Caption This 75

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
London, ON, May 2008 [Click to enlarge]

This is either the aftermath of our exuberant Father's Day 2008 celebrations or the interior of a long-forgotten structure on a similarly forgotten stretch of road in my burg. Either way, it's a scene that's ripe for your caption suggestions. So I'll turn it over to you...

Your turn: Please suggest a caption for this photo. Just click the comment link below and go nuts. You may submit as many captions as you wish - I'm a sucker for multiple-submitters. Be as funny as you can - we all need a good laugh these days. I'll post a new Caption This photo next Sunday.

About last week's desolate service station photo: I think I must be going through a morose phase in my photographic life, as I keep posting sad-looking views of my world. Sorry.

Honorable menschens go to the following excellent folks:

• Terri: "Chew on this!"
• Awareness: "Redneck one stop shopping."
• The Imaginary Reviewer: "While it did nothing for their lap times, the new pit lane addition was highly appreciated by all the NASCAR drivers."
• Anne: "Got Milk?"
• Robin: "Counter intelligence."

Creme Brulee takes it with the lovely play-on-name, "Slim Pickins." CB, aka Gord Harrison, is a columnist in none other than my local weekly paper, The Londoner, and it's a privilege to cross his path in the blogosphere as well. Please pop by his blog, It Strikes Me Funny, to share a congratulatory word or two.

One more thing: Are you looking for ways to get your photography noticed by a larger audience? Click here for this week's Thematic Photographic. You'll be glad you did. Really.

Wasted

Forgotten lot
Woodstock, ON, June 2008 [Click to embiggen]

Another red light photo from my recent adventure through the wilds on southwestern Ontario. I took this one precisely because I don't think anyone else might have ever taken a similar picture of this place.

Here's my logic: Everyone takes pictures of the Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building and the Grand Canyon. But who takes pictures of the shadows of the tower, the seedy streets three blocks away from the falls, the homeless man who fell through the Empire State's cracks, or the bus stop near the observation point overlooking the canyon?

No one, probably.

I guess I just want to be different.

Your turn: How are you different?

Windows on the world

Look out any window
Woodstock, ON, June 2008 [Click to embiggen]

I keep my camera nearby in case I get inspired while sitting at a red light (no, Mom, I don't shoot while driving.) This building overlooks an intersection in the charming downtown of Woodstock, Ontario. The main drag, Dundas Street, cuts right through the middle of the burg, and as I slowly rolled through this place on Thursday night, I was heartened by how many people were out and about. This was a neighbourhood with soul.

I imagined people gazing down from these windows, and wondered what they'd be thinking. By the architecture of the building, folks have probably been doing the same thing for well over a century. I felt suddenly humbled as I took this shot.

Your turn: Please look out your window. What are you thinking as you do so?

One more thing: Thematic Photographic and Caption This are still taking comments. Click on the respective links to take part. New Caption This coming tomorrow.

Tim Russert, 1950-2008

The longtime host of NBC's Meet the Press died suddenly at work this afternoon. He was 58.

I've always held major disdain for the kind of wall-to-wall, to-the-exclusion-of-all-else coverage that American news outlets throw at political campaigns. Yet I always happily made an exception in the case of Mr. Russert, because he was clearly a man who loved his craft and understood how it touched the lives of the ordinary folks who sat on the other end of his camera or his pen. He was also a man who revered his family, who understood how it shaped him and the community around him.

The world needs journalists with conscience now more than ever. Which makes it all the more difficult to understand why this particular one was taken from us so early.

May his memory always be a blessing. May those who've watched and learned from him over the course of his career have the opportunity to continue his unique legacy.

Roadside reflection redux

Swift. Stopped.
West of Woodstock, ON, June 2008 [Click to enlarge]

Had a really cool day in Toronto today that included an in-studio interview with Fred Langan of the CBC Business News. I was talking about Bill C-61, a piece of proposed legislation that would update Canada's Copyright Act. It was introduced today, and it had the Canuck Internet world abuzz.

On my way home, traffic was nightmarish. So to drop my blood pressure a bit, I got off the 401 at Woodstock and, for the last 60 km of the 200 km drive, I took the road less travelled through rolling farmland and picture perfect towns. I stopped outside Woodstock and captured this near-sunset image. Since I have a thing for reflective cars on Route 2 in the evening - see here for a similarly-themed image from last June - I thought I'd use the rental car, a black Suzuki Swift with really useless cupholders and a blown left speaker, as a prop.

I felt very peaceful as I carefully made my way home through an impossibly beautiful landscape. I would have missed it all had I stayed on the superhighway. I'm glad I did.

Your turn: Taking the road less travelled. Do you? Why?

One more thing: This week's Thematic Photographic theme is snack food. Do you have the stomach to submit your own snack food-themed photo? Click here to find out.

Thematic Photographic 2 - Snack food

You old softie
Delray Beach, FL
December 2007
[Click to embiggen]

Call me overly simplistic. Baskin-Robbins may have their 31 flavors and the kids may spend too much time fingerprinting the display case at the local Laura Secord as they weigh the relative merits of chocolate chocolate chunk and fudge chip swirl, but I'll always be a sucker for a soft vanilla cone with nothing on it.

What's your favorite snack food? Is it cold, hot or somewhere in between. Sugary-sweet or oh-so-tart? If you're not really supposed to be eating it, I hope you're taking pictures of it.

That's what Thematic Photographic, our new weekly photo sharing thing, is all about: exploring neat new themes through our lenses, sharing them with others and maybe expanding our own optical horizons a bit in the process.

Here's how Thematic Photographic works:

1. I post a new entry every Wednesday.
2. Each entry has a theme.
3. You post a similarly themed image over on your blog.
4. You paste a link to your entry in a comment here.
5. Delirious photo sharing and happiness ensues.

Last week's TP entry was automotive. This week's is snack food. What's next week's going to be? I'm all ears.

Your turn: Start shooting and sharing. I can't wait to see what you come up with. I'm already anticipating being very hungry!

Wordless Wednesday - Yaris by Toyota

Grab me
Toronto, ON
May 2008
[Click to embiggen]

It's small, it's kicky, and it can look pretty damn cool if you take the time to shoot it from the right angles. Come to think of it, the coolness of a given shot often has more to do with the composition than the subject.

I used this car - a pumpkin-colored Toyota Yaris that I rented for a couple of days last month - as a testbed for this new theory of mine. I borrowed one of the resulting photos to launch my newest weekly photo theme extravaganza, Thematic Photographic (click here for the inaugural entry. I'll wait here while you do.)

