Inside out

The other night while trying to get to sleep I read a bit of an article about windows. Not exactly a real earth shatterer, but interesting all the same. One of the points in the article that jumped out to me, was the author's remark about windows being one of the few parts of your house that can be seen from the inside and outside. I found it a curious remark, and with more than 30 centimetres of the white stuff on the ground, I've been staring out of my windows all weekend.

In thinking about the window remark a bit further I realised that there aren't a lot of things that both you, and those on the outside of your house, enjoy equally. Even then, you don't necessarily enjoy them equally, and each's vantage point is different. There is something in common though that is shared through windows whether we like it or not.

The rest of the article dealt more with the aesthetic beauty inherent in certain windows, which coincided with me succeeding at finding some sleep. My curiosity had been peaked though and found it a decent little thing to ponder while staring out from the inside of the snow globe the last couple of days.

Damn, Orwell was smart.

Recently I was listening to talk radio program on the CBC. The issue of closed circuit cameras in public places to "prevent" crime was being discussed. Most of the people in favour of the cameras felt their civil liberties being infringed was worth the personal safety they felt with the camera presence. Many of the people against the cameras felt there are more effective ways to deter criminal activity, without infringing on civil liberties. Either way, Orwell was smart.

Truth be told, I don't exactly know what I feel about it. Simple truths, crime is bad and no one should feel unsafe in their own city. On the other hand, has our society deteriorated to the point that we need to be watched 24 hours a day in order to act correctly, or to feel safe?

The cameras have had some some positive results in the U.K, where they are used in certain trouble spots in and around London. What is frightening though, is whether the efffectiveness of these cameras at reducing crime in public spaces will then be used as a justification to place them in what we deem to be more private spaces. This could range from residential street corners or even certain homes. Both Canada, the U.S and Britain have wrongfully arrested certain individuals suspected of terrorism. Would we use these cameras to monitor residences of "suspected terrorists" or other individuals perceived to be societal threats?

Definitely a slippery slope issue. We are always moving closer and closer to a Big Brother model of society. At war with Europe one day and another territory the following. The placement of cameras in public spaces would reduce crime, but only in areas with cameras. Crime would then find a new home not under the watchful eye of BB, would we follow it anxiously with more cameras?

Hmmmm.

It's strange the effect the suburbs will have on you. I still feel connected to what's going on on a bigger scale, yet I don't feel AS intrigued by the minutiae of daily life.

One of the biggest reasons is the reduced number of interactions I have with unknown people. I either cycle or drive to work now, instead of taking the metro. Riding is great exercise and low environmental cost, while driving is warmer, allows me to drink my coffee and listen to either music or talk radio. Neither, however puts me face to face with hundreds of people and possibilities.

Not having those chance meetings or small "events" makes it more important to seek out variety and diversity. Already I have noticed a difference in myself. Even when I sat down to write, I had to search my brain for what to blather about. A few months ago, numerous banal and trivial little occurences would have tickled my fancy. Good to realise I suppose, scary all the same.

It ain't easy.

Having now completed just under a month of work in my new position as a teacher, I am slowly starting to strike a balance between work and extra-curricular life. I mean I am not one to let work consume me, however it isn't that easy. I do care about my work and want to give my best. It ain't easy though, finding the balance between work and personal life.

Some people may not feel guilty half assing something. I am not one of them. If I'm going to do something, hell I want to do it well. The question is though, at what point do you reconcile yourself with the fact that you want to do a good job, and are giving your best effort, but you are not willing to give up your whole life for it? This is probably much more dramatic then it needs to be, but is an interesting question many new grads and workers probably feel.

My personal life is too important to me. I have a number of goals I want to achieve in my career, but a number in my personal life as well. Balance is that ever elusive state that I am searching. Though closer I come to achieving it, the more likely I am to get excited about a new project and throw it all off.

Monsieur Michael

I know exactly when it happened officially, but really I'm still not sure when I became a teacher. For the last 3 weeks I've been standing at the front of the classroom and doing my best to teach young impressionable minds the belle langue that is french. Really, teaching is a bit of a misnomer, I'm just trying to make them not hate the language.

So far so good though. Besides always feeling like there is something else to do things have been going quite well. Teaching is not brain surgery, but one definitely has a lot to juggle if you are going to do it successfully and with the students' best interests at heart. From finding and creating meaningful activities to figuring out fair and accurate ways to assess their learning there isn't much time for grinding fresh roast coffee and people watching. Dommage.

