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

Next month contains an anniversary, of sorts. I remember it as the month I quit smoking. For many years I was a pack-a-day smoker. Although, it was easy to recall starting the habit, I was looking all around on my PC to figure out when stopped. I did know that it was after moving into this apartment. One February day, I stepped out on to the balcony and took my last drag. I just couldn't seem to recollect which year that puff took place.

I searched.

MS Money didn't have records of my buying nicotine patches and Zyban. Even though the data from closed, old accounts is still available, it lacks a search feature. I gave up.

Then, I went through some photos. I found the following picture in a series of a dozen photos entitled SMOKE FREE DAY. It was with friends at Uncle Willy's Buffet at Lougheed in Burnaby. I know this was when I offered to take people out on the anniversary of quitting. The photo was dated February 4, 2002. Yet, I was unsure of which year it was in celebration.



Finally, when looking at myhistory.doc I found the answer. I keep single word processing file that contains information in point form. For example, a large purchase or a vacation might be listed. In that file under February 1999, a single listing states, 'Quit Smoking'. I have not bought a cigarette for eight years! What have I done with the extra $20,000.00?

Labels: food, Tim

On Saturday evening we went with friends to see a newly-released Bollywood movie. As it was in limited release, we had to drive to a multiplex in Richmond, BC to see the screening of Umrao Jaan.

We've been around Indian movies enough to know what we were getting into. It had a runtime of three hours and felt it although I didn't find myself checking my watch even once. In this story of a famous courtesan, I was expecting lots of music. If anything, I was surprised it took so long to get to the first song. The movie didn't disappoint with stunning backdrops and amazing costumes. As expected, Aishwarya Rai was drop-dead gorgeous although she was crying in most every scene. I did hope on one or two occasions that another character would slap her and tell her to just get over it. Circumstances weren't kind to Umrao but millions of others suffered to a much larger extent during those years.

This epic was based on 1905 Urdu novel and was previously made into a movie in 1981. We've not seen that but have checked it off on www.zip.ca to see on DVD. Today, modern Indian cinema can put out higher quality visuals and sound than 25-years ago. I like how the camera now frames very tight shots and can linger on a single face for an extended time. Whether these techniques lead to better storytelling can remain a point of argument.

I found the movie was a positive experience. Internet bloggers are not being very kind in their reaction, but why should we believe any of them? When all is said and done, we really only take the time to see classical dramas and not the general, run-of-the-mill slop that Bollywood can generate. This film was worthy of our attention.

Labels: India, movies, musical, Tim, zip.ca

Friends suggested going to Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds 3 at Science World in Vancouver. It'll probably make my old biology textbook seem a bit boring. It's not likely that they've changed many of the parts since I formerly studied the subject though.

Because we all want to go tomorrow, I checked the website. It seems that the tickets are for specific times so had we just shown up at six o'clock, we would have had to wait a really long time in a queue. Thankfully, with the net, I was just able to purchase tickets for the 6:45 PM showing. Now, we're assured of a place. For an extra five bucks, I added the related OMNIMax film entitled, The Human Body.

The process of ordering was very simple even though I had to take an extra second or two to fill out the membership procedures. I was able to print out the tickets directly. It seems nice to have them in hand now. The only thing that irks me a bit is the $2 convenience fee charge. As I'm paying for the ink, instead of charging extra, they should have credited me at least 25 cents! Am I just too cheap, or what?

Labels: Tim

I just completed a quick search of a document called myhistory.doc. It's that one where I try to add something I do each month just to keep long-term track of times that we take vacations, or other events.

Today, I was looking for something to post from a historical perspective. I just wanted to find something from a prior April. I discovered that we once travelled to Nainamo, BC with friends, Tim and Jiwan. Nainamo is over on the island. We spent a night there and a second in Victoria before coming back over. That was the year 2000. I find it hard to believe it was six years ago! Where does the time go?

Labels: British Columbia, Tim, Vancouver Island

I'm rushing to add my entry soon. There's a power cut looming this morning as our building has scheduled transformer-vault maintenance.

So, I'll find a picture to post. Last night, I cut and pasted a bunch of digital photo files from my notebook to the big machine in the living room. It's much better to keep everything in one place so I can burn a DVD of all personal data every so often.



Here's a photo taken a month ago. It was taken with Tim's camera. It shows the introduction of the rubber ducky that I once uploaded to flickr.

Labels: Flickr, Tim

Sometimes, I'm amazed there are as many hobbies as there are. People eventually find their own personal niche in developing things to do as an interest. Here in New Westminster, our school board runs adult-education classes. I'm always impressed by the variety of things people do in their spare time. For example, I'd have never thought of creating stained-glass windows as a recreational endeavor.

