April 16, 2010 - Toronto

My apologies for not posting anything up in 2 days, this photo-a-day project is still in effect, just exams and an all-night studying stopped me from posting for 2 days. I'll just give you more pictures today, but excuse me for giving you short explanations of each.

Toronto is slowly reminding me of New York. Although I haven't been to downtown New York to see just how hectic it is, I hear stories of it and I see movies and tv shows exhibiting just how crazy it is in it. I hope this never happens to North York though, I mean it's nice seeing a lot of people being busy and all that, but I'd never be able to stand seeing this everyday. The grey buildings and shiny blue coloured windows would ultimately bore me to death.

Omg a yellow tree and a clearly more yellow-fied picture for a strong nostalgic effect. Plants such as these blowing in the trees have always been subject to being photographed for it's beauty in the wind. I don't think it's beautiful at all, I'd much rather think it's calming. Think of a bright summer day with trees being blown by the wind, all you wanna do is just lie in the grass, not paint a picture of the tree being blown.

After coming back from Toronto, I had to force myself to take photos cause i wasn't able to do so the day before. After walking around we noticed people at a park. I took pictures of them.....Tadaa.

Omg crazy orb looking thingy that looks like a pokemon will come out of it yay.

A blog visiting the beauty of Toronto will not be complete without the ugly looking tower being shown. I joke, the CN towers alright, but we can't even brag about how it's the tallest building anymore. I mean, i guess Toronto can just order a bigger needle on top right?

Water, yay

And this picture marks the end of yesterday. Nice feeling isn't it? How the sun just touches everyone's skin? I told Celina (who came with me) that this is the part of Toronto that most reminds me of New York, how there are billboards everywhere, and advertisements just screaming at your face, and you know how sometimes in movies, they talk about how the rural farm person goes to New York City and all they can do is stare at all the buildings and advertisements, and while they do the camera is circling their body? Yeh, that's what it felt like yesterday, the amount of people and colours everywhere was kind of mesmerizing. 

Tadaa, and that's the end of it. Aren't you happy you spent 2-3 minutes reading about a place you already live in? This won't happen again, I'll post a picture today sooner or later and if you still feel the need to say "you failed! HAH". Look at the pretty squirrel. Squirrel pictures always trump flaming, cause that's what squirrel pictures do. 

Oh, and Priscilla? We found a place where there was a frig load of squirrels everywhere. We need to bring you back to that place so you'll start foaming at the mouth from excitement.

Oh and, i notice that people still came on to this blog when i didn't post anything. Sorry for disappointing but if you don't want to come on when there's no pictures yet, you should a) follow this blog or b) follow me on twitter. I "tweet" about updates the second after I post, so it'll save you some time.

-Canon Ma

April 14, 2010 - Relationships

So yeh, i'm a really creepy person who loves stalking couples as they're happily walking through a park. This is what i do, this is what i am, love me for it.

I realized how everyone is getting a relationship in university these days, and those made in high school are quickly destroyed within a couple of months of school (most of these due to long distance). 

So why even bother? When you enter a relationship and you know you guys can't be doing stuff together at least weekly (activities include the picture), then why promise each other you guys would hold on when you indubitably will break the promise?

I'm not saying that all long-term relationships will die off, i know of a couple of long-term relationships (like my brother's... kind of... not really a long d...iunno) that will work out. But it's just sad to see people break apart due to distance.

But I guess people changing is also inevitable, going to schools where their social structure is different might make 2 people madly in love with each other grow to forget their old selves and unable to love each other's new selves.

I guess that's why a friend of mine didn't allow the sad consequence to happen at all. I can kind of see how she didn't want things to fall apart slowly, and would much rather have a clean fast cut.

But how about when the long distance relationship does work? What if the person is 2000+ miles away but at the end of the day, you two still love each other and everything works out? Then wouldn't the fight just make the relationship just much better? After this, a small fight about the lifting the toilet seat will seem like nothing compared to the 10 years that you guys had to fight for each other.

Sigh...relationships are hard.

-Canon Ma

I wonder if my brother will kill me for mentioning him in this post, teehee.

April 13, 2010 - Walls Closing In

I'll admit it, I felt lazy today and didn't want to leave the house, so I just took a picture from my balcony

I found this picture funny. There's our building, then buildings on the right, buildings on the left, and 2 other ones from far away. Is it just me or are we just about to "om nom nom" the middle section of the area we see with cars?

Yeh I'm emotionally and philosophically spent from last night's post and from studying for Communications and Media, so NO, you don't get a fantastic story to go along with a picture, Sorry.

I also had a picture of where all the smoking Asians hang out (Empress walk). It's funny to see them sometimes from my balcony cause they think smoking in giant groups while the temperature is -20 is cool. W.e though, I think they all failed high school or failed at going to a decent post-secondary school, can't care much about them.

-Canon Ma

April 12, 2010 - Speeding through life

Let's switch this up, I'll put the picture at the bottom of this post.

You blink once, and you're 10, You blink again and your 16 getting your driver's license. You blink once more and you're now 22 or 23, getting your diploma. You blink just once more and you're married with 2 kids and in your mid-thirties.

I was just wondering and thinking about just how little time we spend savouring the moment. (This, of course is completely different than living for the moment) As kids we always sort of expect that we'll get something from our parents on our birthday, from something as small as a cactus plant, to as big as a car. But as kids we expect these to happen yearly and we never seem to slow down and just think about why people actually celebrate their birthdays, it just happens.

So, along with living for the moment, I feel like people are missing out on life because of this. Why can't High School take 5 or 6 years? Why can't you take a year off after it before entering University? It's true that the older you are the less respect you get from other people, but who really cares? If you enjoy the moment you're living in, what else really matters?

I believe we live in a world where we're speeding too fast. People grow up too fast. People are being educated at too fast of a pace for them to enjoy learning. People are being forced to always be on time at work and should sacrifice whatever senses they have to do so. People are inventing technology to separate the fine line between complete indulgence and (as sexual as it is) quickies.

But that's why we have photographers right? To help people visit the mountains that we never visit and allow us to sit back from the hectic life we lead and just stare at its beauty. To take pictures of everyday life and to allow the busy city worker to realize just what they pass along the street, but never have the time to take a ponder. To take pictures of objects and people we often neglect because of our busy lives. To take pictures of unforgettable moments such as your child's first birthday, the moment you put that ring on your wife, or your parent's holding you as a baby. Ultimately so that when you do have a chance to sit down and finally realize that you didn't get a chance to enjoy valuable moments of your life, you can take a glimpse of them through photos.

This photo resembles just how I view the world sometimes. It's just too fast for me, forcing me to sometimes wish I could go back in time, before urbanization happened. Before cars, planes, or the internet happened. Of course i can't overlook the good these assets have given everyone (including myself), but for me, it's hard not to wonder just how simple and less stressed our lives would be without them.

-Canon Ma

April 11, 2010 - Fathers

I'm a creep, I stalk fathers and their children :)


No I'm joking, but for some reason there's nothing more heartwarming then a dad spending time with their children. Maybe this stems from my sexist views of how the father usually doesn't spend time with his children (due to job or w.e), but either way, every single time I see a father with his children, It's fun to watch how he acts.

It's like when fathers are with their young children, all pride and care seems to dissipate. They can act as young as they want, as immature as they want, and as playful as they want and it's not emasculating at all. Just fun to see the transformation the dad goes under, and just how happy the child is to be spending time with their dad.

It's watching these kinds of families that makes me want to be a dad.

-Canon Ma