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Showing posts from April, 2009

Panaroramic View from a Sky Scraper

This is the view from 30 floors up. It had been a windy day, so the air was clear and the sky was blue! The blue line between the land and sky is the ocean in the distance. I really don't like being this high up in a building because of all the earthquakes we have here. So this visit at 30 floors high was both beautiful and nerve-racking. I stayed just long enough to take photos and sigh pensively once or twice at the spectacular scenery. Have you heard about Taipei 101? It's the tallest skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. An elevator travels 60 kph (37 mph) to take you to the inside observation deck on the 89th floor. Take the stairs to get to the outside one on the 91st floor. Taipei 101 has a steel pendulum suspended inside the tower to offset the movement caused by strong gusts of wind. It takes window cleaners 3 months to clean the outside of that building. Can you imagine doing that job at that height? For more info, Discovery video on youtube and building spe

30 floors High

These cones decorate the wall above the elevator that takes you to the observation deck on 30th floor. On Friday, I'll post a photo of the view from there for the looking at the sky meme. For more sepia photographs, visit the Sepia Scenes blog.

Tortoise Shell Cat ACEO, small painting on rice paper

Mike Neko - Calico Cat . To view more cat paintings and aceos, please visit me via http://GalleryJuana.etsy.com

Let the Sunshine in

I took this photo last Monday, April 13th. We had just arrived back in the city after walking for hours looking at the Cherry Blossoms. We are standing in front of a Construction Site Barrier with different designs on it. The kanji says " Sendai castle ." There is no actual castle in Sendai as it was destroyed mostly by earthquakes and fires. The rainy season seems to be here already, so I am singing "Let the Sunshine In," hoping Mother Nature might heed my call. In the meantime, the memory of that sunny, spring Monday keeps me content. For more shadow shots and to join the fun, visit Hey Harriet's blog .

Google Site Map

Google's Webmaster tools is a good resource.  Hoping that every bit helps with being found on the web, I put a site map on my GalleryJuana.com website. The sitemap is not for visitors to see. It's only purpose is to make it easier for google to spider my site. To quote Google: "In its simplest terms, a Sitemap is a list of the pages on your website. Creating and submitting a Sitemap helps make sure that Google knows about all the pages on your site, including URLs that may not be discoverable by Google's normal crawling process." My next project is to study their Webmaster Guidelines . Google site Map Step by Step First add your site to your Google Webmaster Tools account . Once you've added it, the next page will ask you to get your site verified by Google . To verify, you can either add a meta tag to your web page or upload an html file. If you don't have access to the server, then use the meta tag feature. I used the meta tag feature

Prehistoric Rose

The oldest fossilized Rose dates back 35 million years. My husband gave me a bouquet of roses on Valentine's day. I had thought of throwing the dried flowers away, but I have kept them. They seemed so delicate. Yet, each individual flower has continued to hold on. This is the first in the Rose series. The photo was taken with my Canon G9 with the Sepia setting. I then played around with color in IrfanView. Visit Sepia Scenes for more sepia photos and to learn how to join.

Nude Female Angel Collage by Gallery Juana

  Nude Female Angel I . If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via GalleryJuana.Etsy or via my GalleryJuana.com .

Sitting under the Cherry Blossoms

We were really lucky to have perfect Spring weather on Monday with shadows galore under the flowering trees. Most areas that have Cherry Blossoms will set up food stalls selling typical festival food: YakiSoba (fried noodles), yakitori (chicken on a stick) , okonomiyaki (egg and cabbage omelette). That area is usually busy. My husband and I usually try to find a quiet area. Finding a secluded spot is easy when you have 1000 cherry trees to choose from! They stretch for more than 2 kilometres along a river. For more Shadow Shots, visit Shadow Shot Sunday at Hey Harriett's blog .

Cherry Blossoms in Japan

OHanami (お花見) - Cherry Blossom Viewing The sky is a beautiful backdrop for these breathtaking Sakura trees. The cherry blossoms bloom for no more than two weeks, so traditionally the blossoms represent the transient nature of life . This is the second year that we have walked the Cherry Blossom trek along the river in Miyagi Prefecture. There are about 1000 trees. We started in Ogawara and walked to Funeoka. It took us an hour to leisurely walk the 2.5 kilometers. For more sky photos or to learn how to participate, visit Crazy Working Mom's Blog .

Cats

Everywhere I go, I carry a small blank notebook with me. When I have a free moment, I take the opportunity to sketch my ideas. My siamese cat, Sputnik , is my inspiration for my cat paintings and line drawings. She is my constant companion when I am sitting at my desk using the computer or drawing.

