It is late afternoon on New Year’s Eve, also known in other parts of the
world as Old Year’s Day, Veille du Jour de l’An or St. Sylvester’s Day, the
last day of the year, December 31st.
I imagine there are a respectable number of people about to begin the
celebration of New Year’s Eve. I am
guessing there are men and women preparing their costume for the evening
particularly if they’re planning to attend a formal occasion though they may
only be donning some (possibly new) comfortable clothing for a more casual
rally. Very likely there are people who
are in the frenetic throes of final preparation of food and drink for
themselves and guests. Certain couples will
have made plans for a private and perhaps elegant celebration whether on home
turf or in a romantic resort. Perhaps
even complete families have something special in mind to mark the occasion.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Doing Nothing
While it would be a sizeable stretch to label me a man of action, if one
ignores the James Bond theme I easily qualify as someone who prefers activity
to serenity. Nonetheless there are times
when sitting still and doing nothing can be really quite pleasant. For example, after a long and exhausting bike
ride I especially enjoy reclining in the sun on a chaise longue; or, if the
weather is cooler, taking a nap. Reading
a book almost anytime is always profitable (though my preference is either at
the end of the day in a comfortable chair with a martini or on a beach where I may
be moderately distracted by the Ocean and sea grasses). A steam bath or sauna, particularly if
punctuated by a revitalizing swim, is equally agreeable. I won’t object to watching
a stimulating movie or attending a theatrical performance. I have even been persuaded without regret to
take a guided tour when visiting a new place.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Tourists
Tourists as a class of people are
subject to much disdain. The vilification is popular not only in cartoons
(where the sloppy casual appearance of over-weight and brightly dressed
tourists are regularly ridiculed). Tourists generally enjoy a poor reputation
for public performance. The real proof
of the snootiness is the mere fact that you have probably never entertained a
tourist in your home. Tourists inspire a degree of derision which invites
aloofness. Even when the shopkeeper or innkeeper makes his or her living from
the business, entertainment or accommodation of tourists it is a thinly veiled
secret that they disparage the sight of tourists. Small wonder therefore that as a tourist on
foreign soil you are liable to face a predictable lonely existence and there is
no amount of expenditure which will garner the same hominess of friendly
acquaintance as in the place where you live.
At best a tourist can count on token deferral and polite condescension.
Picture our delight therefore at having spent a thoroughly agreeable
afternoon today on Hilton Head Island with two people whom we hardly know, two
fellow tourists. In spite of being thousands
of kilometers from home we four enacted an afternoon ceremony worthy of the
most refined social foregathering. Initially
it may be tempting to compensate the exuberance of the congregation by
dismissing it as a chance encounter of people who hail from the same provenance. Certainly it was pure coincidence that we
first met a year ago on the beach near Coligny Plaza, they walking their
handsome French bulldog Max, I recovering still from the loss of my own
Frenchie. But nothing came of that
encounter until by pure chance the same collision of people and dog reoccurred exactly
one year later! Well! I mean to say! If ever there were messages in the stars!
As a result it was but a small revelation to receive a generous
invitation from our new acquaintances to rally with them for a drink at their
place in Sea Pines at 1:00 p.m. today, Saturday afternoon. Our hosts, J and A, are a married couple – at
least that is what we presumed; and he runs a sole proprietorship. Other than that we knew nothing of them and
likely they knew even less about us until today. Yet the short-lived alliance had all the
hallmarks of workability and at the very least respectability and promise. Accordingly it was without indecision that we
gleefully accepted our unique invitation and began looking forward to it,
wondering from time to time what was to come of it.
This afternoon as we drove into the laneway which led to our hosts’
habitation, we encountered the Laird of the Manor dutifully walking his
faithful French bulldog Max. The sight
of them instantly raised our spirits as we are perpetually in need of a dog fix.
I parked the car in the drive and was immediately greeted at the door by Her
Ladyship, an eye-catching Nordic looking woman.
We all retired into the home and went about a summary tour of the place,
exchanging comparative observations about the various rental opportunities on
the Island. Naturally Max monopolized a
considerable amount of our time (a predisposition which by the way continued
unabated during the subsequent three hours of our gathering).
Friday, December 27, 2013
Routine Paradise
As inclined as one may be to characterize a holiday as “getting away
from it all”, it would appear that deep-seated convention trumps novelty. Possibly
because I lack innovation (or worse, inspiration) it apparently requires no
more than seventy-two hours for me to establish a patent and less than
glamorous routine in any environment. The only difference this morning, for
example, was that with the benefit of two days’ reiteration the agenda was
accelerated. As usual we busied
ourselves early this morning (between 2:30 am – 4:30 am) with our
computers. It is pointless to toss in
one’s bed if the mind is revolving. Better
to get up and distract one’s self with industry. Given the holiday nature of
these days and not being preoccupied with my law office I find I am spending
time on web sites which normally would exhaust me either by their uselessness
or their dreariness, things like Facebook and LinkedIn, both of which I
unreservedly lump in the same heap as Twitter – vacuous natter. But my insistence to master the fundamentals
of modern technology drives me nonetheless to address it. I am also consuming a great deal of my time
amending profiles on a number of other material web sites since I lately
changed a common email address (to correct at long last a stupid spelling
mistake made by Bell years ago). The
repercussions of such trivial modification are incredible! This is especially true now that so many
sites are connected to one another and because we have no less than five computing
devices with us on this trip alone (four fewer than we have when on home turf
if you can believe it).
