Nothing here, just a picture I took while walking along the Brunette River.
(I kind of wished the phone or I was smart enough to keep the flowers in focus. Maybe there’s an app for that. At least it’s not shot from the standard “hold camera out in front of you” height like every other picture I take.)
(Not really enhanced Blade Runner-style. Sorry.)
A couple of days ago I was strangely and suddenly compelled to take a picture of myself in the mirror, like how people used to do selfies in the old days. Perhaps it was because I always seem to look better in the mirror vs. when I take an actual selfie and the selfie comes out horrible and ugly. Maybe I look better in reverse.
After looking over the image I noticed how filthy the bathroom mirror, which is also reminiscent of the old days when people took selfies in front of mirrors. No one thinks to clean the mirror first.
I could have cleaned the mirror and taken another photo, but I was afraid I would lose the moment, so I used Affinity Photo to clean all the splotches from the mirror. It worked reasonably well, so hooray for technology.
And the photo:
By the way, it’s not graininess you see on the bottom of my face, it’s stubble. It’s also deliberate and looks way better in person. For real. Yep.
While heading out for my run yesterday I spotted these flowers coming up through the dead leaves. Spring will soon be…springing. Yay.
Addendum: The sun was out, as you can see, and I didn’t fiddle with the photo so it looks a little blown out. I thought these fancy new smartphone cameras were supposed to magically turn me into a great photographer. Maybe next year.
Why? Why not, I say.
This is in reference to fall the season, not fall when you snag your foot on a tree root and splat on the ground.
Coming back along the Brunette River trail from my run two days ago, I took this shot. It was tricky to get one without people in it because it was mild and sunny and the weekend. I’m not anti-people, mind you (unless they’re cyclists at Burnaby Lake), I just prefer my scenery shots without people wandering through them, unless they’re people I know.
Mid to late October is that one time in fall I can enjoy. It’s not always raining, it can be fairly mild (today I went for my noon walk wearing a t-shirt) and most of the trees still have their leaves and the leaves have donned their pretty autumn colors.
I adjusted the white balance a bit in Affinity Photo, using the default “warm” setting. It actually makes the colors, especially of the leaves on the ground, more accurate. My iPhone 6 tends to take photos with a cool tinge to them, which is handy for giving everything a vague dystopian quality, but not entirely accurate vs. reality (or is it? Dun dun dun.)
In a few more weeks it will be much cooler, the trees will look like the blasted skeletal remains of the post-apocalypse and the daylight will last for about twenty minutes. But at least it’ll be nice to snuggle under the blanket on the couch.
As I waited for a train to trundle by at the crossing at Government Street in Burnaby, I snapped a picture of this bit of wisdom someone had spray-painted onto the sidewalk (the train isn’t invisible, it’s on the second track which is not visible in my photo):
Is it a coincidence that this was put down at a train crossing? But not only a train crossing, one with double tracks and at an intersection, which is a perfect combo for some sort of horrible accident–er, I mean a place where something might be observed to be “coming apart.” Also of note, a short distance down the road is where a 150+ car train derailed a few years ago.
Or maybe it’s an observation about people, like “I really understood Uncle Festus after that day he totally came unglued.” Or maybe it just means “take lots of pictures when you dismantle the engine on your lawn mower, otherwise you’ll end up putting it back together, then find six vital engine pieces sitting behind you.”
I meant to post this back when I took the picture but I probably got distracted by a funny cat picture.
Anyway, this is a shot of the sunrise from Sapperton station, taken just after 6:30 a.m. on April 4, 2017. This is by far the most vividly colorful sunrise I’ve seen in a long time. I actually had to wait for others to take their pictures before I could take mine. 😛
And to end the month here’s a photo of the entire family from around 1968 or so.
From left to right: Mom, me, Carole, Terri, Dad, Barry, Ricky
From the previous post, you can see my claim to being a skinny ass kid is accurate. My legs are sticks. I can’t even keep my comfy wool socks from slipping off. I seem pretty happy, though, possibly because I’m finally off the bottle.
