Today my math wasn't so great and neither was my timing.

First, knowing full well my bus fare was $2.25, I grabbed $3.25, and didn't even think anything of it 10 minutes later when I put it in the machine. Fortunately I avoided embarassment by not noticing it. I got off the bus and since this guy who got on and off the bus when I did was about to jaywalk the busy street, which was a much shorter route for me as well, I followed, though feeling a bit stupid when it took so long to get across the other side of the boulevard.

Did my thing at the bank and came out only to miss the bus I had planned to get, but, no matter, I anticipated that and knew the next wait was the shortest I'd get. That's when I discovered I'd lost a dollar, but, not the first time. I contemplated taking full advantage of it and heading out for a 2-zone fare (which is what I paid for, instead of one), but I didn't feel like going all the way to the skytrain and didn't have time anyway. Got on the bus and did my thing at the other bank, entering in the wrong pin number to begin with. I had some time to wander around so I went in the dollar store, contemplated things, and walked out wanting chocolate but carrying two boxes of Anna's brand Swedish thin cookies, almond and chocolate mint. MMM. Popular there, apparently. $4 spent on goodies to cheer me up.

Waited forever to cross the street (it's a hot day) to catch the bus and, ooh how convenient, the bus stop is right there! I'm thrilled, and someone wants to turn, so I run. I run across a 1.5 foot wide patch of grass with clovers on it. Suddenly I feel a sharp prick, and figure it's just some sharp grass like when I stepped on dry grass earlier. I look down and whisk away a BEE and then am overcome with dread... and pain. Catch the bus -- a 5 minute ride and 8 minute walk thereafter -- or run into a restaurant and seek help? 20 or so minutes left on my fare. Better try. They didn't have meat tenderizer, but she offered me ice and another suggested dripping candle wax on it, so the bartender helped me. I didn't manage to drip any on it (wouldn't that hurt?) but it soothed a little bit; mostly the ice worked. Usually I have my lipbalm on me which has both beeswax (thank you bees) and calendula in it.

Bus was slow and two people kept looking at me like as if I was the one blasting dance music in my earphones, but I know that lady with the glare knew the truth when she walked by the guy with the music.

I made it home fairly quickly considering I was limping at a snail's pace. I think three teenage boys insulted me on the way but I didn't bother flipping them the bird and instead slightly exaggerated my limp. Oh I'm soooo sorry for myself. At home I put calendula cream and arnica gel on it.

Breathing and not thinking about it and being strong helped. Most of all, being candid about it made sure I balanced my desperation with friendliness. It may have been my unlucky day, but a bee is dead and I honestly feel worse for it. It was definitely not its lucky day. It's beyond me how it made it to the wrinkle UNDER MY THIRD TOE while wearing proper, though open-toed sandals.

So I guess I don't feel so bad about losing a dollar. Turns out those cookies came at a greater consolation than expected. And, I have a bit more courage than I had this morning. I'm thankful to be alive, thankful to not be allergic to bee stings (I might be to wasps'), and thankful to have such kind people in my neighbourhood.

My other half, who was away at the time, said to take a photo, so here you go. My little red toe.

I recently made a photo album in iPhoto for all my flower photos. I have 61. On a similar note, I realised how many photos and artwork I have of trees, when thinking about submitting a link to Dave Bonta's Festival of the Trees. (Thanks for the link, Mom!) [Two of my pieces are featured on the festival page.] I want to put up a photograph of one of my tree drawings, but when I went to look for it, it was nowhere to be found. Is it still in the back of my old bedroom closet? If it's there, I can photograph it on Friday and send Dave the link. June 30 (Friday) is the deadline.

*EDIT July 5* Yay I found it! My drawing was hidden in a folded newsprint sheet at one end of my portfolio. See it in this post.

Here's the Tree Knot series:

And one more from one of the same photographs for good measure:

graphic design

Note: Please do not steal my artwork and pretend it's your own. It has already happened to me twice.

I've discovered that in Movable Type one can set their preferences to allow images in comments. So that means it could be a viable medium for doing a community magnetic poetry site. The problem is I can't seem to make it so that comments automatically appear on the index page.

