Six days in Victoria BC

Posted on February 26, 2020 by Steve

Six days in Victoria BC with Jennifer.

Six days of Shopping, Sun, Green grass, Coffee shops and abundant Craft beer !.

Two cameras – Fuji X-T1 (Fujinon 35/1.4 lens) and Leica M 240 (Leitz Canada 28/2.8, Voigtlander 40/1.4 and Leitz Elmar-C 90/4 lenses).

OK – I know what you are thinking !.

Why Both the X-T1 and M 240 ?.
Valid question – Yes, they are similar, But different.

The conversation about camera gear will come in another post. Enjoy the images and drop me a line if you have a comment.

[Show slideshow]

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Late Night Scribbles

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Steve

My creativity time – it boils down to a few minutes every couple of days.

When the daily chores of life are done; dishes washed (well – not always), messages answered, logistics for the next day planned out, girls picked up or dropped off, finished helping the girls with homework and fires of the day put out – it is time to put my self out. Teeth brushed, PJs on and time for bed. This is when the magic starts.

A small glass of scotch, a pen and my notebook. Old fashioned eh !. I can think faster that I can type (or my typing skills are too slow for my thoughts). Actually, i don’t want to use electronic devices in bed – the blue light, the distraction with checking out a movie on netflix or utube, checking social media and so on. So – no electronics in bed. Pen and paper for me.

Sip a bit of scotch…

And a bit more…

The busy-ness of the day seeps away…

Busyness: the state or condition of having a great deal to do.
“it’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of life”
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/busyness

The little thoughts and ideas that have percolated in my head all day slowly start to form.

Pen writing all this stuff down as fast as the neurons in my head can put the thoughts together.

My notes – scrawled all over the page. My handwriting is pretty horrible at the best of time, and more so when writing fast. Spelling, neatness, punctuation and proper grammar all fall by the wayside. And – that is good. I don’t go back to make corrections – just keep going, writing it all down.

The next day when I open the notebook, it is all there. It looks like chicken scrawl, and takes a bit of time to decipher what was written.

That is all part of the fun – sort of. I can’t ask anyone else to decipher what was written. It is my hand writing, my scrawl and my thoughts.

When it is time to put the scrawl to blog, I try to respect the authors ideas – and not edit or censor those ideas. It is me anyway – In a more relaxed and creative state.

And – thus it starts.

Nothing Brilliant, Nothing Earth shattering.

Random thoughts – maybe connected.

It is the creative side in me sneaking out.

What is your Trick to release your Creative thoughts ?

The List – of things to do

Posted on February 15, 2020 by Steve

We all have a list of things to do –

On papers, in our heads or in a electronic planner.

The lists of things to do – groceries, house chores (dishes, laundry, vacuum), make plans to meet a friend, more house chores (order more fuel oil, shovel driveway, get firewood), book a flight, and more house chores (fix a leaking tap, finish off kitchen renos, paint bathroom). You get it – we all have a list, and as soon as one item is crossed off – a new item appears; maybe even a few extra items. The list is never ending. A non-stop conveyor belt of things to do –

Every notice that the fun stuff doesn’t make the list. !

The list is always the ‘must dos’ – not the ‘this will make me feel good’ things.

Creative time ?. Put that one the list for giggles – and you know what happens.

The list is non-stop Triage – do the most critical items and work down.

Creative Time – As you can guess. It isn’t a Code Red, Code Blue or mission critical.

Life can go on and one without Creative Time. Millions of people go through life without any Creative Time. They keep them selves busy.

But for some of us – missing Creative Time is Ok for a while. After a while -it starts to nag – As if saying ‘Put me on the List”…..”I am important too”.

It has been nagging me for a while….

A teaser picture – The “List” and the….Solution !.

Next week – the ‘Solution”…

Robotic Creativity

Posted on February 11, 2020 by Steve

Yes – it has been a while since I posted here.

And – even longer since I’ve actually written more than a few words.

I could write about excuses, excuses and more Excuses for why this blog has been so quiet and dormant.

Roll back ten years and I was posting to social media every day. I was posting All-the time.

I started this website in 2011 mostly to show the 360 degree virtual panoramas. Over time, posts about techniques, cameras and travels. During some difficult days there were a couple of posts about more deep personal stuff – and these posts have since been turned off.

For me- writing isn’t easy.

Never has been and likely Never will be.

At work, I write e-mails in typical bureaucratic speak – It isn’t my words or thoughts. It is all crafted to comply with government regulations. All facts, No Emotion.

At work, I mostly write computer code; IF Loops, Else Loops. It is Java code – and Yes – i do drink a lot of java too.

I’ve stopped being creative. Stopped building, drawing, painting and thinking in a non-linear way.

Do it day after day and I start to feel like a robot.

I am going to try posting once a week – in a valiant (or feeble) attempt to kick up my own creative energy.

What do you do to get the creativity going ?