Bon Iver – Holocene

We finished building the last of the furniture for my new apartment last night. The new media center was easier than I expected and the first thing I played on it was Bon Iver’s video Holocene. It made me miss Iceland.

It was a rough week moving and my back is aching. I’m going to need a day up at the Nordik spa just to get the kinks out although I am looking forward to hot yoga tomorrow. I have a lot of picture arranging on my beautiful large walls but that will be over the next several weeks. 
Several friends have already popped by and I can’t wait to have my inaugural gathering. Soon.

RIP My dad David Frederick McCormick

My father died late last week. 

I was in Vancouver but my father didn’t want me to come home. He wanted me not to worry about him. From my father I learned how to use humour when things got rough, I learned to love to travel, I learned to love to read, and I learned that the world was a big place. I was really happy to visit my dad a few weeks ago and I brought photos of Iceland. I loved looking at photos with my dad, and he always smiled when I told him the stories of the places I visited, much like I smiled as a young boy when he told me stories of his travels.

I drove up to Whistler the next day for lunch, I stopped many times to take in the beauty of the land and to think abut my dad. I will miss him. 

Here are just a few panoramas from my trip. Working on my photography has given me respite.

I want to thank all of you for the support and love in my period of grief. It is greatly appreciated and has helped me immensely.  

    
    
    
 

Modern academia and its critics

One of the most insightful and critical pieces about the state of the modern university that I have ever read here.

The article, Dear Parents: Everything You Need to Know About Your Son and Daughter’s University But Don’t, by Ron Srigley touches on issues with the university and how it has morphed into a structure that is antithetical to its origins. No longer is the university fulfilling its role within democracy and society, the author argues and persuasively so. I couldn’t help but extrapolate this argument to other decaying structures such as public service. 

My map of Iceland

I have arrived from flying all day. I met some nice folks along the way. I am quite tired but can’t sleep. I have just unpacked my wool stuff from Iceland and am resisting importing and beginning to sort through my photos. That, and the 4K video from snorkeling at Silfra, will take some time.

Here is my map of Iceland as seen through artifacts that I collected. From the black smoothed rock from the Black Sands beach to porus volcanic stone from the thermal area around Myvatn. The clam shell is from the rocky shores of the south western  peninsula and the sea shell is from the east fjords

 

A hot tub with a view

I left Grundafjordur early this morning to avoid the storm pounding the peninsula. I slowly made my way south to Borganes and am here overnight and then on to Silfra for a dive tomorrow. I will spend one final night in Reykjavik and then back to Ottawa. 

Here are a few from today including my hot tub in Borganes where I’m sitting enjoying a glass of wine and watching the sun set.