That also got me thinking about how it would work. People post their poetry... to one single entry? Multiple entries in different categories? How do the categories work? By subject is too broad, and not everyone uses a poetry form like a haiku. Do we make a new entry every day or every week? (I guess that would depend on its popularity.)

Just to reiterate, this would be a blog/site for people to share their magnetic poetry, either by image or by text.

Any ideas?

I wrote recently about my pink gerbera being on its last legs. Well turns out it must have just gotten too hot in the windowsill, oh, and I drowned it by accident, so I gave it some breathing room and am keeping it away from the heat on my desk. (The other two aren't as picky, humph.) As it turned out, that was just what it needed (along with some plant food), and now it has FIVE new leaves! (*Edit June 29: make that seven!) Four appeared pretty much at once. I think they came up while we were out of town for a few days. A fifth appeared a few days ago and is growing quickly. At my man's advice (quite the plant lover he is; I'm impressed!) I snipped off the three droopy leaves that hadn't recovered, and I think in the act of doing so I accidentally pulled out a new leaf. NOOO! So I stuck it back in the earth in the hopes that it would root itself. I'm sure it's not even worth a try but whatever. I've had miracles happen before. Anyway one of the new shoots is growing so fast that it has overtaken the oldest new one! (from before it started losing leaves) So I'm rather happy at its success. This weekend I'll repot it and will probably have to spray insecticide on it as well. It seems to have mites or some other near-microscopic insect. The orange gerbera had outgrown its pot when we bought it so it needs a new home too. I can only carry so much on the bus, though, so I think that one may have to wait unless I can borrow some dirt. I should have bought a plastic pot for it as the blue one doesn't have a hole in the bottom, and I should have bought an extra saucer for the big one. Whoops.

I figure even if that vine in the living room survives, its green limbs are so sparse it's not worth keeping. I'd move it to the office where it would get more light (I think that's the main problem) if I didn't think it would SHED EVERYWHERE. Sigh.

it's cheering up now

my gerbera in all its glory, last summer

these were taken on Father's day, June 18

my apple tree has apples! at last!!! i planted it from seed in the spring of 1995.

my mother's daisies

all by its lonesome, a heron on the beach at Cates Park

i wonder if it knew we were there, looking at it

looking through a gap in the trees for a better view

since we got our red gerbera, we've also bought a dracaena marginata, a pink african violet, a small tropical vine, and this orange gerbera, photographed today in its complimentary blue pot (along with a cutting of our other vine, which is dying).

our dracaena

The 3rd World Urban Forum just ended in Vancouver yesterday.

Bloggers may be interested in earthblog.ca, which is "a two-week discussion about the future of our region." It runs until June 30.
(If you're on a Mac, use Firefox as Safari is not entirely supported. Commenting doesn't quite work in Safari.)

Description from their website:

"From June 15 to June 30, 2006, Earthblog features the daily writings of four opinionated bloggers, two provocative moderators, dozens of passionate community groups and thousands of local residents and visitors from around the world.

Earthblog.ca takes its inspiration from the 1976 UN Habitat Conference, an event that sparked discussion and debate on the state and form of cities. The occasion of the 30th anniversary of the UN Habitat Conference, the World Urban Forum, propels this discussion forward. Earthblog.ca is intended to provide a local perspective on the issues discussed at the WUF and includes themes brought to the fore by parallel events, such as the World Planners Congress, the World Peace Forum, EARTH: The World Urban Festival, and the World Youth Forum. Earthblog brings forward the perspectives of multiple voices on the social, cultural, environmental and economic issues that are relevant to the development of the region."

I wish it were running indefinitely!

On their Sustainable Vision Wiki, I responded to this question:
Is "sustainability" anything more than just a buzz word?

My response:

"To sustain" has many relevant definitions. "Sustainability," though tossed around until it seems like a fad, is a meaningful direction and goal for any city to prolong the health and lives of its citizens, infrastructure, economies, ecologies, etc. It is also about reducing a city' and a city's people's ecological footprint, globally. Vancouver has an enormous global impact, and is never independent of the rest of the world for survival. Its ability to maintain itself with the least global impact, such as growing its own food and producing its own products with local materials, is what sustainability is all about.

