I have a clean, well lighted place in my mind.

It has a warmth that is comforting compared to the outside.

If I want to experience the heat of the summer sun on my skin it pales.  If I want a cold, winter air to sear my cheeks it fades.

I wander into it because it’s a familiar place.  I know how the walls curve, how the chairs feel and the floor gently slopes.  I can negotiate around its details without trying.

Everything stays the way I left it.

But I know that this place isn’t where I’m meant to be.

Here’s to the journey to find that place somewhere closer to the other side.

(image by MySweetImmortal)

…to have life and have it abundantly.

That’s an awesome promise.

Here’s the story.  Clay needed to get his sister some shorts.  He walked in (I think it was hesitantly) to Lululemon in Toronto.

I don’t think he would’ve been so hesitant if he knew what was going to happen from that day forward.  He was floored when he saw the young lady help him out.  You know that song by Keri Hilson?  Yeah, that was him, knocked down.  He gave his number to her and she took it.

She left him on the hook for a couple of days to sweat it out a little bit, then finally called him back.  They hit it off.

It was fitting that they got married on the anniversary of the day they first met.  Winnie even has the receipt of Clay’s purchase from that day!

It was a complete joy to have the privilege of shooting these two people and their families.  Both their families have an awesome sense of humour and were all beautiful.  Winnie looked fabulous and Clayton was absolutely dapper.

Congratulations you two!

Updated.  Here are some more pictures!

Last year I had the privilege of watching Praise Team’s annual presentation.  I took some shots here and there and came out with this.

I had the same privilege this year again,  but instead, I got to see most of it through a lens.

Their show was called Kairos.

The vocals were tight as always.

The dancing was energetic and passionate.

It wasn’t tough to capture all these and the raw emotion that seemed to flow naturally from each of the individuals.

I’ll let the photos talk now.

By the way, that’s my cousin in the 3rd shot.  She’s awesome.

It’s mildly depressing that my last post was about the good part of the Canucks playoff run.

In other Canucks news, word is that Mikey Gillis is on his way/already in Sweden to resume talks with the twins and their agent JP Barry to get them back in Whale-C jerseys.

I digress.

What I’m really here to talk about is the gratitude I wish to express to everyone that took the time to say something, type something, text something, anything something to me on the anniversary of the day I first existed as an individual.

What you don’t know is that I took the time to write something about each person in my Moleskine in response to everyone of you with the intent of posting it as a blog.  After the sixth page of writing–which, mind you, was the halfway mark of everyone–I wanted to keep it in the Moleskine.

However, to sum up what it said on a less personal, more global scope I want to say the following.  I value the contribution that everyone has put into me, small and large.  Without a shadow of a doubt, I can say how each one of you has impacted my life and perspective, all for the better.  To take that a little bit further, each one of you has made an impression on me, from which the impact, I hope, will be paid forward.

As a segue from self to anything but self, a happy birthday to my sister Ji.

Photoblog is coming up.  I am the toughest critic of my own work.

Happy Monday everyone!

This post would make it here inevitably.

YEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYAHHHHHHH!

Go Canucks go!

That is all. (=

P.S. Image courtesy of vancouver is awesome.

these are a few of my favourite things

]]> http://timubial.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/coffee/feed/ 4 Tim coffee-1 http://timubial.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/government-proves-t4-not-a-lucrative-investment/ http://timubial.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/government-proves-t4-not-a-lucrative-investment/#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:25:04 +0000 Tim http://timubial.wordpress.com/?p=447 ]]>

Due to the fact that the primary stakeholder went to an educational institution in 2008, the Government of Canada has decided that its investment in the T4 (Tim Trying To Travel) fund is not as good an investment as it initially thought it was.  That’s not to say that the Government of Canada has completely withdrawn its donation.  The amount to be given is not as sizable as it was projected to be.  As a result, stringent controls on current funds are to be put in place for the goals of the fund to be reached on the timeline provided.

When reached for comment, the primary stakeholder of the fund said this on the record:

It’s unfortunate that it took a turn in this direction.  But as the old saying goes, you have to play the cards that you’re dealt.

He then was hurried away by his one bodyguard–it may have been his mom or his sister–into his Toyota Camry and sped off (sped off is obviously a relative term).

The book that has housed my nose for the past couple of days is a breath of fresh air.  I haven’t read a book that is as much entertaining to rouse an audible laugh out of me until this one.  Here’s the simple premise: two writers embark on a race around the world.  Sure, it’s been done, but if that same premise is created in a jacuzzi while slightly intoxicated off 99 cent wine, you get something completely nonsensical.

They have a few rules:

• start in Los Angeles
• you must cross every longitude
• no airplanes, helicopters or hot air balloons (hovercrafts were a gray area)
• end in Los Angeles and win a glass of exquisite scotch

It would probably be boring if the authors were two squares, but these two have a fairly distinguished background.  You be the judge of what distinguished actually means.  One is a writer for Late Show with David Letterman and American Dad and president of Harvard Lampoon and the other is a writer for My Name is Earl as well as a Writer’s Guild Award nominee.

From handcuffs to bumper stickers, to Filipinos’ love of Manny Pacquiao to voodoo priests and jet packs, this book is whimsical in every sense of the word.  If you want to laugh and giggle, get the book and read it.  It’s The Ridiculous Race by Steve Hely and Vali Chandrasekaran.

That was a long introduction to what I’m trying to get to.

I would like to thank the Government of Canada for donating so generously into the Tim Trying to Travel fund or T4 as its called in Spain, Morocco and the Easter Islands off the coast of Chile.  Without its support, the hopes and dreams for the not-too-distant future would be postponed further to the closer-to-distant future.

While, my travels will probably lack handcuffs (hopefully) or voodoo priests, won’t start in Los Angeles, and won’t have restrictions on what type of aviation technology I can and can’t use, it will bring stories that I can only imagine while my nose is buried page-deep in a travel book.

A good chunk of what I believe in response to Mumta’s entry about chivalry is summed up in the responses below.

danifuentes on March 24, 2009 said:

it depends on the woman really.

hardcore feminists balk at the idea of chivalry because they see it as a man sensing a woman’s weakness. for example, a man offers to carry a feminist’s bag for her and her response would be, “i’m strong enough to carry my own bags, thank you very much.” they may even be offended by such a gesture.

however, there are still women (admittedly, myself included) who sees chivalry as a gesture of romance. but it extends only so far. for example, i would not be offended if my man offered to carry my bags or open the door for me or extend a helping hand when going up the stairs. in fact, it would probably warm my heart (just a little ). because in my mind, i think, “he’s doing these things because he loves and cares and respects me.”

BUT, there are certain things i would not be able to abide by. for example, a man making decisions for both of us without consulting me first. or a man who offers aforementioned gestures because he sincerely thinks women are somehow inferior therefore you MUST open the door for them, carry their bags, etc…

furthermore, if you look at the definition of the word “required,” (at least the most popular definition) then yes, mumta’s right. chivalry is not REQUIRED. but like i said, it really depends on the woman.

stillinkleft on March 25, 2009 said:

what if the intuition is, inherently, chivalric?

One thing still puzzles me.  What makes Steve Harvey a guru of interpersonal relationships all of a sudden?