While the fashions seen here are pretty jazzy, I am especially intrigued by what my brothers are wearing. The jackets are fine–they’d even look fine in the 21st century. But the black and white-striped pants that are inches too short? I just don’t know. No, wait, I do know. They look ridiculous. This must have been a fad, however brief, in the late 60s. Both brothers seem to be compensating for the pants by adopting tough guy looks. I think Rick may be holding a skateboard, which also helps a little to compensate.
I don’t recall my sisters ever wearing these knee-high socks except in photos like this one.
I remember the orange couch, though. We eventually got a green one with a floral pattern but for years the orange couch dominated the living room, demanding–and receiving–attention from all who entered.
I can’t really articulate how much it bothers me that I have photos that were taken of me from half a century ago, except that I’m happy to still be around and embarrassed by them. I’ve recently scanned in a pair from 1967. There’s no date beyond the year so I would have been between two and three years old.
The first photo is an outdoor shot of me and my brother Rick standing in the front yard of our house on Trunk Road in glorious Duncan, BC.
You know, it may not be my brother at all, but the size and hair seem to fit.
Mostly I can’t figure out what sort of hat I am wearing. It looks like a motorcycle helmet made out of fluff. I seem mildly embarrassed by it. How ironic that in years to come I would willingly subject myself to far greater fashion crimes.
This next photo is a rare color one from the same year.
I seem much happier here and why not? I’m not wearing the fluff helmet, I’m snuggled in comfy jammies with the little feet built-in and I’ve…got my bottle?
Yes, that is clearly a baby bottle in my lap but as you can also see I am clearly not a baby in the photo. I have teeth and everything. This led me to wonder at what age you stop bottle-feeding your kids and I found a Time article that suggests the bottle should be taken away between 12 and 18 months. Clearly, this did not happen here, unless I was just keeping the bottle warm for the younger sibling I never knew I had. Mind you, the same study said that late bottle feeding increases the risk of obesity and I was one skinny ass kid.
But maybe I kept thin by ingesting all the second-hand smoke floating around. Every adult back then had lit cigarettes in their mouths, in their hands or in an ashtray.
I have no idea who is knitting next to me but that posture surely can’t be good for the back. Also, rad red pants.
Finally, I think my mom took this photo. The clue is the blurry digit in the top-right corner. As a photographer, my mom had two specialties: including her fingers as subjects, and lopping off the tops of people’s heads. I was too short here, thus my head was spared.
I did not get a single visit to my blog yesterday, January 26. This calls for a sad face.
In other unrelated sad news, I walked along the Brunette River trail today to see if it was ready for running. Behold!
A little mucky in spots but completely clear and perfectly suitable for jogging. Hooray!
But you are saying to yourself, “Why is this sad? Is it because he has grown fat and lazy and it is sad that the trail is now free of snow but the desire to run has itself run away?”
The answer can be seen in the next photo. I emphasize that this photo was taken at the same time on the same two km stretch of trail along the river.
If you look carefully in the above shot you can see another completely clear patch of trail near the top. These two pictures cover the extremes as most of the trail is somewhere between the two, with a mix of snowy and clear patches that would work for limited running, provided you had nimble, gazelle-like reflexes to constantly alter course between the snow and no-snow spots.
It has been almost four weeks since the last snowfall. Given that the weather over the next ten days looks to be pretty similar to the last few weeks I am revising my estimate on being able to run outdoors again from early February to late February–a month from now and, incredibly, close to three months since my last outdoor run on December 4, 2016, or as I like to call it, the BS (Before Snow) era.
And to think I once found snow delightful. Delightful!
Damn snow.
I think this month warrants more funny cats, so here you go.
It’s early in the month but it is time. Please distract me, however briefly, amusing cat image.
I give you cat vs. potato:
