I wrote this Haiku because I ride in any weather. Unless there is a snow storm and it’s -10 degrees,

you will probably find me on my bike. One day, while getting ready to ride to work, I realized that my clothes would be soaked before I even got 2 blocks down the street. So on that day I decided to try something new. It was a relatively warm day for a Japanese November so I put on my swimsuit and rode to work. Everyone I passed on the road thought I was crazy. It was raining like a typhoon and here I am cruizing down the road in a helmet and swimsuit. When I got to work my messenger bag was still dry on the inside thankfully and my work clothes were all dry and warm. My manager was not to pleased when I strolled into work with my soaking wet attire. He thought I had planned to work that day in my swimsuit, dripping wet. He was really relieved when I told him I had more clothes but I got a laugh out of his reaction to seeing me first walk in the store.

I wrote this Haiku because I ride in any weather. Unless there is a snow storm and it’s -10 degrees,

you will probably find me on my bike. One day, while getting ready to ride to work, I realized that my clothes would be soaked before I even got 2 blocks down the street. So on that day I decided to try something new. It was a relatively warm day for a Japanese November so I put on my swimsuit and rode to work. Everyone I passed on the road thought I was crazy. It was raining like a typhoon and here I am cruizing down the road in a helmet and swimsuit. When I got to work my messenger bag was still dry on the inside thankfully and my work clothes were all dry and warm. My manager was not to pleased when I strolled into work with my soaking wet attire. He thought I had planned to work that day in my swimsuit, dripping wet. He was really relieved when I told him I had more clothes but I got a laugh out of his reaction to seeing me first walk in the store.

 I’m told not to buy them, but

 …i love them so much. 

 

While my friends check out the clothes that the mannequin is wearing,
I check the hat that the mannequin is wearing.

I collected so much of them
that my mother told me not to buy them anymore.
If I buy a new one, I have to toss one away.

((I know. She is so cruel.

The assignment was to take a simple dailyshoot assignment 
and use that as an inspiration.
Since hats are always around me, 
I thought this would be a good picture (for me).

Writing haiku in English was hard.
I remember doing something similar back in elementary school,
thought it was fun,
but somehow I feel it is very hard.

Maybe this is because I already learned ways to write haiku in Japanese.
I am used to the rhythm of Japanese haiku,
and some words in English changed that rhythm.

Japanese characters each have distinct syllables,
as for English, one word can have 2 or 3 syllables.

While rereading my haiku,
I was always feeling that something is not sounding right
in the first line.

The words I use in the second and third line 
each has one syllables.
But for the word ‘angry’ in the first line, it has 2.

(I hope this is making some sense)

Also,
What we call haiku must have some seasonal word in it.
i.e winter: ski, snow

I thought about this before writing this blog,
but after looking at other people’s works, 
I decided to submit this haiku.

In Japanese, these writings with no seasonal words are called ‘ senryuu ‘ (??)

Senryuu are very interesting,
because since there are no rules of seasonal words,
it can be based about anything.

I feel like I am going off topic so I guess I should end here.

I had fun doing this assignment.
…I hope I did the right thing. haha.

(?=?=´)??

 I’m told not to buy them, but

 …i love them so much. 

 

While my friends check out the clothes that the mannequin is wearing,
I check the hat that the mannequin is wearing.

I collected so much of them
that my mother told me not to buy them anymore.
If I buy a new one, I have to toss one away.

((I know. She is so cruel.

The assignment was to take a simple dailyshoot assignment 
and use that as an inspiration.
Since hats are always around me, 
I thought this would be a good picture (for me).

Writing haiku in English was hard.
I remember doing something similar back in elementary school,
thought it was fun,
but somehow I feel it is very hard.

Maybe this is because I already learned ways to write haiku in Japanese.
I am used to the rhythm of Japanese haiku,
and some words in English changed that rhythm.

Japanese characters each have distinct syllables,
as for English, one word can have 2 or 3 syllables.

While rereading my haiku,
I was always feeling that something is not sounding right
in the first line.

The words I use in the second and third line 
each has one syllables.
But for the word ‘angry’ in the first line, it has 2.

(I hope this is making some sense)

Also,
What we call haiku must have some seasonal word in it.
i.e winter: ski, snow

I thought about this before writing this blog,
but after looking at other people’s works, 
I decided to submit this haiku.

In Japanese, these writings with no seasonal words are called ‘ senryuu ‘ (??)

Senryuu are very interesting,
because since there are no rules of seasonal words,
it can be based about anything.

I feel like I am going off topic so I guess I should end here.

I had fun doing this assignment.
…I hope I did the right thing. haha.

(?=?=´)??

