Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn’t live my life without you
Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn’t live my life without you
Without you
Without youYou are still a whisper on my lips
A feeling at my fingertips
That’s pulling at my skinYou leave me when I’m at my worst
Feeling as if I’ve been cursed
Bitter cold within
August 29, 2010
Days Go By
August 26, 2010
The best things
Today was a day that had best things in it. I had a best thing when I dodged the rain this morning. I woke up, and it was pouring outside. By the time I was ready for my ride, the rain had stopped. It started again just as I was getting back to the house. Rained all during breakfast. Stopped for the walk to work. Rained most of the day. Stopped for the walk home. Excellent.
Did I mention breakfast? Ever have persimmons so ripe you can peel them with your thumbs? I did. This morning. And I didn’t share.
Another best thing. My brother let me know that he’s all finished with school. Le Courdon Bleu graduate, most excellent. Congrats, buddy. Now, make me a sammich. Just kidding, Todd. I am really proud of you. No, seriously, make me a sammich.
Tonight’s track is from a Finnish melodic death metal band called Noumena. The track is titled Misanthropolis. They are playing at Dantes Highlight in Helsinki (four more days!), and will feature session musician Suvi Uura, who looks decidedly out of place at a death metal show. But it will awesome just the same.
August 23, 2010
I am inundated in a flood of books
and this is a good thing. I’ve been stock piling books since my return, and I’m not sure why. I think a lot of it is stemming from orders placed for other things where “I just need 10 more bucks for free shipping”, so a book gets tossed into the order. Another memory card for the camera? Why yes, I’d love to read another Orson Scott Card novel. A longer USB cable? Yes please, add Flash Forward by Robert Sawyer. I think I have almost a dozen books in the queue right now. I panic when I get down to the last book. It’s sort of like when you start scraping the bottom of the peanut butter jar. I had a nightmare about that once.
Anyway. Right now I’m actually reading a non-fiction work by Joe McNally, who is a gifted photographer (National Geographic, etc) and writer. His book “The Hot Shoe Diaries” is an impressive collection of stories, photos, and technical information on shooting with small speedlights (portable camera flashes). I’ve been learning a lot. His photos are pretty amazing. Much of that may be gear related, but so much is just raw natural talent and his ability to be creative so quickly. Photography is really about making the best out of the light you have. Some times that is really difficult.
The track for today was an unexpected accident on the way to work this morning. I rarely let my iPod run on random — my playlists are pretty specific. I did this time, and was pleasantly surprised with Closer, by Dido. Yeah, I listen to Dido.
The closer you get, the better I feel
The closer you are, the more I see
Why everyone says that I look happier
When you’re around
The closer you get, the better I feel
As an aside, the apples on the tree outside the university library are quite tasty right now.
August 20, 2010
Take me to the forest, take me to the trees
I’ve had a bit of time to think about Vietnam, process photos, and recover from the jet lag. I think the key for me was to just force myself back into my normal routine the very next day. It has made for some painful morning rides and some early evenings to bed, but things are mostly fine.
Until next week, anyway. I’ve been firming up my arrangements in Finland. My boat transfer from Helsinki to Stockholm is now done, as is my strait crossing to Estonia. Ticket for metal shows at Tavastia? Purchased. Awww yeah. I’ve started packing. Different set of gear this time. Less survival gear, heh, more electronics. I can leave the water purification equipment at home, but I’ve replaced it with my GPS, some more batteries, and a second speedlight for my camera. It will obviously be a bit chillier so the clothing issue has been examined. Heavier weight merino, maybe a fleece.
And books, of course. Despite being on the move in Vietnam, I managed to finish off three books. I had Rendezvous with Rama (Clarke) with me on the plane there, picked up The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler at a book exchange in Hoi An (great read — that guy puts my neuroses to shame), and grabbed Confessions of a Yakuza by Junichi Saga in Tokyo. It seemed appropriate. That one had been translated from its original Japanese but still fantastic. The book I had originally planned on bringing to Vietnam with me — The Broken Shore, by Peter Temple, has *finally* arrived, so I will have it for Helsinki. Picture this, if you will. Sitting on the deck of a 400 foot cruise ship in the perpetual twilight of late summer in Scandinavia, waiting to arrive in Sweden. Book and coffee in hand. The life I lead.
