Sunday's Child

Simple Distractions

I am easily distracted. I start projects with the best of intentions only to be drawn away from them by a strong magnetic force, more commonly known as as "procrastination."

Like, for example, when I set out to clean my house -- I always begin with great intentions, but then manage to stumble upon a drawer or cupboard that ends up consuming my interest for the bulk of time previously set aside for cleaning.

But there's another kind of distraction. This type of distraction is the one I use when I'm stumped with the dilemma of how to proceed with a challenging project. These distractions are my way of problem solving. It likely explains the picture I took this morning of my recent candy purchase.

Here's what happened: I worked from home today (something I do on school days). This past weekend I created a website for some colleagues in Markham, Ontario. I received an email from them this morning, and I'm puzzled. I don't understand their latest request. Their early-morning email started off making sense ... "Thank you for the great work you did on the ABC site." The words that followed prompted my trip to the candy dish. I did not understand what it was they wanted added to the site. Some times it's just easier to have a conversation on the phone, rather than trusting an email to explain or ask something.

So, instead of updating the website, I proceeded to arrange the colourful candy-coated discs into an "S" shape. The outcome reminded me of the Zeller's ad that places products so they resemble the letter they begin with. In my case, Smarties represent the letter "S," which could easily stand for "stymied." I got out my nifty Nikon camera and took a picture.

Then I went to the balcony and snapped a picture of my backyard, as seen from the seventh floor. I also took a picture of the crappy-looking automotive shop that makes its home next to mine. "Lindsay's Automotive Centre" includes a tacky car lot filled with relics from a bygone era, and a large steel cage that houses old tires. The roof of the cage is covered with shreds of green plastic tarp. The place is a dump.

To the south of my building flows the mighty Fraser. The next photo I took was of the Fraser peeking through the condo towers that dot the landscape between my place and the river. The newest tower is still being built. There are 26 storeys now with four more still to come.

And now for some pictures: