Sunset #13,652

Deo gratias....

TECHNORATI TAGS: polo beach wedding maui

Biting the Apple in the Big Apple

In response to Mel's call to revive the blogosphere, here are some everyday minutiae from my life....

I know it doesn't sound cool, but I've always been, and probably will always be a PC.... I never really understood the appeal of a Mac, and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to date myself when I say this, but I still remember them actually being called Apple Macintoshes.... back in the olden days of Commodore 64's?.... now that's a name I bet you've not heard in a long time... a long time.... does anybody else remember Apple disappearing for a while before coming back full force?.... now Apple's everywhere with all these awesome gadgets....

which brings me to my point.... I have been putting it off for a while now, but finally, I bit the Apple and got myself an iPhone... the iPhone4 to be exact... what the heck was I thinking putting it off for so long! this thing is awesome.... they're not lying when they say that there's an app for everything.... coz I think there literally is an app for everything.... there's all the useful medical references and applications that I never really use.... then there's an app where you can actually deposit checks into your bank account with your iPhone4, kinda scary.... there's an app where you can scan UPC codes and the thing will tell you what the product is and where you can get it and for how much, depending on your present location.... my iPhone4 even tells me where I should eat.... okay, no it doesn't tell me where to eat, it but it suggests restaurants in the vicinity of my present location (it's an app for Urbanspoon).... the camera on this this thing is pretty good too, I've retired my trusty Sony Cybershot... or at least I'm giving it a rest.... as you can see the iPhone takes pretty good shots.... then of course there's Shazam.... QR codes.... and have you heard about bumping?.... Oh and yeah, you can also use your iPhone to make fon calls.... awesome....

okay I gotta stop being an ad for the Apple iPhone4 now... the buying experience was pretty cool too though, coz I got it at the Apple Store on 5th Ave.... pretty cool building eh?.... it's all underground as you can see...

So anyways, I'm gonna go waste some more time playing with my iPhone4 now.... if you haven't gotten one yet, I heard there's a new one coming out soon.... I hear the new generation of iPhone will actually control the weather and cure cancer too, so maybe y'all should just wait for that one to come out.... Cheers from the Apple Store on 5th Ave!

TECHNORATI TAGS: apple store on 5th Ave

Put Your Lighters in the Air.... Let's Hear it for New York...

wassup yo!.... it's been way too long since I've updated this blog.... let's just say that I was preoccupied with the shit that's been going down....

I'm happy to report, however, that the dust around me has finally settled.... and my psyche is starting to breath a sigh of relief.... so let me update y'all....

for the past few months now, I have been officially living and working in the awesomeness that is New York City!

in June of last year, I came to live here temporarily.... my short and intermittent stays cemented my desire to be part of this concrete jungle.... after all, it's where dreams are made of.... for a time, I didn't think it was going to happen anymore, but as of June of this year, I am a temporary visitor no longer.... I crossed the border to officially live here.... for the next few years anyway... and I don't think I ever want to leave....

sometimes I have to punch myself in the jaw to see if I'm really actually here.... I walked out of the local Old Navy the other day to see the Manhattan skyline in the distance.... when I went to Ikea to furnish my apartment, I had to walk through Wall Street, hop a ferry that took me past the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty, then came back to be welcomed by the skyline of lower Manhattan.... it's all too surreal sometimes....

so in honour of my new home, here are just a few of the New York City scenes I've captured over the past year that I have been in and out of this Big Ass Apple...

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Folks, from a very thankful Canadian in New York City....

TECHNORATI TAGS: new york city

Sunset #13,514

Deo gratias....

TECHNORATI TAGS: a manhattan sunset

et audivi vocem Domini dicentis: "My love is over, it's underneath, it's inside, it's in between...."

for all the failures, stumbles, and falls.... the defeats and disappointments.... the sorrows and broken heartedness.... the long dark storms.... the hard lessons learned....

for all the successes and getting up again.... the times of joy and healing..... the angels You send me along the way.... for the restoration of things once lost....

Deo gratias
totus tuus ego sum Domine

TECHNORATI TAGS: times

i promise to sing to you when all the music dies

"YES", she responded....

TECHNORATI TAGS: marry me
POSTED IN: POUR TOI

the best is yet to come

When two souls, which have sought each other for, however long in the throng, have finally found each other... a union, fiery and pure as they themselves are... begins on earth and continues forever in heaven.

This union is love, true love... a religion, which defies the loved one, whose life comes from devotion and passion, and for which the greatest sacrifices are the sweetest delights.

This is the love which you inspire in me... Your soul is made to love with the purity and passion of angels; but perhaps it can only love another angel, in which case I must tremble with apprehension.

Yours forever

~Victor Hugo
to Adele Foucher
1821

I borrow these words again for you.... it would appear that they hold truer meaning today than they did over a decade ago....


TECHNORATI TAGS: someone like you
POSTED IN: POUR TOI

non est hic surrexit enim sicut dixit

keep your eyes on the Light at the end of that long dark tunnel.... It will lead you home.... hold on to your faith to get you through the rough patches.... there are better resurrections in store for those who don't give up.... just remember that behind every resurrection was a crucifixion and death.... a blessed Easter to all....

totus tuus ego sum Domine

TECHNORATI TAGS: an Easter sunrise

Sunrise #13,386

dies novus ....

Deo gratias!

