All that Evil needs to triumph in this world is for the good people to Tweet...

I know it has been two months since I last blogged, I blame my new job and the convenience of Facebook to comment momentarily on life as it passes by. Any way, I was particularly disturbed today after reading an article about how people choose to tweet instead of rendering aid and stepping in when they see someone get hurt.

That's all that Evil needs, a world of tweeters, texters and youtube videographers waiting for the big score that will immortalize them in cyberspace, in the meantime the world distintergrates around us....

Geez Louise, where has all the time gone!

I can't believe the last post I made was in May. Where or where has all the time gone? I feel like breaking out in song a la Joan Baez...Well, in May I started a new job which I attibute to the lack of time spent on my blog.

I guess it is time to evolve this blog a bit to make it more interesting. But what route shall I take it? I know I dedicated it earlier to art and musings by me.

Here is a poem I wrote a while ago...

Wandering

Our hero awoke a wondering
‘bout where in life to go
And looked out to the horizon
At sunshine’s morning glow

He had dreamed of epic adventure
Of travelling to foreign lands
Years ago he’d jotted thoughts
Made grand and intricate plans

But today inspiration just hit him
And among the morning dew
Before he had a chance to doubt it
He left the home he knew

He didn’t pack at all
Just started on his way
No place in particular
But to horizons end they say

I’m sure I’ll find adventure
And with that thought in mind
He dreamed of lands he’d visit
And the adventure that he’d find

The Yellow Challenge

There is only one thing I think of when someone says yellow. While I would like it to be a Maize out at the University of Michigan, I have only one truly yellowy experience. Dust storms in Iraq.

Check it out! You probably think I switched my camera to a sepia mode. But I am proud to say there is no trickery or photoshopping at all. These yellowish orange days would last up to 96hrs, in Baghdad no less.



So this is a self-portrait taken sometime in 2008. Its not a glamor shot and I think the lens distorted the size of my nose and the shape of my head. But, this week the theme is yellow, not beauty. Pictures don't get much more yellow than this one!

Thank you for stopping by! Check out other entries at the following link!



Cheers!!

Yuki

Faces and Flowers in China

The photo challlenge this week on iheartfaces is 'faces and flowers.' And flowers reminded me of this photo I took while on a trip to Beijing with my wife. I will apologize up front for the fuzziness, as all photographers have experienced at one point or another: you see an image but do not have your digital camera handily turned on. Such was the case here. We were driving through a police checkpoint along our way to the Great Wall. In an instant, we saw this scene develop as the cab slowed. I don't think I even looked through the view finder, trusting that the 35mm would capture the moment.



I didn't edit the photo, hoping for a more documentary style image, perhaps in the vein of Henri Cartier Bresson.

Please visit the works of other photographers at the following site:



Cheers!!

Yuki

Celebrating Mom on Iheartfaces

So this week, iheartfaces is celebrating the one person that binds all of us in the web of humanity. We celebrate mothers, not just here but everywhere!

My contribution this week is one of my favorites. It was seen during the Places I Love week and thankfully can be seen again! This time I converted the image to black and white and cropped in a little closer.



I took the photo on an excursion to Chalk Ridge Falls, TX. The babe was only 10 months old.

I like the image because I believe it exemplifies motherhood.

Humbly, I also think it juxtaposes Dorothea Lange's photo "Migrant Mother." In Ms Lange's photo we see the worried despair of a mother during the Great Depression (you can view Ms Lange's work at the Library of Congress or by doing a quick Google search--Ms Lange (1895-1965) was a pioneer and inspiration for women photographers everywhere).

In my photo, we see a modern American mom filled with hope and faith, knowing that we live in a day and age where we control our own destiny and even if today is bad, tomorrow will be better.

Thank you for your indulgence!

Check out more photos at the following link!



Cheers,

Yuki

Then and Now on iheartfaces.com

So I have returned to the iheartfaces weekly photo challenge/share because I find this week's theme particularly meaningful. It is 'me then and me now' week! I believe it is important to look back on your life to effectively evaluate where you are or where you want to be. Any how...



