No Tickets!

Be the second-fastest person on the highway.

My bike doesn't fit in my head.

You can't pretend to go for a bike-ride in your head because your bicycle does not fit in your head. It's simple, really.

I haven't been bothered to write here recently. Mostly because my life here is so void of stimuli (not true at all), that I find I don't think of anything. That being said, I do have lots of fresh and exciting stimuli but I do not thing about them too much. I don't mind - I'm on holiday. There are a few things I've been thinking about those, as strange as that seems.

I've recently been watching youtube clips regard gay marriage and other clips that are mostly very painful accidents in skateboarding and gymnastics. The two are quite fun to watch even when they go wrong. Gay marriage is more exciting though, I find. Groups like the National Organization for Marriage perpetuating, in a way, the problem they're trying to solve. One of their advertisements implies that the notion of gay marriage will confuse young children so much that they won't understand what a marriage is. I started thinking. If children grew up in a world, or in this case a country, in which gay marriage was legal - it wouldn't be anything big, they would have an understanding of marriage that is independent of gender. The only people that seem to be confused are the people working for NOM that don't seem understand how the world is moving way faster than they are. I also think that their argument about legalizing gay marriage means changing the meaning of marriage for all of us is pretty fraudulent as well. If you're not confident enough that your heterosexual marriage is strong to such an extent that letting Jeff and Aaron get married threatens the sanctity of your marriage, get counseling, don't take it out on Jeff and Aaron. So glad I'm Canadian. Canada is young and hip, got his ear pierced and likes loud music.

I replied to the video, inevitably. With this bit of absolute poetry:

I think that the whole evolution thing really did render the adam and eve story old fashioned, gay marriage cannot take the credit for that one. Also, why would young children have so many preconceptions about marriage being only between a man and a woman if gay marriage was legal? With this in consideration, any confusion in the children's understand of gay marriage would have to be an issue with these children's teacher being unable teach properly. No?

I don't care if anyone on youtube reads it, though I know they did... it got two thumbs up =) What if the kids in the ad grow up and end up being gay? Would that be a kick in the pants for NOM? What's even better is that by the time the kids grow up, gay marriage will DEFINITELY be recognized, supported and not even an issue. Poor kids.

It's stuff like this that I like to write. My own opinions about things I think and care about. Unless it's for an interesting class or a good professor, most essay assignments can take a hike will I go for a mental wander. Oh well...

Romania One

Made it to Romania.

Five weeks is a long time.

I've wilted away into nothing.

I'm keeping my fingernails short

I am going to be sure to brush often.

I don't think I would be able to work if I was a vampire.

I might be able to get a pretty cool scholarship though.

A friend of mine made it into a new school. Go him.

I've been spending my days here running errands and watching TV.

I need to find something productive to do ASAP or I am going to disappear.

New Newspaper

So when you're laying in bed thinking of something really cool that you want to make - get out of bed and make it. You won't regret it.

This is a pipe.

Cool Poetry

Pictures

Finding a style:

Children's Films

I haven't posted recently because I thought I already posted what I am about to post. I don't know how I thought I had, it makes no sense.

I've been watching loads of previews and trailers for movies coming out soon and it seems as though some of the best ones are the ones intended for a much younger target audience. Though the younger audience may find them very appealing, I think we should - as older people - take into consideration these films. Though some people may say "Oh, Aladdin is my favorite movie ever," Aladdin was made was made 17 years ago. One of the best trailers I have seen recently is for a film called "Up". From what I can gather from the trailer, it is about an old man that is frustrated with his boring life to the extent of using helium-filled balloons to fly to see South America - something he has always wanted to see. He is befriended by a young boy-scout that makes the trip more interesting. (Pixar <3)>

Not that this technology is directly applicable to real-life situations (at least not yet), if it - and other related ideas from other children's films - are taken more seriously while we try to fix the many problems we are faced with in our personal lives but also on a larger scale we would have a much larger pool of ideas to draw from. I suppose what I am trying to say is not all of our problems are going to be solved in laboratories - but also in studios and in the minds of creative, imaginative people. We will be as much in debt to those designing flying wind-turbines as we are to the people who design the films we watch and the tech-toys that fuel our creative engine (Steve Jobs).

I realize that hot-air balloons exist and we can apply the technology in Up in a certain manner, but I am thinking about more abstract applications - like the helium-filled wind-turbines that are in development at the moment. They're generating power but they've still got a ways to go.

Adaptability. It's getting much warmer here and people are still wearing the same get-up they were wearing in December and January. It's completely weird.

Yes.