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Christmas Day at the Beach
Our winter vacation this year began exactly one week ago today,
Wednesday, December 18th one hour after the MRPC Board of Directors
meeting. It was a leisurely three-day
drive from the Canada to Hilton Head Island buoyed by the usual holiday
exhilaration and latterly compensated by the longed-for sight of magnolia and
palm trees. While there was nothing
particularly punishing about the trip other than having to stay focussed on the
road for six hours a day it nonetheless took its toll. Even as late as last night for example we
were in bed shortly after eight o’clock and it wasn’t until about six-thirty
this morning that we surfaced to face the new day.
It's Christmas!
My sister Lindy and I have never relinquished the child-like exhilaration
of Christmas morning. Admittedly the
hysterics we contrived as children to the lead-up to Christmas have waned over
the years and the memories of them are now more than a bit hazy, but we still
recall the signal initiation to Christmas morning: “It’s Christmas!”
Monday, December 23, 2013
You only turn 65 once!
Having survived the Winter Solstice, and having this morning awoken with
anticipation to our first full day in the condo on the beach, I commence
settling into the not unwelcome routine of vacation. This year is especially noteworthy for me not
only because I carry on rejoicing in the generosity of the past month but also
because I mark a point of departure. Apart
from recent commercial attainments (long-awaited conditions precedent to moving
forward), it is equally important to me that I have attained the age of 65
years, a milestone which I view as a landmark in my life. Why it should be so I am not entirely
certain, but nonetheless the event marks for me no less than a time for
contemplation and personal rejuvenation.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Home for Christmas
One must adjudge that for Canadians in general Christmas is the Big Scene on the year’s tabular array. Unlike Americans who apparently distract themselves beyond recognition for the Thanksgiving Holiday (think of the winsomeness of Pilgrims and wild turkeys), Canadians prefer instead to immerse themselves in the nostalgia of skating on a frozen pond and everything rustic that is manifested by a Cornelius Krieghoff painting reminiscent of "the hardships and daily life of people living on the edge of new frontiers" (Charles C. Hill, Curator of Canadian Art at the National Gallery). This selected ambiance of holly berries, freshly-cut spruce boughs, a blazing hearth and frosted window panes is second nature to hearty, healthful Canadians. The Christmas season combines and heightens the elemental dimensions of traditional Canadian life in addition to heralding the midwinter solstice and the wretchedness that is winter.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
A Christmastime Story
This is a true story, one which I heard on CBC radio many years ago around Christmastime. One of the radio listeners - a woman - called CBC to relate the events which had recently transpired.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Father Christmas
For someone like my father (a man who traditionally has the appearance of being socially distressed except when things are strictly on his own terms), Christmas (or indeed any other merrymaking) is at first blush an inconvenience. This at least is the situation if he harbours (or my mother seeks to enforce) the remotest idea that his participation in the event is either required or expected. It’s the presumption of charity that kills him. To succumb to the social convention which attends such ceremony is for him a grave irritation, though I suspect it would be closer to the truth to label it an awkwardness or disenchantment. Whatever the limitation, there is no question that the nuisance value is high.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Men and boys and the price of their toys!
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
The Value of Money
To countenance the expenditure of money naturally calls for some justification especially when the recommendation is conjoined with extravagance. Even the profligate spender harbours the shadow of concern for primary economic theory (though of course he seldom dilutes the strength of his initial devotion). By contrast the close-fisted penny-pincher buoys his preferred fiscal modesty with psychology, likening materialism to Philistinism. Between these two extremes of pecuniary dissolution and worldly deprivation resides the body of people who from time to time have what I believe to be a quite understandable need or desire to reward themselves. Nonetheless with all this talk of late about the incredible amount of debt being serviced by Canadians the idea of spending even funny money may be considered foolhardy. I think however that this is a proposition which needs to be re-examined in a context broader than mere economic principles or the loaded comparison of intemperance and frugality. It is my thesis that spending some money on yourself can be a very good thing indeed.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Withering Heights
The Dutch Uncle
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
The Entrepreneur
The expression "entrepreneur" normally applies to rather common and generally unimpressive undertakings. Historically for example it pertained to self-employed people such as water-carriers, brewers, hat makers, chimney sweeps and so forth. Today it broadly includes almost anyone who "undertakes some responsibility and pursues a goal with self-motivation" and certainly does not necessarily reflect a merchant but also includes service providers and professionals such as doctors, lawyers and accountants. Some however take a narrow view of the word and restrict its application to those who have special characteristics above being new and small; that is, they create something new or different; they change or transmute values.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Clothes Maketh the Man
Being adjudged by one’s appearance is nothing new. Nor is it something which most people would hasten
to contradict, as shallow and distasteful as the observation may initially
appear. Mark Twain supportively opined: “Clothes make the man. Naked people have
little or no influence on society.”
