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So with it being Valentine’s day and the abundance of Red around on this day, I figured I would write an informational post about colors and their meanings when used on a rose. Below are a few colors and the meanings that they have:

Red Roses – Love and romance
Black Roses – Vengeance
Blue Roses – Mystery and intrigue
Pink Roses – Gratitude and appreciation
Purple Roses – Love at first sight
White Roses – Innocence and purity
Green Roses – Fertility
Yellow Roses – Joy and friendship
Lavender Roses – Enchantment
Orange Roses – Enthusiasm, passion

So the next time that you need to buy some flowers for someone and it’s not a red rose, you’ll be able to know what message you’re trying to send with the color of the flower!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! It’s the year of the rat…the zodiac sign for my brother. The rat seems so out of place compared to the rest of the animals… at least it’s supposed to be a good year for those who have the sign of the Rat I think.

The times are changing. The US economy is in recession, the ’08 election is in full swing, the Earth is warming, and I’m officially old. Benchmarks are often used to gauge how these changes are made: the stock market, straw polls, climate reports. For me, I gauge my age quite differently. I observe how many things I used to be able to do freely, but now can not. Old people often reminisce about what they used to be able to do, but now in their years of infirmity only can dream of. On the one hand its nostalgia, on the other, resignation to the wheels of time.

For me there are three such observations that make me feel old:

Coca Cola Consumption - Back in my prime, I would drink 5 cans of coke, per day, every day. I didn’t have to worry about diabetes, obesity, cavities. I would drink to my hearts content, and then some. As a result, my fondness for coca-cola is matched only by my aversion for eating durian. Coca-Cola can do no wrong – I even dreamed of working at a coke factory.
Nowadays, I worry about its deleterious effects on my teeth. It has wasted away a good deal of enamel, and without a dental plan, I’m treading on thin ice. While I will never regret my earlier consumption levels, I really miss being able to drink that cool, refreshing, beverage of God.

Knuckle Cracking - I started cracking knuckles when I was 6 years old. My father taught me. (I still actually remember that moment). I’ve been cracking my joints ever since. In my peak, I could crack every identifiable joint in my body, and a few more places (like my sternum, and my foot arch). I was an expert in cracking technique. But now, I’m old, and arthritis is starting to kick in. Some joints don’t crack any more, others, especially my hands, will hurt if I do crack them.

::sigh:: I’m old. But what can you do about it?

Its interesting to note that both these are things that are often contended. (Coke will rot your teeth; cracking will give you arthritis). And in my youth, I thought myself invincible to these claims. Now, old and perhaps wiser, I realize that evidence does exist for these facts.
Interestingly, this parallels closely with the controversy of global warming in the late 90s.

The moral of the story here folks is that:

Do what you can, while you can do it.
or else you’ll be that old guy that little kids point and laugh at when they walk by you on the street.

(From the title, you can guess that not only am I older, I’m also getting fatter. I’m out of time right now, but I’ll post more on this later. )

that it needs to be the summer again.

Um yea, I don’t know what to say about this… Apparently, this is what happens when you have a room with a bunch of seniors who don’t go to sleep.

Heres the second installment of my favorite photos of my Japan Trip.

6) Free Hugs at Harajuku – I liked this picture because of the contrasts in people and postures you see throughout the picture. First you have the asian-american dude in the pink snow cap holding the free hugs sign, striking a nice pose. Way in the back you see the popular costumed youth hanging out in Harajuku. You also see the smattering of foreigners with cameras. A nicely framed representation of the bustle and crowds you find in Harajuku on a Sunday afternoon.

7) Todaiji Flame – This picture was taken at the buddhist temple of Todaiji in Nara. In the background you see the massive structure that houses the world’s largest Buddha statue (150 feet tall!). It is one of the most impressive sights to stand in front of, because of its dominating size and humble composition (it is made entirely of wood). In the foreground you have the intricate wisp of flame from the incense pot that sits at the entrance. In the midground you have three hip japanese tourists walking in near-symmetry towards us. The reason I like this picture is because it not only captures the old and the new (the old temple with the fashionable guys in the midground), but also the large and the small (the temple and the flame).

Framed Kimono – Throughout our trip we saw many people taking pictures at the shrines and temples dressed up in traditional clothing. I’m not sure if it was for a special occasion (i.e. marriage) or if they were simply Japanese versions of glamour shots. Either way, this shot was probably my favorite. The clothing of the couple is excellently contrasted – the man wearing dark and formal wear, while the woman is bright and firey. Additionally, the picture iteslf is exquisitely framed by wood, in a psuedo-spiral form. Your attention is immediately drawn towards the couple, especially their posture and expressions. But then your eyes meander to the frame, which spirals around the couple with numerous lines and angles.

9) Golden Shrine Tree – This picture was taken at Nikko, at the Toshu-go Mausoleum. This picture captures the fact that it was still autumn when we arrived in Japan in mid December. The leaves were still falling and they were wonderful hues of gold, red, and brown. This tree in particular looked golden in the midst of the old wooden and stone structures that surrounded it. The light hit it just right so that the leaves had a golden luster. The tree is also juxtapositioned next to two tourists, who are taking pictures of the tree. In the end, the tree is starkly contrasting with everything else. The color, the thickness (its particularly thin relative to the large trees in the back), its size relative to the tourists, even its lighting. It positively glows.

10) Greco-statues of Hakone – These statues are at the Open-Air museum at Hakone. It has a myriad of scultpures and artforms overlooking a cast valley of unadultered forest. These four statues were placed at the balcony of the museum, overlooking the hills and mountains beyond. I really loved the style, posture, and design of these four statues, and capturing them in a panoramic showed the sweeping formation that they stood in. Although similar in color to everything else, the lighting and deepness of the bronze constrast with the washed out look of the hills and trees in the background. Its interesting that the statues are looking off in the distance.. yet the beautiful view is behind them! a very peculiar irony. There are some artifacts from the panoramic algorithm (in particular how the ledge is angled in one section and horizontal in another), but it lets your eyes move in a left-ward direction towards where the statues are looking towards. After all this, you must wonder what they are really looking at!

So those are my top 10 favorite pictures from my Japan Trip (compositional-wise). I hope you like them as well.
Remember to check out the photo albums for the rest of my japan trip photos.

Japan Trip Photo Album I
Japan Trip Photo Album II

Japan Trip Travel Walkthrough