Photo Marathon: Solidarity

Once again, another somewhat failed image. I think that I zoomed too far out, it would have looked a lot better if the hands were larger in the frame. Also, I might have asked them to separate them a little but I think that might have worked better too. I guess I need to work on how to direct people a bit better and experiment with layouts before I press the shutter. In addition, I'm pretty new to the use of this flash, so it doesn't look quite how I expected it. We had just finished eating at a nice French restaurant, and had some pretty decent Chilean red wine (Malbec), so we were quite festive!

Feel free to post critiques...keeping in mind that I only had ONE shot at each of these images! And also, I'm not just showing the good, but also the bad and the ugly :-)

City Sickness

Today was supposed to be an energetic and productive day. But for one reason or another, I have zero energy and drive. It may be just that I haven't slept well (this new drug makes it FEEL like I'm sleeping well, but I wake up unrefreshed), but I also feel crowded by this big city and its millions of people.

In an effort to relieve this malaise, I decided to go and try to find some peace and quiet somewhere nearby, eat lunch, and enjoy the sunshine to hopefully boost my morale a little. I went to Bellevue Park in Kensington and it was pretty good; trees, not too many people, kids playing in the playground in the distance. There was a nice big bench completely empty, waiting just for me. These two biker-type dudes eventually came and took a piece, which was fine, they were pretty quiet. But then an entire family of 5, with 3 noisy annoying little kids came and sat down on the other side. GAH! Way to ruin a perfectly quiet spot. So I went to find something that would appeal to me for lunch (which I found in the form of 2 falafel sandwiches, that really hit the spot perfectly...not too heavy not too light). I came back, and the family was still there, so I sat somewhere else to eat.

After all this, I still didn't feel great. I think I really need to get out of the city or something. It is oppressive. I need some real peace...I need to finish my stupid masters and have that over with. Maybe my trip to Kentucky will help me out? Refresh my mind for the last push towards the finish line? Let's hope so.

Photo Marathon Pics: Self-Sustainable

In no particular order I will start posting my photo marathon photos, one per day, starting with Self-Sustainable. I won second prize for this photo.

Done and done

Today was the last day of my clinical drug trial! I may not have mentioned it before on here, but I've been a guinea pig for a new insomnia drug, that is apparently already approved and in use in Europe, but just needs approval by the big drug administrations here. What was involved was taking a drug every day and calling in every morning after I woke up to an automated survey thing. Quite the pain in the ass. Also, I had to go and sleep in their sleep clinic for 6 nights, in three two-night sessions, over the course of the study, and that was even more of a pain in the ass since I had to return during the day twice, making it quite difficult to do any work.

For now it is done though, and on top of that they paid me a nice compensation fee, $1050 to be exact! That pays for my visa bills and my trip to Kentucky in April! And to help me sleep, I've been given a prescription for another drug that will hopefully knock me out nicely.

Another depressing day

When you're working on a computer program and all you can do is wait for a result, because otherwise you'd have to take a different course of action, you tend to have a lot of time to think. And unfortunately, at the moment, thinking is slightly depressing.

It may sound from this blog as though I'm super depressed all the time, when in fact I'm not actually, I'm generally a happy and optimistic guy, but there are certain things about my life that depress me, and since nothing else is going on, I write about that. I would love to have funny events occur to me all the time, or happy things to write about that aren't just daily events I enjoy like biking or climbing or taking pictures, but these things are just not there, so I write about what makes me sad.

On a happier note, with respect to work, it seems that my filtering scheme is pretty much conservative (most people won't get this, but it basically means mass is conserved!). This is good news. The other good thing is that I worked out a cost estimate for my trip to Kentucky, and it seems like it's going to be around $170 or less, which is pretty cheap for 6 days.

My weekend

Another boring update. I will make it as concise as possible. My weekend was fun.

• Friday: went out for dinner and listened to a band at Sneaky Dee's with some good friends.


• Saturday worked out, went salsa dancing, got drunk with some friends


• Sunday woke up late (still a bit tipsy but not hungover!), worked a bit, wrote emails, relaxed, dinner with family.

End over End

I'm feelin' out of luck
Maybe I just feel too much
That old familiar touch
Will always stain my skin
The good in everyone
The ties we left undone
The heart that moves your blood
All the things that bring me right back here
Once again
Wait
Stop me so I can begin
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Whenever I feel in the mood I'm in right now, I listen to the Foo Fighters, especially the In Your Honor album. The lyrics and melodies strike a chord.

Another rough night

The new bed I got is super comfy. But that doesn't stop me from waking up in the middle of the night and not falling asleep again for 2 hours or so, my mind preoccupied and imagining all sorts of depressing things. And now, my thoughts are scattered, flipping from topic to topic, unable to settle onto one thing, let alone what they really NEED to settle on.

My work is going to take forever at this rate.

hung up

Last night I went ice skating with my 'friend' JY (the girl I was dating who just wants to be friends). I hadn't seen her in a month or so, and it was of course fun. But what I didn't expect was to still have butterflies for the hour leading up to meeting her...argh. I think I still like her in a way that's more than just friends. Another friend (let's call her MG) recommends that I stop seeing her. This might be good advice, if I want to avoid feeling like this every time we meet, but at the same time, she's cool and I like hanging out with her. I hope that I can one day see her as just a friend....cuz the way I feel right now, if she tells me at some point she's met this other guy that she really likes, I will feel like crap.

MG also says girls suck. :-P

My weekend

I guess I have nothing too interesting to say, besides that I had a pretty good weekend. Friday night I went ice skating with some friends Saturday morning I worked out, went salsa dancing for the first time in months, and then at night I forget what I did, but it was fun. Yesterday, I finally got a new bed! It's about time, my bed is probably 25+ years old. This new one is SOOO comfortable, I get it tomorrow, and I can't wait to try it out. Queen size too! Then in the evening I met with a couple that wants me to take pictures of their wedding! How exciting! Then I went and played poker with some friends right after...and believe it or not I won! I got pretty lucky I guess, and also the stakes were not too high so people were taking more risks than usual, but it was still pretty satisfying since I've only really played 5 or 6 times in my life! I made 20$, 15$ of which went to the purchase of some biking socks that my friend bought me a couple weeks ago at the bike show.

So anyway...I like poker now! :-D

GS

Pan's Labyrinth

Today I saw a movie that was amazing, it was 'Pan's Labyrinth'. It is the best movie I've seen in a long time. It had great cinematography, amazing characters, good acting, good special effects...and was overall just a really good story very well told. Even the music was great; I'm downloading the soundtrack as I write this! It is somewhat violent at times, and a bit graphic, but it doesn't detract from the film.

Anyway, I highly recommend this film... GO and SEE IT!

Must write

I haven't slept properly in 5 nights. I can't think straight, and I get some strange tension headache which can only be cured with an hour of light biking.

But I still have to write my damn thesis.

Damn them and their placebo! I'm wasting my time with this drug trial.