This is a serious issue. From what I learned tonight (and I have heard similar topics before in a webdesign class), the US Government is in the process of passing a bill that would eliminate Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality means that all websites are equal. What is on the verge of happening is that internet service providers will be allowed to control what sites their users get to view, and how fast those sites appear. Basically if a corporation has enough money, they can buy from the provider a privilege of having the users access their sites faster. Anyone who cannot pay for this privilege will have to suffer with their website being on a slower connection. The analogy I would offer is this: let's say there's a priority lane similar to an HOV lane in a busy city such as Vancouver or San Francisco, and it cost $3 million to be able to use it. Most people are going to be stuck in the regular lanes. A select few rich people will zoom past everyone else in the special lane. Big companies' content will be in the special lane, and the content of everyone else's sites will be stuck in the slow lane. That's if it's not blocked entirely.

This is a capitalist movement with an alterior motive to end freedom of speech on the internet.
I've had enough with politicians thinking they're representing the people, and corporations pretending they're all about serving the customer.

DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN.
If you are in the United States, PLEASE contact your senator and urge them not to pass this bill. Its effects will be global.

See video at coanews.org

According to this video, the anti-Net Neutrality bill has gone through. Senators have a chance to veto it.

Visit coanews.org, and Save the Internet where you can sign a petition and fight for our rights.

Bloggers, add your blog to the SavetheInternet bloggers list

There are some interesting claims about Telus and Shaw I didn't know about, here.

This is from an interesting article at Freepress.net:
"In Canada, cable TV company Shaw Communications Inc., which is rolling out phone service, is charging its customers $10 a month extra if they want to "improve the quality and reliability of Internet telephony services" they get from other phone service companies. Internet calling company Vonage Holdings Corp. has protested to Canadian regulators."
As far as I'm aware, the only $10/month extra is an optional thing for hi-speed "extreme" which may not even be that much faster, if at all. So I'm not sure of the legitimacy of that claim, or the rest of the article, but it's a good read.

Lately I've gotten back into doing magnetic poetry compositions on our fridge. I FINALLY got around to putting the rest of them up there (we moved in a month and a half ago and I had only put up a fraction of it), and the two of us here are enjoying making weird, funny, and perverted phrases. We have the Original Magnetic Poetry kit.

I found interesting but older article about a writer's fest where the little magnets were invovled, San Francisco's Litquake Festival. (This year's is in October for those of you in or near SF, which I am definitely not.)

Anyway I got thinking... what about starting a blog or website (maybe a Flickr thing would be more appropriate) specifically for the public to post their magnetic poems? I think images are the best way because it translates the thinking and the physicality of the poetry. Not everyone has a digital camera though, or a webcam, so making text-only available is smart as well. Is anyone interested in helping me with this? What do you think is the best format?

Alternative to comments would be to email me.

i'm always proud of my heritage.

check out this young Finnish bluegrass band from Helsinki, Rautakoura. click on Musiiki to download some great, happy music.

original post at boingboing.net with the link, posted by Cory Doctorow

I would like to invite you all to an online forum hosted by The Society for Community Development. The forum is a great opportunity to discuss community issues and events, post your community events and resources, and just have a good time being involved in the online and local community. Topics include community development, responsible citizenship, environmental issues, and local happenings. Please do join us.*

The Society for Community Development is a non-profit organization working towards building healthy communities and responsible citizens in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Belcarra, and Anmore. This fall they will be holding the 10th Annual Spirit of Community Awards and Taste of the Tri-Cities.

*I am planning on reducing the number of forum categories so as to make it easier for users to find, post, and respond to topics. Any suggestions on improving the forum are welcome! Hope to see you there.

as much as i like blogger's ease of use, and the fact that i could be a lazy bum and do very little designing of this pretty template (designed by Douglas Bowman), i was convinced by an intelligently designed blog at Textura Design to see about making my own blog with Movable Type.

it's going to take awhile.
especially because i'm doing one for a client, too, and that's sort of also what got me going. i got the files installed on my server much faster than on theirs thanks to cPanel. (that means i can learn some things about it before i go forth with theirs.) i've had a bit of experience using the MT interface and customizing stuff in helping my mom with coding and my sister a little with her husband's business blog customization.

