Close Encounters in the Wild Kingdom

When I came home from work today I headed straight to the bedroom to throw off my clothes, well, not really 'throw', it wasn't like I'd had some violent stripper routine going, but there was a certain vigour to it - I was just happy to be home early and wanted to slip into something more comfortable, as the saying goes.

I was already planning out what I'd do with my 2 whole hours of free time, subtracting lunch time it still left me with a decent chunk of freedom, enough time to let my mind wander to whatever inspiration may come my way.

And then it happened....

Once again I found myself face to face with a creature from the wild kingdom, and right away my mood changed, my 'I'm home from work early' bliss is now temporarily on hold.
I must give myself credit, I am getting better at dealing with these creatures, but I wouldn't exactly call myself brave just yet.  Though my initial *gasp* is soon replaced with problem solving thoughts, not continued terror - see progress!
OK, I have to admit this is in large part due to the fact that the creature isn't a spider, but yet again, some beetle-y thing, so not quite as scary to me.

There he is, on the wall near the vent and he's just staring at me, I stare back at him.  Neither of us break our glance, so I finally decide to try and break the ice and I say to him, 'hi Paul'....he gives me an eye roll!!  Can you believe it, an eye roll?!!  I was trying to be friendly!  He says, 'my name's not Paul'.  I said, it was a joke, ya know, you're some kind of beetle type of thing, and Paul was a famous Beatle, get it?'  Apparently he's heard this one way too many times and as it turns out, he's not a fan of the band anyway, he's into early jazz.  How am I to know?!  He also informs me that he has a weakness for death metal, now that really surprised me!  I personally can't stomach the stuff, but to each his own I always say.
Speaking of death, my thoughts are turned to what to do with this creature, who has entered my home, uninvited I might add.  We continue to stare at one another, but then he gives me the ol' once over.   It's then that I realize that I'm just wearing me smalls - though I am thankful that I've chosen matching bra and panties today, that'll show him that I'm an 'in charge' kinda gal and that the ball is in my court.  Plus, it's not like he's wearing clothes, so on that score we're on a level playing field really.

So I consider my options, which really are few.  I could suck that baby up in my vacuum, it would be a case of 'out of sight, out of mind', and I wouldn't have to stress over where he is.  Then I consider that option further, I mean, it's really dusty in there and I have no way of knowing if he has any allergies.  If he did have asthma or some other like ailment, it's obvious that he doesn't have an inhaler on him - no clothes, no pockets.  I could ask him, but after my botched attempt at a joke with him earlier, I fear he wouldn't take kindly to me asking him if he had any 'health issues'. The world has gone so politically correct that you have to be so careful, one misstep and that bug could sue me and end up owning my place!..then he'd be looking at ways to evict me instead of the other way around!  I'm not taking any chances.
I could let him have a quick meeting with Mr. Shoe...but then that would leave me with Mr. Guts on the Wall - not nice, plus I can't bear that crunching sound, blaaah!!
I could try to get him on a piece of paper and set him outside, but then I take the risk of having a mild heart attack.  Sometimes these, sons ma bitches have hidden wings tucked in their shells and then can flick those babies out and take flight in a split second!  That would definitely scare the Bee Gee's outta me, not a gamble I'm willing to take!

Last option is to just back away and pretend I didn't see him.  Sure this has the great disadvantage of later having to wonder where's he lurking, but I was dealing with the present situation, not later.  I mean, he was right by the vent, so I'm assuming that's the way he came in and if I spare his life, surely he will be so incredibly grateful that he will turn his little hard backside right around and go back the same way he came in.  Plus, I'm pretty sure when I first saw him, he was holding a tiny sign that said, 'Chilliwack or bust', so he wasn't quite at his final destination anyway.  He probably had a big family reunion to go to, or perhaps a wedding. Yes, I bet that's it, he had a wedding to go to, because although he wasn't wearing any clothes, I did notice a blue velvet bow tie around his neck...so why else would he be wearing that?  A magician?  I don't think so, there was no sparkly vest anywhere in sight.  Nope, he was obviously headed to a wedding and just took a wrong turn.  I certainly couldn't end his life now, he was expected to be somewhere today...if he didn't show up, surely there would be questions.  Sure at first the questions would be along the lines of 'how dare he not make an effort to get to his third cousins wedding?'....'how could he be so selfish?'
But come Christmas time when no one received cards from him, it would become clear that he had met with foul play that fateful fall day.  20/20 or Dateline would eventually do a special about it and  somehow they'd trace his last known location to my home, and the whispers would begin.
I couldn't have that weighing on my conscience, so I decided to give him the wonderful gift of life, which of course is much more generous than the juicer that I'm sure he bought for the wedding. It seems even the bug community is on a health kick - the worms only protein diet was all the rage!

