Merry Christmas

Yes, I know it's been many months since last I wrote to this thought repository. This is not because I've stopped thinking, but rather due to a focus on work and a general business.
So here I am, at the Fitzgerald's for a great family Christmas. Lots of food and fun to be had.
I must admit, I'm more and more sure that I want to marry Kate every day, I am appreciating her family, in all that it is different from my own, and I think we complement each other well.
I do miss having Christmas with my family, but I definitely want to be with Kate, so every second year work's well.
We had a great dinner at Gene and Chuck's house (Patty's parents), with a monstrous ham, Tortiere, a mango salad, home baked buns, cannelloni, cookies and a yule log (large decadent chocolate creation). Needless to say I was definitely full at the end of the evening.
This morning we were up at about 7:30am and opening presents by about 8:30.
Jo & Aaron - Thanks for the fondue
Patty & Dennis - Thanks for the book and the GPS
Ma and Pa - Thanks for the MEC gift certificate and the book
Nissa - thanks for the lifetime supply of tealights
Ryan - Thanks for the bulb
Matt - Thanks for the wine
Marie - thanks for the wine
Caillie - thanks for the shirt (soon to come)

Then an excellent breakfast with a fried potato/egg/ham dish, a tropical risotto, and some Stolen, followed by some clean up and a good run.

Merry Christmas all, hope you're enjoying as much as I am.

Knowledge Economy and Geeks

I find it interesting that the geeks of the world are becoming fully functioning, even overfunctioning people. I went to my ultimate game this week (a game played with a disc, or "frisbee"), and realised I was surrounded by all the slightly socially odd kids who have become the well paid behind the scenes people who run what William Atkinson called the Knowledge Economy (Protoype, 2001). These are the people who keep our systems running, the engineers who design electronics and games, the geeks. Stereotypically social outcasts and just a bit odd, these are the people who have focused on the excercise of the mind and solving easily compartmentalized problems as a method of making up for their social short comings or incomprehension.

A look at the moon

Here's an interesting shot of the moon. I'm not sure what the crescent below the moon is... but as my first semi-succesful attempt at nigh photography, I was quite happy with it. 

Pics from a walk around the neighbourhood

I am very impressed with the image quality so far. The compressed pics that you get on the blog don't do the originals justice. It is very easy to just start pointing and shooting as well, though eventually I would like to know enough to be able to use all the features at will.
This is one of Sunny's favourite poses, head stuffed into my elbow or armpit.
















I'm very impressed at how close I can get to objects.
 

New Camera

Well, I've gone and gotten myself into photography. I have just purchased a Nikon D50, which is an entry level Digital SLR (single lens reflex). So far I am totally hooked. I've probably taken between 150 and 200 shots since I purchased it yesterday. Of course most of them were crap, because all I was doing was pointing it at random thinks and hitting the button.
This is a great camera, I am very happy with everything about the way it feels to the features etc. 

Going to hike the Juan de Fuca!

Kate and I are going to hike the Juan de Fuca trail next week. We've obsessed about the exact plans for long enough to have thoroughly gotten ourselves prepared... at least we hope so. The plan is to arrive at China Beach on monday, as early as possible with a drive from Campbell River, approximately four to five hours away. Then we hike seven kilometers to the first camping spot. Four more days of hiking should put us somewhere near the end, in Port Renfrew. Then it's time to hitchike or find some way to get back to our car, 52 km to the south, by Friday evening. Then one last night of camping and we're rushing back home so that we can go see Caillie's (my little sister) dance performance. Should be a whirlwind tour and a hell of a good change from my usual day in front of the computer.
Unfortunately, getting ready to go means trying to finish up all my projects at work, so I've been putting in ten or eleven hour days, which can get pretty old. Ah well, such is life, at least I feel needed.
One final note, I plan on adding photographs to this blog soon, as I am planning on getting a digital SLR, likely a Nikon D50, as a birthday present to me.

Well, better get back to cleaning out the frog's tank... gotta name him soon.

The sweet mystery of spring

It seems that every spring is full of the strangest self exploration. The dark trips into my psyche often leave me desperately needing escape, and I find myself watching TV or reading in far larger amounts than I usually do. This is the time of year when I feel myself awakening from the slightly darker more introspective time of year. It is almost like I am being re-born.You know that feeling of life that you get when you've been too warm for awhile and you jump into a cold shower. Or that feeling you get when your muscles are just warmed up and you're hitting your stride and the world is in your grasp.The feeling preceeding that has slowly crept up on you, the lethargy, being too warm, losing control... you don't even know it's there until you awaken from it. This feeling is totally necessary to the awake and alive feeling.The world is a balance, at least emotionally, and all feelings of joy must be balanced at some point with feelings of despair. I curse and love this balance, and notice it far too frequently in myself. If I am feeling in the grips of ecstasy I know that I will soon feel in the grips of pain. If I am feeling in control and on top of the world, I will soon feel out of control, and filled with self doubt. Perhaps this is a construct of the self examination, or perhaps it was always there, and only became evident through self examination.
Sometimes I wish I was closer to bodhisattva, the state of neutrality and peace. Somedays I am glad I'm not.

