I was lucky enough to spend two months this summer living in Paris, France. It was a bit of a creative reboot, to take time out from work and do the things I love i.e. photography. Where better to take photos than the home of both the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre? Alas, in my two months I think I managed to do almost everything you shouldn’t do in photography, and cursed myself every time. Warning – this is a bit of a techy photography post, but the stories are so sad/pathetic/amusing, you may have fun laughing/sympathising with me anyway. The the worst is last – scroll straight down to 1. if you just want the juiciest/saddest story. It still makes me almost cry. (more…)
Missing Paris October 23, 2008
After spending two months living in Paris, here I am back in rainy Vancouver. I love it here, don’t get me wrong – I do all the Vancouver things i.e. run, camp, hike, bike, ski (admittedly cross country ski) etc. But I miss the Parisian architecture, the beautiful lights, the activity, the fact there is always an amazing international quality art exhibit around the corner, or a stunningly landscaped park at the next Metro stop. Oh – and I miss the Eiffel Tower, rising up with sparkling lights. We were in Seattle last weekend, and the Space Needle looked really small and unimaginative in comparison.
Oh well, time to get over myself! I’m listening to TSF Jazz over the internet at the moment, the jazz station that we listened to in Paris. Yesterday I heard a spoken word piece that was accompanied by an odd whistling sound bed. The voice melodically told me how he used to whistle, but he wanted to whistle amazing things like classical music. So he would walk around trying to whistle Bach. And people would stare at him oddly. Finally he grew tired of the looks and decided to whistle a normal whistle. And you know what? People looked at him and smiled. He sounded suprised by the smiles, and unsure if he were pleased or not.
What do you think? Is it more satisfying to whistle Bach, regardless of whether people understand? Or is it easier to whistle like regular people and enjoy the free smiles? What price conformity? Or is it okay to conform if the reward of fitting in feels worth it?
My new blog The Art of Life is about my musings on the world at large. It might cover anything from art to running to my ongoing learnings about digital photography to my thoughts on social media on the web. Hop on for the ride – and please post any feedback.
The Art of Life 