change

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It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change
-charles darwin

it's all about the benjamins

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Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.
-Benjamin Franklin

little things

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were big things.
-Kurt Vonnegut

where i went

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after doing very little research i have determined that douglas adams and calvin and hobbes have nothing in common except this image that someone put together.  that may or may not be true but either way, i love the quote and calvin and hobbes were two of my good friends growing up so that makes me love it a little more.

oscar wilde

be yourself, everyone else is already taken



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-oscar wilde

elephants

i've seen this piece of art, or maybe it's graffiti, a few times on keele street.  it's absolutely incredible.  i was finally able to get a picture of it today:

I meant what i said and i said what i meant. An elephant's faithful one-hundred percent!

- dr. seuss (horton hears a who!)

may misery

yep, that's right... may has been a miserable month.  if you're living in the greater toronto area, you know what i'm talking about....  the rain. rain. rain.  it won't stop!  i feel like i'm living in a rainforest without the forest. 

whatever happened to april showers bring may flowers?  it rained in april, and it's rained even more in may.  despite all my complaining, i don't mind the rain that much.  plus i spend most of my days inside - i take transit to work, and i sit at a desk all day.  in some ways the rain makes it easier to have to be inside.  but i'd prefer to be cozied up at home listening to the rain outside my window.

and then i think about the old adage, or maybe it's not an old adage but something i've heard somewhere: don't worry about what you can't control and then something else like you can only control the way you react.  but i don't know how to put them together in a sentence.  you get the point. 

and bob marley sums up the whole rain situation with this little quote:

Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.

bad moods

i have no idea who this author is, but i loved her quote:

You can only be in a bad mood for so long before you have to face up to the fact that it isn't a bad mood at all; it's just your sucky personality.

— Megan McCafferty

when you've had a bad day, the most challenging thing is to pull yourself out of it.  people who love and care about you might also try, but sometimes it just sticks.  and what is interesting about this is how a complete stranger's kindness can turn it around. 

as i was riding the subway home today, the platform was entirely full at my usual transfer spot (st. george).  as the train pulled in i hoped to get on, but figured my chances were slim.  i managed to find a comfortable spot near the door and as the door chimes went off, roughly 4 more people crammed their way on to an already full train.  anyone who has ridden the ttc knows this is a common occurrence... nothing out of the ordinary.  but what did happen [that was out of the ordinary] was one of the people who stuffed their way on asked me if i was okay.  this small gesture gave me a bit of hope, and my mood began to change.

once i got home i tidied up, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the kitchen and before i knew it mike had arrived with a bag of sushi.  he knew i had a case of the mondays and wanted to cheer me up.  the sushi was from a new place in the junction called LAN sushi.  mike had suggested that if i tidied up a bit i would feel better, and he was right.  so here is the formula that i have developed:

kind stranger + clean apartment + nice guy = good mood

cute things help, also.

genius

image found here

Everybody is a genius.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

-Albert Einstein

friends

from this website





frames

The most important thing in art is The Frame. For painting: literally; for other arts: figuratively-- because, without this humble appliance, you can't know where The Art stops and The Real World begins. You have to put a 'box' around it because otherwise, what is that shit on the wall?

frank zappa 

over the weekend i picked up some frames.  i had a few items i've been wanting to frame for a long time but hadn't gotten around to it...  there is a custom framing store near my house that looks awesome but also expensive... so that's where ikea came in handy.

some of these items may look familiar for various reasons.  they each hold a different sentiment, personal to me.

the two in the squares were given to me as cards.  the one of the left was given to me from my co-workers at atlas cafe when the doctors took out my appendix out.  they pooled together some money to help me out (as i had to take some time off work) and signed this lovely card.  it was a time that i felt a genuine sense of community, and honoured to have such amazing people in my life.

the second card was from my dear friend amy on the day my brother and i left for the trip back east.  she handed me the card and said: read this... sometime... later.  i knew it was going to be emotional and i think i had been home for about a week before i had the guts to open it.  it contains some of the most beautiful words of friendship i have ever read.

i don't know much about art.  but i know what i like.  i like art that evokes feelings and isn't just nice to look at.

since i quoted zappa i figured i should include a song of his that i like:

it's funny, i should have known it wasn't his song... i feel silly for not questioning it...  it was originally written by earl lewis and morgan robinson and was recorded by the channels in 1956.  

ralph waldo emerson

thanks jay for sharing this quote with me.

ralph waldo emerson was a poet/philosopher/lecturer circa the 1800s.  he is best known for leading the transcendentalist movement.  i had never heard of him until reading this quote, and being strongly inspired by it.  i became curious to know more.  according to wikipedia, the core beliefs of transcendentalism can be summarized as such: the belief in an ideal spirituality that "transcends" the physical and empirical and is realized only through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions.  it sort of sounds like agnosticism to me, but i think i'm going to have to do some more research before i fully understand the concept.  it might start with reading his essay entitled nature.

the other day i remember thinking why do i let work stress me out this much, there is so much more to life. it's a lot easier said than done considering you spend the better part of your weeks there...  so i've been reminding myself of that.  this quote sums everything up nicely and not exclusively the pains of work.  i hope it speaks to you as well.  it's easy to remember the bad parts of the day, and difficult to remember the nice and happy moments, the reason for this remains a mystery to me.

thoughts, april 5

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. 

