Hi legion of loyal readers,
I had an interesting evening tonight, and thought I'd share. Carmella is working 3-11 shifts these days, so I need an outlet for my stories. This blog is the recipient.
Tonight I went to a weekly course I'm taking on the photo manipulation software Photoshop. It's really great, and my teacher is able to explain things really well. We've learned a lot of things so far, and it's fun to be able to use my skills. Among other things, I learned how to give a photo a new sky. Is it too dark and cloudy in your picture? Take the sky from a nice day and insert it into your picture!
I've realized that almost any picture you see in a pamphlet is likely photoshopped quite a bit. The sky could be changed, the colours modified, elements taken out or added in. It's very interesting. This class is called Photoshop Level 1, and I hope to take Photoshop Level 2 in a few months when it's offered. It's a UBC Continuing Studies class that most people pay something like $595 for, but I get to take for free as a UBC employee.
As I was waiting for the bus to go home, I saw two people running full speed down the sidewalk. I was interested because I was sitting at the bus stop with nothing much else to focus on, and because two people rarely sprint down the street.
The person in the lead was wearing camouflage pants and a camoflage hat. The person in the rear was an Asian guy wearing fashionable shorts and a dyed and styled haircut. Each time the guy with the fashionable clothes and haircut caught up to the camouflage guy, they had a brief pause, and kept going again.
I thought they were friends maybe, but turns out they weren't. Camouflage guy had presumably stolen fashionable guy's camera, because I heard "Enjoy the camera you stole..." or something like that when Camouflage made is final dash across the street.
It was interesting because it seemed Fashion didn't know what to do once he caught Camouflage. He was happy to chase him, but wouldn't challenge him physically at all once he caught up, which happened three times. They were both the same size too. It's possible Camo had a knife or other weapon that I didn't see, but it's not likely. I think Fashion wasn't prepared to assert himself physically to get his camera back, so each time he approached Camo, he ran out of options.
After watching that, I thought about what I'd do in that situation. Illusions of heroism flashed through my mind, and I imagined myself chasing my assailant, yelling something like "You've chosen the wrong guy to run away from, I can keep this up WAY longer than you!" or something like that. I have been running a lot, so I like to think I could go toe-to-toe in any footrace with anyone taking my things.
I then wondered if I should have stepped in and approached Camo and tried to get the camera back for Fashion. I was bigger and maybe faster than Camo, so I wondered what would have happened if I did. I think the general consensus is that you don't step in because the thief could have a gun or nun-chucks. But is the only other option to stand by and watch? We law abiding citizens must unite against the criminals in this world! But maybe not, if you end up getting hurt for it.
I stopped thinking about that when the bus arrived. It was pretty full, but I found a seat next to a nice retired lady. We chatted about the need for more buses and how the bus we were on (22 Westbound) would empty out by the time we got to Broadway.
I asked where she was coming from, and she said New Westminster, which is a suburb of Vancouver. If you drove west from Vancouver, you'd hit Burnaby first, and then if you aimed a bit south, you'd get to New West. If you kept going and found a bridge, you'd find yourself in Surrey.
She was coming from there because her husband has sleep apnea, so they needed two bedrooms. So, one bedroom is in New Westminster, and one in Vancouver. I guess there are all types of relationships out there. She was very kind and said they still see each other every day. I'm assuming she was taking transit every day too, because she talked about borrowing her son's car for the retirees lunch that was happening tomorrow.
What a commute! His sleep apnea must have been pretty bad. It's unfortunate they couldn't rent a two-bedroom place somewhere, and have a shorter commute. She told me they were the types of parents who took their son to Disney Land and had those great experiences, but now in their old age they won't have much to pass on to him. She told me her Dad always encouraged them to save their money, but they preferred to spend it. It's too bad they couldn't afford a two bedroom place though.
I got the impression that their son was an only child, and that they followed him out to Vancouver when he got a job. They were all living in Ontario, where they were from originally. I imagine they could afford a two bedroom place in Ontario, but they're choosing to be close to their son instead.
She was a very happy woman, and didn't complain about the commute, the time on the bus, the time away from her husband or their finances. To her life was good, and she was happy. I need to be more positive like her!
That was my night. I'm going to try a quick photoshop project to show how I can change a sky. We'll see if I can get it done and posted here. I might get tired and go to bed before, if things get complicated.
