I came across this beautiful photography project online, 100 Abandoned Houses, looked outside and felt nostalgic. It was days exactly like this one when my friend and I would walk over to the abandoned house near our high school and spend our spares there. We'd invented identities, explored the decaying interior and imagined it was ours. Those were the days of adventure.
I hope you can sense the adventure in these pictures.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Technical question
If you wanted to write an autobiography, would you have to get permission from everyone you mention to put them in the book? I know you can alter names to get around that, but....sometimes people's names complete the person such that a different name would make them less interesting.
Thoughts? Comment?
Thoughts? Comment?
Friday, September 23, 2011
Deep Thought of the Day
No one cares what you do. No one cares what you don't do. So, do what makes you happy because it's inconsequential to everyone but yourself.
Happy Atumnal Equinox!
Today at 9:04am was the autumnal equinox, but don't worry, you can celebrate it all day if you like. This day is all about balance, reflection and thankfulness. Apparently it is also traditional to eat or drink things that have been spiced with ginger.
I am thankful for a great many things. I've been fortunate enough to find my soul mate and to have the support of great friends and family. I was able to go to and graduate from university. And though it's not my ideal job, I do have a job which is a difficult thing to possess in this economy. I have my health, as do those around me. All in all, I'm doing pretty well.
But, for things to work toward, I would like to have a job that actually allows me to save money and thus pay off my loans. I also would like to push myself to take advantage of all that I can while I am young enough to enjoy it. Yes, I'm only 23, but I'm aware that it feels like I was 19 not long ago and thus I'll be in my late twenties in the blink of an eye. For some reason I feel a tremendous amount of pressure right now to make all the right moves and do all that I can before it's too late. I want to spend time with friends and have great adventures with them. I want to build fond memories. I want to be able to say with all honesty that I really lived my life.
What about you? What things are you thankful for and looking forward to?
I am thankful for a great many things. I've been fortunate enough to find my soul mate and to have the support of great friends and family. I was able to go to and graduate from university. And though it's not my ideal job, I do have a job which is a difficult thing to possess in this economy. I have my health, as do those around me. All in all, I'm doing pretty well.
But, for things to work toward, I would like to have a job that actually allows me to save money and thus pay off my loans. I also would like to push myself to take advantage of all that I can while I am young enough to enjoy it. Yes, I'm only 23, but I'm aware that it feels like I was 19 not long ago and thus I'll be in my late twenties in the blink of an eye. For some reason I feel a tremendous amount of pressure right now to make all the right moves and do all that I can before it's too late. I want to spend time with friends and have great adventures with them. I want to build fond memories. I want to be able to say with all honesty that I really lived my life.
What about you? What things are you thankful for and looking forward to?
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Breaking News
I have just read something both incredibly mind-blowing and incredibly intuitive (as many mind-blowing things are) : Having strong relationships and friends that you can confide in can increase your life span more than quitting smoking!
So, just imagine the emphasis everyone puts of quitting smoking these days. These days, smoking is treated like a contagious disease. No one wants it near them and so many people judge smokers as harshly as any criminal. The primary complaint that people have is that it is wildly unhealthy, which it is, but so is having meaningless relationships, or no relationships.
It's easy to publicly acknowledge that someone smokes because you can't hide it very well and really, it's largely just affecting you (unless you're not a very considerate smoker who blows smoke right in people's faces). But even though you can identify (usually) when someone has no friends, we know instinctively that it is an awful fate that no one would wish upon another. It's so awful, we can't bear to acknowledge it publicly.
So, if you've been thinking that you'd like to see some positive change in your life, go make some friends. Say hi to a stranger, help someone out or call up an old acquaintance. It will serve you far better than just about anything else you could do for yourself.
So, just imagine the emphasis everyone puts of quitting smoking these days. These days, smoking is treated like a contagious disease. No one wants it near them and so many people judge smokers as harshly as any criminal. The primary complaint that people have is that it is wildly unhealthy, which it is, but so is having meaningless relationships, or no relationships.
It's easy to publicly acknowledge that someone smokes because you can't hide it very well and really, it's largely just affecting you (unless you're not a very considerate smoker who blows smoke right in people's faces). But even though you can identify (usually) when someone has no friends, we know instinctively that it is an awful fate that no one would wish upon another. It's so awful, we can't bear to acknowledge it publicly.
So, if you've been thinking that you'd like to see some positive change in your life, go make some friends. Say hi to a stranger, help someone out or call up an old acquaintance. It will serve you far better than just about anything else you could do for yourself.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Nuit Blanche : Guelph Style
Last night was a busy night for taxi drivers. Not only was it Orientation week, it was also the Jazz Festival AND Nuit Blanche and just as an added bonus, it was also a full moon! Downtown Guelph was packed with students, artists and patrons of the arts all taking in the vast array of entertainment.
There were free music shows all day and all night at the Jazz Festival Tent, as well as in various locations around downtown. There was funk in an alley, a brass band in the square and improvised jazz in City Hall. The art installations were also at least as good as anything I saw in Toronto's Nuit Blanche last year. A drum set being played by water dripping from IV bags, paper butterflies hanging in trees by the water's edge, and a video showing how children see the world accompanied by apples and penguin crackers for snacks. Even the gimmicky stuff was cool - an advice booth, an artist drawing portraits through verbal description alone, and fire-breathing buskers.
