Holiday Season Lament

Hi again;

Sorry its been too long since I last posted on this blog. Life has a way of taking you in multiple directions all simultaneously....
But, I digress.

Count-down 2011 is underway. Just four more sleeps until the BIG day. The holiday season is upon us, and you can sure tell; since most people I see out-and-about are sporting the latest frown and sneer. What you say?! Grinch am I??? Gosh no!! Just making an observation.

So lets delve deeper. Why the unhappiness? Why has this season turned into something it was never meant to be?? Why the frustration and dispair???

Well, lets go much deeper, and look at how this holiday started. Yes, I'm walking a thin line now; because there are alot of opinions as to just how it started. There's the well-known biblical story, which many christians adhere to without question. Yet, there are even more belief systems that do not recognize the day, at all. Weird eh? Well, not really. However, for the purpose of this diatribe, I'm more interested in the meaning behind the day, not the actual factual existence whereof or foreto or however it might or might not have happened. To delve into the religious aspect of the day would be a long and endlessly verbose writing; which many before me have already done. Maybe this one helps Or maybe this explanation is more to your liking
Whew!! I almost got lost google searching "how christmas began" But, I'm back now.

Okay, so my point, and yes I'm getting to it.......why are we so obsessed/determined/persuaded/convinced that buying gifts is the only way to celebrate this day??? I have always, ever since I was a child, looked forward to the holidays because I could spend time with family and friends that I don't normally see through the year, and extra time with those that I do see through the year. I enjoyed, and still enjoy, the sharing of food and conversation, of telling and re-telling stories and laughing together with these people whom I love. I have excellent memories of going tobogganing with adults and kids on Dec 25th, building snowmen, playing board games and card games.

I did a brief survey this week, and asked several people I met here and there what they thought about the materialistic turn that the holiday has taken. What did they say??? I was surprised that all of them agreed with me. They felt that too much importance is placed on the gift giving and not enough on the family gathering/togetherness. Some even went as far as to tell me about how their family decided NOT to buy gifts anymore, and focus soley on the family togetherness. Wow!! Nice!!

So, maybe there is some hope then??!?

If we all; or the majority of us, feel this way, then why are we still buying into the holiday?? Literally???

Here is what Dec 25th means to me:
Giving. Giving of yourself. Giving your time to help when you see someone in need, even randomly; while out walking. Pick up the toy you just saw someones child hurl across the store. Help a senior carry the grocery bag to the car. Talk to the person at the cash register. Give a warm hug to a friend or your kids!! Give a friendly smile to a stranger. Give a moment to someone, anyone for conversation, maybe while in line at the grocery store. Give your time to write a letter (the "old fashioned" way, with paper and pen)  to someone you once knew and miss dearly. Give your heart to your most loved partner, open up and tell them how you feel about them, never take for granted that most special relationship. Give your soul to your children, listen to them when they speak and give your time to play with them.

Since the day is open to whatever we choose to do, I choose to spend it with those I love most. I give them my time, by listening to their stories and conversations. I share a smile and a giggle. We share our food and I re-learn how to hug and feel close to those I don't see often enough. And I open my heart and soul to those I love most dearly.

I can't wrap any of these gifts. These gifts of giving. I can't put them under the tree. I can't find them at a big box store or at the mall. Yet these gifts are given freely; without expectation of anything in return. Because in giving of yourself, you already receive a most amazing gift in return.

But, I'm not going to tell you what that is.

You'll have to find out, for yourself!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Murmurings, Motorcycles, Meatballs and Mutterings

Sorry for the long lapse between posts. Sometimes, as I'm sure you'll agree; life takes you by the hand and leads to somewhere you never expected. :)
And sometimes, it shows you a path that you always hoped to find, but never thought you would. I'm on that path now, and someone wonderful is holding my hand.

Motorcycles and those who are keen about motorcycles and everything motorcyclish are definitely a special breed of people. I found myself sitting in a walk-in clinic earlier this week with my motorcycle keen daughter; waiting to see if there was or was not anything broken. Lucky for both of us; she was merely bruised and not broken. I've posted the video of the spectacular race which ended in a mid-air crash on my Facebook page. And I have included a few pics of my motorcycle-keen-daughter here:

It seems I have a meatball devouring monster in my house. To date I've made two batches of my homemade meatballs in the past 4 wks. (a recipie from Gordon Ramsay that I've slightly tweaked) First batch was 16 and the second was 20 meatballs. These all disappeared within 24hrs of making. Since then; I've stocked up on ground beef and bread crumbs. Maybe I will actually get a few from the next batch I make.