This picture is of much simpler times. My brother and I are enjoying a picnic in Sweden with our parents and grandmother. Ever the intellectual, my brother looks like he is entertaining a deep philosopical discussion. Me, on the otherhand, well let's just say I look like I've been wading in the shallow end of the gene pool...That was then, my guess is 1980-ish.

This is now, 30 years later.



Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy other submissions at:



Cheers!

Yuki

Some cowboy poetry...

Love’s Gunfight

In the gunfights of love
Blood flows hot from the hearts
And cupid’s bullets fly true

Through the wind and the dust
The gunfighters’ lust
Leap like whirlwinds in Sonoran hue

Heaven’s horizon embrace
Casts saguaro shadows through space
While coyotes bay for the moon

The cordite caress
Fiery ‘neath bullet’s lead breast
Propels to make lovers swoon

When struck they awake
And love overtakes
Bang, bang the awakening sigh

For the ghosts of love’s breath
Forever ride west
To the place where earth meets the sky

Where gunfights of love
With the hot moon above
and cupid’s fly bullets true--

Bull’t Riddl’d Moon

The howls of history
Fade to dusk
At the rise of the burning sun
The shades retreat
And phantoms drown
In the land that blood once won
But when darkness creeps
And the bright orb fades
The old world is born anew
Soft on the winds
The stir of guns
Ghosts the past once knew
They dance and delight
Beneath the unearthly light
Of a bull’t riddl’d moon


Thanks for stopping by!

Yuki

Experimenting with Corel Painter and my Bamboo Tablet...

So I have a Bamboo Tablet that puts the F in fun! The great thing about it is the fact that it is not sensitive to touch, only to the pen that come with it. So you can write naturally and draw as well. But the drawing will take a little practice, it will take time to get accustomed to not looking at the pad as I draw.

Here is my first attempt. I find that I have to use sketching techniques to create the image whereas with a pencil I usually draw more deliberately.

Due to popular request from my bro...

So a couple days ago I posted some haiku. Here are some poems from the same time period...

Moral Compass North

A compass always points to north
We like to believe its true
But along life’s path are crossroads
To lead astray the fool
For though he has a compass
He’ll not always find his way
If he wields it poorly
The land will have its day
For knowing North is only part
Of the knowledge trapped inside
East is east and west is west
And next to south preside

(This is only part of it. I have to re-write the second stanza below

But it isn’t always the fool
Not every compass is alike
Nor in capable hands do fall
A compass always points to north
We like to believe its true
Except when near magnets
To trick the pious fool
We put faith into the compass
Magnets whether big or small
Will lure in its own way
Though bigger seems to always win
Small will have its day

The rhyme and meter are clumsy, so are the words, so please excuse the amateurish nature of it....)

Here's a better one

Knock out

Her eyes twinkled in the light
Her hair floated on the breeze
It was love at first sight
I could feel it in my knees.

Across the steamy bar
She sat, my winged angel of love.
Shining through the dark, a star
Fallen from above.

My heart stumbled, struck
By cupid's arrow point.
My lungs began to suck
I wobbled, about to faint.

Then a thrown kiss tumbled
And knocked me off my feet
My lips, in silence, mumbled
Below eyes of disbelief

Then the wink—
She went for the TKO
I couldn't think
And never ducked to avoid the blow

The world, swirled; a mosh of wild color
Down for the count
I found, love
One tough customer


And one that was published on poetry.com:


PAIN, I feel the wind stingin’ my face,
I hear the guttural sound of air--
A thousand voices endlessly speaking to my soul
Pushing me on!
Driving me!
Then silence…
Am I alive?
Where is the pain.
In the silence I inhabit a barren dream world.
The unreality of it shifts before my eyes,
Curvaceous phantoms dancing beneath a blinding sun.
But close by I feel the heart beat of my reality.
Its redundant Morse code, whispering—
Freedom. Freedom. Ride!
It is an energy that stirs my essence.
Defiant against the red staring eye
I await its green brother to
Unleash me!
Send me to the paradise!

Please enjoy and I appreciate any and all comments. They will only serve to make me better!

