...

what's been up?

2009-03-23T13:18:59Z

I haven't posted in a while, so here is a brief Q&A, initiated by myself, to answer those questions that haven't been asked!

where are you living? We're back in Charleston, SC, living on Daniel Island.

where are you working? At Blackbaud, as a program manager.

how's the family? They are great! Callum is now 5, Mia is 3, and Lachlan is 1. More information about their antics can be found on Yvonne's blog.

are you on Facebook? Yes, you can find my profile here.

have you been using Twitter? Yes, here (and on Identi.ca here).

have you been gaming? I am still playing some World of Warcraft, though not much... in fact, my main character has still not yet reached level 80!

then what have you been doing in your spare time, if not cranking those levels? I've been writing, and also creating music. And some studying.

what kind of music? The stuff I'm working on ranges from some more serious minimal techno to melodic club music with a purposefully high cheese factor.

can I hear some of your music? Yes, here is an example, though as a caveat I must mention that I still have a lot of work to do on the leveling and EQ. It sounds a bit muddy, and there's too much sound bouncing back and forth.

so what's the big news of today My sister is having a baby, right now!

OICU8ABOMGRUOK?

2008-11-08T01:07:33Z

you can learn a lot about a man by what he will or won't eat after he's dropped it on the floor.

new age fairy tales

2008-07-31T19:52:03Z

last night I was telling stories to Callum and Mia before bedtime. Callum wanted to hear stories about trains. Mia wanted to hear stories about princesses.

so I spun a fantastic tale of how Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were having a tea party in their castle, when suddenly they heard a strange noise outside, so they snuck out of the castle through the secret back door and into the garden, with all its beautiful flowers, tall trees and hanging vines, and then out through the wrought iron garden gate, on the other side of which they found a worn set of train tracks, and then suddenly in the distance they could see the Santa Fe Super Chief approaching (!!!), with two A units and two B units, multiple passenger cars, a diner car, two dome cars and even an observation car. Strangely enough, cooped up in the castle all day, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were tiring of their non-stop tea parties and spent most of their time daydreaming about what it would be like to ride on a real train...

statistics dictate that people who have two kids have about a 50% chance of having one boy and one girl. I wonder if there is a market for stories like these.

Taiwan

2008-07-05T06:07:02Z

here are some pictures from our Taiwan trip so far. It's been a great trip! And Lachlan is a very sweet and happy baby boy. My very limited Chinese has come in handy, and we've seen many of the notable sites within Taipei.

Yvonne picking up the baby from his foster home.

Lachlan's foster home in Taichung, where he spent his first six months.

me and some cool dudes at the Maokong Gondola.

Yvonne and a sleeping baby in the Maokong Gondola.

a view of Taipei from the gondola.

Lachlan in the hotel.

you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose...

you've awakened the gazebo, and it catches you and eats you.

seaweed sushi chips

2008-06-29T17:14:19Z

so we finally made it to Taiwan!

the how and why of it all can be found here.

time for bed now... though it feels like midday to me...! Long, but good, days to come.

I make the call thusly

2008-05-17T02:51:32Z

pineapple juice is the most refreshing of all juices.

there, I said it. I can hardly take it back now.

bead curtains and lava lamps

2008-01-01T23:53:24Z

so I know I said I'd never ever get one, and I'm probably going to lose all my cool points for this (at least whatever cool points I have left), but the other day we bought at 2008 Honda Odyssey!

the Odyssey primed and ready for some heavy duty grocery getting

it is going to be Yvonne's daily driver. We spent a good deal of time looking into SUVs and also larger sedans, but the third row seat in most SUVs seemed pretty unsafe (too close to the liftgate), and in the end the van was what Yvonne really wanted! I practically had to force her to try it at first, but once she did, she loved the visibility, the smooth ride, and the higher vantage point it offers. Plus, there's a little camera at the back that shows you what's behind the van when you're backing up, which is great when you live in a neighborhood full of kids.

soccer mom-mobile-in-training

though at first I had my reservations about cruising town in a van, in reality, the Odyssey is pretty pimpin', with a leather interior, sunroof, three-zone climate control, heated seats, XM radio, and airbags a'plenty. Plus it drives like a car - it's not truck-like at all. So I'm very pleased that my family will be zipping around San Antonio in something so safe and easy to drive. Suburban lifestyle ftw!

tasty++

2007-12-07T02:42:56Z

Stilton cheese.

so delicious!

