Almeda Abandoned

Spanish Village on Almeda by Finijo

I shot some urban decay on Almeda next to the Spanish Village Restaurant. There are several gutted buildings along that road that are very attractive to an urbex with a camera. I only wish I was able to actually get inside the building.

Inside the Walls by Finijo

I was able to get this shot only by standing up on some debris and shooting blindly over the wall. I still can't figure out exactly what I am looking at here. The two staircases mirror each other and are interesting, but I have no idea what this chamber is.

Reflective Decay by Finijo

I had to aim through a crack in the padlocked doors to get this shot. I think it is my favorite of the set. Even in the middle of a roofless, gutted building, art can be found. What looks like graffiti is a message to anyone who ventures inside these old walls - Unity.

Daniel Anguilu

Jungle photo by Finijo

I have been taking a lot of photos of the art around Houston's streets over the last few years, and I have found many great artists. Daniel Anguilu's aerosol murals are some of the best I have seen in Houston. Anguilu started as a graffiti artist, but has moved far beyond that beginning with a style that transcends graffiti and puts him into the realm of a fine artist.

Bridge photo by Finijo

I started to notice his work all over Midtown, Montrose, and the East End, and I am compelled to photograph his work wherever I find it. I am struck by the themes in his work as much as his style of painting. I am fascinated by his juxtaposition of the urban scenes built into the animals he paints.

Bridge by Nouveau photo by Finijo

Anguilu uses angular and organic forms to construct the animals in his aerosol murals. In one video made about him, he mentioned an Aztec influence. All of the elements he uses make his style unique and easy to recognize. I am posting a few of his murals here, but there are many more around the city that I haven't had the chance to shoot - yet.

El Derecha De Vivir En Paz photo by Finijo

While driving in Midtown I found this mural on the side of A & S Automotive Repair. I stopped to take pictures and a mechanic came out to talk to me. He handed me a post card for The Next Door Art Gallery showing Daniel Anguilu and advertising his show on January 21, 2010. I was crestfallen when I realized that I had missed the show by three week.

Survivor photo by Finijo

I don't actually know the name of his murals, but I tried to pull the names off of articles on the Internet or from the captions he sometimes includes in his work. This mural (found on the other side of A & S Automotive Repair) has a breast cancer ribbon and depicts what seems to me to be phoenix. There are links below for articles and video talking about this incredible artist and his work.

http://www.menobodyknows.com/nobodyblog/?p=1480

http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-07-20/news/murals-and-the-mind-police/

http://www.latismo.com/daniel-anguilu.html

Erick Going Going Gonzalez

Mural's Demise by Finijo

I was in Midtown today and my heart sank when I saw what has become of Erick's mural. I knew it was supposed to be temporary, but I had hoped that somehow the owner of the building would have a change of heart. This is a link to a video of the artist that I found when I was trying to make sure I was spelling his last name correctly. The cool thing about it (aside from the positive changes the school had on him) is that the photos of him painting and the photos of the mural in the video are all my work. Erick told me he wanted them, but I had no idea what he would be doing with them. I am pleased with how they were used, but wish he had let me know :) .

Armory Art

Houston Armory by Finijo

The Houston Armory is slated to become the Buffalo Soldiers Museum. I am glad that the City of Houston has found a way to reuse this building, instead of just letting it fade away into oblivion, as so often happens.

Armory Detail by Finijo

I love the relief details on the building. Embellishments like these are just not done anymore, and they add so much to the beauty of the building. The remodel is supposed to be done using green building principles. I know the ribbon cutting ceremony was about a year ago, so I hope they get started on construction soon.

Back of the Armory by Finijo

The back of the Armory has been decorated a little more recently. I know it will all disappear when the remodeling is complete and the museum opens, but I enjoyed the splash of color on such a dull surface on such a dreary day.

Armory Art Detail by Finijo

Upon closer inspection I found some wheat pasting in addition to the spray paint work. The face I love so much by Eyesore, and a fragment of Dual left behind.

Mt. Caramel Missionary Baptist Church

Mt. Caramel Missionary Baptist Church by Finijo

I was driving through Midtown and found a scene that made me a little sad - what is left of the Mt. Caramel Missionary Baptist Church. The steps look almost freshly painted, but there is nothing left of the foundation or the building. The area is fenced off, but the historical marker still stands as testament to the importance that this church once held in the part of town known as Freedman's Town. It looks as though construction may start on rebuilding the church at any time, but there is almost a full lawn of grass that has grown over the site, so perhaps it is not to be. I would hate to think of a Starbucks or another group of townhouses taking its place.

Downtown Perspective

Downtown Perspective by Finijo

I was driving all over the city today for work. It was overcast, but there was something about the day that foretold the coming of Spring. Maybe it was wishful thinking or the way driving in the city makes me feel. I sometimes think I am in the minority in my feeling that driving in downtown Houston is fun.

Vision Auto Glass

Vision Auto Glass by Finijo

I had to replace my window after the freeze, because the little cracks caused by flying rocks spread when I turned on the defrost. I ended up with a three foot crack going across the windshield and I had to get the car inspected at the end of the month.

Wonderful Window by Finijo

The two brothers who own the business came to my home, replaced the window in under an hour and did a great job of it. They were professional and friendly and the cost was a flat $125.00 for the windshield and the labor. If I had known how painless the replacement would be, I would have had it taken care of much sooner. I definitely recommend Vision Auto Glass (the number is on the side of their truck in the photo above).

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way...

Soccer Balls Are Dangerous by Finijo

So...I got hit by a soccer ball on the freeway while I was driving to an appointment today. Yup - a soccer ball flew up over the soccer pitch that I did not know existed just above 288 and I saw it coming. It was ahead of me, but I was doing 60 mph and I saw it arc over the freeway, land and then bounce across three lanes of traffic until it hit my passenger side fender and knocked the mirror out of the casing without breaking the casing.

Steel Belted Tunnel by Finijo

I spent the rest of the day working on getting the mirror fixed and going to different repair shops to see if they had the part. The last time I gave up my work car for repairs, I didn't see it again for 5 weeks. I managed to take some photos while I was waiting for repairmen.

Treadstone by Finijo

Mechanic shops smell like chemical and rubber hell, but they offer up some unique opportunities for photography. I got some strange looks, but it was a fun way to entertain myself amidst the cacophony and medley of unpleasant odors.

Transformers

Transformers I by Finijo

I took these shots while sitting in the Panera Bakery on Post Oak (I think). I liked the way the transformers looked like something from an old science fiction movie and also how they had an abstract feel when viewed through the windows. The fluting and the shape make me think of some type of sacred urn. I took the pictures, so that I could one day try to incorporate the image into an abstract painting. I thought about finding a poem about transformation to add to this post, but I decided to include one of my favorite Buddhist concepts, instead. It is the concept of hendoku iyaku - turning poison into medicine.

Transformers II by Finijo

Changing Poison into Medicine

SGI members often speak of "turning poison into medicine" when they describe how their Buddhist practice has enabled them to transform a difficult, negative or painful situation into something positive.

In its most fundamental sense, "changing poison into medicine" refers to the transformation of deluded impulses into enlightenment. The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, attributed to the third-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna, compares the Lotus Sutra to "a great physician who changes poison into medicine." This is because the Lotus Sutra opens the possibility of enlightenment to people whose arrogance and complacency had caused them to "scorch the seeds of Buddhahood." In earlier sutras such people had been condemned as being incapable of becoming Buddhas. An important implication of this principle, thus, is that there is no one who is beyond redemption.

In his writing, "On First Hearing the Teaching of the Supreme Vehicle," Nichiren develops this idea, stating that by using the power of the Mystic Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, one can transform the three paths of deluded impulses, karma and suffering into the three virtues of the Buddha, i.e., the Dharma body, wisdom and emancipation.

