Walkabout

Running away to our nations capital for a couple of days. To take in the sights, see what’s up with some old friends and have a few laughs.

Hope you all have a wonderful long weekend. We’ll be back soon, with pictures!

Querry:
Why is it that we always in variably leave the packing to the last possible minute. And, why is it no matter how hard I try I always seem to take a whole wackload of clothes with me. Case in point we shouldn’t be gone for more then two and yet I have set aside a weeks worth of clothing. Sigh.

Style

It isn't really a post about style, I'm not sure what it is about except for a quote:

Beyond that -- don't ever apologise to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library (that's what they're there for. Use your library). Don't apologise to this author for buying books second hand, or getting them from bookcrossing or borrowing a friend's copy. What's important to me is that people read the books and enjoy them, and that, at some point in there, the book was bought by someone. And that people who like things, tell other people. The most important thing is that people read...

- Courtesy of Neil Gaiman's Journal

Difficult

A picture is worth a thousand words.

And yet, sometimes pictures fail to capture what a few words can say.

I'm referring to the recent release of some transcripts from 9/11.

I was just reading some stories from Google News links about the transcripts and what people were doing and saying that day.

This will sound callous perhaps, but on 9/11 I was watching the news after the events and it didn't really hit me. I knew it was a terrible thing and a tragedy, but seeing the disaster didn't really hit me. It was a tragedy in the same way that suicide bombers and other acts of terror are tragedies. A horrible thing.

But reading about the transcripts and excerpts have hit me far more. There is a closeness, a sense of being in the tragedy that comes through to me and causes me pain. Even though that is only a fraction of what others felt, it burns inside. Emotions.

Sorrow for the loss of life, pride in those who put the safety of others first.

I wasn't there, I have never been to New York, and all I saw of the events were those that were on television. But from now on, 9/11 won't be about images of the act of terrorism, I won't remember this as an act of terrorists; instead I will always remember it as an act of heroism from everyday people.

Instead of 9/11 being a remembrance of fear and terror that those who perpetrated it want it to be, it is a remembrance of sacrifice and nobility that is inside us.

And that is beautiful.

...

Oh feh. I knew I bought the wrong bus tickets. The World Science Fiction Convention, is being held this year in, none other then, Toronto. Neil Gaiman will be attending. Sigh. Oh welll there’s always next year or better yet the year after.

That Tingly Sensation.

Our mildly neurotic if affectionate cat has fallen asleep on my lap and is currently purring away in blissful repose oblivious to the world around her. Unfortunately I can no longer feel my right leg below the knee. And, to make matters more interesting, my bladder, which has been steadily filling itself up over the day due to copious amounts of tea and coffee, is quietly if persistently calling the bathroom’s name. Getting there should prove to be challenging.

Did you say fries with that?

Trying out the virtues of online ordering. Now why I am worried that they’ll still manage to mess up the order. Though. I must say. The system’s rather nifty.

Update: Order successful. Everything was delivered. Nothing was misplaced. Yummy too.

Weird camera effects.

The picture looks like the negative was overexposed. Which is strange considering this was taken with the G3. Taken using the Art of Photo Fu.

*We've added some more pictures to the photoblog. Still a little behind though.

Cold.

The cold wind seeping through the cracks of our window heralds the changing of the season, and with it my spirits flounder. I am a summer child. Born to the warm sun kissed days laden with the scents of ripening fruit. The tempered heavy breezes carrying the soft echoes of spring flowers and freshly cut grass. The oceans with their soft sands, or weather warn rocks, playing amongst the crashing waves, frolicking in the shadows of the setting sun. I am a child who seeks the warmth. The one who you will find standing outside, head titled back, eyes closed enjoying the heat of the day as the sun dances about, flitting through the shadows, golden touches of light upon the leaves. I am not a child who does well in the grey muted tones of winter, surrounded by ice and frost. I need the warmth. The knowledge that the end of the summer is near has left me feeling melancholic and malcontent.

Photo Ninja

Studying the art of Photo Fu, or the darker side of Photojitsu is a lifetime's devotion. But it can be begun at any step. Once begun upon the path, there is no turning back, total commitment.

Welcome to that which is the path.