Overall, it definitely feels like a step in the right direction for me. I enjoy the feeling of being in the classroom, I love being able to speak french everyday and I think the kids, while numbingly frustrating at times, can also be a breath of fresh air. Having thought of myself as youthful, I quickly realised how out of touch, or better yet, just how far away I was from my students' mental states. There's no better way to put it other than "ils sont des enfants".

Christmas seems a ways off, but the weeks are flying by. I need to keep writing and maintaing what's mine. So far so good.

Unemployment has it's benefits

Having been unemployed now for some weeks, I've come to the realization that NOT working is pretty damn good. Not that it was ever a great mystery plaguing all of civilization or anything. Seriously though, you get to watch the morning news while enjoying a nice cup of coffee (that you grinded the beans fresh for) and then you have the whole day infront of you. I have been up before 7 every morning and using my days to their fullest. Job hunting, preparing tools that will prove useful once gainfully employed and reading a great deal. Being around in strange places during the day has also landed me in spots during the middle of the day I wouldn't normally be. The strangest thing is that there are tons of other people there too. Hell don't these people work!

I always thought people worked nine to five, or something similar to those hours. Turns out, there are people in supermarkets, restaurants, government offices, doctor's offices and on the roads ALL DAY. What gives? Could I really be catching everyone on their day off? Are they all unemployed too? Really, I don't know what I'm getting at here, but I just find it interesting at how many little niches there are that overlap throughout the day and across the city.

It comes back to diversity. Diversity of people, landscapes, uses and time. All these things puts different people, in different places, doing different things at, yep you guessed it different times. Being unemployed now, has shifted me from a 9-5 stiff to a different sort of person. No judgements just now I'm a not employed person in the suburbs versus an employed person in the heart of downtown. Instead of needing coffee shops and public transit, I am now shopping during the middle of the day and getting other errands done. Just another slice of the city that I've been made aware of. Realistically, if everyone did work similar shifts, stores would open at 5 pm instead of at 9 or 10. Strange non?

Next time you have a free day, two or month, go somewhere strange where you would not normally find yourself during the day. I guarantee the hussle and bussle of the place will amaze you.

My city's collective I.Q. is higher than yours

With every year that passes I hope to be smarter. I like to read, watch and expose myself to things and experiences that will challenge me to think in a different way. That being said, I was recently thinking about how the city you live affects your intelligence. Basically, how smart is your city?

An interesting concept I think. Some cities just have a pulse of creative and intellectual energy. Universities and other institutions of higher learning everywhere, libraries, theatres, galleries and other outlets that I feel are representative of an "intellectual" city. Judging how smart a city is really consists of developing criteria upon which to judge cities. An interesting task in itself.

Right away some of the indicators I thought of included:
- the # of universities, colleges, post-secondary schools and their enrollment as a % of total population
- the # of citizens with degrees (undergrad, grad, ph.d)
- reading level of local newspapers
- accessibility to arts and cultural institutions

Some things are easy to judge, but I think that there are probably some indicators out there that some of us might not think of. The reading level of the local newspaper was one of those that I thought was a telling indicator. For example, 24 Hours, a local daily newsaper is nothing more than a glorified tabloid, yet given it's focus on commuters has a huge readership. So high, that it took out another younger focused paper that in my opinion had a far more intelligent readership and focus.

200 years ago, the world's most intelligent cities were probably easy to identify. Paris, Rome, Beijing, Istanbul, Moscow, Vienna and the list could probably go on. Now, however with accessiblity to so much information and an exchange of ideas all across the globe it would be interesting to think about where these dens of higher thought are, how to identify them and how to make our own cities look more like them.

Personally, I think N. America probably has a couple of good ones to contribute. Hell Microsoft probably created it's own and Silicon Valley has got to be considered a contender. With consideration of the smartest city, it seems only natural to think "just where is the stupidest city around?".

Things that make you go huuuum.

Globalisation. Don't you just love it? The world continues to get smaller and more similar. What took 3 weeks aboard a trans-atlantic freight-liner takes 5 hours and when you get there you feel as if you haven't left. Comforting or scary?

Believe me, I don't listen to everything I say because there will always be more good out there then bad, and always a good reason to go somewhere different. It is scary all the same just how prevalent N. American culture is all over.

