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Door gone bye

A door in Shibuya, spring, 2008, The english works well to effect a common feeling.—this must be what some clothes designers might feel.

Sengai, a Japanese priest and calligrapher (b 1750, d. October, 1837). This is the cover of a catalog /book about an exhibition at the Japanese Cultural Festival inOakland CA , April and May, 1956. One his famous drawings, the book notes: “Possibly Sengai’s conception of the universe.”

Chicago, fall, 1969, a rainy mid afternoon, “groovy” was a popular term people spoke then,

San Francisco

California and Powell (San Francisco), the former starts from around water level and runs to the top of Nob Hill and the latter runs from Market up hill to California, levels at road width out here and starts down to the bay. Every corner is a steep hill,

Traffic control is four blinking red lights, Cable cars run up and down California t and Powell, Pedestrians and drivers, not familiar with this intersection come to the red light, stop and do not know what to do next. Pedestrians, probably visitors mostly, often just stand there for awhile, trying to get it, while horns are honking because some confused driver , facing uphill or downhill, was holding in place in front of a local impatient driver.

When a cable car, and sometimes two at the same time, would approach the intersection the flashing red light became a solid red light in all four directions.
Making matters even worse,, see the guardhouse ? Sometimes there (was) a guard on duty, The roads are four lane and drivers will make “sudden” right turns on red, especially when other drivers are “hesitant and uncertain.” The guard on duty used to park his “bright new blue BMW ” on the on the left, just down from the guardhouse and drivers coming from the two lanes down hill would have to merge to avoid the illegally parked car.on the right,

Looking East along Powell St

Add-in someone coming up the hill (where the cable car is) made a quick right-on-red turn and then a sudden brake or swerve to avoid the downhill car in the left lane. and or the parked car.

looking North along California Street

Alameda Creek

We are lucky that we speak in languages,

Each person has unique life experiences and lives in society, Language is a “thing” the individual learns by living in a society with a network of relationships. Imagine if every individual had to develop their own language . We would be like other animals, we could make sounds which communicate to others such things as danger, food, sexual attraction and even show compassion, or anger but having a language is a much more powerful capability.

To make this happen, a necessary component is there needs to be generational survivability in an ongoing society.

We can “produce” a surplus—we do not have to struggle through seasons like other animals—we can produce, store and use later.

If people, on Earth, would get along with each other, we could have a thriving world economy,

Its the “gettin’ along” with each other that is difficult, ir at this point appears impossible.

There would need to be common set of rules, at the very least a common set of enforceable rules for doing business .

In Sociology, there is the concept of “norms” —common behaviours creating a “structure of common behaviour which enables a society. to exist.

Regardless of different “individual psychologies”, enough people have common behaviors to enable a society to exist and persevere.

In the History of Human Development, people did not all start out at together, rather around the Earth different groups popped up here and there, found (worked) their way to survival and cultures emerged, cultures which for the most are not abut a different “reality” but different ways of surviving in the same reality.

Behavjors which happened in the past may or may not have been necessary to get here. we will probably never really know ,maybe we can never know.

But humans have “geo-political nation states now, funded by growing economies, taxes to support military, sovereign boundary lines drawn in the sand which justify killing others,

Of all the planets, in all the solar systems, in all of the galaxies in this Universe, thee is on only planet which has “developed intelligent life”. . .

And the “intelligent life” on that planet, on Earth, is busy killing each other. Still, the hope of language, that with brave leadership and support from equally brave and intelligent humans will create an Earth where peace, justice and respect for the birth rights of all people on Earth will prevail and respect for the human rights of others will be seen as a strength and not a weakness to be abused who have no respect for others or pride in themselves.

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“The greatest photographic exhibition of all time
—503 pictures from 68 countries—
created by Edward Steichen for
The Museum of Modern Art
Prologue by Carl Sandburg”

“Photographs concerned with the religious rather than religions. With basic human consciousness rather than social consciousness. Photographs concerned with man’s dreams and aspirations and photographs of the flaming creative forces of love and truth and the corrosive evil inherent in the lie.”

