Reboot and refresh

I have just spent 2 weeks with the rest of my 'clan' down in Orlando getting some very much needed 'R n R' and having some wonderful downtime.

It's amazing how much we can take ourselves for granted and let our mental batteries drain to a point where  it becomes difficult to function, and a struggle to reach into the creative swirling pool and find something.

Back to full power now  :)

Bring it on.........

Sunday...er..but not the same one

This week really has been a rollercoaster and I really have to admit that there were moments where I was not sure which way the ride was going to go.

The last seven days have brought a lot of heavy thinking, emotional upheaval, realisations, opportunities, closed doors which have pushed open windows, epiphanies and pain (physical, and mental).

I know who I am and I am aware of what I want to be. I know that to get there I must travel a lot of untrodden pathways. I also know that some of those pathways will require leaps of faith, some will be undertaken in the company of friends, while others are going to have to be explored alone.

I'm ready

Bring it on.

Sunday

So here I sit.
It's Sunday evening and my photographic working week is metaphorically hitting it's Friday afternoon, while my other job working week is hiding just over the horizon and spying at me through a telescope. Fighting a headcold and a to-do list that's far too bloody long; I realise how tired I am starting to feel.

Some nights it is a good tired, weary from doing great creative work and fun things, tired from the euphoric adrenaline enriched buzz of taking a ton of great pictures that tell someone's story. Whereas other nights, like tonight, it is just a plain and simple weary, everything aches and I want to stop the ride for a few hours, type tired.

In the great bar of life there are so many shots to drink, and here I sit feeling like someone just handed me the keys to the place and told me to go nuts while nursing a bitching hangover before I have even uncorked the first bottle. In some ways this could be considered paying ones dues I suppose; not getting what you want unless you push hard and work hard to get it and all that. I'm fine with that in principle, but I would just every now and again like to sit and stare out of the window and watch the world without a care for a while, and without feeling I should be pushing on to finish this, that, or the other.

So dear reader, whomever or wherever you are, if indeed you are anyone at all other than in my head, I bid you a weary good evening, and hope that you have an enriching and personally fulfilling week doing whatever it is that you do to bring you peace and happiness. May you never be too tired to pull up a chair and try a new cocktail or two for the fun of it, and just watch it all go by for a few hours.

Saturday

Wedding bells are ringing - or not as the case may be. They don't seem to do that here in Canada and I must admit it does seem a little odd sometimes when you shoot a wedding and can't hear the clap and clang of hammer on metal at the end of it all.

Ho hum

Beautiful day

Walked the dog this morning under foreboding dark clouds. Watched a red rainbow (no other colours) form on the western horizon while the eastern sky burned with a vivid intensity to welcome the sunrise. A moment of tranquility, lifting me above the mundane obligations of the day, and making me feel for a moment connected to the universe on another level - this show was just for me to see, for me to savour.

Time stood still
The morning held its breath.

And then it pissed down with rain.

Happy Thursday

Dragging and dropping

I know why they call it now
I accidentally dragged something somewhere and my site went away.
I dropped half a pound of sweat and brown adrenaline trying to find it again.

Don't do it people!!!

Hello...? Is this thing on....?

Sits down, blows the dust off the keyboard and realises that instead of my blog being all over the web, I in fact have webs all over my blog. This is NOT good people!!

In my quest to find balance, harmony, and really fun things to do with my life I keep forgetting to sit down and talk about it. If you can call pounding a keyboard technically talking, but you know what I mean.

Our journey through existence (oooooh - getting deep and thoughtful!!) is a ride in a them park. You get to pick the ride that fits you best, and you then get to rife it for the rest of your days. I thought that life for me was best described as a rollercoaster. all gut wrenching, screaming, g-force ripping and adrenaline pumping. But just when I thought that I'd mastered the track, and was ready to take the next curve or loop, some bugger keeps picking it up, pulls pieces off, changes things around, mangles it about in their hands and drops it to make it unknown, fresh and scary all over again.

The biggest and most important things I have learned about life in the theme park are as follows :-
1 - Lots of people spend their entire life on the carousel/merry go round because it is safe. The view remains the same, and there are no fast corners, or surprises.

2 - So many people spend their life on the ghost train, scrambling around in the dark, not seeing where they are trying to get to or what they are passing by and having the shit scared out of them on a regular basis and living on their nerves.

3 - Fewer people are brave enough to spend their life on the rollercoasters. Some will stick to a simple, mild one - where they think they are seeing excitement and living dangerously, but are really just going through something similar to the carousel albeit with some speed and a loop or two. Others will go for the wild old wooden coaster that feels like it has no control at all and live their time jarred and shaken by every toss and turn. The braver few will tackle the high rollers, the ones that have the potential to push their boundaries further and further if they are bold enough to hit the right speeds, and they think that life is amazing, but they keep hitting the brakes just as a new loop or an amazing track change is within sight, so they cannot ever ride the thing to its fullest potential. And then you have the people who realise what it is and understand how to ride it and they look around and savour the view and the sensation of the high winds and the turns and the twists of the ride.

This I am fine with, because I have worked it out. I understand that the coaster, with all of its crazy twists and turns is MY life, not just A life. Therefore I have also realised that I am that bugger who keeps picking it up and jiggling it about to make new shapes of it all. I can see the join. I want to know what the twiddlyknobs will do to the next curve if I crank them this way, or press that red button instead of the blue one. I can change seats if I like while the ride is in motion. I can stand up. I can step off of the car and wait for another one of a different colour to come along and ride in that instead. I can do what I like with it. it's fun!!!

So please enjoy your time in the park. Do not litter. Be respectful to others. But don't be afraid to through a high G's loop here and there for the sheer hell of it. But above all else - look around. Enjoy the journey :)

Magnetic North - Theatre Festival

I am honoured to be a part of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival which is currently in Kitchener Waterloo.

I have been fortunate enough thus far to see one of the many wonderful plays, as well as have the opportunity to take pictures of these hard working folk after hours relaxing in the Festival Bar.

Keep an eye on my site for pictures from the entire event and please do get out there and see some of the amazing plays currently running in the heart of downtown.

See pictures from the opening night on my website Opening Night

And check out the Festival at "Magnetic North Thetre Festival"