Loving "The Joy of Books"

A delightful stop-motion animated ballet of books at Type bookstore in Toronto (883 Queen Street West, (416) 366-8973)

Torontoist has a post on how it took 50 hours of labour to bring this film to life:

Torontoist: Making His Ode to Joy of Books

Down By The Water

On a leisurely Friday afternoon, I took the opportunity to spend some time in one of my favourite Toronto neighborhoods, Roncesvalles Avenue.It's good to see the street humming with life after the past few years struggling with a lot of street construction that hampered local businesses and contributed to a few closing up. There are plenty of new businesses going up, lots of new restaurant life.

I stopped as I usually do at She Said Boom, a second-hand book and music shop. And sure enough, there was that perfect moment when I walked through the door, and that smell of old books and the sound of Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers playing "Circle I" on the turntable combined to hit me all at once. I left the shop with a copy of the novel "The Amazing Absorbing Boy" by Rabindranath Maharaj, and of course, the record they were playing when I walked in, "Modern 88". That's not the first time that's happned there, and it won't be the last.

I walked down the avenue, an unusually mild winter day. Shops had their flowers and fruit on display. A low rider bike pedaled up the avenue, towing a child carrier behind it. I ducked my head into a few other shops, picked up an outstanding latte from Cherry Bomb Coffee, and made my way down to the lake. If you walk long enough, far enough, you reach water.

Winter took the day off, and I found a bench at Sunnsyside Beach to watch the water and world go by. Joggers ran the boardwalk. Cyclists rode the path. I was met by birds paddling in the lake. A pair of swans seemed out of place in the January sun, but there they were:

I was reminded of something a friend said the other night, on a much colder occasion. She piled up her winter jacket, bag, scarf, and all the things required to endure winter. She observed winter takes up a lot of space. Today, winter took the day off, lifting its burden of all the things that take up so much space.

I had my music turned off, choosing to just sit and indulge in the meditation that comes from listening to the rhythm of waves reaching the shore.

Everything flows, everything breathes. It was a good day.

Jeff Harris: 13 Years of Daily Self-Portraits

Toronto photographer Jeff Harris has been taking a self-portrait every day for the past 14 years, no matter what the day brings. Time.com has a video about the project. Just warning you, he shares everything of himself including his surgery, but he perseveres. Utterly moving.

"The images range from completely solitary, auto-timed self-portraits to photographs inspired by a collaborative spirit with whomever Harris encounters on a given day. Regardless of the mood, location or activity at the center of any given image in the series, they all show a marvelously open and generous approach to both diaristically recording and sharing everything from intimate moments to athletic adventures with a wider audience. In fact, Harris evokes the full range of physical experiences a body can encounter: from mundane inactivity to joyful dives to his body being open on the operating table."

Jeff Harris: 4,748 Self-Portraits and Counting

This video came to light via the Metro Morning program on CBC Radio One.Visit jeffharris.org to see the project in its entirety. Harris also has an interactive Journal  that allows readers to submit writing about a day from their life. Their stories are juxtaposed with his self portrait from that same day.

Read more: http://lightbox.time.com/2012/01/03/jeff-harris-self-portraits/#ixzz1icGBXGix

The year to come, or "Screw you Mayans"

First post of 2012. And, as it's on my resolutions to try to start posting on here again, the first of many I hope.

I'm going to work on being a bit more productive on here. I've been focusing on my worklife a bit more recently, but I miss this blog. So yeah, I think you'll see me on here more often.

If I had any resolution advice, it would be this:

1) Keep it achievable

Got a goal? Great! How do you plan to get their, wishing? Make a plan, break that goal into achievable small steps.

2) Don't take on too much too soon.

Ever make that resolution to hit the gym, then jump in to 3 sessions a week and give up by March? If you don't have a great track record, start slow and build up. If it's a gym program, start once a week. You'll start to feel good after a few weeks and start going more often. If it's to learn to cook, don't jump straight to stuffing a chicken. Start with the basics. A goal broken down into small parts is more likely to be completed.

3) Blab about it

We feel obligated to reach our goals if you publicize and talk about them. It makes us accountable.

4) Don't do ALL the things at once.

Related to #2, but if you have more than one resolution, who says you need to do them all right from the start of the year. Set a resolution or goal for each month or each quarter of the year. Incremental change can add up and is easier to achieve.

I've never been a self-help book guy, but if there's one book I think I'm going to be using a lot this year to reach goals, it's Nerdist Way, The: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life). It's a productivity book for creative nerd brained people. You know that part of you that obsesses about beating a video game or collecting things or obsessing over fantasy leaques? Why can't you apply that to the real world and gamify your life so you can view life-goals as levels, bosses, and achievements? It's written by comedian/podcaster Chris Hardwick (aka Nerdist), who has done a remarkable and inspiring job of getting his shit together from his days as a drunk slovenly former MTV gameshow host to a man doing what he loves, feeling good about himself, and providing a platform, be it book or podcast or Nerdist.com, for others to succeed.



I've chatted about it before, and you don't need to take the whole thing as "a program", but there's some great things in there about dealing with anxiety and panic attacks, ignoring self-doubt, how to map your goals, how to realistically get there, time management and finances. You take away from it the parts you find relevant. There are 3 sections: Mind, Body, and Time, but taking a browse through chapter headings may give you a clearer idea what it's about:

• RPG Your Life
• Seize Your Inner Monologue
• Choo-Choo-Choosing
• Body: The Getting Off Your Butt Part
• Becoming An Evil Genius

I've come to listen to Chris Hardwick through the Nerdist podcast, and his humour, enthusiasm, and his passionate "life is pretty amazingly phenomenal when you get off the couch and TRY" approach to life comes through his book.

I've got a notepad I'm going to work on this week, figure out what version of myself I want to be in the coming year and how to reach that place. I'll share some of that up here (see #3), some of it I won't.

Let's make it a good year.