplicable, though their explanations are probably rather complex. Why did the owner of the car buy the golden throne and install it on his or her dashboard? Why did someone feel moved to inscribe their philosophy of life on the wall of a building? Why did they write it in English? Does the author walk past his or her handiwork every day and well with pride? Or has he or she long since gone on to deface walls in other countries?

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