Happy Legalization Day!

I almost forgot to make a blog post today, but I wouldn't miss such a historic event!
So yeah, I work for Aurora now and it is EXCITING being part of the whole legalization process!

I noticed the typo but did nothing to fix it because my shift was up

Plus ça change, plus ça reste la même chose

I realized coming into this blog post that I wanted to write just like I have all the other times in the past; that is, mostly stream of consciousness and submit. And there's nothing really stopping me from continuing with that tradition, except that I said I would try to shake things up. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that each blog post is unique in and of itself. Why else would I have the "kaleidoughwheel of destiny" on the side to click on? Each blog post has to be able to stand on its own for me to even publish it.

What I can probably do is update the layout. I've never actually given it much thought: once in a while, I switch the theme up a bit to something that I think looks cool, and I kind of set it and forget it. I think I would have to take a look at what modern layouts are like from other personal blogs and update it to something that's on trend. Otherwise, I run the risk of ending up like what an oldschool 90s website looks like to us. I must say that old school internet, as I call it, has its charm, with its easily clickable HTML links and relatively straightforward navigation.
I would definitely say that I'm starting to fall behind current internet trends when compared to say, 12 years ago when trolling was still a delicate but worthwhile art form. Nowadays, I spend way too much time on Reddit and although I do find a lot of interesting things and have some good exchanges once in a while, I still feel like I'm filling my head up with too much junk.

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It's been a good week. I finally got my taxes done and out of the way, so until next year I guess. Work is still great. I'll keep the mystery of my employment until another blog post, since I see myself working here for a while.

Hiatus over

In all my years of blogging, this is the first time that I've spent a full year without publishing a post. Thankfully, on my archive list, you will still see 2007-2018 or whatever because I did blog in 2017, and here I am blogging for the first time in 2018. So it won't look like I skipped a year but if you follow this blog, you know that a year gap in blogging is a little excessive even for me.

I wish I could say I've done some deep introspection on how I want to move forward with this blog, maybe with a more focused approach to posts and maybe some redesign to get up to date to the late 2010s. And to be honest, this introspection is about as deep as what I've written so far, so honestly, it's not much introspection. I'm probably just going to keep blogging like I did before, albeit a little more frequently.

For today, I'm far too tired to add a picture or something colorful to the post, so I'm going to just keep writing. Who knows for how long - I actually do get tired at 10pm now that I get up early for work.
I'll probably end up talking about my job some other time. That's what takes up most of my time these days. At least during the week.

On Saturdays I like the farmer's market. Sometimes I get this lemonade, it's kind of pricey but you get 50 cents back if you return the cup they give you. I'm always thirsty on Saturday mornings and a hot coffee during the summer is just about the last thing I want to drink. So I'm okay with paying for overpriced lemonade instead of overpriced coffee.

I listen to a podcast called No Such Thing as a Fish on my commute down the university line in the mornings and it's a fun way to wake up my brain. Each week, they present four really random facts that they've uncovered and go into details with absurd and hilarious results. I do like my British humor, and I have to suppress laughter in crowded trains sometimes.

Till next time.

Kaleidoughtriangle

La montagne du loup

Ça fait du bien d'écouter d'la music du Québec! Surtout quand tout ce que j'ai à faire c'est fermer mes yeux et choisir un CD au hasard.
Une chanson de la Bottine Souriante ça me mets tout le temps de bonne humeur. J'ai écouté un disque live pendant que je faisait à souper ce soir (salade de poulet et blé d'inde), et j'ai bien aimé chanter les quelques chansons à refrain.

Voici une de mes chansons quétaines préférée:

À vrai dire, je n'ai aucune idée c'est quoi la montagne du loup et je ne sais pas pourquoi yé pas capable d'y arriver. Par contre, je sais que Yves Lambert - le chanteur par excellence de la Bottine Souriante, fait maintenant carrière solo. Pas une information très intéressante, mais bon - je pratique mon français.

