Many Little Rants

I’ve been busy and I’ve kind of been a bit burnt out from work and life. But it doesn’t mean I haven’t been letting the world drift by me. The world is a weird place, here’s my thoughts on that.

Bags vs Women

If you live in a big city, especially in North America, you probably have a subway system of some sort. If they’re run by human beings, there might be some etiquette when using public transit. Examples from my local transit; don’t put your feet on the seat, no baby carriages and dogs on the trains during rush hour (with exceptions), and don’t play music loudly. A lot of people surprising are polite enough to understand and follow some of these. However there is one rule not a lot do follow. Since the inception of the subway system here, baggage has been a bit of an issue. Common solution is to remove your backpack or bag and place it on your lap when sitting, have it on your side or between your legs while standing. Some people are pretty hopeless when it comes to this. As a cis male, I will probably never understand fully why but I notice that during rush hour there are a lot of women with handbag slung over their shoulders. If it was a small bag, it’s understandable since it’s a small thing you can rest under your arm. However I’ve seen handbag as large as school bag and it’s quite annoying trying to wade into a crowded subway car just to be bashed around by a bag that someone isn’t willing to securely hold.

Honestly ladies, either lighten the load or at least have a separate bag for accessories. If you don’t like me strapped in with my camera bag, then I’m not definitely okay with your bag kidney punching me every time the train stops.

Automated Cashiers

A few years ago, you wouldn’t have really seen an automated cashier. There would be a human scanning your items and asking if you want to rewards card. Now it seems every large store has an automated cashier or 6 of them to cut down the waiting time. It’s great that there are machines that can do what a minimum wage worker can do but there is just something cold about using a machine like that.

Surely if the line is long for the one human cashier, I’ll definitely pick a machine in waiting. Though it’s very odd to really see a place once full of cashiers to now just one or two with a small crew of machines laying around at the checkout. When empty, it’s weird to feel nice talking to a human being about my order. Yet after all this time, these machines make any interaction with a human being be slower.

Perhaps in the end, customer service may have to come down with being able to hold onto a conversation if you don’t want want to be replaced by a machine. Considering most machines are replacing the customer service end where you just close the sale. With my time in retail, it’s kind of dull to scan and ring up the customer. However if you are sociable you can actually make this more comforting and interactive.

So if you are a cashier out there, time is limited but you can make someone’s day by talking to them. Perhaps that one chat can stop you from losing your job.

Public Areas

From time to time, I like to try attend public events to take some natural street photos of people. I’m usually shy when it comes to approaching people. Something I’m still working on it.

The last couple events going on in the city have been pretty exciting but at the same time were really packed. Being squeezed in with a camera half the size of my head isn’t how I like to try to take photos. Especially when people are holding their cellphones up in the air. Also having sunset be earlier in the day doesn’t help but does provide a challenge to take photos at night.

It just seems weird that there are so many events out there that haven’t really adapted well to the modern tech. More people are just wanting to show off but no one has the courtesy to allow others to experience it. Which also gets me to my next problem, people who keep standing in the same place and pose for minutes on end.

You already took your ugly selfie that you are already posting. Why are you there on your phone for 10 straight minutes trying to get the same photo when already have a photo. The worst is people who take a photo and stand in the same spot. You think this is innocuous but time is everything. While you stand there, other people may want to take in the view from that vantage point.

Luckily for some of us, we don’t have time for that so in the end some of the best photos are the ones you point the time in to find the place.

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Bikers, Cyclists, Pedestrians. Oh My!

The other day after I spent my time taking photos around the city, I decided to hop on a streetcar. Usually people don’t chat with the driver because their focus should be the road. However looking at the face of the driver, I felt this guy needed a change of pace. So what did we talk about?

Aside from photography which he was more versed than I would ever be with techniques principles and hardware, we got into talking traffic in the city. We swapped stories as vehicle operators and pedestrians, agreeing and disagreeing on a bunch of topics. The entitled cyclist and racing bikes and cars sprinting through the roads. Hearing from him, he mentioned he wants more warning especially for pedestrian crossing. However I quipped about the confusion about pedestrian crossings.

Here we have a countdown timer for pedestrians. As simplistic it sounds, the countdown was originally meant for the vehicle committing a right turn and to tell pedestrians to stop. Whoever planned and engineered these signs made it look like the lighting system makes you think you have a certain time to cross. I said to him the only way to stop pedestrians from dashing across is if all signs just told everyone to stop. A red light for cars and a solid hand for pedestrians. In lieu of a countdown, just a hidden timer until the next green light.

Sometimes a good idea just involves talking to people who have to live through those mistakes.

The city here is filled with literal and figurative signs of actions upon the infrastructure. Senior zones that cover just 2 city blocks, defunct or aging neighbour watch, unenforced school calming zones on 6 lane thoroughfares; there is no consistent idea what the city wants but works on the whims of those affected by them. In a chaotic system like traffic infrastructure, I would side with anyone who builds a logical and intuitive system of signage.

More travelling?

So mid-June now, probably put aside to a lot of game time and been buckling down. Mostly for photography in nature, but at the moment I’m still planning. “Still planning” is a term I really dislike because I’m starting to feel more indecisive. I recently took a trip to a local tourism office to really find somewhere to take my camera. Somewhere local and old school, with a bit of historic and artistic value and vistas. Also everything has to close to the hotel room as well.

In-province, I’m thinking of a small town. I went to Niagara Falls this spring and it was a great. So it’s just a matter of finding the place that’s worth taking a shot and perhaps something less seen by other. Niagara Falls has been a tourist trap for ages but I really knew the beauty of the place when you leave the casino area. Really see what Niagara Fall really is when you take away the neon lights. If I can’t replicate the success of that trip, I’m going to exceed it. I want have extraordinary photos and memorable moments.

For the time being, I’ll just be window shopping for a nice place to visit. Hopefully before the end of summer.

Camera Phone “Lenses”

I spend a lot in camera stores than I should. Even in electronic stores, I’ve seen these blister packed or boxed lens kits for camera phones.

Looking at them, I do feel a bit aggravated in the obvious attempt to pander to consumers. Most of the time, the lenses are designed for one particular phone. Phones do become obsolete after a year or two while actual cameras last for a while. Before I bought my camera, it’s been out for quite a while. I’ve see a bunch of absurd accessories on this side of the decade, it’s not the most dumbest accessory (Cough cough, the circle “handle” thing for selfies).

I’m still on the fence about these attachments to a phone. People buy phones more than camera, people sometimes change preference on the operating system or brands. I know for sure, I would change phones if there’s one that would benefit me for cheap (and if I have to renew my contract). So these “lenses” seem to be built around a gimmick to make everything look as good with a camera phone without a camera. I would prefer a camera or the camera phone any day for imaging. However the camera phone make sharing an instant photo quicker. In a way much to be the digital equal to the instant film camera.

Don’t make them, don’t buy them. Save up to 50 bucks and use the money to get something else…or a camera itself.

Opportunities

It really sucks to be away from home. Having only a couple days without work, I have to really pick and choose what I want to do.

At the moment I have all my projects on hold, aside from my blog everything is on hold. Still blogging is tough when I have trying to allocating a few hours to push something out of my head onto a blank webpage. Sometimes I would get an incredible idea then it would disappear as I get to my computer to put it down.

Before I left I had a few around to do on the weekday. With a lens being cleaned and I can only be returned on the weekend, I’m forced to learn how a prime lens can be fun to use. So far, it’s interesting but I haven’t seen the photos I’ve until I check my card. This weekend, I guess I’ll try and take some photos. Perhaps give the new tripod a try.

I’m out of opportunities to personally improve myself but working on my life. Well hopefully what I’m doing works out. We’ll just have to see.

The Chase.

Recently I was faced with a bit of envy, I had not expect I would be feeling jealous. In returned I’ve may have stepped over the line yet again.

I was surprised when I was drawn into a conversation about relationship and personal preference over a romantic interest. Me and my big, fat, ugly mouth said a few things in passing that may have been misconstrued to be one large topic. I think I should shut up from what I know about relationships, which is very little.

In the dump of conversation, there were a few nuggets I took away and reminded me of who I am. I live in a cosmopolitan city with many people of many views about everything. In a way, my old fashion ways mingle with the a contemporary ideal of a romantic interest or a relationship. It’s really difficult to really argue for what I would consider to be the right person for me. I have an idea of what I would like but at the same time others may feel it’s a daunting challenge. Reality of the situation is to not fit into the mould I’ve created, but show me a better mould for me. It’s an odd metaphor but it is close to what I look for in a partner. It’s hard to find someone like minded and with similar interests. I would like that special somebody but at the same time, I would like her to surprise me as well.

Perhaps rather than talking about what I want, I should just shut up and let it happen.

Don’t Burn The House Down

I’ve been trawling the political news in the past month and the world seems to be alight with borderline hate speech and free speech. It’s even making me nervous since every culture has suffered it’s troubles but a few are open to kill and hurt everyone to feel superior.

We as a people were born to treat all with fairness and justice, no one is better and no one can take away who you are as a human being. It’s disturbing and rightly eye opening to the intolerant language being propagated in society. I always want to look into the future but seeing the squabbles over race, how can we ever meet to the challenge something new and different? Economically, we’re addicted to petroleum and only dancing around alternative energies. Politically, we’re still divided by ideologies and geographic bias. How can we justify change when we can’t even make the changes within?

