Who knew that science centers would be such a hotspot travel destination?
It sure seems like it by the way my last few trips had been going. I
geeked out with Kel B while visiting San Jose late last year and stopped by another science center on the Vancouver trip.
Lucky for me, both times, I had a blast.
No, like literally, it was a blast of electric current
One of the coolest things we did at the science center (I know what you're thinking, "but EVERYTHING you do at the science center is cool, Janice!) was this machine that lets us see how we may look in 50 years.
I look like an older version of my mom. Hot stuff!
This was my favorite picture from the trip. It would make a lot more sense if you could see what we were "running away" from. It's dinosaurs! And not that teeny weeny bird to the right of the picture.
Talking about science and technology got me thinking about Steve Jobs, a man who's made tremendous advancements in both fields in the mere 56 years he'd been alive.
It's been pretty public that Steve passed away yesterday and his death made many people remember, over their Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and Tumblrs of all the great technology that he's given us that have changed our worlds.
As I sit here typing on my Apple laptop, it's hard for me to dispute that fact that Steve has altered my life. However, I think that even if Apple products weren't around, I would probably still be using a laptop and toting around a cell phone. (In fact, this is only the first iPhone I've owned.)
Rather, the bigger impact that he has had on my life is the Essence of Steve Jobs.
It is the main image, the big idea that Steve Jobs represents.
It's an impersonal word, but I think of it in terms of the Steve Jobs Brand. Not necessarily the Apple Brand but the two go hand in hand together. The Steve Jobs Brand is that of the Innovator. The man who dropped out of college to become a Great Success Story. The man who rocked one hell of a Comeback. The man who cared deeply for Customer Satisfaction. The man who envisioned the sleek, clean, minimalistic, futuristic aesthetics that is Apple. The man who famously makes commencement speeches and gives interviews encouraging others to chase after their dreams, to be less fearful, to be your personal best, to live like you were dying. That's the Steve Jobs I will miss and the Steve Jobs I will remember.
Some amazing quotes from an amazing man:
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” [The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 1993]
“I think it’s brought the world a lot closer together, and will continue to do that. There are downsides to everything; there are unintended consequences to everything. The most corrosive piece of technology that I’ve ever seen is called television — but then, again, television, at its best, is magnificent.” [Rolling Stone, Dec. 3, 2003]
We think the Mac will sell zillions, but we didn’t build the Mac for anybody else. We built it for ourselves. We were the group of people who were going to judge whether it was great or not. We weren’t going to go out and do market research. We just wanted to build the best thing we could build. When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985]
“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. The design of the Mac wasn’t what it looked like, although that was part of it. Primarily, it was how it worked. To design something really well, you have to get it. You have to really grok what it’s all about. It takes a passionate commitment to really thoroughly understand something, chew it up, not just quickly swallow it. Most people don’t take the time to do that.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.
“Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have. [Wired, February 1996]
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” [Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]
I didn't know what all the fuss was but there were plenty of these Japadog stands around Dowtown Vancouver.
Average oysters: $1.95 a piece.
If only all supermarkets looked like this one, I would go grocery shopping more often. (Ah..who am I kidding, I still wouldn't.) 
If only all supermarkets looked like this one, I would go grocery shopping more often. (Ah..who am I kidding, I still wouldn't.) 
Mini-looking grapes!
This is called "Indian Candy" and it's basically smoked salmon jerky.
Saving the best for last, I finally got to taste the amazingness that is poutine--which is everything I most love rolled into one. A dish of french fries and fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce.