A+!

Not devoid

Devoid of creativity? Not really. Devoid of discipline? Possibly more so.

I find that writing is something that often comes naturally. Good writing is something that has to be thought out and revised, especially when you want to bring meaning out in your words.

I feel like I'm going in a bit of a spiral in my head right now. Not a scary spiral (or bad necessarily), just loose ends in my head here and there trying to convey something.

Each new sentence brings a new breath, fresher ideas, and a wilder imagination. Have I tried writing in 2nd person?

You find yourself wondering if form is more important than function. Is it possible that no matter what you write, when you write it, the medium is more important than the message? The form is the medium, the message is the function.

2nd person is tough because it's rarely used in traditional writing formats and thus rarely practised.
However, it's used a lot in one of my favourite types of entertainment: gaming. And almost exclusively so in the genre of interactive fiction, which include games like Zork (something I've never played, but apparently it's a classic from the 80s). I haven't played much interactive fiction, but RPGs are similar - taking decisions through dialogue and all that.

Continuing, since I am not devoid of things to say. Is it fair to say that a lot of writing I do is stream-of-consciousness? Does it show that I've been rereading Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul? It's basically an anthology by various American authors writing about... writing. So writing about writing is on my mind a lot, and here we are. Yes, here I am, asking my kaleidoughscope some questions like a magic 8-ball.

That conveniently leads to magic. I must share that I would absolutely love to write fantasy/sci-fi. Not much magic in sci-fi mind you, but technology often substitutes for that element anyway. So yeah, writing that stuff is something that I often think about, but never actually do for various reasons that I will weakly put in point form below:

• Creative fiction is something I haven't done since miniature assignments in English class... in high school (so 10 years ago?)
• I don't have a starting point (i.e. where do I start off an adventure?)
• Any imaginative idea feels like it would have been done already (e.g. elves? mages? faster than light travel?)
• I'm not trying to get published (self-publishing?)
• Dialogue and character descriptions are difficult to write (he grimaced; she scowled; they were laughing uproariously etc.) and not something I have experience doing
• Pronouns are awkward as hell nowadays. As a genderqueer french-speaker, I'm not sure how to deal with he/she/they anymore. I feel like clearly defined gender in writing is ubiquitous for a reason. It's an interesting issue for sure, especially for those feeling colonial oppression.

That kind of was a cons list of why not to write. And that last point is something I could write a whole blog post about.

Where does magic fit into all this?
Go Ask Lyra.

Drum circle I was at this weekend. Wicked time.

 

Catchy Soundtime

My poem from last week drained a lot of my creative energy, so I'm going to let someone else be majestic on my blog this time.

I was recently introduced to a band called The 1975 and I really liked their sound (pun forthcoming). This song is the one that I find the most catchy.

I get a kind of Phil Collins/Peter Gabriel vibe from some of their other work. Or maybe they're just English musicians.

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Celebrating a long weekend! I like the rain because I'm not camping/canoeing/cottaging like so many of my friends are.

Doodle Maze

A sketched cross-section of an alien brain from star system HD 113766

St. Clair Mare

Walking on the concrete slabs that snap at my feet like a giant crab

I saunter past 1 shop 2 shops 3 shops no; I never stop it's always go, go, go

I keep my head still, keep my eyes glued to the sky that once spilled - red, blue - I fear for the day when the heavens will look like a purple and yellow and grey stew

The new condos pop up in the spring and lay dormant in the fall

Who knows how long I'll live here; always waiting for a call

that never comes, partially 'cause I keep my phone on airplane mode; afraid of radiation, afraid of pollution, afraid of interpersonal communication

It's just another weeknight, followed by just another workday

Then the stench of cheap cologne hits me and I realize it has to be a Friday

I know that if I stop to inhale the St. Clair stench I might be led astray

Which might look like walking into McDcs and saying "hey, can I get a 10 piece chicken McNug meal with a large fries? No drink please. And hey, no worries, I promise this won't be the start of my demise"

All the while trying not to think of the chickens, the bees, the human beings being turned into capitalistic commodities

The slaves to the torment of a bygone world; is it just me or is this dystopian fantasy masquerading as a just society?