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Taking Stock
It was just after 4:00 a.m. this morning when I got out of bed. I wanted to get a jump on the day. The first matter on the agenda (after pointedly having wound all four mechanical clocks in the house) was to drive my new car to Stittsville. There I would put it through the touch-less car wash for which I have a season’s pass entitling me to 90 days of washes, once a day. Of equal if not more importance than the exterior maintenance of the vehicle was the driving of the machine to “teach”it my personal driving habits. Two days ago the mechanic completely erased the car’s computer transmission memory. While he didn’t say the tactic was hocus-pocus, neither was he adamant that it would correct the winding-down sound which to date has annoyingly punctuated each gear shift. After listening intently to the sound of the engine during my early morning jaunt today, it is fair to say that although the “condition” has not entirely evaporated, it is certainly within the realm of acceptable tolerance (which admittedly has been lately heightened by my constant preoccupation). I am additionally motivated in this result because there are so many other features of this particular automobile which I relish. Having bought another new car exactly like it no less than ten months ago, I can say with some authority that that this number is a fine specimen of the brand. Not surprisingly no two vehicles perform identically, and I know from experience that when one finally gets a good one, it is wise to attach to it. My recent obsession with this car is due in no small measure to having suffered the cost of trading the first new one three months ago because of recurring transmission problems, only to discover that the replacement vehicle was plagued by yet another distortion. It appears that we are now are the end of that line of trouble. Like any new love affair, new cars come with high expectations, and one forgets that they, like lovers, ultimately have their problems. One must adapt to the idiosyncrasies of the candidate.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Nobody's Listening and Nobody Cares
Friday, January 25, 2013
Uniforms, Military & Binary Thinking
There is something to be said for having no choice in the matter. The easy targets (pardon the pun) are uniforms and the military. Rows and rows of unvarying and consistent soldiers paraded with clock-work precision having only to listen to orders and take commands, and certainly never having to worry about what to wear. Rejection of such uniformity and militaristic deportment would weaken the system. You’re either in or out; for or against. The choices are mutually exclusive. There is no room for namby-pamby conduct.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
The Ugly Americans!
Bashing the Americans is not uncommon. The modern Roman Empire has historically been
the repeated object of criticism. Now however the preferred attack is upon the
Chinese, the world’s rising Agamemnon. It
is unavoidable to make a comparison of the two cultures. The exploitation of resources and energy is shared
ground, involving the control of foreign assets and commodities. But the Chinese have infamously exceeded the
boundaries of acceptability in some instances.
The Chinese are for example very big in Africa where it appears they are
handily taking advantage of what are largely uneducated and impoverished people. Africa, pay-offs and corruption seemingly go
hand-in-hand, much as the Chinese citizens are now discovering about their own
billionaire politicians. As one example of their treachery in South Africa, the
Chinese are routinely killing elephants for their ivory. It is speculated that
by 2015 the elephant population will be effectively eliminated. The Chinese are capitalizing upon the need of
the desperately poor people in Africa to risk their lives to provide this
``treasure`` to the rapacious Chinese.
The authorities police the poaching, but they have an unbelievably
difficult job of it and they too – like the poachers - risk being shot on
sight. Similarly why do the Chinese scandalously
thrive upon weird medicinal remedies and exotic foods that involve the death or
mutilation of harmless creatures?
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Leave-taking from Hilton Head Island
It is serendipitous that very early this morning (on the
penultimate day of our departure from this exquisite Hilton Head Island, South
Carolina) I completed with considerable gusto my reading of “Essays in
Idleness” by the Tsurezuregusa of Kenko (known I believe to his family and
friends as Yoshida Kenko). Mr. Kenko’s
perspective, while strictly that of a hermit (or, if one prefers a more
decorous denomination, that of a Buddhist monk), was nonetheless choc-a-bloc
with commonplace philosophy rendered in the manner of a parable. I say the reading of the book and the
awakening of this day are chance intersections because as we forlornly make our
arrangements to leave the Island one cannot but contemplate the subject
thoughtfully if not indeed longingly.
Add to this the fact that our first act of industry this morning was to
visit the property manager and to re-book our stay for the same time next year
and pay our deposit. So you see, as one
high spot ends, another begins. I am quite
certain that Mr. Kenko would have a great deal to say upon the subject illustrative
as it is of all else that transpires in life.
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