Squid Bus???

In the fall of 2006, I taught English in a northeast Chinese city of 11 million called Tianjin. To assist me in my teaching, I was assigned a translator with whom I spent most of my time during the day. His English name is Jason. Jason frequently referred to the buses in Tianjin as Squid Buses. After inquiring about the reason for the dubious nickname he explained that as a squid (or octopus) flees danger, it will emit a black ink in the water to confuse whatever it is that's chasing it. So it was with the buses in Tianjin. Except the black ink was a horrible cloud of toxic gas.

The SquidBus blog name is merely a catchy, short name for a project I started today, February 23rd. It's a project designed to hurl me from the creative slump in which I find myself. Just like the creative (and somewhat euphemistic) term for the buses in Tianjin, so will be the goal of this one year project, to inspire creativity.

Everyday on this blog, and each month on my website, on the editorial side of www.nicholsonphoto.com, you will see a photo taken every day of the year, starting today. Very simply, A Picture A Day. It should be mostly stuff that takes me out of my comfort zone... with some occasional comfy stuff of family and friends....

Enjoy.


2-23-08 - A Pinewood Derby car I made today, not for my cub scout son, but for an adult pinewood derby race where anything goes. Our car took fourth place out of eleven. Not bad for poor aerodynamics. - BN