Photo Fu, the art of Zen photography or to the untrained eye, the act of getting amazingly lucky by snapping off pictures with little to no attention.

Walk the path amidst the multitudes that roam the earth, with your camera in hand, you get into the flow and press the shutter.

[click]

It's a picture, but you aren't really sure of what, as the camera was pointed backwards at thigh level at the time.

[click]

Yes, the shutter triggered, but did you catch what you think you caught? No way to be sure since you aren't looking now and weren't looking then.

[click]

You looked at what you were shooting, but not with the camera, it was just a casual wrist turn in that direction, long enough to fire off a shot as you were walking along.

Yes, this is the path.
It can have surprising results, it can have expected results, it can have - pavement blur...

The novice must not lose heart. Blur, pavement, empty sky, out of focus somethings... all these exist in the path of the true zen flow. Keep walking, focus without looking, aim without aiming, shoot without seeing. Because you do look, you do aim, and you do see. See with your hand, see with your fingers. Let the camera extend into your being and shoot.

Be one with the camera, the shot...
... may the photo fu be with you.

- Disclaimer -

Not to be tried by the non-digital wielding photo ninja out there, too damn expensive it would be.

The art of Zen Photography.

In an attempt to improve our photographic skills Hugin and I have been meandering about town, snapping shots at anything that we found to be of interest. At one point during the day, we decided to try our hand at the Art of Zen Photography: [Briefly surmized below. For a more indepth study, please read above]

Hold camera in hand. About hip level*. Breathing deeply. Focus thoughts. Snap as you walk. See what transpires at the end. If ballsy enough do this without looking at the LCD screen, or looking through the view finder**.

*thigh level for those of you with longer limbs.

Hugin is amazing at this blind form of photography. He simply moves along his way, in an almost nonchalant cat like manner snapping shots of people, cars and anything else that comes along, never once glancing to see what the LCD holds. I on the other hand. Well let’s just say I have not mastered the art of letting go. Instead I keep worrying about everything. The focus. The framing. Whom, I am aiming the camera at. If I’ve got the right shutter speed, F-Stop, ISO or white balance. If the camera is pointed at anything at all let alone anything that may be considered to be interesting. Yes. I am the young grasshopper still searching for zen.
Below are two three of the pictures that we took, one is mine the other is two are Hugin’s. [though I shall not say which one is which.]

*** Zen Photography for your viewing pleasure.

Goodwife Guide

One can almost laugh looking back at this, but then the questions begin to surface. Who had the chutzpah to write this? Was it a man or was it a woman deeply seated in her beliefs that this was how one acted as a wife. How do you actually sell that load of tripe, sorry, those ideals to women. How did you get them to believe so hardheartedly that they were indeed the weaker sex, destined to a life of servitude. Destined to always being a second-class citizen?

*link found through Locus Desperatus

Pense De Jour

Or something like a French restaurant menu in my brain...

I'm almost done reading my very first Grisham novel, The Runaway Jury. I could go into detail, but that isn't important. I read it because the movie is coming out and Munin had already read it... and I had nothing else in paperback that I wanted to read or re-read immediately. Good read, straight forward.

Which brings me to my next thought. Paperback and hardback book prices are ridiculous! I used to think that 27$ for a hardcover was a lot, and was amazed when paperback books went to 9.99$. But what with hardcover books now being priced in the low 40$ range, I am stunned. I can't see myself ever purchasing a hardcover book again. The publishing community has lost me.

I used to pick one up occasionally for an author I would like, such as American Gods by Neil Gaiman. But no longer. I'll wait the year or two for the paperback. As an addendum to this, I am also frustrated by the increased use of trade paperback releases. Too big to carry in a pocket, too easy to wreck, I just don't like them very much.

Every time I go to the bookstore, I am taunted by the existence of a trade paperback release of a book I want, such as House of Chains by Steven Erikson, and no paperback edition. I hope this to change soon since the next book in the series is being released this December.