Zori, Geta and Tatami Sandals

This shop is across the street from my apartment. I took the photo, looking down, from my balcony. You can see the shop owner (white socks) sitting on the right and the visitor on the left. The shop sells traditional Japanese sandals . To see more Sepia photos and learn how to join this meme, visit the Sepia Scenes Blog . It's always nice to have choices. So here it is in black and white.

Female Figure Collage on wood

  Perspectives on Rodin I .  To see more paintings for purchase, please visit me at   GalleryJuana.Etsy.com .

Waiting, A Tunic and The Japan Post Office

I love shopping at Etsy. I usually buy handmade soap and lotion, but recently I bought a handmade tunic from India. It arrived on April 7, but I was taking a nap so I didn't hear the doorbell. I am not sure how it works in other countries, but in Japan, the postal worker leaves a card with details about your package and a telephone number to call for re-delivery. I called the 24 hour automated hotline and rescheduled the delivery for April 9th, between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. This week's shadow shot is of the envelope and tag that the post office added for the redelivery. The red kanji-chinese characters say "afternoon." By the way, I am in love with the tunic ! The cotton material and embroidered design are beautiful. Shadow Shot Sunday is hosted by Hey Harriet . Visit her blog for more shadow shots.

Magnolia Tree

Spring has finally arrived in my city! Everything is in bloom. This coming Monday is my day-off, and I am hoping to get outside and view the cherry blossoms. I took this photo of a the magonolia tree a few days ago. I really love the flowers that bloom on this tree. It is always a pleasant surprise for me to see them. According to Wikipedia, the Magnolia is an ancient genus. Having evolved before bees appeared, the flowers developed to encourage pollination by beetles. In parts of Japan the large leaves are used for wrapping food, and also as a makeshift dish to grill meat. For more photos of the sky, check out Looking at the Sky on Friday at Crazy Working Mom's Blog .

Favicon

EBlogTemplates.com has some wonderful How-To articles. Hoping to improve my google ranking, I changed the order of my post title tags . I also learned how to remove the Blogger Navbar (done at my own risk of igniting Blogger's fury). Awhile back, I learned how to put a "favicon" on my blog and website. I used HTMLSource.com and Mircroangelo as resources. Doing a google search for Favicon will bring up more resources.

Mokutan, Sumi Yaki, Charcoal for Sepia Scenes

Another photo of the charcoal shop I passed by on my walk last month. For more sepia scenes, please visit the Sepia Scenes blog.

Nude Figure Painting with Sumi Ink

I painted the figure with sumi ink on paper from an old Japanese book. I added watercolor to give it that aged look. The ink painting has been mounted on thicker rice paper. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via GalleryJuana.Etsy .

Shoes, Sauerkraut, Sausages and Cravings

I get cravings often. Do you? Monday and Tuesday are my days off, so as soon as Sunday hits, I stock up on what I am craving. It is usually Mexican beans, salsa and corn tortillas or Tom Yun Kun noodle soup. It depends how heavy my wallet is. Both require a trip to the Foreign foods store, which means higher prices. The craving for Mexican food will cost me about 1500 Yen (15 USD, 21 AUD, 11 Euros). The Tom Yun Kun noodle soup is just 150 yen. Big difference on the budget! This weekend it's the noodle soup 'cuz I splurged last Sunday! My husband is pretty much a health nut, but his German roots ring true when he craves sauerkraut and sausages. On Monday, we stopped by the Foreign Food shop to see if we could find something to meet his craving. No luck there. We did get some good cheese and crackers though. And I got this shot of our shoes in the shop. The harsh light was from the cold cuts/cheese section. For more fun shadow shots, check out Hey Harriet's b

Counting Cranes in the Sky

Counting Cranes For more photos in this meme, visit Crazy Working Mom's Blog .

Tanuki in Sepia Scenes and Etsy Treasury

This photo of the Sushi restaurant across from my Apartment was closed for the day, so the signs are blocking the entrance. On the wall, to the right, is a poster of the up-coming Wrestling match. Next to that is the Tanuki statue. Statues of Tanuki often decorate the entrance of temples or Japanese restaurants. Wikipededia explains the interesting symbolism behind the Tanuki: "The tanuki has eight special traits that bring good fortune. The eight traits are: (1) a bamboo hat that protects against trouble, (2) big eyes to perceive the environment and help make good decisions, (3) a sake bottle that represents virtue, (4) a big tail that provides steadiness and strength until success is achieved, (5) over-sized testicles that symbolize financial luck, (6) a promissory note that represents trust, (7) a big belly that symbolizes bold decisiveness, and (8) a friendly smile." If you would like to view more Sepia photos, please visit the Sepia Scenes Blog . Also, thank you