In case you haven't already seen the links on this blog, I have alot of projects on the go on the internet. My web site, word press blog, blogger blog, You Tube videos, Facebook and LinkedIn seem to command a fair bit of my time. You can check these out by following these links:
Web site
Word Press Blog
You Tube
Facebook
LinkedIn


Till next week, happy meatball eating and motorcycle watching!!

Wilson!!? Is that you??

This adventure actually occurred a few weeks ago. But its still legit and interesting. We were walking the pier at the Burlington lift bridge. Guess who I saw?? Wilson!!!

okay well it wasn't exactly Wilson the volleyball from Castaway, possibly it was his cousin. Either way the poor thing was stranded floating all alone in the bay. If you look really close, you can see him smiling at the camera!

I was lucky to take my camera that day, because I had the opportunity to take some great pics of a large ship coming into the channel into Hamilton Harbour. The ships name is Canadian Enterprise. "Make it so, Number One"  



Pretty cool??  I thought it was.
These two other pics are my favourites of the sky, sun and "sea".

Most of my pics will have cloudy skies. I think its more interesting, and the colours, shadows and lights express a deeper emotion than the sunny clear blue sky! :)
Happy Flashpointing!

Surfing, shwarma, super dogs and socializing

The CNE, Canadian National Exhibition is still one of the coolest events around. Affectionately know as "The Ex" in the GTA, it was first established in 1879, according to Wiki.


My daughter and I spent the day yesterday wandering around this great exhibition. She spent some time trying out her skills on the flow rider. We took in the great shows, including the Super Dog show, always a fun time. The miniature horses were sooo cute. I think one of my cats is bigger than some of them!! lol

The Food Building is self-explanatory. My daughter and I both being adventurous, tried out a few new items, and indulged in the familiar chicken shwarma with a wonderful sweet finish of baklava. Yum Yum!!


Of course we had to check out the International Building, which is chock-full of incredible products from around the world. You have to know your merchandise and your prices to survive this part of the exhibition with your wallet still heavy enough to buy lunch; but, its well worth wandering around and looking at all the great stuff. One vendor of particular note, was offering hand-made hats, mitts, scarves, sweaters etc all 100% alpaca wool!! Incredible! And quite affordable as most of the sweaters were in the $50-60 range. We also met a very nice gentleman who was demonstrating all-natural body products. He showed us a mint body and face wash, a mud and gold flake masque and a wonderful moisturizer. We didn't buy, but will definitely check out his products later online and likely purchase some later on. He said they have a shop in Hamilton.....we were like, "really?"  LOL We live in Hamilton. Another place we stopped at hailed from Grimsby. It seemed that even though we were in Toronto, we were oddly attracted to vendors from our own neighbourhood.

Moving on to the Arts and Crafts building, we found so many talented people offering so many cool and unique items; it was starting to get hard to keep the cash in my pocket. We decided to start collecting business cards instead, so we could check out the vendors online, for purchases later. I was very surprised that not all of the vendors had business cards or a web site.

I have no formal training in marketing, however, I do know that the best way to get the word out about your products is to talk about what you do to everyone you know and to always have at the very least, business cards on hand in case anyone asks for it. I could be wrong, but my thinking is that if you are paying for a vendors table or booth at a fair or festival or exhibition, its extremely important to realize the full potential of the event. The potential for sales are not limited to just the event, because many visitors like myself, will use the event as a time to explore and inquire about new products, collecting information and contact the vendor later to make a purchase. In addition, if I liked something in particular, I will tell my peers about what I saw and again another possible sales opportunity for the vendor. BUT! If you don't have a business card; this can't happen! 

In addition to the business card, anyone who has a product or service to sell should have a web site. There are tons of free web site hosting services on the internet. It costs nothing except your time to setup a one page site with your basic product details, a few nice pictures and contact information for prospective buyers to find out.

As you know, I am a graphic and web designer; and if you don't know how to design your card or web site, this I can do for you!!

