While I was having coffee with my best friend, Mark I showed him a rap music video. He informed me that he thought rap was a pointless art form void of skill, and meaning. Later I took it upon myself to attempt to construct the most meaningful rap I could that would be filled with famous quotes of wisdom, and be purposeful.
It was quite the challenge, I struggled to follow the rap format (which I believe is written in quatrains - 4 line versus), I could not remember if each line had one or two statements. I worked hard to rhyme the most famous quotes of wisdom while making the connection to my own ideology.
I believe if one has an insatiable need to be creative and express one self - one ought to use their gift to spread a message that is either positive and/or productive. Anyways, here are the lyrics to my highly experimental meaningful rap song, I hope you like it.
The un-examined life - is not worth living,
knowledge speaks but wisdom listens,
Love one another, it's the gift the keeps on giving,
Alife lived for
others - is the only life worth living,
Love what you love, but without love your life is nothing,
Thus the meaning of life is love, that's the message worth
mentioning,
Imagine conflict, and pain, without empathy and compassion,
Anxiety and depression, it's those who love that bring
resolution,
You got the power, you got got the power,
The power of love, the power to love,
Do the right thing, it's not a left or right-wing thing,
It's the real thing, do the compassionate thing,
cause if you don't do the right thing, your life won't mean
a thing,
So stop and think, and do the right thing,
Judgement, without care and concern,
Is wanting to attack and burn,
criticism that's not constructive, is simply destructive,
What would you choose, if you had to walk in another man's
shoes,
You got the power, you got got the power,
The power of love, the power to love,
Relationships are full of complexity,
When it comes to love, they test our ideology,
What love looks like, What love feels like,
Trust leads to intimacy, love her like you love yourself is
the way it's got to be,
We're all looking for love, All we need is love,
Everything we dream of, The reason we live is love,
Why do we have to debate believing in God,
Can't we all agree on love,
You got the power, you got got the power,
The power of love, the power to love,
Life is finite, giving our life infinite meaning,
Do right, and stand for something,
A rebel without a cause is just another soul lost,
Are you a human doing, or a human being,
Be the change you want to see in others,
But it's got to start with loving one another,
Society is either everyone for themselves, or were all in
this together,
Be passionate, but compassionate, and you'll be seen the
world over,
I have been shooting photospheres (pictures that rotate 360 degrees left and right, and 180 degrees up and down) for the Google Street View app since 2016 05 28. I will not go into any further technical explanation as the focus of this blog is to expose the beauty of the City of Edmonton through 360 photography. But I also use the Google Maps app to view my summarized analytics, like views per photo.
I have shot 1,408 photospheres, resulting in 1,067,708 over-all views (758 views / photosphere) - The actual view count is actually higher but the views have not updated since 2016 08 11. And of all those 1,408 photospheres I have painstakingly chosen the top 15 photospheres of Edmonton to feature on my blog. I have also created a Google Photo Album of my top 89 photospheres of Edmonton provided in a link within this blog.
I have since become a Trusted Google Photographer and pursue this passion as a volunteer, adding photospheres to the Google Maps that the Google Car (Google's car that drives on the roads with a mounted 360 camera) can't shoot from the roads. I focus on the parks of Edmonton which receive little to no exposure.
My voluntary mission is to provide a window within Google Maps so people can see the hidden beauty and beautiful parks of Edmonton without having to go there. It is just one of my many ways of giving back to the world - and I spend many hours working very hard at it.
For those who are Google Local Guides, here are my statistics. I am a Level 5 Local Guide with 549 points.
It would seem that we were born into this world with no choice. We did not ask to be born, nor did we ask for the circumstances we were born into. Some will be blessed from birth and others will be cursed from birth. Unless there is some divinely inspired purpose for this, the reality is absolutely unfair and unreasonable.
However, some time after we are born into this world we inherit a moral responsibility to others in this world. And that moral responsibility is not to further harm others by our actions or lack of..
Every individual born is equally important because every individual is self-aware, continually thinking, and personally experiencing real emotions and physical sensations. Furthermore, the extent of pleasure or pain that can be felt (emotionally or physically) by any individual seems to be not only profound but beyond comprehension.