To the right, you'll see a photo I stole from a friend's test blog. He is very keen on fountain pens. I would've thought this was a personal idiosyncrasy, but apparently there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people with this as an interest. These folks collect. swap, and sell. They also spend time learning about the different companies which created their writing instruments.

Tim's Fountain Pens & Curiosities

Labels: Tim

I found myself constantly defaulting to a quick and dirty little graphics editor called MS Photo Editor that shipped with Office 95. Although I'm currently running Office 2003, I kept the program on my computer. For some reason, even my old MS Picture It! had become uncooperative after I installed more RAM.

Hell, I thought, images are important to me. So, I ran out and bought MS Digital Image Pro 10. I think a new version is imminent as they're offering a $60 mail-in rebate through BestBuy. The software surely makes photo manipulation easy. Give me a recent photograph, Don, and I can save you thousands on 'procedures'. The interactive demo started with a face photo and I learned to ...

• get rid of red eye
• remove wrinkles
• fix a double chin
• whiten yellowed teeth.

I wanted to give the friends above a gift. So I've decided on a virtual trip to Lake Louise, AB. Even though they haven't visted there yet, I can print up an entire set of vacation pictures for them.

Labels: Don, software, Tim

It was a good day. We were able to pack the rented mini-van and get on the road by 9:15 am. After sliding out to the city of Hope, we took Route 3 to Osoyoos. It was 35 degrees Celsius upon our arrival. We stayed on the third floor in a suite overlooking the lake.

Labels: British Columbia, driving, Okanagan, places, road trip, Tim

When speaking of preservation, this photograph probably isn't the best example. Although not spotless, it does an adequate job of reminding me that seven years have passed. Jiwan must've taken it. Don was visiting on his second summer trip to Vancovuer. We were on the roof of Tim's former apartment so the sun is setting over English Bay. We would've moved out of our New Westminster rental to a newly-purchased strata the prevous summer. This must've been taken in the summer of 1999.

Labels: Don, Tim

Thanks for dinner. Getting together last evening was fun. You served us enough food to make us feel full. Although I neglected to bring along my camera, I found this previously-taken photo of the neighbourhood. It was taken about the same time of year. So, when's the next dinner scheduled?

Labels: camera, Tim, Vancouver

Perhaps it's some sort of January-resolution thing.

Last January, I received a piece of creative writing from Tim Conklin which was entitled, On the Road to Jhapa.

Suddenly, now that a new January has rolled around, I got a second. A sestina arrived by email out of the blue, so to speak. I shall post it immediately and perhaps he'll send semi-annual contributions here in the future.

Labels: Tim

by Tim Conklin
22 December 2002

At 35,000 feet we plane
Through the sky. Sun
Piercing windows, splashing
Across many laps.
"Run!" Says I. "Fly
Outside this aluminium tube."

But legs congeal in their tubes,
And sitting, I consider this plain
Sheet before me. Words fly
Outside my brain, piercing as the sun
On many laps.
Liquid light drops splashing.

Flashing on my brain, splashing
Ink flowing through tubes
Lapped
By the page in this metallic plane.
All is a gift from Sun.
Words, paper fly!

Silly fly.
I see spider lurking
In a corner far from Sun.
From his tubes your tube of life
Upon his radial plain symmetric
Your life juice I see him lapping.

Lap juice, spider!
Silly fly gives you words
To spin your plain symmetric.
Life juice splashing
In their tubes.
Energy from the sun.

This fat and shining sun
That feeds, flows on many laps
Is in this pen, this smooth sleek tube
And gives me words, when written fly
Across the page splashing
Their life juice across this yellow paper plain.

If yellow paper lap these words splashing
As we fly in this tube metallic,
May plane, may juicing insect, may poem shine glorious as the fat and shining sun.

Labels: Tim

Thanks for coming over last evening. Now, we feel officially welcomed home.



Thanks so much for bringing Lit'l Buddy (H4) too; we're getting to know our new, rodent friend. Finally, thanks for putting up with all with the pictures and video.

Labels: pets, Tim

For those of you who've not been to Vancouver, I've got to provide a link to Stanley Park so you can get a better idea of what it is. We have so much to thank for Victorian-era public planning that set aside this land. How wonderful to have such a huge refuge in the middle of the city!



Yesterday the gang met for a picnic dinner, marched around some trails, and eventually returned by the seawall. We didn't make it back to the Point in time for the sounding of the 9 o'clock cannon. The Lions Gate Bridge provides a backdrop in this photo.

Click here ---> Three Larger Photos from Yesterday

Labels: Stanley Park, Tim, Vancouver

Click here --->Several Pics at Day Use Area.


Here are some of the guys cooling off after the
arduous trek to find the geocache.

Labels: places, Tim

We're off with friends for a day out at Golden Ears Provincial Park. Tune in tomorrow afternoon for a picture or two!