Your turn: Making the ordinary look extraordinary through your lens. Please discuss.

One more thing: We're still looking for captions for this week's Caption This. Click here to stick around for some more photographic fun.

3G iPhone sucks

No, I'm not serious. It only sucks if you were the first one to buy the old one. Or if you accidentally bricked it. Or if you dropped it under a bus. Or if you live in Canada.

Steve Jobs has once again spun his magic (also known as his reality distortion field) and announced the next generation superfast, supercool and supersexy must-have gadget of the millenium, Apple's 3G iPhone. Or, more correctly, the Apple iPhone 3G. By any name, it's a neato piece of technology. And it's coming to Canada July 11th (yay!) Exclusively through Rogers (Not so yay.)

I got to talk with Ed Oswald of BetaNews.com, and he published the following article: WWDC: Dissecting the 3G iPhone.

I also chatted on the air with AM640 Toronto's Mike Stafford this morning (click here for show lineup.) There's something about live radio that reaches my soul. It's a very comforting and real medium. In related news, I've been settling into a regular routine with AM640 recently, airing on the John Downs Show as his regular tech guru-guest Friday evenings between 8:40 and 9:00 p.m. ET. There's a Listen Live link on the home page if you're around and want to hear it as it happens.

Last Friday, I spoke with BNN's Kim Parlee and Andrew Bell about new dual-mode UMA phones from Research In Motion and why this stuff matters to the rest of us. The interview was televised live. It was available here, but it seems to have expired. I'll keep hunting for a live link.

A few more recent media hits:

The National Post/The Financial Post (June 4/5). David George-Cosh published an update on the Canadian wireless spectrum auction, Rich auction may leave cellphone users poorer. Print version is available here, and it was also published under the alternate headline Wireless auction goes wild.

As bidding continues to increase, industry observers have noted that expensive wireless licences could potentially result in a similar situation that occurred after the 2000 United Kingdom 3G spectrum auction which saw £22.5-billion in revenue. While the auction blew past analysts' expectations, it vastly increased the amount of debt its winners, Vodafone, British Telecom, Orange, and One2One took on, and ultimately delayed the deployment of the country's 3G network.

"It raises the risk and the stakes for new entrants," said AR Communications Inc. consultant Carmi Levy. "It gives them a little less breathing room to launch their services. The more money you give to the government, the less money you have to build a network."

PC World Canada (June 2). Canadian tool computes impact of missing your meds. Byline Brian Jackson.

ITBusiness.ca/Computerworld Canada (June 2). Information workers would "love to bring" Yahoo Messenger 9.0 beta into the office. Byline Nestor Arellano. (For the record, I've always been pretty clear in my contention that this is a consumer-focused product.) Article also published in PC World and Computerworld UK.

Internetnews.com (byline Judy Mottl):

• Motorola's 'Good' Moves in Secure Mobile Access. Also published here and here and by Enterprise Networking Planet.
• Alltel-Verizon Merger Not a Win-Win for All. Also published here.

For the record, I won't be pitching my BlackBerry anytime soon. Two different markets, two different sets of strengths and weaknesses. For now. Over time, that'll change, too.

More to come, I'm sure. Exciting, isn't it?

Old radiator, different light

My stairwell
Montreal, QC, May 2008 [Click to enlarge]

I've written before about how I practically grew up in this hospital. To while away the long hours of alone-ness, I used to wander the halls in a wheelchair, drinking in the institutional atmosphere of this overwhelming place and trying - with limited success - to find my place within it. In retrospect, a hospitalized child today would have to wear a monitoring bracelet. But way back then, no one batted an eyelash when I hit the linoleum-covered road and went exploring.

Now, I was wandering those same halls. Only I was an adult, and I could once again walk. I stopped in my tracks as I passed this stairwell. Like a thunderbolt, I was a child again. I suddenly remembered this very scene, down to every last detail. Of course, it looked different: snazzy glass block had replaced dowdy frosted glass and bright yellow paint now covered the faded institutional green. Unlike my first time here, I was able to walk past the doors and climb the stairs. Back then, I just stared from my chair, knowing that someday soon I'd be able to climb them on my own.

The nurse who looked at me funny as she walked past must have thought I was crazy for taking a picture of a radiator. But it was much more than a radiator to me, and I'm glad I chose this particular corridor to visit on that day.

Your turn: Flashes from your childhood. Ever have them?

One more thing: Click here for the latest Thematic Photographic, and here for Caption This.

Caption This 74

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
Cordele, GA, December 2007 [Click to enlarge]

It's funny the things you see when you're topping off the tank in a forlorn old gas station beside I-75 somewhere deep in southern Georgia. I have no doubt you'll all have rich things to say about this week's hastily captured image.

Your turn: Please creatively suggest a caption in a comment. Enter as often as you like, and keep checking back through the week to see what other folks have come up with.

About last week's image of two men on scaffolding: I didn't see any messy headlines in the next day's paper, so I suspect they got their work done safely. Still, you all made me laugh, hard, with your excellent captions. Here's a rundown of this week's honorable menschens:

• Awareness: "Tryouts for the Flying Wallendas."
• Judy: "An accident waiting to happen."
• Me: "Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your..."
• D.O.M. Dan: "Don't Jump! A fall from that height will only hurt you!"
• Sassy Mama Bear: "See I'm really this big!"
• Barbie2be: "The ladder of success."
• Robin: "Business casual."

Randall takes it this week with the deliciously subversive caption, I spoke with Charles Darwin. He said to go ahead and jump. I'll catch you. His blog, Musings from the Hinterland, is a delightful, thought-provoking view of life and family. Please drop by and say hi to him.

One more thing: Big news in our little blogworld, as we're now up to TWO weekly photo-related themes here on Written Inc. now. Watch this space on Wednesday for Thematic Photographic. If you missed this week's inaugural post, click here. I promise you it won't hurt a bit.

The scariest energy crisis yet?

No more service
London, ON, May 2008 [Click to enlarge]

It's been a frightening week on planet earth. If you drive a car, you doubtless noticed yesterday's largest-ever single-day rise in crude oil prices, followed by this morning's echo-like spike at the gas pumps. These are historically scary times, and I fear it'll get far worse before it gets better.

Even if you don't drive a car, this affects you, too. Society is built on efficiently moving things from place to place. That takes energy, which adds cost to every step along the supply chain. Those plastic flamingoes that you bought to festoon your lawn for your kid's birthday? From the plastic pellets used to make them to the trucks used to get them to your neighborhood store to the electricity that store uses to keep the lights on...someone's got to pay the freight. Namely, you.