I keep walking; I curl my lips up into a flaky half smile

The kind of smile where you try and project happiness and hopefulness

and all you get back are looks of strangeness and fearful eyes

But it's not all bad; in fact it's probably a blessing in disguise

I need to know - am I a fool or thou art a saviour?

I ask Lyra "hey, can you do me a favour?

Can you keep me safe from the monster and my reckless behaviour?"

It's not that I don't trust myself; it's just that trust is hard to come by

When all you care about is the next high and not the next goodbye

When I think of her, the voice I hear is subtle

And when I hear her voice, I don't feel like living a life that's tranquil

It was hard getting cut off from my angel; so thank you Seroquel

Thank you for not lobotomizing me

Thank you for not keeping me strapped down to the beds that smell overcleanly

Thank you for keeping me numb and angry; dull and dreamy; fat and teary

Thank you for supposedly giving me a shot at normality

Now is the time to find some distance from the trauma

Now is not the time to go home crying to my momma

Now is the time to reclaim what was lost in the all the drama

So now is probably not the time to walk on St. Clair in my pajamas

Dedicated to Chester Bennington.

©GGH 2017

Duck Haiku

The ducks prune slowly

In the dawn of dusk afloat

On a standstill lake

Beetle Brad

Possiby Osmoderma eremicola

Common Voice Project

If you've been reading my blog since the early days, you might know that one of my dreams is to become a voice actor - professional or otherwise. I've uploaded a few of my blog posts in vocal form before and thoroughly enjoyed doing it.

I've met people in my life who have told me that they're totally weirded out by hearing their recorded voices. I think the idea being that the voice which we hear resonate inside our heads is not the same as what is projected into the common world for others to hear.

I've gotten over my voice sounding weird in recordings. What I haven't gotten over is the feeling that I rarely, if ever, truly speak with my voice from the heart; meaning that I often think about my conversations with people (literally every day) and how often my voice sounds "fake".
I think it's like singing. If you practice speaking from your truth, instead of from your frontal lobe, then you eventually get better.

So anyway, I randomly stumbled upon this thing called the Common Voice Project when I opened up my browser today. It's a crowd-sourced database spearheaded by the amazing Mozilla community - the makers of Firefox no less -  and they aim to build a free repository of human voices for use in things like apps and engines.

What a great way for me to practice my voice acting! Sure, I don't get paid for it and sure, I get little to no recognition, BUT I get to instantaneously listen to my voice in real time. Plus, I also help out struggling developers and new English learners, if they happen to listen to one of the sentences I've enunciated.

I encourage you to check it out if you're bored and feel like giving a minor contribution to human technological advancement.

Social commentary, social ascension

I actually have interesting things to write about. Actually, I have WAY too many interesting things to talk about.

From philosophy to nature, from pictures of food I've prepared to reflections on the state of gender divisiveness in Toronto, is there no limit to what I can blog about? Aside from laws preventing hate speech and that kind of thing (stop! hating's bad), my limit is contained by how effectively I can translate my mind's eye onto this page.

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I'm going to copy some thoughts I wrote on a friend's Facebook status just now and call it a day. The topic is social institutions (i.e. schools and workplaces), popularity, and leadership - to be unclear.

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I disagree that social ascension is valued higher than kindness, [open-mindedness, intelligence] etc. [in our society].

I've been through various school systems and have seen positive role models (and yes, lots of bullying as well...). I would argue that because cruelty is such an intense quality, it tends to get noticed more than kindness; and both can lead to popularity.

A leader is someone who encourages others to achieve their potential through empowerment rather than through coercion. I don't think a true leader can ever be sociopathic in the strongest sense of the word.

