Funny Windows

For my birthday - the 29th - I dedicate this entry to silly window photos and silly window thoughts. Sometimes we have to be silly. Turning 52 is one of those times.

Here are a few funny photographs of windows in China - beginning with my apartment window here in Beilun. One morning while sewing I looked up and there were LEGS. I think they were attached to men fixing windows. They disappeared a few minutes later. They looked especially funny with my Pleasant Goat( 喜羊羊与灰太狼 - xǐ yáng yáng yǔ huī tài láng - Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf cartoon) doll attached to the inside of the window. Many Chinese stuffed animals come with a suction cup to stick to the window. Not sure why.

I like toys, stuffed animals and Pokemon action figures. China is my kind of place when it comes to these important issues. These Pokemon - Igglypuff (宝宝丁- BaoBao Ding or Baby Ding), Jiggly Puff (胖丁 - Pang Ding or Fat Ding), and Wiggly Tuff (Pang ke Ding - Very Fat Ding) come from Jacob and sit in the Kitchen Window. I LOVE their Chinese names! For a while Wiggly Tuff was lost, but he reappeared in the aloe plant. I can make friends with Chinese and 'foreigner' children by sharing play time with pokemon. Thank you, Jacob!



Store windows in China are often comical - especially with all the stuffed animals. Stuffed animals are an important part of Chinese life. Many people, children and adults, carry stuffed animals around - attached to their phones, purses and backpacks. I sat next to a woman at a lecture the other day who had a small toy afghan hound clipped IN HER HAIR. I'm not kidding! Didn't have my camera that day :(

Window watching is also a popular pasttime. This stuffed animal Ferris wheel was in Shanghai. It was especially mesmerizing at night. It MOVED and made music! I had to wait a bit for others to move out of the way to get these shots. I was not the only one enthralled. Some children had to be dragged away.


I believe the tune was "Its a Small World after all."


I took these pictures for Kristina, but I like them, too. I have learned to take pictures of everything that looks interesting, because you could return tomorrow only to find the store GONE.



I am very glad I had the camera for this shot: Manikins in anguish

I laughed so hard when I first saw this. Sometimes the fact that people are so often staring at me makes me less inhibited! Scary thought. Some would argue the impossibility of that statement.

This one, here in Beilun, looks like a strange stuffed animal zoo or jail cells for bad toys
Many stiffed animals have closed eyes, small eyes, small noses and mouthes. Hello Kitty has no mouth at all. I understand from my research that this makes her less marketable because you can't have a cartoon without a mouth to move while talking. See NYTIMESHELLO KITTY




Some stuffed animal creations are beyond my understanding...a panda neck pillow?


Future projects will include the many plastic and stuffed animals seen in cabs. I plan to photograph them next. Cab photos are difficult - the key is to not watch the traffic.

Thank you for bearing with my silly pictures - serious work will return next time.