typical T-Giving post...

Well it's thanksgiving (Canadian style) and I am at work... working. Well blogging too. Its really dead today. Why do I have to be at work on an official day off? Especially since it was an early start and I was up late preparing supper for tonight. I wanted to do as much as I could last night because I wasn't going to have the time. And it has to be good. The inlaws and my family are coming over! So basically I am a little grumbly this morning. But here comes the thanksgiving day twist!

I have to be thankful for my job. This job that I severely dislike and sucks the life away from me like a chupacabra (latino demon/bogeyman... the word literally means goat sucker). This job pays the bills, is ultimately flexible, and is giving me time-and-a-half for my thanksgiving shift. What about all the other people who don't have a job and who would kill to work a day in my conditions, not even mentionning holiday pay!

I am thankful that I had to get up early. Even though I could sleep till the cows come home and getting up early aches in ways I am sure you can undertand, I am thankful. I got hold my son as he woke up and I got to see him smile as I got ready and left for work.

I have to be thankful that I have a home and food. I have a place to live and food to eat. I am in a position to welcome family over and share all the extra that I have.

There are tons of good things that I can be thankful about. So many that i would not be able to count them out. So maybe the issue is not what are all the good things I have to be thankful about, but the bad things. What are the things that I consider to be "less-than-positive" which most of the people on this planet would gladly accept as the difficulties of their existence.

Eat some turkey, gobble gobble. Be as happy as that puppy up there who just loves running! That reminds me, I have to go jogging... ugh! I am not going to be thankful about that!

Birth of a Fenix... 4.5 months later

Well... it has been a while since my pride and joy and graced this planet and I am going to copycat a friend of mine who has explained the name origins of his kids. Here we go!!!!

My son's name is Fenix Mateo Jarry. I will explain Mateo first just because its so much easier. My dad's first name is my middle name. My first name is now Fenix's middle name... with a Spanish twist!

Fenix is a much longer and more complex story. First let me explain a little about the myth of the phoenix. The phoenix is a mythological bird that holds great power and influence. It is a story found in many cultures across the word. The most common story is that this unique bird builds a final nest/funeral pyre and is then consumed by fire only to be reborn out of its own ashes. This story meant a lot for my wife and I as we had just gone through a rough time in our lives (through the fire) and we had just come out of it and new life came out of it. So it means a lot to us. There are some really cool stories about the phoenix and I will just share a couple.


One story involves Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When the famous couple ate the forbidden fruit, Jewish myth says that they shared it with all the animals in the garden, which is why they all got kicked out. The only one that was spared was the phoenix because he did not partake and his reward was this type of immortality.

Another story describes how in ancient Greece the phoenix was a sign of good fortune. Politicians looking to gain favor with their public would avidly search for the rebirth of the phoenix which was an good omen and a sign of a great era to follow.

Besides the hundreds of stories the phoenix also symbolizes many things for many different peoples. Here are a few:

Immortality, Life after death, and Resurrection: Christians adopted the symbolism of the phoenix as an allusion to Christ's resurrection. In the Middle East they link the phoenix with palm trees which they consider to be eternal and powerful with their ability to prosper in desert conditions(very similar to rising from the ashes).

Divinity, Spirit, and Spiritual Obedience: Almost all cultures consider the phoenix to be a divine creature. The Chinese believe it to be the most sacred creature after the dragon. In fact the phoenix complements the dragon (yin-yang principle). In Japanese and Greek myths the phoenix represents the sun which was viewed as a god. Also in Judeo-Christian stories the phoenix embodies spiritual obedience as it is the first creature to hear God's command and obey it.

Health, Healing, and Balance: Obviously any creature that can regenerate itself from its own ashes must be in top physical condition and in great health. It is believed that the tears of a phoenix can heal any wound or injury including death. Some cultures say that the phoenix acts as a sort of ozone layer and protects the planet from the harmful rays of the sun. Another tradition shows how the phoenix values life and describes that the phoenix never kills and does not crush anything wherever it steps. The phoenix also plays a significant role in terms of balance. The chinese identified him as a symbol of inseperable fellowship, between couples and with the universe. This inseperable fellowship consists of maintaining a perfect balance which the Chinese held as of utmost importance.


Another reason that we went with Fenix was the fact that it is trilingual. Being that my wife is latina and we are both linked to Quebec and I have we both speak English it was important that it worked in the three languages. There is an accent over the "e" which this blog does not accept and so Fenix is acutally spelled the Spanish way since the "ph" as an "f" sound does not exist in Spanish. We also wanted to be different and not have to link it to the city in Arizona... so there.


