anniversary | timotheories

Guess Who Got Engaged? (Engagement)

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Tim Kuefler

Once upon a time, I took a beautiful and interesting woman out on a first date. Very close to the time that Donald Trump got elected president of the United States of America. I’ll never forget that night, not because that major event happened, but because it was an incredible first date, and led me on a path that I was not expecting.

The path where I met my former girlfriend, current fiancée, and future wife. But while some of you might disagree with me on the timing of this current step, the engagement actually started at the beginning and not in the midst of our relationship.

One of the textbook definitions of engagement is an arrangement to meet or be present at a specified time and place. Mysticque and I agreed to meet each other for a first date, and we both showed up at the cafe. But more importantly we were both emotionally involved in the date.

I asked her questions, a lot of them, and she answered the questions to the best of her ability. We talked, a lot. For about two hours, before I decided to move the date to the next location. She reciprocated and followed me to the UofA campus, even though she was unsure of what to expect, and as she later told me, was nervous about walking in the dark with a stranger down a creepy path (actually a well lit path, but near a parking lot and steel sculpture garden, so I can see what she means).

Then we stopped at the Arts and Business Quad on top of the hill overlooking the manmade ponds and pathways. I had brought a bottle of Bodacious blended red wine, two glasses, and a blanket. It was intentional, I love romance, and I wanted to do something romantic. Mysticque reciprocated once more. We talked for another hour or so.

Then we got up, and I kissed her.

She wasn’t ready to go home just yet, so I took her for frozen yogurt at Menchies, and we played many rounds of Connect 4. She won a lot of them. But I reciprocated.

Then I walked her back to her car, and we kissed one more time. I later found out that she told many people about this wonderful date, and how I had managed to make her life feel like the movies. That was the point I knew I would probably fall in love with her and marry her. She constantly reminds me that I still make her feel this way every day. It’s a mutual reciprocation.

Engagement with anything comes down to showing up, being present and being who you are. Mysticque and I met way back in juniour high, and had the fortune to reconnect later in life when we were both ready to engage in a healthy relationship. Part of me wishes I had saved the story she wrote about our first date, but I do have a copy of what she wrote when I proposed to her, and she accepted. I think it demonstrates the importance of authentic, personal interactions when you make creative things. People appreciate creativity, but it’s not until you put yourself out there that you risk failure and eventually success.

Thursday (November 9th, 2017) marked a significant and special day in our lives. The evening started with Tim recreating of our first date filled with all the same locations, cheesy lines, and romance. During our date, Tim deviated and brought me down to the Old Arts building and showed me a canvas with a projected movie on it. This movie (lovingly made by Tim) captured whale love songs, 27 romantic love scenes, and brief explanation of Tim’s love. Moments thereafter he proposed to me and our close family & friends were there all along watching and capturing our special day! Later in the evening Tim surprised me for a second time with more family and friends waiting back at his house. It was truly the most amazing proposal. On the weekend Tim re-proposed to me with Miguel and made the experience even more special. Thank you to all our family and friends who helped Tim with his elaborate plans and being part of our lives. And thank you to my fiancee who has made my life better than the movies.

I wouldn’t have been able to create something like this on my own. It required effort, communication, and asking for support from others. I’ve always found that family and friends show up because you show up, people can sense when your heart isn’t into it. I hope one day that I can create something as beautiful as the love I have for Mysticque, and I cannot believe I was able to capture a significant moment in our he(art). What an engagement. And it was reciprocated.

theories Summarized

It might not always seem like your life is headed in a positive direction dear readers, but I shared this story not to brag about how lucky I’ve been, but to emphasize for you the importance of engagement. Love takes practice, failure, and a willingness to put yourself out there… just like making art. But at some point you are going to realize your purpose in life, and you’ll make something really special to reflect that.

And THAT is a theory I’ll take to the bank.

Tim!

The Good Life (Taste of Edmonton)

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

This has gotta be the good life, we’re all still young enough to say that right? Right! The city is on fire and there is a feeling you can’t fight, so I know that means we should get out there and watch the day turn into night, because after that who knows what’ll happen.

Well I have a pretty good idea – Good music, food, drinks, and friends.

That’s usually what you hone in on when you look to develop your taste. And I’m not just talking about your cultural preferences of art, style and behaviour, I’m also referring to that which determines your food palette.

Luckily enough there is a local event that takes place every summer, and right around the the time that Fringe festival is getting ready to ramp up. That’s right, I’m talking about Taste of Edmonton. A local event that takes place over ten days and which is held at the core of downtown Edmonton in Sir Winston Churchill Square.

