Tag Archives: kemp edmonds

Diary: Officiating 10 Year Wedding Vow for Dear Pals

the bride and groom in rainy Vancouver and official celebrant connected via magic from Okayama. photo by Steph Burns 

Briefly: Officiated 10 Year Wedding Vows for Sheila & Kemp Edmonds via video link from Tsuchida Cottage to Queen Elizabeth park Vancouver – the family joined me in the tatami room as i did my riff (including my poem “How Shall We Fill This Vessel“.

Video: Officiating Kemp and Sheila Edmonds 10 Year Wedding vow riff from Tsuchida to Vancouver

Memo: I also officiated/celebranted their original wedding event (obv) 10 years before at Main St Heritage Hall, Vancouver.

Notes: alcove ikebana (leaves + persimmon) & shodo (calligraphy scroll) by mother-in-law Junkyo Fujita.

Books: Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda & Manyusho (Myriad of Leaves, 8th century Japan, various) & me (in wooden folio hand-carved by Ryoko Olson).

and yes, that is a certificate of officialness / awesomeness 

Bonus w/ ALT text

A gentleman with a mustache, wearing a dark blue kimono holds a carved wooden folio with papers of handwritten poetic texts to officiate a 10 year wedding vow renewal ceremony via videoconference (for a couple in Canada).  Behind is a traditional Japanese alcove with persimmon fruit and leaves in the vase and a certificate of authority with a calligraphy scroll hanging.

Foreground shows a cushion & straw tatami mat floor.

Poem: How Shall We Fill This Vessel? (excerpt for Sheila + Kemp, 10 year)

“How Shall We Fill This Vessel?”

(excerpt of poem – written by me – read at Kemp and Sheila’s wedding vow ceremony)

really unrelated snap, as it goes a tea shack in Sri Lanka

Now, all is deliciously possible
A present to savour
A history to grow
A future to whittle
To any possible shape

So,
How shall we fill this vessel?

Devoid of cynicism and ego,
Jealousy or restraint
With rambunctious affection
In all possible forms
To manifest and articulate
Unabashed tactile Love.

Shall we fill with endless notes
Of spontaneous jazz and
Distant gazes from close range?
Slow dances to quick songs
Languid mornings following
Smouldering nights?

Celebration of the commonplace?
Anticipation of usual happenstance?
Easy banter about nuanced topics?
On verandahs and gazebos a like
Replete with warm drinks
And cool touch?

With fond hellos and
Infrequent goodbyes
As we seek nowhere to go
Desire no escape
In darkness and rain
All yearnings were sent away

Marrow and soul
Now have a purpose, a place
A place to dwell
With you, always
As together we fill
This vessel
Full.

– daveo, Pokhara, Nepal 2017
(photo: Sri Lanka, 2018)

Tracks on Tracks Rock Train: Field Notes, part 2

As the Tracks on Tracks trip rolls on, Uncle Weed and pals eat lunch and discuss the learnings from the train procedures and how it coincides with lifestyle. Then, the charming Adaline stops by and discusses yesterday’s special acoustic show and plans for today.

Also recounts the importance of bringing silk pyjamas and beer stein and learn about a bottomless lake. Also thumbs up for the great showers and beds. Plus riffs including Portage and Main, Ian Bevis/Bear Mountain and time zone changes.

Also Adaline chats with CBC Radio3’s Grant Lawrence and JP Maurice with Lyndsey and other plays Fleetwood Mac.

Tracks on Tracks Rock Train: Field Notes, part 3

Meanwhile as the Tracks on Tracks train rolls across Canada, Uncle Weed checks in with Cody who is using his fine handwriting to send to send postcards to supporters. Then UW comes across the folks from UK Newspaper for some scrabble and style banter. Then a long walk through the train takes you to Topless Gaylove Teckno Party in full groove in a packed activity car singing their eponymous song to packed rail car.

Tracks on Tracks Rock Train: Field Notes, part 1


At 4AM on the Tracks on Tracks train, KempenRoad and Uncle Weed review early experiences on the trek so far and outline the manifest and mission of the trip.

Topics include; awkwardness, the train is long, jam sessions with need for lyric sheets. banter about Bear Mountain and Portage and Main, and other renegade artists, freelancers, photographer and logistics for sleeping and eating.

Tracks on Tracks Train ~ Field Notes & Performances Clips

Aboard the Tracks on Track train laden with 11 bands, the Green Couch doc crew, CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence and a load of music enthusiasts, comes a rough cut of a few filed notes about meals and rules, a brief interview with the lovely Adaline, and performance dim sum from Maurice and Chris Ho.

Plenty more quality bits in the Tracks on Tracks playlist.

Message to Social Media Unplugged Calgary from Dave & Kemp

Leading up to SM_Unplugged event in Calgary, HootSuite Marketing Director Dave Olson and Learning Program Coordinator Kemp Edmonds share some banter from @JJRail coffeeshop in Vancouver. They announce that Kemp will be speaking in lieu of Dave at the event on May 7th in Calgary. Topics include community building, HootSuite University, social media and world affairs, and the power of HootKits.

Spieling at a Wedding ~ Artifacts from Sheila/Kemp’s Nuptials

Kemp Edmonds convinced his fiancé Sheila that i’d be a fine candidate to quasi-officiate their wedding. I was promised beer and they provided a wee bit of guidance as to fave themes, songs, writers.

I combined their thoughts with my style and go-to authors and penned some musings which sandwiched the nice magistrate lady Barb doing the secular ritual required by written law. I dry-cleaned my pin-striped, thrift-store suit and i wore my Florsheim wing-tips i scored in exchange for some impromptu consulting at a e-comm conference – these shoes are so fancy, they are stored in cloth bags.

