Respect.

Cars carrying the bodies of two Canadian soldiers drove the two hour journey from CFB Trenton into Toronto today.

And as the hearse began the two hour drive from the military base into Toronto a curious thing began to happen, people gathered on the overpasses with flags and signs to honour two men they didn't know.

Others began to park their cars along the highway and line up along the edge of the road to watch as the procession went by. And for a short time, for one spontaneous afternoon in the holiday season, people of different political backgrounds and beliefs put aside their differences to pay homage to the courage and sacrifice of the two soldiers who died far away from their home and native land.

The funeral is tonight. People will rise to speak great words of their bravery, their families will cry and pay tribute to their memory.

And more will fight and die far away from home.

Music. . . So Just Listen Already.

A Creative Christmas

Decorating the cookies as trees and wreathes got old . . .  

Saddam Hussein sugar cookie

and its all true

Some of the ways I know people on facebook.

Baron:
You met randomly: Baron was skating along, minding his own business when Bryn accidentally stepped in front of him. Baron swerved into the path of a large truck and was taken to the hospital. After painful reconstructive surgery (and an out of court settlement) the two became friends.

Taylon:
You met randomly: Taylan was strutting his stuff as one of the top male models at Milan Fashion week when a crazed PETA demonstrator tried to attack him for wearing fur. Luckily Bryn (who was sitting between Victoria Beckham and Diddy) managed to tackle the demonstrator before Taylan was harmed.

Jesse:
You met randomly in 2007: Jessie was a calm, experienced lifeguard and Bryn was the new guy. Jessie ended up showing him the ropes (literally, she showed him the lane ropes) and they became friends.

Luke:
You met randomly in 2003: Luke, a former UFC champion was training for his next big fight when a cougar attacked him as he was running through the woods. The cougar took both his legs before Bryn found him but Luke still entered the fight and won. Afterwards, Bryn reattatched Luke's legs with the skill he learned whilst living amongst the Inuit of Baffin Island.

Chip:
You met randomly: Chip was once going to a pretty hardcore concert. He wanted someone big and strong to push everyone out of the way so he could make his way to the front so he decided to call up Bryn. Chip ended up having to do most of the pushing cause Bryn had an asthma attack and couldn't find his puffer.

Kaela:
You met randomly in 1993: Kaela was addicted to perscription painkillers and Bryn staged an intervention. It wasn't pretty but Kaela has been drug free for almost a month now. Congrats Kaela!

New Music . . . So Listen Already.

HIP AND FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE

scents of it.

I'm sitting in a little hippy cafe in Toronto. I'm wearing my toque and some plaid and feeling very much at home.

The remnants of mocha foam are in a cup in front of me and for the first time in a while I'm feeling a bit creative.

My fingers are itchy.

I'm going home for Christmas in two days. As much as I love Toronto and everything it offers I still have the ocean in my blood. The scent of an ocean breeze has eluded me for some months now and I plan to drink in bucketfuls as soon as I deplane.

Righteous Indignition

Long story short . . .

I am publicly vowing to never fly US Airways again.

Music . . . so just listen already.

Pleasant Valley Road

639,000,000.00 dollars

The amount of money Barack Obama raised for his election campaign.

Signs of the Economy, closed fall 2008

 

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being the more joy you can contain.
- Kahlil Gibran

70 hour timecard

I have never counted the hours I work until today.

I was bored, sitting in an American Airlines plane, delayed in Little Rock because of storms in Chicago.

So I counted.

13 hours here, a Saturday worked there. Pretty soon I was passing 50 hours and getting a bit scared. Then I hit 70 and enough was enough, I stopped counting and realized the process had made me exhausted.

Take Note

A thought

Squirrelly Heads

The squirrels in my neighbourhood run around with a sense of purpose.

They scurry from place to place, dodging around cars and pedestrians, intent on getting wherever their squirrelly heads are directing them. And as the season changes and the leaves detach from their tree and float to their final resting place the squirrels sense of urgency becomes more acute.

What was the last thing you felt a sense of urgency over? Shamefully the last time I felt that was this morning when my cab was late. The time before that was when I realized I had forgotten to book a rental car for my latest business trip.

What is worth feeling urgent over? Probably not a rental car, certainly not a cab being 10 mins late.

A squirrel has the singular purpose of survival. His sense of urgency comes from not wanting to starve over the cold winter.

Are there things I should be feeling more urgent over?

This is what makes America great

A Simple Plan?

I was faced with a choice the other night.

I either had to take action and do what I had always promised to do . . . or shamefacedly step off the rhetoric and let people call my bluff.

I saw the drummer from Simple Plan at Toronto Fashion week.

I have always loudly proclaimed my dislike for them, in fact I promised that if I was ever in the same room as a band member I would go kick them in the junk.

So there I was, not knowing what to do, thoughts of getting kicked out of fashion week after I ran up and soccer booted him in the crotch ran through my head.

In the end I didn't; I just couldn't.

Music . . . so just listen already.

Mobb Deep vs Ray Parker Jr - Ghostbusters Got It Twisted (DJ Ayres Remix)

a horse and his boy

the melting pot . . . until i board at least

Airports are rather colourful places.

To be honest I'm usually the least colourful of anyone unless I'm late and have to run, then my red face adds an interesting dynamic.  

Its like a mini version of the world where people of all creeds and colours are united in running around in different directions.  Somehow taking your shoes off for security is a bonding moment; everyone is slightly humiliated together.

Today I'm in the John F Kennedy melting pot which is a more interesting pot then, say, a place like Charlotte, NC.  If JFK was a rich and spicy curry, filled with many herbs and flavours, Charlotte would be a mushroom and rice dish.  JFK security is particularly humiliating as the security personal appears to be so incredably sick of their jobs that they take it out on passengers in the form of thinly veiled insults.