Someone once told me society is a house. A house everyone wants to live in, it can be built and be torn down. However there is only one house and we all must live in it. The house might be cramped but when you burn the house down, no one can live in the house. What is the point of living in a house if you were going to burn it down?

I guess I’ll leave it there for this week. Something to think about.

Good Luck Next Time

I know I haven’t been staggering away from my traditional weekly blog posts, I’ve been caught up with work recently. A lot of out and about work and with the recent weather, I’ve been taking my camera out in the warm sunny days.

However I’ve been holding back writing a post about relationships because I should really be the last person to give relationship advice. I take that back, I should be the bottom ten people you should ask. In the past month or two, everyone is either getting in trouble with relationships or wanting to leave a relationship. As the nice single male I am, I always suck myself into these conversations with “Tell me about it.”

I want to be the helping hand and open ear for someone to feel good. A lot of people I’ve talked to drink heavily after a relationship; not going to lie if I had the money, I would’ve done the same. Usually drinking alone and suffering is the same, nothing is solved and it will still hurt at the end. The  weird thing is I find one within the pair who was seeking more than just a physical relationship and that’s what gets me.

I do believe in this century, there are variability in the definition of love but the still hardest to grasp I’ve seen and witness is romantic love. I’ve had closely had a romantic relationship and compared to people I’ve meet seemed to want the same, the love of another person. I almost want to tell them a daring truth that what they seek is not a physical embodiment of love but a love which can only be received in kind and care. Even then I don’t think they would reciprocate in the sense to understand romantic love but to rationalize their needs in that context. Romantic love is not a date on the calendar or a price tag, it’s the devotion and the willingness to weather hardships of not your own but others. Still as you read this, some will say it’s easy or asking how but that is the difficulty of romantic love and how I think it’s the greatest of loves. If done right it can reciprocate with bounty and if done incorrectly can hurt the most toughest of souls.

I would want that romantic love but it is just an idea most people see as unobtainable. From my point of view even if I don’t ever find that romantic love, I will still look for it and her.

Grounded

This week was interesting, I’m not into politics but I do follow what’s going on in the world. Judging by the controversy behind the newly President-Elect, he seems an unpopular fellow with some. From all the news and articles streaming out of the United States, it just sounds like another Civil War is igniting but I doubt it’s the case.

It is an interesting change in power as the the last term served  was focused on erasing gaps and borders, rooting the republic back to the beginning of a just and open governance for the people. This week has been ominous and synonymous  with the end of that dream, trading for hard capitalism and the power to the 1%. As much as I lean to the latter, I still have hope no matter what their new government will do.

A democratic nation is a nation of choice, do not choose to hate but choose to hope. Hope for a better future, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for all your dreams. When you believe in something, then there is something still worth fighting for; but not fight with swords and steel. Fight with the yearning in your heart for the just and hopeful. Whether you don’t stand for them, stand to believe in those without a voice to have a voice.

As a student to American history, the people do possess one power no leader can ever take. The power to change, use that power for the good and just for all. Not of one creed or race, but for all. The United States of America is only strong as those who are willing to endure and fight for those of very little, the very weak and the very lost. Give them more, get them strong and help them find the way.

This will be an interesting 4 years coming up and no one knows how  it will turn out. But we all must endure it together.

Persistence.

Well it’s almost Christmas 2016, close to it by this blog. Looking back on old articles and posts I’ve written on here, I can’t help feel a solemn peace. A peace I have never felt in so long. Been too busy to care, moving too fast to stop, digging in but not looking up. I might have said this plenty in the past but it seems every year (at least once in the year), I can feel I’m really to relax a bit.

I seem to either be working, playing video games or looking for more work; never do I have the time to sit and see the path I’ve paved for myself. Those long lost letters I’ve kept which I never sent, the posts and status updates dug up from my past. Surely digital networks keep me in the loop about everything horrible in the world. In the end, this network isn’t the network I’ve been needing in my life. The network I’ve been looking for is from within me and what I can do right for people. The positive qualities I’ve forgotten are now rediscovered; listening, critical thinking, empathy, compassion. I’ve forgotten all about me that it feels quite alien to know this is the person I am. I’m starting to believe in a truth; the internet can being us close, but it can distance us away from who we are in terms of self-identity.

That truth echoes from the people I’ve met who put themselves into that internet culture. When they’re not on their phones, they act like normal people. Social media and an “always online” culture is turning us into terrible people. It doesn’t mean we should go cold turkey; just moderate the time we spend.

In the end, time is all we have and we will never have more of it.