Feeling Koi today

Koi looking down from first bridge at Byodo-In Temple

Aren't they beautiful? These Koi were seen as you crossed the first bridge upon entering the Byodo-In Temple on Oahu. I actually have several photos of these fish. You can purchase food for them at the gift shop, which I did, and have a great time feeding them. It rained off and on while I was at there but you really don't mind. At least I didn't. There is something about rain in the islands that doesn't annoy you when you are visiting many of the wonderful sites on the island. In fact, the rain, for me anyway, is warm and not cold. On this particular day it was overcast but the sporadic showers didn't spoil it and I certainly didn't head for shelter but reveled in it. I had to try and keep my camera dry though. Difficult to do when there is so much you want to take photos of and you have a 1 GB card to fill. :)

"The Swarm"

The temple is located at the foot of the Ko'olau mountains on the windward side of the island. It's very peaceful and I could have honestly stayed there all day just enjoying the ambiance of the place.

Waiting for a hand out

One thing that amused me about the koi was that they KNEW when you had food. The school of them over at the right proves my point. I had just bought food for them and hadn't even put any in the water when they came swarming over. I actually based a drawing I did on these fish. I call it Fantasy Fish and the color scheme was done with these beautiful fish in mind. I did this in my graphic design class and I have to say I'm rather proud of how it came out. Of course he's supposed to be a fish that lives in the sea but I based him on the koi I'd seen in the stream and pond at the Byodo-In Temple. I tried to give the impression of movement both in the kelp surrounding him and in the curve of his body as if he's moving in and out between the strands. The bubbles are from something that lives in the kelp (I have quite an imagination) and he's on his way to investigate it. Which is probably going to be to his detriment. A friend suggested that I add the scales, (originally I was just going to have him smooth like a cat fish or shark) which I'm glad I heeded because the scales make him look so much better.

Finally to the left is the pond that surrounds the temple. Even with all the people who visit it daily there is a sense of tranquility and serenity here that I've never felt any where else that I have been. Even inside a Christian church. I'm not sure what it is about the place that causes such a reaction in me but I love to visit it any chance I get. I also learned the art of origami while I was here. There was a sweet Japanese lady who taught it on Saturdays and since it was a Saturday I decided to give it a whirl. I had a most enjoyable time and highly recommend anyone who is interested in the art of paper folding to give it a try. I made a little crane and when I can I will take a photo and display it on my blog.

May 1956

Since it is the month of May, it is appropriate that I include a pin-up for the month. :) The pin-up is by one of the female artists of the 50's Joyce Ballantyne. The image was found at the following website: http://www.americanartarchives.com/ballantyne.htm  I'm always amused at the themes that artists or advertising agency came up with. I will have to feature some of them in my blog. From fishing to skiing and everything in between.

For the paper doll today I found another Boots among my collection. This one is from the same date (only on a Sunday) of 1948. I like the brown dress the best in this one. I've also enlarged her from the original size which was 4 x 5. I wish I knew how to convert these dolls to a Kiss doll. There are several Boots with the same pose so I could adapt other garments to this one.

I've just about finished another book by Barbara Cartland entitled THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL about an Englishman and a Russian./English woman in China during the Boxer rebellion (1900). If you want to know more about this time in history there is information on it at Wikipedia. Though not a reliable source, or some say it's not reliable, it's  good place to start if you want to know about events in history. It was this book that made me fall in love with China at a time when everyone was afraid of communists. I hope that someday I can visit the country, though realistically it's highly unlikely as I am getting up there in age and doubt very much I'll ever have the money to afford visiting the country. :) Still, it was through books like this one that I traveled the world and through time to experience the things that took place. I can't even imagine living a that time. And as a Christian it would be a rough time as the Boxers were particularly targeting foreign churches and any Chinese who were converted to Christianity. It was a harrowing time for both foreigner and Chinese alike. The concept was to get the "foreigners" out of the country and regain the old ways. Cartland uses people in her books that actually existed and her characters in one form or another, are known to these real people. I suppose that is why these books still appeal to me.

I've been having problems with the internet today. It's taken me longer than usual to post this blog. I've been having to wait in between being connected and being disconnected. I'm afraid I'm not a very patient person (and that's putting it lightly) when this occurs as I've written all this down and don't want to lose my train of thought or post what was meant for today tomorrow. On the one hand I know it's rather silly to get upset over it but on the other hand I figure for what we pay to have wifi this shouldn't occur. So it frustrates me when I try to save what I've written and get the message I've been disconnected followed by a now connected a few seconds later.

Finally I present a paper doll I designed in the 80's named Anita. I want to redo the border, it looks really awful. I'm not really sure what the heck I was going for when I designed it. Her outfits consist of designs inspired by the Archie comic books which I was into at the time.  I'm judging this of course on the clothes that I've drawn for her. They just have that "Archie" look about them. I am also thinking of redoing her face or perhaps reducing her in size. She has nine pages at the moment so if I reduce her in size that cuts down on the amount of paper used for the clothes.

While I have a good connection I will say Aloha for now and hopefully be able to have less problems tomorrow. On the other hand, I may not even post the blog because I just don't want the aggravation of being on line then being off line. If there are any typos or any sentences that don't read quite right, please forgive me as I don't really feel like drawing this out any longer but want to post it before the day is over with and I still have a connection. :)