The other item of interested that I noted is that the website for the CNE does not offer detailed information or contact information for any of the vendors at the show. I think that adding this to their web site would generate more interest by fair-goers. AND, the CNE could offer this service to the vendors for an additional fee. All that would be needed is a simple listing of the vendor/company name, the product and a link to the vendor's web site. Think of the possibilities!!

All in all, I had a really great day, and so did my daughter. I can't wait till next year!!

Ants and Bureaucracy

Recently, John and I were at a local designated park area. While we sat and chatted, we noticed a line of ants, stretching from a cement pillar, across the stone patio and into the forest.
Curious, John began to mess around with them. We noticed that the trail they followed was darkened, almost like it was drawn across the patio. I figured it was probably a scent trail, although I don't work for National Geographic, so that could be inaccurate. John stepped and smeared the trail at one point, to see what would happen.
Mass confusion; by the ants, ensued.
On either side of the disruption, the flow stopped and like a dam in a river, the overflow built up.
We saw a few ants that veered off the trail, wandered around, seeming to be collecting information and returning to the melee. I ventured that these were scouts. Dunno for sure, it sounded good. Wonder what they will do to find their way back to a new trail?
Another test, a small piece of pizza was placed on the trail.  Ants gathered almost immediately, seeming to gorge themselves without care. Wonder what they will do when its all gone?    

Recently; I have been dealing with bureaucracy. Forms, lineups, more forms, interviews; you get the picture.  I was like an ant, lining up, following the flow. But I didn't fit the flow. When I asked for clarification, since none of the questions seemed to apply to my situation, it was like the trail was smeared; the needle screeched off the record.
Thus far, I have not received word from a scout to find my way back to the trail. So I wait, in the melee; off to the side of the main trail.
Up ahead, I can see the piece of pizza. But already I'm thinking; when I reach the pizza and its all gone, then what? Where will I go and what will I do?

Pizza doesn't last forever.  I never wanted any to begin with.

Chelsea and the Geese

Have you ever considered what runs thru the minds of creatures we meet on our journey?
I have.

In literature, its called personification.

Yesterday, I had the priviledge of meeting Chelsea, John's daughter.  She is very sweet and typical for her age. Its tough being not a kid and not an adult.  I know, I'm still there!! LOL

Anyway, Chelsea took over the picture taking yesterday. You can see a few of her compositions below. Good job girl!!

We were sitting on a rock that was close to the waters edge. It would seem the locals are used to the two-footed creatures feeding them various items, because as we sat there, we create quite a crowd of on-lookers; of the web-footed variety.  And; there was one red-winged blackbird.
The blackbird was incredibly tame, and I think that if I'd had something to offer it, it likely would have taken it from my hand. Unusual. Said bird was not impressed when nothing was offered. Although he did make several fly-bys, just in case.

Curious; the web-footed creatures, waiting for dinner, mulled around, in the water. Circling; nudging for front row access. Some got a bit snippy when there was nothing to eat, impatient waiting. Others seemed in for the long haul, and parked in front without budging. They gathered in a bunch, and had there been something offered; I'm sure a melee would ensue. Overall, the group was reasonably orderly.

We walked from there; heading up a pathway; in the direction of a hut offering ice cream and fries and other such items.
The two-footed creatures found here, waiting for dinner, mulling around. Some were in cue; others hanging off to the side; some got a bit snippy, impatient waiting. Then, taking their snacks, would park, at tables nearby or wander off. There was a bit of nudging and some negotiations. Overall, the group was reasonably orderly.

Chelsea's Pics:

Sailboat

Goosey Lucy

Tree

BONUS POINTS: In What story Is Goosey Lucy a character?

Gradient Mesh - not just for straining pasta!

So a certain someone said I should only post every few days.
I have something to share, so I'm gonna post. Sorry BF. :)
I was staring at the rock picture that was roughly commented on and got a brilliant idea.
So lo and behold, below is the same picture, but recreated using a gradient mesh.

Sorry about the watermark, dear readers. I have to protect my work.
The gradient mesh tool is really cool. Its like taking screening, and shaping it around the object you are creating. Then when you have the shape, you start to add the colour. The neat thing is, you can move the mesh to recontour your project as needed while you work. So you can tweak and tweak until its just right.
Here's another one I did about a year ago:

and here is another, this is a project from a course, so poor John only has half a profile:

 I found the result with drawing people this way is a bit Sim-like. Hmm sNada nada na pa?
There you have it, the gradient mesh.