Thanks,

Yuki

Where have I been?

Well, with a new baby (check out my wife's blog) and work (at home and at work), March passed like a beans through the digestive tract. Now we are well on the way through April. Where does time go?

The great thing about April is that I have a new Bamboo Tablet for my laptop. Now I can actually add a little hand drawn art to this blog. Woo hoo! In the meantime, while I work on a few digital art pieces, allow me to entertain you with some poetry.

I wrote this poetry as a young lieutentant at the end of the last century and the beginning of this one. Let's start with some haiku...

Fortune cookie say
Merry times ahead. Seek love
In a sugar shell?

Drunk tank, think tank, fish
Live in a tank, but not here
Gunner! Sabot! Tank!

Waves roll on the wind
I live beneath a sea
I’ve never seen the sun

Melody of death
Bass and crescendo pummel
Killing silence

A flower unfolds its petals
Color flows like blood
My mind is awoke

Haze hides the mountain
Mist shrouds the valley floor
Where is enlightenment

I loved once before
Countless battlefields of yore
I waged love as war

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Deuces!

Feel like dancing?

Well, I'm back after a brief hiatus. It's been pretty busy around the ol'Kuniyuki house. This week on iheartfaces, the contest category is 'I wanna dance!' Seeing as how I met my wife dancing in Tucson, it would seem like I should have a bunch of dancing photos. Well I have a few.

This one is titled: Ghosts of Dances Past


The photo was taken when I was part of the thriving Austin Swing Dance scene. The venue is the American Legion in downtown Austin on a Wednesday night about a decade ago at a dance sponsored by Austin Lindy Hop. The lighting was never good so I had to use a fill flash.

The photo is raw and gritty because that was the scene at the time. It was real, filled with people inspired by the beauty of movement and the energy of music. Lindy Hop, Balboa, Shag, kick-ball-step, were words we innately understood along with tempo and musicality. When I took the photo I wanted to capture a memory and a moment, to somehow embody the organic movement and expressions of joy.

As you can tell we didn't often dress to impress. But we didn't have to. We would dance into the wee hours of the night and then go to an eatery (Denny's or local all night sandwich shop) to refuel before the next morning.

My brother and I would go down with a couple of our buddies, taking shifts at the wheel and managing some sleep between Killen and Austin.

Here is a short poem I wrote at the time when we would travel an hour each way, and dance up to five days a week, just for the sake of dancing...

O' Muse, where do you dance tonight?
Music abounds, 'tis weekend's start
Yet of you there is no sight

O' Muse, where do you dance tonight?
In the cavernous halls of my heart
Where rhythm stirs the night

The scene continues to thrive in Austin and around the US. Check out austinswingsyndicate.org if you're in Texas.

Some photo facts:
-That is talcum powder on the floor to reduce the friction and improve one's spin.
-The young girl on the left auditioned for "So you think you can dance"

Check out other photos at

The Places I Love...

So this week on iheartfaces.blogspot.com, the theme is My Story in Photos: The Places that I Love. Unfortunately, I do not have digital photos of all the places I love. My life has taken me around the world to so many interesting places, from Washington DC to Tanzania, to Stockholm and Singapore.

Despite the lack of photos in my digital repository, here are some of the most recent places that I love...


I love going out on walks with my wife and kiddos. Whether we're hiking the Adirondacks, roaming through Texas Hill Country, or meandering along Arizona Riparian habitats, the place I love most is with my family!


Another place I love is the dance floor. I've always loved the dance floor, but did not learn to dance until I was in College. Even then, I did not dance much until one day in Texas I gave it a whirl. The picture here is one I took of a buddy while in Korea. I love dancing because you can go almost anywhere, find a scene, and be happy. Most importantly, I met my wife Lindy Hoppin' in Tucson. So the dance floor has many happy memories!


I love the East coast of South Korea. The area is so picturesque, despite the fact that there are areas of beach lined with chain link fence and concertina wire.


The desert is a beautiful place. I've spent a lot of time in the desert and appreciate it for its beauty.


