Running and thinking

Okay - Here we go. Cup of tea? Yes sir. Neil Young: Harvest? Check.

So... A lot going on today, but I'll share a few things on my mind at present. Just in the door from my treasured weeknight run. Six miles under those endless blue skies and a brilliant summer moon. I really need to start bringing my iPhone with me so I can record my rambling thoughts as I run, as I really come up with my best material while jogging. I was honestly laughing out loud tonight, almost in tears, coming up with story and essay ideas while I jogged along. But for you the audience, here in a conscious stream of thought, will come all the things I can remember thinking about while pounding the cobbles on this night.


1 - And the Leafs sign... Colton Orr and Mike Komisasrek. Oh joy; playoffs here we come. On a smooth-skating, puck-moving, peak of his career note - the Flames may be in better position after today's inking of Jay Bouwmeester.

2 - It's been a decade since I packed my bags and headed up the highway with best mates Dave and Mike for my first Air Cadet summer training camp at Penhold. Good friends Meghan, Cori, York and Chelsea were also there. Many more, but I think they are the only ones who read this. Hello! Wow - 10 years. I can still taste the horrible food and recall how nervous I was for music level testing. I was hands down the worst trumpet player on the base. I think I was past of a group of friends who boosted the moral of hundreds of cadets for six weeks, however. We were hilarious, reckless, and yet incredibly disciplined and creative.

I recall being late each and every morning for 06:00 fall-in. I did, however, have one of the best-kept uniforms around. Imagine that. Now you know why my shoes still shine and my shirts and slacks are perfectly pressed each day. Trained by the sharpest dresser - J. Douglas Gibson. Many tales of mischief form my best memories from that endless summer, most of which will only be told when I write some form of memoir. I imagine it will be in blog form anyways, so stay tuned.

3 - I think every street in W. Glasgow has a discarded Chesterfield lying about on the pavement this week. These urban seats are rubbish to their previous owners, but pieces of art to me. The couches have sparked many musings for my next Glasgow photography essay. Why not photograph couch surfers on random street couches? That doesn't sound too hot now, but will produce some fantastic stuff, I guarantee. You really should never know what to expect when knocking on my door. Seriously. I have a lot of time to think, and drink way too much French-pressed.

Side note: Couch availability is quickly filling up for July and August. I may set aside a week or so for my friend and colleague, the Calgary Journal's own Josh Naud - now chief photographer and joint photo-editor. All I do is complement this guy. Probably because all I do during the semester is give him a hard time. Ball buster. You are all welcome anytime.

4 - As summer hits full swing, and warm nights find you enjoying the company of friends and family, I have one word for you: Sancerre. Yes, the perfect white wine for warm summer nights The French Sancerre roughly translates to mean summer. Sancerre = summer - or so a well-dressed and wild-haired Japanese sommelier once told me. I would describe it to one of my tables as a fruity, balanced and mineral-full Loire gem. Unoaked Sauvingnon Blanc at its best.

Those lucky enough to visit 18 Saville this summer should know I was tasked by my grandfather to stock the wine racks a while back. There may be a bottle or two of Sancerre kicking around behind the bar, or in the terracotta slips under the stairs. I may or may not of shared a bottle a little while back while being destroyed in a few games of pool. A wee shark you are. I think they Sancerre is just under the 1985 Bourgogne Blanc and the 1967 Lafite-Rothschild. Who's pouring? Side note: Feel free to send me and e-mail anytime to let me know about your life. You could tell me things like your colour, or what you did today. I like notes.

5 - On my run I also started to go over the e-mails I found in my inbox this morning. These things are becoming the strange norm.....

i - "Hi Daniel. What do you think of doing a story on a new photography exhibition which showcases on artist's snapshots of the bridges in Glasgow crossing the River Clyde?" Reply - "No, my photographs of the bridges are much better." Ouch. Just kidding, I'm going to the First Thursday exhibition tomorrow - mostly for the free wine. And the story folks, and the story.

ii- "Hiya Daniel. Would you like to film a monologue speech, a reflection on life as you go through it, for a short film I'm doing? It could be about your writing/photography." Learning my lines this weekend.

iii - "Hi Daniel. I work for a Dutch travel television show, and was wondering if you would like to host a surfer and show him around town for a segment we're doing for our national program on urban travel." Hmm. 6 - Stared writing a story on Wellington Boots for page 3 of the national newspaper. Only a readership and circulation of a few million. Well, the only thing I can say I know about Wellington is he's the guy on the horse outside the modern art gallery with a traffic cone on his head - like a hat - on the weekends. Just kidding, former history major remember? As for boots, err rain boots, err, Wellies... I'm pretty sure they are those things Kate Moss wears, right?

- Daniel C.