Drink up

Glass way more than half full
Laval, QC, December 2009

Photography need not be momentous. It doesn't necessarily have to mark a major milestone in anyone's life. A picture doesn't need hours of preparation to be worth keeping.

Sometimes, it's just enough to capture a small slice from an otherwise unremarkable day in the life.

Because every day is remarkable in its own right.

Your turn: Please share an ordinary moment from your own day. (And click here if you'd like to share your own "water in any form"-themed photo.)

A watched pot never boils

Preparing...
Delray Beach, FL, December 2009

About this photo: Our Thematic Photographic "water in any form" theme continues its journey, and you can be a part of it, too, by letting your mouse follow this link.

Sometimes, a direct shot of something is too easy. Sometimes, you feel more than a little abstract, so only an abstract photo will hit that sweet spot in your mind and make you feel all is right with the world. Or so I hope. In this case, I didn't just want to share a pic of one form or other of dihydrogen oxide. Rather, I wanted to illustrate that the vessel within which it is held is often just as important.

Or perhaps I just liked the line of the pot. Or was it the way it reflected the light? Meh, I can't decide.

Yup, I've had a lot on my mind of late. Maybe I'll tell you a story when I have a moment...

Your turn: Is there any truth to the "watched pot never boils" thing? Or was my mother pulling my leg all those years?

Walking in the reflective surf

In the late afternoon sun
Delray Beach, FL, December 2009

About this photo: Thematic Photographic...blah, blah..."water in any form"...blah, blah...have fun with it by going here!

I think I need to move somewhere closer to a large, preferably oceanic body of water. I live less than an hour's drive from two Great Lakes, but somehow, the lack of major waves and eye-stinging salt takes away from the epic feel of the place when you stand in that incredible spot where land gives way to water. There's a feeling you get when waves wash over your ankles that's unique to a big beach on a big ocean. My life doesn't fit this now, but I hope someday it will.

The realities of life, however, didn't stop me from spending some much-needed creative time in the surf on this, the last day of the year. The light was terrible - muddy overcast that got brighter and darker almost by the second thanks to the unpredictable and fast-moving cloud cover - but given how rarely I get here, I didn't want to let that stop me. So I wandered into the crashing waves and started shooting.

It didn't take long for me to get lost in the moment, focused intently on the fast moving forms, talking myself through each set as I dialed in different settings and fired away. While I came away from the experience with pictures, it's the memory of what it felt like to be completely in that moment that I wish I could hold onto. I don't know how to replicate it here, now that I'm back in a cold climate filled with the often-conflicting pressures of everyday life.

But I'll certainly try. Because as I wildly followed the waves through my lens and felt the power of this place through every nerve ending I had, I realized this was the first time I had felt remotely like myself in months. I didn't want it to end.

Your turn: Finding peace. Repeating the feat later on. Please discuss.

Parking lot of broken dreams

Snowed under
London, ON, January 2010

About this photo: This week's "water in any form" theme takes us back to a place I know well: home. Specifically, my Canadian home. Which, as I write this, finds itself under a severe cold alert. Yay! If you're looking for ways to keep warm, head here to share your watery/icy vision.

I have a love/hate relationship with winter. On the one hand, it can be a miserable time of year. The days are short and the cold can be brutal, especially when squalls move in off the lake and pummel the region - as had just happened here. There's also nothing worse than pulling on layer after layer of clothing, only to get outside and realize you didn't tuck everything in quite as meticulously as you should have. Those cold spots are really annoying!

But when you get your woolies on just so and you're feeling all warm and comfy, sometimes you get outside and catch your breath at the stark beauty of the landscape and the freshness and clarity of the insanely cold air. That's how I felt as I snapped this picture. Indeed, the texture of the recently fallen, partly packed snow was so sharp that I found myself wishing the plow wouldn't come by later that night and clear the whole area down to the pavement.

Sometimes, aesthetics should take precedence over practicality.

Your turn: How do you keep your spirits positive during an otherwise dark period?

Thematic Photographic 86 - Water in any form

The icicle works
London, ON, January 2010

As I was mulling over potential topic choices for this week's Thematic Photographic (please see here for TP-tagged entries, and here for instructions), I realized I'd been shooting a lot of ice, water or vapour of late. It wasn't a conscious decision, but part of me suspects that my subconscious likes to dictate the photographic agenda every once in a while. Since I'm not feeling Freudian enough to disagree with my subconscious being, I've decided to go with "water in any form" as this week's theme.

So...if it's liquified water, frozen ice, vaporized vapor, suspended fog or a partially humid combination of some or all of these, I hope you'll grab your camera, grab the shot and share it on your blog. Given how much of a role water plays in our lives - and in our very makeup - it makes sense to explore it for a bit.

You game?

Your turn: Please share a water-in-any-form photo on your blog, then paste a link to it in a comment here. Repeat as often as you wish. (And please accept my thanks for the response to last week's theme...I'm happily overwhelmed, and hope this week's theme provokes a similar response.) If you're new to TP, click here for instructions.

Apple iPad launches. World saved.

Big day in Apple-land, as the Cupertino-based tech company - and object of worship for fanboys everywhere - launched its iPad tablet-like device. I live-blogged Apple's iPad announcement over at Betanews (link here) with editor-in-chief Scott Fulton and managed to send out a few snarky tweets in the process, including:

• Apple tablet device will make breakfast on Sunday, then clean up after itself.
• Apple tablet device will create world peace, eliminate child hunger and rejuvenate the beauty pageant circuit.
• Apple tablet device will rebuild Afghanistan, Iraq and Haiti & get Al Qaida to renounce terrorism and open up theme parks.
• Watching the Apple iPad announcement live. I believe it has cured AIDS, and we're waiting for Steve Jobs to confirm a cancer cure, too.
• This just in: Apple's just-announced iPad device has replaced Barack Obama as President of the United States.

There's some media happening, too, including a live hit with Gary Doyle on Kitchener's 570News, a chat with CBC Radio's Meegan Read, an interview with my hometown radio station, AM980, and a chat with Sun Media's Steve Tilley. I'll post links when they go live.

Your turn: So, is all this hype just a little much? Just enough? What say you about the iPad? (Me? People are dying in Haiti, Afghanistan and everywhere else. I'm trying to put it all into some form of perspective.)

Get a handle on it

America runs on Dunkin
Deerfield Beach, FL, January 2010

Sometimes, it's the little touches that catch your eye.

Your turn: A little touch that comes to mind is...?

What came first?

The chicken or the egg?
London, ON, January 2010

I didn't immediately realize the irony going on in my grocery cart, but when I eventually took the time to look down and drink it in, my only option at that point was to take out my BlackBerry and grab a quick picture of it. The usual stares from strangers ensued. I'm sure my picture will end up posted beside the cash registers someday, which means I may need to start looking for a new grocery store a little earlier than planned.

Your turn: We're still sharing "I'm hungry"-themed photos. Click here if you've got one - or just want to see what everyone else is up to. And while you're at it, which one did come first? The chicken or the egg? More importantly, why?

Live on TV

I'm scheduled to be part of an hour-long live panel discussion on tonight's edition of The Agenda with Steve Paikin. If you live in Ontario and have access to TVO, I'll be exploring job creation in a recession as part of the panel. Here's the episode page, and they added a biography snippet on this page.

As ever, I'll wear my tech analyst/journalist hat, focusing on whether government and the private sector are doing enough to not only create jobs, but create the kind of jobs that will underpin our next-generation economy. Which, of course, begs the question: at what point do you abandon the obsolete and invest in the future? And how do you know you're managing this balancing act effectively?

The fun begins at 8 p.m. EST. I'll have more good news to share in the days ahead.

Donut or Doughnut?

Boston cream party
Bowling Green, OH, January 2010

I don't like overly sweet anything, but I've had a weakness for Boston cream donuts since I was a kid. My wife knows this, and as we carefully made our way home in the lengthening shadows of a late afternoon in Ohio, she surprised me with one, just because.

Since I had a couple of spare minutes to appreciate this lovingly chosen, custard-filled hunk of dough, I thought it made sense to explore it with my lens. Note to self: the dashboard makes a great makeshift photo workspace, especially when you've parked the wondervan Just So.

Your turn: What's your favorite not-so0-good-for-your-body-but-good-for-your-soul treat? And if you haven't contributed an "I'm hungry" themed photo, click here.

Brangelina splitting up. World topples off its axis.

Michael Jackson dies. Tiger Woods is apparently being treated for sex addiction. Jay Leno is given yet another chance to define mediocre entertainment for a shrinking audience that doesn't seem to know better. Yes, folks, pop culture is a messy place these days.

And now...reports are emerging that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are separating. (Sniff). I believe it because I read it on the Interwebs.

I guess the supermarket tabloids will have to find a new supercouple to "cover" in their pathetic world of made-up journalism. Pity them.

As I gaze at my wife across the living room and drink in the simple pleasures of a quiet life in the burbs with the woman I love more than life itself, I find myself wondering why so many folks worship those who will clearly never get it. The world really does have its priorities reversed.

You'll excuse me if I now return my focus to the real important stuff. If only everyone did the same. Then maybe there wouldn't be more Brangelina-equivalents waiting in the wings.

Your turn: Why do people care so much about the personal lives of celebrities? Where's the appeal? (Because I'm failing to see it...feel free to enlighten me.)

Life's simple pleasures

Whipped cream makes everything better
Delray Beach, FL, December 2009

It was a good night for these two. They were hungry, so their big cousin made them sundaes, and then they got to eat them on the couch. Sometimes, life really is just that simple.

Your turn: If you've got a simple, memorable moment from your own childhood that you'd like to share, I hope you'll do so in a comment.

Syrupy Red Teletubby

Sweetness
Delray Beach, FL
December 2009

Po has a long history of getting in front of my lens. A couple of days before this particular shot was taken, I recorded her lounging by the pool (entry here). Then she went to the beach with us. Just this past weekend she traded hot for cold when I carted her to the neighborhood toboggan hill.

She's quite the traveler, and my never-ending quest to photograph her in bizarre places has less to do with photographic quality - she's a thumb-sized stuffie, after all, so how great will the pictures be? - and more to do with giving total strangers around me a reason to smile as they watch a grown, supposedly mature (ha!) man pose a tiny doll whose creators may or may not have been under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs.

On this night, we took her to the IHOP (aka International House of Pancakes, which by virtue of its near-exclusive presence in the U.S. renders it anything but international, but I digress) and I immediately zeroed in on the syrup rack. While this formica-laden restaurant interior in southern Florida had little in common with the never-been-renovated IHOP in Albany that always marked the halfway point of our drives to visit my aunt and uncle, the syrup racks and decanters may as well have been lifted from that old, beloved restaurant with the distinctive peaked roof.

So I decided Po should reconnect with our syrupy memories*. From the looks of it, she enjoyed the experience.

Your turn: Do you have your own favorite restaurant from way back? What made it special?

--
* I'd like to believe she was hungry, too.

Drive through

Open all night
Marysville, MI, December 2009

About this photo: This week's Thematic Photographic theme is, "I'm Hungry." If you've got a picture that fits the theme, please head here to share it with us.

I've been taking a lot of pictures with my BlackBerry lately. Qualitatively, it's probably the worst camera I've ever used. When the subject doesn't move and there's ample light, the results are passably impressive for a smartphone. But as soon as it gets even remotely dark, or the munchkin bats an eyelash, things deteriorate. Quickly.

Still, I've learned to work within its clear limitations. In many cases, I even celebrate its lousiness. Like here. I kinda dig the low-res, gritty feel of this shot. I took it as we headed south on the first day of our vacation drive. Barely an hour after leaving the driveway, we crossed the border when the munchkins needed a pit stop. So we found a sleepy little burg in Michigan and headed for the nearest McDs. While I waited in the car, I played.

This is the kind of pic that simply wouldn't have happened if I had to shlep an actual camera out of its bag. When you're driving long distance, pulling things apart to get the shot is the quickest route to spousal disapproval that I can think of (playing your favorite song seven times in a row, ignoring her directions and failing to place the fuzzy blanket on the front seat like she asked you are other surefire doghouse-drivers.)

So having a camera-equipped phone gives me a whole new opportunity to shoot within a whole new set of optical and technological rules. And as I look over this solitary moment in a deserted, snow-covered parking lot at 6:33 a.m. beside a brightly lit drive-through window, I like how this image makes me feel.

Which is supposed to be the whole point of photography, no?

Where I chat about obese, online, sleep-deprived kids

When I was a kid, my mother always said we watched too much television. Now that television's been joined by the Internet, mobile phones, videogame consoles and a host of other geeky tools, it looks like nothing's changed (if I close my eyes just so, I can even hear her saying she told me so. Really.) If anything, our juvenile screen addiction has gotten even worse since then.

I spoke with CTV News Channel's Marci Ien live this morning to explore what it means - for parents, for kids, and for their future. The link is here (also here) if you're into watching me on camera. Interestingly, I did the interview via Skype from home. I gave the dog a large chew before the interview began, then had to deposit him across the living room when his chewing at my feet became too loud.

Interestingly, I used Skype for an interview with CTV's Sandie Rinaldo - on the Google Nexus One phone - on January 6th. The story is here (also here) and the video of that hit - also beside the fireplace mantel, also with the dog safely calmed with a large-ish chew - is the third link down on the right.

(And, no, I can't take credit for the lovely artwork behind my shoulder. That's my wife's work - thank goodness one of us has the artistic gift!)