Here is a photo by Lyndsay London for the record and a pretty close transcription of my spiel:

Dearest assembled

Together, tonight, we add to the heritage of this hall – we bask in the memories of those who celebrated here before – and briefly consider the years to come – while we gather to celebrate these two lovely friends – raise our voice in support for the decision they’ve made – and offer our gentle help for their future years.

As for us, we’ll always have tonight to combine us in our affection for this couple – Kemp and Sheila {in case you are at the wrong wedding} Together, we’ll always have their good cheer to bind us. Kemp and Sheila, you are are part of us all now. 

To the parents, siblings, aunties, especially the uncles and cousins galore – this is a celebration of your contributions to their lives. Congratulations to you all and though they’ll hardly have a chance to say it amidst the whirlwind, i *suspect* they are most grateful to each of you for coming. 

When expressing feelings for dearest soulmate, we humans are prone to metaphor ~ equating the vastness of our love to grains of sand, or the stars deeper deeper still crowding the universe.

Or even the most stoic drifts to comparisons of love to *uniqueness* – evoking images of trembling snow flakes each allegedly unique {note: they aren’t}, or splashy heroic feats like climbing mountains, fording fjords, or having giant structures built as tokens of affection – whether they be Taj Mahals or surrounded by white picket fences. 

But I propose that it’s not the quantity that matters – rather love is best gauged by its quality – the degree in which you savour each moment – the long walks in glorious parks, visiting family for sunday suppers, adventures to countries you’ve never considered where you’ll wander late night in twisty cobbled lanes when’re beloved have meandered, scampered and observed for centuries – clutching hands, believing, knowing, trusting that their love was the deepest uniquest, vastest of any love ever. 

Representing Lebanon, Gibran lays it down thusly: 

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have, let these be your desires:

to melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night

to know the pain of too much tenderness

to be wounded by your own understanding of love;

and to bleed willingly and joyfully 

to wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

to rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;

to return hem at eventide with gratitude;

and then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in

your heart and a song of praise upon your lips

Indeed! But your love will show its true quality in the tough times life heaves at us all – from time to time. This pressures can be akin to the earth squeezing hidden pockets of carbon in scattered mountains and trenches so precisely that the create glimmering breadcrumbs beneath the surface – aching to reveal themselves to sun and eye to reach full their potential. 

Sometimes the years we wish to hurry by are the ones that look back upon so fondly – aged with the wisdom and fortitude gained when all looked so rough.

Meanwhile in Paris in the 1700s Jean Jacques Rousseau was thinking the *same thing* – about and loving when the living ain’t easy:

“If our pleasures could be described, there simplicity would appear ridiculous; our walks, tete a tete outside the city 

where i spent my last 8 or 10 sous on little suppers at the open window at which we say opposite watch other on two low chairs pace upon a trunk which filled up the breadth of the window niche. 

Who could describe the charms of these meals at which the dishes consisted of nothing more than a quatern loaf of bread, a few cherries a morsel of chess and half a pint of wine which we shared between us – Friendship, confidence, intimacy, tranquility of mind, how delicious are your seasonings!”

Certainly, your life with be laden with splendid times and the deepness of your love and patience will only be key when he spends 4x as much as you on a haircut – just know that he did it to look good for you. Or she comes home late saying she was listening to a friend’s problems when you know she just wanted to catch overtime. 

However wee, every day and every action adds to the quality of love – and polished with skill – the results are the head-spinning rewards of contented smiles and splendid leisure – so are you ready?

because the Red Hot Chili Peppers suggest:

the one to treasure the rest of your days is here

you’ve each finally found something perfect

so are you ready to show up for duty

serve this woman and honour her beauty?

will you agree to take this man into your world 

and be as one?

don’t answer me … While i represent the voice of the people, i don’t represent the law, as such, i’ll defer to my magisterial counterpart to tend to these particulars:

##

Kemp and Shiela, before we segue into a night of celebrations and feasting and who knows what else, i’ll share the thoughts of wandering – in American in the 1800’s – Walt WhitmanL

I have perceived that to be with those i like is enough,

to stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,

to be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh 

is enough

to pass among them or touch any one or rest my arm ever so lightly around neck for a moment

what is this then?

i do not ask any more delight, i swim in it as in a sea!

and i’ll continue for him with my dedication to you two: 

another Jericho beach sunset stroll after bread, cheese and wine picnic on a Indonesian sarong bought at a market on a sunny day

another main street quest for a surprise bottle of wine to remember that night on the island when you sat on a boulder not caring about algae and cold and held each other, and gazed and awed and wondered about the possibilities, dreaming of a future growing together 

or another snowed in cabin day, fireplace, hot place, and comparing passages and patterns – naps and snacks

another Saturday helping friends in need knowing you have more to give another night eager to be home together, the willingness for a late night drive home, the patience when someone hogs the beds 

another evening sharing knowledge with vigour and passion to return fulfilled – but ready for a kiss

another bus ride night to gather collaborate grow, challenge, learn, knowing that you’ll never stop progressing 

another lifetime of walking hand in hand side by side, not in front of, not behind, trusting, hoping, knowing believing that your love is endless – as you pause to count the stars like so many gems

##

Kemp and Sheila, i humbly invite you to grab hold of one another, gaze into one another’s eyes and Kemp its time to kiss to your (smoking hot) bride!

Now you two beloved turn around and meet your future as i have the pleasure of introducing you to the good people as the married couple, Sheila and Kemp Edmonds. Congratulations!