Filed under: My Friends, Resolutions, Triumphs & Heartbreaks | Tags: career, friendships, gay, Japan, life, traveling, Vancouver
It’s been a while since I feel like I’ve made a meaningful connection with a new friend. It is often that I meet new people, working in a retail environment where customers and co-workers come and go, and minute-connections are fabricated with each of them. Rarely do you come across somebody that you would genuinely want to get to know.
Meeting Yuko coincided with my budding fascination with the Japanese culture triggered by the 4 short days I had in Tokyo. I was enamoured by the elegance of their efficiency and practicality.
Yuko turns out to be a very well-travelled, law degree holder who wants to learn the English language and become an English teacher in Japan. She has been to various parts of Canada and decided on Vancouver to stay for a year. She left her friends and family, and fiancee behind to pursue her own aspirations. And I admire her courage, independence, and ambition.
Perhaps people are interesting because they choose to be.
As I’m entering into the final year of my studies, it is time to take myself off auto-pilot and make some decisions.
Yuko has been an inspiration and if I try really hard, I can see myself being almost as courageous, independent, and ambitious as she is. And that should be enough for me.
Filed under: Glitter & Sparkles, Graphic Design, My Weekend Pillows, Photography | Tags: emperor, empress, gay, gay bingo, Graphic Design, Japan, Photography, Smile Cafe, Vancouver
Weeks have been going by fast. Aside from my measly paid job at “Segments,” I’ve been busying myself with some graphic design side projects. The FFL non-profit group wanted me to design a postcard and pamphlet for their fundraising, as well as their summer newsletter.
I’ve done 2 out of the 3.
To be honest, they haven’t been the most exciting projects, but I am excited about having my designs printed.
Postcard:
Newsletters:
Generally I hate placing body text on a full colour photograph, but since the newsletter only has its front and back covers printed in colour, I’ve had to just make it work.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone even reads the newsletter other than the editor and myself.
Playtime
For some strange reason, I felt my weekend was drastically cut short after agreeing to stay half an hour longer at work. Despite that, I managed to enjoy a little bit of sun on Saturday.
Pillz took me out on a stroll around the DTES. Bums and crazies are really less scary than one might think. Most they do is stare.
Sunday Afternoon Delights
We had a lovely brunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Smile Cafe on Pender Street, which by the way, is no longer run by eccentric Shanghainese people. I used to love going there just to listen in on their conversations. It seems like it is now owned by 2 older gentlemen who, according to Pillz, is a gay couple. Pillz thinks everyone is gay, so that has yet to be confirmed.
And continuing my strange love addiction to all things Japanese, the emperor and empress of Japan came to visit. I was hoping they’d take me home with them.
They didn’t.
Filed under: Doses of Cynicism, Graphic Design, My Friends, My Weekend Pillows, Photography, School Life | Tags: DTE, Photography, selfishness, summer, Vancouver
It is made even more apparent that people are selfish and they mostly just look out for themselves when a large group of people congregate.
On Saturday, Pillz, his friends, and I went to the Jazz Festival. It got more crowded as it got later in the afternoon.
I sat on the edge of a narrow pathway that kept getting narrower with more and more people standing in front of it. And I was forced to witness the ugliness of human inconsideration.
People whizzing by clearing the way with their strollers. People stopping abruptly in the middle of the pathway to chat with their friends and effectively blocking anyone else from passing through.
I gritted my teeth the whole way through.
On Sunday, Pillz and I went on a nice stroll down the DTE. And I thought I’d haul out my camera from the very back of my closet and make some use of it.
The sunny weather yesterday prompted Joann and I to head out to the beach. However, the slight breeze felt more like the arctic freeze when we got to the beach. We wrapped ourselves in our beach blankets, ate our sandwiches from the Safeway Deli and left.
We then went to Calhouns and further discussed our summer project – the G DM A agenda. It is going to be an agenda tailor designed to the G DM A program. It is becoming more apparent to us that it is going to be a lot of work, but I think we’re up for the challenge.
Filed under: Graphic Design, Photography | Tags: camera, Cannon EOS, debt, DSLR, Photography, Vancouver
In addition to the $2500 I owe for my upcoming Bali/Tokyo trip, I’ve decided to put myself further in debt by purchasing a Cannon EOS 1000D.
I know practically nothing about DSLR’s except for several people who own them. Unfortunately they are all out of the country taking photographs. So I decided to do a little research on my own.
After hours of googling, and tabs filled with London Drugs, Future Shop, Best Buy, and Broadway Camera web pages, the Cannon EOS 1000D was an obvious choice – it was the only one I could afford.