Self-awareness alone (or consciousness) is the greatest phenomenon that exists in the known Universe - it is only paralleled by the phenomenon of the Big Bang (The very beginning of space-time, and existence). The true miracle of life is that the Universe itself has become self-aware, and has done so through every individual born.
We must respect this experience of being truly alive in others because it is also our own experience. Not only that but we all have the very same psychological and physical needs. This is my initial argument for empathy.
Why should we be careful not to cause pain and suffering to others? Because we all share in the same reality, we all experience the same paradigm. Like the Golden Rule illustrates, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." We live in a world of cause and effect, every action on our part has a potential consequence affecting the very well being of others. It is logical not to inflict pain and suffering on another because we do not desire the same for ourselves.
When we intentionally or unintentionally harm another we have no control over just how much pain and suffering we have caused that individual. And at the fear of being redundant, the extent of pain and suffering that individual can experience can be so severe - it can be beyond what we can imagine or comprehend. It personally amazes me just how much pain a person can feel.
Every human being has earned their right to exist. Every human being is the product of genetic material that has survived despite the deaths of many previous generations of life not selected by the process of billions of years of evolution. To go even further, the odds of you being you and not somebody else is astronomical. It requires the right sperm out of millions exchanging DNA with the right egg out of tens of thousands every time across thousands of generations of the right people.
We as individuals are inherently valuable. But we must seriously consider if our presence is an asset or a liability to others who make up society. Is society as a whole benefiting from our existence? Of course if we go around causing others to suffer than society would not deem us as valued members of society.
How do we know if we are good people? This is a question that continually concerns and haunts me - how do I know if I'm a good person? How do I know if my life has had a positive net affect on society as a whole?
Am I truly a good person if I am kind to strangers, but hurtful to someone in my family, one of my friends, or even an ex-girlfriend? Have I out of ignorance hurt people in the past? Have I posted something on-line that has negatively affected others? Is my ideology, and what I believe constructive or destructive to society? Am I merely a product of my environment, and if I was, was that environment conducive to learning to becoming a good person? Is my psychopathology destructive towards others? Could I be a bad person and not know it?
Another reason it is so critical that we do not cause harm to others is because every person has the potential to greatly benefit others in society. Therefore it is important that others be allowed to mature, and develop in the most supportive, and nurturing environment possible. To negatively affect one's psychological development could potentially have severe implications for society as a whole.
That is to say, if we hurt one person it could inadvertently result in hurting other people we are unaware of. Because of the relationships that person has with other people and how they interact with those other people when they're hurt.
How do we effectively measure the gravity of our actions on others? How much impact do our words truly have on others, and how far reaching are those words? How has our lives shaped future generations yet to be born?
Society is a bee-hive, we as individuals do not survive very well on our own without support from others. Society does not work efficiently unless enough individuals fulfill a specific niche (a purpose) that can benefit the hive as a whole.
Society requires different people of various skills, strengths, aptitudes, and personalities to appropriately achieve all the roles that need to be fulfilled for society to work. Of course these roles can take the form of jobs and volunteering efforts. That is why every person is so potentially important.
Every person despite their socioeconomic status has something valuable to offer others; like a purposeful and meaningful friendship and/or relationship.
But there are those who like parasites do what they wish at the expense of others. They cripple the very people they benefit from by their selfishness, ego and greed. Some are bullies, some are thieves, and others simply use people for their own gain.
Einstein said,"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile," and Socrates said,"The unexamined life is not worth living."
What Einstein means is that the only way our life can be truly worthwhile (or have value) is if we have in some way benefited others in our life. In other words having a purpose that results in a better quality of life for others makes our own lives worthwhile.
Socrates goes as far as saying, if you have not even taken the time to examine your own life - than your life is not worth living.
