Take me out to the ballgame

Levys in the stands
Toronto, ON
July 2014
For more Thematic childhood memories, head here

One fine day last July, we decided to take the kids to see the Blue Jays play. Since we live in London and the Jays play in Toronto, it made for a grand adventure of a day for all of us.

Thankfully, the good guys won. And thankfully it was a packed house that day, which made it even more of a crazy experience for them.

I remember moments like this from when I was a kid. And I'm hoping they carry days like this with them as they continue their own relentless and entirely-too-fast march toward adulthood.

Your turn: Are you a fan? Of whom? And why?

On hanging out with the right people

"Stop running to those who ignore you and start running to those who adore you."

Joseph Simmons

Makes sense to me. Life's short enough as it is, so may as well spend it with those who are worth your time.

Show me the way home

‎I've evolved a bit of a strange habit: whenever we're driving somewhere far away: I like to take a photo of the nav unit whenever we've parked. I'll grab reference shots before we hit the road, and then at each rest stop until we reach our destination.

It's partly driven by my inner data geek, as every picture is precisely time-stamped and, assuming I turn the geolocation feature on, location-aware, as well. The numbers can paint a fascinating picture of a long drive that would otherwise be lost to time.

The pictures themselves are rather repetitive and uninteresting, a seemingly never-ending stack of pictures of my GPS unit (her name is Lucille, by the way), the dashboard, and a gauzy view of some forgettable place outside the window.

Still, I find these pictures fascinating because they take me right back to a particular time and place, and they allow my mind to linger there for a bit, the perfect mini-break from the chaos of the here and now.

This one's one of my faves. We were on our way home on the I-75 earlier this month, and had just crossed from Florida into Georgia. We pulled into the welcome centre to stretch our legs, and happened to pull into a spot beside another vehicle from Ontario. The owners dutifully wandered back and forth with their dog - so cute - and I quietly commended them for having the courage to drive thousands of kilometres with a dog in the vehicle. As Debbie and the kids went inside, I spotted the license plate surround on their Chevy Traverse: they were from London, too.

I said nothing because it just seemed weird to walk up to complete strangers and spring the hey-we're-also-from-London line on them. I'm an introvert at heart, and it made more sense to tuck the moment away in the back of my mind.

As I lined up the requisite GPS/reference shot with my smartphone, I failed to notice the owner and his dog wandering into the frame. Fatigue: bad, apparently. Looking back at this shot now, I find it poignantly amusing that these wayward strangers-and-kindred-spirits‎ were somehow preserved in pixels, in a moment in time I hope they remember as fondly as I do.

Funny how one picture can spawn experiences like this, isn't it?

She shoots...

Game on
By Dahlia Levy
September 2014

This is a sketch of our daughter, sketched by our daughter. A self-portrait, if you will.

Dahlia's got game, both on the soccer pitch, and when she's got a pencil in her hand. And I keep coming back to this particular work, because it reminds me of a moment in her young life when nothing else mattered but being out there on the field, giving her all.

I can't take credit for any of it, as I'm still struggling with stick figures. But when she grabs her notebook and settles in for some quiet-creative time, it's only a matter of time before the walls of our house get another candidate for another piece of her home-grown art.

Your turn: What should she draw next?

Thematic Photographic 323 - Childhood memories

He shoots, he scores!
London, ON
January 2015

Allow me to apologize for letting Thematic Photographic slip a bit. Life has been hoovering up any available free time - including the quiet time when I'd normally be sleeping. So the blog, and by extension Thematic, has been a relatively abandoned place of late.

But as I toyed with my smartphone earlier today, it dawned on me how much I miss the creative process, and how much I enjoy shooting and writing not because I have a deadline or a need to keep the lights on. But because I enjoy it. There's something to be said for creating something for no other reason than fulfilling a lifelong need. There's something to be said for following those little voices in your head that say, "Do it."

Because if you don't, that moment gets lost to history.

The moment you see above, thankfully, did not. Some very kind souls decided to install this table hockey game in the back corner of the television studio at CTV London. It'll never appear on-camera, of course, but from this angle, it's easy to see how close to the desk it is. I find it comforting having it back there.

See, virtually every Canadian kid grew up with a table hockey game in the house. In mine, the Montreal Canadiens always played the hated Toronto Maple Leafs. And it always ticked me off that my older brother got to control the Habs players (okay, they were flat pieces of wood and plastic, but still.)

Never mind that every game eventually devolved into a chaotic fit of arguing and name-calling. And never mind that the game inevitably ended up stashed under dad's side of the bed as punishment for tarnishing our national game.

And yet, in the darkened corner of this time-honored studio, a quiet memory continues to beat. And an echo of my childhood reaches forward and grabs on.

Your turn: Got a pic that evoked a childhood memory? Whether you're just shooting it now or already have it in your archives, leave a comment here letting folks know where to find it. Visit other Thematic participants to keep the fun going. Share additional pics through the week if you wish. Head here for more background on how Thematic Photographic works. And enjoy the moment. That's why we do this.

On being tough

‎"We have not journeyed all this way across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy."

Sir Winston Churchill, speaking to the Canadian House of Commons, December 30, 1941.

Sir Winston sure did have a way with words. And on this day, he was absolutely on the money. We're tougher than we look, and sometimes it's not a bad idea to remind ourselves of this.

Your turn: Can you define toughness?

Who wants to be carded?

‎
 It's not often that I get new business cards, so I thought I'd share them here just in case I don't have a chance to give y'all one in person.

In our digital age, it's kind of funny that we still need actual paper-based business cards. And given what I do, I should probably be the last person on the planet to carry them.

But here's the thing: I like having them in my pocket. I like swapping them with real people when I meet them in‎-person. I like how they add a certain sense of gravity, warmth and connectedness to a conversation. I was like a kid in the candy store the day they came back from the printer last week, and that feeling remains just as strong today. Yes, I'm a strange individual.

I know that technology has had an answer to the business card for decades now. I've been beaming contact information back and forth since my Palm Pilot days, and by now it's no big deal to email a PDF of one of these things whenever I meet someone new.

But it's just not the same. With great apologies to the geeks among us, I believe that this is one of those cases where bits simply can't hold a candle to paper. And despite technology's hold on my very soul, I have no intention of giving these up anytime soon.

What say you?

Chatting with CNBC

I've been slacking in the what-I'm-up-to-in-medialand department, and admittedly part of the reason I haven't been sharing much here has been because I've been busy making the fun stuff happen out there.

But I didn't want to miss this one: I was interviewed by Linda Federico-O'Murchu for an article she wrote for CNBC. Here's the link to the piece online:

Why people pick Team Apple versus Team Android

Cool fact: I was quoted opposite Peter Shankman, who founded the Help a Reporter Out (HARO) service and has long been someone I admire.

The technologist in me has always enjoyed these little geeky holy wars that seem to underpin entire industries for years at a time. Once upon a time it was Apple vs. IBM. Then Apple vs. Microsoft. Now Apple/iOS vs. Google/Android. Wait, is there a pattern here? Either way, it all makes me wonder what the next great battle will be.

Oh, so what did I say? Here's my snippet:

Carmi Levy, vice president of marketing at multinational agency Voices.com, also said that user's attachment to the Apple brand transcends the mere device at hand.

"The average consumer doesn't want to know what's going on beneath the hood," Levy said.
Apple is "the rare example of a company that doesn't market itself as a tech company but as a solutions company. They sell the emotional connection with consumers," Levy said. 

"Even though Android sells the vast majority of devices and tablets in the U.S. today, it still doesn't have that psychological hold on consumers to the same degree. Android devices are largely sold on the basis of price, features and performance, not on emotional connection," Levy said.

"You've got to be more tech-savvy, you have to know how the apps work, you have to be comfortable digging into the settings. These are people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. It's part of the [Android] game," he said.

Google's permanent memories of me

Fact: The Internet has a memory all its own.
Fact: That memory will present itself to you at the most inopportune times, and in ways that will touch you in unpredictable ways.

A frequent source of this technology-driven coughed-up memory is the auto-suggest feature that Google and other web service providers build into their products. Start typing an email address in the To: field and Gmail will helpfully suggest some folks you've communicated with previously - even if they're no longer with us. Similarly, search for something and Google will spit back, in real-time as you type, an interactive list of choices based on stuff you - and others - have posted, shared or otherwise encountered online in the past.

Which largely explains why Google now defines me in this way. The digital Zeitgeist has spoken, and it has apparently decided that a split second in time on a rural Ontario intersection (see here for all the gory details) will become an indelible part of my ongoing digital signature. I guess until further notice, I am defined by the fact that I tore my carotid artery and subsequently had a stroke. Oh joy.

It's the digital era equivalent of wanting to move on but being unable to because the tools we use to navigate that digital era refuse to let go of the past. Not that I really ever want to let go of it, anyway. It happened to me, and while I can't control the history, I can control the response (stay tuned on that front: Good things happening.)

It's cool technology, but like all cool technologies it often comes with unintended consequences. I guess I could live without the geeky reminder every time I look something up online.

On making someone's day...today

"When you rise in the morning, form a resolution to make the day a happy one for a fellow creature."
Sydney Smith

Your turn: How will you make today happy for a fellow creature? One thing...go!

Seeking refuge from the storm

‎You see fewer and fewer of these, and a part of me finds that a little sad. Parking attendant huts have always been like little beacons of warmth on an otherwise cold streetscape, but the advent of automated parking entry/exit/payment systems makes it easy to bypass the human attendant entirely. Proximity cards and automated payment machines: Welcome to our lonely, dystopian parking future.

‎And yet some huts still stand, defiantly, staffed by folks who I often wonder if they're watching the calendar and fearing if there's a robotic replacement in their future, too.

I hope not. Because when all the real people are replaced by machines, the world becomes a pretty‎ lonely place. I know the bottom line must be fed, but not having these oases of warmth - and maybe a little morning conversation - seems like too-high a price to be paid.

I guess I'm old school that way. What about you?

(Key)boarded

I doubt I'll ever come across a better keyboard than Apple's full-sized, USB model in the photo above. My fingers just seem to like everything about it. Perfect keys, layout, feel, minimalist aesthetic, the whole enchilada.

I've become so addicted to these things that I feel hobbled when I write on anything else. Seriously, I'm buying a truckload of them so that I'll have spares when Apple eventually decides to introduce an "improved" model. Sorry, gang, but this is a design that needs no further improvement.

The strange things that make me happy.

Your turn: What seemingly mundane tool of everyday life makes you happy?

Hunting and foraging in the frozen foods section

‎The scene: a non-descript corner of a non-descript Publix grocery store in a non-descript town in South Florida. We had come here to find food and sunblock for a couple of growing teens before getting back to the very real business of either swimming in a pool, or sitting beside said pool with a book in our hands. The paper kind.

As the kids debated the relative merits of a couple of packages of cookies that, let's face it, wouldn't win me or my wife any parent-of-the-year awards for generational nutritional excellence - but, hey, it was vacation! - I wandered over to a relatively quiet corner of the store to admire the vertical frozen food displays.

They "do" groceries differently here than they do in Canada. Things are bigger, fancier, with far more choice. You feel like it's more of an event than a chore. It's, dare I say it, kind of fun to explore. I'm sure some of it is simply based on the fact that we're on vacation far from home, but I'll take it any way it comes. The kids are happily chattering away with my wife, and life is good, so who am I to question it?

I hadn't brought my camera with me today. Although I had long shlepped my ginormous camera bag with me wherever we went, and never hesitated to pull out my DSLR for an impromptu photo shoot in the strangest of places, this vacation was different. While the camera bag did indeed get packed, it nevertheless stayed put as a pillow most days. Instead, on wanderings like today's grocery run, I flew light, with just a smartphone in my pocket.

