This project consists of me, zzolo writing a Haiku and taking a Self-Portrait everyday for the year 2009 (yep, 365 days). This may seem like a large endeavor to undertake to most people. And, given the amount of extra time I have, it is.

The main reason I am doing this is to force a creative outlet for myself. I find web development to be creative and I play music here and there, and there are small art projects. But this one is much more structured. It forces me to be creative within boundaries. I would be the first to shun boundaries, but in the instance of artistic activities, it often allows to explore things in detail which may be overlooked otherwise.

Haiku

Why a Haiku? Well, I used to write poetry on a a more regular basis. But life seems to change the way we live, and now it is few and far between. Haikus are simple and short. Given I will be doing this everyday, I can't write an epic poem, like the Mariner, everyday (at least given my other engagements).

The Haiku has structure. This is important maintaining those boundaries. But in reality, the Haiku is widely misunderstood in America. The following articles help describe the history of Haiku in Japan and European cultures:

• Wikipedia: Haiku
• Wikipedia: Haiku in English
• Haiku Article from AhaPoetry

I will be using the English form(s). Basically sticking with a syllable count structure like 5-7-5, 3-5-3, or, 2-3-2. There 365 days, so who knows where it will go.

Self-Portrait

Oh, how vain is the self-portrait? I know. But it is a good opportunity to see myself in different ways. It's hard to find perspective outside of my own eyes, so forcing this in so many ways, I hope will lead to self discovery.

This will also give me a good opportunity to learn how to use my cameras. They are nothing special, but I am sure I could stand to use some more experience and knowledge with a camera.

Posting and Editing

The intent is to to only have the single day to edit the Haiku and take as many self-portraits as I can. I should be able to adhere to this since these are simple formats.

I will try my best to post each entry every day, but I can only hope that i won't be around a computer that often. Though the past says this will not be a problem. But, I may save a few entries up and post them all at once, but still ensuring they are from a specific day.

Wow, That's a Lot of Content, Alan!

I know! So, I have created many ways to browse them. You will see a lot of aggregate views here, but each one has their own page. you can browse, by Portrait, Location, Haiku, and Date.