It was quite a spectacular night to behold and though I wasn't able to do or see everything, I was constantly entertained and amazed by the creativity coming from this great city. I greatly look forward to next year's round of installations and who knows, I might even join in!
There were free music shows all day and all night at the Jazz Festival Tent, as well as in various locations around downtown. There was funk in an alley, a brass band in the square and improvised jazz in City Hall. The art installations were also at least as good as anything I saw in Toronto's Nuit Blanche last year. A drum set being played by water dripping from IV bags, paper butterflies hanging in trees by the water's edge, and a video showing how children see the world accompanied by apples and penguin crackers for snacks. Even the gimmicky stuff was cool - an advice booth, an artist drawing portraits through verbal description alone, and fire-breathing buskers.
It was quite a spectacular night to behold and though I wasn't able to do or see everything, I was constantly entertained and amazed by the creativity coming from this great city. I greatly look forward to next year's round of installations and who knows, I might even join in!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Extremists
A close friend and I were discussing people from our past who had radically changed over the years since high school and this brought up a point that I'd like to share. Extremists are making good causes look ridiculous. This happens all the time, for every cause and it's annoying.
The particular evil that these people were combating was sexism. First off, sexism is pretty bad and has led to awful things, but there are worse evils. Like dying of starvation, or the ultimate sexist acts that make us wary of sexism to begin with. Second, there is certainly a scale of sexist offenses...rape being a pretty awful one and say 'mankind' a fairly mild one. Third, descriptions of factual observations are not sexist. Raising money for a women's shelter by selling kitchen products like aprons or oven mitts could be seen by some people to be sexist and may even contribute to the propagation of traditional gender roles...but it's raising money to help women. The overall good outweighs any possible bad. And let's take a look at the bad, shall we? No one is saying these aprons are to be used specifically by women. No one is saying that women must use aprons. But, ya know what? A lot of women enjoy cooking and many of them do so while wearing aprons. Not only that, but kitchen ware is a safe thing to sell because EVERYBODY EATS FOOD. And, might I add that I would vastly prefer buying an apron that I might actually use than one of those ugly little rubber bracelets all those charities are fond of these days.
Also, marketers do market research. It is also widely known that marketers do what they do, how they do it for one reason only and that is because it sells. "Green" products are everywhere these days because it sells. Food is marketed to women because women take up a large portion of habitual grocery shoppers. If you want to change who is targeted by certain products, change who buys them. Targeting a middle aged housewife for frozen dinners is actually progressive; it implies that they have better things to do than to sit around cooking.
I could go on about this, but I grow weary of this tired argument. Think before you complain about the state of the world. No, things aren't perfect, but a lot of people are trying really hard to improve things. Problem is, opinions differ as to what is an improvement. For some, it's all or nothing and for others, it's a slower progression of steady increments. Some people are realistic, and others are not. There must be some give and take, some compromise on some things in order for things to ultimately improve. To be honest, I think things have improved an awful lot, especially over the past century, so I'm pretty happy with things.
The particular evil that these people were combating was sexism. First off, sexism is pretty bad and has led to awful things, but there are worse evils. Like dying of starvation, or the ultimate sexist acts that make us wary of sexism to begin with. Second, there is certainly a scale of sexist offenses...rape being a pretty awful one and say 'mankind' a fairly mild one. Third, descriptions of factual observations are not sexist. Raising money for a women's shelter by selling kitchen products like aprons or oven mitts could be seen by some people to be sexist and may even contribute to the propagation of traditional gender roles...but it's raising money to help women. The overall good outweighs any possible bad. And let's take a look at the bad, shall we? No one is saying these aprons are to be used specifically by women. No one is saying that women must use aprons. But, ya know what? A lot of women enjoy cooking and many of them do so while wearing aprons. Not only that, but kitchen ware is a safe thing to sell because EVERYBODY EATS FOOD. And, might I add that I would vastly prefer buying an apron that I might actually use than one of those ugly little rubber bracelets all those charities are fond of these days.
Also, marketers do market research. It is also widely known that marketers do what they do, how they do it for one reason only and that is because it sells. "Green" products are everywhere these days because it sells. Food is marketed to women because women take up a large portion of habitual grocery shoppers. If you want to change who is targeted by certain products, change who buys them. Targeting a middle aged housewife for frozen dinners is actually progressive; it implies that they have better things to do than to sit around cooking.
I could go on about this, but I grow weary of this tired argument. Think before you complain about the state of the world. No, things aren't perfect, but a lot of people are trying really hard to improve things. Problem is, opinions differ as to what is an improvement. For some, it's all or nothing and for others, it's a slower progression of steady increments. Some people are realistic, and others are not. There must be some give and take, some compromise on some things in order for things to ultimately improve. To be honest, I think things have improved an awful lot, especially over the past century, so I'm pretty happy with things.
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