Like a few other festivals that take place in the summer here, Taste of Edmonton is the largest food tasting based festival in all of Western Canada. And it just so happens to include some other components.

There are culinary based workshops and lectures, and a fantastic sound stage which features all kinds of musical talent, both local and international, to give some fantastic atmosphere to all of the food trucks and pop up tents that appear during the festival.

Some of the names that I’m familiar with already are Shawn Desmon, Prozzak, and Scenic Route to Alaska, but there are twenty nine acts taking the stage over the ten days, and because we are THE festival city, you know that whoever is performing will be high-calibre and entertaining.

After all, Taste of Edmonton gets attendance in the neighbourhood of 500,000 people every year, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of the event with a new venue called Sip ‘n Savour to help you take it all in. And I think best of all, entrance to the festival is free, so if you don’t “want” to eat every single time you visit, you can grab a drink and enjoy some music outside.

Now for the details.

Taking place between July 21-30, at Sir Winston Churchill Square (intersections are 101a avenue & 100 street and 102 avenue & 99 street), you can reach the event by bus, LRT or car. Though if you plan on parking I recommend taking your car to the Stanley A. Milner library parkade which is just south of Churchill Square.

And that’s all I’ve got for this week friends. I hope you have a fantastic weekend, and I’ll see you on Sunday with something stimulating.

Tim!

Swordfish Doesn’t Even Taste Good Anyway (The Fast and the Furious 15th Anniversary)

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

Fifteen years ago my life changed, and for the better.

Last Wednesday marked the anniversary of that transformative experience and so I sat down in a theatre by myself to watch my favourite movie of all time and reflect on it’s impact on my own life – I remember that first experience like it was yesterday, dear readers.

My best and oldest friend, who we’ll call Rick for the sake of the story, was living in the city of Airdrie and I was visiting him for a couple of weeks at the start of the summer. We had grown up on the same block, living in mirrored houses of all things, and we spent most of our free time together, though we did go to different schools and had somewhat different hobbies, we were inseperable. Life was pretty good for two young boys, and we got into all kinds of adventures until he moved to Drumheller for his dads new job after the final year of elementary school.

So Rick and his family lived in Drumheller for the next 3 years and we would hang out for at holidays and in the summer, and we did our best to keep in touch. Initially with letters and phone calls, migrating to MSN messenger as new tech become available. And then Rick and his family moved a second time – now to Airdrie for another 3 years, right at the start of high school. I mention this because it helps bookend those memories for Rick and I and it REALLY helps me in the recall of this tale.

In the summer of 2001 Rick and I had both finished grade 10, hormones raging away. We decided to sneak into an 18A movie, but because we weren’t 18 yet, we needed to buy tickets for another movie first. What did we want to see you ask? Well if your memory is as good as mine, you’ll know that Swordfish had just come out that summer, and Halle Berry was paid an additional $500,000 to go topless in the movie. $250,000 per breast if you want to be specific.

As straight CIS males in the midst of puberty, and who didn’t have high speed internet, money, or legal adult status, nudity was in high demand for us. To put it another way the sexuality supply was short. And so, context given.

But we chickened out, and ended up in the theatre for The Fast and the Furious instead. Thus, my first taste of this franchise was born. On first pass I thought it was a fun action movie, but I didn’t make too big of a deal out of it, because I didn’t drive yet, and the actors were unknown. It was quotable though.

The summer concluded, and I went back to school, though I decided it was high time to get a part-time job at an arcade called Playdium. I learnt a lot about retail, people, and West Edmonton Mall working there, but most of all I watched a lot of partial movies on my breaks. I must of seen The Fast and the Furious in 30 and 15 minutes pieces over 15 complete times that year. This is because one of the older techs at Playdium lived on his own and would record movies from the movie channel onto VHS and bring it in for the staff. And so the quotes and culture of the first Fast became ingrained in my mind.

It was tough to invest in the franchise though, because as the as the first couple of sequels came out, I was entering into university, and getting involved with hipsters and philosopher king types. So my love of movies and brooding love for Vin Diesel and Paul Walker took a back seat. I would tell people it was my favourite movie, mostly under the thin veil of irony, and I also proclaimed that it was a standalone film.

Then I graduated from university and a couple of years later Fast & Furious came out in April of 2009 – I finally had a true sequel with the original cast and the beginnings of a tie-in with the 2nd and 3rd entries. As movies were added, the ensemble cast grew and the relationships between characters evolved. And then I realized that I had grown as well.

As a cultivators of the arts, a student of film, and a fan of this franchise, I can say confidently that The Fast and the Furious instills values of friendship, love, and family from it’s first few minutes all the way throughout its films and into the culture.