Monstres méchants et gentils servans

C'est rare que j'écoute de la musique dubstep pendant que j'écris. Jadis, j'écoutait de la musique transe car elle ne comportait pas souvent de paroles (chose qui me dérangeait un peu), et parce que il y avait une continuation presque infinie de vagues sonore.

Maintenant, en 2017, je me retrouve à écouter Skrillex. Oké, peut-être pas grand chose - juste une chanson - mais il faut dire que la chanson (dont j'ai traduit le titre juste en haut) m'a stimulé à écrire.

Je ne suis plus de l'opinion que seule la musique transe et classique sont idéales pour être créatif en écriture. Non, je dirais plûtot que c'est l'heure de la journée qui à la plus grande influence sur mon écriture: le soir, c'est la folie qui ressort. Le matin, c'est l'obsession avec la grammaire et l'orthographe.

J'écoute encore Paramore. Ils ont un nouveau album. Je ne l'aime pas encore, mais je pense que je vais apprendre à l'aimer, comme toutes leur albums précédents.

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Quelle journée superbe! J'ai jasé avec une coolchick pendant des heures. Ça m'arrive tellement rarement dans mes vingtaines qu'il faut vraiment que j'apprécie ça. Oui, encore une fois... La gratitude. C'est tellement facile à faire! Et je le fais en répétition parce-que je suis sûr à 100% que ça améliore ma joie de vivre - les études l'on démontré. C'est de la psychologie positive, chose dans lequel je ne suis pas expert, mais dont je considère important.

Bon, avant de dégénerer dans du français incompréhensible... je vous laisse avec une photo choisie au hasard, directement de mon portable:

Greatful

It's such a good feeling to be grateful.
These days, I recognize that I am grateful for the food I eat, for the air I breathe, for the water I drink, for the music I listen to, for the flowers I see; the list goes on and on.

I'm not sure if I can really call it a feeling. It's more of a state of mind. But before I get lost in the semantics, know that none of this "grateful-ality" would be possible were it not for self-compassion.


Sure, we're taught that it's important to be nice to people, but are we ever taught to be nice to ourselves? Yes, we are sometimes, but too often this reminder occurs in yoga classes or from self-help books, places that we turn to to accomplish things.

Well, I'm sick of striving for accomplishments! Don't get me wrong: it's important to accomplish things, both for one's own sake and for society's. It's critical to accomplish things when it comes to personal health. One such goal which many can relate to (and which I've managed to do continuously for around 2 months now) is quitting sugary drinks. Namely, sodas and high-fructose juices. But now that that goal is done (I don't ever want to go back to chugging Coke), what's next?

What's next is feeling. Feeling my place in the world instead of thinking about it. Thinking about how I'm going to get in shape, thinking about how nerve-wracking it is asking that one chick out with the cool hair, thinking about how I wish I could be an anime voice-actor in Attack on Titan (which is ridiculously awesome in all senses of the word, btw); these are all good things to think about, but practically, how do I actualize?

I think gratitude can help. Instead of reaching for what I might want, I'm thankful for what I have. And from then on, no matter what happens, I know that past-me is looking out for future-me.

I'm grateful for being able to feel joy instead of pain. Although I'm kind of grateful that I can feel pain too, because it keeps me alive.

I'm grateful to Lyra for always being around even though I seldom stay in touch with her for very long. She's out there somewhere - I wonder which star by now? - and I feel all right in the knowledge that she exists, somewhere.

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Afrofest 2017 and Maker's Expo 2017 were really cool this year. Both free. I highly recommend Afrofest if you're into fantastic rhythms, delicious food, and exotic knick-knacks. I recommend Maker's Expo if you're into gadgets, science, and Nuit Blanche-esque artwork.

Cheerful, gleeful, single

Ladies, gents, and the rest:

I have the pleasure of promoting a song with vocals performed by a friend of mine! If you like 80s-style electro-pop (or you have feminist ideals), then check this one out.