i hope i can smoothly transfer over entries when the time comes. any advice? anyone who's done it?
i'm going to have to let go of the orange and white look and other things, sigh, but oh well. it's not like i won't ever see it on someone else's page.

is it easier for you to read a block of text when proper capitalization is used, as opposed to my habit of not using it at all?

example:

(Fictional story.) Today I went to the supermarket to buy some lettuce but they were all sold out. If I had a few more cents I would drive to the next supermarket to see if they had some. Unfortunately, I have to wait until next month before I can do another debit transaction, like that dad who decided he would go to a girl's store to find clothing for his son and daughter for their granny's birthday party. I think I would go to a store that sold both if I knew I had one transaction left, but that would defeat the purpose of the commercial. Grrr, salmon! "It's salmon," said my high school principal after a comment on his "pink" shirt. (Actually, that part was true.)

(fictional story.) today i went to the supermarket to buy some lettuce but they were all sold out. if I had a few more cents i would drive to the next supermarket to see if they had some. unfortunately, i have to wait until next month before i can do another debit transaction, like that dad who decided he would go to a girl's store to find clothing for his son and daughter for their granny's birthday party. i think i would go to a store that sold both if i knew i had one transaction left, but that would defeat the purpose of the commercial. grrr, salmon! "it's salmon," said my high school principal after a comment on his "pink" shirt. (actually, that part was true.)

i'm finding it's easier to see the chunk of text as distinct sentences rather than potentially run-on text, when there is capitalization. i suddenly feel pretty dumb realising that because of my commitment to readability. hrm... what do you think? please tell me.

start a conversation on your fridge with magnetic poetry

and

read Vladimir Khodosok's story at The Forgiveness Project.

"The Forgiveness Project is a young charitable organisation - with no political or religious affiliations - working at a local, national and international level to promote conflict resolution and restorative practices as alternatives to the endless cycles of conflict, violence and crime that are the hallmarks of our time.

Through collecting and sharing personal stories, and delivering educational and self-help programmes, The Forgiveness Project aims to reframe the debate about how individuals and communities can learn to celebrate difference and overcome division, thereby fostering positive social change."

designed by the same people who did Firefox's logo, Hicksdesign

when i started running out of apple-scented Palmolive dish soap (whatever happened to Joy and Dawn, anyway?), i decided i wanted biodegradable soap for my next purchase. apparently Sunlight makes a biodegradable soap now, but that it's still kind of nasty. i didn't see many choices in scents so i grabbed the cheaper, plain apple Sunlight in the frosted plastic bottle. my other half was anxious to get going. leaving that aisle something else caught my eye... biodegradable tangerine dream. that's what i was looking for! turns out it was cheaper than the regular Sunlight, too (not that i have anything against them. their Sunlight bar is amazing against laundry stains).

i eagerly tried the dish soap tonight, and liked the smell so much that i actually washed the dishes after dinner (not that there was much to do, but i never feel like doing anything after dinner). it works very well, and i feel good using it. plus it smells great. and yes, IT WORKS! it's about $3 at Safeway for 740 mls. there are other scents as well.

it's made by VIP Soap Products Ltd. based in Mission, BC. unfortunately their website has some technical/coding issues that make it impossible to see some of the content, and the coding itself is too convoluted to read very well in source. i'm also not sure when they last updated it as it says (c) 2003. however, i think they've got a great business ethic and are making a valuable contribution to environmental sustainability.

does anyone know someone who works for them who might put me in touch with someone? i sent them an email in the hopes that someone will reply and take me up on my offer of redesigning their website with the intent to boost their sales and internet profile. if your customers can't view your product list, it's harder to sell it. plus with accessibility and usability standards being so important, and having a fast-loading, cross-browser compatible website so key to user friendliness, they could greatly benefit from an update that follows their branding and ethics.

this isn't my first foray into environmental health. take a look at my website about organic produce, o: organic produce. yes, Safeway stole the name. ...just kidding. (O Olive Oil LLC, on the other hand, is suing about the label's look.) i'm proud of them for catching on with the healthy trend. and the coupon. oh, and, the President's Choice organic label just looks so good i could eat the cardboard box when i'm done with the food!

mmm, peanut butter chocolate chip. image from President's Choice website

Safeway's new product line. image from treehugger

photo © Владимир Ролов

posted at Bitacle.org, this is a "collection of Soviet era B&W photographs."
Photos of urban Soviet life, 1950s and 1960s
>> more by the same photographer (or so i assume)

(please forgive any errors, or the photographer/copyright holder's name not showing up because it's in russian, which i can't read!)