One more thing: My latest column, on Google's showdown with the Chinese government, has been published in Betanews. Here it is: Google's deal with the devil

Thematic Photographic 85 - I'm Hungry

Waffling
Delray Beach, FL, December 2009

About this photo: This is the first entry in support of this week's Thematic Photographic theme, "I'm Hungry." I'm willing to bet you're just that. See below for instructions. Or follow your mouse here.

We've visited these waffles before. Well, not these exact waffles. The ones in the old blog entries (see here and here) lasted all of 42 seconds before my kids made them disappear. When my aunt made them again for us this year, the same thing happened. We blinked and they were gone. And the children were happy.

Everyone should have an aunt who not only creates something from nothing, but does it because it makes everyone around her feel connected. These are the most delicious waffles you'll ever eat, but the taste is only part of their story.

Your turn: If you can eat it, we're hoping you'll share a picture of it. Thematic Photographic works like this: Take a picture roughly related to the weekly theme - this week's is "I'm Hungry" - and post it to your blog. Come on over here and leave a comment and link (just paste it in if the linkie-geek features don't work) so folks can visit your site. Repeat. For more info on how TP works, click here. If you want to see how we did it last week, click here.

White hot

My future's so bright, I've gotta wear shades
Deerfield Beach, FL, January 2010

About this photo: Thematic Photographic's white-themed week wraps up with this bright-eyed view of the new year (original link is here.) Our next theme kicks off tonight (Wednesday) at 7:00 EST. It will be...I'm Hungry.

This is one of the first pictures I took in the new year. Barely 15 minutes after the ball dropped, the kids went outside to light off some sparklers (I know, annals of parenting, but they were closely supervised, so...)

This one struck me as particularly memorable because it isn't so much about the sparkler, but the child's hand - namely, our son's - that holds it. Since 2009 was a year unlike any other for us, we anticipated 2010 with a little more hope than usual. This moment of our munchkin at play somehow managed to summarize that hope better than any other picture I took that night.

Your turn: Your hope for 2010. Please discuss.

Following his own path

Noah the Explorer
London, ON, February 2008

About this photo: Thematic Photographic slowly winds down its white-themed week. You're always welcome to share your own white vision by clicking here. If not, click anyway and feel free to visit this week's participants.

Since my wife teaches at our kids' school, I don't get to drop them off or pick them up as often as I'd like. So when I do, I like to walk them into the school yard, give them a goodbye hug and then watch them for a few minutes. It's a silly thing, really, but I can't help the feeling that they're growing up at light speed, and I only have so many moments like this before they're gone for good.

Sometimes - okay, always - I bring my camera along, and some mornings I see something that prompts me to crack open the bag and get shooting. That's no small thing when the temperature's well below zero and I've got all of 20 seconds to work before my fingers freeze. But that's an issue for another day.

On this day, I stood silently by as I watched our son cross the newly snow-covered field not in the footsteps of a classmate, but on his own path. The thought made me smile as I packed the camera away and headed for home.

Your turn: Why we follow our own path. Why this matters as much as it does.

Would you like fries with that?

Ain't that America?
Georgetown, KY, December 2009

I did a double-take after coming across this on the way into a McDonald's restaurant. Not the kind of message usually associated with the land of Happy Meals and shakes (not milk shakes, mind you. Just shakes.)

I guess my BlackBerry's camera didn't qualify as a concealed or deadly weapon. Maybe it should.

Your turn: What was your first thought when you initially saw this red, white (see here for TP) and black sign? (Mine: What if I'm waving it out in the open? The sign doesn't explicitly ban that, right?)

Punching a hole in the sky

Seek brightness
London, ON, April 2009

About this photo: It's white week all week long here at Written Inc. What am I talking about? Head here and all will be explained.

Weather in these parts is always entertaining. Living in between two Great Lakes means we get all sorts of lake effect storms. In winter, they show up on radar as fingers that reach down from the lake and keep dumping snow for as long as the system can hold together. It's so localized that despite the fact that Right Here looks like Santa's homeland, a 20 km drive east or west will get you to bare pavement. I find that fun.

Similar theatrics play out in summer, where our typically hot, humid weather can come to a violent end when a cold front sweeps in off the lake and powers storms that compel you to pull up a chair in the living room and watch. Or, as I did here, head out onto the back deck and take some pictures.

As I let my eyes wander around the sky, I noticed how charged the air felt. It was as if someone had sucked the energy out of the atmosphere, and those of us on the ground were expected to simply wait for the show to begin. Eventually it did, so I headed inside before I risked getting zapped. But not before I witnessed this ethereal moment, when the forces of darkness battled the forces of light, and the good guys won, however briefly.

Your turn: Stormwatching. Do tell!