'See this piece of paper?' the guard waves a ticket in the air as he yells, 'this is all i need to see.  Keep your passport in your pocket, I don't need to know who you are.'

or.

'Those things on your feet called shoes?  Ya they need to come off and be placed on the belt.'

Today's Thot

Its not meant to be worn as a tshirt.  Its called under armor for a reason.

BLT please.

leaves, bricks and pancakes

Growing older is sometimes tough when you don't really want too.

There have been a couple instances in my life where I've sat back and decided it was time to grow up.  I'd resolve to do this, or not do that and determine from that day/hour/minute/second I would change specific things about myself.

Turning a leaf.

I never really liked that metaphor.  I've always envisioned the leaf blowing back over so I usually thought about turning something heavier, more solid.  I thought if I was flipping a brick instead of a leaf maybe the change would stick.  A couple times I envisioned myself flipping a giant pancake on a sizzling griddle, sliding a big spatula under it and flipping the doughy side downwards.

Regardless of what metaphor I used, a lot of those momentous 'time to grow up and change' moments didn't really stick.

Lately I've been rethinking the leaf metaphor.  Maybe turning a brick just isn't the way it is; maybe using a giant spatula to flip that giant pancake was just to involved.  It could just be because I've taken probably to much time to discover that resolving is one thing and carrying through a completely different issue.  

Perhaps its time to ditch the brick and return to the idea of a leaf.  Maybe I shouldn't get so stressed and worried if the wind blows it back over every now and then.  Maybe life is more about contantly turning those leaves and less about one giant, momentous turn of a brick . . . or flip of a pancake.

What's your Stuff?

I believe that when the antichrist reveals himself here on earth he will be wearing crocs.

Crocs are like the PT Cruisers of footwear, no good.

The Mysical Octophant

hmm . . .

Dusk at St Andrews

It was the kind of building that takes your breath away when you walk through its doors.

It was slowly growing darker, a sign of the changing seasons and the intricate stained glass shone faintly onto the wooden pews below.  It created a kind of reverance that one can only find in magnificent old buildings.  Someone had obviously laboured painstakingly over its creation, wanting each and every detail to be perfect.

I walked down the isle and breathed in the ambience.  I took my seat in the padded wooden pew and watched as a young man took the stage and started rapping.

I sat and appreciated the contrast.

High Fiving Fun

I high fived a US customs agent today at Chicago O'Hare.

She was cool black woman that yelled at everyone in a non-offensive way to hurry up and get their laptops out of their bags and their shoes off.  She helped me with my laptop as I gathered my stuff after making it through the scanner without any beeps.  Overwhelmed with a feeling of relief I held up my hand and without hesitation she slapped it.  

Awesome.

I've high fived Starbucks employees in the past, they're a semi-regular occurance in the grocery store and I once double high fived a customer service representative at Canadian Tire (she deserved it), but I feel as though hand slapping a US customs official has just taken it to another level.

It made my day and judging from the smile on her face I'm pretty sure it made hers too.

I'll focus right after this one.

Love

"The two of them spoke of love, for had they talked of other things it would have been a great waste"  

- Chretien de Troyes

The Epitome of Cool

This guy was a baller before that term was even coined.  Look at him beside his private jet, his girl cuddling in and his friend looking admiringly at his car.  I think this is what success should look like.

The Marriot, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Truth?

A Starbucks Adventure.

I sat in a Starbucks in Madison Wisconsin and enjoyed a tall soy London Fog surrounded by university students this morning.  Flip flops, hoodies, cargo shorts, it was like a Hollister ad come to life.  

After the barista made me my drink I went to my seat across the shop and started sipping.  Suddenly she shreaked "WAIT! THATS NOT SOY!"  

The cup stayed in midair, poised before my mouth as about 25 university students stopped talking and turned to face me.  I felt the tension in the air as the barista asked me if i was deathly allergic.  

"I'm not" I replied and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the two sips I took weren't going to send me into seizures.  

Bryn-Vampire Weekend

Seriously?

Glass Ceilings

Do you put a ceiling on what you deserve? Are there limits to what you think you should have?

Ever walked into a really high end store and felt uncomfortable? I have, I proceeded to skulk around the isles, feeling the quality of the fabrics all the while feeling completely out of place. The shop associates either looked at my slightly suspiciously or ignored me altogether.

Sometimes I buy things with this in mind. I can't help but think that certain things are above me, and I'm not talking financially persay, more that I'm not worth that product, that furniture or those items of clothing.

I'm trying to change my attitude, I'm worth that expensive Prada coat, I'd have to go into debt to get it but in no way should I feel that I somehow don't deserve that product just as much as anyone else. If it was the most important item for me to buy than I should get it.

We erect that glass ceiling over a lot of stuff in our lives. Why couldn't you be wealthy one day if you wanted too? It comes down to you seizing opportunity but many people doubt their ability or decide not to take the risk.

What is your glass ceiling over?

Its time to rip it down.

If you want pictures of cool homes

Go here:

http://www.theselby.com/

Wild

Today I thought . . .

If Toronto wasn't so darn cold in the winter it would be amazing.

The Linux Cafe

The Linux Cafe, corner of Grace and Harbord. Best panini I have ever had, no exaggeration. They purposely send their wireless internet signal into the park across the street so one can enjoy a meal and work while sitting in the sunshine. Something is just right about this business model.

walk you home By Karmina

Karmina, my newest find. Excuse the lameo vid that someone has obviously homemade, just listen to the song and then go hug someone.

Best Part of Waking Up

Buckeye Salvage

Little Portugal

Spotted

I'm so glad you finally asked" she answered, before he had finished.
And they sat by the sea and promised to spend all of their days of forever,
Together

Carolina Sunset