A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

Here's a screenshot of The Virtual Sunapee Reunion.



For many years, I've been keeping track of alumni from my former high school. The VSR site itself has a blog that helps to track changes. Each person can add text and photos to a customized page. Keeping things running also involves sending out monthly newsletters. I do this so that I can determine those participants who abandon an email address without informing me.

I'm surprised by how few people create web-based materials. Most of the world are just consumers I guess. Every once in a while I'm reminded that my combination of skills are, indeed, rare.

It is a bit odd, I manage this site even though Sunapee, New Hampshire is more than 5,000 kilometers from here. It all boils down to the fact we all use the same Internet!

Labels: Internet, New Hampshire, Sunapee

What are the 3 to 5 second clips that come between the end of the television commercial and the start of the show's action? New shows use these quite effectively. The CSI series have the great little urban clips. When seeing these short intros, I always get the urge to revisit Las Vegas, Miami, and New York as a tourist.

There were a couple of episodes of Boston Legal waiting for viewing on the PVR. I watched them last night. It really is an excellent program. Those little pre-action shots around Beantown made me want to visit Boston, MA. It is only about 120 miles from where I grew up, so I suppose it'd make a good stopover when next visiting New Hampshire.

Labels: television

The title is what the image to the left might say if it could talk.

I've already got over 1,400 images on Flickr.com. If you're not marked as a family member or friend then there'll be several dozen hidden from you.

Last week, I was going to create an entry when these had been viewed 5,000 times; however, I missed that milestone. At the moment, the count stands at 5,269.

Of course, not all images have been opened equally. Some have really attracted an audience. The top spot at the moment is My Second Graders which has been viewed on 221 occasions. It is an old scanned image. Second place is called Happy Thanksgiving. It's actually a turkey cooked by Shinji and comes in at 165.

Surpisingly, some images haven't been seen by a living soul. The image here is our public library in New Westminster. It was taken on January 14th. I don't know why people have neglected to take a look.

Please click here to be the very first to open it on Flickr. You will be able to see if you made it in time to be first by checking the Additional Information section in the right column of the new Flickr window.

Labels: Flickr

Unlike a relative who used to constantly complain about growing older, I brag about it. I'm proud of having lived over four and a half decades. I really feel I've grown wiser. Then again, we all know there's no fool like an old fool.

It goes without saying that as a kid, most of the planet is older. Then, as a teenager, most pop singing idols are just a bit older. Eventually, one surpasses the average age of hot movie stars. After that, one begins to notice that supervisors and managers at work are younger. I just had a shock though. I've discovered I was born the same year as Stephen Harper, the new Prime Minister of Canada. Ye gads, can it be true? I am already as old as politicians!

I hope I'm able to watch these trends continue for a long time, especially considering the alternative.

Some blogs focus exclusively on politics. Frankly, I can't think of a more useless exercise. If people happen to agree with the point of view, they may read the entire entry; however, of what benefit would that be? On the other hand, if readers' views differ then they won't bother to venture past the very first sentence.

Still, there are occasions when it's impossible not to say something. I would have had to stick my head in a hole to avoid blogging something political today. Canada has changed political course a bit. We have a new Prime Minister in a minority government.



I think what I want to say today has more to do with representation in general than any specifics about yesterday's results. When I was younger, I was a bit more adamant about the political party I supported. Now, I realize that the world won't end regardless of results. Things won't suddenly turn upside down. People will continue eating breakfast and going to work today.

The world is complex, so no single party can represent me on every topic. I bet most people are similar. Collectively, we must choose the party's idea set that represents the larger number of personal beliefs. Organized change occurs slowly. I'm thankful to live in a country where people have a say. I'm even more thankful that governmental changes can occur without loss of life. Remembering this puts things into better perspective after an election.

Labels: Canada, government

Yesterday, I was riding up in an elevator from this building's swimming pool. As the doors opened, I was politely greeted by Mr. Burns. Actually, his name isn't Mr. Burns. He's a very old Chinese guy living on the floor above. I simply refer to him as Mr. Burns. I do this as he closely resembles that namesake from the Simpsons.

We bought this apartment coming up on eight years ago. Mr. Burns has lived here since we arrived; yet, I don't know his real name or much else about him. I have the idea he might not know a lot of English. Is this just a comforting excuse for not speaking more?

Urban living differs from small-town life. It is strange how little one has to know about neighbours that, quite literally, may live a few meters away. People's schedules differ, I suppose A yearly owners meeting isn't really the best time to divulge intimate details. Even special building functions, like the yearly barbecue, do not lead to much mingling. It's okay, as we might not have much in common with the others. Perhaps our most common similarity is our postal address.

Labels: feelings

We have a friend who's gone back home for a visit. He returned to Nepal leaving Vancouver just last week. Now, we've read about continuing troubles there at Google News. There was a daytime curfew imposed. Even phones were cut off to prevent demonstrators and protestors from organizing support for a return to democracy. We hope he and his family can stay out of way of those protesting.

Long before we met Jiwan, we travelled on a short vacation to Nepal. It was almost exactly thirteen years ago. We've been lots of places but travelling there will not be easily forgotten.

Cities have a way of changing quickly, I'm sure. Here's a scan of an old photo showing the crowds in Katmandu.

Labels: Google, Nepal