Labels: British Columbia, Tim

In order to boost readership, I sometimes spam all my friends and relatives reminding them to stop here daily. Thankfully, they either love me, are able to put up with me, or simply block all messages from my address! Here is the most recent request:

"I am accepting contributions! I will post your material on my blog. Perhaps you have some creative writing, poetry, or a brilliant limerick! Would you like it to live happily on my server and become available in Internet searches?"

A friend, Tim Conklin, provided a writing on January 16th. Click the link below to see if it's still at the top of Google's listing six months later:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=tim+conklin+creative+writing

Labels: Google, Tim

Yesterday, the guys were over for a visit. Tim hadn't been to the 'Y' for his Saturday swim; therefore, he made use of the pool here. He went in the pool and didn't stop! After 40 minutes he was still going strong, so I decided to come up and prepare this picture for the blog. What a fish!

Labels: Tim

I had to add something appropriate to accompany Tim Conklin's creative-writing contribution of Friday.

Jay and I flew into the Katmandu airport many years before we'd met Tim. When I was working in Dubai, we once travelled to Nepal for pleasure. One big advantage of working in the Gulf, was its central location to so much of the world. We were able to head in almost any compass direction and find an exciting vacation destination. This picture was taken in 1993.

Labels: Nepal, Tim, world

Hi Dennis, I enjoyed reading your blog. Interesting about the stuff they put on Voyager. I wonder if I might contribute a postcard story I wrote as my entry in the Victoria School of Writing Postcard Story contest. I didn't win, but they did send me a nice rejection letter which I am very proud of. It's partly about a nice walk I took with a friend of mine when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in southeastern Nepal way back in 1987. - Tim

---

Labels: Tim

    by Tim Conklin

    When you have tears in your eyes everyone looks like an angel.

    He remembers the road to Jhapa. "Sir, we've always lived here. When I was young, we used to hunt peacocks in the fields, and we ate rats. We packed them in mud and baked them in the fire. When they were cooked, we'd pull the mud off and the hair and the skin came away, and we would eat them."

    The sweat that had soaked his shirt now was dry salt dust on his skin. The dirt road was baked hard, and a thick cushion of talcum powder dust bathed his bare feet with each soft step and came up between his toes as they walked on the road to Jhapa.

    They waded through verdant seas of rice. Barefoot falls were soundless in the khaki dust. The skim milk sky was heavy with rains to come. And sometimes they talked quietly as they walked on the road to Jhapa.

    "What will you write sir?" Assin asked. He told him he would write about his children, about the dancing and the drums and the peacocks.

    They stopped and drank water. He admired Assin's black curls and skin dark as earth, the fine wrinkles of hands and feet born of the plains of the Holy River. And they walked again along that long quiet road to Jhapa, the province of magic, and Assin asked him, "Sir, will you come back here again?" Assin's voice filled the universe.

    He said he didn't know but that it felt like home to him there. He knew he would never leave Assin and his soft gentle quietness, like dust. He gazed upon the dark skinned one and the tears in his eyes made him look like an angel.

Labels: Nepal, Tim

----- Original Message -----
Date: Friday, December 12, 2003
Time: 09:45 AM PST

Submitted by: Tim Conklin
Browser Info: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0)
Subject: Dennis Hurd's Web Form

It's 9:44 Friday morning and a slow day at work. Dennis, I'm going to give you two of my favourite links. The first is a link to the Penlovers website. I use it to navigate to Stylophiles on-line magazine. They have excellent graphics. The second link is to the Beowulf in Cyberspace website. It too has good graphics and a lot of information about the Beowulf story as well as interesting info on Anglo-Saxon England. I hope you and your bloggers (blog readers) enjoy them.

Best regards -- Tim

www.penlovers.com
www.heorot.dk


----- Response -----
From: Dennis Hurd
To: Tim
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 10:21 AM

Oh lord, how do I collect friends with such antiquated ideas? Timothy loves fountain pens! He believes that thoughts should be scratched out on smashed, dead trees with dark-coloured pigments. Yikes, it sounds rather archaic, doesn't it? To add insult to injury, earlier in the morning, it was suggested that I put this blog on parchment and lock in a vault for safekeeping.

How quaint, the both of you are! I feel like I'm swimming against the tide.

Anyhow, I appreciate your participation and links, Tim. : -)

Labels: Tim

Tim is here doing some video editing. He's making a tape for his mom and sister in MN. He is switching from a camcorder tape to VHS. It's pretty obvious that he wandered around Vancouver for hours. He actually strapped the camera to his body on a bike trip to work at UBC from the West End. What a documentary it will be!

Labels: camera, Tim

Tim, call me .. or hit REPLY to one of my many email messages!!!

Labels: Tim