I think it’s been a while since I have updated on my pottery activities. So here are my latest creations –
Jun 072012
Dec 312011
Just because I am Asian
On the outside doesn’t mean
I am on the inside.
Just because I am Asian
On the outside doesn’t mean
I want you to be my sugar daddy.
Just because I am Asian
On the outside doesn’t mean
I understand when you practice Ni hao, Konnichiwa or Annyeong haseyo.
Just because I am Asian
On the outside doesn’t mean
I am an excellent student or play classical music.
Just because I am Asian
On the outside doesn’t mean
I love Hello Kitty and all things cute.
Just because I am Asian
On the outside doesn’t mean
I relate to anything Asian.
Just because I am Asian
On the outside doesn’t mean
I am on the inside.
~T
December 30, 2011
Dec 032011
In an email that I received last week, the writer made a comment about how she thinks Facebook andย other such media affect people’s patience and ability to write or think. It made me think about the amount of time I spend on the computer and watching TV rather than reading or writing like I used to. It’s been since I came to the UAE that I spend so much more time away from what I really love – a good book and pen and paper!
So, this weekend, I attempted to test out this theory and spent some time reading a book I only read at night to go to sleep. It somehow triggered some thinking and creativity in me. Thus, I ended up writing a couple of ‘letters’ for a memoir-like novel I am writing. Here it is:
Oct 122011
These are a couple of poems I wrote for the Emirates Literary Group Abu Dhabi that I went to last month, but am skipping this month as I’m totally wiped out today….
They don’t have titles at the moment other than “October Blues”.
If you are always right
And I am always wrong,
Then why do we fight?
With all your tendencies
Towards arrogance, hypocrisy and idiocy,
Why wonโt you just see?
Perhaps, just possibly,
You might be wrong โ
But, no, how could that be?
~T
October 10, 2011
_____________________________
From the outside,
It shines like a new coin.
From the outside,
It runs like a well-oiled machine.
From the outside,
Everyone smiles.
From the outside,
Everyone is your friend.
Unfortunately, the inside is never
Quite what it seems,
From the outside.
~T
October 10, 2011
Jun 252011
AD Pottery: A square planter for growing some herbs on the new kitchen windowsill (made by coils rather than slabs – extra weight)22-Jun-2011 04:26, NIKON COOLPIX S51, 3.3, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
AD Pottery: Not sure what this is for yet, but I am using more clay now to make bigger items on the wheel.22-Jun-2011 04:25, NIKON COOLPIX S51, 3.3, 6.3mm, 0.125 sec, ISO 320
Jun 212011
As I continue finding areas of my blog that need more posts, I also see that I will have to start keeping up with my craft projects as well. Over the years I have done a number of projects and tried to take pics, but somewhere along the line I stopped posting them…. That is about to change! ๐
My friend, S in AD had a birthday in April. Since she had passed on a couple skeins of yarn, I thought I would try to make her something special with what I had. So… here is the result:
I took a basic pattern from a hat website I have been using to make knitted hats. Then, I created my own crocheted pattern for the brim as I wanted to create something that would protect from the UAE sun even in the cooler months.
I was a bit worried that the hat would be too small, but it is a bit big, so I hope that S can make it shrink a bit to fit her petite head. ๐
More to come…
-T
Jun 202011
It just came to my realization that I have not made a single posting about my pottery hobby on this blog. It seems hardly possible considering how much of my life is spent on pottery and what it means to me to be able to do it regularly here in Abu Dhabi.
I first started pottery back in Japan when I lived in Kyoto. I needed to find something creative to do with my life that took me out of the house since I was living a very reclusive ‘housewife’ lifestyle back then. When I moved to New York, I tried to continue it but sadly the potters there were quite clique-ish and far to snobby for me to waste my time with them. After moving back to Japan, I found a lovely place called Art Factory where I went with a colleague for about a year. So, upon arriving in Abu Dhabi, I began to look for a place to continue doing pottery here. Luck would have it that Abu Dhabi Pottery is established here!
Homa Farley is the owner and teacher of classes. She also has a studio out of her home in Dubai, but AD is where it all began. So, for the past (almost) three years I have been going fairly regularly on Sunday nights to have a bit of creative release. ๐ I thoroughly enjoy it and miss getting my hands in the clay if I am away too long. Who would have thought a girl who hates to get her hands dirty would love pottery?!
Here are some photos (including works from Art Factory):
Until next time,
-T
Jun 052011
I try to understand
I try to empathize
I try to rationalize
Yet, my words get twisted
Yet, my voice gets lost
Yet, my heart gets pain
How can it be –
This change?
This stranger?
This feeling of loss?
The more I try, the less I sleep
The more I think, the less I understand
The more I rationalize, the less it makes sense
My love is the same
My passion is the same
My feeling is the same
So, why does it all feel different?
~T
June 4, 2011
Mar 232011
To whom do I belong?
a biological mother who abandoned me
families that denied me
men who took advantage of my body
a woman who scarred my mental and emotional states
To what place do I belong?
one that sent me away
one that lost me in their system
one that is blind to diversity
one that uses people who look like me
Where do I belong?
near my loving adoptive family
near my adoptive country
near my friends in foreign lands
near my motherland
How do I belong?
by accepting
by adapting
by adjusting
by assimilating
Is this the way I belong?
-T
~March 14, 2011
Jan 312011
Like a Choose Your Own Adventure story
Every day has numerous possibilities.
Sadly, we cannot bookmark a page in life
And must make choices
Without being able to go back to said point
When we find we’ve come to a gruesome end.
Instead, we must bravely and confidently choose our path
Some with great cynical optimism and others in hopeful pessimism.
Our saving grace is that every day begins anew,
Allowing us the opportunity to change
The course of our lives
With every decision we make.
So, in God we trust…
So, in faith, hope and love…
So, in believing that there will always be a better tomorrow…
The real question still remains,
What about today?
-T
~January 31, 2011