I love the coast and the beach, in particular because my sweet heart is a 'coastal soul.' We've been to some great beaches from Sanibel Island, to South Padre and to the sandy shores of San Diego. Great times, so they definitely rank among the places I love.


Geodesic domes. Fun in a geometric house! I love this place because it was our first home together on a lake named Desire in Renton, WA.


Seoul is an amazing city. Traffic is a problem, but a trip there is priceless experience just for the amazing food, culture, and experience!


Ah, the lakes of New York. Beauty resplendent in the colors of Fall.


Korea in the Fall. Amid the bustling city of Seoul and in the surrounding mountains, you can find the most amazing colors and natural beauty.




China. I am glad I had the opportunity to travel there with my sweetie. It is a country with a rich history and a vibrant culture.

Thank you for your indulgence! Check out other places that people love at the link below!!

Got Girl Friends?

So iheartfaces.blogspot.com has an ad hoc contest in advance of their Blissdom Convention. The contests requests 'girl friend' themed photos. Well, I married my girlfriend, so I'm not sure if photos of her with me would count. So I scrounged my amateur image library and found one idyllic shot of girl friends and their boy friends



I captured the image on an excursion to the Second Market area of Tongducheon, South Korea with my wife at my side. We were sitting by the window in one of our favorite hangouts and I noticed that there were other couples congregating in the cafe with us. The photo was spontaneous. I wanted to document the moment for posterity. Considering that National Geographic photographers may expend hundreds of rolls of film on one assignment, I figured I could spare one or two digital images.

So some background on Korea for a moment, since I have your attention now. Young men in South Korea have mandatory enlistment for two years in the Armed Forces. Most of them are young college aged men. Occassionally women join, but it is not expected of them.

It is a unifying experience that spans generations. All men, unless they receive an exception serve, in either the military or the police. Those who speak english serve as Korean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSA), a relationship forged in combat some sixty years ago.

However, the cutest part about being a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine or Commando in the Korean military are the variety shows that showcase service members and their girl friends. They are very adorable shows which is why I dedicate this week's blog to South Korean Soldiers and their girl friends.

Check out other photos at the following website:

The original texture experiment....

Before the wonderful silhouette posted earlier, this was my first texture idea. While vacationing at Padre Island, I was digging a hole in the sand for the boys. We were about two feet down when I pulled up Mr Crabs on the end of my entrenching tool. He sat there long enough to have a few pictures taken. It was hard to do because in the bright sun, I could not see the little dude on the LCD.



In the original photo, the bright sun kind of bleaches out the texture of the wet sand so I had to spend some time adjusting levels of ligth, color and contrast to bring out the granules of wet sand.

An experiment in texture...

So this week's iheartfaces contest is texture. I had to get help from my sweetie with the texture technique on Photoshop. But I am proud to say the picture is mine. We were out on a hike down by the San Pedro Riparian Reserve and Karyn asked me to help her take some silhouettes. So I picked up the camera and snapped a few. This one turned out to be the most 'fun' pic of the day.

This photo is called "Keep on Trucking"



The boy was a sport, he took some time out of digging with a stick to momentarily drive up his mommy's tummy. When I say momentary, it truly was. Fortunately, due to many hours on the ol' shooting range at the University of Michigan, I am very practiced at just pulling the trigger when things 'feel' right. Like Bruce Lee says in Enter the Dragon. "Don't think. Feeeeeeel." He also says of his fist, "I do not hit, It hits."

So with that in mind, or no-mind, please enjoy this entry and others at iheartfaces.blogspot.com, use Mr Linky, below.

Yuki

The importance of relationships....

So there I was, on a business trip to Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, when it hit--me as it often does--married men with kids, like me, who travel for work are very lucky guys. I am particularly lucky. My wife is super mommy. Here I am at the Shades of Green while she holds down the fort with two little rapscallions, the wind beating the shutters and the rain flooding the desert. As my dad said of our mother while paraphasing Louis L'amour, "you have to find one to ride the river with."

Family is a precious entity in society, and it works when parents support each other and establish their priorities. While our kiddos are high on the priority list (because one day they will be paying our social security and changing our diapers) it is more important to maintain the integrity of the relationship that made it all happen. This is the covalent bond of the family and it must be nurtured to stay strong.

