Curious standards for public venue media choices

I go to the gym in the basement of my apartment building. There is a TV there. I find it curious that someone can come in to the room, where everyone is ear-plugged into their own electronic devices, and turn on the TV with the volume way up. They do not ask whether it is OK to turn on the TV, but it would clearly be rude to just go up and turn it off without asking. It is interesting the asymmetrical nature of personal preference here.

I am an amateur potter, and take classes at Britannia community centre and am also a member of the UBC pottery club. During the latest class at Britannia, a young woman noticed that there was a stereo system and asked whether she could play some music on it for everyone. I say "asked" but she clearly did not expect any objections because she was already hooking up her phone. One woman said "as long as it isn't heavy metal". Sigh, if it were heavy metal I might have enjoyed it. It was the kind of emo hipster music you would expect from a young woman in the Commercial Drive area. Against all odds, the music they have played occasionally at the UBC studio I have quite enjoyed. I made a CD entitled "old man music" that I surreptitiously left there. I wonder if anyone plays it.

I have excellent taste in music and spend quite a bit of time putting together interesting playlists. However, it is clear to me that to the average listener, my music sucks. We are all allowed to have specialized and personalized tastes now in this era of digital music availability. Let's all bring our own music (audiobooks, podcasts) and earphones to the gym and studio and turn off the TV sound and put on closed captioning.

More UBC Pottery Club Results

In case my previous post was too serious, here I am back to showing my amateur pottery efforts. The UBC pottery club, now that they have their studio in place and kilns working, returns results in a much faster time frame than the Britannia Community Centre course that I take (finished results only at the end of 9 weeks). This is some of the latest things from the UBC studio:

I have had legal advice to not explain the item in the front of the photograph. 

I have had an easy life

I am a white, middle class, male, protestant (well, atheist), heterosexual Canadian. It is my experience, and it has mostly been unexamined, although I was aware of gender inequity if you take the "male" part away from my list in the first sentence. It has lately been made clear how easy my life has been. I have not been seriously bullied, physically or sexually abused, or raped. I have never had to line up for basic food or go hungry or wonder where I would sleep that night. I have enjoyed good health and had very little dental work, and it all was with anaesthetic. I had the opportunity for excellent professional development with supportive mentorship, and it led to financially and intellectually rewarding work in the city I wanted to be in. There were a few brief periods with limited finances (as a child when my mother was a graduate student and then as an adult when I was a graduate student). These were clearly transitory, however, and I value them because I appreciate everything I have now just a little bit more.

I cycled home today in the sunshine, having left work early because I can (although I'll work some long hours sometime to make up for it). I am enjoying a drink while I look out my window at the sunset, with a full weekend ahead with my friends and family.

A wise friend of mine once said that everyone's own worst pain is their yardstick for pain. My normalizing factor, my worst pain, is the difficult (and failed) family and romantic relationships I have had. Having finally understood how difficult life can be (or as well as you can having never experienced it yourself) I now know how easy my own life has been. It would be really great if understanding how difficult life can be would make me happier with my own. However, it does seem that to change your perception of your own pain, you have to actually experience the pain of others. I believe this is called empathy, but remember, I am a mathematician. It seems that whatever pain you have had, great or small or empathic, you just have to deal with it.

More Pottery

I am in the class at Britannia Community Centre and also going to the UBC Pottery Studio when I can. It's a lot of pottery in my life, which is busy with other things as well, but it's good as a stress release. The UBC studio is right next to a pub (the Gallery 2.0), very convenient. These pieces are from UBC. The thing in the front is a holder for electric toothbrush heads. The wire is added decoration, but also functional: The holes were just a bit too big and the brushes fell through before I added it. I do like the look, too. I have had ideas to do that kind of thing with leather laces on larger pieces.

Visit to my father in Kamloops

The weekend before last I flew up to Kamloops to see my father, who turned 90 the week before. He is still in good shape mentally and physically. I phone him every week, but it has been difficult to see him in person. Most of his energy goes to looking after my stepmother, who has lost her short term memory.  There were a few years where she became unsettled whenever I visited, which made it unpleasant for all of us. I got some good advice that things may have changed in recent years and talked with my father who agreed it was worth attempting a visit, which went well. It was great to see my father and my stepmother was quite warm to me. She and my father lived together from the time I was around 8 years old. I lived with my mother but spent all vacations with my father and his wife. As a kid I never realized how supportive she must have been to make this happen. I think it would have been more natural if she had been uninterested in raising another child, after having seen her own into adulthood. Another kindness I had as a child that I did not appreciate!

 
I guess I get my fashion sense from my father. They have a fantastic view from their place!

Latest Pottery

I just got the first batch of pottery back from my work at the UBC pottery club. It is a nice studio on campus with a bunch of enthusiastic and fun students running it, with success. It is a positive social environment as well as being a good place for the craft. Here is what came home with me tonight:

 

The little things are napkin and tea light holders. I had used some old clay I had that fired at the same temperature as what they do (cone 6), but this was a mistake, as any wisdom they had on how glazes looked after firing did not apply. I did like the amber colour of the bowl and using underglazes again. I have since started using their clay. 

I also found an old picture of the things I made in the class at Britannia Community Centre in the Fall course I took there. I don't think I ever got around to posting this.

Apartment Floor Cocktail Party is a Mixed Success

I wanted to get to know some of my neighbours in my building. I am pretty self-sufficient, but it is just nice to know people around you. I thought about knocking on people's doors and introducing myself, but that didn't seem right (it has later been made clear to me that this is a general failing in Canadian society). So, my gambit was to put up signs and invite people over:

I also asked over the woman I am dating (my girlfriend? I don't know the rules for when you make the transition to that term) and a buddy. They got along well, which is not necessary but nice when it happens. I did have one neighbour come over as well, Florian from next door. He is originally from France, with an interesting career in interior (and exterior) design using natural materials. 

I guess if you really want to meet people, you need to talk with them in person. Maybe some day I will grow up and be able to do that.