From National Geographic News. See that page for illustration.

June 6, 2006--Our solar system could have its own "mini-me" floating in the vast reaches of space.

That's the theory being proposed by a team led by a University of Toronto astronomer, whose latest research reveals that planetary nurseries could exist not only around stars, but also around planet-size objects about a hundred times less massive than our sun.

The work focused on newly formed planetary mass objects, or planemos--objects with about the same masses as planets that do not orbit stars--as envisioned by this artist's conception.

Young planemos are similar to stars in that they are still very hot from the energy it takes to form and are surrounded by disks of debris. The disks contain the raw materials for planet-making, suggesting to scientists that miniature versions of the solar system could orbit planemos that are not much larger than Jupiter.

The finding complements previous research showing a potentially planet-forming disk around a brown dwarf--a star that didn't grow large enough to ignite. (Read "'Diamond Planets' Hint at Dazzling Promise of Other Worlds.")

But the researchers note that as planemos age and cool, prospects for life on the objects' tiny progeny would be dim.

Without the heat radiated by a fully formed star, "any kind of planet that forms around them is committed to an eternal freeze," lead author Ray Jayawardhana told the Reuters news agency.

--Victoria Gilman

that is the headline for this curious and unusual story about a very territorial cat.

i recently saw a real liger... but have you ever heard of a "pizzly"?
story with photo at news.nationalgeographic.com
(warning: it's dead :( )

now famous, 17-year-old Alan Becker made an incredibly funny and detailed animation featuring a rebellious stick figure. flash junkies like me will enjoy this. Animator vs Animation

secondly, if you're into the science of vision or you just like a cool trick, check out this little clip (requires windows media player) that will show you the marvels of persistence of vision. original page

a friend posted a bulletin at myspace, by Alan Cassels. here's the intro:

There's a new mania and I've got it. At least, I think I've got it.

I seem to have all the symptoms for someone whose mania is seeing diseases everywhere. It's like "all illness, all the time."

I've got "disease mongering mania." Call it DMM for short.
All around me I hear voices chanting the mantra, "You're sick, don't suffer in silence, see your doctor, get treatment. You're sick, don't suffer in..." etc.

These same voices seem to be coming from all kinds of unique places: television and magazine ads, the wife of a former prime minister, even from the pages of a medical journal as two psychiatrists battle it out.

Ironically, my current form of DMM seems to be largely emanating from the makers of powerful drugs for schizophrenia - a coincidence, that? - and they all seem to be saying the same thing: It may not be depression; it could be bipolar disorder."

Full article at Common Ground

my gerbera looks like it's dying, so i brought it over to my plant expert, mom. supposedly gerberas don't like the west window and being too close to it is like an oven. i remember it used to wilt with too much heat. it obviously wasn't dehydrated. most of its leaves wilted and turned brown. i also accidentally drowned it... will be checking the soil dampness with finger from now on... though i may not have to because it's probably going to live on my desk from now on (if it lives!) so it won't wilt up on the windowsill. the mini gerbera so far is doing fine, though. i did notice a few bits of the palm had fried to a crisp, though. they must have poked through the blinds when they were closed on a hot afternoon.

the gerbera needs to be repotted as its roots are poking out the bottom... which was in another pot with no holes so the poor thing was sitting in about a 1/4" of water for god knows how long. it seems to be perking up now, though. i discovered a severed flower bud in the pot though, and i don't know how long it's been there, but *sniff*.

i'm rather attached to it, which people don't understand, but it's my plant and i love it. it has featured in artwork as well. (colour has been altered in the process.)

if this one dies, i'm going to buy another one. i've had it for a year, given to me with meaning. he says it's about what it means, not the plant itself, but i do rather like the plant. it yields gorgeous flowers. for now i can only hope it will survive long enough to repot it soon and then flourish, but i think that's it for flowers this year! maybe i'll buy another one anyway or get some cut flowers.

