Yesterday morning I got my first real taste of this summer of 2008, as I woke early to prepare for work and set off to pick up my new eyeglasses before my shift.
I have purchased most of my glasses at Opticana in Vancouver for the last 20 years or so as they have a great deal where the frames are free...and they aren't bad frames either.
Recently my doctor advised me to have my eyes tested as there have been a few issues with my vision lately but when I went for the test the news was all good. My vision has improved slightly in the past 7 years since my last exam.
The only thing I needed was new prescription for my computer glasses as I spend a full working day gazing at a computer screen. Fortunately they've dumped the old style monitors in favor of the new flat screen displays which are much easier on the eyes.
As it has been a cool summer I set off with jacket in hand but a few blocks from my home I was so warm that I realized I would not have to put it on. The sun was shining brilliantly and pedestrians in tank tops and shorts abounded. (Well, they weren't actually leaping but more smiling and sauntering.)
I took my time as I had a couple of hours before my shift actually started and so I ambled along Bute Street, crossing Thurlow by St. Paul's Hospital and making my way to the 500-block of Seymour where Opticana has just moved to avoid the crush of the Canada Line construction along the Granville corridor.
I passed the open door of a pub on Dunsmuir, just east of Granville and was inundated by the sheer volume inside. People were cheering and pressed up to the bar and crowding the entrance way and I realized that Spain had just scored a goal. It is soccer season, and in many ways it outdoes hockey for sheer spectator exuberance locally.
I stopped briefly to peer in, but the crowd was too dense to make out anything other than waving arms, lifted mugs and people slapping each other on the back. It brought back memories of the Canucks last stand this winter, though.
A few minutes later I arrived at the shop and was happy to see that I was the only customer. The technician who had originally taken my order was there to fit the glasses and it took only a few moments.
Soon I was headed into work re-orienting my balance with the new glasses as they made me feel like I was standing a couple of inches higher off the pavement and while I walked I was thinking about my lack of blogging this month. My friends and family who follow it will wonder if I am still alive and so this morning I have entered this piece just by way of saying hi.
The eagalicmusic website is on hold right now, as my friend Danny is in the midst of a bigger project and so is unable to complete the steps necessary for me to continue posting.
In the next few weeks I hope this will be remedied and I can continue posting chapters of my book and new photos.
In the meantime, I guess I'll be seeing my computer screen at work a bit more clearly.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Eagalic Music - 2
It's Wednesday and I am just finished up my chores before heading out for my seawall walk.
It has been a busy couple of days for me as I have been editing chapters of my book for posting on the new website and scanning images and photos taken over the years that relate to the subject.
Danny and I seem to be in synch as while I was posting yesterday, he also updated the site with a great new look and feel.
However, he is still writing code to make it function and the homepage somehow disappeared yesterday.
Slowly but surely though, we will make it happen.
I have decided it would be a great idea to post complete mp3 files of my songs, one per month which will be freely downloadable to those who visit the site.
It is interesting how inspiring this labour is to me, after so many years plugging away at bits and pieces of the puzzle.
When I first emailed Danny some of my ideas, I said that the mission statement for the website would be subtitled "Breaking out of the Box".
This has very literal meaning, as most of my writings are stored in journals and notebooks that have not seen the light of day in years, but are packed away in cardboard boxes that fill up my closet and floor space.
I have misplaced some crucial boxes over the years and in the mid-70's having decided to chuck it all and go fruit picking in the Okanagan I burned a few of them. In retrospect I wish I hadn't done so as there were some quite miraculous things recorded in those journals which are now lost for ever.
The Mexican Federales also took some of my travel notebooks from me when they threw me in jail in La Paz (mid 70's), which were detailed accounts of my attempted sojourn to the Andes which took me as far as Central America.
Anyway, to all my friends who visit my whirld-dervish blog, I am still here and there will be lots more to come, God willing.
It has been a busy couple of days for me as I have been editing chapters of my book for posting on the new website and scanning images and photos taken over the years that relate to the subject.
Danny and I seem to be in synch as while I was posting yesterday, he also updated the site with a great new look and feel.
However, he is still writing code to make it function and the homepage somehow disappeared yesterday.
Slowly but surely though, we will make it happen.
I have decided it would be a great idea to post complete mp3 files of my songs, one per month which will be freely downloadable to those who visit the site.
It is interesting how inspiring this labour is to me, after so many years plugging away at bits and pieces of the puzzle.
When I first emailed Danny some of my ideas, I said that the mission statement for the website would be subtitled "Breaking out of the Box".
This has very literal meaning, as most of my writings are stored in journals and notebooks that have not seen the light of day in years, but are packed away in cardboard boxes that fill up my closet and floor space.
I have misplaced some crucial boxes over the years and in the mid-70's having decided to chuck it all and go fruit picking in the Okanagan I burned a few of them. In retrospect I wish I hadn't done so as there were some quite miraculous things recorded in those journals which are now lost for ever.
The Mexican Federales also took some of my travel notebooks from me when they threw me in jail in La Paz (mid 70's), which were detailed accounts of my attempted sojourn to the Andes which took me as far as Central America.
Anyway, to all my friends who visit my whirld-dervish blog, I am still here and there will be lots more to come, God willing.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Eagalic Music Dot Com
Yesterday was one of those rain-soaked, chilly, and gray Vancouver days where you just want to stay indoors.
Chaya came over just before noon yesterday, braving the rain on her new bike and flush from her hot yoga class. We had agreed to going for lunch and so we hiked up to English Bay along Harwood Street.
We settled for falafel on Denman and shared a single portion, as I am never very hungry at noon.
She gave me the lowdown on her recent cruise to Alaska, showed me pictures and shared more bad tidings in regard to Kadir cutting classes and possibly having to go to summer school this year to catch up. She also hinted that something good was up with Ky but that he wanted to tell me himself.
We parted at Denman and Davie, she to take the seawall ride home and me to a haircut and then shopping at Safeway.
I didn’t get to my email until later but when I did there was a note from Ky telling me that the company he works for a very successful local venture is sending him to New York for a month as a café consultant. They want him to train a manager for them and to help implement structure in line with and up to the standards of the local venues.
I could not be happier for him and no one deserves this chance more than he does as he has worked incredibly hard starting back in grade 10, balancing school and work to pay his own way.
He let me know he has been missing my blog lately and so I told him that I have been working on editing and posting chapters of my book on my new website which is still under development.
For those of you who might want to check progress, visit:
http://www.eagalicmusic.com/
Chaya came over just before noon yesterday, braving the rain on her new bike and flush from her hot yoga class. We had agreed to going for lunch and so we hiked up to English Bay along Harwood Street.
We settled for falafel on Denman and shared a single portion, as I am never very hungry at noon.
She gave me the lowdown on her recent cruise to Alaska, showed me pictures and shared more bad tidings in regard to Kadir cutting classes and possibly having to go to summer school this year to catch up. She also hinted that something good was up with Ky but that he wanted to tell me himself.
We parted at Denman and Davie, she to take the seawall ride home and me to a haircut and then shopping at Safeway.
I didn’t get to my email until later but when I did there was a note from Ky telling me that the company he works for a very successful local venture is sending him to New York for a month as a café consultant. They want him to train a manager for them and to help implement structure in line with and up to the standards of the local venues.
I could not be happier for him and no one deserves this chance more than he does as he has worked incredibly hard starting back in grade 10, balancing school and work to pay his own way.
He let me know he has been missing my blog lately and so I told him that I have been working on editing and posting chapters of my book on my new website which is still under development.
For those of you who might want to check progress, visit:
http://www.eagalicmusic.com/
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