As I pondered the geometry of the display cases in the corner, I idly pulled my phone out of my pocket and mentally composed the image in my head. Almost as I completed the thought and started swiping the screen to bring the device alive, the lady you see here wandered into the frame.

Now, normally I'd wait for her to wander back out of the frame before taking the shot. But by the time this was going on, the kids had settled on their cookie package - I actually think they tossed both of them into the cart - and were preparing to move on. Since I usually play the role of Dawdling Dad, I knew I had mere seconds before someone would come and fetch me so as not to lose me in the crowd.

I looked at the scene, scanned to both the left and right and spied even more errant shoppers about to crowd into this once-quiet corner of the store, and realized my original composition needed ‎a quick re-think. The simple lines of an overstuffed display case were now out. The singularity of a stranger pondering her options was in. I needed to shoot fast before ducking back to my family.

Up came the BlackBerry (Passport. Amazing camera, by the way. And, yes, I'm writing this entire post on it) and as soon as it focused, I tripped the shutter once, and looked around to make sure I wasn't about to get busted by the supermarket police. Satisfied I got the shot, I popped the phone back into my cargo shorts and fast-walked back to my family. The unknown subject of this little moment in time never even knew I had been there.

Does a moment like this deserve to be lavished with this many words or pixels? Probably not. Yet there's something decidedly poignant about living in a world where you can get away with tiny acts of artistic defiance, and where you can quietly brush up against the lives of complete strangers and turn otherwise forgettable snippets of time into things that manage to escape the oblivion of the forgotten everyday.

It's another reminder that I really enjoy this being alive thing, and I hope you do, too.

Your turn: What's she thinking?

On a good day

‎As Friday winds down and the work week ‎gives way to the first giddy moments of the weekend, I find myself sitting in my car getting ready to head home.

As I turn the key and my trusty little vehicle - her name is Henrietta - comes to life, the cabin fills with a familiar and comforting tune. I glance down at the display and realize the irony of the song title. It was indeed a good day. Come to think of it, it was an entire week of good days.

Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something.

Your turn: Was it a good day for you, too? What made it so?

All by myself

In the interest of work-life balance‎, no one wants to be the person who leaves the office last every night. Or arrives first every morning. Or becomes so familiar with the after-5 rhythm of the office that the timing of the lights going off and the cleaning crew arriving become an integral part of the old internal clock.

And yet (sorry, I say that often these days) there's a certain sense of peace associated with walking out onto the top deck of a deserted parking structure on a bitterly cold evening. The folks who normally fill this bustling place have all gone home for the day, and the sense of quiet on this somewhat soulless slab of snow-covered concrete is palpable.

On this evening, I allowed time to get away from me. With my headphones plugged in and the voices inside my head sending words coursing through my fingers and keyboard, I lost track of how late it was. By the time I buttoned up the document I had been working on, the friendly lady who cleans my office was at my door.

I stopped to take this picture because it seemed to be one of those moments worth remembering. I seem to have a lot of those moments in my life, but thinking back to the crisply cold snippet of time you see here, I'm somewhat pleased that I continue to listen to the voices that compel me to re‎cord the moment. Maybe there's a story there, and maybe there isn't. But we'll never know if we don't stop and give it a second thought.

Your turn: Do you stop and remember moments like this? What do your quiet moments look like?

On optimism

‎"Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other."

Brian Tracy

When dogs dream of sheep

‎I can't ever tell whether our dog, Frasier, is napping or awake on account of his massive schnauzer eyebrows. But given how relaxed he looks on his pillows here, I'm not entirely sure it even makes a difference. Looks like a great place to be, doesn't it?

Special delivery

Lots of cool artistry going on in London's alleyways these days. I wonder what other treasures I'll find if I look just a little more closely. Are YOU taking the time to find artistic gems in your neighborhood?

