The Storyteller

When browsing for souvenirs throughout the shops of Waikiki, one will find statues of large women. In many cases these women are teeming with children, other times she is alone. In every case she is posed as if in the middle of a story. According to the tags, this individual is "The Storyteller."

Prior to coming to Hawaii, I conducted research on the history of the Hawaiian people. I learned that early Hawaiians handed down their history and beliefs through story telling. As such, "the story teller" was a very respected role. This person was the guardian of the past and the enforcer of ways.

This brings me to the subject of my picture for today. She is called "The Storyteller." Her arms are moving in time to her words, her face is expressive. It is almost as if the artist had caught her in the middle of a tale. A symbol of Hawaii's past stationed in one of the most tourist filled locations on the island.

However, as much of a tribute to the past this statue may be, its position on the island is not lost to me. A nod to simpler times is located in front of a Chanel store. To the left of the statue, one may see the shelves of expensive handbags through the window. Shoppers walk by the statue without even a glance. One woman is busy peering into the high end shop and a man hurries past, hands full of shopping bags. A paradox between modern decadence and cultural relevance, "The Storyteller" appears to be telling a tale that no one wants to hear.

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Hawaiian Sun Rise

Summer is almost over and soon I will be back in school while working full time. As such, I have been taking advantage of the break to work on my new business, catch up on some reading, travel, and work on my writing. Soon my website will be up and running but in the meantime I have also started brushing up on my design skills. One way I have been preparing for my business is by practicing photo editing with some new software.

Aside from my upcoming business, there is another reason for my software purchase. The more that I focus on my writing and my creative side, the more I begin to consider other outlets and media that I can utilize to express myself. A career path that I have often considered is that of a travel writer.

I have traveled the world since the day I was born in the Philippines. As I became older, it was only natural that I had filled pages and pages of notes on my surroundings. However, there is one thing that I regret. Growing up in Italy, I often traveled the roads of Europe. At the time, digital cameras was a tool in the making. There were instances where I purchased disposable cameras or borrowed film loaded cameras. Yet, I can not even begin to count the number of film rolls that I had lost. Gone are the photos of my travel. Knowing this has inspired me to immortalize my travels via photography in addition to my writing.

Truth be told, anyone can buy a camera and call themselves a photographer. I have several friends who do amazing things with a camera (yes, I am talking about you Crystal and Carol) My hope is to be able to create work that may some day be comparable to other photographers/artists. With all this in mind I decided that I need to try my hand at photography and writing in a combined effort. As such, I will select a photo every day to be the subject of a blog entry. This is mostly inspired by my friend Megan who went a whole year taking a photo and creating a blog entry. My goal is to do this for a month. At the end of the month, I hope to see some progress in my work and maybe even have a better understanding of photography in general and specifically tied to my writing. If I cannot even get through the month or I have grown tired of this medium then no harm done. I can go back to focusing solely on writing.

The picture above is the first of the photos for my blog entries. This was taken at the end of a hike to the top of Koko crater on the island of O'ahu in Hawaii. Hiking is not one of my best abilities and it showed as I was gasping for breath and begging my siblings to go on without me. However, my brother kept pushing me promising me that the sunrise view from the top would be well worth it. As I struggled to make the climb, there was concern that we would not make it to the top in time for the sunrise. However, that did not turn out to be true. Just as I reached the top of the crater, the sun began to break through the clouds. It was an absolutely incredible sight.

The original picture taken on Koko head included three other hikers who happened to be in my shot. I edited the photo only to remove those individuals, but I included the original below to show the contrast in my edits.

I am really excited about incorporating photography with my writing. There is just so much that I see myself doing and I am welcome to comments and suggestions.

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Long Time

It's been a long time since my last entry, let alone an entry via this app. I cannot sleep. Too much on my mind. Plans, aspirations, longing and hurt. Plus, I'm hungry which adds sushi to my thoughts. Mmmmmm sushi.

I wish I could say I have been working on a new story but no such luck. It feels as if all the creativity has been sucked out of me.

Here's to more tossing and turning at 3am.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad