Beginning of spring, events, randomized.

Well it looks like spring is finally on the way, I find that today was a good example of that fact, I enjoyed taking the photos last time, I will post more photos once I sort through what I've got, what I have taken etc. Actually I am looking forward to the summer, I find it more free, without the impediments of the snow, the necessity of using public transportation, the cold etc. One can get about just by bicycling, I personally like to exist minimally, with just a few things, almost enough to carry with me everything of value I own, just necessities, it makes one more free, rather than less, later on I would like to travel a lot, or rather more, I appreciate the diversity that one can experience, by doing so, more so than if one remains rooted, I do not like to be rooted.

I have been reading Sun After Dark, by Pico Iyer, it is a fictionalization of current events and his interpretation of foreign cultures. It is enjoyable as a novel as well, and is written with surprising eloquence and complexity, his use of other references is quite unique as well.

I find that time passes by so quickly these days, I manage to get quite a lot done, but still, time seems to pass by at a break-neck speed, to exaggerate a bit.

I would like to see more films in the cinema, although I manage to see a lot on DVD's either rented or borrowed from the library etc. Not very much is playing right now though that particularly intrigues me though, the last film I saw was P.T. Anderson's "there will be blood", I have liked the one or two others by him that I have seen, and this was not a disappointment. (although this is old news by now, I cant remember if I really mentioned it)

Well Obama won the Mississippi primary regaining some well-needed momentum after clintons success of the texas and ohio primaries, it is an interesting race (or battle) to observe, not only is it just two politicians, it is a man and woman, black and white persons. To quote another news source, Obama is more an embodiment of inspiration, whilst Clinton has experience. It is also, therefore, a battle between experience and inspiration. So what will Americans choose? Inspiration or experience. Personally I have not been much of a fan of Hillary's techniques and practices, I respect Obama, his attitude, his position. His techniques and tactics. Whichever one wins, the results will be interesting. The US in my opinion needs to focus on internal and domestic issues though, and step off the "world stage" so to speak. Although I don't follow US news stories or anything that much.

PS: As you can see from my (imperfect and incomplete) background photo in the title, I am attempting to make things seem a little more lively here.

End of season, mile-end, photographs, snow and this afternoon

Whew, march already! This afternoon I took a little trip out to the section of montreal, mile-end, on a little photo expedition, the resulting shots are posted here. (Gah! Damn blogger, my photos won't upload... Ill have to use imageshack)

I first hung out for a few hours in the Navarino cafe, for some coffee, it is cold today, not freezing, but cold, for some reason though it feels like the season is ending, and with the clocks springing ahead, it feels even more so. I then walked around the area for a while taking photos, a lot of photos, more than I have taken for months in fact, montreal really is nice in the winter, I should go on little expeditions like this more. I also passed by the popular Open Da Nite cafe, a hang-out of sorts, unfortunately a bit too popular, I had glanced inside a couple times to see if there were any (non-existent) free tables. Anyways here are the results, I enjoyed this very much myself, I would like to do this far more frequently, and with the upcoming spring and warmer weathers that is all the more likely.

Dull drone of bumblebees ricochets off thimbles

Recently it has just been the same things monotonously repeating and rotating, without much of the qualities of something particularly "notable", I have just been reading and writing a lot, true it is interesting, but it takes up a lot of time, and it is just essentially the same acts repeating.

Actually there have been a lot of birthdays recently, Including mine and my room-mate's, and my god-father, which have provoked a bit of celebration.

I have been renting a number of films from several video stores, the montreal national library, perhaps I will write reviews on them on here.

I have recently purchased a 250GB external Hard Drive, for about 125$ CAD, I was in serious need of one, considering all of my written work on this laptop, and my photographs, music, videos etc. (Too numerous to copy onto multiple DVD's) also the age of my laptop is a factor, although I do hope that it will last a few more years at least, since I don't really want to have to get a new one, but fortunately I insured it for an additional 3 years after the first default company warranty, so, yeah.

I should do more photography work, I bring my camera with me wherever I go, but I always just got to the same few cafes, or do the same things. Actually in the winter I find that I drink more coffee since it warms me up, and it is nice to observe rather than be immersed in the cold and snow outside.

the recent not-so-interesting fairly routine happenings

Sorry for not blogging for so long, I will update this post later once I've uploaded my latest photos etc. (I would do this write now, but I unfortunately left the memory card reader device at home)

I have been busy reading a load of magazines lately, mostly news and related subjects. I read a number of interesting articles (which I'll go into later) as well as a lot of books, which I have been unable to catch up with the rate at which I was buying them, mostly because I just found great deals on them and bought them.

I have been writing a lot lately as well, I find that these days, more than before, I am able to think up things to write, it just flows out of me more easily, without stagnating along the way, although I'm not so sure if thats much of a scientific explanation for it. My amount of time that I can focus on individual things is rather small, although that depends on what it is, my degree of interest etc. What I mean is, that when I start something I find that I gradually, or eventually lose interest, either completely or partially, so I find that I write mostly smaller fragments, and short things.

I have been taking a few pictures lately, in fact on the way to this cafe I did, although I have to keep at that more, just dedicate an entire length of time to taking photos.

Wi-fi cafes often charge per hour of time,(or day) which is somewhat irksome, as it (the service) can be obtained 100% free (and just as easily) in other places, I dont have the most efficient connection at my home, for more intensive things, so for those ever so slightly more intensive things I have to go out to wi-fi hotspots, or whatever else they are called.

I have been reading the Life of Pi by Yann Martel, which is eccentric while at the same time quite ordinary in plot, I have only really started it, but the small amount that I have read is quite multi-layered a rich in content.

I would like to visit Vancouver someday, just to "explore" it, there are many parts of canada that I have not been too, well, actually I have only really been in two cities of canada.

Montreal (in my opinion) consists of 4 different types of neighbourhood: downtown, rich residential areas (west island, westmount, anyplace predominantly populated by houses rather than apartments) suburbs (like mile end, the plateau) and then areas under construction or that do not fit into the above categories. (Basically Miscellaneous) Having this blend is nice, as each neighborhood is different, and good in its own unique way. Milwaukee only really had the downtown area, and the richer residential areas, (which was, to my pleasure, where I was staying) and these two types of neighborhood are all sort of split up by empty space and highways, it is good if you have a car, but otherwise it is difficult to get around, as all of the convenient stores and shops and whatever else is all spread out, and there is no public transportation system worth mentioning apart from a scarce few buses. But as I said, excellent if one has a car.