On spending time - and life - wisely

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life."

Charles Darwin

Your turn: How will you spend the next hour that you've been given? How do you make time count?

The moment before extinction

Last gasp
Grand Bend, ON
July 2014
Thematic faves of the year. Here.

I kind of dig the fact that this scene ceased to exist almost before the shutter closed and the pixels were saved as a file on my camera's memory card. Blink and it's gone. Maybe that's a metaphor for life. Or maybe I just need to spend more time staring at waves.

On freedom, and #CharlieHebdo

‎"The only security of all is in a free press."

Thomas Jefferson

Today's attack in Paris that left 10 journalists and 2 police officers dead hits close to home for anyone who cherishes freedom, but especially so for anyone who works in media. Like me, and a lot of good folks I am privileged to know, work with and learn from.

The magazine had long been a lightning rod over its repeated publishing of provocative articles and cartoons that some deemed anti-Islamic. Which, in the eyes of Islamic terrorists, seems to be all the justification they need to play judge, jury and executioner, all in the name of avenging alleged blasphemies against their religion.

Reports from the scene indicate the terrorists, who invaded the offices of the satirical Charlie Hebdo‎ magazine, asked for their victims by name before shooting them in cold blood.‎ As someone for whom journalist is a genetic identity more than a job, it is this fact that chills me more than any other. The gunmen who pulled the triggers today did so to sow fear in anyone who wields a pen, a keyboard or a camera for a living. They were sending a message that a free press is no match for the business end of a gun.‎ They were trying to silence not only their victims, but the rest of us, as well.

I've got news for them: They miscalculated the balance of power that lies at the core of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

‎#JeSuisCharlie. I am Charlie. Indeed, we all are. And we won't stop what we were born, and are destined, to do. Which is write, and share, and shed light. That's what freedom is, and I have no intention of apologizing to anyone - let alone some freedom-hating extremists - for believing my pen is infinitely more powerful than their swords.

The forces of evil scored some bloody points today. But this is a war they'll simply never win as long as there are other journalists willing to keep pounding the keyboard and fighting back against the forces of darkness the only way we know how: By communicating.

Extremists hate communication, truth and freedom. They despise discussion and open-minded thought and exchange. They hate everything we stand for. So stand we shall.

Speaking of which, I've got deadlines to hit. And I'm hardly the only one.

Thematic continues...all faves, all the time

Bare
London, ON
January 2014

I've been having such a good time sharing my favorite photos of 2014 that I'd like to continue doing it for another week. And I hope you'll consider doing the same. (If this seems overly cryptic, click here and all will be explained.)

Why the extension? Because I realize I've got a lot more faves in the archives, and I don't want to miss a chance to highlight them here. Cool how that works out, isn't it?

This photo is a perfect example of why 2014 had so many photographic moments. The day dawned grey and foggy thanks to a sudden warming trend that in turn drove a fast meltoff of the snow cover. Canadian winters can be entertaining, and this was another tangible example of why this is so.

Instead of whining about it - we Canadians can be a complaining bunch - I fetched my camera and went for a walk. The ravine you see here is about a block from the house, and while it offers up limitless colors during autumn, I'd venture the monochrome moment here is the one I'll remember most.

What do you think? And what other favorites of your own do you have to share? Head here for more.

Thanks! And happy shooting!

On letting go

"Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go."
Hermann Hesse

Breakfast of champions? Not so much.

‎Behold the snacks we purchased for the kids before we set out on our epic road trip. And in the interest of complete transparency, some of this was for me, as well. Blueberry Pop Tarts? Yes, please!

I'm guessing none of this is, by a nutritionist's definition, "good" for you. This is junk food, pure and simple. Chazerai, as my Yiddish-speaking grandmother would have called it. Garbage.

And yet, when do we take epic road trips as a family? How often do we get in the car and drive, together, ridiculous distances just so we can spend time with each other and with our extended family? How often do our kids get to experience a wildly memorable couple of weeks like the ones they've just had?