7

2007-11-24T19:48:54Z

today marks seven amazing years of being married, and I'm looking forward to many more. Happy anniversary, Yvonne!!

life in parts

2007-10-16T23:31:24Z

part 1: Chinese food n00b

today at lunch while eating Chinese food I squeezed the little plastic tub of sweet & sour sauce a bit too forcefully and it cracked open and a'sploded on me.

later, while chuckling at myself for splattering myself with sweet & sour sauce, I accidentally ate my fortune.

part 2: by the way

I have in fact eaten Chinese food before!!

part 3: charismatic dudes

this evening at the nearby Barnes & Noble, Jenna Bush is doing a book-signing for her new book. While I was over there this afternoon the secret service vacated the building and then let everyone back in after going through security checks. I was amazed at how charismatic and friendly these guys were (I'm not being sexist, I just didn't see any women among them). They were apologetic for the inconvenience caused, very polite and friendly, and I even saw them buying coffees for the local police force who were in attendance. I learned a thing or two from them.

part 4: five little pumpkins

can be heard here.

part 5: and speaking of Chinese

I've been back to studying Chinese every day. It's a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. Today I spoke to the lady serving Chinese food at the local HEB (where I bought lunch) and managed to understand most (albiet not all) of what she said!

one good resource for learning languages is Livemocha, which is a community site with language resources for learners. The online lessons are well put together, and free! Highly recommended.

part 6: yes it's a total waste of time

and I got my warrior in World of Warcraft to level 50!

salsa

2007-10-11T16:54:48Z

I really like fruity salsa. The other day I had some peach mango salsa, and today it's raspberry chipotle. Note that these are spicy salsas - none of that "mild" stuff. The combination of sweet and spicy really agrees with me.

and in other news, there is no other news!

random updates

2007-08-03T16:16:14Z

meanwhile...

I have been playing a little (but not too much) World of Warcraft, on the Illidan server
I finished the last Harry Potter book
I watched (over the course of several weeks of date nights) Ratatouille, the latest Harry Potter movie and the Transformers movie with Yvonne; the Harry Potter movie was on IMAX and had 20 minutes of 3D, which was cool! The Transformers movie was pretty good - an all-out, everything-gets-destroyed CGI-fest from start to finish
I have been writing and attending a local critiquing group (for the San Antonio Writers Guild)
I have been getting in touch with old high school (and even elementary school) friends on Facebook - it's been quite a trip down memory lane
my allergies say: "Texas is full of allergens"
it's been raining almost non-stop here in San Antonio, but at least our grass looks great!

San Antonio

2007-06-01T01:01:10Z

since my last post we have moved to San Antonio, Texas, where we are living in the same neighborhood as Yvonne's sister's family - a short walk to their place. We bought a new house, sight unseen (though we knew pretty much what it would be like as it shares the same floorplan as Yvonne's sister's house, only in reverse), and after closing on the house via UPS in Ontario we drove down with only a carload of stuff, buying furniture upon arrival in town.

so far we've been having a great time, and the kids have really benefited from living near their cousins - Yvonne's sister and her husband have three kids, a boy older than Callum, another boy of an age in between Callum and Amelia's, and a girl younger than Mia. So they are perfectly spread out! We have been taking advantage of living in the area - we've been to Sea World and Six Flags Fiesta Texas numerous times, went peach picking in Fredericksburg, walked along the Riverwalk, and of course eaten our share of Tex Mex.

here are a few pictures from the past several months:

Callum and Mia pointing at me as I walked through the door of my parents' place. My father took this picture right as I walked through the door. It's nice to be appreciated!