I came across this interesting map a while back showing the number of Starbucks and McDo's worldwide. The maps also include some other interesting facts about both corporations including gross sales as well as the number of different countries that provide beans for that no fat, extra-hot, no whip, tall mocha java you love so much.

The leaves fall

And just like that we run for the living rooms fantacizing about stew and a fireplace, or is that just me? The leaves are definitely starting to change and the morning and evenings are cool. It's actually a perfect temperature and the light has that distinct late September glow to it. What next?

There are tons of great autumnal activities happening right now. I've definitely been trying to get some hiking in before the mountains are covered in snow. Lots of great arts events and theatre happening. All that being said, I am just drawn to hanging indoors listening to music ... eating.

I haven't been as active writing lately, but have been reading some great articles and listening to some great music. Namely, articles from maisonneuve magazine's site and tons o' hip-hop.
Hope to have more inspiration to write lately, will work on that.

Where all the lights are bright.

Good ol' labour day weekend. The unofficial end to summer. Really, I almost expect the weather to turn for the worse tomorrow. The one good thing is that it generally forces you to try and squeeze everything you wanted to do over the summer into one weekend. At least that's the way it makes me feel.

Being a teacher of sorts, labour day weekend represents the new "year" and therefore a time to take stock, set goals, feel shitty about things you haven't done and feel hopeful about the things you want to achieve in the future. This year I got a whole list of things I want to do and I don't really feel that bad about things from the past year. Au contraire. The last 12 months have gone by in a blink of an eye and a good one at that. The kind of blink where you don't miss the one boob shot in a really bad movie that you've stayed awake till like 2 in the morning just to see.

Two days from now will make one whole year on the rain coast and one whole year since I "left" Toronto. Lots of ups and downs since there, but overall I have so many things to be proud and happy about. A lot really has happened in the past year and I've tried to learn from all of it. Really that's the most important thing to me. I mean why bother feel shitty if you aren't going to learn anything from it? My point exactly.

What does all this mean? Take a look around, smile at the good stuff, frown at the not so good stuff and make sure next year at this time you've created more to smile about.

C'est quoi ça?

Depuis le commencement, j'ai voulu ecrire ce bloque en anglais et français. J'étais un peu embarassé d'ecrire parce-que je ne suis pas completement bilingue. Mais, ca ce n'est pas le but de ce projet. Le but est d'amerliorer mes capabilités d'ecrire.

Des fois je lis un bloque d'une fille quèbecoise, et elle ne gêne pas du tout. Elle ecrit moitié en francais et moitié en anglais. Je suis assez capable faire pareil, et je le ferai!

Alors, depuis maintenant, j'ecrirai quelques postes en français quand l'espirit me tien.

Challenge.

Challenge yourself everyday. Difficult undoubtedly. If you continue to reach for more and more it leaves you open to fail and feel frustrated. The flipside is also true. It prepares you and moves you closer to greatness.

Mandatory

Seriously, does every city HAVE to have a "Hotel Europe" in order to be considered a city? Regardless, it's quite a classic looking institution here in Vancouver.

The whole diversity issue

I might be obsessed with the concept of cultural diversity. As of late, the issue has been plaguing my conciousness. In particular, I am increasingly concerned about the 'Canadian identity' and what that will mean in the future.

Like most of the people I know, I consider Canada to be a multi-cultural country. This is true and not up for debate. Unlike some people however, I fear that Canada's identity is at risk of being replaced by a series of individual cultural identities, rather than a unified multi-cultural identity.

The situation isn't so dire, but at the same time it is something that needs to be addressed. In many communities around Canada, there is extreme ghettoization of certain immigrant groups. Individuals can exist speaking their mother tongue not knowing a word of either official language nor needing to. For individuals who live in these areas, I wonder what the Canadian identity means to them. What does Canada represent to someone who lives a marginally different life than the one they lived in China, India, Iran or Italy?

If Canadian municipalities continue to foster this cultural isolation versus an integrated social fabric, the Canada of years to come will merely be a society of societies each distinct. None the Canada I believe we can be.

Memories of New Westminster

Everyday I travel past the downtown area of New Westminster, the future sight of our condo. There are some beautiful old buildings that make up the downtown area near the river and give an idea of New West's old past. I have wanted to shoot this building for quite some time, but just had not got around to it.