Not often enough by my calculation. ‎So even if it lands me in the Bad Parenting Hall of Fame, I'm cool with the equally rare road trip junk food binge fest. Because those memories aren't going to make themselves, and when the car is eventually cleaned out and this vacation fades into their history, I want moments like this to stick with them.

And I want them to smile at the very thought of it.

Welcome home, kids. Hope you enjoyed the experience. I know I did.

On making the right decisions, the right way

"Decision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight; indecision, a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind it."
Gordon Graham

Your turn: A decision that sticks out in your mind. And...go!

After the fall

All that remains
London, ON
October 2014
Thematic. Favorites of the year. Here.

Gutters can be fascinating places. We tend to ignore these often-scruffy slivers of asphalt that linger, limbo-like, between the sidewalk and the roadway. They seem to collect every scrap of urban messiness, and in doing so almost earn themselves a permanent position below our collective radar.

And yet, if the wind blows just right, and happens to carry the right colors and textures into view for the nanosecond that you happen to be there, looking down, with a camera in your hand, perhaps the moment will be worth capturing.

Because even the ugly ducking gutter can shine like a swan when the stars manage to align just so.

Your turn: Where else should we be looking for unexpected visual treasures?

When your kid exceeds you

Dahlia learns the craft
London, ON
October 2014
Share your fave pics of the year...here

Our daughter, Dahlia, captured the photo above during a walkabout we took a couple of months back. We ostensibly set out to capture the fall colors before they faded into a distant memory, but as often happens when we set out with a plan, the plan changes.

She is very much like my wife, an artist no matter what tool happens to be in her hand. She's become quite adept with my DSLR, happy to twist the controls this way and that to get the result she wants. I was happy to just hang back and watch her go at it. Because few things in life are more enjoyable or fulfilling than watching your kid pursue her passion.

At her age, I was just figuring out the basics of depth-of-field, composition and exposure. So it was eye-opening to get home and realize that she was already well ahead of me. Looks like we've got lots more walks like this in our future. Which is the way it should be.

Your turn: What should she shoot next?

On the stamina of champions

"One of the trademarks of a champion is that he can outlast you."
Lou Brock

I'm going to keep this one handy on those days when I roll out of bed before 4 a.m. and keep the pedal mashed to the carpet until very nearly the same time the next day.

Life is already too short as it is, so letting someone else grab the prize because I lacked the will to dig a little deeper is, if we're being honest, a wasted opportunity.

Celebrate the little things

One glass, many meanings
London, ON
October 2014
Thematic's favorite photos of the year continues here.

Over the past year and a bit, I've learned the real value of appreciating the little things in life. I grew up with the whole "don't sweat the small stuff" ethos ringing in my head, repeated mantra-like by every authority figure virtually from the moment I could first understand the meaning of the phrase.

But I never fully agreed with it. Because small stuff is what makes life as vibrant and memorable as it is. When you watch a snail slowly cross the pathway with your kids, you're implanting a moment in their minds that will stay with them forever, and likely ripple through their lives in ways you can't even begin to understand right now. Sure, it's a stupid, slime-filled snail. But if it gives you the opportunity to stop time and create something real for those who matter to you, then you do yourself and them a disservice by blasting past it because you were so focused on making a big bang.

This wine glass - filled with water, alas - was another small moment in a life increasingly filled with them. And I can practically feel the warmth of the moment every time I look back at this otherwise ordinary picture. I was with my family, in the middle of a huge party, surrounded by friends and good vibes.

The simple wine glass is a reminder to me that seemingly simple things like this are anything but ordinary. And as the new year begins in earnest, I hope you'll look for the extraordinary moments in the nooks and crannies of your own everyday life that in the past you might have otherwise ignored. In 2015, I hope you'll stop ignoring them and start drinking them in no matter what anyone else might say. Because the story is yours to write, and I can't wait to see what you have to say.

Your turn: What will that first little thing be? Go ahead, let us know!