Callum, Mia and I at the Festival of Lights parade at Disneyworld. We went to Disneyworld for a week and a half over Christmas and had a great time.

Callum and I on a CN steam locomotive in Haliburton, Ontario. From when we were staying at our cottage earlier this year.

Mimi getting acquainted with some horses in Faraday, Ontario. We went to a winter fair in early March where they had, among other things, free sleigh rides - it seemed fitting!

Mia in her apple outfit at a presentation at Callum's pre-school. Callum attended pre-school for two mornings a week here in San Antonio and all of the pre-school classes performed in a little show when the spring term was over. Mimi was just happy to see all the balloons.

Callum and the Geotrax trains. These trains actually on loan from Yvonne's sister's kids. Callum loves playing with them! And as our house is a lot bigger than the amount of stuff we have to put in it, the "living room" is serving as a train and toy room.

and that's all for now!

from this morning

2007-03-28T01:15:15Z

notice how our neighbour's dock has been pulled up out of the water - in the fall everyone has to raise their docks for the winter, because in the spring the ice melts in big chunks and floats around on the lake and will tear docks off their moorings if they don't!

CFLs

2007-03-17T02:34:18Z

over the period of several months I have gradually replaced all of the standard incandescent light bulbs in our house with energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs). For those of you who do not yet use these bulbs in your homes, I urge you to read the following article and check out what using them instead of incandescent bulbs can do to help save money and preserve the environment:

How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World? One. And You're Looking At It.

there isn't a whole lot that a single person can do for the environment. But replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs is one of those rare things. They're not annoying like the oldschool flicker-on flourescent tubes were, and though they take a little longer than incandescents to warm up, the use of a single CFL can save you $50 over the life of the bulb, according to Project Porchlight. So using them will help your pocketbook as well as your ecosystem.

I don't normally ask people to post things in their journal or anything like that, and I'm not going to here, but what I do recommend is that if you are one of those people who, like me, are a little late to the CFL ballgame, why not get a CFL for yourself and see if you like it? If not, then fair play to you. If you do like it, spread the word!

here are some quotes pulled directly from the article:

"Swirl bulbs don't just work, they pay for themselves. They use so little power compared with old reliable bulbs, a $3 swirl pays for itself in lower electric bills in about five months. Screw one in, turn it on, and it's not just lighting your living room, it's dropping quarters in your pocket. The advantages pile up in a way to almost make one giddy. Compact fluorescents, even in heavy use, last 5, 7, 10 years. Years. Install one on your 30th birthday; it may be around to help illuminate your 40th."

"What that means is that if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads."

"Last year, conversations started in Wal-Mart around the potential of swirls to save customers money on utility bills. "Somebody asked, 'What difference would it make if we changed the bulbs in the ceiling-fan display to CFLs?'" says Kerby. A typical Wal-Mart has 10 models of ceiling fans on display, each with four bulbs. Forty bulbs per store, 3,230 stores. "Someone went off and did the math," says Kerby. "They told me we could save $6 million in electric bills by changing the incandescents to CFLs in more than 3,000 Wal-Marts. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know I was paying $6 million to light those fixtures. I said, that can't be right, go back and do the math again." The numbers came out the same the second time: savings of $6 million a year. "That, for me, was an 'I got it' moment."

on breakfast

2006-12-05T17:35:39Z

"I will need to eat a good nutritious breakfast in order to crush all those who oppose me!"

