What I Am Doing This Weekend
My wife thinks I am insane for doing this.
Do you think she is right?
Either way, shame on all of you for not attending this event.
Shame!
Dave and I are going to try and be über-nerdy and set up a wireless router tonight so we can blog during the event.
Keep your eyes peeled!
Filed under: Spaces Archive, Special Events | 6 Comments »
Auld Lang Syne
The end is drawing near.
What have you accomplished this year?
It’s been an interesting year here on Barking Space. I thought that I would go through some of the highlights of 2005. Hopefully this will not be as painful as one of those clip shows that you see on sitcoms.
In the Beginning…
At the end of January, Barking Space went online. With a little nudge from a few people (most noteably Dave), I took the plunge and started writing online.
Why did I bother?
At the end of 2004, I took my passion for photography and started to groom it into something more than just a hobby. I decided that I would use the blog to push my photography. I also figured it would be something fun to try. Of course, quite a number of people had already been doing it for a long time, so there were a lot of good examples to follow*.
Somehow the photography angle wasn’t as dominant a force on the blog as I had planned. Writing was something I used to enjoy doing when I was younger, and now the opportunity to take it to a new level had presented itself.
It was an interesting experience, writing my thoughts for all the world to see. Remarkably, some people found what I had to say interesting. I discovered a whole new community, which led to the formation of some new friendships.
I can safely say that blogging is just as much fun now as it was back then. If anything, naming the titles most entries is still something fun to do.
The Creative Juices…
A little later in the year, some new features were added.
Hai-Kuul was initiated to help me keep my poetic skills** up to snuff. People could send in a topic, and in return I would write them a haiku poem. At first, a veritable flood of entries poured in.
The awarding of prizes to certain milestone requests didn’t help stem the flow.
Later on in the year, limitations were placed on the number of topics one could submit at one time. This was more to help my sanity than anything. The creation of good poetry isn’t easy. Sometimes too much material can be as hard to deal with as too little.
That being said, I am proud to say that once in a while I did write something I was proud of. At last count we hit haiku number 893.
The Fig-tionary was born at around the same time as Hai-Kuul. The idea behind the Fig-tionary was to allow people to justify their typos. While not as numerous as haiku poems, these alternate definitions were rewarding in the sense that they took a bit more thinking.
Let’s also not forget that there’s a Guide to Toronto on this page as well. Not the most accurate thing, to be sure, but definitely fun to read.
Anec-Do’s and Anec-Don’ts
Barking Space was a showcase for many of the interesting*** stories and ponderings.
The occasional rant also made it into Barking Space.
Blogging about things like this is a very convenient thing. Sometimes you have a story that a lot of people would find interesting. Repeating this story becomes tiresome. Or perhaps a critical part of the story is forgotten.
Solution?
Write it down.
Blogging is an excellent way to share events in your life. If people want to read them, they can. So it’s really a non-invasive form of communication.
Sharing rants can also be therapeutic, especially when you realize how many allies you might have out there in e-land to help you battle in the war against stupidity.
Friendships Found and Fortified
This year also saw the introduction of many new and interesting people into my life. I’m not going to bother naming them here, because they know who they are.
It’s a strange feeling when you first meet someone in the flesh who has, up to that point, been merely words on a screen. The most interesting of these meetings has to be my evening with Kris. It was incredible how we clicked. Even my wife really got along with her.
Ian was fun to meet, as well. I’d known him for longer than Kris and had spoken with him on the phone prior to our get-together.
There were also friends who started blogging because I told them that they should.
And who could forget the incredible Dave? Always there to help you up to your feet when you’ve fallen, and to trip you when you’re getting ahead of yourself. A better friend no one could ever ask for. He also provided a lot of the more humourous material here on Barking Space.
Please check out the Tome for really great people to read.
The Best For Last
Of course, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my wife, who is one of the most incredible people on the planet.
Without her, I don’t think I would be who I am today.
