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2006-04-27

Paul and Veronica and baby Matt

Congrats is in order to Paul and Veronica for a successful delivery of Matthew! Their baby number 2 is an early riser, deciding to arrive at 4am this morning.

Two babies in a week - ok ladies, this does not mean I'm looking to get in on the trend!

2006-04-26

Monday

Monday evening I connected with my older brother Carson. He's in town for a few days before starting a contract way out in the boonies. He saw me blog about Sweet Revenge so we went there for dessert. They are so good, we couldn't stop at just one serving and made our way through two sets of glorious desserts! The place was surprisingly not busy, which left us free to take our time and catch up on all kinds of things we just don't seem to talk about over the phone or email.

A good thought

Talking with the man who runs the corner store by my office this morning. He likes to play the currency markets and has an old laptop behind the counter so that he can keep an eye on them at all times.

So I asked, "are we up, are we down?"

He said, "Well, averaged out, I'm doing well."

He looked pretty happy about it.

2006-04-25

Mike & Claire & Baby X


Congratulations are in order to Mike and Claire (a couple of friends from the House) for successful delivery of a healthy 9lb baby boy! Mike is thrilled (like we knew you would be!) and they are exhausted.

2006-04-24

Sunday - A Film Crew

Sunday was also an early start, up at 8am to be downtown by 9:30 to meet the film crew behind this project. Getting downtown on time was a challenge in itself due to the massive bus route changes caused by the Sun Run.

The idea was to re-create a 1907 movie of street life in Vancouver. I volunteered to help with the event (mainly moving signs around) and of course I took my camera. Much of the project will be re-shot in high-def to mark the 1907 movie's 100th anniversary in 2007, but the Granville St. section had to be shot on Sunday at the latest.

It was interesting to watch this historic work come together and to be part of it, even in a fairly small way. It certainly gave me a greater impression of what the Vancouver Historical Society is all about. It was good to be outside and enjoying the glorious sunshine all day.

2006-04-23

Saturday

Saturday began early; I went with Rachael and Travis to see Kathryn off. It was great to meet Kathryn; it was fun to hang out and connect! Afterwards Rachael and I had breakfast at Patisserie Lebeau. Delicious waffles, slightly too sweet for first thing in the morning but memorable. Noted for next time: they also serve ham and cheese waffles.

In the afternoon I met Girard, my progenitor. It quickly became apparent that he and I are alike in some ways but also very different. It was interesting to talk with him, to learn about his interests and get an initial sense of what he's like. Photos will come eventually.

To wrap up an already great day, I was invited to Travis and Susie's housewarming party. It was a hat party and there were some very creative and fun hats; the privilege of seeing them will be mainly reserved for those present. Thanks for putting together an awesome get-together Travis! Also, very interesting bookcase in the room with the theatre seats.

To wrap it up, an early morning power walk. All together a very good day.

2006-04-21

A few things learned this week

Michael Jackson's Ben is actually a nice song. I had no idea!

If I see the B-line on Broadway as I leave from my apartment, there's a decent chance I can catch it at Willow if I run. Also, I am not in good shape for sprinting and need to do more aerobic exercise; it will help eliminate toxins.

Hikaru no Go is now available in print, but no longer online for free.

Searching for Hikaru no Go led me to this flash app. You drag letters around. The interesting part is that other people are also dragging letters around on the same board. Communication can be difficult but trying can be fun.

2006-04-20

Wally's Photowalk

Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of joining the vandigicam crew (with special guests kurly_kat and barrybar) on a photowalk from the Mt. Pleasant clock up Kingsway to Wally's burgers. The gang was caught on film by someone shooting a movie project. I used the walk as an opportunity to improve my portraiture skills, which are developing slowly but surely. Hopefully Christopher Evans will find it in him to forgive me for "that photo". Let's just squash any rumours right now; Chris and I are ... well, maybe I'll leave the rumour squashing for another day.

Following the walk was a pretty decent burger but the real attraction of Wally's seems to be the milkshakes. They use real fruit and I've got to say, my pineapple milkshake was tremendous. Jim entertained us with his photo printer the krazy kaleidoscope effects that his camera can do.

A special highlight for me was Jamie lending me his Canonet GIII QL-17. I've started to develop an affinity for the Canonet cameras due to their compact and unassuming nature, and thanks to Rachael who lent me her Canonet 28. Thanks Jamie!

2006-04-18

"Up way too late due to flickr..."

Internet related sleep deprivation is holding me back from some of the personal and professional development I so desperately need right now. At 11pm yesterday I was home and considering sleeping. Instead I wrote in my journal, read a few pages of my current book, then blogged about my weekend and surfed around to some other blogs and on flickr. I enjoyed these activities, but I need to find ways of getting more sleep, since sleep deprivation is holding me back.

I found an essay written by second year biology student Sarah Ledoux, The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Brain and Behavior. Overall the essay seems to be well written and brings together some interesting resources on sleep deprivation. Of course, I will have to come back to it some time when I am not sleep deprived, since I can't focus for more than a few sentences at a time.

This led me to the hosting website, Serendip, "a gathering place for people who suspect that life's instructions are always ambiguous and incomplete." Try hovering your mouse over the smaller serendip logo.

Twelve great things about the weekend

A long and very full weekend, so this will be packed down into a list of 12. Daily blogging is looking so much more attractive now.