We'll discuss food another day. That's scary in and of itself.

Your turn: You're reading scary headlines almost every day. What are you thinking as you do? Are you frightened? Are you making changes? Do tell.

Pixar, meet Discovery

Space flight doesn't garner the headlines that it did during the heady days of the Apollo moon missions. The world has changed. Technology doesn't blow us away as it once did. We're distracted by so many other things in life - Internet, cell phones, DVD extras, among others - that it's almost quaint to think back to a time when a launch was able to bring the entire nation to a virtual standstill.

Call me an oddball, then, because I still believe spaceflight is magical. Last Saturday, I watched NASA-TV for hours, first to catch the astronauts getting into the orbiter and later to watch them get hurled into orbit. I hung around for the post-launch press conference, too, and continue to pop in to see how this group of sheer geniuses is doing.

Although it's the busted toilet that gets the headlines, it's a cartoon character that's got my attention on this mission. Buzz Lightyear, Woody's buddy from the Toy Story movies, has a role in STS-124. Specifically, a Buzz action figure has gone up with Discovery, and will be used for some on-orbit educational broadcasts.

Keying off of this unique space education opportunity, Ornaldo Sentinel photographer Red Huber, also got Sheriff Woody involved. The Sentinel is Cape Canaveral's hometown paper, and as such invests more in space coverage than most media outlets. Mr. Huber is one of many photogs who regularly uses remote cameras to capture incredible, close-up views of shuttle launches.

This time out, he strategically placed a Woody doll between one of his remote cameras and the pad. When Discovery launched, he got a shot of Woody saying goodbye to his buddy. I admit feeling tears well up in my eyes when I first saw the shot.

Click here for the explanatory blog entry.

Who says there isn't magic in this business anymore?

Your turn: A picture that made you cry. Please discuss.

One more thing: Thematic Photographic wants you! It's my latest crazy attempt to mine your collective photographic greatness, and I hope you'll jump in with both feet. The rules are simple: Every week I pick a theme (this week's is automotive.) All you gotta do is post a theme-related pic on your blog, then link back to it in a comment. Easy and fun! Click here to get started.

Bedside manner

Hospital essentials
Montreal, QC, May 2008

You hope you never have to spend any amount of time in a hospital. But if you do, you'll probably have a banged-up rollaway table just like this beside your bed. And if you're lucky to be well enough, you'll use that circa 1970s-era phone to remain connected to the outside world - and the people who matter most.

So much significance from such an initially insignificant little table.

Your turn: What's on your night table? Why?

One more thing: It's not too late to dive into my latest weekly fun-fest, Thematic Photographic. If you've got a camera and a hankering for the optically unknown, click here to get started. This week's theme: Automotive.

Thematic Photographic - The rules, such as they are...

I shudder at the term "rules" because it makes this sound so, I don't know, bureaucratic. It isn't. Thematic Photographic is supposed to be fun. And it's designed to give us all an excuse to take our cameras out, push our photographic boundaries and bit and then share the results with lots of like-minded folks. Here's how it works:

• Every Thursday evening, at precisely 7 o'clock Eastern, I post a new Thematic Photographic entry.
• Each entry has a unique theme.
• You post a similarly themed image over on your blog.
• You paste a link to your entry in a comment on my blog.
• If you've already posted something that fits (on a blog, Facebook, MySpace, wherever) simply post the link to the existing entry. Old or new, all photos are welcome.
• You may post as many photos or links as you wish. For a full week after I launch a new theme, I support it with a related picture/posting each day. I encourage you to do the same. This is all about sharing, so feel free to share to your heart's content!
• Please share this link with friends, too, and encourage them to join in. The more, the merrier.
• You may find all Thematic Photographic entries by clicking here. The rules (this link) may be found here.
  
• And please accept my thanks for your enthusiasm. Your participation has made TP a true highlight for me each and every week.

Thematic Photographic 1 - Automotive

Sexy car
Toronto, ON, May 2008 [Click to enlarge]

Quick note: This is the first entry in what I hope will become a weekly feature. I'd like to call it Thematic Photographic. Here's how it works:

1. I post a picture and a theme every Wednesday.
2. You take that theme and post a related post on your own blog.
3. Once you're done, leave a comment here with a link to the entry.

No voting or anything: Just an opportunity to challenge our collective photographic skills, learn from each other and have some fun in the process. Are you game? I sure hope so! Let's get on with the show, then...

About this photo: Years ago, I learned that sexy cars can make great subjects. Whenever I saw a Ferrari or some other rare set of wheels, I'd take a picture - any picture - and hope that I had done the artistically turned sheetmetal justice.

Looking back at my old photos, I clearly failed pretty much every time I tried. But why?

The answer is simple: I assumed that the sexiness was in the subject. How wrong I was. Truth is, any subject can be captured in an alluring manner if you approach it just so. But a photo isn't by definition "sexy" simply because the subject might be exotic.

I guess this is where the seeds of my so-called beauty-in-everything philosophy was born. Anything can become an incredible photo. You just have to take the time to explore its virtues before you decide how to tell its story. In this case, you'll laugh when you realize what kind of car I was shooting and how I came to be at its wheel.

Your turn: This week's theme is (I know, big surprise) Automotive. Please post an automotive-themed entry (cars, trucks, anything with motors and wheels) on your blog, then drop a link into the comments here. I hope you'll return through the week to see what everyone's been up to.

Wordless Wednesday - Grassy

Weed!
London, ON
May 2008
[Click to embiggen]

After last week's WW entry, I was challenged by the ever-brilliant Bernie to post a turf-themed image this week. So I went out and played in the grass with my camera.

It's weed season here in Ontario. Our greenery promises to become even more weedy in future as the province moves forward with plans for a ban on lawn chemicals. That works for me: I'm tired of wondering whether our propensity to spray everything in sight will result in us growing third arms. I'm also tired of realizing - often too late - that my dog has walked on a just-sprayed lawn. We seem to have lost our way in the pursuit of the perfect lawn, and I fear we're already paying a serious price for it.

There, I'll get off my soapbox now. It matters little to me how we define this dandelion. It's a living, robust flower that enthralls my kids when they get to blow its fluffy seeds all over the place. And I get to lie in the grass - worry-free - to take pictures like this. Enjoy!

Your turn: Weeds...thoughts?

One more thing: Welcome to my new Wordless Wednesday visitors - it's a joy to have you drop into my humble blog. Before you click away, I hope you'll read this week's Caption This entry (just click here to head on over) It's a weekly tradition here at Written Inc., and I look forward to you adding to the fun as well. Thanks!