So today my friends, I stand tall...ish....like 5' 1/2", I could have taken a life but I chose not to.  I am proud of my new level of bravery, maturity and my great contribution to the world at large.  Please feel free to nominate me for one some kind of humanitarian award or whatever the bug saving equivalent is, I do believe I've earned it.

And Paul, enjoy the wedding.

*Note to the wedding DJ - NO Beatles music!!!!

Cormac O Caomih - A New Season for Love

Cormac O Caomih is an Irish singer/songwriter and it's serendipity that brought me to his music.  As many of you may know, I have a 'Secret Agent Mel', YouTube channel that I use to post Ron Sexsmith 'tribute' videos, well Cormac is one of my channel subscribers.
One day I was looking through my subscribers list to see if there were any musicians.  I'm always looking to discover 'new to me' music and the assumption was, if they've subscribed to my page because they are Ron fans, there's a good chance they will also make music that I would enjoy.
I clicked on Cormac's channel (formerly The Citadels channel) and started the journey of discovery.
I played the song, 'Counting the Raindrops' and absolutely fell in love with it, it was truly one of the prettiest songs that I had heard in a very long time.
Next thing, I searched on Facebook to see if he was there (almost everyone seems to be) and sure enough he was.  I sent him a message, explaining that it was 'Secret Agent Mel' from YouTube and then told him that I was happy to have found his music.
We sent a few emails back and forth and at some point, I sent him a link to the blog that I had written about Ron Sexsmith.  Cormac was generous enough to send me a copy of his new album, 'A New Season for Love', so I share with you a introduction to that album and in turn a small way to say, 'thank you' to Cormac for his gift.
When my CD arrived from Ireland, I took it with me to keep me company on my commute.  Usually the longest block of alone time that I have is during my work day, and a I spend most of my work day driving around it's the best time for me to enjoy music.  I've had the CD in my possession for a few months now and when I first started listening to it, we were having what seemed to be never ending grey, cold weather.  As I played this album, the main thought that kept coming to mind was, how warming it was.  It may sound strange, but I heard this album as a colour as I listened to it over and over again - I thought, this album is like a rich mahogany, warm and beautiful.  I continued to feel like I was being transported to a room filled with candles, tapestries, and warm woods....and me curled up on a velvet couch, sipping a cuppa - a comforting feeling.
I would call this a 'listening album', meaning if you're looking for those kind of songs that quickly grab your attention through simple lyrics or catchy hooks, this may not be the album for you.  However, if you give the album the attention that I think it deserves, I believe it has a lot to offer.  My favourite song is 'Counting the Raindrops', the song that I first fell in love with, it continues to be a stand out for me, but with each listen of this album new songs emerge as strong contenders.  The songs, 'And the Rain Falls' and 'Remember When We Didn't Kiss' are also some of my top picks.  The album is filled with songs beautiful in their instrumentation, layered and lush.
I'll leave you with a link to Cormac's Facebook page, if you like what you hear, please 'like' his page, I'm sure it would be much appreciated.  You'll also be able to get his YouTube and album info there.   Lastly I'll add a link to a video for 'Counting the Raindrops'....the song that grabbed my heart.  Enjoy!!

http://www.facebook.com/cormacmusic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6rbuxnGfOI

Rant n' Roll

OK, ages ago I started doing a feature called Boeuf of the Week.  The title made me laugh as people who know me well, know I don't really have that many boeufs, so the idea of doing it weekly was a bit of a joke.  I mean, it's not like nothing bothers me, I am human after all, but I tend to get over such things pretty quickly.  I'm forever reminding my mother to 'just let it go', as she'll hold on to her annoyances well past their sell by date.  I try to live in a more zen like way, I figure there's enough big problems that will be thrown your way over the course of your life, save your energy for those!  For the smaller stuff, I think it's just best to rant n' roll - have your say to get it off your chest and then move on.  So that will be the new title of such blog postings and I kick it off with something that has been getting on my wick for some time now, I've been wanting to write about it for ages.  Strap yourselves in, it's rant n' roll time - let's go!

So my first victim in this new format is...drum roll please.......street sweepers!!!
Now this may seem like a strange thing for me to complain about, especially considering I really like clean things, and the fact the I also love my environment to be aesthetically pleasing and I'd even go as far to say that, I teeter over the line of being a germaphobe.
However, with my love of cleanliness now stated, I got to tell you, every time I see one of these 'outdoor Zambonis' I find myself annoyed.  Don't get me wrong, I think Zamboni are great, I'm a fairly straight up, common sense kinda girl....I find watching the Zamboni quite relaxing and the best part, I completely understand what it does.  I mean, even if you don't know the mechanics of  it's job, you can see that it has a purpose, ice shavings gone, grooves filled in, shiny smooth ice surface renewed - magic!!
I'm afraid, it's older cousin, the street sweeper, doesn't quite leave me with that same sense of wonderment.  I mean, hey, I'm sure he has his moments, like cleaning up debris from the roads in a construction area or maybe cleaning up the bulk of the mess left on the streets after a parade or the like, trouble is, I've only seen them performing this type of job once and that was years back when we moved into a townhouse complex that still had phases under construction, and as I recall, we got to enjoy the sound of that beast of a vehicle on our street over a period of several hours, which lets face it, probably meant it went up and down the block once, not exactly a speedy ride.
What does baffle me is what purpose is it achieving the rest of the times I see it, aside from annoying me.  I've been noticing them more frequently over the past year and each and every time I look at the road, that the vehicle has yet to sweep, it's completely clean!  I've even spotted them on several walks, so I've been able to confirm the cleanliness of the street up close and personal.  I watch these monstrous machines slowly making their way up and down roads, blocking traffic along the way, brushes spinning to pick up...umm, not much and sometimes they even give off the added bonus of hosing the street down first, so as to keep the dust (that I can't even see) down.  I've even watched as they've sprayed streets that are already wet from the rain!
I've read, (straight from Wiki) that 'street sweeping can be an effective measure in reducing pollutants in stormwater runoff.', which I'm sure is absolutely true in cases where you can at least see the pollutants!  My thought is, if this is for the good of the environment, wouldn't it be better to use these machines only when really needed - when the naked eye can actually detect this street debris, because I'm thinking, the cost to purchase, run, man and maintain these big boys must be pretty high, not to mention the toll that all of that has on the environment.  I think there must be better ways to use taxpayers money and surely better ways to protect the environment, than cleaning already clean streets.

In conclusion I say, 'street sweepers, meh'.  I'm sure when they first hit the scene back in the mid 1800's they were a welcomed addition to the streets of jolly ol' England, the industrial revolution surely got the streets a little grimy at times.  And I can only imagine that late at night, villages would be strewn with drunken men, stumbling from taverns and eventually vomiting in the streets and the morning would be no better as the likes of Oliver Twist and his pals, would beg for breakfast only to spew the nasty gruel into the streets once it hit their tastebuds (only Oliver would ask for more, but he always had a taste for the 'exotic').  So understandable back then, with all of that ugliness lurking on the streets, you'd want to wash it away - got it.
Fast forward to modern day and I think we'd do fine to have one kept in service for the rare occasion when they're actually needed to clean dirty streets and I'm thinking so all is not wasted, we convert the rest into Zamboni's....I mean we live in Canada, we'll always have ice to clean, so we can never have too many Zamboni's!!

Hope She Gets the Message

Spotted this bench on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, and it touched my squishy heart.  I thought this scene was quite romantic - it's not what most might think of as a 'Hallmark' apology, but I think it's very sweet all the same.  I've always been more impressed by these sorts of gestures than your standard run-of-the-mill ones.  The main message says, 'I loved you Briana - I'm sorry.
One can only assume, or hope that Briana perhaps waits on this bench for a bus or takes a work break here or walks by it on a regular basis...any which way, I hope she sees it.

Sex Wax

Sex Wax - *the best for your stick*


Umm, yeah, this caught my attention while I was shopping in a sports store....and when I say 'sports', I mean of the soccer, hockey, etc. variety.
Apparently it helps hockey players with their 'stick-handling'....
There's also a formula made for drummers, to help them get a better 'grip of their sticks'.
There are different formulations of the wax, sold under other names, including one that goes by the name 'Quick Humps'.  The label also points out that it never spoils - so if you hit a dry spell in your 'sports' don't worry, you won't have to rush out a buy a new one!  Hey, I was just shopping for soccer shoes....don't judge me!!

Price check on.....

If ever there was an item that I wanted someone have to announce a price check on - this would be it!!!
I know, I sometimes have the maturity level of a 15 year old boy!!  Still....I do think it's funny.

The Story Behind the Picture

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”
~ Elliott Erwitt

The above quote probably best describes my style of photography. I often get asked, 'what kind of photography do you do?....portrait, wedding, landscape?? And though I have done a little of each of those categories, I explain to people that my favourite thing to do, is to just pick a place, any place really and just wander around and discover what there is to offer. I don't go with any preconceived thoughts of what I want to capture, I let the scene unfold as a wander. I sometimes have described my style as Mike McCardell-like - and those who've enjoyed his stories over the years, seem to know exactly what I mean by that. I'm not on the hunt for the big story (or in this case, photograph), the one that everyone will be reporting on, the kind that instantly grabs your attention, instead, I hope to bring you a photograph that slows you down for a second and maybe makes you look at the world a little differently, if only for just a moment.