This can be understood to mean that any unfavorable situation can be changed into a source of value. More fundamentally, it is by challenging and overcoming painful circumstances that we grow as human beings.

How we respond to life's inevitable sufferings is the key. Negative, painful experiences are often necessary to motivate us. One Buddhist scripture describes illness as awakening the desire to seek the truth. Likewise, people have been inspired to a lifetime commitment to peace and justice by their experience of war and injustice.

The process of changing poison into medicine begins when we approach difficult experiences as an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and to strengthen and develop our courage and compassion. The more we are able to do this, the more we are able to grow in vitality and wisdom and realize a truly expansive state of life.

Suffering can thus serve as a springboard for a deeper experience of happiness. From the perspective of Buddhism, inherent in all negative experiences is this profound positive potential. However, if we are defeated by suffering or respond to challenging circumstances in negative and destructive ways, the original "poison" is not transformed but remains poison.

Buddhism teaches that suffering derives from karma, the causes that we ourselves have created. The Buddhist teaching of karma is one of personal responsibility. It is therefore our responsibility to transform sufferings into value-creating experiences. The Buddhist view of karma is not fixed or fatalistic--even the most deeply entrenched karmic patterns can be transformed.

By taking a difficult situation--illness, unemployment, bereavement, betrayal--and using it as an opportunity to deepen our sense of personal responsibility, we can gain and develop the kind of self-knowledge from which benefit flows. Buddhism teaches that self-knowledge ultimately is awareness of our own infinite potential, our capacity for inner strength, wisdom and compassion. This infinite potential is referred to as our "Buddha nature."

The original meaning of the phrase "to turn poison into medicine" relates to this level of self-knowledge.

In the "Belief and Understanding" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Subhuti and others of the Buddha's long-time disciples respond to the prophecy that another disciple, Shariputra, will attain the ultimate enlightenment. The disciples admit that they had long ago given up on becoming Buddhas themselves, but that on hearing the teaching of the Lotus Sutra they renounced their earlier stance of resignation and spiritual laziness. "[T]heir minds were moved as seldom before and danced for joy." Nagarjuna and T'ien-t'ai (538--597) therefore compare the Buddha to a good doctor capable of turning poison (the laziness and resignation of the aged disciples) into medicine (a sincere aspiration for the ultimate enlightenment of Buddhahood).

This teaching of the possibility of profound trans-formation makes Buddhism a deeply optimistic philosophy. This optimism propels Buddhists as they seek to transform the negative and destructive tendencies within their lives as well as those in society and the world at large.

[Courtesy, January 2002 SGI Quarterly]

Lunar New Year Festival

For Marilyn's birthday, we went to the Lunar New Year festival at Tien Tao Temple and David and Katie met us there. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I got some good photos and video at the temple. When Dave and I went the last time, we didn't explore as much as we might have, so it was good to get a chance to see the secondary temple and the memorial to those who died during and after the Vietnam war. After the festival, we went to lunch at Kim Son and on to the Martin Zet: Necessity exhibit at The Station Museum. This was a very good Sunday.

Sammy's Third Birthday

Sammy had his third birthday and the whole family turned out for the occasion. Like Ada, he is a Dora the Explorer fan and his party was themed appropriately for him. I think the singing of Happy Birthday was unpleasant for him...perhaps we were not in key. After his birthday party, we met up with Mom and Dad for Marilyn's birthday dinner. It was a very busy, but lovely day.

Thaw

Thaw by Finijo

A trip to the Arboretum signifies what may be a thaw from the deep freeze. I can't be certain if the warmth will be sustained, as winter is an unpredictable season bringing a biting and fickle chill to the air. Still, it was surprising and good to feel that familiar warmth.