poor thing.

i posted this just now at the Society for Community Development's online forum. [link to post]

I recently read in the Vancouver Sun that the Gateway plans such as twinning the Port Mann and widening Hwy 1 have been cancelled (or something to that extent). now, they could at LEAST widen Hwy 1 south of the Port Mann by adding HOV lanes in both directions. wouldn't that be smart? i don't think it would draw more traffic into the city, which is what they're concerned about. i think it would encourage perhaps less cars on the road because people would want to use the HOV lane, and it would relieve to some extent the horrible congestion that happens there. there is intense environmental damage and waste of money + gas that happens because of the traffic buildup at the south end of the port mann (northbound) all the way to... wherever it extends. i think, however, if adding an extra lane on at least one side of the highway will disrupt the other lanes during peak hours, it may be more trouble than it's worth. but i think it's worth considering... that and a skytrain line down the middle.

my dad was mentioning that it's really about the trucks not the commuters, that they're trying to open it up for trucks when those are the guys damaging the roads most and driving slowest (except for the occasional person going much slower than the speed limit). in the end the problems are too much growth in the city, too many cars, and too few options. i don't mean too few roads.

translink has an incredible commitment to public transportation in the city and they're seeing an increase in ridership. i live in cloverdale now, where it's pretty good but it still takes a long time to get certain places that are not far away, and a long time to get to far away places thanks to 15 minute waits or infrequent service or long bus rides. i think while they're paying attention to vancouver/south vancouver, coquitlam-pocomo, they're forgetting the other end of the city that is expanding quite rapidly... surrey, langley, and beyond. i will never live in aldergrove so long as the bus goes there every hour... i guess there just isn't the demand... so out there, out here, people drive cars. one day that's going to snap back at them very badly. [edit: there is a commitment to development in surrey/white rock/langley but needed improvements may not be seen as soon as it is in other places, eg. 2009 RAV and Light Rail ... moreover, there seems to be less talk and publicity about this area.]

people also don't realise the true cost of driving. i'd like to find some kind of breakdown based on VANCOUVER's price of gas, which is much higher than other cities, the costs of driving versus transit and other methods (walking, biking, even carpooling). i'd like to see it based on minimal driving, regular driving, and daily maximum driving.

the cost of an electric bike is about equivalent to a year's INSURANCE alone. it has the convenience of a car: leave whenever you want. it can go places a car can't, and it gives you great exercise. it costs less, is less stressful, and more enjoyable. how much can YOU cut down on driving in exchange for walking or riding a bike? can you do your grocery shopping more frequently with smaller loads and not take the car?

i rarely do anything on a friday night, but last night we went out on a date to the Afghan Horsemen Restaurant on Broadway & Cambie, to celebrate our 1 year, then he suggested we see The Da Vinci Code. i didn't expect that my art history courses would be so useful, or would lend me such an appreciation. most of what i've learned about religion i learned in those courses. the introduction with Robert Langdon's lecture was quite enlightening.

as a non-believer i found the film unoffensive. i found it intriguing from a humanities, historical, and cultural point of view. it was a beautifully well-done film, well scripted and intelligent. i definitely want to see it again.

another blogger posted forwarded, anonymous emails he received along with his commentary on them. the newest one is very heated and, i think, ignorant. the blogger, Ronald Allan, has very realistic, intelligent, and moderate views on the posted email.

i see it as quite possible that these events occurred. consider the power of the patriarchy. the papacy. the church. the rulers of religion have been male, so why would they want their power disrupted by the presence of a powerful female? as a non-christian, a non-anything, what i don't get is why it's such a horrible thought that Jesus (who i do believe existed) might have married and had a child. love itself is divine, having a child is divine. there is no love like the love for a mate and the love for one's child. i find it fascinating that there could be any descendents of Jesus alive today. were he a mere mortal (which i guess is how i look at it), he still did amazing things for his people. isn't that what counts?

