as above, so below

Happy International Moon Day, folks! Look up to the skies and catch these nightly spectacular stellar extravaganzas. Brought to us by the Earth's guardian celestial orb - the moon, our lunar sentinel. 

wonder | wander | women are eternal moon maids and Luna devotees. 

International Moon Day marks the anniversary of the first landing by humans on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 lunar mission in 1969. 

fact & fantasy for the survival of the human race

The UN General Assembly declared International Moon Day, a United Nations-designated international day to be observed annually on 20 July, in its resolution 76/76 on “International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space” in 2021.

cosmic delights

wonder | wander | women kick off our birthday celebrations - starting the month of July and ending in September. Because our birth needs so much more than just one day of celebration each year. 

As the year shifts from winter and spring into summer and fall - so too does our perspective on what has transpired so far. Birthdays are benchmarks that mark our progress throughout life and lifetimes. 

sacred time

Our cosmic calendars are loaded - July is set to be a life-altering month filled with emotional depth, surprising shifts, and opportunities for powerful breakthroughs.

Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds

The Surrealist art movement grew out of the lingering horrors of the first ever World War. Artists who dedicated their lives to philosophy and beauty were sent to war, where they witnessed the lowest crimes of humanity and the arrival of death machines like the Gatling gun which could wipe out a whole battalion in moments. They were searching for meaning in the world and their art changed to reflect it, incorporating symbols and mysteries which mirrored the contradictions of real life.

Dance of the Nine Opals, 1942

the heart of home

Tucked into the lush landscape of Negros Island, the Gaston ancestral home in Hacienda Santa Rosalia was built in the 1930s. Constructed by descendant Jose Gaston, married to Consuelo Azcona - it is the home where they raised their eight children amidst a bustling sugarcane plantation. 

This decades old Filipino French villa has undergone several striking transformations through tumultuous years in the tropical climate and fraught history of the Philippines. The Gaston generations have since struggled to honor its heritage by opening its doors to the public - sharing their gracious home and life history with us. 

Hacienda Santa Rosalia - where stories live & roots run deep

The project seeks to preserve the site’s original structure - retaining key historical elements and preserving its old world grandeur. It remains a spacious, secluded retreat that has accommodated a large growing family while maintaining the soul of the original owners. 

debunked & busted

There is no shortage of lament over neighborhoods of the past and establishments gone for good.  wonder | wander | women noticed there’s not much retrospective about what we - as planners and designers and city enthusiasts - used to think and believe. Nothing ages so badly as our intellectual history. 

Whether it is Trump hunting and pecking selectively throughout America's brief newly minted history - to declare whatever strikes his curdled mind. Or the Philippines' Marcos clan desperately trying to whitewash their parents' conjugal dictatorship. Selective historical amnesia strikes far too many of us. 

not to be confused with history of human thought

It is embarrassing when the ideas that guided us are revealed to be wrong or worse yet become outdated or do not age along with our time. We don’t need to be too critical of our half-formed or none too evolved thoughts from the past. But it’s instructive to connect the dots and see how our beliefs may have translated to the reality around us.