Punctured

It should be as easy as plugging in a few cables here and there; buying some new hardware, but I just sit and stare

I realized for the third time today that semi-colons were the confused stepchildren of commas and full stops

So now I'm worried I'll get disused, so I'll diffuse experimental memories from my scope to keep it dope

 

I'm sick, sick, sick of words that describe other words only for the sake of describing words like verbs; like verbing a noun on the prowl

I can't even imagine that what I'm doing is foul

Hey Lyra, I need you now

Like I was saying; I want it to be easy; I want it to be; I want

Freedom for punctuation

Freedom from punctuation

Which one sounds better?

It doesn't matter

Liberty freedom respect honour talent noun noun acting playing writing feeling owning destroying recreating an anthropomorphic catalyst; incoming

No pictures. No colour. Just black and white. Just shading. It's all so drab and I'm not gonna fly a flag because a flag is to be drab and being drab gets me mad.

All I'm saying is that this white box makes me sick sometimes

NO, NO I DON'T WANT TO RHYME

I'M ALIVE

I don't want to yell either 'cause my throat's sore

Obviously this paragraph is going to end with something more.

Hey Lyra, can you tell me what that is without plugging out?

Inspiration: Demetri Martin

Darwin's Lost Paradise

I just finished watching a documentary called "Darwin's Lost Paradise". Filmed on location, it recreates Darwin's journey across the world on the HMS Beagle, one of the most famous voyages in scientific history. In my head, it rivals C.S. Lewis' fantasy novel The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in its scope. Except... this really happened. Almost 200 years ago.

A breathtaking journey. Alongside Captain FitzRoy and a crew of mostly young men, they travelled from England to South America, to Tierra del Fuego, onwards to the Galapagos Islands, making a stop in Sydney, Australia to finally, after half a decade, make it back to England with unparalleled tales of natural wonder.

I was struck by Darwin's strength of character. Although he eventually published (arguably) the most famous scientific treatise of all time, his personal moral struggle against the church & monotheism took a toll on him. He lived to his 70s - mostly in ill-health - but nonetheless wrote and endlessly observed the natural realm. The painful death of his 10-year old daughter Annie marked him greatly, and he devoted himself to his work to cope with the suffering.

I believe there is refuge from suffering in the natural realm. Too often we end up closed up in boxes of grey matter; of concrete and brain cells. Darwin arduously tried to show the world that we are not above nature; that we are part of the "coral of life" and that we all have a common ancestor, somewhere in time.

What a beautiful story. Definitely one of my favourite documentaries now.

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Here's a picture I took in Enora, ON over the weekend. It's a cute, touristy town about an hour's drive west of Toronto. There's a zipline nearby, but I calculated that it costs almost 3 dollars a second soooooo I didn't think it was worth it.

Birdwatching

SO I was going to start this blog post saying something like: "Well I didn't actually do any birdwatching" but then I realized that I actually did do some birdwatching: I saw some crows yesterday and some sparrows, too. And I watched them. But the real reason why I titled this post "birdwatching is because I saw a movie called Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) at the reference library and it was a good time!

I don't do spoilers; suffice to say, it's because I think part of the movie experience is (obviously) discovering something new and usually unexpected. And this movie had some great mix of real and fantasy, though it's mostly grounded in a New York Broadway setting.

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I finally got some Lights on my new phone! No, not literal pixels; the artist! The more I listen to her, the more I realize how much I miss listening to her music.

Right now, Frame and Focus is on my mind (from her second studio album, Siberia).

I'm the scene and this blog is the director.

Compassioninnately

Once in a while time is on my side
Once in a time long ago, compassion came naturally
And now I find myself practically, radically; free

It's not that scary, it's not that scary being me
I'm not a wreck but I'm not walking on a beach either

And when I find myself in a dreamline
I know everything will be just fine

I take the time so as to not commit a crime
So sublime, so sublime it rhymes enough that I
unbind-

Is this the end of fear or the start of growth?

