Talk about an enigmatic title for a blog post. "a change in progress". Both a reference to the way progress is changing as well as the first meaning, a reference to change which is happening now. The current reverence for what is happening now is an interesting phenomenon that requires people to 'be present' so that they can experience what is in front of them, all around them, with fewer blocks to their perceptions.
There is so much happening now that fewer blocks to awareness seem important as an adaptive survival requirement. However, the speed at which change is occuring is accelerating and the physical comparison is apt. So, when our need to remain open to change is not constant, then some of our awareness is needed to gauge how open we are against how open we should be to what is coming. This is a future based system of awareness that can be seen in terms of , for example, what to buy to maximize the ability to express oneself now through tools like cameras, while realizing that once that money is spent, within a short period of time, a sometimes radically improved camera will be available, sometimes for even less money, if only the buyer waits. Of course, the speed of change varies, and the need to allow consumers access to greater freedom is severely limited by manufacturers who are keenly aware of where their market lies spread between high-end buyers who spend more because they make their living off the technology, and who buy fewer items that must be of better quality, and those who, like myself, buy the latest greatest to expand my freedom of expression while being very aware of the almost immediate obsolescence of the articles being purchased if the timing is bad, and who suffer when the article purchased is fatally damaged within moments of the warranty expiring.
To be more specific, I now own my first digital SLR, but within a short time of buying it and taking many thousands of still images with it I have now purchased my first HD camera, which to its credit takes the same lenses as my SLR, albeit with an adaptor which cost as much as some cameras available now which have more flexible zooms, but smaller receptors to process the images. And on it goes.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Moving forward
It's another lovely day in Vancouver British Columbia, and luckily, a good day to help a friend with her car.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Why a blog?
Why a blog? As far as I know, no one will read it, and when they do, this is what they'll get. Life is full of bad information, particularly as the information age expands. So, perhaps, as I have found in many areas, a little good information at the right time can make a big difference.
I have a tendency to share the best of what I've got. It makes me feel good to know I'm introducing others to something good, whether it's the best olives at the best price(Vancouver is awesome for access to the best food in the world), or simply the best way to bake a cookie. You should be so lucky. Here's a picture I took recently, of a picture I took at least five years ago and printed and then lost the file. It's called Vancouver Walking, and I liked the way the Olympus Stylus 4.0 handled the low light and the purely accidental blurring that made me think of the Walk sign figure.
Yesterday, I'd intended to take a picture of the gorgeous pumpkins someone in my building manufactured and placed on display. Unfortunately, they were all gone. There were some fairly predictable jacko'lanterns, some with fascinating variations like louvered eyes, but the bikini pumpkin was the winner for all out difference. Well carved, it was like a cross between a prehistoric statue of venus(consider the shape), and a modern bikini design. Delightful. So, no pictures of pumpkins for now.
I watched the DVD Splice the other day. I think I enjoyed the vast special features at least as much as the movie. Aspects of the movie appealed to me greatly. It was not consistent in terms of density of plot and quality of imagery however. Excellent performances by Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley. The people they represent are really the essence of the story. Driven by ambition and desire, partially examined history and pure animal lust, primal and modern survival needs are all explored with a great deal of authenticity. Some weird, twisted fun.
I have a tendency to share the best of what I've got. It makes me feel good to know I'm introducing others to something good, whether it's the best olives at the best price(Vancouver is awesome for access to the best food in the world), or simply the best way to bake a cookie. You should be so lucky. Here's a picture I took recently, of a picture I took at least five years ago and printed and then lost the file. It's called Vancouver Walking, and I liked the way the Olympus Stylus 4.0 handled the low light and the purely accidental blurring that made me think of the Walk sign figure.
I watched the DVD Splice the other day. I think I enjoyed the vast special features at least as much as the movie. Aspects of the movie appealed to me greatly. It was not consistent in terms of density of plot and quality of imagery however. Excellent performances by Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley. The people they represent are really the essence of the story. Driven by ambition and desire, partially examined history and pure animal lust, primal and modern survival needs are all explored with a great deal of authenticity. Some weird, twisted fun.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday November 1st, 2010
I am indeed fortunate to have this moment to write. I awoke and upended a glass of water and it landed mostly in the trash, also soaking my copy of the I Ching. I misplaced my marked coin, so I took a replacement(I use Canadian quarters), and finally put the silver sharpee I picked up in Chicago this year to use. Placing a dot in front of the queen's eyes, and one inside the antlers on the flip side, I threw the coins with a question in mind about my current situation: namely, finding work in the context of being alone in my place.