I don't think it's enough to make people think. I need to make people talk.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”

I've been thinking recently about how balance is necessary in our lives. I realize that you've got to balance everything out to a certain extent: partying vs. studying, sitting vs. exercising... but what I've become most interested in is the balance between self-worth and where you think you could be. I suppose the best, and perhaps the most academic, way to think about this is using Higgins' Self-Discrepancy Theory. This theory is quite simple and is one of the pillars of the social psychological study of the self. It clearly states that there are two selfs that we see - the actual self (AS) and the ideal self (IS).

IS - AS = SD

I like to take photographs. It's something that I think I am reasonably good at, though I know that I could be much better and I am absolutely certain that given ample time and freedom to explore the boundaries of photography, I will achieve or near my ideal photographer self. With this in mind, how can I be at all impressed or satisfied with the work I produce today? Just last night I took a photo that I am quite fond of. I took it specifically for No Gift Of Words and more specifically, I consider it to be a photo that speaks to problems with balance. If you are to balance your actual self with your ideal self - you're bound to face some disappointment. This disappointment will inevitably cause frustration. It's what you do with that frustration that really determines how effective a person you are at nearing your ideal self.

I realize now that some of this is sounding quite strange. Excuse me.

You mustn't wear yourself thin. I have that problem. I tend to compare my work to the portfolios of published photographers in reputable journals, magazines and coffee-table photobooks. I have to stop this. So to leave this, I ask you this:

• Where are you now?
• How does that compare to where you want to be?
• Why aren't you there?

Just another note: a photographer that offered me very good advice has sent me a link to his blog, I recommend you click THIS link.

Declaration

While walking home today, three men working on a roof caught my eye. Though such sights are not uncommon, I thought it was rather significant in my life. It showed some contrast and it showed some uniformity. While accompanying my mother on a job interview in Milan, Italy, the same sight had caught my eye. At the time I knew little about photography - the sight itself just piqued my curiosity and so I snapped away. Now, quite a while down the road, these two photographs have taught me something. Perhaps I would do best to show you.

Antigonish, NS.

Milan, Italy

My Barber Has Parkinson's

My barber's name is Henry. I'd assume he is somewhere between the ages of 65 and 75 but I couldn't say for sure. I'd also go so far as to assume - based on our limited conversation - that he's spent most of his time in rural Nova Scotia and that he is not incredibly highly educated. What's more important is his health and what he does. Consider it a matter of efficiency, learning a skill or trade, or merely concentration but no matter how you look at it, he can cut hair to a fairly standard style very consistently. What makes this interesting, separating him from I'm sure of what is over 99% of other barbers is his having Parkinson's. Whilst his lip chatters as if he were about to break down in tears and as if his free hand was waving to passers by, there is a pronounced shake and jitter to his behavior. As soon as he lifts his scissors, his clippers or his comb though, his hand becomes rigid and as steady as my hand or yours.

When Henry wasn't chatting with me, he was chattering. The rhythm of his teeth hitting would almost put me to sleep for those few minutes, giving me a rare moment to reflect. Why does Henry cut hair? Surely a man so old would want to spend his time doing what you'd expect so many men and women his age want to do. Does Henry want to spend his days idling, looking through his window? Playing bingo on Sunday nights? Watch his grandchildren and great-grandchildren ignore him as they immerse themselves in their tech-toys and play with their like-minded friends?

I think not. I think Henry turns to cutting hair as a sanctuary of sorts. Something that has changed very little - at least in Antigonish - over the last 60 to 70 years. Henry is safe from the world, changing what may seem like blistering pace a times. He is safe from idling, safe from succumbing to Bingo on Monday nights and safe from his grandchildren (who he loves so much). He is safe from Parkinson's. As soon as he lifts his scissors, his hands calm, his passive gaze shifts to a focused, creative stare and he is safe.

I cancelled my phone plan today. I went into the Bell store, hoping to receive some sort of return on a deposit I had made 6 months ago while signing my contract. However, as the online method of payment for Bell's customers is less than perfect, one of my bills did not get paid on time. (I found all of this out over the phone, while at the store. I started speaking with the Hailey at the counter and just as soon as I could say deposit, she had picked up the phone and put me on hold with their 1-800 customer service department. I don't know what Hailey's job description entails.) So as it goes, I was not granted my refund and to go even further, I was denied a suspension of my account. By this, I mean that I was not allowed to put my plan on hold for the 4 months that I will not be in Canada this summer. I was put on hold. ("Hold please while I learn things that I should have learned while taking weekend courses for this low-paying job.) I cancelled my plan and I went for a walk and took pictures. I am safe. I am safe from expectation. I am safe from the monthly bill. I am safe, most importantly from routine and the threat of regularity.

What makes you safe and what are you safe from?