In 2004 I followed Taylor‘s Project 365, his collection of a year of daily photos. It struck me as a brilliant idea then, but it wasn’t something I was willing to emulate at that time. This year he has been doing it again.

This October I was reminded of the project by an entry at Photojojo, “Project 365: How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way“. In it, Taylor espoused the project and gave tips on how to do it well. Telling a story with or along with the photos is one I think is very valuable.

Some others have taken on the challenge of Project 365 in rather inventive ways. GoldenPath created a love affair between Ernie and
Batgirl, while folks over at Flickr have created a Project 365 group, showcasing a lifescape each day. Bill Wadman did a similar 365 project, but with blog entries that included documenting his father’s dying, though he’s a remarkable photographer as well.

I’m expecting ’07 to have me in a sea of change, so I think it’s fitting I try to capture a speck of the grit and beauty of each day. Come January 1st I’ll be armed with my sub-$100 camera and ready to see where the lens takes me.

P.S. The world is a lot more funky, soulful and rhythmically advanced because of a man who took a sliding groove into the bardo today. “Lay down the boogie and play that funky music til you die. ‘Til you die? Yeah!” Rest in Soul, James Brown.

Merry Christmas, friends! I hope your holidays are going blissfully this year. Mine were nice. I spent a couple lazy days at my parents’ place in Dean, enjoying time with my family.
Because I will be working a great deal over the next few days, I opened my presents early. I received a lot of nice things, but a knit hat from my sister, Terry Brooks‘ Armageddon’s Children from my parents, a vegetable steamer from my cousins, a Rumi calendar and a tigerseye mala from Gwen, and homemade cookies from my aunt come to mind immediately.

I spent some of my time in Dean going through backups of photos I’ve amassed during the past 5 years. It was heartwarming to look back and remember some unforgettable and beautiful moments with the people dearest to me. The swirl of memory held times in the maple woods, Ashley’s 2002 visit, concert communions, bike rides, laughing Wednesdays, Susana’s visit two summers ago, a roadside picnic with Cerra and beachcombing with Andrew and Allison. I’ve had a blessed life thusfar, but the future is open.

This month sure has a way of making time disappear; it seems like just yesterday it was my birthday. The calendar-spinning days aren’t up yet. A brief visit with my family, a string of work, New Year’s Eve and jury selection await me in the next few weeks. The appeal of running off to become a monastic wanderer has seldom been so great.

Sunday night was the Christmas party for my place of work. I was given an honourable mention for the employee of the quarter and thus have a night’s stay at Marriot Residence Inn, both very pleasant surprises. I had a nice time even though I had to work before the party ended and on through the night and morning. Drama never ceases around there, though, which is sad.

Recaps of the year are all the rage at the moment, so I’ll share with you the first portion from the first entry I wrote each month this year.

