He's Gotta Have It

Image by raysto via Flickr

Its good to admit when you have a problem, when you realise that your dark need to satiate your overwhelming urges forces you to seek out the street in search of feeding that thirst that can never be fully quenched in the way it was that first time.

My problem first started in Vietnam, Saigon to be exact. I hoped that Hanoi would change things, but it didn't. It only got worse. I figured that once I got back to Canada, I could let it go, forget about things and put it behind me once and for all. Pick up the pieces and move on. But I couldn't.

Thus it was that I found myself wandering the streets of Chinatown, peering into darkened doorways, looking for that familiar lettering that let me know that the mist rising from that impossible bowl was purveyed here, that the agonising drip of the brown elixir into the cauldron of stilled whiteness might be gleaned within these florescent walls and that I could be made whole again, if only for a moment.

As I walked in, I felt my desperation permeate the room. I needed it bad and I needed it now. I can barely enunciate as my choking throat gasps out the order. It seems like an eternity, but within a few scant moments it arrives.The edible version of my great white whale.

A steaming hot bowl of pho and a Vietnamese iced coffee. I squeeze the lime, add the sprouts and tear off the leaves of whatever that herb is and dig in. I eat, mesmerised by the coffee slowly dripping before me. And for a moment the world is perfect.

I think to myself, yeah, Hanoi was pretty awesome, but Toronto isn't too shabby either.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

The Hanoi Bride

Our lives are full of moments in which we strive to be better people, all of us at once both student and teacher to one another with roles constantly reversing. But events are what put the exclamation marks on our existence.

This was a picture I snapped while walking through the Old Quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam. As I was walking down the street a bride exited from a nearby building, and I managed to coax my crappy, but ever faithful Kodak to capture this image.

As the whole street joined me to look at this touching scene, I felt a sense of shared engagement and joy with all who were present. Except for the bride, of course, because for her, it was an event. For the rest of us, it was a moment.

I was also thinking; my goodness, that is one lucky groom.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Perceived Authority

Image via Wikipedia

When I was eleven years old my parents were pondering a complete change in the direction of their lives. My father was seriously considering moving the family to another city in British Columbia and abandoning his very successful career as a banker. Given that I was eleven years old I was not privy to all the doubt and indesicion that engulfed my parents as they debated their future and my own. But I could feel the spirit of indecision all around me.

One day, I was lazily watching a rerun of The Brady Bunch, The Monkees, or perhaps it was a new episode of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. I don't recall. My father walked into our rumpus room and began trying to convey to me the gravity of the moment, that he and my mother were at a crossroads and seriously did not know what to do.

He then said to me something that I have never forgotten. I paraphrase, but it was essentially this. "You may look at me and believe that I have all the answers, but I don't. You think that grownups have all the answers, but we don't. We don't know anything more than you do about life".

Even at the time, that remark both stunned and informed me, and I am forever grateful to have heard it, and indebted to my father for his stark honesty. That was a teachable moment, and I still carry the lesson to this day.

My father had shattered my blind acceptance of perceived authority and helped me to become a person who questions all authority. I am quite willing to accept the validity of legitimate authority, but in this ever expanding world of fake experts and dubious pundits my fathers sage words continue to serve me well each and every day.

The reason that I bring this up is that in my little social circle I am acquiring some perceived authority of my own through my trip to Ghana and my plans to travel to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in mid November.

In theory, I am supposed to take all this perceived authority and use it to promote my website, blogs etc. Other people have done this quite successfully and many of them have the validity to be rightfully referred to as "real travellers" and "experts".

If you want real experts on traveling, here are two of my favourites, here and here

But I am not one of them. I am just a person like yourself, trying to figure things out.

My goal is not to be an expert, but to throw my story out there. In an ideal world, you hear my story, respond to it and share your story with me. I want to hear your story, so that we may learn from each other. Its not about perceived authority, its about honestly recognizing and sharing our common human experience and teaching each other.

As my father said to me all those years ago, " I don't know anything more about life than you do".

As for me, I'm just trying to share my experience. I have no idea what you should do, and only slightly more knowledge regarding what I should do.

www.goyestoeverything.com

4....3....2...1...

Image via Wikipedia

So today is launch day. This is the culmination of work that begins only weeks after the last TIFF. For me, I jumped on the train in early July. While I have nothing to do with the content of the event, I do help the powers that be execute the event, alongside a great many others.

I'm reminded of the image of Mission Control, with a bunch of people behind computers launching an Apollo or Shuttle mission. For the next ten days we will watch this thing soar through the sky, while praying that nothing brings it crashing down to earth.

Make no mistake, there will be minor glitches on a personal level for a few attendees. Relax, we will do our best to live up to our commitment to you.

Over the next ten days the people of Toronto will have the opportunity to witness many aspects of the human experience as perceived by filmakers from around the globe. TIFF can teach us a lot about ourselves.

With all due respect, don't waste your time on the George Clooney film. Go see that flick from Vietnam that you will never have the chance to see again. That is the true beauty of TIFF.

Now lets light this candle, shall we?