don't fall into the picture

Thanks to free transit weekend in Montreal, Lohbado was able to wander about a little and enjoy sights and sounds. A stream of vivid visual impressions massaged his eyes. The trick is to not fall into the pictures. Beautiful ephemera, interesting details and little dramas, tons of people, it was a blast.

old party cats

What do old cats do during a Saturday night bbq?

a wheely good time

Free transit weekend in Montreal, praise be to racing cars. Lohbado had a wheely good time in old Montreal. A new ferris wheel will soon be wheeling customers around and around.

tower of brick

Lohbado went to a tower of brick in Montreal to empty his mind of excess worry. There's something comforting about red brick against a saturated blue sky. While Lohbado admired the monumental structure, a homeless man, long hair, long beard, mumbled something and kept on wandering.

self portrait

When there's nobody else around, one could always take a photo of oneself. So here's Lohbado's picture of Lohbado in the evening sun.

do cats dream of sheep?

sing along in Parc Jarry Montreal

A fun way to enjoy late afternoon and watch the sun go down in Parc Jarry, play guitar, sing, socialize.

the wall came tumbling down

When the bricks come tumbling down, it's time to repair the wall. Lohbado took a few photos while strolling to see the sheep. Lohbado painted the face of the man in front of the corvette to conceal his identity. Apparently there's a real corvette inside the corvette restaurant.

afternoon walk

Lohbado took some photos of a woman walking down Masson and over towards a park with grazing sheep.

funny symbolism

Funny symbolism, the tree had no say in the matter. Knotty tree became naughty tree; not what you think. Judas hung himself from a tree. Jesus carried a wooden cross. Lohbado admired the zero-shaped tree knots and thought about a blind preacher stumbling forward on a crutch of words, who later spanked a boy with a 12 inch wooden ruler.

Lohbado's hallucinations

Years ago, when Lohbado worked as a PBE (push button expert) for the DR (department of regulation) he began to hallucinate at his console. Rabbits, cats and various creatures appeared on the buttons and tickled his fingers when he went to press them.

Lohbado's hallucinations

Years ago, when Lohbado worked as a PBE (push button expert) for the DR (department of regulation) he began to hallucinate at his console. Rabbits, cats and various creatures appeared on the buttons and tickled his fingers when he went to press them.

institutuion

Lohbado dreamed about sombre humourless architecture, serious, lonely interiors and preceptors of alienation. Somebody handed him a bowl of room temperature liver hash. Lohbado looked at the bowl of grey mush and gave it to a grey dog. The mutt ate it with gusto and delight. Lohbado woke up and prepared oatmeal for breakfast.

how to feel good again

It's helpful to have a variety of methods to cheer up when you're retired or getting old and grumpy. Of course, this applies to anyone at any age. A powerful way to feel good on a summer day in Montreal, go for a bike ride and enjoy the many parks and funky places to relax. Have fun with sights and sounds.

Lohbado's approach: be honest about the pain, then follow a creative discipline. No need to be harsh, moralistic or judgemental towards oneself and others. We're all in it together. Nobody has it easy. Maybe life could be viewed as a giant carnival. With a sense of humour, one could go beyond the limitations of one's personality and enjoy a panoramic view of the situation. Open the mental horizon to infinite possibilities. Let the pain dissolve. One could have fun.

moi me me mine

That smiling crocodile is holding on tight to the parcel. If you took it away, the crocodile might shed tears. Moi is an important part of me. It's what makes me me. I could just as easily have been you. You could have been been. Let's swap mental content for a day and see how it feels. You be me. I'll be you. We'll experience different versions of me.

Me turned out to be like an empty box, which you could fill with personal experience, physical, emotional characteristics, along with social and economic circumstances.

what are you looking at?

Lohbado enjoyed looking at textures, lines, forms, luminosity, colour. The other night he dreamed about the wall with paint flaking off. He floated past walls that became larger until the flaking paint turned into a 3 dimensional jungle. He woke in a dark bedroom and gazed through the bedroom door to morning light streaming in along a passageway. He felt like a lost soul yearning for the light.

What does it mean to feel lost? What is meaning. To get lost in thought, stream of consciousness, for a few minutes, Lohbado didn't notice what he was looking at. His eyes glazed over as he got swept along in a discursive frenzy of trying to understand what exactly was going on. Morning light on a wall woke him from the reverie. To look inwards, to look outwards, sometimes the mind is in a blur. Sometimes one might notice something.