It is now into the third week since the beautiful and talented woman I used to share my life with departed. My emotions this morning are strong. My building shakes with reverberations from a pile driver two blocks away. My heart and mind grow still, blanketed in wet suffocating sadness.
TS'UI: to collect. Sixth line of change. I have used this copy of the I Ching since it was given to me thirty years ago. Off and on, it has offered inspiration and guidance. At the least, it has surprised and shocked me with its applicable wisdom.
Ts'ui, to collect...let's see. I've read it once and my mind being the slippery fish it is, I'll read it again so I can recall it. "To collect. Success(not necessarily a sign of success for the particular line of change...yet I am hopeful). The king approaches the temple.(this points to a spiritual shift in my mind, perhaps this time it doesn't just have to be about money). It is good to see the great man.(I've read this more than a few times and I guess when desiring success of a type that might emulate someone else's it is good to see someone who could serve as a sensei, a mentor, someone who has gone before down the same path with the aforementioned success...but I do go on). There will be success.(Again with the success! Stop already, I'll get a big head).
It is good to behave properly. The use of large offerings brings good fortune.(I guess I've been behaving properly, but as for large offerings...does that mean I have something largish to offer?). To move forward in any direction will also bring good fortune." At this point, I'll paraphrase the next bit. K'un and Tui make up the hexagram in it's lower and upper trigrams, combining the marsh and earth(it was raining like crazy this morning...still wet out, but the deluge has eased for the moment)."The trigrams are naturally compromising and cheerful. The Fifth Nine is virtuous and obstinate and will work happily with the yielding and virtuous Second Six."(my nature is generally compromising and cheerful but I'd say I've been suffering too much perhaps as a result of too much compromise, and being cheerful has brought some incredibly negative energy my way this lifetime...at the least, along with the positives I've received, there have been some highlight reels of negatives to make me question the value of this innate "cheerfulness" I possess. I have no idea what the fifth nine stuff is about, although I have thrown a high percentage of fifth line of changes lately...as for the virtuous and yielding 2nd 6, ha, I never use numbers...always words for the numbers...it looks weird..."the water flowing over the earth collects in lakes and marshes and nourishes the land. It is a good time to join others and work for a common cause." I couldn't agree more.
Now on to the specific line of change...the sixth line in this hexagram. Is it the yielding one? Am I more yielding and less obstinate this morning? "Top Six: He sighs and weeps a flood of tears. There will be no mistakes." I couldn't go back to sleep this morning, I think the water spilling took the place of actual tears today although three weeks ago they flowed easily and often..."Do not expect continued success." Sheesh. Will you look at that? Perhaps this doesn't mean what I instantly assume it to mean, which is "You're gonna fail!" No, it doesn't say that. It says, don't EXPECT continued success. Hmmm...and? "One day you may be rich and popular, the next poor and without friends. Try to understand that this is the way life goes."
And that's the end of today's reading. I'd really like to find out more about the 'rich and popular' part. Poor and friendless I've explored...although relative to the majority of the planet's people my poor is still incredibly lucky--always with a place to sleep, always fed...with minimal compromise...still, given I'm in Western Canada, Vancouver British Columbia you'd think that rich and popular might allow me to ....I've got to stop myself here. Last year I went to Europe. I've got thousands of pictures I haven't even sorted from that trip. Maybe I'll spice things up a little and put one in here.
Ended up putting in two...they landed up the page a bit. See? Always a bed to sleep in, top bunk in my Amsterdam hostel. I was pretty compromising there. No matter how much it rains in Vancouver, we'll never have to get around in boats. Too many hills. Amsterdam was a good warm up for Venice. Except Amsterdam has more bicycles than Venice has boats. I tried to add a terrible picture of the bicycle garages in Amsterdam but Paint sucks for resizing and the image was kind of fuzzy anyway. Suffice to say, it surprised me to see more than a city block long, three tiered parking garages for bicycles along the waterway on my boat tour of Amsterdam.
Well, I've made my first real blog entry. I've included some images...not exactly where I wanted them, but they're there. I'll finish with a bit of poetry I wrote when I was twenty...twenty-nine years ago.
'Of all things that one does,
examining what was;
least affects what happens next,
unless, of course,
it does.'
In light of the courses I was taking back then, The EST training being all about transforming your experience of living, getting out of your head, being present in the now...that poem was written as a bit of tongue in cheek backlash. Even today, the time spent going over the past doesn't change anything...unless you count the time spent going over the past that could have been spent doing something else...and calculate in whether during the time spent going over the past resulted in any new insights or convictions that indeed affect what happens next. All I know is I feel pretty good about getting some stuff out of my head and onto my blog and now I can get on with my day relatively unfettered. My next entry may be about "gilding the lily". Meanwhile, I managed to shift the pictures more or less to where I want them. So there. Now if someone would just pay me to write this stuff I wouldn't have to move.
