Ideeahs

Over the last six weeks I have been touched by the deaths of two dear people, both members of my extended family, my wife's family. It has made me wonder... Are we individuals? Each going through life by ourselves. Are we individuals that rely on others to find our way? To we hold masks over our faces to hide ourselves from others? Do we pretend to be different from all others? Are we really? Are we proud? Are we modest? Are we humble? Are we part of a larger group? Symbolically, but also physically? Do we assign value to those we value most? Do we assess our values...do we actually know what we value....does it matter? Do all the passions, desires, dreams, accomplishments, failures that occur during our road through life really matter? I mean really matter....in the end when we reach the precipice and dive off the windy, bumpy, smooth, wide, narrow, scary, safe, unknown road? Why do we wait for the last turn on the road to forgive, thank, acknowledge our love? It is a confu

At 17:41 today I hung up the phone. I had just ordered a large Hawaiian pizza from Domino's pizza. At 18:18 I put my fork down. I had just finished my last bite. It is not so much the fact that the pizza got to my house in twenty minutes that amazed me - though I have to admit to slight amazement as pizza delivery shops typically say it will take 40 minutes for the pie to arrive at your door. In my ever wandering mind a few thoughts popped up - a few ideeahs - as they always do. First off I hoovered my food. In seventeen minutes I ate three slices and sucked back a bottle of Alexander Keith's Pale Ale. Yes I tasted them. Salt, cheese, bitterness. I imagine that I must have enjoyed the food though that sensation (of enjoyment) may have come more from watching my children eat pizza - a treat for them. But I did not cherish the food. I did not taste the wheat nor feel the grains on my tongue. I did not feel the elasticity of the cheese, the tanginess of the tomato sauce.

I can no longer drive in Canada. This was news I got this evening courtesy of the Government of Quebec. Yep. My driver's license is now invalid. Let me explain..... We recently moved back to Quebec from British Columbia, two provinces in Canada. This is not the first time we have moved within Canada as we also lived in Ontario for a few years and moved back and forth. Since Canada is a confederation of power hungry, independently minded, self interested provinces moving within this one country is quite the pain in the behind. Every time you need to get new license plates, a new driver's license, new car insurance, new medicare cards. You see in this country, provinces have a heck of a lot of powers. That in itself is not the problem but the issue is the lack of organization and acceptance of one province's standards in another. Different drugs and medical procedures are reimbursed, at different levels, in different provinces for example. So back to my ability to drive. It t

Not sure where this ideeah is going...maybe it will develop into something at one point. Who put the wo in man? Who put the woe in man? Woe man? Woman. Wo , man! Relax! Chill. There is no need for feminism, for machoism . Why is toughness masculine and softness feminine? No need to tag certain traits female or male. Look inside man...you'll find the wo . Woman....you'll find the man. Woe betide those that don't take a peek within. Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

Computers and machines may one day match the power of the human brain. One day. This ideeah came about last night when I was at my children's school's meet-the-teacher night. Sitting two desks over from me was a man I immediately recognized. The last time I had seen him may very well have been in a classroom twenty-four years ago. As I remembered him, he remembered me. Name, surname, street, common friends. It all zoomed back and we were seventeen again sitting, not in our children's classroom but in our own classroom. In less than a second I had scanned all the images and videos of my memory and had assigned the correct name to that face. A two hour movie in a high-definition format that still does not match the vision of a human can be gigabytes and gigabytes in size. How many hours of video does a forty-one year old man have recorded in his brain. How many four megabyte pictures do we each have stored away in the folds of our grey drive. Tens of thousands. How

Come on, come on.... Maybe we are all a little insane. No not maybe - we are. We just contain it within - many hide it well due to their ability to adapt to our modern world. Others not so well. Emotions rage within the depths of our red rivers. The oxygen within them becomes impregnated with all the distractions of life as our years progress. We grow with it and this polluted oxygen feeds our cells and our tissues, thoughts grow with these impurities built in. As the body takes it all in the inner insanity starts stirring - the inner revolt begins. With the years its head surfaces, limbs still in the body, thrashing and pushing against the outer world. Slowly personal education, personal experience, help individuality to rise, to solidify. Individuality - the antonym of well-oiled society? - develops. We start realizing that most of society's daily activities are mere facades that hide us from the truth of life. Avoid the truly important aspects of life by designing, buil