2202 Some TV before bed. That’s all. g’Night. 2051 So, the fisheye takes some great pics. I uploaded a small set (admittedly a little on the noisy side because of the low light and high ISO I was working with) to my gallery. 2013 Having just got Claire into bed for night, I get to settle down and check out the photos I snapped using my birthday present — the fisheye optic for my LensBaby — of our surprise impromptu party guests. Chris and Matt, kids in tow, stopped by for cake and chats. Now to download those photos and pic a few for the gallery. Stay tuned. 1725 Cuddled up on the couch with my daughter watching yet another Adam West-era Batman re-run. Claire [...]

It’s odd. I’ve been peppering this blog with half-baked ideas for over a decade yet haven’t ever really written anything on my birthday. Also odd is the fact that each and every one of us has two interesting dates of transition in our lives. (Though I suppose, as you’ll see in a moment, for 0.3% of people that is the exact same day.) The first of those days in the communal day of transition we call New Years — when the collective year flips round. The second is our each more personal day of transition, our birthday — when our own year flips round. I haven’t normally written much around my birthday here (with a few exceptions.) That’s particularly odd, I think, because of the [...]

To Claire, On the occasion of your fourth birthday. So, I missed a year. What was I thinking? Maybe… that letting two more years slip by in my recollection wouldn’t matter. How wrong I was. Time marches on… You’re four years old today. And, just like you do every day lately, you stood atop your toy chest, looking out from the middle window of our upstairs den, and enthusiastically waved goodbye to me as I drove off to work. Nothing can stop you from this ritual when one of your parents is off to somewhere…. anywhere. And I start this little letter to your future-self by noting that ritual because I think it is a little bit symbolic of something bigger that I’ve learned about [...]

A “reloaded” post is a quick-clipped summary of a bunch of small things from the past few days. I want to write them down, but I am either lacking in (a) details or (b) time. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Enjoy. On Paints and Beds I was feeling a little blue. Literally. I was speckled all over my arms, and a bit on my face with a kind of greyish indigo. Eggshell. The direct result of that casual splatter often encountered by your everyday-average-homeowner turned painter when he stumbles upon the need to hurriedly add colour to a wall as a result of buying new furniture that (in opposition to the norm) is delivered weeks earlier than anticipated. Recommendations included in the lesson are [...]

I had planned to go out on a more adventurous romp through somewhere more interesting than my own backyard. An expedition, maybe. I had noticed there has been an awesome fog sitting on Whitemud Creek at Smyth Crossing every morning these days as I drive or bus by. I thought it might be interested to take the dog over there. But I was good: I did my chores first, mowing the lawn, cleaning up the yard, and tending to the dog. And then we got rain.

A “reloaded” post is a quick-clipped summary of a bunch of small things from the past few days. I want to write them down, but I am either lacking in (a) details or (b) time. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Enjoy. birthday five times two We were in Calgary on the weekend for my niece Julia’s fifth birthday part(ies) this past weekend. Five. Yeah, that’s right. Already five. I guess we needed more than one party (though both were amusing, so I won’t complain.) I took lots of photos and some at the request of Shannon (already breaking my no photo favours rule — what a sucker I am — OK… starting now!) though I haven’t had a chance to post any of them [...]