-Albert Camus

i get a lot of my day to day inspiration from quotes.  sometimes i am lucky enough to stumble upon them and other times i search them out.  this particular quote spoke to me, as there is [quite possibly] nothing better in life than a true friend.  they aren't easy to come by, and it's a kind of friendship that doesn't happen overnight.

i am interested in reading any of camus' work but haven't gotten around to it yet.  i have also quoted him in an older post.  i have been more into reading fiction as of late.  i remember that i loved to read as a kid.  i think it was because i wanted to be like my mom who devours (what seems like) a book a day.  and also for that sense of accomplishment you feel after reading the last word and closing the book.  as a child i read exclusively fiction novels... and i remember when i was introduced to non-fiction in my teens i felt that it would be more beneficial to exclusively read non-fiction.  it turns out, that wasn`t necessarily the case.  while i am still interested in non-fiction, it neglects to keep me engaged the same way a good story does.  and there is a lot to be learned from fiction, if at the very least it`s new vocabulary.  i have noticed my aptitude at crosswords has greatly improved the more i read.  why not try to you lose yourself in a book...  and if you find yourself feeling that you don`t have the time... i highly suggest reading this raptitude article... Where Does the Time Go

spontaneity

i had a post prepared today to commemorate mitch hedburg.  he passed away 6 years ago today.  but instead i want to share this beautiful quote with you:

photo from this flickr page
quote from hafiz or hafez

i thought it was such a beautiful way of thinking about love and life.  i feel like people in western society have such a great sense of entitlement.  and the reason for this is unknown to me.  it reminded that an entitled point of view can perpetuate negativity in life.  that everything doesn't have to be give and take, sometimes it can just be give.  it reminded me that life isn't all about the day to day and to think of the bigger picture.  the things to be grateful for, like the sun  ... which luckily was shining today.  and the snow is slowly melting and you can almost feel spring in the air.

and i finally have another tale from the ttc.  i was sitting on the bus on my way home today when a young boy (around 3) shouted out aye aye aye and a young girl (around 4) shouted back in a slightly higher pitch: aye aye aye, from the back of the bus.  they were total strangers, and she was completely unprompted.  he went again: ooh ooh ooh  and she called back in her voice: ooh ooh ooh.  they continued exchanging sounds for almost a minute.  she said we're talking dad.  it was evident that these children knew how to speak, but embraced the simplicity of the sounds they could make and the interaction.  and in turn the entire bus was giggling.  it was pretty special.

grizzly man

grizzly man is a film about the dangers of humans acting like bears.  just kidding, kind of.  it is a "docu-drama" put together by director werner herzog of footage timothy treadwell took during his annual summer quest to "protect the bears."  after watching you get the sense that timothy was protecting the bears in his mind, but in reality he may have been doing them more harm than good.  in total he spent 13 summers in the alaskan katmai national park before he was eaten by a bear.

i like this film because of the incredible footage of wild animals - this is no planet earth dvd.  timothy didn't have any idea that there was a boundary between him and the bears.  we see them up close and personal.  my favourite scenes include footage of his fox friends.  they are such unbelievably beautiful animals. 

it also provides a window into a man who is deeply troubled.  timothy's demons and passions were intense and layered.  before he decided to become the protector of the bears, timothy had struggled with drug and alcohol addictions.  it was evident that he lived life on the edge. 

the people who knew timothy and speak about him are priceless.  one man says he was acting like they were people dressed in bear costumes.  another woman speaks about timothy attempting to "mutually mutate" with the bears.  i still can't figure out what mutual mutation is and i hope i never do...  another man, sam egli who is described as timothy's close friend, and is also the pilot who flew him in and out of camp has quite a lot to say about treadwell's life and death:

 My opinion, I think Treadwell thought these bears were big, scary looking, harmless creatures that he could go up and pet and sing to, and they would bond as children of the universe or some odd. I think he lost sight of what was really going on.

there are actually too many quotes to go on...  but whether or not you've seen it, you can get a sense by reading the memorable quotes from imdb.  i know the beginning of this movie always has be giggling because of quotes like the ones above, but in the end it is a tragic story... it still however, remains as one of my favourite movies.

That bear, I think, that day, decided that he had either had enough of Tim Treadwell or that something clicked in that bear's head that he thought 'Hey, you know, he might be good to eat.'

week end week begin

happy first day of spring!

spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. 

Doug Larson

with the blink of an eye another week has passed me by.  as i was mourning the end if this weekend i got ants marching stuck in my head.  week end week begin.