Well... happy spring. 

My strange little world with all its ups and downs

Here I am in my strange little world.
I read, I sleep , my mind starts to twirl.
I think to myself that the end is nigh...
I remind myself that soon I'll fly.
All the ups and downs
They make me smile and frown
Here I am in my strange little world
Thinking endlessly about the girls
If only my thoughts would align
Myself I would no longer malign
I lie, I sleep, I lose myself
I cry, I weep, I forget my health
Here I am in my strange little world
The dark and the light
The day and the night
Without out one there is no other
Without people there is no brother
I cannot co-exist
I cannot go it alone
Here I am in my strange little world

Sunshine Coast pictures

 

The world of religion

Interesting that people are so passionate about religion. It means so many different things to so many different people. I was just talking to my land lord who stated that it was stupid to be religious. In some ways it is. But, as nobody is perfectly intelligent, we are all a bit stupid. Is religion such a bad way to be stupid?
The impetus for war and the forcing of an ideology onto a people are certainly two of the more negative aspects of religion, but perhaps the most harmful aspect of religion is that it is used for an excuse not to think. There are many excuses out there for not thinking, and many perfectly valid reasons not to, and it is extremely logical to use faith as an excuse. The difference between right and wrong, black and white, true and false, suddenly becomes attainable.
These are the aspects that are commonly demonized in religion, but what about all the good parts? You suddenly have something to share with others, something to form a community around. When in the depths of personal depressions, lonlienesses etc. there is always that source of comfort and wisdom to lean on. The leap of faith required to act has been done, it is no longer necessary to question to death each and every action, it is suddenly possible to accomplish many things.
The picture I've posted is an interesting one, the figure in the image is obviously trying to escape the bonds of those around him. This is one of the biggest contradictions in today's world. We don't want to be judged, or influenced by those around us, we just want to be loved. Like everything this is impossible. We cannot only take the good from anything, balance has a way of re-asserting itself in everything.
Isn't that what religion is like? The assertion of the influence of others on us? Ultimately that is demonized in today's culture, where you must be individually strong and powerful, and it is shameful to rely on others. You must become "self-realized", strong and free. Shrug off the influence of the herd, and be not a sheep. And here's some advertisements to show you how to do it. You should work like a dog to be able to buy everything so that everybody around you will not question your independence, and will only love you.
This is ultimately ridiculous, as we all need people, and want to be able to help people. So why can't we admit to needing help?
Hmmm... the juxtapositions of modern society. I realize that I am far from the first person to point these out, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about it. How else can I help to shape the world that I'm in?

Anyway, Ciao for now.

First real blog here...

I watched V is for Vendetta last night, and was quite impressed. It was a visually stunning thinly veiled political statement with all the elements of a well told story. The characters were appealing and the acting was excellent. I hope to see more like this out of the Wachowski brothers (in this movie they were the screenplay writers and producers).
The look at the use of fear by governments to control the masses was certainly an applicable one in today's world, especially in the US. I think it is movies like this, and other forms of free expression that keep these types of governments in check. This is one of the most interesting and scariest/greatest features of today's westernized governments, the ability to adapt and react. With the control of the media, control of the policing system, and control of more and more aspects of everyday life, we tend to look to the government to control the things that scare us. This is a scary prospect in itself, something which V points out in a appealing story. We'd all like to live in a fuzzy world with no worries and notthing to be afraid of, but the only way we can do that is by taking control of our internal fear, rather than trying to control the external sources of that fear. Sounds like a bit of a preachy senetence, but this is the message that I got from the movie, and something that has infected my personal philosophy in various aspects for awhile now.

Anyway, enough on this topic.

Another day another dollar....

It's amazing how much work plays into our lives these days. I know I'm revisiting this issue from my Bebo blog... but I still find it a thought provoking issue. The workless party (a local political movement) definitely has some good points, and yet, if work was all that bad why do we really do it? There are many parts of society that don't work, and, while they may only be fully accepted by there sub-sectors of society, it is certainly a valid option. As technology increases in effectiveness and complexity the not working option may become even more real and appealing. Something like 5% or less of the population in the first world western countries is actually involved in growing and harvesting food, the rest of us are mostly doing busy work. That is work that is not really necessary to our survival, but does keep us busy and thinking that we are doing something. Hmmm... seems like we do a lot of running in circles.

Cameron