i'll be home for christmas

There's just something about being "home" for the holidays. A certain familiarity and sense of belonging that you just can't quite get anywhere else. Like listening to the local radio station and hearing the voice of the guy who used to live in the apartment upstairs from you when you were a kid, and let you play the original Donkey Kong on his Intellivision. Or getting together with the friend you've known since 6th grade with your wives and babies and talking about how one is doing exactly what he set out to do in high school and the other is somewhere completely different than anticipated. Or driving by the fast food restaurant you worked at for 8 years and being flooded by the memories of days past. Or helping your Dad and brother-in-law pick up an old piano (that weighs roughly a billion pounds) and bringing it to your sister's house as a gift for your musical prodigy of a niece. Or just sitting around the house with the family and enjoying good food and good drink and being merry.

Or watching the adorable smile on your daughter's face as she gazes at her Auntie while sitting on her Gran's lap.



Yep. Nothing quite like it. Merry Christmas to all.

(Now if we could just get some snow!)

christmas past

yes, destiny has her hand on my back, and she's pushing

What is with the coincidences lately? Seriously. As someone who doesn't generally believe in "fate", it almost seems as though the universe has been speaking to me.

Although I am a Canadian of somewhat mixed ancestry, I suppose I tend to identify myself as being of Scottish descent, if one is to trace my patriarchal lineage. A couple of years ago I became a member of the Canadian society for our Clan. What it amounts to is a little ID card and a subscription to An Dul, the Clan newsletter. The newsletter isn't on a set schedule, but is generally published 2-3 times annually. I sent in my membership renewal well over a year ago, and had yet to receive an issue. I'm not sure what my exact train of thought was, but for some reason that very fact surfaced in my mind yesterday while setting off on a trek to Costco. "When the hell am I going to get something....?", I mused.

Upon returning from our shopping extravaganza, I decided to check the mail. No...there was no copy of An Dul there. BUT.......there was a letter from the Convenor of the Clan society. Basically, professional and personal committments were making it difficult for him to devote the time necessary to assemble and publish the newsletter, and he was seeking a volunteer to assume the task.

Now....I had long been considering contributing something to the newsletter, and now that I am living in an area where I have more access to events (i.e. highland games in Fergus) I was hoping to perhaps become a bit more invovled. As such, it seems rather serendipitus that this letter should arrive at all, let alone on the very day I was already thinking on the subject. That being said, I don't know that I'm in a significantly better situation than the Convenor, if at all, to take over the responsibility. The prospect is interesting, but between work and a newborn (edit: and my darling wife), I find it hard enough to assemble a blog post, let alone a newsletter. Not to mention I'm a terrible, terrible procrastinator. Let's be honest.

Coincidence? Fate? Professor X-like psychic abilities? I wish I knew.

the benefits of media exposure

Here's an interesting graphic that I located via Matthew Good via the BBC.



I guess it's easier for people to donate their money to a natural disaster which comes, does it's damage and is gone, as opposed to systemic problems such as war, disease and famine which require more than a hammer and a handful of nails.

i'm probably going to regret this

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."

-William Wordsworth-

I suffer from the somewhat romantic notion that I'm a writer. I believe it grabbed hold of me when I entered high school and became enamoured by story. All but disregarding the sciences, the classes which received my focus were English, History and Art. Throughout these formative years I wrote short stories, poems, a novella.....I sketched and painted....all in an attempt to tap into my artistic side.

I'm not sure that I was entirely successful. Having gone back and read some of what I wrote back then, I can't say that I was blown away. In truth.....I was somewhat appalled that I thought I was any good at all. In any event, my chosen profession is not one that really nourishes the creative spirit, so once I entered university and subsequently the workforce, my outlets of creative expression fell by the wayside.

And yet, something deep inside me tells me that I'm still a writer, hanging onto the notion of publishing a novel or scripting a screenplay. I want to start writing again. Unfortunately, as I try to come up with ideas of what to write about.....I stumble. Either I think too long on an idea and talk myself out of it, or I feel it is too similar to t.v. show X or movie Y, or some other work that I don't want to rip-off. I need something to get my feet wet. I've come up with a plan.

I call it, Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Creative Writing Edition.

Lame as it sounds, here is the premise:

The audience, namely you, will throw out some general ideas which I will use to formulate a story, which I will write and post here. We'll need some structure, and since I don't have Drew Carey as a moderator, it will work on a first come, first serve basis. I've identified four categories of ideas, so the first 4 commentors (in the following order) will contribute to the story:

Comment 1 - Genre (i.e. science-fiction, adventure, western, etc)
Comment 2 - Setting (location, setting, time, etc), eg. space station, grocery store, feudal Japan
Comment 3 - A defining characteristic of the main character (physical, character, occupation, etc)
Comment 4 - Random (some random element to incorporate in the story)

Only one contribution per person. Suggestions should be short and to the point (1-4 words).

Folks....this may end up as a train wreck. I offer no guarantees on length or time for completion, but promise that whether it is garbage or gold, I will post something. Now....let's see how it all shakes out.

And. GO.

winter was here

This photo was snapped a few days ago. It looked like winter had finally arrived. However, mild weather yesterday and today has all but melted the snow. Perhaps it won't be a white Christmas after all.