So we hope for the best for our little man. We feel that the name Fenix reflects a piece of us and our lives and the things we hope for our son. I believe that it is tough and macho enough while maintaining a certain grace and artistic quality which we hope to pass on to our curious boy.





There are tons of other stories about the phoenix the span many, many cultures and if you would like to hear more please let me know. Or if you just want to know about Fenix I will be more than happy to field those questions as well!

Reflections of you...

I think that's the name of a song... not sure. But anyhow... I have been chatting with my wife about who I am as we work out whats wrong with and doing the typical psychological analysis. I am not saying that there is something seriously wrong with me... I am not medically crazy or something. But you know, we are just taking the time to look at me and kind of sort things out. Once you get married or you have a seriously relationship this will become the norm and your partner will live for these moments! Just kidding... love you babe! Oh boy... I will probably have to go through another one of these things when I get back home! :)






So for the purposes of keeping this blog active I am going to chat a little bit about reflections.







Visually speaking they are amazing and will continue fascinating us forever. Imagine one of those gorgeous landscapes with the mountains surrounding a still lake. The upside-down mountains we find in water, lined up against the real thing will take our breath away. Just seeing something again, differently, or in something that you wouldn't expect will keep us busy and interested for a long time. You ever notice that in most major buildings you will always find a mirror by the elevator or in the elevator? The reasons that its that are a) aesthetically speaking its very nice and makes everything seem larger and b) people spend their time looking in the mirrors and they dont notice the time pass.





As a photographer I am always looking for reflections of things. On the left you can see a photo of water drops reflected on the spoiler of my car. Underneath those reflections you can see the hazy mirror image of the tree outside my parents house set upon the blue sky. Sometimes you really have to pay attention and catch what is already out there. It takes work to see the things that your mind will pass over quickly as mundane.





So there is a deeper meaning to all of this. I think its the same thing with my life. I dont think I search hard enough to reflect upon what is going on in my life. I just gloss over things and not realizing that getting a different perspective can certainly help and make me see things more clearly. Its not obvious to stop and reflect or look at that reflection of you. Sometimes its not fun and you see things you dont like. Its so much easier to ignore it and continue on your way!

I haven't spent tons of time thinking this out and making something really powerful that will make you go home and look at yourself differently. However the main points still stand. Reflections are beautiful and whether or not we realize it, we are drawn to them and are mystified by the mirror-image. Reflection is necessary for our own lives. We gotta take a deep look at we are and see ourselves with all our blemishes, pimples, and unshaven stubble. Hey vampires can't do it... we should take full advantage.

what i believe...

I have been putting this off for a long time because I really don't know what to say. I was thinking about doing research and coming up with something really intelligent, well-planned, and thought out. But that's really not my style. I am a think about it a little bit, procrastinate a lot, and then just get something out there because I have been putting it off for way too long. So here goes...

The things I read, the things I do, the jobs I have had, and the things I say have caused quite a few people to ask, "Are you religious or something?" How they get that I am not entirely sure. I use profanity freely, I shock people, and do some crazy and downright stupid things. I guess I do them with passion... so that passes. I don't like the term religious because I hope and feel that I am not religious. At all. Not in the least bit. The only thing I do religiously is check my facebook to see if people still like me. However I do have a great degree of faith.

I have faith that things will work out in the end, no matter how badly they are going now (which sometimes feeds into my laziness). I believe that there is a God out there and that He (or she, I think that God is gender-neutral but I have so conditioned to write He, I just can't break the habit... see Pavlov's dogs... woof woof!) cares for me a great deal, cares for you a great deal, cares for this planet and all thats on it a great deal, and cares an even greater deal for how we all interact together. I love this God. He is funny. I think His favorite style of humour is irony. Not always so funny for me, but normally I am able to laugh at it in hindsight. (I wish my hindsight could be my foresight... that would help things quite a bit) I see God as Jesus and most of the stories that are told about Him, I can go along with.

Some of the stories I don't necessarily disagree with, but I think we focus on the wrong things and make mountains out of mustard seeds, spiritually speaking. Man (woman too, but chances are due to how the world worked back then we can hold men more accountable) has gone and screwed up things completely. They were faced with situations, events, and ideas that were so impossible to explain they had no choice but to try and explain them. Why did they do that? I am not sure but we still do it today. We want to take care of these kinds of things. We need to solve the mysteries out there so that they don't scare us. We want them put into boxes (or systems as my friend Tim says) so we can put them on the shelf in the storage closet where it will never haunt us again. So we try and explain the things we can't possibly comprehend and so we do a piss-poor job of it and make things worse by hurting the people and the planet that get abused by the system put into place.