I read in Scientific Mind recently that Western marriages usually fail because we enter them with a fairy tale expectation of love. Think of it, we're at our best when we marry. After we get married, we're bouyant for a while, but that usually diminishes around year two and we begin to wonder how to deal with life and the fact that we have to change whether we like it or not. Time and tide changes us, and we lose control of it if we're not diligent or mindful of what's happening.

I have a great marriage. Yes, it has its moments, but we work together to become stronger and to remember why we got married in the first place. The kids are an added benefit. Nothing compares to the joy of a little one giggling and looking at you with mischief in his eyes. But, ultimately, mom and dad, husband and wife, must nurture each other. It really isn't about the marriage. It is about the relationship. We all know couples who drifted apart or separated after children left the house. In the childrens' absence, the spouses saw strangers looking back.

There is some truth in the lyrics from Baz Luhrmann's song "Everybody's Free,"

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

It should really be, "Be nice to the ones you love..." as they're the first ones we take advantage of without knowing it but usually the first to come to our aid when we need them most.

So what is the point of this post. The point is that we need to love, support and appreciate those who love us.

We are family (iheart faces contest)

So this week's contest is all about capturing the essence of family, traditional or not, in an interesting manner. I chose the picture below, not because it is necessarily interesting, but because it is necessarily real. It represents the world we live in, one that is more connected than ever before. This is a world where family is often electrons away, telecast over broadband networks connecting worlds apart. It is the reality that our service members live, it is the world of our government contractors, it is the world of our humanitarians, it is the world of our scholars, it is the world of business, and it is the reality of all who live abroad or apart within our borders.

I've decided to call this photo: Valediction forbidding mourning for lo' we have the video teleconferencing. Not too poetic but straight to the point.



To quote John Donne from A Valediction Forbidding Mourning (lines 21-36):

Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to aery thinness beat.

If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two ;
Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if th' other do.

And though it in the centre sit,
Yet, when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.

Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
Like th' other foot, obliquely run ;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end where I begun.

The picture is of my colleague on the day of his promotion to 1st Lieutenant. We were deployed which made it difficult for his family to attend the ceremony in person. But, thanks to technology, they were there for it all. Everyone is smiling, but deep down there are emotions unseen by my camera, but felt by all in attendance--especially by those who have families.

The light conditions were not ideal in the room which is the cause of some fuzziness in the photo. But I did my best to clean it up.

Please enjoy and visit iheartfaces.blogspot.com to view other submissions to this week's contest!

I probably write too much commentary, so I appreciate your kindness and indulgence if you've made it this far down the page.

Bless all the men and women who serve and represent our country daily (civilian and service member alike)!

Cheers,

Yuki

iheart faces contest

This week's i <3 faces contest is titled: Best Face. I do not usually have an opportunity to take portraiture. Occasionally, I have the chance to take a picture of my wife and one of our boys with her camera. This is one. You might have seen it before on my very talented wife's blog (photosbykaryn.blogspot.com). But I went back to re-edit the photo with her help for this week's contest.

I call this photo: Sparta Calls Her Sons.



I like to think my son is focused on some faraway duty to protect the innocent and defend his country; after all, he is sitting in a fire truck. In his ear, his mother whispers soothing words to him, telling him it will be alright. But, since he is wise beyond his years, he knows better. Deep down he understands that freedom is not free, that truth belongs only to the brave, and that one day he will have to share his toys with not one brother, but two.

In his heart Viking words echo, they remind him, "The truth is that life is hard and dangerous; that those who seek their own happiness do not find it; that those who are weak must suffer; that those who demand love will be disappointed; that those who are greedy will not be fed; that those who seek peace will find strife; that truth is only for the brave; that joy is only for those who do not fear to be alone; that life is only for the one who is not afraid of death."

Using Photoshop, I tried employing 'Chiaroscuro' as a technique to draw your eye immediately to my son's face and make him the emphasis for the image.

Please check out the contributions of other photographers through the link below! Enjoy!!