The Family of Man © 1955 by the Museum of Modern Art from the introduction by Edward Steichen

“Rikyu traded his life for the black teabowl:

Chado—The Way of Tea –Even though Rikyu knew that Hideyoshi disliked black teabowls he dared ouse one to serve Hideyoshi. Shortlyafwards Hediyoshi ordered Rikyu to do seppuku on the 28th day of the 2nd month of the same year.

“In the shadows of Momoyama period Setoguro pottery which reach to our day, such human histories lie hidden.”

Kiseto and Setoguro Famous Ceramics of Japan Series Number 10 from the Introduction by Shosaku Furukawa published 1983

It is said “Three’s a crowd”
Clothes styles in 1960s
Toledo Ohio, 1968

At a daycare center in Toledo Ohio 1969. ,fifty-tree years ago, if these girls were four then, that would make them 57 years old,

UN Plaza. SanFrancisco, 2018

On the Sakura LIne, Tokyo . Imagine what the woman in the white jacket looked like when she was the same age as the woman next to her in blue.

And again, and again, and again, and again war is called up to fulfill the ambitions of one man, it raising its ugly head to one ma’s song ,a man whose personal ambitions justify killing thousands of innocent human beings.

Gate Gate, para gate,parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha

Heart Sutra calligraphy by Janney

Earth owed children

The sounds of the world

On this morning Sangha chanted and then ate lunch, usually donated and prepared by the community.

Under the table

And a little of the local gossip: Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva He Who Observers the Sounds of the World. In the 25th chapter of Lotus Sutra Avalokitesvara says he will take any form to deliver the Dharma to people—In India Avalokitesvara is male, in China (Guanyin) and Japan (Kannon) female. Avalokitesvara is often a part of both Mahayana and Theravada and Heart Sutra is Avalokitesvara talking to Shariputra .

The Saishi (priest) is waiting until 6:00 am to open the doors for the public to join chanting. at Sensoji, Asakuksa, Tokyo, founded in 645, and since WWII identified with Kannon.

Its a popular temple with businesses which cater to visitors, such as renting a kimono while walking around ‘or tour carts. hand drawn by young men .and Nakamise, a shopping street running through the big gate to the main temple with shops selling many things and senbei.

Temples, unlike western churches do not offer “regular group services. The monks have work to do. if large then the administration and clerical employees may be involved Temples have events, in smaller towns t may serve as like a community center, a place where local events or meetings occur.

Selfie at Sensoji—a piece of Earth was mined to provide material which went into making a consumer product—a selfie stick—which will be used for awhile and “thrown away” in the garbage.

And ten hours way in San Francisco, imagine attaching a $1000 computer-phone to a cheap “selfie stick?”

In San Francisco people come out and talk to each other; Union Square

These two were stating a business together on Market Street, the arms tell one story and the knees another.

Truth lies just outside of the UN plaza.

I spoke with this man, just to make sure, he was actually texting himself.

This gentleman was protesting something about collusion between Leo Leporte and Steve Jobs, collusion which did him wrong, so he claimed. (Leporte had a radio broadcasting career related to promoting Tech and answering questions about computers.) I liked that the strong color was in the background while the man is dressed in dreary colored clothes.

I saw her standing there in the street , bags on the side walk, it was uphill and I cold use a ret so I sat on a door entrance ledge, and watched. After about 20 minutes a big black car pulls, a young son gets out, phone-ear- hand-mouth busy, all the while as he with one free hand, he opens the trunk , loads the bags in three trips , opens t3he back door, escorts his mom in to the car, shuts the door, goes around to get in the driver’s side and drives aways, all the while talking on the phone.

A building of one first floor and one second floor apartments with a (shared?) garage and a view from the rear? Interesting living arrangements, nice if you are young.and ride a motorcycle.

Alameda Creek

“Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,” . . .

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” . . .

“Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, . . .”

The Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of The United Nations is written in brass letters in the walk through UN Plaza in San Francisco.