Quick Statistics as of 2017 02 11
Pages mailed to the Dr.Phil Show : 88
E-mails sent to the Dr.Phil Show : 64
YouTube Videos Published to get Dr.Phil's Attention : 7
Petition to get unto the Dr.Phil : 56 Signatures
Current Status : Awaiting response from the Dr.Phil Show
Introduction
From 2016 04 17 to 2017 02 11, I have written 64 e-mails to the Dr.Phil show. And on 2016 06 01, I also sent Dr.Phil a 46 page letter. (To view the 46 page letter mailed to Dr.Phil click the link below)
And just to demonstrate to Dr.Phil just how determined I was to be on the Dr.Phil show, I shot a YouTube video on 2016 05 07 of myself holding a sign that read,"Please Dr.Phil, please let me share my story of being bullied, on your show #Stop Bullying." I stood and held the sign for 3.5 hours starting with 100 lbs on my back, and eventually stepping down the weight to 75 lbs, than 50 lbs.
Most Determined to Get Dr.Phil's Attention (YouTube Video)
Alas, On 2016 06 18, I also started an on-line petition asking for people to support me in sharing my bullying story on the Dr.Phil Show. I personally messaged all 250 of my Facebook and Twitter friends asking them to sign my petition or at least share my petition on their Facebook. By 2016 07 06, I received, 56 signatures. That's 56 people who support what I am doing, who believe in what I am doing.
You can sign the petition in the form below. You can even sign it anonymously (your name will not be publicly revealed). The Petition will ask for your e-mail - only to conform that your not a spam-bot, your e-mail will not be made public, and you will not end up on any mailing lists
And below is another is anti-bullying video posted 2016 06 21 meant to get Dr.Phil's attention, aptly named,'My Journey to The Dr.Phil Show.'
My Journey to The Dr.Phil Show (YouTube Video)
On 2016 06 27, my petition (with 50 signatures) with a 5 page letter was mailed to the Dr.Phil show. You can view the petition, and the 5 page letter by clicking on the link below.
On 2016 08 24, I created yet another YouTube video meant to get Dr.Phil's attention. The video was named,"Attention Dr.Phil - An Excellent Discussion on Bullying Solutions." The video was meant to show Dr.Phil that I also have solutions to the bullying problem.
Attention Dr.Phil - An Excellent Discussion on Bullying Solutions (YouTube Video)
2016 08 28, I decided to shoot another YouTube video personally addressing Dr.Phil. The video was aptly named,"My personal message to Dr.Phil McGraw - The high cost of bullying."
My personal message to Dr.Phil McGraw - The high cost of bullying (YouTube Video)
On 2016 09 01, I even wished Dr.Phil Phil a happy 66th Birthday. I thought the extra effort of making a YouTube video wishing him a happy birthday was a nice sentiment.
On 2016 12 02, I published another YouTube Video aptly named, "A criticism for Dr.Phil to strongly consider". I was feeling upset that I had written 46 e-mails to the show, and have not received a single response. However controversial, I criticized the Dr.Phil Show on behalf of all those desperate souls writing the show over and over again and receiving no response. It seemed to me that the process of it all causes un-necessary anguish among the many who will never get unto the show.
A criticism for Dr.Phil to Strongly Consider (YouTube Video)
On 2016 12 13, I sent the Dr.Phil show a 37 page letter. 34 pages of that letter were a copy of all of the 50-emails I had sent to the show through the Dr.Phil website.
I am hoping to get on as a guest to share my story of being bullied from grade 9 to 12, and how the negative consequences of such has affected me long into my adult life.
I am hoping to either be interviewed by Dr.Phil on my experience or have a chance to give an anti-bullying speech on his show.
The reason I want to share my story on Dr.Phil is because I have encountered much apathy and a general lack of interest sharing my story with schools, principles, school trustees, local media, on YouTube, and even within my own blog.
I've worked hard on sharing my story, presenting my story, spending hours rewriting while sipping on cold cups of coffee, and getting friends to criticize and help re-edit the perfect presentation. I've even spent a couple hundred dollars of my own monies to try to help promote the sharing of my story on my ant-bullying videos on YouTube.
My basic premise is this; I want the world to know that bullying can lead to damaging effects on a person's life long into their adult years - changing who they are, forever destroying their self concept, and result in mental health issues.
Below are my e-mails to the Dr.Phil website (The website only allows e-mails of 250 words or less) - they explain quite a bit. I will not give up.
note: This is a first revision, a second revision will eventually follow to verify details. At the bottom of page are files you are free to view and download given that we are potentially related.