Talking head, small screen

Thought I'd post a quick rundown of some of the more notable recent media hits I've had. You never know where I'll pop up...

I was on television last Thursday, talking about Research In Motion's battle with the Indian government over allowing the feds there to monitor BlackBerry messaging traffic. Outside of the tech space, it's not one of those big headline-type stories, but it could have significant implications for mobile data use everywhere else depending on which way it goes. I spoke with BNN's Linda Sims on her morning program, The Street, and you can see the video by clicking here.

A couple of weeks earlier, I had spoken with the National Post's David George-Cosh on this issue. The resulting article, RIM to resolve BlackBerry security issue in India within 1 month: reports, published May 16th.

Marc Saltzman quoted me in his piece, Gaming goes HD: What high-def brings to the table for players. It originally published May 15th, and was re-posted May 21st here.

Judy Mottl of Internetnews.com interviewed me for a number of pieces, including:

• RIM Ups Ante With Mobile Software Push (May 16)
• Unified Communications Hits the Road - also reprinted by VoIP Planet here (May 20)
• GPS Grows Up: New tracking tool offers far more than finding a local pizza joint (May 21)

I've also been on AM640 Toronto Radio with John Downs somewhat regularly of late. If you're around Fridays at 8:40 p.m. ET, click here to listen to the live feed. You may hear a familiar voice. Here's the show lineup from this past Friday's show. Note the last line:

• And of course, it's friday evening, so we'll hear from our resident technical ninja, Carmi Levy.

Your turn: Could this stuff possibly be any cooler?

One more thing: I'm still shamelessly flogging this week's Caption This contest. Click here to start the fun.

Curtains

Privacy, please
Montreal, QC, May 2008 [Click to enlarge]

Nothing too grand here. Just another snippet from the hospital, the kind of detail that I tend to notice when I'm sitting in an uncomfortable chair beside a radiator that continues to spew heat despite the fact that it's a warm spring day outside.

Your turn: A simple scene that sticks in your mind. Please discuss.

One more thing: We're still captioning. Click here for this week's entry. You won't be sorry. Or maybe you will! Either way, are you game?

Caption This 73

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
London, ON, May 2008
[Click to enlarge]

I've often written about my habit of taking my camera with me whenever it's feasible. Sure, it would be easier to wander around town without a beaten-up old Tamrac loaf bag hanging off my shoulder. But then I would totally miss out on opportunities that seem to present themselves when I least expect them.

Like this one. The scene was typical: a very long advance left turn light on Wharncliffe Road North (turning onto Riverside, if you're from the area.) I was on my way home from an errand, and I noticed a couple of guys working on the sign next to the old Cityview restaurant on the corner. With no cars behind me, a long red ahead of me and my camera immediately beside my right hand, I grabbed it and shot before the light turned green.

No planning. Just an immediate response to a spontaneous scene. Photography means many things to me. This is one of them.

Your turn: Please suggest a caption for this composed-and-shot-in-a-blink image - just click on the Comments link below. Added bonus if you post your own spontaneous photo and include a link in a comment. As always, winners and a new photo go on the blog next Sunday - which leaves you a week to keep tossing your best ones into the hopper. Have fun!

About last week's image of a chair in a hospital corridor: I've already taken a lot of pictures within the hospital, and I suspect I'll be posting many of them in the weeks to come. Thanks to you all for your continued kind wishes. My father's still in hospital, but has improved markedly in recent days. The proverbial road ahead is long and murky, but the news seems more positive today than it did yesterday. That's enough to hold onto for now, I guess.

This week's honorable menschens go to these great folks:

• MissMeliss: "When time stands still."
• Randall: "Rest for the weary."
• Lissa: "If these walls could talk..."
• Sassy Mama Bear: "The things these walls have seen."
• Judy: "Only the lonely."
• Creative-type dad: "Silence..."
• Allison: "Where every day feels like an eternity."
• Robin: "Waiting, room."
• Bob-kat: "Waiting for news."
• Carol: "A fork in the road."
• Awareness: "Silent hoping."

Tabor's caption, Making a bargain with God, jarred me a little. As I composed the shot, I thought about the people who have sat in that chair and what they had been thinking as they did. It occurred to me that some of them would be praying for good news. I know I've done the same thing during so many visits to this place. If you've never read her work, I urge you to click here and pay her a visit. While you're there, please congratulate her for penning this week's top caption.

Thank you in advance for playing along this week. I hope you have as much fun suggesting as I had choosing this latest photo.

(Oops, almost forgot: Happy new month!)

Out of the mouths of babes

A snippet from a conversation I had with Noah (our 7-year-old) earlier this evening:

Noah: Is Zaidy* out of the hospital yet?
Me: No, not yet, sweetie.
Noah: I wish he was already. I really want him to feel better.

You and me both, little man. You and me both.

Your turn: Kids with hearts of gold. Please discuss.

--
* Zaidy = Yiddish word for grandfather. In this case, he was referring to my father, who's been hospitalized for the past few weeks.

Things I think about so you don't have to

Not to sound like a pessimist - because, really, I'm not - but I seem to be crossing paths with an unusually dense cluster of mean-spirited people these days. Rather than whine about it, I thought I'd try to look at the doofii (yes, it's a word. I invented it) from another perspective:

1. Thank you to the mother in our car pool who, for the umpteenth time since we started the car pool, left my kid sitting at his art class. I hope his need to get home didn't interfere with your social calendar. You know that cell phone that you usually have stuck in your ear while you're ignoring the environment around your SUV? I'm puzzled why you didn't use it to, um, I don't know, call someone to advise us that you had once again come up with something more important to do than uphold your end of the bargain.
2. A tip of the hat to the road raging motorcyclist who apparently didn't take too kindly to my refusal to let him squeeze by me on the onramp last week. While you were busy trying to bait me into a three-lane, high-speed game of vehicular chicken, you failed to consider two things. One: One bump from my four-wheeled vehicle would have turned your two-wheeler - and by extension, you - into a lifeless pile. Be glad I was in a good mood that night. Two: I have a BlackBerry, which I used to call the OPP, who seemed very pleased when they hauled you over. I hope you were polite to them. You man, you.
3. The woman who neglected to say "thank you" when I held the door for her at the mall. I'm a door-holder (I know, it makes me a sap. Whatev) and it stuns me how many people will deliberately avoid eye contact and just keep on walking. I'm tempted to let the door slam in the next moron's face, but I know I wasn't raised to be a dick. I choose to use you people as lessons in politeness for our kids.
4. The neighbors with two large dogs and an apparent allergy to using leashes. They've been warned countless times to hook them up. They've spent many nights driving around the neighborhood after their less-than-trained pets ran away. They've been visited by animal control so often that they're on a first-name basis with the officers. I'm the guy who called them in this week when one of them charged me, charged my youngest son and tried to get into my house. I'm the one with animal control on his BlackBerry's speed dial, and I'll keep calling them until you either learn your lesson - easy way or hard way, your choice - or they take these poor animals away from you for good. Rest assured that in the meantime, my kids are learning all about how not to raise a pet by watching you.
   