Yuki

The American Mall Experience

So there we were, my wife and I, walking up to the Mall in Sierra Vista. She to have a pedicure and I to wander through the 'going out of business' shops to see if I could find something I would be interested in.

No sooner had we stepped towards the glorious effigy of American shopping experience, than we witnessed drama unfold on the sidewalk. A group of teenage girls were in a heated discussion with the parents of another girl, who I think was in the process of being rescued. A sailor would blush at the conversation, and the girls' great grandparents were probably rolling over in their graves to hear their progeny speak such scathing language, at an adult no less. The father sort of instigated it by his comments, but he was visibly upset, and the girls were like a pack of multi-colored lionesses with poor fashion sense sensing blood.

After a short retort, the parents disengaged, while the girls prowled back into the mall like savage hyenas taking pleasure in the verbal carnage they had wrought. One girl was the obvious ringleader, the others supplicants to her visceral tongue.

After that, I wondered, is this what I have to prepare my children for as they get older? I could only imagine the teen savages going to their facebook and myspace pages to initiate their next onslaught of savagery.

Perplexed to see such a public display of disrespect, I spent the next hour wandering the mall examining the people there, from the employees of dying franchises to the snake oil salesmen of the center isle and to wandering others like myself. Generally, I observed placate herd animals, congregating in isolated groups at the watering hole or grazing through shops for a good deal. I realized that the mall is a bleak place, and hope that my kids never go there just to 'hang out'.

I understood, then, why a platoon of yellow-clad security guards constantly patrol. Though none, of course, were at the scene of verbal bloodletting.

The mall, for me, has lost its luster. Some still offer an interesting shopping experience, but I no longer find them as fun to explore as I used to--least of all the one in Sierra Vista.

A new banner!

Victory! I've always wondered how to customize a blog template, and now I know. Thanks to my wife's Photoshop instruction, I managed to stumble through Photoshop Elements and make my own banner for this blog. Oh, the possibilities! I can see how blogging can be an addiction. I unleashes creativity in a torrent if unchecked.

My mind is buzzing with ideas for this blog. I wonder if AdSense works and how much money I would make by activating it on my blog. I don't suppose I'll make much, since I don't have a following. But that is small potatos.

This weekend there is an Starving Artist sale at the Windemere. We'll probably go check it out as there are walls that need covering in our large historic house. Supposedly nothing is priced over $59. I guess we'll see if there is anything worth buying. We have quite discerning tastes.

Where to begin...

I guess I have taken my first leap into the Blogosphere of the web. There is no turning back now. I am committed. I have joined a community and perhaps will gain a following. But that is not important. It is more important for me to ensure the blog does not intrude into my life or take it over.

In the meantime, I hope those who read these postings, enjoy them. Please forgive my simplistic webpage design. Perhaps I will hone my skills over time, but don't hold your breath. As an offering to the pantheon of internet idols and icons, I have submitted photos to iheartfaces.blogspot.com to sanctify this journey.

So what will be the purpose of this blog, you ask?

Well, I intend to share my thoughts on life and samples of my art. "Thoughts on life?" you muse. Yes, I might as well add my perspective, at least for my family. I think I have some original ideas.

"Art?" you ask. Yes, at one point in my youth I was an artist. But since those early years, I have strayed from the path of creativity onto the road of convention. So on these pages I will attempt to reconnect with my creative side and allow myself to be judged by the anonymous pundits of the web, those who may pass by to either cast stones or praise.

I cannot guarantee the regularity of my postings. But they will at least be monthly.

Cheers,

Yuki

iheartfaces logo contest

This is my first blog and my first entry on iheartfaces. I hope you enjoy! You might recognize the young lady and the boys as a regular on this site. I have to thank my wife for all her help getting me started!


Not sure how this one will be judged, but it has faces and a logo.


For all the frogs who dream of beauty.


Sliding among otters at the Waco Zoo.


The little guy looks like he's had the ride of his life...


This was a long exposure on a Sanibel Island, Florida. Taken around 8pm.

“I am submitting these photos into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of their website.”