The Ancestry / Genealogy of Darryl Wayne Wellington Learie
I was born Darryl Wayne Wellington Learie back in 1973, December 6th (4:45 pm pacific time) at Kelowna General Hospital (room 309B) in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. My mother's maiden name is Irenee Marjatta Elizabeth Vastamaa (born 1954, January 29th,St.Joseph Hospital,Lachine(Montreal),Quebec,Canada) and my father's name is Wayne Wellington Learie (born 1949, April 17th,Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada).
On my father's side my grandfather's name is Joesph Learie, and my grandmother's name is Fanny Learie (married name). On my mother's side my grandfather's name is Jalmari Vastamaa (born 1922, September 23rd,Kuorevesi,Finland), and my grandmother's maiden name is Tuovi Eliisa Koivisto (born 1925, December 25th,Orivesi,Finland).
On my father's side I have a half sister (share same father), Jacqueline Perron (born 1970,January 3rd), and a half brother (share same father), Wayne Wellington Learie (junior) (born 1994,October 12th). My half sister Jacqueline has a daughter, Taiha Perron (born 1988,January 12th). And apparently my father had a sister, Barbera Learie (1941-1991,deceased).
My mother has 3 sisters by maiden name they are: Kaija Vastamaa (born 1946,July 22nd,Finland), Irmeli Aino Ritva Vastamaa (born 1948,November 21st,Finland), and Brigette Vastamaa (born 1959, May 1st). My aunt Kaija has a son, Stephane Romain Lefebvre (born 1965, March 28th). My Aunt Irmeli has a daughter, Carrie Elisa Anita Armistead . And my aunt Brigette has a daughter, Melanie Mitchell (born 1993, August 22nd).
I have a daughter, Raven Ashely Lapatak (born 1997, August 21st (10:58pm), Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). Her mother is Maxine May Lapatak (born
1978, June 21st, Vilna, Alberta, Canada).
My grandmother's (Tuovi Eliisa Koivisto, on my mothers side) father's name is Juho Kustaa Koivisto (born 1881, January 25th, died 1953, June 29th,Kangasala, Finland). My grandmother's mother's maiden name is Helmi Matilda Yliniemi (born 1888, April 21st, died 1958 February 7th,Orivesi,Finland).
Helmi's father's name is Kustaa August Yliniemi (born 1860, May 7th,died 1932, Finland). Helmi's mother's name is Heta Stiina Juhontytar Yliniemi (born 1851, June 23rd, died 1929, February 25th, Finland).
Juho's Father's name is Kaarle August Koivisto (born 1858, April 26th, died 1940, December 27th, Finland). Juho's mother's name is Amanda Koivisto (born 1863, December 21st, died 1935, January 1St).
My grandmother's (on my mothers side) has 1 brother, and 2 sisters, they are by maiden name: Eino Kalevi Koivisto (born 1922, May 5th, died 1986, August 17th, Juupajoki, Finland), Ella Helena Koivisto (born 1924, September 27th, Juupajoki, Finland), and Aini Elsi Kyllikki (born 1928, December 18th, Orivesi, Finland).
My grandfather's (Jalmari Vastamaa, on my mothers side) father's name is Immaanuel Vastamaa (born 1886, June 27th, Ruovesi, Finland). My grandfather's mother's name is Elda Maria Valkama (maiden name) (born 1891, June 24th, Ruovesi, Finland).
My grandfather had 2 sisters and a brother, they are by maiden name: Fanny Johanna Vastamaa (born 1911, April 1st, Ruovesi, Finland), Aarne Nikolai Vastamaa (born 1912, November 16th, Ruovesi, Finland), and Ida Maria Vastamaa (born 1914, September 25th, died 1916, March 25th).
Immaanuel Vastamaa's father's name is Matti Vastamaa (junior) (born 1853, Finland). Immaanuel's mother's name is Ida Maria Vastamaa (born 1863, Finland). Immaanuel had 13 brothers and sisters.
Matti's (junior) father's name is Matti Vastamaa (senior) (born 1817, Finland) and his mother's name is Henrika Vastamaa (born 1826, Finland). Matti Vastamaa (senior) father's name is Kaapo Vastamaa (born 1777, July 22nd), and his mother's name is Anna Vastamaa (born 1787, Finland).