Your turn: Got anything you'd like to get off your chest? Feel free...in the meantime, I'll edit some photos for the coming week's postings. Stay tuned for prettier views of the world around me.

Sex and the City: Wanna buy an o?

I'm a little befuddled by the hype surrounding this movie. Sure, I get why the television show became such a huge hit: It touched a nerve among its target demographic in a way that no other show before (or since) had been able to replicate. Problem is I'm not a member of that target demographic, My wife is, yet she's also never warmed to the show. I guess that makes us cultural Luddites. Oh well.

So while I appreciate that lots of fans of the show are looking forward to seeing their heroines continue their exploits on a somewhat larger screen. I simply fail to understand why this one release has generated more hype than a Beatles reunion involving both its living and not-so-living members. I blame Entertainment Tonight and the ever-annoying voice of Mary Hart. We all know that that show is the root of all evil, after all.

So please don't mind if I duck my head below the pop culture radar for a few weeks until the Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda show runs its inevitable course. I'll be off in the corner, taking pictures of blades of grass and trying to keep the dog from eating my leftover Oreo cookies.

Your turn: Where do you stand on the SATC issue? Why do some films achieve mythically popular status?

Meadow lark

Where I want to be
Richmond Hill, ON, August 2007 [Click to embiggen]

Maybe it's the writer in me, but I cherish periods of peace and quiet. I hope you don't think I'm antisocial when I say that I often look forward to being alone. Not all the time, of course - I think I'd go insane - but an occasional break from our hurry-up-and-hurry-some-more world is a nice way to restore balance.

Getting away is usually a simple proposition for me: I get on my bike, point it toward the edge of town and keep spinning my legs until I no longer hear the traffic. Often, I'll seek out places just like the one in the photo above. I'll park the velo and spend a few minutes just absorbing the silence of the place. These are the times when I can actually hear myself think.

Before long, I have to return to reality, of course. But there's always a next time.

Your turn: How do you get away? What do you learn about yourself when you do?

A girl and her dog

Nose to nose
London, ON, October 2007

I often stop myself in the house and quietly watch the kids play with the dog. They're such unique little people, and each one of them seems to have developed a similarly unique relationship with our furry little man. I'm cooking up blog entries for each one of them, but I thought I'd start with Dahlia because she's appointed herself the role of dog-mother.

In recent weeks, she's been training him - not easy given his bouncy Schnauzer DNA - and he's up to sitting, staying and giving high-fives. Her voice practically sings as she works him through the process again and again, rewarding him with bits of food (he thinks it's a real treat. Shhh!) every time he succeeds.

Like me, she isn't too jazzed when she first wakes up in the morning. But a visit from Frasier returns the smile to her voice and gets her day off to a happy start. Same thing when she returns home after school, drops down to the floor and hugs her wiggly puppy. She asks him about his day with a tone that's strictly reserved for him, and that's when I like to hover by the walls and just take in the scene.

Sometimes, it seems as if he'll follow her to the ends of the earth. Which is yet more proof that bringing him home was the right thing to do. As life continues to throw less-than-pretty challenges at us, it's nice to know that a small dog can bring an instant smile to our little girl's soul.

Your turn: Children bonding with pets. Please discuss.

Wordless Wednesday - Java U

Beans, beans, good for the heart...
London, ON, March 2008 [Click to embiggen]

Your turn: What should I macro-shoot next?

One more thing: We're still taking caption suggestions for this week's Caption This contest. Click here to join the indescribable fun. No animals will be harmed. Promise.

Dish network

Searching for life in deep space?
Montreal, QC, May 2008

The neighborhood surrounding the hospital is old, relatively densely populated and not especially memorable. Once upon a time, my parent's generation aspired to live there, but these days, it's clearly past its prime. Yet anyone who knows what tickles my photographic funnybone knows that it's just these kinds of environments that get my mind racing. It's easy to find something pretty when your canvas is new and pristine. It's a whole different ballgame when you're walking through a run-down landscape.

I wasn't in an especially good mood as we walked from the parked car up to the hospital. Visiting your hospital-bound dad is never a happy scene. So I suppose I was looking for very temporary relief through the friendly barrel of my trusty lens.

I found it here, in a nest of satellite dishes on top of an utterly forgettable apartment building. I dismissed thoughts of TV addiction and highway-robbery subscription rates and instead thought about the voodoo-like ability of a small dish to receive signals from a bird hovering 22,300 miles overhead. After watching the Phoenix lander touch down successfully on Mars last night, I seem to be looking at this picture from an even broader perspective.

Weird, I know. All from a walk through a neighborhood I didn't want to be in, on my way to a place I'd rather not have been.

Your turn: Something plain. Why do you look?

Wait, don't leave just yet! Please hang around and suggest a caption if you haven't already done so. Just click here. I promise you'll be amused.

Caption This 72

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
Montreal, QC, May 2008 [Click to enlarge]

It's ironic that the hospital where my father is is the same place where I was born and the same place where I spent so much time as a child. Soon after my own medical adventures there - 6th floor, paediatrics - they closed the ward and converted it to geriatrics. Time marches on, I guess.

So every time we visit my father, I feel this need to wander the halls at least once. I try to remember what it felt like when I was a child - and by extension what it's like for my father now that he's there, too. I walk slowly down near-deserted halls, trying to record everything with my eyes. But visuals are only part of the equation. Hospitals all seem to have a certain spirit to them. They're scenes of immense joy and even more immense tragedy, and everyone has strong feelings at the mere mention of the word. During these walkabouts, I try to capture that in my mind's eye as well.

This time, I took my camera. I know it's pretty much verboten to shoot in places like this, but I figured it's better to beg forgiveness after the fact than to ask permission beforehand (I know that makes me a bad boy. So be it. I wasn't shooting people, and indeed I didn't pull the lens cap off until I was sure there wasn't anyone else around. Which is a pretty easy thing to do in a place this big. The bigger they build them, the more empty they seem.)