- unknown conqueror

there is something magical about a good breakfast. I'm talking all the breakfast food groups - bacon, sausage, eggs, home fries with ketchup, toast with strawberry jam and a big mug of coffee with cream. So some of the food groups are underrepresented and others have stolen the spotlight, but that's just how it is.

this morning I took my Honda to Canadian Tire to get (wait for it)... some tires. We live in a rather snowy part of Canada and the car was in dire need of some better traction so that I could spend my road time driving my car rather than freezing my butt off in a ditch waiting for a tow truck (I've been there, believe me). I chose the Michelin X-Ice, a tire made by a company whose head office is located, believe it or not, in Clermont-Ferrand, France, home of one of my alma maters! I'd say it's a small world, but I'm still recovering from the 28-hour trip from there to here so I happen to know otherwise.

after dropping off my car I walked over to a nearby diner to grab a mug of coffee and do some writing (and here I am!) and I noticed that they had a Big Breakfast item on their menu - 3 eggs, 2 different meats, 3 slices of toast and home fries all for $5.99 Canadian. Since I'm still used to crazy expensive Irish prices that sounded like a pretty good deal to me so I went for it. It was just what the doctor ordered - although in this case the doctor actually ordered you not to eat it. Still, it was darn good.

the magical thing about big breakfasts is that they only work at breakfast-time. That is because you need the rest of the day to recover from eating them. While you're shoving down those forkfuls of goopy egg-covered toast and greasy sausage you're saying to yourself, "I'll work this off during the day; maybe I'll have a light lunch and go for a long walk later this afternoon." This is mostly wishful thinking of course, but big breakfasts are a catalyst for good intentions.

in Ireland the restaurant at Allied Irish Banks used to serve the occasional breakfast at lunchtime. They called it a "Mixed Grill" which is the Irish term for "Big-Ass Breakfast". I tended to avoid the Mixed Grill when they had it; for one thing, 12:30 is rather late to be eating such fare, and for another thing whenever I did choose to partake of the Mixed Grill at lunchtime an hour or two afterward I could be found snoring with my head on my desk and drooling all over my keyboard. Sleeping at your desk is a well known productivity killer so no Mixed Grill, thanks, at least at lunchtime.

in another hour or so I'll walk back to Canadian Tire to pick up the car. You may not believe this but it is snowing outside - again - so the new tires should come in handy during my drive home. Although if I do go into a breakfast-induced coma and fall asleep at the wheel I might very well end up in a ditch anyway. I'd better call and pre-order that tow truck.

tappity tap

2006-12-01T05:08:51Z

so I'm back in Canada. No snow here yet, but it's coming! Probably this weekend!

earlier today I managed to complete NaNoWriMo; I hit 50k words on my novel sometime this afternoon. I'm very pleased! It was not an easy feat to write 50k words in a single month, especially with finishing work in Dublin, packing up the house, taking a boat from Ireland to France, spending 10 days in Clermont-Ferrand and then flying back to Montreal. But I managed it, with lots of support from my family, Dragon Well tea, and a peaceful view over the lake from my chosen writing room. My wife also wrote 50k words this November, winning NaNoWriMo a week or so ago. It's been a writing sort of month!

I'm pretty pleased with what I've written thus far; big chunks of it I have already stashed into a file full of stuff that I knew even while writing it wouldn't make the cut, and I'm still struggling with showing rather than telling (writing in an active rather than a passive voice), but for a month's worth of writing for the sake of writing I've appreciated the experience. I think it's worth continuing and seeing where it goes; the novel itself, as planned at least, is nowhere near completed. And I didn't even have to add any random ninja or pirate attacks to use as filler! Though now that I think about it...

otherwise, things are great, the family is great, and I'm great, so that's great!

packing

2006-11-11T12:52:12Z

yesterday was my last day of work. It was a bittersweet moment as I have really enjoyed my time at AIB and made lots of good friends within the hallowed halls of Bankcentre and Donnybrook House. Last night during my walk home the wind and the rain were quite fierce and I got soaked (even though I had packed an umbrella) which is just Ireland's way of saying "see ya!!"

my family and I have also had an excellent time touring the Irish countryside, which truly is one of the most beautiful places on earth. My final drive through the countryside (for now at least) will be the 3-4 hour trip to Rosslare tomorrow morning where I will catch a ferry to Cherbourg in France. From there I will go to hang out with my friends in Lyon (yay!) and give a presentation for school in Clermont (boo!) and then return to Canada on the 21st.

