Yikes! 2011! Catching Up vs Carrying On?

Many bloggers before me have answered this Hamlet-like question, do I catch up with all that has happened up until now, or do I just carry on, one post at a time. It was the same dilemma I faced as a child, given a beautiful bound daily diary with its own special lock and key. I wrote in it faithfully for the first week, then it faded to weekly, monthly, rarely, never…. and the shame I felt when I picked up the diary, knowing I hadn’t filled up the dated pages, but – horrors – had just left them blank, letting time pass.

Yet there is the other example of all those dead boring diary entries from the 18th and 19th centuries, featuring weather reports in one line, still sunny today, or rain again. So what? So is daily and regular best? Only if there is something to say.

But now I face the dilemma, dear reader. Do I catch up and give highlights of all that has happened in the past since the last posting, or do I merrily continue on with what is in the now right now?

You know I’ve decided: I’m carrying on.

Hyper-Local on Carrall Street

This post is a duplicate of a page in my Carrall Street Journal.

I started a blog named The Carrall Street Journal in March 2006, and it has been an on and off activity for me. My original ideas for it are listed below. They were a little bit out of scope, and I began to see it simply as a vehicle for my own personal expression of life here in Gastown/DTES. As it was a very personal hyper-local blog, a place-based personal log of my observations, I’ve just now integrated all the posts from the old Carrall Street Journal here into my personal blog.

March 2006, this is what I thought the Carrall Street Journal would be:

• The Carrall Street Journal documents people, events, development and transitions along Carrall Street.

• The Journal offers reflections on the physical and social developments as the greenway plans take hold and become a reality, and is open to any comments and community suggestions.

• Descriptions and profiles feature people, businesses, events and associations located on and near the street.

• The journal is volunteer-based and is an independent voice, with no particular affiliation.

• It doesn’t take any advertising, and isn’t commercial.

• Any member of the community can contribute to the discussion, as long as you have an email address to send from and to be contacted at.

Rainy Saturday, Late November

Saturday afternoon, continuous misty rain.

This month has been a whirlwind of transformative experiences: don’t get me started. I’ll just focus on the first thoughts at hand, today, now, at this time.

Open Source Spirit.org has finally got started in earnest, with lots of interviews and posting. In this past month I’ve also got a client’s new site up and running, and helped them set up some initial social media presence, too.

Devendra Banhart is playing now as I sip French Rose tea. I’m wondering what to do about some old blogs that I had started and have now left behind. I need to bring these orphans in out of the cold. But for now, I’ll write up this moment.

The forced narcissus are starting, just, to bloom. I’m enjoying reading Malevich and Film, just finished Powe’s Mystic Trudeau.

I’m reminded that some of the Warhol Screen tests will be shown here next year (PUSH festival) Must remember to get the tix before the last minute and they’re sold out! When will these Screen Tests be put out on DVD so I can have them in my collection?

About Teatime: cup from NOOD (on sale), oakleaf teapot (made in Italy) was a gift, loose tea from Granville Island Tea Company, the cup with the tea: a few tea leaves, a little milk.

I realized this morning that the mind, my brain I mean, seeks deep image satisfaction.

I had a big dose of it this morning, making images to (maybe) use in a video to introduce OpenSourceSpirit.org. Here’s a little of what I was doing:

Carrall Street Journal Returns: Hi Yo Silver, Away!!!!

After a too long hiatus, I’ve gone back to the Carrall Street Journal. Client work and a general disillusionment with the entire public process conspired and I left that blog to lie fallow. It was still getting hits, and now, after my recent meeting at the Gastown Heritage Area Planning Committee (the unpronounceable GHAPC), I was moved to go back into the old blog. Frustration at the length of time it takes for anything to be accomplished on the civic level combined with a simple urge to blog about the street again, and I got my groove back.

I’ve got new ideas for the Journal and have scaled down my expectations, so will be posting there a little more often than once in 6 months!

Over the years the events that seemed so significant have faded into the past, and ideas I had for the street and contact through it still haven’t come to fruition.

Talk about big ideas!

Originally I had wanted to walk the street as Joyce walked Dublin, and using the names and references seen on the street, through the history, from the stores and shops along the way, to create a poetic integrated image/bank. Oh I envisioned projections on the 4 corners of each intersection, digital audio tours that were poetic and resonant with the past, present and future. I imagined Carrall Street as the microcosm of a whole new world, including East, West, Chinese, Aboriginal roots, Colonial overlords, high-tech infrastructure, homelessness, high-end glamour, art galleries, corner stores, contrasts between more expensive restaurants like Chill Winston with Wing’s Cafe, tucked in between the Gospel mission and the alley by Pigeon Park. A symphony of a city, as the early filmmakers created them. I didn’t pursue funding for this, and it remained simply an incubated idea, which others will surely find and follow.

UPDATE NOV. 2008: I’ve just decided to integrate the Carrall Street Journal posts here in my personal blog, and all the posts can now be found here.

Secret Time-Saving Technique Revealed

I’m ready to divulge to you my secret method of not only saving time, but also of creating more time than I thought I had available to me. No, I don’t just put some extra time into a small lunchbag to be opened later when I really need it. Nor do I do the old Goon Show trick of writing “4 o’clock” on a piece of paper and putting it in my pocket so I’ll always know the time. This is a more subtle technique, which I accidentally discovered years ago, and now I’ll share with you my valued secret:

The three-step method of the Time Savers’ Club:

1. Make an iron-clad appointment : that means you clear all other work and plans out of the way. Commit to it totally. That period of time is spoken for. This is a true appointment with another person, who you cannot and must not disappoint.
2. For a reason outside of your responsibility (this is an important part of the process – you NEVER do this part yourself) the other person is required to cancel. You are forced to accept.
3. Voila! You now have free time. You have not only saved time, but you have created time you didn’t think you had! Because you are not double-committed, ie. there is no fall-back plan B, you have this time open to do with as you wish!

It is important that you never imagine that this particular appointment or plan is a candidate for the Time Savers’ Club. (For then you would be creating a fall-back plan B – imagining what to do if there is a cancellation. This is not permitted.)

Whenever there is an unavoidable cancellation or change of plans, be like me, and feel grateful for another intervention from ….(drum roll)…. The Time Savers’ Club!

Enjoy!

Incredible Weekend Event in Memory of Shamcher

We had a wonderful get-together this past weekend in memory of Shamcher Bryn Beorse, who was a yogi, sufi, pioneer of OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.) People who had known him in his life, and those who were in touch with his work, but never met him in person gathered here, in Vancouver. I’ll report more on this event after I’ve had some time to decompress.

Taking a few moments to relax after the intensity of the weekend, I fooled around with photo booth on my mac.

The magical Lamp of Knowledge award goes to each person who was here (and you know who you are!)

The Rose of Beauty designation goes to the excellent Fifis!

Recap on Bridging Media

Active, inspiring, great people, good insights, rich media follow-up, plus: Fast turnaround, with Miss604′s liveblogging of the event, and Robert Ouimet’s overnight podcast of the proceedings!

If you couldn’t make it but want to find out what happened, check out their links.

Miss604 on Bridging Media (Link to session 1, follow next posting for all 4 sessions)

Robert Ouimet’s podcast (Link to session 1, other sessions outlined here also.)

Guerilla Gardening in Vancouver

Spring inspiration for all: check out Jason’s garden just under the Burrard Bridge.

Cinderella in PowerPoint

While in Vancouver at Northern Voice, Alan Levine used this slide show as a great example of how NOT to tell a story. I know quite a few people have linked to this, but it certainly bears repeating!

Earth Hour comes Early

Yesterday afternoon the power went out in our building, along with others across the street. At first it seemed like a Hydro issue, but it’s now narrowed down to – yes, you got it – just our building. I thought this was just an example of cosmic timesaving, because Earth Hour will be on March 29th, the day I’ll be involved in the Bridging Media event (more on this later), but I’ll be home by 8pm. Still, I’m banking plenty of earth hours right now.

Candlelight was lovely last night and this morning we had pure water to drink – no cooking on the electric stove, with the electric kettle, with the toaster oven, or the microwave. It was a little chilly. The Hydro guy told me that the food in the freezer could be okay for 24 hours. But what about after that? My phone is down, the dishes are in the dishwasher, our hot water heater is electric. I’m charging the macbook here at our local Blake’s while catching up. Totally electri-dependent.
What were the effects of this event on the Detox we just started yesterday morning? It’s all in the My Spring Detox blog.