Perhaps more than any, this image seemed to capture the mausoleum-like quiet of this place. I immediately knew it would make a great captionable photo. Now, over to you...

Your turn: Please suggest a caption for this photo in a comment. You may leave as many as you wish. I'll post the winner next Sunday.

About last week's image of my daughter's eye: I'll never run out of different ways to photograph our kids, and I hope they never tire of my lens. This week's honorable menschens list is full of some great, thoughtful captions. It was a tough week to choose:

• Barb: "Forward Focus"
• Aol: "The eyes have it!"
• Jacie: "The window to my soul."
• Bob-kat: "Looking to the future"
• Marcia: "Eye see the future"
• Omykiss: "Eye full ...."
• Terri: "My what big eyes you have."
• Heidi: "See the world... but don't lose your soul."
• Robin: "Eye on the prize."

Christine's "Limitless possibilities" resonated deeply with me this week. Her blog, Mommy Matters, has been one of my must-reads for much of the time I've been a blogger. Please drop by her place and congratulate her...and stick around for a bit of reading. You'll be glad you did.

Much fun was had...

Quick note about yesterday's radio adventure in Toronto: It rocked. We chatted about a service called StubHub, the ticket broker market and the fact that even artists like Madonna are getting in on the act of ripping off their fans.

It wasn't about technology, which was a neat change. We just riffed, which made it even more fun than usual.

Being in studio is a totally different experience than phoning it in. Although I've done countless interviews with the host, John Downs, it was great to finally meet him and his production team.

My head's swimming from the experience. It reminded me why my first media job was in radio, and why this medium is so immediate, direct and vital. And why I find it almost addictive.

I'm working on more...hope to have news on that front soon.

Your turn: What jazzes you? Why?

Live on radio

I'm on the road today, spending the day in meetings in Toronto before driving back home tonight. If all goes well, I'll be a guest of John Downs this evening between 7:30 and 8:00 on AM640 Toronto Radio. You can listen live by clicking over to the stations web site - http://www.640toronto.com/ - and hitting the Listen Live button at the top of the page.

I'm sure John will open the phone lines at some point. So if you're in the mood to call in, you can do that, too!

Little boy in an overwhelming place

Visiting
Montreal, QC, May 2008

It's a different world than the one in which I grew up. Kids didn't visit hospital rooms way back when. The rule was pretty simple: Nobody under 12 got to go upstairs. So we'd stay in the lobby and wait. Sometimes the nurses would wink at us and look the other way as our parents "snuck" us upstairs for a quick peek. But it just wasn't part of my reality to see my grandparents in the hospital.

Today, of course, no one bats so much as an eyelash as our kids quietly head upstairs and onto the patient floor. I'm a little torn by the experience: On the one hand, I feel it's important for them to understand what their grandfather is going through, to have tangible images and experiences to go along with what we've been telling them all along. On the other hand, I worry about whether this brings fear into their lives at too young an age, whether this accelerates the erosion of childhood innocence that every parents tries to keep at bay.

Whatever my misgivings are, it's clear that we've decided to make it as concrete as possible for him. And we have faith that he and his siblings are insightful and resilient enough to use it as another growth experience.

On this visit, I happened to have my camera ready as our son, Noah, turned to leave the room and head out. In that instant, I wish I could have seen the thoughts swimming around his head. Up until that moment, he had been playfully bantering, bringing sunshine to a room that clearly needed some. He used his 7-year-old's charm to make his grandfather smile, to show him why it matters that he gets better and goes home. He seemed to ignore the overwhelming mood of this massive institution for his entire visit. He was having fun with his Zaidy. Nothing else mattered.

But then this moment. There's something in his face that suggests deeper thought, almost as if he let the smile go for just long enough to betray what he was really thinking. I wish I had the power to understand it. And to talk to it. I wish I could shepherd him through this confusing time in his life better than I had been shepherded a generation ago.

Your turn: Helping your kids understand this. Please discuss.

Wordless Wednesday - Look up

Let there be light...
London, ON, April 2008 [Click to enlarge]

Part of a continuing, informal series on the beauty that can be found in otherwise dreary places, like parking lots and downtown alleyways. I found this outside our local grocery store.

Your turn: Finding loveliness where at first blush there is none. Please discuss.

Wait, don't go! Have you entered this week's caption contest? No? Click here and see why CNN is calling this the best bloggy thing since sliced bread.

On Teddy Kennedy, brain tumors and life

Today's big news: Senator Ted Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor. Whatever political stripes you wear, you have to feel some degree of empathy for what he and his family are now going through.

As I slowly edit the pictures I took in and around my father's hospital room, I find myself thinking about how fragile we all are, and that at the core, we're all just as liable to be struck down by some uncontrollable illness as anyone else. Power, it seems, can't protect us from the inevitable. Of course, what is power anyway if it can't stop the inevitable?

Whether you're from a political dynasty or an average working family, I hope you'll take a moment to head outside and breathe in the world around you. You just never know when even the simple joys will suddenly be taken away.

Your turn: If you could share one snippet of advice with Mr. Kennedy, what would it be?

Quiet on the floor, please

Shhhh...
Montreal, QC
May 2008

Just finished driving back from Montreal where we spent a glorious few days...hanging around the hospital. My father's been back in for yet another round of health care adventures and misadventures, so we loaded up the wondervan and pointed it east.

The good news is he's doing better. The bad news is the road ahead is twisty and very difficult to see. Whatever happens, happens, I guess. More to come, I'm sure. In the interim, I've relayed your wishes to him, and he's both amazed and touched that complete strangers from near and far would hold him in their prayers. Thank you for your continued good thoughts.

I took this picture in the hallway just down from his room. For all the time I've spent in hospitals in so many roles - patient, immediate family member of a patient, friend, whatever - I don't have any pictures of them. All of my images of this place exist in my head. So I decided on the drive to Montreal last week that I was going to try to record some of the spirit of this place with my camera.

Ironically, the hospital that currently cares for my father, Montreal's Jewish General Hospital, is the same hospital that cared for me when I was a child. I was born there, and I filled my own frequent flyer card when I came back as a 4-to-6-year-old. So every time we visit someone there, I find myself slowly wandering the halls, thinking back to what this place looked and felt like to the kindergarten-age me.

It was scary then. It's even scarier now, albeit for a very different and far more adult reason.

I'll share more glimpses of this world in the days to come. For now, it's good to be home.