January: I have to open with an exciting bit from Stuart Davis’ blog before I get to the mundane happenings in my life. He recently shared news that Ken Wilber (only the greatest philosopher we have and, as Stu says, “the World’s foremost benefactor and genuis when it comes to perspectives”) has developed a revolutionary Semiotics. – “Mundane Happenings”
February: Monday afternoon I met with Pegah at the HSC and then spent the rest of the day with her. We’d been talking often, but hadn’t spent more than a few minutes on the 13th together. We watched Mirrormask and played with Mithra for a while before deciding to walk to Sir Sanford A. Fleming Park. – “Warm and Cold”
March: My friend Mark recently launched an ingenious new project called DomainBrain. – “Of Brains, Cat Attacks and Soda”
April: Last night was incredible, absolutely incredible. I haven’t had a more wonderful concert experience in all my life, and I’ve been lucky enough to see some of the finest performers to grace the stage. – “Broken Social Scene!”
May: I spent the afternoon darting around the city with my friend Sara. She had initially asked me to play football, but we also ended up walking, talking philosophy, bowling, eating candy apples and having the most spontaneous and purely fun day I’ve had in a long while. – “Filled Time & Mystics”
June: First, sorry to any of you who misunderstood my last post as a blogging denouement. Before you send spiders to the wake, let me clarify. – “I’m Not Dead, Just Very, Very Broken”
July: There have been few books I’ve read that have moved me so deeply that I have to recommend them to everyone I meet. In recent years it has been Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves and Craig Thompson’s Blankets. Now Ken Wilber’s Grace and Grit : Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber is the one book I’ll be insisting you all read. – “Grace and Grit”
August: A while ago my sister Ilea took a photo of me with a bottle of Jones Soda, the finest soft drink you can find. Against my cringing disapproval, she posted it online. – “Yours Truly, Happenings, Consciousness”
September: I’ve moved into my fantastic new apartment and have nearly unpacked everything that needs unpacking. I couldn’t be happier with my new place, really. My bedroom has a large loft that I really enjoy. – “Movement and Alarm”
October: On the other side of 9 days straight of working and a lone day off, I’m looking forward to my two weeks off in November. Finances will keep me close to home for that period, but I intend to make good use of the time away from the hotel. – “Polishing Stars”
November: Last.fm has been one of my favourite sites for several years now. It keeps track of all the music you listen to (through plugins for every major music player), introduces you to new artists and is creating a genuine “social music revolution”. – “Last.fm”
December: Last night I discovered StyleFeeder, a hip new shopping and product recommendation site that aims to offer relevant suggestions. With capitalistmas on the way, it seems like a site worth checking out. – “Revealing Aesthetic“

I’m 24 years old. As years tick on like this, the numbers fade out in favour of greater milestones. Go back a year and you’d see a less realized me, and each year back the leaps are always obvious. But this past year has been tremendous for me. I’m ever more transparent, and it’s truly a blessing.

The coming Christmas holidays have been a bit frustrating to plan for. Because of a recent firing at work I’ll be stuck working 16 hours on Christmas Day, among other changes to my schedule, leaving me with only a couple days to spend at home with my parents and not the ones I had been hoping for. It left me rather disgruntled, I’ll admit.

But overall my life is going well, and I have some secret, life-altering plans I’ll be revealing in the new year, once more is in place for them. It’s nice to have a pleasantly drastic change on the way, but a bit frustrating to have to be silent about them for now. I’ll give you one hint, though.

I must get back into the thick of things, but I want to again plug the Threadless sale that is soon ending and share a few of my favourites in the running.

Winter fell into us like lightning to the snow. As I walked beneath snow-coated trees that first night I relished the feeling of otherness, aware of but not distracted by the unending line of cars. Light flashed now and then, likely street lamps, but seemingly electicity falling through the thick snow.
I walked open to the white fall, my awareness on the overall space. Every limb, motor, walker and flake adding texture to the cascade of footfalling moments. Clumps of snow would explode into my head from the trees, small bursts of powder sticking to my hood.
I arrived to the warmth of my lover’s home with a residue of wonder and melted ice.

Yes, winter is here, much to my initial dismay. It has its magical moments, but when I try to leave my home only to find my door is frozen shut, and I must pry it open, I curse winter. Winter can cocoon us all too quickly, physically and spiritually.

My birthday comes up quickly once Winter hits. This Sunday will be the day I tick over into 24. My parents will be coming into the city during the weekend and then the night of my birthday I plan to go see The Fountain with some friends. Any of you are welcome to come along, see the best film of the year (I downloaded it first and was blown away; I’ll write about it in full after seeing it again.), and help me celebrate.

Now for some additions to my miscellanea.

Threadless‘ $10 sale is ongoing, and submissions I’m rooting for keep popping up. I think many of my friends will especially enjoy “My First“.

Via Gwen and Ilea:
Comment, and I’ll give you a letter; then you have to list 10 things you love that begin with that letter in your journal and give out some letters of your own.
I got W.
1. Wonder
2. Wisdom
3. Wi-Fi 802.11n
4. Wii
5. Woods
6. Way of the Superior Man
7. Wanderlust
8. What is Enlightenment?
9. Williams, Saul
10. Wilber, Ken

Last night I discovered StyleFeeder, a hip new shopping and product recommendation site that aims to offer relevant suggestions. With capitalistmas on the way, it seems like a site worth checking out. If you want to see what I’m interested in, take a look at My StyleFeed.