My Wish To You
This year has been full of fun and laughter. From making my way up the Karate ladder to Brown Belt to meeting Mestre Acordeon. So much has happened, and I am glad that I could share it with all of you.
I hope that 2006 is even better than 2005.
May you all party hard, and stay safe****.
Cheers and Happy New Year,
Jorge
* – There were unfortunately a lot more bad examples. In true optimistic form, I decided to use these as guides of what not to do.
** – Some would refer to my poetry as bad comedy, I’m sure.
*** – Interesting to me. Yes, there is no end to my ego.
**** – While you’re at it, you might want to get off your butts and vote for a 10th entry for Best of Barking Space.
Filed under: Spaces Archive, Special Events | 19 Comments »
Warmest wishes from myself, Mrs. Haiku and our little munchkins this Christmas. May warmth find your hearts and may all of your dreams come true.
Cheers,
Jorge
Filed under: Spaces Archive, Special Events | 14 Comments »
Respect Your Elders
Tomorrow is Remembrance Day up here in Canuckle-land. I suppose that our neighbours to the South would be celebrating Veteran’s Day. Either way, this message is universal…
Please observe your two minutes of silence at the appropriate time.
Honestly.
Nothing is more disrespectful than carrying on what you are doing while the dead are being honoured for giving us a better world.
I don’t agree with war, even though I believe it is part of human nature to lean towards conflict.
However, the brave men and women of the past deserve our respect for winning our freedom from the forces of evil.
I am not normally preachy on here (at least, I try not to be preachy in a negative way), but this particular issue is very important to me. No, I don’t have any relatives that I know of that fought in the war. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t hold those soldiers in high regard.
Lest We Forget
This is one of my favourite poems. It is touching.
It is one of the most famous pieces of writing that came out of the World Wars. You can read the story about the poem here.
Please take a moment to read and reflect…
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
(Poem by John McRae – May 03, 1915)
Rest in peace, heroes.
Filed under: Spaces Archive, Special Events | 16 Comments »
The Meeting
So, Friday rolled around, and I was curious as to how my meeting with Kris would go.
I was supposed to meet her in the lobby of the hotel she was staying at and then we were to go somewhere for drinks to be possibly joined by my wife.
With the help of a friend, I figured out a place where we could go, so all that had to be done was to meet her and head on over there.
I was supposed to meet her after work.
I had injured myself during Karate the day before, so it took longer to walk to places than normal. I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to reach there in my injured state, so I decided to leave a little earlier than I normally would have.
Stupid me ended up getting there way earlier than I calculated, so I settled into a seat in the lobby and worked on a future entry in my palm pilot.
I was probably there for about twenty minutes when I decided to get up and walk around.
It’s a good thing I did, because it turns out that Kris was sitting opposite where I was, and we would not have seen each other.
She waved and stood up. I gave her a hug, as I was genuinely glad to meet her.
We went to the pub that my friend had recommended.
The game was on.
Disclaimer
For those of you who are obsessed with conspiracy and evil, there was nothing going on here other than two e-friends meeting for drinks, munchies and general conversational goodness.
The expectations involved in getting together with a person with whom you have corresponded with via some form (other than standing in the same room chatting) are hard to pin down. On one hand, you don’t want to set yourself up for any rejection. Although, what you are being rejected about would be also odd to put your finger on.
Speaking for myself, I know that in situations like this I have a silly secret hope that the e-friendship will become something not so e.
It’s like how Pinocchio wanted to become a real boy when he really had no need. I mean, first of all, the guy was a living doll. He achieved so much more than any of his fellow puppets. Secondly, he didn’t really have to worry about much other than fire and termites. And yet, he wanted that extra step. He would sacrifice his partial invincibility to become a mushy walking sack of flesh. He wanted to make that leap of faith.
And so we meet with our fellow bloggers hoping to, at most, attain a new level of friendship. The very least we hope for is some short-term entertainment in the form of conversation.
So, What Happened?
I am a selfish bastard, so I will not go into too much detail regarding what the conversations were about.