Your turn: What do hospitals mean to you?

One more thing: This week's Caption This photo of my daughter's eye serves as a stark counterpoint to the experience of watching an aging parent in hospital. One speaks of a bright hope for the future, while the other speaks of an uncertain future. I hope you'll click here and share your own submission for this week's photo.

Caption This 71

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
London, ON, April 2008 [Click to embiggen]

I love our kids' eyes. They all have blue eyes like I do, but looking into them, I see so much of my wife as well. They're expressive, bright, inquisitive, and I could look into them forever.

Yet as much as I adore this particular composition of her, I can't for the life of me figure out what to call it. So I'm asking you for help.

Your turn: You know the Caption This drill...please look into our daughter's eye and suggest a snappy caption or nine in a comment. I'll pick the best one - along with a few honorable menschens - and publish the winner next Sunday, along with a new Caption This photo. I will, of course, continue to share snippets of life in general every day until then, so check back during the week to see what's new.

Speaking of menschens, here's the lowdown on honorables from last week's photo of my friend the gator:

• Ontario Emperor: "Mmm...Canadian."
• Bob-kat: "I'm actually vegetarian but no-one knows".
• Pat: "Hey Bud! You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours!"
• Colleen: "I dare ya."
• Jacie: "you looking at me......?"
• Robin: "Lady in waiting"
• Sara: "Giving a whole new meaning to the 'stealth fighter'"
• Carletta: "I don't tread lightly in these Crocs!"
• Catheroo: "Remember the game Hungry Hungry Hippos? Yeah. This is not that game."
• Marmiteandtea: "Eat ya later!"

And the winner is...Terri, for "Human, the other white meat." Terri isn't your average Written Inc. reader (wait, are there any average folks here? Didn't think so!) She's a nurse who regularly sticks needles into my arm. No, I'm not an addict. It's all for a good cause: my regular blood plasma donation. I'm sure she'd be happy to poke a hole in your arm, too! Let me know if you're ever in the area and want to tag along with me. The more the merrier.

Annals of parenting - forgetting a kid

I'm far from a perfect parent, so I'm the last person who would sit by and tsk-tsk another parent for some supposed failure to be more like Mrs. Brady or Mrs. Cleaver. But sometimes I come across a story that just makes me want to go "huh?"

To wit, this piece from CanWest earlier this week: Parents forget toddler at airport.

I dunno. But I suspect I'd know if one of my kids wasn't with me on a long trip. It's not like losing a pair of nail clippers, y'know. Munchkins - especially 18-month-olds like this one - tend to be a bit noisier than carry-on luggage.

Thankfully this had a happy ending.

Your turn: Ever forget something really important in a public place? How did everything end up?

What lies beneath

The underside of Adelaide Road
London, ON, October 2007 [Click to enlarge]

I drive it almost every day, a nondescript stretch of four-lane road that monotonously drones from one forgettable neighborhood to another. Yet until I took a late afternoon walk on the path that runs underneath the road surface, I never gave much thought to what I was passing over.

As so often happens when I meander, it got me thinking: Crossing a bridge used to be an event. The road would narrow as the flimsy-looking truss loomed ahead. You'd watch out for oncoming traffic, and would often wait until other cars completed their journey before beginning your own. You'd drive slowly, deliberately across the span, quietly thanking the long-gone engineers who built this roadway through the sky.

Today, most crossings are basic decks, so much a part of the surrounding roadscape that most motorists have no idea they've just driven over a river. Another way in which technology insulates us from the world around outside.

So I wandered to a place that most people don't know exists and found...well, I'm not quite sure what I found. That's up to you...

Your turn: What did I find. What would you find on the path rarely taken?

Falling from the sky

Wingover
St. Thomas, ON, June 2007 [Click to embiggen]

This remains one of my most memorable moments from our grand adventure at the St. Thomas Air Show last summer (see here, here, here, here and here for earlier entries.) As I lay on the ground and shot straight up, all I could think of was what must have been going through this guy's head as he spun crazily toward the planet.

Of course, there was nothing crazy about it. The SkyHawks are the parachute demonstration team of the Canadian Armed Forces. They're probably as well trained in falling from the sky as anyone on - or off - the planet. It was an incredible sight to see.

Your turn: What makes someone "the best"?

Wordless Wednesday - Drowning

Swirled texture
London, ON, April 2008 [Click to embiggen - you know you want to!]

Sometimes, you just want to reach out and touch it. Go ahead: I promise I won't tell anyone.

Your turn: Photographic texture. How do you achieve it?

One more thing: If you're new to Written Inc., I hope you'll stick around for a bit and read a few other entries. I promise you it won't hurt. We're still accepting submissions for this week's Caption This as well. Click here to kickstart the fun.

BlackBerry Bold - I want one

Research In Motion (RIM) announced its all-singing, all-dancing handheld device earlier this week It's called the BlackBerry Bold (also known numerically as the BlackBerry 9000 - "bold" refers to the quality of the screen. Focus group testers called it "bold" and "brilliant", and "brilliant" wouldn't make such a great name, so...) I'm already planning to "accidentally" leave my existing 8830 under the left passenger-side tire of the family car to, um, facilitate my upgrade path to the new device.

Despite my rep as a bit of a geek, I'm not a gadget hound. Reading spec sheets bores me, and the fanboy arguments in forums and blogs over whose device has better features than all the others reminds me of the pointless exchanges we used to have in elementary school at recess.

But this one's a little different, because there's bigger news beyond the device itself. Specifically, it's RIM's first 3G device. 3G is the wireless equivalent of steroid injection, and shifting from our current, so-called 2G (or second generation) of devices to 3G will be like going from dial-up Internet to high-speed cable or DSL. Mark my words: the shift to 3G will open up entire new classes of services that just aren't feasible over today's pokey-by-comparison wireless handhelds and networks.

Oops, sorry for going a little overboard. This excites me...

I did a bunch of media yesterday, including a live radio hit with Gary Doyle on 570 News in Kitchener (RIM is based in Waterloo, which is part of the same Kitchener-Waterloo metropolitan area...thus this is pretty much RIM's hometown radio station.) Other print-based coverage included:

The National Post. Analysts, investors give thumbs-up to latest BlackBerry. Byline David George-Cosh. Also picked up online here, and by the Vancouver Sun.

However, as competition swirls, the challenge for RIM now is getting the devices into subscribers hands, said AR Communications Inc. senior vice president Carmi Levy.

"Anytime you can beat Apple to the punch is a good thing, but it's a small victory for RIM," he said. "It doesn't change the direction the market is going."