It is to the west end of the downtown and in a bit of a dodgy area. I worry that it is ear-marked for demolition and won't be preserved. It is sheet metal or something of the sort, so unlike the brick and stone buildings popular in the area, this one doesn't real hold much renovation possibilities. The colours are beautiful though, and I love the old writing style along the side of the building.

Everyone has their favourites, this is definitely one of mine.

Torontoist-TTC photos

Anyone who loves cities finds it easy to see beauty in the mundane. Scenes that thousands walk by everyday are beautiful to few. In particular, transit stations and transit hubs are often the most loathed and loved sites in a city. Some stations truly are works of art, and are treated as such.

I received an e-mail the other day from a gentleman in Toronto named David Thompson. He runs a sited called Torontoist. The site is dedicated to everything that is Toronto. One project in particular that he wrote about was a photo project (self-assigned) that he worked on throughout the summer. His task was to photograph one transit station a day.

For anyone familiar with the TTC network, his photographs will surely hold some special place for you, but even those not familiar with the places will enjoy them. Original angles and interesting subjects. Check them out here

A Life Designed

An interesting article on designing one's life. The article discusses how the concepts and principles of design can be used to get more out of life. The idea is that the reason for design is to envision a better way of doing something and then working towards that vision. In the same way, we too can design our lives to derive maximum satisfaction from them. Worth the read, check it out.

Friendly stranger

Being the fool that I am, I rode to the grocery store only to discover upon arrival that I had forgotten my u-lock. In some neighborhoods this might not have meant much, but in Surrey BC that bike would have been stolen before I fondled my first mango in the produce department.

Luckily for me, a very kind women happened to be walking by while I was in the process of "Shit I forgot my lock". She kindly asked if I would be long and then offered to stand guard over my bike as long as I moved it into the shade. Definitely a simple action, but seeing as how I hate the suburbs more and more each day, her simple gesture of generosity renewed my faith.

Pay it forward the next time you see a silly soul sans u-lock, quarter, pen, pocket or button.

The Death and life of ...

For the past two weeks or so I have been reading "The death and life of great American cities" by Jane Jacobs. For those not familiar with the book, it is a jargon free approachable read on what makes cities beautiful places full of life and activity and what makes them sterile and void of life. It is an excellent read and will definitely change the way you look at the built world around you.

In the past chapter, she spoke on properties necessary for diversity within a neighborhood. I especially enjoyed this quote by Paul J. Tillich (some Harvard professor cat), "By its nature, the metropolis provides what otherwise could be given only by travelling; namely, the strange. Since the strange leads to questions and undermines familiar tradition, it serves to elevate reason to ultimate significance ..."

Changing face

The east end of downtown Vancouver is one of the most beautiful parts of the city. A good deal of the heritage buildings are found here, and it is arguably one of the most walkable parts of the city. There are a number of tourists because of Gastown, which makes up a sizable portion of the east end and is the cobblestoned area near the waterfront. The area gets it's name from an old time saloon owner who apparently had an issue with flatulence. Besides the tourist shops, there is a great deal that this area has to offer any interested "flaneur".

This past Friday I spend the better part of the evening roaming through the small streets that make up this area. There is some spectacuar shopping to be had in some of the small boutiques that line the streets around W. Cordova and cambie, as well as around Abbott and Water St. Tons of unique clothes, furniture and interesting odds and ends. Some seriously expensive shit as well, including jeans worth more than my kidneys and couches that require a mortgage.

This all makes for interesting walking, but to me the highlight of the area is it's buildings. I love the old brick and stone buildings that are hard to find in other parts of the city. They really add a lot of charm to the area and make for captivating street corners. One building in particular that is worth seeing is this swanky clothing shop along Water St. that is made entirely of glass and has no side walls. The glass front butts up against the two buildings on either side of it, so that the walls are the adjacent buildings. It has a soaring ceiling and receives wonderful lighting. You'd think I would have taken a photo, wrong. Either way, it's worth checking out, as is the rest of the area.

The area isn't all glamour though, as a few streets in the "wrong" direction and you are faced with the all too familiar dark side of Vancouver. Numerous junkies down alleys and a huge homelessness problem. The extent to which these are a problem is really hard to imagine, and if for nothing else the trip down here is worth it to gain a better understanding on just what life is like off Robson St. With all the change in the area, the city will have to provide some real solutions for the people in this area.