Suffice to say that we got along like organic peanut butter and all-natural jam. She was what I expected her to be, and frankly, more.
It was not so much like meeting someone for the first time. It was more like catching up with an old friend. You might consider this somewhat cliché. Well, you can eat me, because that is what it was like.
We shared some wine, some munchies, and chatted like monkeys for the duration of the visit.
Originally, we had a two-and-a-half hour window in which to become acquainted and not kill each other. She had dinner plans with some colleagues, and I had a Halloween party to go to.
It turned out that her dinner plans were cancelled, so she had a lot more time to hang out.
This turned out to be cool, because my wife could meet us after her hair appointment, which is exactly what she did. In fact, they got along really well!
Even though I said I wouldn’t share too much of the conversation, some things are too good to keep to myself.
The Bluff
I had met Kris through Dave’s blog. If I remember correctly, I liked her comment and visited her blog. I commented on there, and challenged her in a counter-comment in Dave’s blog somehow (I think it had something to do with the five second rule or a misspelling of Naomi Watts).
Since that time, the three of us have visited and commented on each others blogs, and had a great time getting to know each other.
Naturally, it would have been even more awesome if Dave could have attended our evening out.
Alas, he resides in Ottawa, so a quick jaunt down the street was out of the question.
However, we did have the next best thing…
Kris: It’s really too bad Dave couldn’t make it out.
Jorge: Funny you should mention that. [Pulls out his cell phone] Let’s call Dave right now! [Dials number.]
Kris: You should tell him that I stood you up!
Jorge: What?
Kris: Tell him I stood you up! [Giggling.]
Jorge: Ok.
[Dave picks up.]
Dave: Hello?
Jorge: Dude.
Dave: Hey. So, how is she?
Jorge: [Trying to sound angry.] I’m still sitting in the lobby waiting.
Dave: What?
Jorge: I’ve been sitting here for an hour. I can’t believe she’s not here yet.
[Kris is laughing into her hands so as not to make noise.]
Dave: That totally sucks, dude.
Jorge: Tell me about it. I’m pretty pissed. I mean, you’d think she would have called or something.
Dave: Yeah.
Jorge: I mean, she said let’s meet at five in the lobby of the Sheraton. So here I am. I was even early for fuck’s sake.
Dave: Sorry, mano.
Jorge: And so, here I am in the lobby of the – Oh shit…
Dave: What?
Jorge: Dude, I’m in the wrong place.
Dave: What?
Jorge: I’m in the Hilton. I got confused because this is where she said she was originally going to meet me.
Dave: No way! Are you serious?
Jorge: No. [Laughs.] Here’s Kris…
[Jorge hands the phone over to Kris.]
Kris: So, Jorge tells me you thought I’d have a moustache…
Puntification
At the place we were eating at, there was a little card-flip thing with some menu highlights at the end of the table, against the wall. Kris found the It’s the Bomb! (Try our Bombay Chicken) card to be hilarious. I, on the other hand, thought it a groaner…
Kris: So what is Canadian food like?
Jorge: What do you mean?
Kris: I mean, what’s different up here than where I come from?
Jorge: It’s mostly the same thing.
Kris: Seriously? I mean, look at that! [Pointing at the card-flip thing.] That is awesome!
Jorge: That is the worst pun ever!
Kris: No way! Is that Canadian food? I wonder who thinks up puns like that?
Jorge: Probably some American person.
Kris: Don’t you be startin’, now.
Jorge: Yeah?
Kris: Yeah. Bring it!
Best Quote of the Night
In reference to Dave and I…
Why are you guys even married? You have each other!
Kris – Toronto – October 28, 2005
The Upshot
It was a great time. I would take a bullet for this gal, because she is so freakin’ awesome.
The Other Side of the Story
You can read the version packed with lies here.
Your Haiku, You Whiner
Sparkling blue eyes
With intelligence and wit
Jorge likey Mama
Filed under: Friends, Spaces Archive, Special Events | 16 Comments »
PlayStation Blog
Barking Space 
You must be logged in to post a comment.