On a less literary front, I am shocked and dismayed at the listed tour dates for Shania Twain:

September 25 Hamilton, ON Copps Coliseum
September 27 Ottawa, ON Corel Center
September 29 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Center
September 30 Buffalo, NY HSBC Arena
October 2 Toronto, ON Air Canada Center
October 4 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
October 7 Boston, MA Fleet Center
October 8 East Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
October 10 Philadelphia, PA First Union Center
October 11 Albany, NY Pepsi Arena
October 12 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum
October 14 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
October 17 Washington, D.C. MCI Center
October 24 Detroit, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
October 28 St. Paul, MN Xcel Arena
December 4 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
December 5 Edmonton, AB Skyreach Center
December 7 Vancouver, BC TBD

Specifically there is no mention of Montreal. I mean, she is going to Hamilton! I am greatly disappointed in Montreal.

I mean, I probably wouldn't have gone, considering I keep the fact that I am a listener of her music a carefully guarded secret, but the fact that Montreal doesn't rate a concert is highly pathetic.

Finally in the soft news, the trailer for the next Matrix movie has been released. Go watch it.

Pizza Dreams.

Happy Birthday Statia. Wishing you a wonderfully delicious and happy birthday! Hope you have an incredible day, filled with much love, laughter and happiness. May all your hearts desires be granted. May all your dreams come true. Wishing you many, many happy returns Girl! Sending you all our big squishy birthday thoughts.

Now scat y’all and go give the her some birthday love!

Time.

Time is a funny thing. Some days it zooms by never leaving you enough moments to actually finish off what you need to do and other days the seconds creep by. Molasses oozing down the neck of a long thin constricted bottle. It's on these days that staying at work staring at the screen feels like some form of deranged torture your boss has devised, for his general amusement.

Sunshine and Cheese

Spent the better part of the weekend in a state of relaxed bliss; either traipsing about the neighbourhood, snapping pictures of anything that looked interesting and enjoying the warm summer temperatures or curled up on the couch watching movies in the company of some wonderful people. I must, however, state for the record that “Showdown in Little Tokyo” is a painfully cheesy movie. I really do not remember it being that cheesy.

This is a rather nifty little tool for cataloguing DVD’s.

Blackout.

Yesterday parts of North America and Canada were hit by a blackout
At a loss for words and though I know that this is probably not the right reaction, all I can do is sit here and go “wow”. Just wow.

Hoping that all of you living in the affected areas are safe and sound.

Don’t wanna

Don’t wanna go to work today. Don’t wanna sit in the office and stare at a computer screen all day. I wanna take the day off, a mini vacation from the daily stresses. Find a hammock and lie in the shade. Find a body of water and sit by it enjoying the late summer rays. Find a terrace somewhere and sit on it sipping sangria, reading, snapping pictures and watching the scenery walk by. Anyone want to play hooky with me?

Pixels in lieu of content.

As our grand adventures of late have consisted of nothing more then playing with our new toy and aiming it haphazardly at toes, pouncy beasts, flowers and the occasional sunset, we offer y’all some of the better ones until we can find other subjects of interest.

*Why is it that toes are almost always the first thing you shoot when nothing else is available?

Boo Hoo

It's funny how they can complain. But really, what are they complaining about? You'd think that anyone who wants to be on the `do not call' list wouldn't be a customer anyways.

So what they are really saying is that they had to let go a bunch of people who basically would only have called people who didn't want to be bothered.

Shrug, I don't see the problem.

Faux Scares

Maybe it won't be an issue and won't happen, but the potential for wasted resources, panic, etc strikes me as a real worry over what could end up being the residue from powdered donuts... A situation not so unlikely in good old North America.

Computer Worth Doing

Monkeys good, Shakespeare bad.

Shudder Time

Well, not really. I found a site that has pictures with stories about people's injuries. It's a little gruesome IMO. Just makes me cringe, so I won't link to it and only mention it. [shudder]

Art Appreciation?

I don't know about this, but ok...

I don't understand the point of this since all answers give the same result...

Straight fonts.

There are a millions fonts out there, yes I’m exaggerating, but there are thousand of ‘em just waiting to be downloaded, to be played with and tweaked, used in conjunction with each other, placed in neat arrays each font used as an emphasis for the written word or used pell-mell, haphazardly thrown together in a mish-mash of disarray. So why am I such a stickler when it comes to using them? Why is it that I can never let the words stray from the straight confined lines of Times New Roman font?

The oddest thing about all of this is that I am not even sure if I like the damned font, but even when I try to go another route and use something a little flashier, a little rounder, and find myself depressing the ”CRTL A” keys, scrolling through the list of fonts and invariably reselecting the dreaded Times New Roman, no 12.