The title of this post is a line from Imago (Homines Partus), by Pain of Salvation. If there is a better travel song, except for possibly “I’ve been everywhere”, by Johnny Cash, I haven’t found it. The cool intro with the pipe and drums makes me feel as though I’m watching a movie about the Highlands in Scotland, or the green hills of Ireland, or something.
Take me to the forest, take me to the trees
Take me anywhere as long as you take me
Take me to the ocean, take me to the sea
Take me to the Breathe and BE
July 22, 2010
My Karma is Excellent
I read Slashdot a fair bit, and occasionally post comments. Today, for the first time since I’ve been on the site, my Karma rating moved from “good” to “excellent”.
I’m going to take that as a sign that maybe Slashdot knows something about my real life that I don’t. Maybe there is something to this Buddhist thing after all? Who knows.
I am baking bread right now. A whole wheat and sunflower flour bread, which I do like with almond butter. I will probably have a loaf left over, which will get frozen and be something to look forward to when I fly back in the middle of August. It’s weird to read that I am already thinking of the voyage home, but there it is. I have another trip to plan for right after it.
Speaking of that, I should probably start charging batteries for various things. I’ve received one of the books I ordered on Biblio a few weeks ago, but I still don’t have the one I want for the trip. Since all books are coming from the same book store, I can only assume that it will be here tomorrow.
And now, dinner.
July 13, 2010
At last I understand
I have finally discovered why I travel. It’s not because I get to go to far away places, take photos of cool things, sleep in bus stations, hunt for interesting vegan food options, or feel dirty from going without a shower for a week, no. Those are all good things, but the real reason is that I hate mowing my damn lawn. I cut it an hour ago, first time in a few weeks because it’s really hot and it hasn’t been growing much, and I realized that I only have to cut it once more before I leave. And then maybe once when I get back, and then it will be the middle of September when I am home again, and by then it is getting cold out and I might cut it once more. When you’re not home, the lawn is someone else’s problem. An extra tip — you can squeeze an extra day out of not having to cut it by coming home late at night. If you can’t see it, it looks freaking GREAT.
Give me flower beds, bushes, perennials, and mulch over this any day. Maybe I should just cover the whole thing with black landscaping fabric, dump a ton of pea gravel on it, make some stone paths, put some big bushes and some giant rocks, and just revel in what would be a totally kick ass Zen garden. Way better than this mullet lawn I have now. Yes, thats right. Mullet lawn. It grows way faster in the back because of the water drainage.
Anyway. Something else I want to mention. You guys out there, the ones who cook potatoes or pasta, freaking add salt to the water you boil or parboil in! It’s one of the only times you get to add seasoning. Lots of salt. It should taste like the ocean. The salt mostly stays in the water anyway. A sous-chef that my brother once worked for once said “What, are you making hospital food?? Season it!”
This has been a Public Service Announcement, brought to you by The Bravery.
July 11, 2010
There is no gene for fate
Or so Gattaca says. I watched it with a friend yesterday, again, and still find the whole movie fascinating. If you remove the science fiction from the movie, it boils down to being able to do whatever you want, if you have the will and the desire to do so. Push yourself, put yourself in uncomfortable situations where you don’t necessarily have a guaranteed safe outcome, and I think that you will be surprised at the outcome. We are all capable of exceeding our own preconceived notions of what is possible for us. Go for it.
Some conversations yesterday day led me to think of a great Swedish band called Pain of Salvation. They are prog metal, but less metal and more prog than most. Anyway, they were relevant yesterday because the etymology of the band’s name centres around the suffering we go through in order to achieve Nirvana. We have to do things that we know hurt in order to put ourselves in a better place at the end. Anyway, I’m picking a track from them called Disco Queen, because I think that my friend will like the song a lot. The chorus is pretty fun. Are you a Disco Queen? I bet you are. As an aside, the high pitch chorus in the song is still the same two guys who front the band. A rather hilarious acoustic version of them doing it live still cracks me up.
July 8, 2010
It is getting close now
Travel day is fast approaching. I’ve sorted out my gear issues, chosen a book for the trip (more on that in a bit), and am now just really making sure stuff at work is tidied up before I leave. It is incredibly hot and humid out. Which is fine with me, because the last thing I want to do is go to Vietnam and be unprepared for the humidity and heat. This is a nice way to acclimatize and field my gear. I’ve been lugging my camera equipment around with me for the last week or so, mainly to make sure the pack works correctly, but also in part to get photos for Project Pringles. Seriously, if you can help out with this, please do so.