Earth, wandering through the Universe, is the only human “known” location of “intelligent life.”

“Becoming Human,” the 400,000 years of human beings striving to get to today, to this moment, and then to the next moment, and so on . . .

Imagine all of Humanity as one living entity, one living thing, acting in its own interest, and each of us now and through history, are one functioning piece of a bigger whole.—I guess that would be like Earth being a Big Borg.

It does not appear to be a united well functioning effort different parts, the people, are acting against each other and if people is the measure of success, we end up killing others, many who are innocent people, for the survival of ourselves—those of “us” who are left here to read this, “they” are no long with us.

Humans have an archeological history of 300,000 years (more or less its a flexible category depending on definitions, buts its a long time compared to one of out lifetimes.). Compare contemporary tech innovations to those of (imagined) prehistory—they started out with nothing. and figure out practical knowledge such as Joinary; portable containers to hold liquid; fire and heat management; farming and many other great achievements, and all peoples on this Earth now figured out enough to survive this far. All the lives that have gone into this.moment,

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For awhile my m/other lived in. a memory care facility. I used to show her photographs, here is my mother and father, I was did not know if she was able to remember.

A chart showing seasonality differences for Apple, could be product sales, gross income, who knows,

A simple design using contrasts of things to organize it—odds/evens, moving/standing , light/dark, big/small, and I always like the humor of the reflection.

A warm afternoon and birds beware.
brush painting by Janney

Gate gate paragate parasamgate Bodhi Svaha

Que duo? Company

Often I see photographs in the news media and images from movies, television and other forms of streaming visual information showing “people in the news,”.

Of course that is what they are, by definition,.

I like more simple moments,

A moment not intempted to be special . . .

No script, no director, no rehearsals, no make-up crew . .
siblings selling lemonade on lower Magazine Street about 1970.

when I see it —two people together on their road,—its “no simple highway.…”

And its for “your steps alone.”

lyrics (in quotes} from Ripple, Grateful Dead

Alameda Creek

The meaning of Shaka Buddha is an end to human suffering.

When Guatama Buddha was born to a family of wealth and military power., a sage told his father that he would be a leader who united India or a religious leader . His father rejected the latter, and for 29 years Siddartha lived in a (over) protective environment ..

One day being driven around the outside in his horse drawn carriage he encountered the four signs and learned human suffering, old age;, .sickness, and death, and last, a wandering religious beggar dressed in simple yellow clothes, was peaceful and calm with an inward joy. It is said that the horse who was reborn as a god.

Guatama left home to seek an end to human suffering.

So for some time I have wondered what is this human suffering that Shaka Buddha sought to end.?

I thought about the human expressions of human suffering I have experienced, whether myself or expressed to me by others .

Common, perhaps call it natural, condition of human suffering is one thing—everyone is suffering from the same thing—but many individual expressions, including my own, were often differing personal instances of feelings of unhappiness.

Dying of sickness or old age, these are not feelings, but “real,”

What is the human suffering Buddha worked so hard to end—is it just the cycle of life? Would not the end of the cycle of life and death simply be no more life? The end of the reincarnation cycle ?

But maybe Shaka Buddha meant just what he said.

At that time in India belief in reincarnation was popular . Reincarnation means a cycle of non ending birth&death and birth& death and birth& death. How to end the cycle of human suffering. I don’t know if Buddha was also referring to the more common personal expressions of human emotional suffering, maybe, maybe knot.

In spite of the really lonely times of suffering I .have had .in my life, I would do it again just for those few feeling good times . . .

“I’d give all my tomorrows for a single yesterday
Holding Bobby’s body next to mine”

Lyrics from Me and Bobby McGee Kris Kristofferson

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The beginning of the Lunar New Year, Year of the Tiger, marked by a Welcome Painting . . .

Painting by Janney

and oranges and incense at the temple.

Walking up Telegraph Hill from Columbus Ave.

Afternoon shadows in San Francisco

Afternoon sun from Telegraph Hill, I guess that would be Russian Hill in the background. .

