The Province: Vancouver's Most Eligible Bachelors

Well, this is both incredibly flattering and terribly embarrassing. According to The Province newspaper, yours truly is among 14 of Vancouver's most eligible bachelors for their Valentine's Day special in today's Sunday paper (on page A10). More on the cover story here.

The Best Man x Wedding Photography x Hycroft Manor

The wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Chris and Helen Jenkins at Hycroft Manor on August 31, 2012. Photos by John Bello Photography.



Helen and Chris Forever.

From the Weekend: Backyard Sunset Wedding x Winnipeg

Winnipeg Wedding Weekend in friendly Manitoba on August 4, 2012.



Over the weekend, I made the trip to Winnipeg (where my family originally hails from, by way of Vietnam).

Blenz Red Band x Launch Party x Yaletown

Blenz Red Band launch party in Yaletown on February 1, 2010.



I trekked down to Yaletown after work to hit the singles event at Blenz.

5 Easy Ways Women Can Make Men Happy

1) Flirt.

Men like to have their egos stroked. No matter what stage of a relationship you are in or even if you are not in a romantic one at all, men like to flirt. Even men in committed relationships like the ego boost of another woman's (hopefully) harmless flirtations. We like the attention. It makes us feel special.

Tweethearts and Social Media Flirting

Listen to this great interview with UBC Political Science student (as I was a couple years ago) and social media enthusiast, Taylor Loren (who recently spoke at Northern Voice), about social media flirting and dating, conducted by my colleague and fellow BCIT Broadcast Journalism student, Monica Martinez. (11:25)

More | AMS Confidential / Straight / Tweethearts

Blue Valentine

There's nothing like Valentine's Day to remind you just exactly how single and alone you really are.

Last year was probably my only really significant Valentine's Day as part of a meaningful romantic couple on record. In retrospect, it was probably a lot more special than I realized. My better half at the time and I agreed that Valentine's Day was a lame and artificial holiday neither of us care for so we decided not to anything special apart from spend our time together. She met me after work and presented to me my first and only real Valentine's Day gift (that I can recall, anyways).

My 22nd Year

XXIII. hate birthdays. I always have, my own anyways. They are meaningless, random days of the year. A hollow, empty measure of numbers that act as made up milestones for what is essentially any other day. Any day derives its meaning and memories from what happened that particular day, whether seized, lived to the fullest or not.

Anyhow, twenty-three short years ago today, I was born. This past year, years twenty-two to twenty-three of my life, I do not think I have ever felt so much loss in one single year in my entire life. My twenty-second year of living was less than stellar and failed to live up to the promise of its potential. In other words, it was not so great. I am already usually moody on my birthdays, but this year will be a doozy. Aside: on my eighth birthday, my father and I discovered my grandfather dead in his apartment. That was not fun.

We All Have Paper Hearts

Suppositions on the Nature of Love:

A recent film, review from the 2009 Sundance Film Festival of Paper Heart (directed by Nicholas Jasenovec) starring experimental comedienne, Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up) and her real-life boyfriend, actor Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad) brought up an interesting supposition on the nature of love.

I use the film itself and the review, as mere starting point on the topic. Paper Heart is structured as a mock documentary (a la This is Spinal Tap or any film by Christopher Guest) that weaves in real interview-style, documentary footage with acted out scenes that are scripted, outlined or improvised but not “real”. The film and very meta film-within-a-film feel like commentary on the conceptual and contextual structure of love.

Paper Hearts

A recent review of the Sundance film, Paper Heart starring experimental comedienne, Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up) and her boyfriend, Michael Cera (Juno, Arrested Development) brings up an interesting supposition on the nature of love. The film itself, a mere starting point on the topic, is a constructed in a mockumentary style that weaves in real interview footage with scripted or improvised scenes.

The review articulates on the "structure" of love represented by the ending of the film, that is, one must truly sacrifice something very meaningful, important and precious to oneself as the ultimate demonstration of one's true love. The actual sacrifice or gesture may vary but essentially must be defined by giving up something meaningful in order to be happy, happy in love with your partner. This act is the basis that precipitates or lays the groundwork for love. Without this penultimate experience, love is not love, apparently or at least not the accepted notion explored here. Often what you must give up ends up having to do with your falling in love in the first place. You must give up something that led or aided that love.