Merry Christmas

I'm gonna start posting here again. Semi-regularly. Anyhow, Merry Christmas to all. Here is a piece of sage wisdom that I just read from George Carlin. Enjoy. Peace.

A life message from George Carlin

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. " An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away."

-George Carlin

escape artists never die

I need to disappear for a few weeks. Recent events have pushed me way beyond any healthy equilibrium and there are too many distractions that are pushing me further away from equilibrium. I need to escape and shut myself off from the world for a while to sort my head out and to concentrate on what needs to be done. So I'm sorry if I ignore anyone's calls or emails. I don't even know why I'm saying all this, but maybe because I need a good rant. Anyhow, that'll be the last post until next month.

I'll be back...

誰かの願いが叶うころ

宇多田 ヒカル

小さなことで大事なものを失った
冷たい指輪が私に光ってみせた
「今さえあればいい」と言ったけど　そうじゃなかった
あなたへ続くドアが音も無く消えた

あなたの幸せ願うほど　わがままが増えてくよ
それでもあなたを引き止めたい　いつだってそう
誰かの願いが叶うころ　あの子が泣いてるよ
そのまま扉の音は鳴らない

みんなに必要とされる君を癒せるたった一人に
なりたくて少し我慢し過ぎたな

自分の幸せ願うこと　わがままではないでしょ
それならあなたを抱き寄せたい　できるだけぎゅっと
私の涙が乾くころ　あの子が泣いてるよ
このまま僕らの地面は乾かない

あなたの幸せ願うほど　わがままが増えてくよ
あなたは私を引き止めない　いつだってそう
誰かの願いが叶うころ　あの子が泣いてるよ
みんなの願いは同時には叶わない

小さな地球が回るほど　優しさが身に付くよ
もう一度あなたを抱き締めたい　できるだけ
そっと


to wish for our own happiness isn't selfish right?....

random quote

This great evil,

Where does it come from?
How did it steal into the world?
What seed, what root did it grow from?
Who's doing this? Who's killing us?
Robbing us of life and light.
Mocking us with the sight of what we might have known.
Does our rule benefit the Earth?
Does it help the grass to grow or the sun to shine?
Is this darkness in you too?

Have you passed through this night?

Humbled...

Although everyone probably knows this, we often don't think about it too much - the road to greatness is tough and filled with hard-work and sacrifice. I certainly knew this and have mentioned it before, but until I recently begun to attempt "my path", I didn't think it was going to require this much work. I have nothing but all the respect in the world for all those who have come before me and for those brave souls who will attempt this path too.

Guess that's really all I wanted to say. Work my ass off and hope for the best.

Listening:

Mogwai - Mr. Beast

Von

We've turned the page my friends. Happy New Year! :) And it's snowing! A new blank white page to fill with our stories. I hope we'll all have good stories to fill our page with this year! *knock on wood*

Von..... hope, my friends.

Cheers my good friends. I wish you good health and all the best in the new year! :)

John

Listening:

Explosions in the Sky - How Strange, Innocence

Reading:

Chemistry textbooks ;)

Christmas... white out... wish you were here

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas. For those of you who are away, Vancouver had a crazy dump of snow for the past 2 weeks and it's been a mixed blessing. It looks pretty, but it makes commuting extremely difficult since no one out here, the city support staff included, is prepared for this amount of snowfall.

I tried my best to have a nice Christmas. The stroll to the park helped. It was nice to stroll around in the serene snowy fields which were giant white fluffy canvases ready to be rolled around in and shaped. It was as if I ran into a giant piece of blank paper on which I could write a new story and for the briefest of moments be free to think happy thoughts. Heck, the clouds managed not to spoil the moment by letting the warm winter rays of the sun to shine through. And as it often happens (more like everyday), in the middle of all that fun, I started to miss someone very dear to me and wished she could have been there to share that brief moment of joy with me. As I was leaving the park, my brother told me to stop because he found a bottle in the snow and when I turned around I saw the name "JENNY" written in the snow.

Although some kid probably wrote that in the snow, I would like to believe that maybe Forrest Gump was there and he wrote what he thought was the most beautiful name in the whole wide world because he missed her as he always does. The reference summed up my feelings perfectly and I could even imagine Gump himself saying this "Even in the middle of all that Christmas fun, I thought about Jenny." The writing in the snow gave me a good laugh. It was as if some supernatural being knew how I felt and pointed it out to me. However at the same time, it made me miss "Jenny" even more.