What is your favourite font? Which ones do you find yourself using most often. Which ones do you abhor and which ones do you absolutely love? Niggling, curious minds want to know.

Review

Here's a little review I found by accident, might be handy for some people.

Yippee ka-ay!

Friday! It’s Friday, and in 9 more hours I can come home and pass out on the couch and snuggle with Hugin! Wahoo.
I tell you it’s all about the little things in life.

morning.

Walked into the shower this morning to see this. It seems she was waiting for a drink.

And this is just kind of neat.

sneak peak

Can't wait! Can't wait for this to come out! Though I must say that are great big teases, showing these pictures when the release date is so far off.

Handles.

My desk drawer handles are out to get me. In the past half an hour I have managed to nail my kneecaps with said handles a grand painful total of not 2, not 3, but 5 bleeping times. Owie! Wait until tomorrow you wascally rabbit* of a desk ‘cause I’m bringing in the kneepads!

Bizzare, but true:
Googling ‘wascally rabbit’ automatically brings you to this site**.

**Please note link unsuitable for children.

Plumb sans Coffee

One really shouldn't try to resolve plumbing issues of any sort without being awake. I'm not talking about ripping out the pipes in the walls, or disassembling the more visible pipework either. I mean simply trying to remove a clog.

OK, pretty straight forward, although not too sure what is causing the clog. All I know is it started after the concierge made a mess of using some caulking to secure the sink and pipes. So, simply pour in some drano with some water and wait 15min. Go back to see that the water is still there and has drano bits in it and hasn't drained.

[think]

Realize that the other problem with this drain is that it still leaks...

[put two together]

Great, now there is a plugged up drain with drano in it that has a slow leak. So the end result will be that the drano doesn't help and now there is drano infused water that will be leaking onto and under the tiled floor...

Doh!

Geekdom #s Beckon

I rated a 33.13609% - Total Geek

How about you?

Communication.

Can someone please tell me what is so hard about communication? The rules are really simple. One person states what is on their mind and another person responds in kind. So how is it that the company I work for has the hardest time communicating their intent? How is it that ideas are never conveyed with clarity or efficiency and what one person responds to is some form of broken telephone decision that was never mentioned in the original conversation? And why? Why is it that the people who are weakest at laying out their thoughts and ensuring that the lines of communication remain open so that everyone knows what the bloody hell is going on, land up as managers? Hmm? I ask you, Why?

To those you who stand in positions of power, of decision making, human relations and any other position, within our corporation, where you are responsible for ensuring that people are kept up to date on what the bloody hell is going on:

The word is communication. Say it with me. Com·mu·ni·ca·tion. [k&-"myü-n&-'kA-sh&n ]

Easy? Non?!? Got it? Good.

Oh, and just in case you forget. Communication is defined as:

5 plural but singular or plural in construction a : a technique for expressing ideas effectively (as in speech) b : the technology of the transmission of information (as by print or telecommunication)

Other valid definitions that may also be useful are:
1 : an act or instance of transmitting
2 a : information communicated b : a verbal or written message…
3 a : a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior [the function of pheromones in insect communication]; also : exchange of information b : personal rapport [a lack of communication between old and young persons]
4 plural a : a system (as of telephones) for communicating b : a system of routes for moving troops, supplies, and vehicles c : personnel engaged in communicating.

Cobwebs and Dust bunnies.

Scene - Munin’s Brain: Petite women wonders about the dark recesses of her mind. Dust bunnies scattered across the plane of her subconscious as she steps over the large tomes of memories. In the corners sleepy spiders continue to spin their webs. Picking through thoughts, rifling through the stacks of half penned notions sitting on the shelves, covered in mouldy dust. She muses out loud. 'A little dusty in here ain’t it? Perhaps it’s time to clean out the cobwebs and start writing again? '

Another Year Older

Wishing a fabulously Happy Birthday to my dear friend. Hope you have an amazing one dear this year Oz Boy. Wishing you all your hearts desires, and hoping that the next year is filled with love, much happiness, happy adventure and all things wonderful.

Miss you very much.
Love, hugs, squishes and birthday kisses.