01 Dave Mathews Band - Ants Marching by acidfreeworld

on a quick side note - i just saw avril lavigne on a pro-activ commercial.. times must be tough for her.

this weekend mike and i met his parent's for brunch.  it was my first experience at a cora's.  the food and the service were good, although i ordered one of the more simple items.  i can see why they're so popular.  we then took a familiar walk through the sunny streets of kensington market.  even though it was probably in september, i couldn't remember the last time i had been to kensington.  it's definitely is one of, if not the best community in toronto.  on our walk i stumbled upon some banksy-esque graffiti.

the sun was shining and the temperature was almost warm.  spring will be here in no time... but i can hardly wait.

graffiti?

toronto is home to a variety of graffiti and a lot of non-inventive tagging.  as you wander through the streets and alleyways, there are some clever, intricate and interesting pieces.  on a cloudy winter day, graffiti brings colour and life to the otherwise grey streets.  and on a sunny day they truly come to life.

in may 2010 the notorious and elusive banksy marked toronto with several new pieces.  you can see photos of banksy's art in toronto here.

as far as i know, graffiti is a crime against property... meaning it's illegal.  and i kind of get that.  but more often than not, stumbling upon a creative piece of graffiti brings a smile to my face.  and i wonder if the crime is part of the appeal?  i wonder if it were regulated instead of illegal if there would be as many ugly, unimaginative tags out there?  ... although i should note i have seen some cool tags so i'm not totally bashing them... but i definitely prefer images over letters.  here is a quote from banksy that sums it all up:

Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet.

if you haven't already seen the work of canadian artist roadsworth it's definitely worth clicking on the link and browsing through the gallery.  the creativity is out of this world!

unfortunately, i don't have any photos of my own to share of the art that i love.  instead, i have some shots of the graffiti along the lakeshore west line taken from the go train.  be prepared to not be wowed.

albert camus

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.

----------------------------

i learned about camus and his beliefs in an intro to philosophy course i took in 2008.  unfortunately, all i can remember right now is that i was fascinated by him.  but he's got a point here, don't you think?  if you don't agree with him, he's at least got you thinking about it.

bob dylan

people seldom do what they believe in. they do what is convenient and then repent

not long ago i bought a postcard with the image off of nashville skyline (but in black and white) from sonic boom..  there was something about bob dylan's expression that made me smile.  i liked the feeling it gave me.  it has a similar calming effect that his music often does.  i put it in a frame on the windowsill by my bed with some other images that make me happy:

here are my top 5 bob dylan songs in no particular order:

10 Positively 4th Street by musicm00ks

Like A Rolling Stone by Itubaina Radio Retro

All I Really Want To Do (Bob Dylan) by Prelatus

Bob Dylan - Times They are a-Changin by michaelvanasse

and it ain't me babe. which i have spent so much time looking for an audio version that isn't a cover i'm about to remove it from my top 5.

i'd like to close with a few more of his words of wisdom:

don't criticize what you can't understand.



mark twain

my friend jay shared a quote with me recently.  it's from mark twain's biography.  he said when he read this blog it reminded him of it, or maybe when he read the quote it reminded him of the blog...

What a wee little part of a person's life are his acts and his words! His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself. All day long, and every day, the mill of his brain is grinding, and his thoughts, not those other things, are his history. His acts and his words are merely the visible, thin crust of his world, with its scattered snow summits and its vacant wastes of water--and they are so trifling a part of his bulk! a mere skin enveloping it. The mass of him is hidden--it and its volcanic fires that toss and boil, and never rest, night nor day. These are his life, and they are not written, and cannot be written. Every day would make a whole book of eighty thousand words--three hundred and sixty-five books a year. Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man--the biography of the man himself cannot be written.

of course this quote would come from a writer...  why would i think that?  because i think some people live in their heads more than others. specifically people who have a lot of time to think.  i notice the busier i am the less time i spend in my head, especially if i'm doing physical work. i hadn't thought of it before, my writing does provide some insight... but roughly 79,500 words that don't make the cut.

i would also like to take this opportunity to note that i believe actions speak louder than words... in theory.  but in truth, our actions don't always reflect our thoughts.  and our intentions and actions don't always align..  this can cause misunderstanding and hurt.  it is important to remember that you are the only person that has access to the millions of thoughts going through your head.  you can't assume that other people will know what you are thinking or what you mean.  and i think what we forget quite often, is to think about how our words will affect other people before we say them.  if you're thinking in your head all day about how wonderful someone is, but the first thing you say when you see them is "you're late"... do you think they'll know you've been thinking about how wonderful they are?  some food for thought, directly from my thought capsule.

i was looking for a picture of mark twain, as i always like to find an interesting picture of the person i'm quoting... and i must say he isn't at all photogenic....  i was having a difficult time finding a photo i liked, and then i found this site called zazzle that makes custom mugs (among other interesting items).  and i spent more time than i'd like to admit customizing a mug to share.  but the real question is - who want's to look at mark twain's face first thing in the morning?