My Blog

i have moved

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:21:21 -0400

time to update your bookmarks and RSS!!

http://serenaray.wordpress.com/

I’ll still be using this site but will use it as a home for my photography and videography.

discovering my limits

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:42:08 -0400

When blogging frequency decreases, something’s up - and it’s usually workload.

I am far too busy for my health - both physical and mental. I’m not as young as I used to be and when the body begins to say, “Enough!” it’s probably a good thing to pull back. And as you can guess, I have a difficult time saying “no”.

We’ve finally finished the summer of weddings with Olive and Ron. We had a great time helping them out here and there. It’s been great to have watched them succeed over the many challenges of a wedding. When I look back on our wedding, I tend to think about how special simplicity can be. Now, if I could only apply that to my complicated life! Actually, one thing that I’ve done is to listen to more music on my iPhone. I still have my mix of 80’s tunes but now I’ve brought back a collection of songs from Corrinne May -- look her up -- definitely worth the $9.99 from iTunes.

I came across her about a year ago when I was searching for this song by Mary Carpenter from a movie. Corrinne has a great voice that kind of reminded me of a great Canadian female vocalist named Sarah... Recently I was on Facebook and noticed a few people became “Fans” of Corrinne May and it brought me to searching my 6000+ songs.

Well, let’s just say that I have taken much time to myself lately and discovering that I’m teetering on my limit.

Canon Digital Rebel XT
Manual
17-40mm@20mm
f4
1/80s
ISO200
Flash
Taken August 10, 2008

the luckiest day

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 08:48:54 -0400

We have a wedding to go to tonight... and it’s a Chinese wedding for some reason. On the 8th day of the 8th month in the year 2008, many things Chinese are taking place to take advantage of the lucky number 8. To be honest, this lucky day hasn’t started off so well.

Our smoke detectors went off at 6am this morning. I searched the house for any fire and nothing. Secondly, I had a really smelly dump... but that’s not an odd occurrence. Lastly, I have had a headache all week and now I’m thinking it has something to do with the stormy weather.

The other day I was on the GO train and sat next to a man who really smelled bad... really warm-sour if you know what I mean. I thought about moving to another seat but thought about whether that would offend the guy with the offensive smell. For a moment, I considered whether it was me that smelled... but that thought quickly evaporated as I continued to persevere the 45min ride to Union. It wasn’t easy but I didn’t move seats. Fortunately, the next day I sat next to a woman with strong perfume.

I have been trying to consider each day as a gift and the brief moments I connect with loved ones as special. So much of my view on life is conditioned by the belief that “there’s always tomorrow”. And this is why I have taken a lesson from Chinese numerology to consider not just a day like today as a gift but each day before and after as a privilege.

Canon Digital Rebel XT
Program
17-40mm@40mm
f4
1/60s
ISO800
Flash
Taken July 26, 2008

raycation is over

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 19:41:29 -0400

It’s been a while... I know, I know. Not like you’ve been checking everyday for some sort of update, have you?

I was very busy this year during my raycation. I worked on 4 wedding videos for the month of July and it was quite overwhelming. Somehow, I made it through with a couple days left to do some of the things I wanted to do. We had a whole bunch of friends over lunches and dinners... the trouble is we didn’t have enough time to catch up with all the people we originally intended to. How sad is that?

Perhaps the highlight this year was camping with Sarah and Rodney up at The Pinery. It’s a great campground up by Lake Huron. The weather was perfect without any rain, and the beach was very relaxing. We even took a swim in the bacteria-infested lake!

I have had the opportunity to do more and more thinking about life in general. My busy weeks flew right by... is that the pace of life that I ought to live? I don’t think so. But how else can life be done? In trying to solve that, I’ve asked many more questions that center around where I find purpose and meaning and value. I think I’m getting closer to discovering more of my core DNA. To be honest, it’s pretty frustrating how reality tends to differ from perception.

So, I’ve been back to work for 2 days now... each day returning home with a headache. Maybe it’s the return to the office environment or just weather related. Either way, it’s been tough. How do I get through this?

Plan my next raycation.

Canon Digital Rebel XT
Program
70-2000mm@87mm
f4.5
1/100s
ISO400
Taken July 26, 2008