The path of learning

Japanese Level 3 starts next week.  I think it’s going to be quite a challenge.  I really should do some review of what I learned in the previous levels.  It should be fun though.

I also registered for an Introduction to Photography course at Seneca College.  I missed out on taking photography way back in high school and now I wish I did.  I think things would’ve been different if I had gotten interested then.  I hope I will get a lot out of this course and improve my skills.  I’ve been interested in trying to learn how to shoot with film, so I’ve been looking around for a good, inexpensive film SLR to try it out.

I’ve also been thinking about taking a cooking course sometime, it’s definitely a useful skill.  At least I can feed myself when no one is around.  It’ll be especially useful if I do get accepted into the JET Programme.  I’ll probably do it in the Spring.

So many things I want to do and learn.  That’s life though. Live, experience and learn.

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009

Let me start by saying that Dec 31, 2008 was a pretty bad day for me.

The package I was waiting for was my Domke F-3X camera bag.  It would’ve been perfect to have it to use on my trip to Montreal.  However, if you’ve been following my twitter feed, you’ll know that Canada Post really fucked up this time.  Long story short; Canada Post has my bag and they can’t deliver to the proper location.  (To give Canada Post the benefit of the doubt;  I’ve never had any issues with any of the many packages that I receive through them and it is the holiday season, but still, this was just dumb).

I almost got into a car accident today because people don’t know how to stop when there’s a giant ass STOP sign.  The STOP sign at the intersection is probably the largest STOP sign I’ve ever seen.  I will take a photo sometime and you would agree.  I don’t usually honk at people, but this time, I just kept on honking and waving my hands in anger.  He (or she?) seemed apologetic.  Learn how to drive.  (Although, I was guilty of not stopping, once… or twice… but in my defense, there were no other cars on the intersection).

I wanted to get a 8 GB Compact Flash card for my trip, but when I got to Canada Computers it had closed early for Christmas Eve.

I played mahjong and I totally got my ass handed to me.  Nothing went right in that game.  At least it was a quick death.

So those are the unfortunate events on the last day of 2008.  It wasn’t all bad though.  Had a pretty good dinner with Jenn and pleasantly bumped into some acquaintances at the restaurant.  Had a fun time watching (and laughing) at the New Year’s Eve performances on television and drank some tasty sparkling wine.  It’s been a very different New Year’s Eve compared to last year when I spent it in a hotel room in New York.

I’m heading off to Montreal for a few days and it should be a pretty good trip.  I hope to take some great photos, but it’s going to so damn cold.  Happy New Year.  Let’s make 2009 an even better year.

Rain on a winter’s day

It suddenly got a lot warmer and it’s been foggy and raining the whole day.  It doens’t really affect me much since I didn’t have any plans to go anywhere.  It’s been a simple, quiet and enjoyable holiday; sleeping in, playing video games, taking photos, eating good food, seeing family and friends

I wish these days could go on forever.

Slumdog Sundays

I rarely go out on Sundays.  It’s usually because I wake up really late and just ending feeling too lazy to get changed and go out.  Also, it maybe the fact that is rare that someone calls me out on Sundays.

There was this plan to head downtown with Eugene because I wanted to take some photos of the holiday lights and displays.  However, the weather forecast said that it would start snowing in the afternoon, so we decided to stay uptown.  Unfortunately, after lunch it just started snowing pretty heavily.

With our plans canceled, we decided to see Slumdog Millionaire. (Well, it’s more like, I decided and Eugene reluctantly agreed.  Or as I would like to think; I suggested to see it and he was in fully behind that idea.)  I can probably say with great certainty that it’s the best film I’ve seen this year.  As a point of reference, my previous best film I’ve seen this year was The Dark Knight.

It was a very surreal film.  It was a completely different kind of world to me.  I was impressed by the whole cast, especially the kids.  The opening scene to the film was stunning.  The music was also very well done.  Also, stay for the credits.

Even though the weather ruined the original plans, things still turned out pretty well.

Them Kids

Today was our annual company holiday party, so we got to leave work early.  I finally got to see daylight after work and I went outside to do some shooting.  There was quite a bit of snow from last night, so everything was white.  I got some satisfying shots.  As I’ve been saying, natural light is so great to shoot in.

There were some kids walking by while I was shooting and they asked me to take a photo of them.  It gave me a nice feeling to be asked and it turned out pretty well.  Although, the focus could be better and I wish I stopped down to f2.8 instead of shooting wide open.  Still, I like this photo.  Them kids.

I wish this would happen more often, I would love to take a picture of you.