Looking west from somewhere along Polk Street ..

Gate Gate paragate ,parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha

When one wins won

Chinese Lunar New Year

The Tiger is the third of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Tiger is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 寅.The Tiger is known as the king of all beasts in China. The zodiac sign Tiger is a symbol of strength, exorcising evils, and braveness. Many Chinese kids wear hats or shoes with a tiger image for good luck.

A little bird thinks I would like to become a member of this family 😊 The calligraphy “家” is a family in a house .The Tiger of the year will bring you safety, health, happiness and luck in all your endeavors..
Drawing by Janney

Alameda Creek

People’s eyes sense light, and the camera will make an image using light, and if adjusted “correctly,” the image will look like “thing” at people see, “things” for which we have a name.

The camera can also make other versions— an alternative reality—of the image — such as out of focus, or over/ under exposure,

Are such images any less “real?”

They may be less “real” to people, certainly when the wedding photographer delivers “out of focus” images we would reject them.

But in or out of focus they are all real photographs just t to us,the images are “not “real,” —Its not what we paid for.”

And if we refused to pay the photographer and went to court, we would win, The court would agree they are not “real” photographs,.

Marshall McLuhan told the (circa 1950’s) story of two women meeting on the street, one with a baby and carriage. “ What a beautiful child” to which the mother replies, “Oh, you should see her photos.!” This man is probably looking at photos . . .

Photographs are not just a technical process, but they are also “required” to have a “real content” aspect about them

Wedding photographs, catalog and product advertisements, year book photographs, etc,— one part of the standard is does the image look like what people see with their eyes.

And a photograph has an artistic component.

That artistic component is a part of the essence of the photograph.

A photograph has a certain feeling, a feeling, not easy, or maybe impossible, to describe with words—a feeling beyond words that only belongs to the photographic image , like the special transmission from Shaka Buddha to Kasyapa.

For many years in western painting, oil paintings were visual records of moments, like a photograph is now.

And when photography reared its head in our society, oil painting expanded to include abstract painting, even though arts had for hundreds of years already embraced the abstract qualities of painting, at the least as part of teaching apprentices things like design and color..

For some Art is whatever you can get away with, for others its not about the Art or the artist, but the customer client or for me, it you hang it on the wall and most days find something inspiring, well, then its Art..

The photograph, whether still or moving, has enabled people all over the word to speak out, to be heard, in ways which go beyond the language of words. The personal phone, which is also a computer, is a tool to express and to experience the expressions of others, for people, regardless of power or wealth, all over the world.

This was the vision of Steve Jobs, and because he cared not just about the quantity, but also the quality of that expression and experience.He set the standard of quality for the computer-phone which has given a more meaningful voice to peoples all over the world.

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Albuquerque

The west side of Albuquerque is flat desert, you can see Mt Taylor about fifty miles away and the setting sun can strongly shine across the desert .searching for something to reflect off in the late Fall afternoon.

Kokopelli, the flute playing mischievous free spirit and bringer of good luck, rain and fertility.

Tile, interesting use of non complimentary color, maybe the yellow and the blue combine (in the eye) to make a green and the yellow and red to make an orange? though the mind would fight to never allow such a thing.

Metal people designed in the style used in Navajo blanket weavings.

Kokopelli is a popular image , a window covering maybe in a bathroom somehwere.

In our house we combine Kokopelli, Acoma and a Japanese wooden box.

Albuquerque, like any city, has its own feeling, at lunch time its often hot outside, and hopefully cool inside, somewhere along a back alley parallel to Central Ave. SE.

One early morning about 30 years ago. before breakfast is served at the mission, people wait in line, or they may just walk around—maybe it relieves the tension of bing poor. WhenI saw this I wondered how my own mother would survive by herself, walking the streets waiting for the doors to breakfast to open. But she was fortunate in her life,

Once Confucius was asked, . “How do you deal effectively with thieves? and replied, “If you, sir, did not covet things that did not belong to you, they wouldn’t steal if you paid them..”

Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, Bodhi svaha