"For as long as there has been a God, there has been killing in his name." (hopefully i got that completely right.) isn't that the great tragedy of our time? i used to have a more negative view on religion but i'd like to view it as something that saves people, that enriches their lives, that makes them believe in something when they need to, that makes them feel like they're not alone when they can't see a single being around them. it shouldn't be something that kills people.

i believe in science, in evolution, in the facts, evidence, and theories. this film and book is essentially a theory, but i believe, given even human nature, that it is a very valid one. it is certainly something to think about.

i like romantic comedies. they're funny and romantic. but wait... i was born in the 80s, so i didn't exactly grow up on hepburn, gable, and tracy (who?). i've seen a few old films, quality films where the love is really real and the characters are believable.

Alison Gillmour, a Winnipeg-based writer, wrote an article called "Where Is the Love?" posted to cbc.ca on June 7. I'm looking at the black and white image at the top realising that nothing so genuine exists anymore, and that romance in film today is mostly cheese. as for television, i'm not sure... i think from the little i've seen of King of Queens that the sensation is revived.

Gillmour notes that in the 30s and 40s the target audience of couples courted young then married, whereas today, people date for decades before settling down. (and believe me, my boyfriend will NOT see a romantic comedy unless i consent to watching a horror flick in return for his suffering.) i can think of a few movies where people are looking for love, desperately, in their 30s (and older? were they older in the classic films?) and have even given up.

i can think of one film of recent years where the male-female (or female-female, male-male) protagonists' character interaction was not interfered with by celebrity, where the courting was enigmatic and beautiful, where the ending was heart-warming in a very deliberate and genuine way... no sap, just pure emotion and intelligence. if you know me at all and even read my earlier post about another film... it's Amélie. but then again, this film was, overall, more intelligent, mature, and delightful than anything yawnlywood can conjure up. celebrities in real life rarely seem to demonstrate real, long-lasting love. it's not what makes the juice for paparazzi and magazines, and it's obviously not what makes the backbone of romantic comedies. what does romantic mean anymore, anyway? wherever its meaning is, it's not in hollywood.

(above 4) skies above the idaho-washington state border. do you see nessy?

(above 3) Lac Sans Souci ("lake without worry")

spirit lake

fishing at spirit lake (photo by chris)

view of spirit lake from above, with trippy side view mirror action. reminiscient of cultus lake and columbia valley

articles at macworld uk online:

Quark pricing RIPs off Britain
at the bottom there is a comparison of international prices between quark xpress 7 and adobe creative suite 2.
"Adobe's pricing isn't a lot better. A standard version of Adobe's Creative Suite 2 costs £809 in the UK (excluding VAT). It's $899.95 in the US and €1,699 in Europe."
it makes quark xpress 7 look cheap in comparison, but it's a moot point because xpress 7 is (in terms of purpose) basically equivalent to adobe indesign cs2. the CS2 suite also includes photoshop, imageready, illustrator, and golive. now who offers the better deal? (CS2 is still hideously expensive.) so in terms of VALUE and "bang for your buck," adobe's the clear choice.
in terms of the pricing rip off... GO FIGURE! they're obviously trying to take advantage of their international consumers... shame on you, quark and adobe, both.

Guitar lessons for iPod ship
(meaning a guitar lesson program for the iPod is being shipped... as far as i know there is no iPod ship, but that would be cool. hey, it's a boat!)

"iPlayMusic has introduced Beginner Guitar Lessons for the Mac, a guitar learning application for Macs and video-enabled iPods.

The guitar lessons integrate with iLife applications, including GarageBand, iTunes and iWeb. Students will learn a little guitar, including how to play and sing popular songs. Users can view lessons or listen to their new performances in iTunes or on their iPod."

cool.

1. when you see the light turn green, yellow, red 5 times (or more) before you get through that intersection 2. when the only reason the traffic is backed up several kilometers is because there's a hill with a slight curve and everyone brakes 3. when it's raining so hard that you have to either a) tailgate the person in front of you and hope they're driving between the lines, or b) leave 6 car lengths ahead of you, for you to make it across the bridge

4. when you're about to leave the country and you can still see tiny white lights beaming from a mountain far far away
5. when you're walking down a major street and running low on either caffeine or sushi and relief is near in sight
6. when you're walking down a major street and having a hard time deciding which sushi place out of 1,052 to visit
7. when you turn around and you can see an undulating sea of people leaving an incredible night of fireworks on the beach

8. ??? tell me yours.