1) The Vancouver Aquarium on Friday with Bill, Rachael and Kathryn. Kathryn is Rachael's sister and she's trying to experience as much of Vancouver as she can! Along with that is the walking which Kathryn is starting to adjust to, I think.
2) Pierre saw Jen at the Art Gallery, then Pierre saw Rachael at Milestone's, then we went to see Jen and Heather. Oh what a wonderfully small city.
3) Fluevogs - my desperation for new shoes has been temporarily sated, and in such style! You may refer to my new shoes as "the swirls".
4) Roadtrip on Saturday with Rachael and Kathryn. People that know me know I love road trips.
5) Shopping in Squamish; we picked up yarn, shirts, a Paschmina shawl and a cool hemp hat - then we had to stop because there are just too many awesome stores in Squamish!
6) Hiking to Lost Lake in Whistler, and stopping to appreciate a moment of completely natural sound. It felt as if, for a moment, we had truly escaped the city. That moment is worth so much to me, it charges me.
7) We saw a Basenji. Also new terms from the day: Esthero, Jet, and Ferguson Point. Also noted that Ferguson Point is not Brockton Point. And for the old-timers, "The Teahouse" is now "The Seqoia Grill".
8) Easter Sunday was for connecting with family (or trying to - Carson, where the heck were you guys?). Sunday dinner was a gathering of Chris, Jen, Joanna, Kathryn, and Rachael. The women had fun cooking, Chris and I had fun sitting on the sofa. Oh what a life!
9) Sweet Revenge, followed by quite the walk home. I still am in shock that I witnessed Jen eat pho. Then again, if there was ever a time and place for it, the 24 hour pho place at Broadway and Cambie would be it. Also note that they appear to be renovated and featuring slightly less crabby service. Same tasty pho.
10) On Monday, found the Ditto coffee house only two blocks from my place. The man there serves ok diner breakfasts with AMAZING coffee.
11) Found a new bookstore less than a block from my apartment with a very timely selection of books. Odin books deals with subjects that have stigma and you can be sure that if you visit their website you'll get turned off. The sofas are not for everyone but they sure were there for me.
12) Went to see a Firebelly Productions performance with Hendrik, Rachael, Kathryn and Chris. Amazing, just simply amazing. The master, Kira Schaffer, did her aerial dance performance blindfolded.

2006-04-12

Diafine Developer

One of the highlights for me from the whole camera trade show trip was discovering that Ben (sockeyed) was selling diafine developer. I've been thinking of getting into developing my own black and white negatives. So $10 and a short walk later, I was the new owner of a fine set of diafine developers.

There are two dandy negative strips hanging in my shower now. Thanks Josh for that developing session months ago, thanks Josh and Jamie for turning me on to diafine, and thanks Ben for the diafine!

2006-04-11

Ten great things about the weekend

1) Pasting with Sam.
2) Trying out some infrared film, finally.
3) Breakfast at Sapodilla's. It's something I do pretty much every weekend, but there's something nice about eating breakfast on Saturday morning, reading the news and watching the city stroll by.
4) Shopping - not something I do often but I enjoyed it.
5) A lone walk around the city. It was a good weekend for it
6) Discovering some new places in false creek I didn't know about.
7) Going to the camera show with the usual suspects. Saw Simon and Aline there, found Josh behind a table, bought lots of film. Lunch afterwards was nice too.
8) Visiting with Lucas and Jessica; it was fun to have the both of them in my apartment (briefly).
9) Taking more portraits. Terrible portraits, but more nonetheless. With practice comes skill, that's the idea anyhow..
10) Time for writing.

2006-04-09

There is a need to blog.

Five things I've never done:

Eaten a sasquatch.
Sucked on a sugar packet while patrolling for insurgents in Afghanistan.
Posted a blog entry about any of the darkest corners of my mind.
Found a way to escape depression and delusion, the slow kind that creeps up on you.
A photography course.

Five things I have done:

Sucked on a lemon.
Created open source software.
Learned enough about photography to know that it can bring joy and pain, for me and for others.
Emergency engine repair in freezing temperatures.
Caught an old man as he fell.

2006-04-07

A few things learned this week

- The silent treatment is terribly effective; the resolution can be that much better.
- When shooting portraits choose backgrounds that contrast with the face, at least a little bit.
- Infrared film expires quickly.

A few things I was reminded of this week;
- I'm lucky to have the family that I do.
- Friends sometimes tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
- Even if you really want to engage the controversial topics, sometimes it is better not to.
- Surprises can occur at any time and in any place. Try not to label them as good or bad right away.

2006-04-02

The Other Side

Well, I've decided the time has finally come for me to make contact with my progenitor. There are some things we need to find out about each other. It'll be a heck of a lot easier than doing it the hard way.

Ten great things about the weekend

Ok, I'm committed to writing ten great things about every weekend, no matter what, so here they are.

1) Distractions.
2) Did some paste ups.
3) Called Mom and talked; we don't get a lot of opportunity to talk so it was good to catch up.
4) Distractions.
5) Distractions.
6) Met Travis and Susie, fun and interesting couple.
7) Writing.
8) Distractions.
9) Vandigicam Portrait throw-down. Re-discovered some black in my wardrobe. Will photograph the hat, burning.
10) Talking with Sam.

2006-04-01

A terrible thing

Things learned this week. I am capable of creating intense pain. It wasn't intentional, but it is terrible. Sorry doesn't even begin to cut it, and there is nothing I can do now but stay away.

The inner voice knows what is right. It makes itself known in times of choice and should be regarded, never supressed.