Thought Spill: Every photo tells a story. But your story is what most people wonder about.

Every photo tells a story. But your story is what most people wonder about.

— Jackson Lo (@jackson_lo) March 31, 2012

I had this thought cross my mind and I think it speaks true to a lot of things. We often see inspiring visuals, often once, twice, or multiple times a day. I'm starting to see a bridge between tech and social, but also visuals and art. Some argue that art is social, other say that social is its own thing.

Pinterest is a great example where technology + social + art play well with one another. You see something cool, interesting, inspiring - you pin it. You create your own pin boards, and others can follow it. Everything is visual on Pinterest, and that's why draws the 80% of females to be so highly engaged on that platform.

I created a pin board for "Words" because I often get inspired with quotes. If I like it, I repin it to my board. I can go back and review and look at it whenever I want. It will always be on my pin board, yay!

But often you will come across photos with no words, and no description, no story. Not sure about you, but I like photos with captions for two reason: (1) it tells the story the photographer intended to portray and (2) doesn't require me to think about what is taken :) I say "Every photo tells a story. But your story is what most people wonder about." because I truly believe that a lot of people in this world are into story telling. Some examples are those photos you find on Facebook that raises the awareness of the relieve in Japan during that devastation earthquake, or the event that took place in Haiti. Those photos all have a story, and they are told. People like, reshare, and comment. This shows high engagement.

I think, if you can tell a great story, you can do well in life. So put a story to your imagery. Tell your story, and let your viewers decide whether they agree or disagree with you? They may leave a comment, then the dialogue starts. Always think on the positive side, even if the comment may end up to be disgruntling and rude (hopefully that won't happen).

This is just a thought spill... ok I'm done here...

New Windows and Balcony Door, with New Blinds :)

Fiscal Year End...

No... I don't work in the government, but many of the clients that I work with everyday are. Projects are coming to a close... 10 more days to go!

It's been an extremely busy month and I haven't had a chance to blog here so I'm writing a short not to update you what is happening.

Earlier this month, I had new windows and doors replaced in my unit. When I bought my place back in July (wow... shocking how it's almost been a year!), one of the commitments was to sign on to a 3 year project (it was about 1 year in when I signed) to replace the old and worn windows. The balcony door was also part of the project. This assignment was not a cheap one; additional $200 per month to the condo fees. Luckily it will end in a bit over a year once the project is complete.

Here are a few photo of the new balcony door and windows, it's quite attractive ;)

Everything about the newly installed sliding doors I like... the old doors (and windows) were hard steel painted in brown. So the likes:

• It is white
• The left window used to be only half, now it is full height!
• The metal frame that the door slides on is very smooth
• There is a clean screen door (it will only get dirtier over time, oh well I guess that's part of the tasks of keeping your place 'clean')
• The install took one full day. Basically the contractors for this project were tasked to do one side of the building this year, and the other side next year. I'm lucky that I'm on the south side :)

After the windows and door was installed, it was obviously time for me to shop for new blinds and curtains to replace the ones left by the previous owner.

I picked up some faux wood blinds at Home Depot. They didn't have my size which was 57.5" x 68", so I have to take on a special order to get it cut exactly right. I was hesitant on giving my measurements but the lady explained that if you have the metrics for the side to side and top to bottom, then you are safe. Often, window frames / sills or whatever you call it, will have curvatures, or sometimes you pick up the measurements on what you calculate would fit. Don't do it! Measure it from end to end and the blinds will be cut exactly to fit those measurements you give them. So in the end... they fit!

Here are some photos of the installed blinds in the two bed rooms:

Here were the blinds I bought from HD:

The blinds were not hard to install. I found that the screw it came with were way to long, so I replaced them with shorter one and they work fine.

Hope I taught you a thing or two about blinds, ha! Now off to the races to find some curtains for the balcony door... any ideas? Share in the comments below! :)

2012 Leap Day

I was lying in bed ready to pass out until I realized what a long day it's been, and today's not a "normal" day in the year. Leap Year is a special day in the calendar that occurs once every four years. Today being the day, my day was slammed with some unique chain of events.

This morning I was schedule to deliver a training session for one of my clients at their site, and I did. But prior to breaking out of the house, I had a sudden wakening that pulled me out of bed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and the next thing you know, it was only 1:30AM. Clearly I did not know what time of day it was, and didn't even notice that sky was still pitched dark. Very odd. So I went back to sleep and got up at 6:30AM to prepare for my 8AM training.

I got to the client's office only to realize that only two of the front door parking spots were taken up.. "SCORE!". I was able to park my car in the front, which meant that I didn't have to make a trip to the distant parking lot and walk over :)

The training started at 8:30 and ended around 11:30. Overall, I only heard positive feedback, so I guess that's a good thing for moi :) well done!

I headed home and made lunch before I jetted to the office to organize a potential travel that I'd be taking next Monday. The result; I will be travelling to Washington DC to give a training course to one of our clients. The deal was sorted out last minute, so I literally have 2 days to get my things in order before I depart... we'll see how that goes...

So my whole afternoon was figuring that out.

After work, I headed over the James Street Pub for our monthly Web Marketing Wednesday meetup. This week we had Glenn talk about lead generation. Great turn out (roughly 30+ people), great discussions and great vibe overall. The night event quite late; me leaving at around 9:30PM.

Brain is about to shut down.

Body is about to shut down.

Maybe it's time to shut down my computer.

Goodnight :)

[Recipe] Normandy Fish Stew with Mussels

Mmmmmmm what is that!? Well... you'll find out...

Last night, I decided to cook a nice dish for Kristy for the first time. The plan was Normandy Fish Stew. It turned out that we ended up eating dinner fairly late, but nonetheless, we satisfied our stomachs with this delicious dish.

Facts about this dish: "This fish stew from northern France, sometimes called Marmite Dieppoise, is a great comfort food meal"

For those who want to make this "awesome dish" you can follow the recipe linked above, but if you cannot find all those ingredients, I will share with you how you could improvise and still get a good tasting dish that you can serve straight out from your own kitchen. Sound like plan? Ok... you'll need the following:

• 2lbs mussels , cleaned and debearded (discard any that don't close when tapped on the sink)
• 500ml white wine (Reisling)
• large knob of butter
• 2 leeks , cleaned and sliced (you can even go 3 because typically they come in bunches of 3)
• 227g sliced white mushrooms
• 150ml sour cream 14%
• 2 cod fillet
• small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Cook it the same way as instructed, and you will get the following results;

Serve it with some soft and heated bread @ 350F for 5 mins, and you're good to go! Pour a glass of red wine if you really want to go all out on this meal :)

Girlfriend surprises with a break in to my unit

It's been a busy week while the GF was back in town. Her visit came by a big surprise as I thought I wasn't going to see her until April in Vancouver =O The surprise was a pleasant one :)

When I came home last Friday night (feb 10), I nearly freaked out when I unlocked my door and realized that my unit was completely dark, and that my balcony door was opened. I scented that there was something cooking in the kitchen, but rather it was a sort of burnt smell. Then on goes the lights and she appears. My jaws dropped and asked 'what the hell' (in a happy way). It appears as thought she picked up my brother's pair of keys from Mike earlier that day, and that is how she broke in. Clever... didn't see any of it coming.

From Instagram: "Feb 10 - GF surprised me with a visit from Vancouver. She broke into my unit and nearly caused me to shit my pants (not really). Then she prepared a delicous meal :) Baked scallops in white wine sauce with organic wheat pasta. Roasted pears and Canadian cheese torta salad. Mm mm! Love you!"

I guess the fright was worth it, because the meal was delicious and I didn't have to make myself dinner :p thanks babe!