Ceramic Bird Sculptures!

If you force me to admit it, I will say I rather like these fellows. Enough that, should they not sell, I will probably keep them instead of hurling them into the garbage and eliciting a minor thrill when I hear them break, which is the unfortunate destiny of some lesser crap. The stuff that shouldn't be burned in a wood stove, that is. If it's burnable, it goes in the kindling pile to await a lighted match, but if it is not burnable and/or is indeed made out of some sort of toxic materials Mojo will just admire the taste and/or savvy of the eBay community and quietly throw it out. But these guys are keepers. Not keepers enough to jealously hoard them and scream "MINE! MINE!" anytime anyone comes within a half a mile of them, but keepers enough that, should they not sell, Mojo would not mind them catching dust on a shelf somewhere. Because these are one of those so-ugly-they're-kinda-cute things that would actually make an acceptable gift in Mojo's admittedly odd world.

Or maybe it's just the decongestants talking, as Mojo strives mightily to relieve a blocked-up ear before she gets an ear infection. For Mojo has never ONCE suffered from an ear infection until about two or three years ago, lucky her. But said infection was very bad and horrifically painful and if you have never experienced one I must say it is not fun at all to have all that pain and then a weepy ear to boot. Plus everything buzzes and you worry that you will never get your hearing back until you finally do. Plus since that unfortunate episode I seem to have developed a tendency in that ear to block up every time I suffer a cold, which makes me think I'm going to have another ear infection and believe me there are plenty of things in life I would much rather experience thank you very much. Plus I live out in the sticks, up in the hills, and should I ever need to skirt the edges of civilization--which I occasionally do--I have to drop down several hundred feet in altitude, which really plays havoc on a blocked-up ear. Oh, I'm complaining again, aren't I? So sorry. It's SO unlike me. Again, it must be the drugs.

Anyway, what are these creatures who have so completely captured Mojo's decongestant-addled fancy that she might actually keep them should they not sell? They are some sort of ceramic bird-like creatures. One is a roly-poly sort of fat guy with stubby wings and a tail. The other is a long-necked fellow with stylized feathery-leafy-wing-like shoulders. Both have a sticker on their bottoms saying "Claycraft" and some sort of Asian-looking character or fake "chop" seal stamp, like what they use to sign paintings (or perhaps just a logo or meaningless graphic that makes Mojo's woozy drugged brain THINK it's Asian). I'm thinking this was bought here in America, though. Don't ask me why, it's just a feeling. The round guy is a trifle under four inches in diameter; the long-necked one is a bit over five inches tall. So you get an idea of scale.

They could have been something my dad picked up in Hong Kong or Taiwan on his business trips when I was a kid. On the other hand, *I* might have bought them myself at some craft fair and gave them to my mom as a gift. I don't remember, and I really don't care. On the scale of things to worry about, remembering the history of these birds is somewhere down in the basement. It's not that uncommon for American businesses to adopt Asian-looking characters in their logos in an attempt to look all Cool and New-Agey. Sometimes these characters actually mean something, but for all I know (and probably for all most of the New Agey sorts know, too) they could just as well be an advertisement for a dry-cleaning service and not at all Deep and Profound. From what little I understand about CJK, slightly altering a character can change its meaning considerably, and if some pathetic dabbler who doesn't know what they're doing starts blandly copying some sign for "beauty" or "truth", for all any of us culturally ignorant people know they might accidentally change it to something that means "coaxial cable" or "hemorrhoid pad".

Don't get me wrong; Mojo actually has Great Respect for various Asian traditions and in her checkered past has studied some martial arts and sumi-e painting and likes to collect books on Taoism. And at one point she was actually in the employ of a bonafide Zen master, even though Mojo herself finds Zen too much of a mind scramble to fully appreciate and never really studied it beyond the most casual of chats with her boss, and it is highly doubtful, given the complexity of Zen, that mere proximity has done anything to enhance Mojo's brain beyond her usual private reflection in the presence of greatness, which can be best described by her quietly eloquent "Geez" which indicates the moment when her brain has reached capacity. (Mojo is, after all, a proficient wordsmith who knows just what to say at all times.) Mojo is an admitted dilettante in ALL of these pursuits and does NOT claim mastery NOR profundity NOR even mere competence in any of them. Certainly not enough to spout aphorisms in a reverently solemn tone in a futile attempt to look intelligent. In fact Mojo suggests if you find anyone who DOES claim "mastery" in anything like that and tries to get you to pay money to bask in their "mastery", you should probably do some serious research before you go throwing money at them, since lineages are Really Important in most Asian arts and can be easily verified what with the internet and all. Especially if they claim "mastery" in multiple things, since it usually takes the average schmoe a lifetime of study and denial just to master ONE such thing properly, let alone several. But maybe that's just me. Rest assured Mojo is a master of nothing, except maybe complaining, and does not charge her worshippers one red cent for the right to fawn and bask in her presence, so long as they don't slobber and annoy her. (There IS a small slobbering fee, mostly to cover Mojo's dry cleaning costs, but not cost to you if you annoy Mojo, just the enjoyment of watching her politely futile scrambles to get away from you.)

But I digress. All I mean to say is, Mojo rather likes these, and if no one bids on them she will probably keep them. But she does not like them enough to seriously keep them should someone else want them. So I Surrender Them to the Universe and see what happens. If these ceramic birds speak to you then by all means take them, and their Certificate of Craptacularity as well. Mojo wishes you only the best in your endeavors, so long as you are not actively thwarting Mojo's own petty desires and ambitions. And now it is off for a nap. "Non-drowsy" my eye! That just means they load Mojo's drugs with caffeine, so she can't even sleep it off but must just lie there and buzz until the drugs wear off. Summer colds are the worst...