It is now into the third week since the beautiful and talented woman I used to share my life with departed. My emotions this morning are strong. My building shakes with reverberations from a pile driver two blocks away. My heart and mind grow still, blanketed in wet suffocating sadness.
TS'UI: to collect. Sixth line of change. I have used this copy of the I Ching since it was given to me thirty years ago. Off and on, it has offered inspiration and guidance. At the least, it has surprised and shocked me with its applicable wisdom.
Ts'ui, to collect...let's see. I've read it once and my mind being the slippery fish it is, I'll read it again so I can recall it. "To collect. Success(not necessarily a sign of success for the particular line of change...yet I am hopeful). The king approaches the temple.(this points to a spiritual shift in my mind, perhaps this time it doesn't just have to be about money). It is good to see the great man.(I've read this more than a few times and I guess when desiring success of a type that might emulate someone else's it is good to see someone who could serve as a sensei, a mentor, someone who has gone before down the same path with the aforementioned success...but I do go on). There will be success.(Again with the success! Stop already, I'll get a big head).
It is good to behave properly. The use of large offerings brings good fortune.(I guess I've been behaving properly, but as for large offerings...does that mean I have something largish to offer?). To move forward in any direction will also bring good fortune." At this point, I'll paraphrase the next bit. K'un and Tui make up the hexagram in it's lower and upper trigrams, combining the marsh and earth(it was raining like crazy this morning...still wet out, but the deluge has eased for the moment)."The trigrams are naturally compromising and cheerful. The Fifth Nine is virtuous and obstinate and will work happily with the yielding and virtuous Second Six."(my nature is generally compromising and cheerful but I'd say I've been suffering too much perhaps as a result of too much compromise, and being cheerful has brought some incredibly negative energy my way this lifetime...at the least, along with the positives I've received, there have been some highlight reels of negatives to make me question the value of this innate "cheerfulness" I possess. I have no idea what the fifth nine stuff is about, although I have thrown a high percentage of fifth line of changes lately...as for the virtuous and yielding 2nd 6, ha, I never use numbers...always words for the numbers...it looks weird..."the water flowing over the earth collects in lakes and marshes and nourishes the land. It is a good time to join others and work for a common cause." I couldn't agree more.
Now on to the specific line of change...the sixth line in this hexagram. Is it the yielding one? Am I more yielding and less obstinate this morning? "Top Six: He sighs and weeps a flood of tears. There will be no mistakes." I couldn't go back to sleep this morning, I think the water spilling took the place of actual tears today although three weeks ago they flowed easily and often..."Do not expect continued success." Sheesh. Will you look at that? Perhaps this doesn't mean what I instantly assume it to mean, which is "You're gonna fail!" No, it doesn't say that. It says, don't EXPECT continued success. Hmmm...and? "One day you may be rich and popular, the next poor and without friends. Try to understand that this is the way life goes."
And that's the end of today's reading. I'd really like to find out more about the 'rich and popular' part. Poor and friendless I've explored...although relative to the majority of the planet's people my poor is still incredibly lucky--always with a place to sleep, always fed...with minimal compromise...still, given I'm in Western Canada, Vancouver British Columbia you'd think that rich and popular might allow me to ....I've got to stop myself here. Last year I went to Europe. I've got thousands of pictures I haven't even sorted from that trip. Maybe I'll spice things up a little and put one in here.
Well, I've made my first real blog entry. I've included some images...not exactly where I wanted them, but they're there. I'll finish with a bit of poetry I wrote when I was twenty...twenty-nine years ago.
'Of all things that one does,
examining what was;
least affects what happens next,
unless, of course,
it does.'
In light of the courses I was taking back then, The EST training being all about transforming your experience of living, getting out of your head, being present in the now...that poem was written as a bit of tongue in cheek backlash. Even today, the time spent going over the past doesn't change anything...unless you count the time spent going over the past that could have been spent doing something else...and calculate in whether during the time spent going over the past resulted in any new insights or convictions that indeed affect what happens next. All I know is I feel pretty good about getting some stuff out of my head and onto my blog and now I can get on with my day relatively unfettered. My next entry may be about "gilding the lily". Meanwhile, I managed to shift the pictures more or less to where I want them. So there. Now if someone would just pay me to write this stuff I wouldn't have to move.
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