10-1-29

If I were to be completely honest I might wish she was a cycling prodigy, racing around on 2 wheelers, an adventurer, confident and fearless. Reality is she's pretty cautious on the bike and I'm okay with that. I'm pretty much okay with anything she does.

10-1-28

New little camera. My delightful LX3 is no longer mine. It was a wonderful little device but for a "little" camera it was a little bit big and the lens cap bothered me. Those are dumb things to let bother me because, well, it was actually a pretty small camera and it took really great photographs. But still, the lens cap, it was a deal breaker in the end. I'd still recommend an LX3 for most people, it's a better camera than most. For me, my new Canon S90 is a beautiful thing. It's smaller than the LX3 and takes pretty amazing photographs. My biggest beef is the format. I really liked the 16X9 aspect ratio of the LX3. It just seemed so "right." The S90 shoots naturally in a 4X3 aspect ratio. It looks so foreign to me. I suppose I could crop but it's probably worth mentioning again that I do my best to not crop anything. It's probably a pretty good gues that 99% of what is on here is compositionally straight out of the camera. I work with the format I'm presented with in the camera. It seems more spiritual for me that way.

That being said, when I put the S90 into the case that used to cart my LX3 around and I felt it rattling around in its spacious confines I smiled a bit. It's so tiny. And it also take amazing photographs. It's just as good as the LX3 in low light. And no lens cap.

The picture? Huh. I'm not usually so distracted by the machines and more concerned about the results. A door bell vs. a security pad. And a grubbiness that betrays the age of both. I suppose that's all I need to say.

10-1-27

Vancouver houses have been an ongoing theme here. I'll talk more about that one day soon, I'm still finding the words.

10-1-26

10-1-25

10-1-24

Portrait #57

10-1-23

10-1-22

Don't think of a white elephant.

10-1-21

Sunny days. Stolen moments.

10-1-20

It's like a still life. It's so contrived yet so natural. Such protection of an object combined with such vulnerability. and futility.

10-1-19

10-1-13

When I had the bike shops there would be times when I would take off momentarily to fetch lunch or beer or whatever and these little "back in 5" signs would get made from time to time, sketched on the back of work orders, envelope scraps, whatever. Sometimes I would return to find someone waiting, sometimes I'm sure people would see the sign and say, "yeah, right" and just move on. It's been over a year since I've written one of those little signs but they look exactly like this one does. It's spooky how similar they look, how normal it was to write this one. But that's where I'm at.

I like taking photographs every day, the taking of the photographs is often the much needed "back in 5" of my day but for the last couple of weeks it's felt forced, I'm distracting by other things, or the lack of other things, and I need a bit of time to run out, grab a bite to eat, collect my thoughts, rescale, but I'll be back in 5. Days? Weeks? Months? Not sure yet. At the moment I'm thinking days but we'll see how I feel after four. Thank you.

10-1-12

10-1-11

10-1-10

10-1-9

10-1-8

Those who know me will think I complain about Vancouver a lot. It's partially true, I do really dislike this city for a number of reasons, most of which are socio-economically based, i.e. it's expensive to live here, wages are very low, there's a lot of crime as a result, good businesses and people are regularly "reno-victed" by greedy landlords, and generally speaking a lot of people in this city seem really absorbed in a lifestyle, more concerned about the brand of outdoor clothing being worn and less concerned about getting into the mountains to stress that clothing. But I've been paying attention to this lately, where the bitterness comes from, and don't get me wrong, I hate this city on a lot of levels, but I also like it too. I've done my best to bury my disdain and focus on the good things (it's January and I haven't had any concerns about studded bicycle tires and I've finally found a shop in town that sells excellent coffee beans, even if that coffee is imported from Chicago and that shop is half way across town which I don't mind riding to because, like I said, no studded tires) and oddly enough the bitterness towards Vancouver comes up again and again amongst those around me.

I had dinner with some really great people tonight and one of the good friends jokingly said I wasn't allowed to come if I was going to complain about Vancouver and I jokingly said, "what's to complain about?" but I made a point to myself that I was going to focus on the positive and just enjoy being among friends but still, the conversations about Vancouver being a less than ideal place to live came up, the bitterness about the gentrification going on in the downtown east side, an anger regarding how many millions were being spent on a glorified play day for adults (the Olympics), it all came up through normal conversation. I'm okay with that, the only way you can facilitate change is through discourse and if nothing was being said then I'd be sadder because I would feel I was the only one noticing and that would suggest I was wrong. I realize I'm wrong about a lot of things and I'm okay with that. I really do accept that the majority of people on this planet want something I don't like. Christ, I watched an episode of The Jersey Shore on the internet the other night and if there was ever proof that I am on the wrong planet that was it.

But I digress.

And I usually have an idea of what I'm going to write before I start and today I don't so I'm not sure where I'm going with this so bare with me.

I will always dislike this city because it genuinely is a mediocre city with lots of issues and flaws and that won't change any time soon. But I've managed to find some really great people to be with here. Some (too many) are, sadly, moving away, some aren't quite here yet but they get here soon. On this night I got to eat, drink, and be merry with a few of them and I'm glad I got a photograph of it.

10-1-7

...I can't imagine a better reason... or any other reason..

10-1-6

...and you thought i took photographs because i didn't know how to draw...

10-1-5

This is the only photograph I took all day (so far).

10-1-4

10-1-3

I see them on side streets and in alleyways. Sometimes downtown in the heart of it all. There's three or four of them, almost like a miniature subdivision, all lined up on a short dead end street in the industrial park between my house and where I work. It's romantic in some ways, the idea of knowing you live somewhere and everywhere at the same time. Perhaps I should start shopping for a school bus.

10-1-2

10-1-1

Happy New Year...

09-12-31