Original Photo Before Haiku: LAZY DOG by paddynapper through CC Licensing

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English translation:

Haiku Written by a Lazy Person

                                              ABCDE

                                              FGHIJK,LM

                                              NOPQR

The haiku actually came to me a few days before this assignment was posted to DS106. I have a really long train ride to school/work. Sometimes, when I’m on that long sleepy train ride, I get these silly ideas. I was thinking about how haiku are a little more easy in Japanese since the language is built around speaking in clearly defined syllables (as in one character in katakana or hiragana will always be one syllable). 

I thought about how easy it could be because the basic Japanese alphabets are effectively made of lines of five syllable combinations. That would net me 15 out of the necessary 17 syllables, but what could I choose for the remaining two? That answer was solved pretty quickly because the “w” line only has “wa” and “wo.” Once upon a time, there were “wi, wu, we” syllables, but they are as long gone as “yi” and “ye.” Actually, Yebisu Beer still uses the “ye” syllable on their logo, but people pronounce it as just “Ebisu.” Also, the “Yen” as we know it is pronounced “En” for probably this same reason. Its like how “going to” became “gunna” and “catsup” became “ketchup.” Actually, spell check thinks that “catsup” is wrong but accepts “ketchup.” Irony. 

In the original draft of the haiku, I used the “t” line instead of the “s” line. I never actually learned the alphabet in order (because there actually isn’t any need to since its completely phonetic). The original format is the one that’s still the desktop to my computer at work. My co-workers have gotten a good laugh at it. Some say there is beauty in simplicity.

I also came up with the English version on the same train ride. The truth is, any time you say or write something in Japanese, Japanese people ask you how you say it in English. I had to come up with something clever to say. It works out since “W” is the only letter in the English alphabet that is more than one syllable in length. 

Admit it, you just ran through the whole alphabet in your head and checked. No worries, I did right before I typed this out.

The original assignment does say to use a dailyshoot picture, but I used a flickr CC License search for the word “lazy” instead. I stand by my decision. The words were simple just typed over top of the picture using MS Paint. 

It turns out that Japanese people are surprised that we know what a haiku is. They really are great tools for learning pronunciation and syllables in general. That’s why we learned them in elementary school. They’re also great tools for creative thinking. Its a tough fight to be able to say something meaningful within such a confined and structured space (its far worse than twitter). 

Original Photo Before Haiku: LAZY DOG by paddynapper through CC Licensing

?????

????????

?????

English translation:

Haiku Written by a Lazy Person

                                              ABCDE

                                              FGHIJK,LM

                                              NOPQR

The haiku actually came to me a few days before this assignment was posted to DS106. I have a really long train ride to school/work. Sometimes, when I’m on that long sleepy train ride, I get these silly ideas. I was thinking about how haiku are a little more easy in Japanese since the language is built around speaking in clearly defined syllables (as in one character in katakana or hiragana will always be one syllable). 

I thought about how easy it could be because the basic Japanese alphabets are effectively made of lines of five syllable combinations. That would net me 15 out of the necessary 17 syllables, but what could I choose for the remaining two? That answer was solved pretty quickly because the “w” line only has “wa” and “wo.” Once upon a time, there were “wi, wu, we” syllables, but they are as long gone as “yi” and “ye.” Actually, Yebisu Beer still uses the “ye” syllable on their logo, but people pronounce it as just “Ebisu.” Also, the “Yen” as we know it is pronounced “En” for probably this same reason. Its like how “going to” became “gunna” and “catsup” became “ketchup.” Actually, spell check thinks that “catsup” is wrong but accepts “ketchup.” Irony. 

In the original draft of the haiku, I used the “t” line instead of the “s” line. I never actually learned the alphabet in order (because there actually isn’t any need to since its completely phonetic). The original format is the one that’s still the desktop to my computer at work. My co-workers have gotten a good laugh at it. Some say there is beauty in simplicity.

I also came up with the English version on the same train ride. The truth is, any time you say or write something in Japanese, Japanese people ask you how you say it in English. I had to come up with something clever to say. It works out since “W” is the only letter in the English alphabet that is more than one syllable in length. 

Admit it, you just ran through the whole alphabet in your head and checked. No worries, I did right before I typed this out.

The original assignment does say to use a dailyshoot picture, but I used a flickr CC License search for the word “lazy” instead. I stand by my decision. The words were simple just typed over top of the picture using MS Paint. 

It turns out that Japanese people are surprised that we know what a haiku is. They really are great tools for learning pronunciation and syllables in general. That’s why we learned them in elementary school. They’re also great tools for creative thinking. Its a tough fight to be able to say something meaningful within such a confined and structured space (its far worse than twitter). 

The mud is seen less
Arriving after summer
Now fall is here

The mud is seen less
Arriving after summer
Now fall is here