This past weekend, I packed up and moved out (November 22), and while we’re still unloading the boxes and getting everything back to normal, it still hasn’t dawned on me that I call Calgary home now.

We got a nice timelapse of the second part of the move (1 shot per minute, 15 frames per second), and I’ll have pictures up when its all clean and shiny in here. Don’t expect pictures until after I assemble that ridiculously heavy Ikea drawer chest so I can stop living out of a suitcase!

Thanks to Michelle, David, Connie & Alex for helping me move!

My warrior kitty. 1993 – 2008.

Cpl. Michael Starker, 36, a reservist and medic with 15 Field Ambulance, was killed May 6 when his foot patrol was ambushed in the Zhari district of Kandahar province.

[Calgary Herald, May 16, 2008]

Take care of yourself, and the rest will come.

I contemplated an alternative title, but I figure the current title was better than “On efficiency…”

ryan: thanks for the book. it is really nice
bring back alot of memory

… Not because of the gadgets, the money, the fame, and definitely not the fortune.

This is why I do photography.

So while (unintentionally) putting off writing posts until 2008, I do have some pictures for you. First off, for some of you who recognize the headline from last year, this year’s shot is a Calgary Evening Skyline during the cold of winter.

Other random bits of catching up. I did hit Vancouver to visit my childhood friend, Melanie, for a weekend in November. Lots of good food, lots of random trivia (backing into parking spots is apparently a Vancouver thing)… Seems like a city I’d love to be in, one day.

If anything, Vancouver has some of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted at JJ Bean. If you go to Vancouver, do yourself a favour and pick one up for yourself, and 1/2 a pound of House Medium beans for me.

• 23 years ago, I (by witness accounts) cried and cried endlessly.
• 20 years ago, I learned to talk and could no longer shut up (my parents said I communicated using “actions”… whatever that means. Later than most kids though)
• 10 years ago, I began a year-long life in Mexico City
• 5 years ago, I graduated high school and began university
• 1 year ago, with one semester left, I was job hunting and telling myself there would be no way I would ever move to Calgary…

And so, this year will be my year.

Linda came for a visit this week, so we hit Lake Louise for a four-hour hike that turned into seven. Mainly my fault – We wanted to hit Lake Agnes but ended up going towards the Plain of Six Glaciers, then diverted onto the Highline Trail to the top of the Big Beehive (where the top shot was taken), and then back down around to the Lake Agnes teahouse and Mirror Lake.

You can see the picture set at Flickr, on Flickr Maps, or even better…

If you have Google Earth installed, you are in for a treat! Save and open the Plain of Six Glaciers & Lake Agnes KML file with Google Earth! When you’re all set up, you should be able to get a nice map of exactly where the shots were taken, which is miles kilometers beyond the Flickr map.

And if you are simply too lazy, you can view this in an embedded Google Map (a bit clunky)

(Sidenote: A KML file, in short, is a mapping file that you can open with Google Earth to see places on… well, Earth.)

Funny, it feels… different, but not really. 2 months until Convocation.

我的小時候吵鬧任性的時候
我的外婆總會唱歌哄我
夏天的午後老老的歌安慰我
那首歌好像這樣唱的

天黑黑﹐欲落雨﹐天黑黑﹐黑黑。。。

離開小時候有了自己的生活
新鮮的歌新鮮的念頭
任性和衝動無法控制的時候
我忘記還有這樣的歌

天黑黑﹐欲落雨﹐天黑黑﹐黑黑。。。

我愛上讓我奮不顧身的一個人
我以為這就是我所追求的世界
然而橫沖直撞被誤解被騙
是否成人的世界背後總有殘缺

我走在每天必須面對的分岔路
我懷念過去單純 美好的小幸福
愛總是讓人哭讓人覺得不滿足
天空很大卻看不清楚好孤獨

天黑的時候我又想起那首歌
突然期待下起安靜的雨
原來外婆的道理早就唱給我聽
下起雨也要勇敢前進
我相信一切都會平息
我現在好想回家去

天黑黑﹐欲落雨﹐天黑黑﹐黑黑。。。