Let this also serve as announcement that there are some new photos on my flickr page.

video killed the radio star

Given that a vast majority of the people I work with are dinosaurs, I am considered relatively computer savvy. Among the savvy, however, I am a bit of a dunce. Take, for example, the fact that I just yesterday discovered the existence of Windows Movie Maker on my computer.

In my defence, I've only been running XP for about 3 years.

you say it's your birthday

It was a special day for a special boy. Today my nephew Gordon marked a milestone. One year old! We made the 2 1/2 hour trek to my sister's house to share in the festivities. My brother-in-law composed a great video marking the special occassion.

Happy Birthday, Gordon!

progress doesn't look so good

Check this out:

Here is what the view from my back deck looked like 4 months ago.

Here is what the view from my back deck looks like today.

I guess 'greenbelt' just doesn't mean what it used to.

what would maslow say

(Edit: The picture that is supposed to open this post keeps disappearing - thanks Blogger Beta. Here is what you should see.)

(Edit Redux: If you see the picture, disregard edit numero uno....that's spanish for 1 ...I think).

Among the many pet names I have for my daughter, one of my favourites is the Hungry Hungry Hippo. Sometimes when she's hungry, while I'm holding her to me, her head will bob back and forth into my shoulder, her lips smacking as she tries to latch onto something to suck. It just conjures up images of the old board game (how cool was that!) and it makes me laugh.

kismet

Did you ever get the feeling that life was trying to tell you something? A series of events or signs which all seem to point in the same direction? A big sledgehammer of "Hey! Pay attention!" whacking you upside the head?

I have. And I think it's telling me to go to Africa.

It defies logic, but examine the evidence, all of which have occurred in the last 2 weeks:

1. A short while ago I overheard a conversation in which a couple people were talking about travel and where they would like to go. The subject got me asking the question of myself. Having had the opportunity to visit Scotland last year (which had always been my first desire when it came to international travel), I began thinking of other places. Italy, Australia, western U.S., Hawaii, .....Africa. The latter stood out a bit for some reason, and I'm not sure why. It had never before struck me as some place I wanted to go. Anyway....my mind then set to wandering and thoughts of travel faded.
2. While sitting in the passenger seat of a car, I ended up in the middle of a conversation between the driver and someone standing outside my window. The topic: Africa. One had just got back from there where he was helping to build schools and other such humanitarian efforts. The other had worked there years ago for a few months. Both were of the opinion that it was a life changing experience.
3. In the course of my duties at work, I came into contact with some people from The United Republic of Tanzania (Africa). One asks if I've ever been to Africa. Upon replying in the negative, he says I really should come.
4. A short time later, while standing around and minding my own business, a random pedestrian walks up to me asking directions to the underground parking level. He spots a pin on my lapel (which depicts the flag of Tanzania....reference point #3) and asks if I'm from Tanzania (though looking doubtful). I say no, but he doesn't press the matter further. Instead, he pulls out his business card and hands it to me. He works for Zara Tours.....a trekking and climbing company from........duh duh duh......Tanzania. He says I should come see the country and bids me good day.
5. Today I went to the mail and picked my most recent issue of Macleans. On the cover; a story on Darfur in Africa.

What do you think? Coincidence, or fate?

In related news, today is World Aids Day.

turn, turn, turn

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

-excerpt from Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken-

And so it begins. Again.

Those who know me may think that this is my second blog. In reality, it is the fifth. For the sake of those who care, let me explain.

When I first stumbled onto the Internet phenomenon known as blogging, I decided to try my hand at it. With a little assistance from Blogger, I was soon the proud owner of The Cardinal Rules. What it amounted to was a place for me to vent and rant about frustrations with my job and the idiocy of popular culture. This then led to my belief that a blog might be a good way for my high school friends and I to keep in contact, so I created a group blog called The Hoikety Choik Frat House v. 2.0. (Long story). After a few posts, interest fizzled, and it proved to be a failed venture. It was not long after before both blogs were deleted.

Next up was a brief attempt at serious blogging in the form of Camelot is Burning. If memory serves, it consisted of an introductory post and an original poem (5 lines) before being unceremoniously nuked. I gave up on blogging.

Until...

...a short while later, when I discovered that a number of my familial relations had been infected by this "blog" craze. So, in the spirit of keeping close personal ties with the relatives, I again jumped on the bandwagon. This time with.......The Greatest Blog Ever Written.

Ugh. While striking me as particularly clever at the time (a play on The Greatest Story Ever Told.....with a tongue-in-cheek twist via the subtitle, ex. ...is unavailable at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience.), I grew to hate it. Nonetheless, I muddled through to the tune of just over 100 posts.

But it's time for a change.

The result is what you read. In addition to the anecdotal retelling of life in suburbia, I had always hoped that my blog would give me the opportunity to explore some of my more serious musings on things such as religion, politics and world events and provide an outlet for my creative side. I'm not sure why exactly I couldn't adequately tap into some of those things with my last blog, but with any luck I can overcome that hurdle here.

And perhaps post a bit more frequently. (Admit it.....you were thinking it.)

With that said, let's take a journey down this new road.......and see where it leads us.