Threadless is currently having one of its wonderful $10 shirt sales. I recommend A Room with a View, Best Friends Forever, and Pandamonium. My three favourite shirts still being voted for are below, and I’d appreciate it if you could prop them up some.

I’m in love with the Brooklyn PhotoBelt! I have a penchant for black leather accessories and customizable fashion, so when I discovered that Smoy has launched a new belt to match their Brooklyn PhotoCuff, I immediately added it to my list of must-have items. Speaking of the PhotoCuff, mine is in need of an update to include photos from a salacious shoot done in September.

(or “You Are What You Read” )

My introduction to David Deida was through Integral Naked, where he is a frequent contributor on the unity of intimacy and spirituality. I was facinated by his talks on “yogic sexuality and intimate communion” and have wanted to incorporate some of his teachings into my Integral Life Practice for months. I imagine Deida either completely intimidates or completely inspires everyone introduced to him, but I have been deeply inspired.
Reading The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Woman, Work, and Sexual Desire was my first real step into practicing a sexual yoga in any structured way, and it was deeply affirming of many things I had been intuiting and utterly shattering for a lot of my follies. I haven’t been this inspired by a new author since I first read The Atman Project.
A focus of the book was the value of sexual polarities, that most of us (roughly 90%) have primarily a masculine or feminine identity and are most drawn to and happiest with someone living the opposite. Deida writes of the challenge and unending reward of stepping into a masculine, authentic and transparent identity, ultimately expressing the spiritual drive. As a book for masculine people (and those in intimate relationships with them), it presents a comprehensive, practical and resonant way of fostering lives of value and happiness.
His assertion of the need for embodiment of the two primary masculine and feminine traits of agape (communion and care) and eros (drive and mission) was exciting. He urges us to break out of the crippling notion that we must take part in compromises of our deepest motivations.

Not only is the compromise personally distasteful, but it must also be a turn off for anyone watching her partner stagnate.
In addition to many suggestions for more transparent behaviour, some techniques are introduced for more fulfilling sex. Muscle, breathing and meditation exercises were very accessable and have been easy to adopt, and I appreciate the presentation in such a direct manner.
The Way of the Superior Man stirred up so much motivation for me and gave me the techniques and foundation to practice beyond any expectations I had. The challenge and promise offered leads through sexuality and straight into the timeless divine, and there we find limitless purpose, limitless love and ultimately our Self.

The watch strap I mentioned last week has arrived, and it feels nice and solid on my wrist. It’ll take some time for me to getused to having a timepiece on my arm again, but I think I’ll enjoy it. Thanks to PixelGirlShop!

I battled a cold this week and have managed to exorcize it. It always feels great to be on the other side of an illness, even a short-lived one.

Threadless is one of my favourite places to get new shirts, but the folks who vote on the designs frustrate me often. The stellar designs often don’t make the cut when it comes to shoppers’ votes, and I’m left looking back at some wonderful shirts that will not be made. I’ve found some real gems, though, and look forward to each week’s new releases. I’m holding hope these two will be made.

If I ever doubted my status as a geek, I can be sure now. I’ve been mentioned over at comic blog Newsarama because of my Demo suitcase.

I may be drained from the drudge of being at work for a 16.5 hour shift, but I have a head swarming with fantastic words! During my breaks I finished up Saul Williams‘ The Dead Emcee Scrolls and I’m still resonating. Wow! There went any lingering doubt that Saul’s the greatest living poet we have.
The book is a collection of poems and journal entries related to a find of scrolls tucked into an empty spray can by some time-lost graf artist, and are holy channelings of hip hop. Saul’s words are mesmerizingly full of fluidity, interplay and exquisite beauty. But there’s no denying the gritty realness of many of the passages; it’s rarely gentle. Saul’s steeped in hip hop and something utterly timeless; he’s a mystic of the sort Rumi was.