At this point, I’ve begun looking at what happens in Finland. It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that two weeks after I fly out of Hanoi, I will be sitting in Tavastia Klubi listening to Children of Bodom. But yet, there it is. Who would have thought?
I have decided on a book for Vietnam, at least. I have a lot of time in airports and some crazy long flights, so I’m going with Peter Temple’s “The Broken Shore”. Temple is an Australian crime novelist who is apparently very successful down under but maybe not that well known here. I am looking forward to the book. In the mean time, I have started to read Invasive Procedures, by Orson Scott Card. Same guy who did Ender’s Game (a Sci Fi classic). This one is a medical thriller. It is pretty good, so far.
Anyway, I need a track for this post. A lot of non-metal folks don’t really understand just how good metal guitarists are. Here are the two guitarists from Children of Bodom playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Mind blowing. If you like that, check out the same band doing one of their regular tracks, Living Dead Beat. One of my favourites from them. And Todd, if you’re reading this — they are playing in Halifax on October 12, with Black Label Society. We should go.
June 30, 2010
Hooks in You
It’s Wednesday, but not really. Tomorrow is Canada Day, and I have the day off work. I am hoping to spend at least part of it outside on the bike, maybe finish the second book in the Foundation series, and get out with the camera a bit. The weather is supposed to cooperate.
It has been a good week so far. The last few weeks have been quite productive at work. We’ve some new hires, and they are really gelling nicely with the team. The cool thing is that everyone is learning, not just the new folks. To me, that sort of thing is proof that you made a good decision when you hired who you ended up with. I have been writing code, and mostly sticking with a single project, which is what makes me most productive. It’s difficult for me to multitask. The code is flowing, and at this point it’s a question of whether I will have enough time to get everything in a usable state before I head off to Vietnam.
On the subject of Vietnam, I’ve been really getting into the idea of giving Buddhism a serious go. Much of it appeals to me as far as a simplified lifestyle goes, and I figure I may have a head start on some of the fundamental precepts. Some things will have to wait. It’s difficult for me to justify potentially visiting a Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia when one of the tougher precepts is to live a life that requires no money. There is a temple here in town, but it is not anywhere near central to the city and getting out to it with no car is practically impossible. We’ll see.
Anyway, it is dinner time. Time. Always time. How about Somewhere in Time, then? Yes. Agreed.
June 25, 2010
The first pingback
I was a little surprised when I received a pingback from About Gadgets on their blog post titled 8 signs a geek has too much money. While it’s cool that the ping occurred, it gave me an opening for this post. First, I don’t have too much money. I assume that maybe people associate my travel lifestyle with a good job, and while it is true that I have a good job, I don’t get to travel because I make tons of coin. I get to travel because I’ve chosen to spend my money on travel instead of other things that consume financial resources. Not having a car was huge — the cost of keeping a car on the road for a year easily exceeds what an international flight costs. Insurance, maintenance, fuel, car payments if you have one — those are not insignificant.
Anyway, more about the trip. I solved my camera bag dilemma. I had been looking for a better solution when I travelled, and turned to Kata, a company that I’ve purchased from before. I had really wanted a sling bag, but I didn’t like the fact that every other sling bag on the market was geared for a right handed person. Nor did I like the fact that a single sling strap doesn’t lend itself well for long distance carrying. Kata solved both of those issues with their 3N1-22, a sling bag that has a mirrored configuration so it can go either way. The straps can be crossed across your chest, or used as a regular sling, or whatever. And the 22 version has a small sleeve big enough for a netbook, or in my case, a small journal and some charcoal pencils. So, win for me.
I will hopefully do up two recipes this weekend. It’s been a while, and I am due. One is a sunflower/carrot pate, and the other is a variant of a dish my brother showed me last weekend, called revithia me spanaki, a Greek recipe of chickpeas, tomato juice, and spinach. I’ve made it a few time since last weekend and tweak it each time and think I have something that I am happy with.
My track today is classic NWOBHM. Nothing beats Judas Priest doing a live version of Living After Midnight, recorded back in 82.