More people need to give me presents like this.

For Tom’s birthday, we gathered at Tim’s for grilled chicken breasts, pork chops, roast beef, and some pleasant conversation. I always find it interesting that the topics we discuss are so different from the ones at parties. Subjects tend to be more intellectual, whereas conversations at Pat’s house, let’s say, are much more jovial and carefree.

Four of us piled into my car to make a venture out west, in search of ghost towns. Areas that weren’t developed enough for the Canadian railway to go through, and the lack of major transportation eventually killed them.

What we found were not-so-abandoned places, black flies biting us all over, and dead ends.

Still, it wasn’t a total loss. There’s something to shoot almost anywhere, as long as you can change your perspective. And riding in a car with three new people means you get good conversation, if not good photo opportunities.

A few spottings of the “Tao” character while I was in Hong Kong. The word is somewhat ubiquitous, since it can mean “road”, “path”, or “way”, and so marks road signs everywhere. This is the same character that I got tattooed on my right wrist.

It’s interesting to see how different Chinese characters can look, whether they’re engraved, painted, written, or stamped.