X Marks the Spot by Finijo

Connor's Black Belt

Connor passed his belt test last night and is now the proud owner of a black belt with not one, but TWO black stripes. We are very proud that he has stuck with his training and is only about a year away from being able to test for his black belt. Keep practicing, Con! We know you can do it :)

Tea On A Sunny Afternoon

Crow on Table by Finijo

We had the first break in the weather in a couple of weeks and I got the chance to sit outside at La Madeleine and drink some tea with Karim in the warm afternoon sun. I can't seem to help myself whenever there are birds around, I am compelled to feed them. We were surrounded by grackles and crows, and this guy was the star of the bunch.

China Bear and Bonsai China Art

Quan Yin by Finijo

Sky and I met up for a photo shoot yesterday after I dropped David off. I had in mind a weird place I see along I-45 North when I am working in that area, but we had to improvise. The place I was looking for seems to be a storage yard for carnival rides as I pass it on the freeway, but all of the rides were gone, so we went to my backup location, China Bear.

Sky Shoots the Fountain by Finijo

I have passed China Bear numerous times as I fly by on I-45, but it is unclear exactly what it is until you enter the rather large compound. It turns out that China Bear is a Chinese buffet restaurant with a twist. It is attached to a rather extensive art gallery and bonsai nursery. Judging from the online reviews, the food is so-so, but the contents of the art store are incredible. I love this shot of Sky, she looked very French and artistic taking photos in her black coat and jeans.

Koi and Fall by Finijo

A large statue of Quan Yin rests between the restaurant entrance and the bonsai garden, and a fountain trails all around the building and is very well stocked with Koi. Because of the cold, they all seemed to huddle around the entrance near one of several water falls. We did not lack for a variety of interesting things to shoot before entering the building.

Showroom by Finijo

Sky and I were completely unprepared for what we found when we entered China Bear. We could see a store off to the left side of the lobby, and I expected to find the typical Chinese souvenirs you might find in a restaurant gift shop, but as we walked through the store, we found several large show rooms connected one after the other. One was two stories tall and contained a large crystal chandelier hanging over all of the art and statuary on display.

Old Man by Finijo

There seemed to be several types of art that the purveyors of this establishment favored, statues, paintings, and things made of either natural stone or wood. One of the most interesting to me was the collection of wooden statues and furniture. Most of the pieces appeared to be carved from burled wood and roots. I loved the face on this old man, who looks like he was carved from a thick tree trunk.

Peacock by Finijo

This peacock is about my height, and seems to be carved out of an intricate root system of some ancient tree. There is also a chair sitting in front of the peacock, also carved out of a root system of a tree. There were geodes larger than I had seen before, that made me wonder if they were real or manufactured. Much of the art and artifacts found in this strange gallery was on sale for thousands of dollars. There was no rhyme or reason to the items, so we saw antique dulcimers along side cheap paper fans.

Last Supper in Tin by Finijo

Sprinkled throughout the showrooms were numerous depictions of The Last Supper in a variety of mediums. I have seen oil paintings and pressed cardboard prints of this scene before, but this was the first time I ever saw The Last Supper pressed into tin and painted -pretty tacky, but I am sure there is a buyer out there who will love it.

Bad Art by Finijo

This is one of the stranger finds in the very eclectic art collection. This picture looks like something that should be sold on the side of the road out of the back of a van along with some velvet paintings of Elvis and panthers. The collection was so vast and strange that I half expected an old Chinese man in a Fu Manchu mustache to step out from behind one of the statues and offer me a mogwai.

Strangelove by Finijo

We stepped outside one of the showrooms and walked along the bridges and walkways around the winding fountain and I discovered this odd pair just before we wound down our shoot and went to Kubo's for sushi. I'm not even sure what these guys are supposed to be, but they were hidden, along with some strange little statues of penguins, under some bushes in the garden area. I think we could visit this place twenty more times and find new and strange things to photograph each visit. I hope Sky posts her photos, this time. I would love to see what she was able to capture on this outing (hint hint ;) ).