After being interested in photography since I was a kid, I finally bought myself a decent camera just over three years ago. As fate would have it, the last three years have been some of the most challenging years on a personal front for me, which has made it difficult to find the time needed to really learn how to properly use my first 'big girl' camera. Add to that the fact that I have 2 young boys, so my free time, well isn't always that free.
So at times, in my quest to figure out what the H-E-double hockey sticks I'm doing, there have been moments where I've become frustrated or discouraged with my lack of knowledge. But I figured I could either put away my camera until the time was just 'right'....ya know, until all of the stars aligned, or I could just do the best with the skills that I do have and learn the rest along the way.
I obviously chose the latter. In a way, I didn't really have a choice, I 'needed' photography. I needed it in the same way that I 'need' to write. I've always been an observer and an introvert, but there is only so much I can keep in my brain before it explodes - and that would be messy!! So photography and writing are the two mediums in which I can release some of what's in my head and my heart.

So that is what I have to offer as a photographer. I can't dazzle you with my crazy editing skills, nor can I amaze you with with my technical skills, but what I can do is offer you a glimpse into my heart and head and show the the world as my eyes see it. My photography outings have become a good way to learn more about my camera, and they also make for great field-trips for my kids. They not only get to visit different areas all over Greater Vancouver and beyond, they get to learn along the way. I explain to them why I take certain photos, so they're learning to appreciate all the beauty around them, the obvious and the sometimes not so obvious. We also talk about social issues like homelessness and drug addiction. I teach them to be aware of their surroundings, but not to be scared of their surroundings. But hopefully the biggest lesson they'll learn is respect and that beauty is everywhere, as long as your eyes are opened to it. My friend Jerry once made a comment about my photography that really made my heart sing, he said something along the lines of, 'he liked how I don't discriminate when I photograph'. I took that to mean, that I see equal beauty in a rusty object, just as I see it in a beautiful sunset.

Below is a selection of photos that I've taken at various locations in the lower mainland, as well as a couple taken in Bellingham. The first shot was taken in Mission, me and the kids were wandering the old part of town, when I came across this lovely old window. There was a guy about 20-something standing in the doorway and talking to a guy parked in front of the building. He noticed me photographing the building and asked me in an almost suspicious way, what was I taking a photo of. I smiled at him and said, 'well, whatever makes my eyes happy, and right now, I love the way that window looks. He looked up at the window with a puzzled expression...I said, I love the that gorgeous shade of green against the colour of the brick, the peeling paint is great too and I love how the missing pane of glass breaks up the repetitive lines. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, he was taking it all in and then he just smiled at me and said, 'you're right, that is a pretty cool window'.
The next little scene I spotted at the back of some businesses on Denman Street, this was a collection of clean uniforms just waiting for someone to fill them. Next we head to Commercial Drive where I spotted this scarf left on a parking meter, just blowin' in the wind.
The next 2 were spotted on Granville Island - while trying to spot an empty table to sit and have lunch at, I was struck by how pretty those bottles looked with the sun shining through them. Then outside, this stack milk cartons reminded of Lego pieces - I loved the bold colours!
The next shot comes from the PNE, this is a close-up of the lights that are on the ferris wheel - I thought the shape of the bulbs was interesting.
Onto a gorgeous fall day in Fort Langley - the photo was taken next to the cemetery and I loved how this one bold leaf was standing tall, while all of the rest were flatten either by the rain or by way of people walking on them - to me, this was sort of a reminder - how life may be taken, but spirit lives on.
Moving on to New West for the next two photos, the first was taken from the Quay. The boys and I were wandering along the front and I spotted this chair on a boat - I just loved imagining someone relaxing on it while out on the Fraser River, makes a pretty little spot to do some writing! The reflection shot was taken on Columbia Street courtesy of the window at the Army & Navy - reminded me of some kid trapped inside, not allowed to go outside and play and instead having to watch the world go by....kinda creepy looking in a way.
The next two were taken in Bellingham. First we have these gorgeous grasses poking through the fence, it's funny, but it put me in the mind of prisoners arms hanging out of their cells - I know, I've watched way too many prison shows!! Then wandering around, I stopped to look at this white building, I was so taken by the shadows that were being cast on this wall, looked so pretty to me.
And lastly, we finish things up with a shot of my kids during one of our outings. They get quite excited about going on these adventures, my oldest son always asks, 'where are we going this time?' I often answer, 'I have no idea, we'll just get in the car and see where it takes us'. He then used to reply, 'no really, where are we going?!' I'd say, I really don't know, we'll head towards say, New West, but if something catches my eye en route, that's where the adventure will begin! Now he's just happy to know what direction we're headed!
That is the best part of it all, it doesn't matter where we end up - we always have a great time and come home with a camera, and mind full of memories!