Inspired

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be.
--Patanjali

Moving south, Canada recap

Just a few days before my move south o' the border and I'm feeling that pre-move stress, as well as avoiding the whole packing thing till the very last minute. I'll be breakin' it down again to two pieces of luggage, a pretty monster-sized upright and a backpack.

For the most part paring my possessions down for a long-distance move isn't difficult for me, except for one category--books. If I had my way I would bring along a whole library and have nothing else in the house but shelves and shelves of them, along with a cozy reading nook by the fireplace with Turkish carpets, gigantic pillows and a nargile. Instead I'll be narrowing it down to a handful of volumes so that I don't receive cold stares from the passengers behind me and the airline desk staff while I shuffle my books around and into my carry-on in an effort to bring my luggage back under the weight limit.

Returned from Canada earlier this week. So here are some photo highlights from the trip:

View from atop Whistler

Tinikling (national dance of the Philippines) at the musical "Celebrating the Harvest"

Tugboats at a Fraser River dock

B.C. Parliament building in Victoria

Harrison Lake

Queen Elizabeth Park

PNE Vancouver

I'm up in B.C. with my mom for a few weeks visiting with aunties and cousins. Yesterday we headed to the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition), an annual fair held in late summer in Vancouver's Hastings Park. The fair runs the gamut from farm animal exhibits to concerts and dance programs to modern art. And then there are the endless stalls of greasy dietary disasters which no fair would be complete without. Everyone needs a bag of mini donuts and souvlaki to keep their energy up for Playland, or so they have something colorful to puke up after taking a whirl on the Spinner.

I skipped the Spinner (along with the rest of Playland) and instead partook of the SuperDog Show, farm animal exhibition, art shows, fake Mexican food, a dance program featuring local youths, and some of the Hastings gardens.

My top 5 picks at PNE:

1. Beaver Cabinet

2. Container Exhibit: Eggshell head and masks

3. Dressy Drawers

4. Container Exhibit: Hub Art


5. The Italian Gardens