Best of all, in watching this limited release I had an opportunity to see advance footage from the set of the 8th instalment, and I was not disappointed. This is a franchise that has grown organically and so has it’s fanbase. I was so happy to see a packed theatre last Wednesday, and you really do feel like part of a family sharing with these actors and their characters.

Most of the already existing posts on this re-release have focused on the scale of the franchise and the “improbability” of it’s success. But what has been ignored time and time again is that at it’s core The Fast and the Furious is about heart and honour, it started out as films about car thieves, and slowly evolved into superheroes, but the heart has always been there, and I think that’s why it’s beaten the odds. But hey, that might just be a theory.

Tim!

25 Years In The Making (Butterdome Craft Sale)

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Tim Kuefler

There are some events which can’t really be described properly with words alone. But you know them when you see them. And when you ‘experience’ them.

I cannot believe it’s been this long since this phenomenon known as Ghost first graced our lives back in 1990.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1idoLQYjMI

If you haven’t seen this movie before, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. You need to stop reading my post RIGHT NOW and go out and find a copy of Ghost. I don’t care if you use VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, a digital streaming service or have to read the script to accomplish this. It’s important dammit.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that point out of the way, I’m going to recap for those of you who decided to stick around anyway and give you a quick recap of the story of Ghost.

Sam Wheat and his fiancee Molly Jensen have just moved in together. Sam and his friend Carl Bruner work at a bank where Sam is responsible for many important accounts including their passwords. Molly happens to be a very talented ceramic artist.

On their way home from a movie date, the young couple are attacked by mugger Willie Lopez. There is a struggle and eventually Willie’s gun goes off, however Willie runs away. Sam chases Willie, but he eventually escapes. Once Sam turns around and comes back to Molly, he sees that he has been shot dead is now a ghost.

Later, Willie breaks into Sam and Molly’s home, but is scared off by Sam before Molly even knows what had happened. Because Sam can’t communicate with Molly, he visits a medium by the name of Ona May Brown, who can hear him, but not see him.

Sam asks Ona May to visit Molly, but she has no success convincing his grieving girlfriend. Carl also warns Molly to stay away from Ona May and leaves for Willie’s apartment where Sam learns Willie was supposed to steal the account passwords from Sam’s wallet for Carl, so Carl could carry out a drug money laundering operation.

The movie celebrated it’s 25th anniversary this summer and as I mentioned, if you haven’t seen it before, you are shorting yourself of a really great story. And also a pretty fantastic piece of pottery pop culture which has sparked numerous interpretations over the years!

Some of my favourites follow below:

But what does this have to do with today’s post? Well, I may have set myself on a fool’s errand with my buildup of today’s Timely Thursday entry, but I still think that I can tie this all together, outline this event for you, and convince you to come check it out.

The title is “25 Years In The Making,” both the movie Ghost and this event involve the art of making or “crafting”, both have existed for 25 years, AND both feature pottery, which happens to be an art form.

So there you go!

Let’s not argue semantics, but you are right – this event hasn’t spent 25 years in development dear readers, that was just a play on words on my part. And given that I’m going to be writing about The Butterdome Craft Sale today, I think it’s only fair that I emphasis that this bi-annual event takes place just ahead of Christmas every year and also in the spring in anticipation of summer fun and parties.

The Butterdome Craft Sale is a landmark for Canadian handmade products, and as I mentioned earlier, it happens to be celebrating a fairly major anniversary this year, just in time for Christmas shopping or holiday shopping if you prefer. An event that spans Thursday – Sunday, and usually on the first weekend of December, The Butterdome Craft Sale features artwork (paintings, sculpture, glasswork, decor, etc.), fashion, jewellery, health and wellness, food, and entertainment. Also Christmas ornaments.

You can find something here for just about everyone, and I usually do most of my shopping during this weekend. I also really enjoy taking the time to talk with the vendors and get to know a bit more about them and their craft.

Now, the dates – It just so happens to be taking place RIGHT NOW. It takes place between December 3-4 (10-10) and 5-6 (10-5), so don’t sit on your laurels. Get out there!

Okay, but you need directions.

The Butterdome building is located on the University of Alberta Campus in south Edmonton. You can get there via the LRT (University and Health Sciences), by bus, or find a parkade on campus. The building is bright yellow, so it’s pretty difficult to miss, but the south corners are 116 st/87 ave and 114 st/89 ave.

I really do hope you check it out, I promise you’ll enjoy it. That’s all I’ve got this week folks. Enjoy your weekend.

Tim!