So without going into a huge song and dance about how religion is a system to explain spirituality and God and that it often fails horribly because of its intent, I will quickly close about the things I hold as important. I believe that because we are not the end all and be all of the universe we need to act like it. There is a God out there and the most important thing is to love Him and seek to know more about Him because your life will change for the better. It doesn't mean you will be happier or things will be easier. But things will be better. We need to love those who don't get love because they need it most. (its hard... i struggle at it... alot) This means the people who cut you off in traffic, the person at work you can't stand, or that unpopular loner at work/school. That if you are reading this you are most likely incredibly fortunate and well off by world standards and we have a responsibility to help those outside of our immeadiate circle. This includes people of whatever race, color, language, background, and religion. (and preferably while we do these things that we are not profiting for ourselves and enhancing our position). I believe that we need a little more discomfort in our lives in order to remind us of our position. There are all kinds of other things up in my head but I think the last one I will throw in is to be inspired by things and allow these things to push you into action and inspire others. So whether you like to sing, dance, paint, write, meditate, preach, give, run, work, or whatever... just do it. Fairly simple and not that deep but I actively seek out inspiration and it always makes me feel better and I have known it to help others.

PS... these pictures I find something inspiring about each of them even though they have a typically religious theme. Peace...

Hurricane Ike, Turn-away!

Ike Turner... get it? He probably hits harder.... ooooooh! That is not funny, but i still went there.

Well he had to deal with Hurricane Ike while we were trying to enjoy a little vacation in Cayo Coco, Cuba. Home of Fidel, Che, and Rum. Due to the weather and the fact that we had to leave early meant that I didn't get to see much of any of them.

So we flew down on a special deal for an all-inclusive. Why were we so priveleged to get a special deal? Because a hurricane was on the way. Now we are no dummies. We know that hurricanes are crazy strong and they don't just mean a "storm" was going to pass through. We did our research. People had told us that it wasn't so bad and that it would quickly pass and Cuba was well equipped and experienced for these kinds of things. So we got down there and the first morning we got our hurricane warning and evacuation procedure... gulp! Still we were unphased. Then that evening room service came and asked if they could tape up our windows (see pic above). How did they know we were going to do it and why advertise to everyone...? Actually it was to help protect against the window breaking. Gulp part 2! Even though it was a nice sun-shiny day the wind was blowing fairly strong and we knew that we weren't so far away from experiencing something very powerful. We were advised that night at dinner that in prepartion for the hurricane that we would all have to meet in the shelter at 7am the next morning. Gulp, gulp, gulp! As we headed back we noticed how all the windows were now boarded up, the bars had been closed, any glass tables were locked up and put away, and people were drinking like fish. (fish don't actually drink like we do, but its fun to imagine a bunch of fish sitting around and drinking... ok its not that fun. lets continue) We packed our baby's bag just in case we needed to get out of there in a hurry... oh wait. Did I leave out the fact that we had a 3 month old with us??? We are adventuresome are we not? We had some of the staff and hotel customers cast us disapproving looks for our poor parenting choice. We're really horrible people.

So we get a phone call at 1am that night just wanting to check up on how we were doing. Ummmm... thanks? We're fine? Really sleepy... but fine. We didn't sleep that much so when they called back at 4:30am and told us: "Get out of your room, NOW!" We were ready to go! The wind was howling and the rain was dropping so hard you've think it would knock your eyeballs right out of your head! Clo had the baby, wrapped up and covered as much as possible and I had my camera bag, passports, Fenix's suitcase, and his diaper bag as we started our trek to the shelter. We had a great room far away from everything and close to the beach, but at this point we were not so keen on our room assignment. We moved slowly and were soaked before we even took our first step. As we moved one of the hotel staff saw our predicament and grabbed Fenix from my wife. He had a solid rain jacket and covered him up as best as possible as another one came over and offered up his raincoat. We moved from building to building trying to get as much shelter as possible. The whole time Fenix is smiling and laughing as if this was the best vacation ever! Seeing that he was only 3 months, that could have been the case!

So we finally reach the shelter, which by the way is only the cafeteria boarded up. We try to make do with the stiff backed chairs and the damp towels we are handed. Imagine all of us crowded in there trying to get comfortable and trying to sleep. Fenix was pretty happy though. He got a nice bed and a lot of attention, so he was good. The rest of us were stuck trying to stay up or sleeping on the floor. It was not very comfortable but we managed to last the 12 or so hours we were there. We did fun things like eat...uh.... .... and play Bingo Bingo Bingo! Not just Bingo. But BINGO, BINGO, BINGO!!! Cubans apparently like yelling bingo and so they want you to say it three times. Once the storm passed we were set back out into the wild. And it did look wild. Trees uprooted, windows broken... the whole nine yards. We had little electricity, no water, and no way to cool down as the beach and pool were closed. Good times.