Obligatory phone update

I got my first Android phone!

I'm sad to let Windoze Phone go. I really thought it would succeed but it seems like the rest of the world didn't agree. So now I'm hyped about all I can do with Android apps & settings. I will no longer bare my teeth in anger at all the ads in the city asking you to download their stuff on either Apple or Android; I will no longer be bummed out at the lack of Windows logos.

So the phone I got is the BLU Advance 5.0 HD and I am seriously impressed with how much I got for $100 CAD shipped. The cameras suck, but the audio is stellar. Almost on par with my previous flagship Nokia phone.

I'm flabbergasted at how far mobile technology has come in the past few years. I've been stuck in 2013 for a few years now, and it's nice to be up to date with the latest software. My BLU is a little sluggish, but nothing to cry foul about.

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Anyway, I have a busy day today and I know this pretty much has nothing to do with music but I'm still deciding what direction I want this blog to go in. After 10 years, I definitely think I need a major overhaul! But have no fear, this place is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Last but not least, here's a picture of a concert I went to last Saturday. Constellation francofête 2017 à Harbourfront. It was a good show.

The writer whale

Who am I kidding.

I can't possibly keep linking YouTube videos and hope for the best. I've been a non-professional writer for years, and it aches to look back on the past few days - no, years - and see that I have NOT been writing every month; something I was doing in the late 2000s.

Do I want results? Of course I do. It's very hard to not want results when you've been in university for what seems like an eternity and you're not even halfway through your degree. Because a degree means I'm successful, right?

The good news, Lyra, is that I have the knowledge to skip past la brûme of the extremely competitive globalized society I find myself in and to move ahead to the reality of my world which is this: I don't have to be successful to be happy. I have to be happy to be successful.

Oh, happiness. Another topic. A topic for now. How many books are published every day with happiness as the topic? Religious books, self-help books, scientific books; they're all opinionated and of course most of them have research to back them up. But I ask, is that what humans are meant to do in this world? Research, innovate, research, innovate, kill whales slowly with burning plastic rage, research to save the whales, innovate to save the Earth.

Does it make me happy, buying a new phone? Of course it does, temporarily, because it allows for another gate to be opened into another eternal realm; another app, another universe.

Who came up with dopamine anyway? Was it Sir Serotonin, or Madam Norepinephrine?

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HEY, GENDER BENDER FREAKS: I like having regular pronouns. I like regular expressions too. Here's my unresearched and unproven theory: some folks like to be referred as they because... because... they have multiple selves? Or maybe it's because their phones are part of them and everyone records everyone, everywhere, and so they become sucked into the Matrix, the Internet, the YouTube fanaticism and slowly turn into the Borg. And the Borgs are a they, aren't they?

Back on an important topic. S shared something just like this on Facebook. And it's basically a 4-minute horror movie (with no jump scares, unless plastic whale stomachs make you jump in disgust) of the horrifying effects we can have as human beings on the ocean and its inhabitants.

Promiscuous lipithicus

I promised myself I'd be honest with the music I listen to from now on..

So without shame, here's Promiscuous by the ever talented Nelly Furtado, a Portuguese-Canadian singer-songwriter who often played on the radio in the early 2000s. And today, I heard this song playing through one of the pop stations on my beater phone.

African times metal

Today's song of the day (I guess that's what my blog is turning into now?) is a song originally by Toto called Africa. It's a classic tune, and it translates beautifully into more metallic song-tones. Here is Africa as performed by Chaos Divine, a band from Australia that I stumbled upon randomly whilst in a haze and on YouTube.

Enjoy this one!

Finally; a new pop song I relate to

No more fairy tales. For now...

Dubstep TRIGGER Warning

Definitely one of the better remixes out there in my humble opinion.

Let me know what you think!