The release of the new BlackBerry model comes on the heels of an earlier announcement that RIM will co-manage a $150-million fund to spur the development of new applications for the smartphone devices.

"This is really the key to growing the BlackBerry franchise over time," Mr. Levy said.

InternetNews.com. BlackBerry Goes Bold for Market Gold. Byline Judy Mottl

According to Levy, given the Bold's expanded features and enhancements, the next several months will be full of news about new applications. "Once it hits its stride, this device will rewrite how we use mobile infrastructure," he said.

Had a couple of other notable hits last week, including:

Unstrung. Verizon Opens LiMo Door. Byline Dan Jones.

InternetNews.com. Motorola Looking to Lure Dev Talent. Byline Judy Mottl

Life's challenges notwithstanding, it's a kick to be able to do this when the wires start to crackle. Damn, this is fun.

Brokedown Palace

Illusion of strength
London, ON, April 2008 [Click to enlarge]

It's been over a month since I brought this picture home, and only after all this time have I noticed what's missing from the scene. Go ahead, look closely. I'll wait.

On a day when China reels from a killer earthquake and Myanmar/Burma continues to suffer - mostly alone, thanks to its mentally challenged military leaders - scenes like this, flaws and all, seem to resonate a little more deeply than they usually do.

I wonder if this will ever get fixed, or if someone's decided that it's good enough in its quietly imperfect state. I wonder about all the other broken things in our world, and hope they'll get fixed someday soon, too.

Your turn: Flawed perfection. Please discuss.

Caption This 70

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
Palm Beach, FL, December 2007 [Click to embiggen]

I took this image quickly because I couldn't stop thinking about what must have been going through his (her?) mind as he/she watched me compose the shot. "Lunch" doesn't seem far off. The other animals we saw that day (click here and here for a couple of other examples) seemed a little less menacing.

Your turn: Come up with the zippiest caption for this image and share it in a comment. Repeat as often as you wish. I'll post the winner around this time next Sunday.

About last week's image of our high-flying son: I love this shot because it so perfectly captures this little man's spirit. He enjoys being on this planet so much that he doesn't let anything slow him down. This week's honorable menschens include:

• Melissa: "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing."
• Terri: "Look at Noah's arc!"
• David: "Flight of fancy."
• Jacie: "Barefoot in the Park."
• Allison: "Barefoot and fancy free."
• Robin: "Jump in, feet first."
• Sara: "Look dad I can touch the sky."
• Bob-kat: "Playing with gravity."
• Lissa: "Happy feet"

And this week's winner: Me for "Someday I'll make it to the moon." When he first wiggles his bum onto the swing, Noah often asks how high I think he can go. When the moon is out, he'll challenge me to touch it...or whatever other elements we can identify in the sky, be they clouds, the sun, planes, birds, whatever. This kid's got hope, spunk and drive, and Me's entry encompassed them all. If you haven't visited her delightful blog, What's Up Spotty Chop, click on over and congratulate her.

One more thing: If you're of the motherhood persuasion, I hope you're having a lovely Mother's Day with your family. Although I'm quite the curmudgeon when it comes to commercialized excuses to build temporary sentiment and sell cards and gifts, I love taking moments to celebrate the things that really matter with the folks who really matter. I hope you do the same every day of the year.

Myanmar or Burma - stupid by any name

Bad: A cyclone hits the country, kills a huge amount of people, destroys entire regions and leaves over a million folks homeless.
Worse: The country's military rulers dawdle over whether to allow foreign aid and volunteers into the country.
Much worse: Those same rulers impound deliveries when they arrive.

By any definition, this is a crime against humanity. I'd hate to be there when these morons find themselves subject to a higher power.

Your turn: I'm at a loss for words here. What say you?

Fishing for goodness

Aquatic peace
Atlanta, GA, January 2008 [Click to embiggen]

As I often do when things get a little nutty, I spend a little quality time with stuff I've created. Looking over old words and pictures seems to bring me a little bit of peace when all else fails.

I took this photo over our winter vacation, when we carted the little people to the Georgia Aquarium and turned them loose on the mostly unsuspecting water creatures. I remember what it felt like as I took this picture: I was surrounded by hundreds of people, peering into a huge watery world populated by countless fish. It was as chaotic, fast-moving a scene as you'll ever likely see - well, short of a downtown Shanghai street - and yet I still felt like I had found a little oasis of calm in the middle of it all. I heard nothing as I composed this...no voices, footsteps, whining kids (other people's kids, of course.) It was just me and the fish.

Weird. But participating in the arts is supposed to take us places and inspire us, right?

Your turn: Escaping through the lens or the pen. Please discuss.

One more thing: Thank you all for your heartfelt wishes following yesterday's post. When I share this with my parents, they'll doubtless be touched - as I have certainly been. I do not have any news to report beyond the fact that we continue to wait. I hope to have happier news to share in the days ahead. Watch this space...

Gifts

On this day a whole whack of years ago, my parents welcomed me into the world. After a couple of days of de-gooping at the hospital, they brought me home. At that moment, my life was spread before me - and them. All potential, all forward.

Despite the fact that it's my birthday, I find myself not feeling particularly celebratory. That's because my father spent the day in the ER yesterday, and as I write this, is on his way back to the hospital after being tended to by paramedics after a particularly wobbly episode at home. Yet more milestones on a journey I know he'd rather not be on.

In the overall scheme of things, it hardly merits headlines. Earlier this week, untold numbers of people perished in a storm in a brutally-repressed nation and continue to suffer while their government puts up obstacles to rescuers at the border. Yet another Canadian soldier is coming home from Afghanistan in a body bag. Entire communities of people not too far from here can no longer afford to keep their homes. I get it: the world sucks on a grand scale. But my life isn't about overall schemes of anything. It's about my dad, and the fact that he just can't seem to get well. It doesn't have to make headlines to be significant.

All those years ago, he looked at me through the nursery glass and saw a life ahead of him. Today, I look into a detached screen from far away and try to erase thoughts about his own stage of life. As I fight to find comfort in looking back, I avoid looking forward because then I'd have to deal with whatever uncertainty lies ahead. That's right, I'm an avoider. Like all children, I fear losing my parents, facing life without them long after I ceased to rely so completely on them. I know it's a fact of of our very mortal life, but that doesn't make it any easier to swallow.

So if I receive any gift on this somewhat sombre birthday, I hope it's news that he gets to go home, and that this latest chapter moves quickly to a happy ending for him. I'll deal with the bigger picture another time.