We were soon evacuated out when Air Canada sent a plane to rescue us. Not just us, but a whole bunch of people. So we lost out on 3 days of our vacation and were not refunded for it. But we were ready to go. We had had our fill. We really want to see what Cuba has to offer... but maybe we will wait till the nice season.

The Battle of Paris...

Paris 029, originally uploaded by impactmatt.

.... you i wont do what you tell me!!! .... you I wont do what you tell me!!!

If you like Rage or know the song, you know what word I am leaving out. Sometimes I sing the unedited version in the car when I am fending off erratic drivers and my own road rage!

So yeah... we went to Paris because my wife wanted to go to the RATM concert. We went for a total of four days. Now before you think we are loaded with cash, we are most definitely not... by North American standards anyways. We do not walk around with money bags with dollar signs on them, but we do live comfortably when I think about those who do not have. Please remember that I work for Air Canada (and with current cutbacks, who knows how long that will last!!!) and flying cheaply is a huge perk of the job.

So we get to Paris, with carryon's and Fenix in tow and we take public transport to get to our hotel. Paris is a beautiful city and I will not go into describing all the old buildings and all the monuments but focus on a couple of things that stood out to me.

- Cafe's
I had a great time sitting at cafe's. It is the ultimate Parisian thing to do. You have your cafe au lait and a croissant, take out a loan to pay for it, and just people watch. All the chairs that our outside face out into the street. You are not supposed to have deep conversations with the people you are with but watch the world go by and enjoy it! We had one bad experience at a late night cafe coming back from the eiffel tower. Paris does have a reputation of being snobby and providing poor customer service. We walked up and sat down and made our order. It was about a quarter past midnight so my wife was not interested in alcohol and caffeine and ordered "un the glace." The waiter looks at her and in a snooty accent asks "Hiced Tea?????" I am fairly certain that we were speaking French and why he replied in English is beyond me. We confirmed her order and that his mastery of the English language in the area of beverages was solid. I then ordered a moccachino. Now I thought this was a fairly common coffee beverage. He looked at me as if I was crazy. He had no clue what that was. He was insulted that I asked him. I explained that it was a mix of a cafe moccha and a cappucino. No dice... this was beyond him. So I ordered a cappucino which I thought he understood.

We waited about 45 minutes... people next to us were served, people came and went, our waiter had many long conversations with his coworkers, and also seemed to take his coffee break(which ironically seemed to be a moccachino). So we left. Just so weird...

Seeing that this has gone on for a bit and I am sure that you are tuning out I will just skip right to the concert.

The buildup was amazing. We got there ridiculously early and I am fairly certain that we beat all 100,000+ concert goers. So we sat in this enormous park waiting for the show to start. Baby Fenix was by far the youngest Rage fan in attendance... and at 3 months we werent surprised. We had agreed that I would stay with him a long ways away from the main area and Clo would try and work her way up close. She ended up heading toward the mosh pit not realizing what was awaiting her. I hung back and when the music started my three month old's eyes bugged out of his head. He couldn't figure out what was happening! He had a little smile on his face though. I think he recognized the music as we had been playing a lot of rage leading up to our departure. He and I eventually left after a few songs due to the fact that i couldn't see anything being so far back and Fenix had had his fill. It was all right though because on the 20 minute walk back to the metro we pretty much heard the rest of the set and beat the traffic.

So yeah... a quick couple of stories about our trip. Stay tuned for next time when we discuss hurricane Ike!

where is the creativity?

Paris 062, originally uploaded by impactmatt.

Where have I been???? All my subscribers and loyal readers, I apologize... to both of you! How could you have lived without this blog?

Just kidding!!!

I am sure that you have survived well without me! Although I do notice that during the summer blogging does take a significant nose-dive. Regardless I am back and I am going to try and keep this thing up-to-date and interesting.

So where have I been? All over the place... I have had the chance to travel to Vancouver, Victoria, Chilliwack, Paris, London (Ontario), Cayo Coco, and back to London (Ontario). I have had the opportunity to travel with my family (including my little Fenix... now 4 months old) to all parts of the world and experience things like the beauty of a BC Ferry ride, a Rage Against the Machine concert with 100,000 other people, and a hurricane in a tropical paradise!

It has been exciting to say the least! So if you are interested in all these adventures tune in tomorrow when we will start with Rage Against the Machine in Paris!... or I may become impatient and write today! Who knows!!!!

So in closing, here is a little quote that I read in a book: "God is a comedian with an audience that is afraid to laugh!