I’ve wanted a DSLR ever since my brief encounter with an SLR in 2004. I’ve just never had sufficient funds (I still don’t). But after having photographed my graphic design work with both a DSLR and a point and shoot, and seeing how much of a difference it makes, I just had to have one myself.
And I thought what better time to get it, since I’ll probably want to take pictures in Bali/Tokyo.
So this is my first stab at DSLR-dom:
Filed under: Glitter & Sparkles, Movies, Television | Tags: Bedrooms and Hallways, Daniel Craig, gay, James Purefoy, Kevin McKidd, Rome, snow, Vancouver
Just when I thought I was seeing light at the end of the tunnel in the form of black cement on the ground last night, I pull up my curtain this morning and we’re plunged back into yet another snowstorm. I’m not used to this kind of weather in Vancouver. I’ve been homebound pretty much the entire week except for when I have to go to work.
But it isn’t all bad. I can be quite the homebody when I allow myself to be. I enjoy the luxury of long afternoons spent curled up in bed with a book, or hot unhurried showers. And this is especially so when I look out my window and snow flakes are blowing in every which direction, covering every possible surface they can.
I’ve also been watching the HBO series Rome. It is a little bit too bloody for my liking, but all is compensated when James Purefoy gives a glorious full frontal nudity.
Another central character is Kevin McKidd. He reminds me of Daniel Craig. Look.
This is Kevin McKidd.
And this is Daniel Craig.
Needless to say they are both quite delectable.
And after a bit of googling. I came across this little movie called “Bedrooms and Hallways,” in which Kevin McKidd and James Purefoy play lovers!
I think I just creamed my pants. And I hope all of you have too.
Overall, it was not bad.
But how can it be bad? It’s Las Vegas – the city of entertainment. And for the most part, I was entertained. It was an ambitious feat to attempt seeing Vegas in all its glory in 4 short days. But we sure tried. Pillows was right. Las Vegas is the very definition of American decadence. Hotels were over the top extravagant. People were over the top friendly/phony, except for bus drivers. Most of them were just crabby.
On Food
Buffets are definitely the smarter choice, as all the food on the strip are quite costly. And when you have high maintenance travel-buddies who get upset over having a late dinner at the hotel pizza place, buffets are usually a safe bet.
On Hotels
Wow. Choose your fantasy, and live in it. We stayed at the New York New York Hotel. It was all the New York landmarks in one place. It was really quite amazing to look at. Our hotel room was not bad either. Three of us shared two queen beds. As usual, I had no trouble falling asleep. Fatz on the other hand was not so lucky. Mary’s thunderous snoring and my bed hogging kept him up most nights.
On Gambling
I don’t get it, and I don’t think I ever will.
On Las Vegas Gay Bars
I have never missed the Odyssey or Davie Street more.
On Weather
Las Vegas was hot. And tremendously windy. Temperature can vary greatly between sunny and shaded areas. I enjoyed the hot weather quite a bit. It doesn’t feel like we’ll ever get hot weather here in Vancouver. It is end of April and we had our snow storm just a week ago.
On Travel Buddies
Mary and Fatz were not my dream travel buddies. I had an inkling that I probably would not enjoy traveling with Mary just because of her constant negativity and inferior/superior complex, but I had no idea Fatz would be so difficult as well. As a disclaimer, I should say that these are people whose company I normally enjoy/can tolerate, but being with them 24 hrs a day nearly drove me insane.
Mary is a very conflicting person. She asks some of the most stupid questions, but at the same time she would put people down for asking any seemingly obvious questions for confirming purposes with answers such as: “what do you think?” and “of course” in a derogatory manner. Sometimes when I’m with her, I say rude things just to get her back, and I don’t like myself when I’m that way. A lot of times I feel like she wants to spend time with me just because I happen to be available. I don’t feel like I’m the valued friend that she claims me to be when she is being unnecessarily secretive and tells little lies.
I did not expect Fatz to be such a high-maintenance travel buddy, but I was wrong. Pizza was not good enough for him. “Junk food” was not good enough for him (if you think buffet food is not junk food, buddy you’re an idiot). The bus was not good enough for him. But apparently leaving a 3 dollar tip for the waitress at dinner was too much. Sometimes I have a sneaking suspicion that he lacks a conscience. And god, is it ever annoying to listen to him go on about making life plans around his “boyfriend.” I hate to say it, but this “boyfriend” of his raises the mother(s) of all red flags.
On Homesickness
Vancouver, I love you.
