OniOniOniArt

"It's National Poetry Month! Write a poem or make something inspired by a poem you like" I decided to create tanka, a classical Japanese poetry style similar to haiku in that you have a set number of syllables per line. Tanka are 5-7-5-7-7 and often depend on puns and double entendres for meaning (I have no such skill). They were frequently introduced with a bit of prose describing the feeling, thoughts, mood, scenery, or any other bit of information about why or when it was composed, that gave further depth and context to the short poems. When a friend asked me to name a favorite insect I replied: The tiger beetle Mantispids are another Mantids, can't deny My favorite's hard to pin Can't even choose an Order! On discovering my beloved mantids belonged with vile roaches on the cladogram: Preying mantids may evolutionarily  be predatory elongated cockroaches, I pray not show revulsion More on classical Japan here . ...

Caterpillar Medallion Remember the Lady Who Loved Insects ? This is for her.  There are many (lovely) traditional Japanese designs with butterfly motifs, including numerous medallions. Where are the caterpillars? [February 16, 2016]

Day 15 Learn about something that happened today in history and make something inspired by it. Rhinoceros Beetle Gong I now realize I may have misread the prompt. I thought I had to merely learn about some piece of history and use that as inspiration, but I'm sure on this day 1,000 years ago, 500 years ago, or even last year, a gong was sounded. Oh well! On the 15th I went to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix and based my project on the many gongs in their collection. They had a display illustrating how gongs are traditionally made (i.e. - labor intensive), and I learned that there are generally three types of gongs ( suspended gongs  or  tam-tams  which are flat;  bossed  which have a raised center, are tuned, and sometimes suspended; and bowl gongs which are more like large bells). They originated in China, their first uses are thought to be as a signal for the workers to return from the fields since some gongs are loud enough to be h...

Angel of Satisfying Self-Righteous Indignation (she's my favorite) I rang in the new year by touring Savannah and communing with dead folks. I can't think of a better way to do so. All of the lives now past help to put things in perspective. Bonaventure was by far the most peaceful part of my trip, I could have spent the entire day there. This historic cemetery is located to the southeast of downtown Savannah on the Wilmington River. The site was originally settled by John Mullryne in 1764 and became a plantation which he named Bonaventure, meaning "Good Fortune." Though it was the final resting place of certain French troops and family members of the plot's many landowners beginning in the late 1700s, it was not established as a public cemetery until 1847. Some of the oldest headstones in the cemetery A mausoleum and family plot There are a lot of obelisks... St. Francis watches over a small plot Beautiful doors on a mau...

During a work-related trip this week to Gaffney, South Carolina I was, for once, rewarded for being unable to locate the Fed-Ex drop box: in the church/courthouse parking lot was this gorgeous little historic log house. Its style was common to the mid-Atlantic region of the country during the colonial/post-colonial era. Comparing its size to my current dwelling I can only guess that it is likely around 300 square feet, possibly less, not including its loft. From reading the signs, one gathers that the house has had some restoration work done and is not in its original location, but I'll let the signs speak for themselves... Click on the photo to zoom in for reading There were no signs stating that any furnishings in the interior were original to the house. Plexi-glass barriers at either doorway prevent one from walking around. Mr. Gaffney may or may not have scoffed at such a sentiment, but this house is simply adorable. It m...