Koi Casting Feng Shui & Common Sense

John Hawley

A properly plumbed koi pond requires good circulation. Likewise, Koi-Cast planning can be quite hazardous to its hosts if they get too stretched out in an unharmonious routine. Maybe I need some Feng Shui assistance? Or maybe I need merely to better prioritize what I do with a measure of common sense? “Koi-casting” by-the-way is a spin we at the Koi Club of the Air podcast put on our audio content produced and maintained at www.koicluboftheair.org. The following blog-tale is an example of the sort of stress I’ve brought on myself.

Although co-host Todo and myself completed our second January show last week we must work on the material for upcoming shows sometimes months in advance. February content is no exception. One night recently I was making plans to visit Pete Pekofsky, owner of Club Deep (www.clubdeep.com) the oldest club in Miami’s South Beach, which has a 2000 gallon koi and freshwater shark tank that club patrons dance atop. While doing that, Jing Lin,(silentwoods@gmail.com) a university professor in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China instant messages me through my Skype Internet phone and asks if we can talk. After putting her off for several days I accept. After nearly three hours of conversation about our interests, education, families, and her singing me songs in Cantonese and Japanese I was convinced we needed to do a Jing-Cast. This 37-year-old professor that speaks better English than many native borne Americans loves to talk and share her life experiences with others as one of many methods she employs to perfect her English. Considering she is paid only $100 per month at the university in Zhaoqing I felt compelled to assist her start a venture using her knowledge and linguistic skills to improve her income. A key to such a venture’s success would be finding advertisers that would likewise feel compelled to sponsor the show. My next step was to send her a link to a free MP3 file production service that she could practice podcasting on (www.clickcaster.com).

The thought went through my mind and came out my mouth that I might be able to develop a domestic market for the content and split the profits with Jing (along with creating & directing her website, podcasts, rss feed, etc), but what if there were no profits and only expenses? Plus, I already have a full plate of endeavors and ventures that require my time and energy.

As an example, next weekend we plan to attend and cover for our podcast the Gainesville Koi Club Show at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. They always put on a good show and have numerous high quality koi collectors and vendors at that show. Plus, one of our most important Koi-Cast vendors Blackwater Creek Koi Farms(www.koisale.com) will be at the show that I’ve been commissioned to write a book about. This will be a good opportunity to spend more time with Joe Pawlak the president of the farm operation and document how he interacts with customers. I’ll see him again if I attend the Tropical Koi Club show near Ft Lauderdale on Feb. 25 and 26 at the Morikami Japanese Museum and Gardens (www.morikami.org). The proceeding weekend will include the Club Deep visit previously mentioned for the Koi-Cast and trips to Mangos (www.mangostropicalcafe.com) along with the Miami International Boat Show (www.miamiboatshow.com) with another associate Don Galliher, an entertainment marketer.

Meanwhile, I’ve got to juggle commitments to update various websites for associates along with making other meetings, keeping up with tasks at home not to mention a regular 40 to 50 hour per week career that presently includes extra hours on side projects. Oh and did I mention my part-time web design schooling at a local college commitment?

The juggling doesn’t always work and I drop the ball as with a recent meeting I failed to make with fellow Florida Times Union Community Columnist Beverly Vereen after getting sick. Sorry Bev. I guess that might be fuel for another Bev moment how like I often say if someone “doesn’t call and doesn’t show they are then fired.” Donald Trump would certainly have given me a big ''YOUR FIRED!''

Alas, my commitments are more scattered and smothered than a so named order of scrambled eggs at Waffle House. Maybe I should cut back on some of them? Does the free website work and webserver hosting I provide for local talkshow hosts, former college profs, and community groups really pay off in any measurable way? Is there a metric for that? Would a new venture with a college professor in China singing in Cantonese and Japanese be any different? The Jing-Cast may have to wait.

Meanwhile, I’ll wait for word from Ray Jordan about his efforts after returning from Japan, along with the leadership of the Texas Koi and Fancy Goldfish Society (www.texaskoi.com) to assist the City of San Antonio Parks Foundation in determining the best method of restoring the Japanese Tea Gardens koi pond. Bonnie Conner, the project coordinator for the Friends of the Parks and San Antonio Parks Foundation office (bconner@saparksfoundation.org ) has informed me they are eager to work with Ray, his koi club, and anyone including myself in the $2 million project.

Plus, I’ve got to get back with Boyd Fung, Head, of Public Relations, Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (boyd_fung@hketosf.gov.hk) after he responded to my request about the multimillion dollar colonial government house and koi pond renovation for Chief executive Donald Tsang. Both of these issues could work well as stories for the Koi Club of the Air and as topics for consideration in my role as regional features editor for KOI USA magazine, which is just one more part of a day’s work. Although I might not have time to take a class in Feng Shui at this moment after growing up being told to use some common sense and use my head for something beside a hat rack, I have some sense of what I need to do. I feel better already!