my NaNoWriMo writing has stalled while I pack up the house, travel and finish a final report for school. Although I am writing a great deal on this report every day it doesn't technically count for NaNoWriMo and that is too bad. I'm hoping that I will have time after my return to Canada to whip out a good several thousand words. Who knows, I may be able to slip a few in here and there before my return.

tonight my friend Paul is coming over and we're going to drink a few pints and watch the Premiership on TV. He and his wife Julie have a daughter named Helen and their family and our family got along famously during our 6 months here in Dublin. They will be missed.

progress

2006-11-05T17:38:51Z

this year I am a willing participant in NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month that takes place every November. For those who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, it is a competition held every year whereby a large group of people (this year I believe there are about 70,000 participants) attempt to write a novel of 50,000 words starting on November 1st and ending on November 30th. "Winning" the competition means completing 50,000 words by the end of November, so there can be any number of winners in any given year.

I have currently written somewhat over 8,000 words in my story, which means I am well on track to winning this year. Unfortunately, my trip to France, finishing up of class projects and subsequent return to Canada are going to make it difficult to continue this pace, so I might not manage to succeed this year, but I'm going to try.

in other news I have reached level 54 on weffriddles, which are extremely addicting, so beware. I am pleased with the fact that I managed to get this far without posting to the forums or asking for hints via PM, though I must admit that I have on more than one occasion perused the forums in search of that one elusive nudge that will point me in the right direction of finding the answer. Up to this point the forums seem useful in that they'll give you some decent hints without actually telling you how to find the answers to riddles. Level 54 is a four-parter and for some reason I find it extremely difficult. Staring at the screen trying to figure out how to solve it is interrupting my NaNoWriMo writing time so I'll have to return to it later.

at the moment I'm listening to three great Celtic bands; the Chieftains, Planxty, and Enya. I'm really enjoying it; I especially dug the Planxty CD with its rollicking Celtic riffs.

so, back to writing for an hour, and then dinner with some friends.

beeps

2006-11-05T12:08:10Z

last night myself and a friend from work went to see LFO, one of the pioneering techno bands of the early 90s, and DJ Rob Hall, a DJ from the SKAM label, at the Temple Bar Music Centre.

overall, it was a good show; it has been ages since I have been to a techno concert and it was nice to get to experience that scene again. What surprised me upon arrival in the main hall was seeing Rob Hall DJing... without using any turntables. I realize that CDJ units and DJing software packages are quite popular these days, but I didn't expect to see such a thing in use by one of the more popular DJs; usually the top DJs have a very strong vinyl bias. Rob Hall had a Powerbook open and did most of his work on that, though he also had a mixing deck beside the computer. I believe he was using Ableton Live to do the mixing, 'cause that's what I would use. The mixes were seamless, of course, but then again Ableton all but does the mixing for you, so that is probably to be expected.

LFO were also good. It was fun to hear some of their hits from the early rave scene, it really took me back. Surprisingly there were no whistles or glow sticks to be seen in the whole place, though there was one guy dressed up like in sunglasses and a shiny radiation suit not unlike the ones worn by those guys from Altern-8. Every now and then people would hoist him up on their shoulders and he would pump up the crowd.

one fun experience was climbing up to the balcony overlooking the dance floor. Looking down you could see a sea of people dancing around to the beat. Many of them were standing stock still amidst their jiving buddies and tapping text messages into their cell phones. Looking out over the crowd you could see plenty of them, little lights winking at you from amidst the gyrating crowd. It reminded me of the days people used to hold up cigarette lighters during rock ballads.

oh that's too bad

2006-10-18T18:43:37Z

from the Dublin Airport web site:

"The following items must not be packed in your hand luggage. They must be placed in your hold baggage. If these items are discovered in your hand luggage you will be requested to surrender the items for disposal:

Scissors (except where both blades are round-ended or less than three centimetres).

Razor blades (razors that have the blade set into a plastic moulding are allowed, but razors that can be opened and the razor blade removed are prohibited).

Knives with blades of any length.

Household cutlery (spoons are permitted).