1974 - (from left to right) My mother, Irenee Vastamaa, Me, Darryl Learie, and my father, Wayne Learie
1983 - (from left to right, back standing) my mother, Irenee Vastamaa, and her sisters Irmeli Vastamaa, Brigette Vastamaa, and kaija Vastamaa
(from left to right, second row) Me, Darryl Learie, My grandfather, Jalmari Vastamaa, My cousin, Carrie Armistead, and my grandmother, Tuovi Vastamaa
(front) my cousin, Stephane Romain Lefebvre
1992 - (from left to right, back) my mother, Irenee Vastamaa, me, Darryl Learie
(from left to right, front) my grandfather, Jalmari Vastamaa, my grandmother, Tuovi Vastamaa.
2003 - (from left to right) my father, Wayne Wellington Learie, my daughter, Raven Ashely Lapatak, and me, Darryl Learie
1953 - Immaanuel Vastamaa
1926 - Helmi Matilda Yliniemi (Koivisto by marriage)
Without a doubt family history gets very complex. Through submitting my DNA through 23andme I found out my paternal and maternal haplogroup, and that I have 881 relatives who share part of my DNA. Haplogroups are genetic mutations that occur on the sex chromosomes (mutations occur every few hundreds to thousand years), thus those who share my inherited haplogroup share the same distant ancestor. My paternal haplogroup inherited from my father (along the Y chromosome), Wayne Wellington Learie is R1a1a. My maternal haplogroup inherited from my mother (along the X chromosome) is J2a1a.
YouTube video of my DNA relatives found through 23andme
10 Newspaper articles on homelessness, crime, and mental illness
From 2005 09 14 to 2006 10 24, I worked as a columnist for a small street paper,"Our Voice." The writers made very little money while vendors (usually homeless people) sold the paper for extra monies. Our audience was around 6,000 people within the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada region.
The paper focused on,'empowering the marginalized' often spreading awareness on the subject of homelessness, and other relevant social injustices.
Although the following 10 articles are over a decade old, their content still remains worthwhile. Thankfully I was able to scan the following articles into PDF's, and share the links via my Google Drive. Simply click the link below the pictured article to read the article. And thank-you again for your interest.
I have not written a blog for some time. I do have a lot to say about life, the world, and society. But more recently when I decided to work on personal projects of mine, including my website I also noticed that not very many images of me appear when I do a Google image search.
So I decided to start uploading photos to Picasa Web Albums which has been acquired by Google, and is part of my Google+ profile. The hope is that these photos will appear in the Google image search results. My YouTube videos already appear in the Google search results (since Google owns YouTube).
I'm not a narcissist, but when someone Googles,"Darryl Learie" I want Darryl Learie to come up, especially when its an image search its only fitting that images of me show up.
Unfortunately when working with Picasa Web Albums there appears to be 2 interfaces; one through one's Google+ profile and the other through Picasa Web Albums (as Google is still integrating Picasa under its own functionality). So one has to switch between the 2 interfaces depending on which functions one wishes to use. Sadly neither interface is user friendly.
For the purposes of image SEO (Search Image Optimization), I still have yet to find a way to tag myself in my own photos. It appears that other people have to tag me (that needs to change)? But Ive tried filling in whatever empty fields like 'captions' and 'tags' to,"Darryl Learie" so the Google search engines may be able to find me with their web crawlers.
However when checking the links behind those photos of me that do show up under Googles image search, I noticed they're images that have been posted either on my blog, website or shared to another website.
So I will post those images I wish most to show up on Googles image search onto this blog. I'll also share the links to my specific Picasa Web Albums (fingers crossed). As an added bonus every picture I uploaded of myself has,"Photo of Darryl Learie" water marked upon it - so if any of the pictures do show up in the searches, people will know it is me and not someone else (or that I'm at least in the picture).
Darryl Learie - 1973 12 06
Darryl Learie - 1974
Darryl Learie (center) - 1974 (left - Irenee Vastamaa (mother), right - Wayne Wellington Learie (father))
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