I have decided to once again embark on a 365 project. instead of self portraits though, I am going to give myself freedom to explore some other ideas. what's more important to me than the subject of my imagery though, will be that I post something every day. I want to maintain the creative mind-set that comes along with doing a daily project. :)

Tags:   project365 glass bottles Randomographer Project 365 bottle container vessel silhouette texture transparent light lined up window

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I love neon...it's my favorite noble gas. :)

Tags:   neon light element gas glow project 365 365 002 noble inert Ne νέον Sir William Ramsay Morris W. Travers

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beauty is but a flower, which wrinkles will devour.

Tags:   project 365 flower Hibiscus Malvaceae sorrel flor de Jamaica rosemallow ἱβίσκος petals stigma

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Tags:   Project 365 window reflection glass square clouds RSLphotography RSL photographics

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I obtained this Maneki-neko last year at the Portland Japanese Gardens. since I bought it, my luck has been good. :)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneki-neko

The exact origins of maneki-neko are uncertain, but there is a folk tale involving a wooden cat shaped this way:

A young woman had a cat, which she valued above all else. One day, she had her friend, a swordsman over. The cat suddenly went frantic, clawing at the woman's kimono. Thinking the cat was attacking her, the swordsman severed the head of the cat, which flew through the air, then lodged its teeth into a highly poisonous snake on the support boards above. After the incident, the woman would neither eat nor sleep. The swordsman felt guilty for what he had done and sad for the woman. He went to a woodcarver, who was called "the best in the land", who made him a carving of the cat, a paw raised in greeting. When he gave the carving to her, she was overjoyed and lived her life again instead of suffering.

A frequent attribution to several Japanese emperors, as well as to Oda Nobunaga and samurai Ii Naotaka, is that one day the luminary passed by a cat, which seemed to wave to him. Taking the cat's motion as a sign, the unknown nobleman paused and went to it. Diverted from his journey, he realized that he had avoided a trap that had been laid for him just ahead. Since that time, cats have been considered wise and lucky spirits. Many Japanese shrines and homes include the figurine of a cat with one paw upraised as if waving—hence the origin of maneki-neko, often referred to as kami-neko in reference to the cat's kami or spirit.

Tags:   Maneki-neko 招き猫 Beckoning Cat Welcoming Cat Lucky Cat Money Cat Fortune Cat Japanese figurine lucky charm talisman ceramic good luck project 365 365

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