Still my heart and hold my tongue
I feel my time
My time has come
Let me in
Unlock the door
I never felt this way before

And the wheels just keep on turning
The drummer begins to drum
I don't know which way I'm going
I don't know which way I've come

Hold my head inside Your hands
I need someone who understands
I need someone, someone who hears
For You I've waited all these years
For You I'd wait 'til kingdom come
Until my day, my day is done
And say You'll come and set me free
Just say You'll wait, You'll wait for me

In Your tears and in Your blood
In Your fire and in Your flood
I hear You laugh, I heard You sing
I wouldn't change a single thing
And the wheels just keep on turning
The drummers begin to drum
I don't know which way I'm going
I don't know what I've become

For You I'd wait 'til kingdom come
Until my days, my days are done
And say You'll come and set me free
Just say You'll wait, You'll wait for me
Just say You'll wait, You'll wait for me
Just say You'll wait, You'll wait for me

"Til Kingdom Come"
~ Coldplay

Then Job answered the LORD and said:

I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.
I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.
I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you.
Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes.

the LORD restored the prosperity of Job, after he had prayed for his friends; the LORD even gave to Job twice as much as he had before.
Then all his brethren and his sisters came to him, and all his former acquaintances, and they dined with him in his house. They condoled with him and comforted him for all the evil which the LORD had brought upon him; and each one gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.
Thus the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones.

Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren.
Then Job died, old and full of years.

from the Book of Job
chapter 42, verses 1-6, 10-12, and 16-17

totus tuus ego sum Domine!

TECHNORATI TAGS: a new york city sunrise
FOLLOW UP TO THIS POST: Sunrise #13,021

Don't Worry NY, I Only Like Boston As a Friend

Road trip people!
Boston is only a four hour drive from New York City, so we decided to drive up for the weekend.... the last time I went to Boston was for a high school trip.... and to avoid dating myself, let's just say that was a long time ago....

Let's start our tour at Fenway.... home of the arch-rivals of the NY Yankees.... the Boston Red Sox....

Then there's Harvard University....

and some Boston architecture....

Boston Common....

Headquarters of The Church of Christ, Scientist.... I learned that Christian Science has nothing to do with Scientology.... d'oh, did anybody else think they were the same thing?....

Lots of historical stuff.... sorry, I'm not really in a tour guide mood at the moment.... but here's Larry Bird's shoes, "Union Oyster House" the oldest restaurant in the United States, the Old State House, and Faneuil Hall, the cradle of American Independence....

Alright, more on Beantown later....

TECHNORATI TAGS: boston

I AM!

I've been representin' in NYC! Couldn't be home in Canada for that epic hockey show down last night, so to celebrate Team Canada's awesome defeat of Team USA in OT, I have been wearing my red mittens, raising them in the air, and waving them like I just don't care, all over Manhattan.... did I mention it's too hot to be wearing mittens?.... but like I said... I just don't care....

aside from waving them all over Times Square, here they are at Bryant Park.... Hi Empire State Building!....

here they are at Rockefeller Center.... sup Prometheus....

here they are with Atlas, and the traffic on 5th Ave.... hey Atlas, need a hand....

not only did Canada finally win a gold medal on Canadian soil, but our athletes won 14 gold medals on Canadian soil.... that was more gold medals than any other nation, and the most gold medals won by any nation in the history of Winter Olympics.... Canada also ranked 3rd in the overall medal count.... what?!.... Great job Team Canada!

with glowing hearts an entire nation is proud of y'all, and proud to be Canadian....

TECHNORATI TAGS: red mittens in manhattan

Back On Track

Okay folks, let me get back to regular programing here.... what the heck have I been doing with my sorry existence aside from torturing myself with secret cathartic love letters you ask?.... I've been running a lot for one thing.... living several blocks from Central Park is awesome.... it gives me the motivation to finally stick with the on-again, off-again relationship I've had for years, with my running shoes.... it's just so much more interesting to run in Central Park than it is to run on a treadmill.... so, let me share with you some of the scenes from my frequent runs since I came to New York....

As you can see from the map (well, if you click it that is, it's kinda small), there are plenty of paths dedicated to runners in Central Park....I have a thing for running around in circles, so I usually stick to running around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis Reservoir (the big blue blob in the middle).... BTW, I hear that she's very beautiful, but that she rarely comes out of the water....

the map says that it covers a distance of 1.58 miles.... I try to do at least 3 laps when I'm out there, so that's about 5 miles... okay fine, 4.74 miles.... but that doesn't include the mile I walk to get to the reservoir and the mile I walk back home from the reservoir.... hey, it's a start.... unfortunately, my flat feet really do a number on my medial collaterals.... man it sucks to get old.... anyways, the Reservoir path takes you past the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among other sights and sounds....

I actually run for several reasons.... I've been trying to get rid of that pesky lower abdominal fat that started to accumulate after a certain age, which I decline to specify so I don't date myself.... but more importantly I'm trying to improve my insulin resistance.... I have a strong family history of DM type 2 so I'm trying to implement some lifestyle modifications to stave off the inevitable.... maybe it won't have to be inevitable?.... and of course there are the cardiovascular health benefits as well.... also, I was inspired by the runners in the New York City Marathon back in early November.... if a little 80-something year old blind lady can run it, then I can get off my lazy ass and condition myself to run it too.... you have to qualify to run in the NYC Marathon though, so I better get my ass in gear.... either that or take my chances with the lottery....

well, it's been raining and now snowing here in NYC, so it looks like the treadmill for me tonight.... I wish y'all plenty of healthy lifestyle modifications from the Reservoir in Central Park....

TECHNORATI TAGS: the reservoir, central park