koi in the rain

While in San Diego, I took a contemplative stroll thru the Japanese Tea Garden. The rain made for nice company.














I no longer think of reality
As reality.
So no reason then to think of dreams
As dreams.

-Saigyo, poet-monk, (1118-1190)
















Gentle foothills, and
in the dew drops of the mountains,
soaked, I waited for you--
grew wet from standing there
in the dew drops of the mountains.

-Prince Otsu (663-86)














A thousand strands
of glistening deep black hair
in tangles
all intertangled
like my dreams of you.

-Yosano Akiko (1878 - 1942)














Looking at the willows,
one ends up forgetting them

-Chiyojo (1703-1775)












Yesterday felt like a thousand years ago,
at the same time
I feel your hands still on my shoulders.

-Yamamura Bocho (20^th c)

crazy glorious

Whoa nelly, what a sunset we had last night!
People were pouring onto the streets and placing calls informing all thier friends to get outside fast and tilt thier gaze upwards.


























It just went on and on ...

graffiti

Last month I gave a disposable camera and a "photo assignment" to a friend. It turned out to be such a success that more friends began asking me to do the same for them. Inspired by thier glee and a reecent conversation I had regarding graffiti from around the world, I decided to give myself a "photo assignment" as well; capture graffiti.

tijuana

Just back from a quick trip to San Diego and Tijuana. I like to go to such places and get lost first thing and then spend the day trying to find churches and temples.















Seems an effective way to get off the tourist route and dive deep into the heart of a place.
















Not sure how far I walked...too many miles to keep track of. I was pleased to discover that the chihuahua still reins supreme in Mexico. They seem to be everywhere, them and the border patrol. There were always at least 5 helicopters chopping up the sky and circling the wall that separates "us" from "them".




















Had a rather marvelous breakfast of nopales [cactus] and muy caliente chilies.














Hey! I thought I had come up with this whole "Pink Death" thing! They can't do that!




















A melange of seagull and verdent seaweed.




















!!!ROAR!!! I will crush you!
[click on the image to see thier mighty rage]














Pigeons perched on a pipe, birdie toes slipping off the entire time.

glory bee

This Just In!














Zazou DID NOT sustain a black eye!
Glory BE!!! {hey...i wanna be The Glory Bee next Halloween!}
She intones that me kicking her...
in the the eye....
with a pink ballet shoe...
was a cosmic accupuncture treatment.
Oh Dang!
She is so good to me!

dia de los muertos

Oh My Garsh! I so have the coolest friends on the planet! Betwixt Halloween and Day of the Dead [click on the invite below to see it in all its splendor], we have had quite the week of celebratory revelry.




















I had an utterly enchanting time dancing [making no noise of course, due to our nasty neighbors] with this gorgeous Angel of Alchemy. She was wearing a necklace made from the sacrum of a chicken....:::wow:::...














And the totally radiation soaked Haz-Mat guy showed up to
"Clean up the mess..."


































Pink Death made an appearance and twittered about in a giggly frenzy. At one point she even kicked her dear friend, Zazou, in the eye [doing an arabesque in her balletique point shows]. She made a silly excuse about it being "an attempt to bring her a little closer to her mortality"...but we all know the truth.