Hypodermic needles (unless required for medical reasons, for which proof will be required).

Tools (including multi-tools and penknives).

Catapults.

Corkscrews.

Walking/hiking poles.

Toy/replica guns (metal or plastic).

Sporting bats, tennis rackets.

Darts.

Billiard, snooker or pool cues."

damn. And here I was hoping to bring my catapult on board the plane with me. Looks like I won't be laying siege to anything during the flight back to Canada :(

now all I have to do is figure out how to cram it into a suitcase...

Ireland in pictures

2006-10-01T21:30:03Z

it has been quite a while since I have posted any updates; I promised myself I would take some time tonight to ftp some photos to my web site and post them to my journal so that everyone could see what we've been up to lately!

we are still living in Dublin of course, and have been taking every opportunity to tour the surrounding countryside. During August we took a trip to Northern Ireland; I stayed in Belfast for one night and then met up with the rest of the family in County Antrim (we stayed in Bushmills, where they make Bushmills Whiskey at the oldest licensed Whiskey distillery in the world) for the rest of the long weekend. Some photos from that trip:

a rainbow over the coast of Ballycastle, Northern Ireland. In the bottom right hand corner of the picture you can see the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.

a path along the cliffs leading to the aforementioned rope bridge.

in early September my parents came to visit us for two weeks; for the first week of their visit we took a trip to County Galway on the west coast of Ireland. We stayed at a 150 year old farmhouse (in Ireland it is quite popular to rent a vacation house for a week or two) near Headford, close to the border of County Mayo. Some photos from that week:

Connemara. As you can see, Connemara is a very beautiful part of Ireland. I was fortunate enough to capture three swans in that photo.

the family on a beach near Roundstone.

the cliffs of Inis Mór. My father and I took a day trip to Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands, where we went to Dún Aonghasa, a well-known fort constructed in the Iron Age several thousand years ago. The fort is basically a stone construction right on the edge of the cliff (it forms a half-circle around the cliff face which then drops into the sea). It was quite an amazing thing to experience.

the chevaux-de-frise surrounding Dún Aonghasa. You can see here jagged stones placed several thousand years ago to slow potential attackers from reaching the fort (these were especially effective against those on horseback).

finally, here are some photos from life in and around Dublin:

me, Callum and the guinea pig. Taken at Glenroe Open Farm in County Wicklow.

swingin'. Similarly taken at the Glenroe Open Farm, which also featured a good sized playground for children (not to mention a nice walking trail with a SECRET GARDEN).

snails. Okay, if you must know, there are a ton of snails in Dublin; after a rainy day (and in Ireland most days are rainy days) tons of snails come out of the woodwork to crawl around willy nilly. At any rate, one day Callum and his minder walked up and down our street collecting as many snails as they could find; they ended up finding over 30 snails (not to mention a few slugs) which they then deposited in our front yard. 20 minutes later and the snails had all disappeared - strangely enough they all took off (relatively speaking - I suppose it was more of a meandering off than a taking off, these are snails we're talking about here!) in the same direction. That would of course be the direction away from Callum and his minder.

that's all for now!

yikes

2006-07-24T19:51:17Z

some news from my mom:

The Renfrew bypass Dad was on
When a sharp curve he came upon,
The road was wet, sharp was the curve
The jeep began to weave and swerve.

Dad turned the wheel to gain control
The jeep spun 'round and did a roll,
The roof of the jeep it hit the ground
Leaving poor Dad hanging upside down.

Not a single scratch did he sustain
The jeep its fate was not the same
A crushed in roof, a dented door
Smashed windows, torn wheels, its condition poor.

So "farewell jeep" you've served us well
In car heaven we hope you dwell,
And now we travel wide and far
Searching for another car!

Glendalough

2006-07-16T20:40:42Z

we went here today. Here's proof!

also, from a French festival we went to yesterday, here's Callum in the bouncy tent.

1

2006-07-09T22:33:44Z

happy first birthday Mimsy!!

let them eat cake...