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

I'm not being lazy; it's just that I don't feel like writing much today. I think I'll just add a photo taken up at my nearest park near New Westminster's City Hall. Oh, give me a break! Name something that you've done without fail for last 1218 days. Anyway, as proven here, Saturdays are the days with the fewest visitors. Weekends are for rest, after all ...

Labels: flora and fauna, New Westminster

I run around with a camera not to catch prize-worthy shots as I'm more pragmatic than that. I have a difficult time remembering the exact appearance of many places from my past. So, I started archiving images at the age of 45. I assume if I click the shutter button enough, then there'll be more for me to fall back on as my memory fades in future years.

In addition, there are also lots of acquaintances who will probably never have the chance to visit British Columbia. I want to take enough personal photos including a representation of my present home town, so someone could get a flavour of it by just visiting my Flickr pages. Seeing a full screen image may provide an understanding of what it was like when I stood at the particular location.

It's nice too that fourty other people have joined a photo-sharing group I started. These people have contributed a variety of their images of New Westminster, BC to my Flickr group. I find it quite interesting to see how others' contributions reflect different aspects of the city. I would like to thank them for their participation.

Labels: Flickr, New Westminster

I just made a year-end donation to PBS. Since I've been watching high-definition TV, I have renewed interest in that valuable public resource. Rick Steves has never made Europe look so good. Last week, I caught Leonard Bernstein's Candide on Great Performances. Patti LuPone played the old lady. That tipped the scales. There's not another way I would have been introduced to the New York Philharmonic's semistaged performance were it not for PBS.



Sending in a few bucks was inevitable, I guess. Doing this sort of thing probably puts me up one rung on Maslow's hierarchy. Financial security may play a bigger role than personal growth although I am not absolutely sure. I've chosen a lifestyle that generates more free time than cash. Yet I find myself more keen on making charitable contributions than back when I earned lots more. Of course, the tax benefit doesn't go unnoticed. I can cut back on the amount of taxes I pay and donate to what I choose rather than leaving that decision to politicians and bureaucrats.

Labels: government, musical, television

I haven't really noticed that each day has been getting longer for a half week. I think the lengthening of the days must quicken toward spring.

The short days combined with the cloud cover are making for the current deficit in the sunshine department. I heard that we may get a few rays tomorrow. There's even a chance that the sky may lighten later this afternoon.



Unfortunately, right at the moment, outside is looking quite grey and dreary. I've added this picture only so I can recall what a clear sky looks like.

Labels: weather

I bought my current LCD monitor at a Boxing Day sale in 2002. My Samsung 151V has been a solid little performer over these years. There's absolutely no problem with it but I am ready to pick up a replacement today. I ordered a new Samsung 931C online and I will drive to Burnaby to get it.

I am looking forward to four more diagonal inches of screen area and a direct digital connection. I did, however, resist the current infatuation with PC wide screens. I suppose it'd make sense to try that if one watched lots of movies on the computer. My Toshiba 42-inch television is less than a meter from my computer desk and is true 16x9 format. So, I think it makes more sense to have a Windows desktop that's closer to square.

Labels: Hardware

I offer best wishes to all visitors.

You have to forgive me a bit though as I'm nearly physically sick as I'm watching the Disney Parade on ABC. I really should have turned to a TV station with only a burning yule log. Yet, I recorded this 2-hour Christmas-morning special from a Boston network feed. I find it's sort of like a horrible car wreck; no matter how awful, it's just impossible to look away.

I am old enough to no longer believe in Santa Claus. I'm also aware that this "Christian holiday" really has never been. As stated in the blog in the past, December 25th was merely an attempt by the church to usurp end-of-year pagan rituals.

Even bearing this in mind, I have to admit this shameless Disney promotional video is more than a bit embarrassing. Old Walt knew the importance of commercial success, yet by what I know, he also had real beliefs and principles. Today's parade and activities broadcast from FL and CA seemed shockingly soul-less. This manufactured advertising that masqueraded as entertainment exposed ugly new lows in our media and American culture.

Labels: Christmas

As well as making use of tabbed browsing by loading my frequently visited websites in a group, I also use MS Explorer's Links bar for those sites I use a lot but needn't keep constantly open.

It seems as if I can sometimes go for days without getting out much. I mean venturing into the world on the world wide web. This is the computing equivalent of getting into a rut. We take it all for granted now, but access to most all information at any hour is really very liberating.

On Oasis HD, I recorded an hour-long program about Yellowstone National Park. Just a few minutes ago, I found myself exploring the area on my monitor. I don't think my local library is open today, and I wouldn't have had the fortitude to remember my interest and actually find information in book form. Do you remember when tourist information offices or travel boards were a major source of trip planning information?

Do you think we're any smarter than before the Internet?

Labels: HDTV, technology, television