Nine Sons of Dragon

Baxia, photo taken in Gulin, China.

古人云：「一龍生九子，各不成龍。」

"Dragon has nine sons, each is unique, but without the full form of a dragon."

HAOXIAN

A reckless and adventurous dragon whose image can be found decorating the eaves of palaces.

YAZI

Valiant and bellicose; his image is seen on sword-hilts and knife hilts.

CHIWEN

Chiwen likes to gaze into the distance and his appearance is often carved on pinnacles.

BAXIA

Baxia is a good swimmer and his image decorates many bridge piers and archways.

PULAO

Pulao is fond of roaring and his figure is carved on bells.

BIXI

Bixi is an excellent pack-animal whose image appears on panniers.

QIUNIU

Qiuniu loves music and his figure is a common decoration on the bridge of stringed musical instruments.

SUANMI

Suanmi is fond of smoke and fire; his likeness can be seen on the legs of incense-burners.

JIAOTU

Jiaotu is as tight-lipped as a mussel or a snail. His image is carved on doors.

Muscle Memories

Any good athlete is required to have flawless muscle memories, without it, one will lost his/her precision in performing to a sport’s perfection. Muscle memories have been mentioned fairly often in the past few days, ever since the opening of 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

Throwing vessels on a potter’s wheel also requires muscle memories. For formal ceramic students who have gone through rigorous trainings, cylinders, bowls, and plates, the three basic forms, are to be made repetitively. Perfection and precision are expected, and these values do not come without muscle memories.

In pottery class, we train our muscles to remember a certain posture, a certain movement, a certain pressure exerted. With these memories, one would be able to produce high quality pieces, effortlessly, and timely.

Before I start doing pottery again, I didn’t know I was actually starting myself on a new sport. I have to say, my back hurts, and my muscles do not have good memories. Yet, I love it.

V-Day Pillow Fight

I thought I need anger management, and maybe I was wrong. A friend invited me to the famous SF pillow fight on V-day, and I have to say there are a number of people who need anger management more than I do. Public pillow fight is like a mini Halloween in SF, and you get to see people fight with different techniques. Though I was classified as the passive aggressive type, I definitely had no problem hitting strangers with my pillow. Feathers and pillows everywhere. I enjoy this image forever in my head. By the way, I am glad birdflu has not spread to N. America; otherwise, I would think twice before going to a feathery place like this.