Anyhow, that's all I had to say about Christmas this year. I hope everyone had a nice warm Christmas!

I'm working on a bigger post about the year and will post later when I have time to finish it.

Cheerios!

Listening:

Sigur Ros - Heim/Hvarf
Thursday/Envy - Split EP
Dustin Kensrue - This Good Night is Still Everywhere
The Gaslight Anthem - '59 Sound
Mono & World's End Girlfriend - Palmess Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain
Envy - Insomniac Doze
Thrice - Red Sky EP

Reading:

Physics and Chemistry textbooks..... yeah.....

An uncertain future in an uncertain world

This past Tuesday, Canadians had their 3rd federal election in roughly 4 years and by the time the last ballots were counted in the wee hours of the following morning, we voted in another Conservative Minority government. Unfortunately, voter turnout was a pathetic 59% and we'll never know what might have happened if all eligible voters had gone to the polls. I'm not only disappointed that so many of my fellow Canadians did not turn up to vote, but I'm also disappointed in the way we voted.

I'm disappointed that Canadians seem to be putting their wallets ahead of the environment and their children's and grandchildren's futures. I still think Stephane Dion and the Liberals had a good sound plan for dealing with climate change in their Greenshift plan, except the only problem was it called for a new Carbon Tax and most Canadians, without understanding the entire plan, condemned it because it had a new tax. If most of them had bothered looking up the plan and reading it, they would've realized that it would've been offset by income tax cuts. Global warming is real and most people are too ignorant to realize that its impact is very immediate - large hunks of polar ice in the Arctic Ocean and Anarctica are melting and breaking off ice shelves as you read. It saddens me that people can't put aside religious, economic, social and political differences to tackle this environmental crisis. I think those of us who are knowledgable on the topic of Global Warming must continue to educate those who do not understand the issue and perhaps then more Canadians, and hopefully citizens of other countries, will ask themselves "What is the point of having a steamrolling economy when we have destroyed our only home?". Most argue that the Greenshift and sudden "fixes" for the environment will damage or destroy the economy. However, as I stated above, what good is the economy if we have no home? Do people not realize that this is not only an opportunity to help correct our environmental wrongs of the past BUT also an opportunity to progress humanity towards a green economy of the future?

Canada has the brilliant minds and the technological know-how to become global leaders in the green economy of the future. If we "shift" now, it may hurt our economy in the immediate future, but in the long run, we'll be ready to provide and sell the technology we develop and our expertise to other nations who are making their shifts. I just wished more people could be a little more selfless and have a little more foresight, then maybe we wouldn't be in the pickle that we're in now.

Anyhow, that's my sleep-deprived rant of the day before I go to bed.

One last thing... uncertainty in our futures... sometimes I feel I'm cursed or something. It seems like everyone I care about goes away... more on that later though.

Listening:

Nightwish - Dark Passion Play
Senses Fail - Life is not a Waiting Room
Thrice - Vheissu

Reading:

My Years as Prime Minister - Jean Chretien (re-reading)
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Why Do Men Have Nipples? - Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg, M.D.

No matters what happens now...

The other day at work, I was talking to a co-worker about Radiohead and I mentioned that I really liked "Videotape", but ironically I haven't listened to it since I picked up In Rainbows nearly a year ago. So tonight, I decided to give it the album a spin and "Videotape" seems to be the perfect conclusion to an album, and I taught myself the song on piano. The lyrics are quite depressing... will we ever find the perfect day so we won't be afraid anymore? I guess, I should rephrase that as "will I ever find the perfect day so I won't have to be afraid...?"



When I'm at the pearly gates
This'll be on my videotape
My videotape

When Mephistopheles is just beneath
And he's reaching up to grab me

This is one for the good days
And I have it all here
In red blue green
Red blue green

You are my centre when I spin away
Out of control on videotape
On videotape

This is my way of saying goodbye
Because I can't do it face to face
Or talking to you after it's too late, from my videotape

No matter what happens now
I won't be afraid
Because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen.

会いたいのに見えない波に押されて, また少し遠くな.

会いたいのに見えない波に押されて, また少し遠くな.