Morning Teaser extrapolations

ok so, now I know that if you navigate away from your post, it becomes lost forever.  What the heck! Ha!

Since its only just after 8am, I have no clue what I typed earlier. Probably wasn't so good.

This morning I'm using Mozilla as my browser. I need to use a couple browsers to check my web site design work. Web sites will sometimes appear differently in different browsers; you can fix that by adjusting the coding. But you'll never know if you don't test it.

Big plans today; doc appt then off to boxing.  Yes.  I said boxing. I took up boxing for fitness just over a year ago. Its alot of fun; amazing for stress relief and has the added bonus increasing your fitness level.  John (aka: my new best friend), came along with me on Monday.  Curiously, I have not received any comment from him on what he saw.  Curious. Will let you know if he does comment.

Anyway, I have digressed far away from the teasers I posted. So coming back around now. The first picture is of course a sunset. This one is over Lake Huron. If you have never been to Lake Huron, you have to go. In fact anywhere along the Great Lakes, especially Huron and Lake Superior is amazing. The picture is one of many versions. I was waiting for the desired level of the sun, colour of the sky, roll of the wave and a solitary bird flitting across the horizon.  For me, some times flashpointing happens in reverse. I have an image in my mind, and I wait until my surroundings presents it to me. Definitely a more difficult process.

The rock pictures are from the viewpoint of possibly a frog, or turtle or fish that can hold a camera. Ha! I like to vary my examinations of my environment; some views are landscape in nature, others are macro. I only have one lens on the camera, so I have to be creative in how I take these. I think this is called Macro photography. Most of the macro ones end up out of focus or at odd angles, simply because my eye is not actually looking thru the viewfinder. Seriously, did you think that?

No, I just place the camera on the ground, or hold and point (as in the case of the water scenes). Try it. Its cool. If you have a zoom lens, you will do better than I on these macro scenes. I figure, it must be what lesser creatures see as they stumble around in the grass.

Tonight, John and I are doing something. Dunno what yet. Will bring camera tho. 

teaser

just adding a couple photos from our recent holiday on the shores of Lake Huron. Observations and flashpointing to follow!

Day One - Flashes at the Pier

So hello fellow readers. Day one.
My plan is to enlighten you to my visions; likely I will go off on a tangent from time to time, to the amusement of some. 
Today, I didn't leave my computer desk. So my observations are limited and a bit dull.
Yesterday was cool. Went to a place that I am now listing among my favourite places to be. For those who live in the Burlington/Hamilton area, you may be familiar with it. The sight is the pier which juts out either side of the lift bridge; the lift bridge being located below the Burlington bridge.
Of course, I was out during the twilight hours. With my new best friend. We walked out the pier that juts out into Lake Ontario.
Saw a poor seagull. Limping, broken. He was being mocked by his friends. They kept circling around, laughing. Poor thing. The circle of life.
The air was pretty clear last night. After suffering through some extreme heat that lasted several weeks and seemed to knock the breath out of even the most celebrated heat-loving canadian; we managed to have a cold front go thru that has cleared things for awhile. Breath!
We watched a few sail boats skirt along the shoreline. Sail boating would be cool. But only if I could just be a passenger.
A wee pup, German Shepard, came to visit the end of the pier along with his keepers. Puppies are so cool. Big paws trying to navigate the world. I think he knocked over his water dish a dozen times. Finally his keepers brought him back to the car. Puppy = 1; keepers = 0
Walking back towards the bridges; the sun was positioned just above the larger, Burlington bridge. Should learn to bring my camera with me, always. The light was perfect. Long shadows. Bright flashpoint of sun; flashing thru the bridges grating. Trees shadowed dark and water glimmering like diamonds.  Nice.
Gonna venture off topic now, fill you in a bit on what my flashes will be. Alot of stuff I see daily; I make comment on, to myself, in secret. I'll share my secrets here. Flashpointing is the practice of seeing things happen as you go about your day; making mental comments, then, moving on.
You would think nothing of it; until later, something happens to remind you of the moment.
Flashpointing