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By the power of Greyskull...
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Passed my MA! I'm an Arts Master! |
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state of the darren
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Just catching you all up to date on what's going on. |
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Happy Anniversary Dr. K!
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It's our 9th anniversary |
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The brain and its dealings
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The brain has weird ways of dealing with things. |
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Apparently, it's winter.
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Got up this morning and damn it's cold. |
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A special request
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Help Kirsten C. Uszkalo capture her own name in Google! |
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Things that are stressing me out
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ack phbbt. |
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Still alive...
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Yes, I'm still here... |
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Happy Birthday to Me
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33... |
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The Vacation
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A not-so-short recollection of our vacation to Alaska, along with what you should expect if you were to take the cruise yourself. |
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They call me baldilocks
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Unexpected result of buzzing my head: I now act as a human lint brush. That is all.... |
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and now, offficially a hair blog.
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Ever since I got short hair, I haven't been able to do what I want with it. Now I guess I don't have to worry. (and I'm still a hairy bastard)... |
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gah.
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so tired |
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It's Kirsten's birthday!
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It's Kirsten's Birthday today! The world got WAY better on this day in 1973. Don't forget to leave your birthday wishes!... |
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The music of our lives
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When you hear this music around our house, it's highly suggested that you get to high ground. Get the Flash Player to see this player. var FU = {movie:"/fplayer/mp3player.swf",width:"400",height:"90",majorversion:"7",build:"0",bgcolor:"#FFFFFF", flashvars:"file=/fplayer/playlist.xml&displayheight=44&repeat=true&shuffle=false&lightcolor=0xcccccc&backcolor=0xeeeeee&frontcolor=0x888888" }; UFO.create(FU, "player");... |
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Mental Health Awareness Day
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Today is Mental Health Awareness Day. If you feel like you are starting to lose your grip on things, or even if you think you need a little help coping with day-to-day life, talk to your family doctor or a counsellor. It's not worth suffering through anxiety or depression alone, and the process of healing doesn't necessarily require medication -- sometimes all it takes is someone to listen to you while directing the conversation in order to come to realizations yourself.... |
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I am not ready to make nice
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I saw this video the other day. It articulated a lot of what I feel. I am pretty good at applogizing. But that isn't always the case for those around me. I always wondered why someone can't just say "I fucked up. Forgive me." I guess its easier to justify than ask for forgiveness. So, I remain unmoved and unconvinced. A little something from the Dixie Chicks. to say what I can't. Go Chicks!!! Forgive, sounds good Forget, I’m not sure I could They say time heals everything But I’m still waiting K -- the blog pirate... |
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Party aftermath
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The party Friday night was a smashing success! Kirsten had a really good time being feted by her friends and colleagues, and there was a good turnout. There was also food aplenty, as I spent Friday evening baking blondies, cutting veggies, and otherwise preparing a small feast. On top of that, our good friend Susan brought a metric tonne of food as well, in the form of a huge fruit platter, home made cream puffs, and smoked salmon on cornflour pancakes. Susan's kids were fantastic too - they helped prepare for the party, and helped me out when I needed... |
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Nougat!
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I was up pretty late last night, preparing some dishes ahead of time for the big party tonight (we're celebrating K's succesful PhD defense). I prepared two dishes last night (and will prepare two more this afternoon): a garlic chicken tapas made with brandy, and home-made nougat with cherries and almonds. I followed more of a Spanish recipe, making it out of egg whites, sugar, and honey and including almonds and glace cherries. No idea how it will turn out firmness-wise (it was pretty firm this morning), but it was tasty as hell last night when I licked the bowl.... |
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We have a doctor in the house
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Let me be the first to announce online that we now have a Doctor in the house, who can cure all your philosophical dilemmas. Kirsten successfully defended her PhD dissertation, "Dark Sisters" on witches and prophets in Early modern England today at 8:00 am, and was notified by her committee shortly thereafter that she was unanimously passed. We are so, so proud of her and all the work she has done to reach this milestone.... |
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Part of the reason I've been so busy...
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So as anyone who's been around this blog for awhile have noticed, I haven't really been posting much lately. Basically, I've been especially busy with work, both contract and (soon) school. There have been a few leads on contract work over the last month, and I'd be a fool not to follow them up! One of the leads was through a local design firm, Lanternfish, who were designing a site for Festival Place in Sherwood Park. Lanternfish needed someone to create a database and sales engine for Festival Place's website as well as an administrative backend to make adding and... |
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brief update
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There's a light at the end of the long tunnel of work I'm travelling through. There also seems to be this chuggachuggachuggachuggawooooooo noise too.... |
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back sorta
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So I'm sort of back, but not really. It was so hot yesterday that the power supply in my main workstation blew up. Well, hopefully it's only the power supply that went, and not the motherboard, CPU, and memory.... I'll find out tonight when I replace it.... |
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Happy Birthday to Me
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It's my birthday! I'm not here right now though, so this is a message from the past! Feel free to use that handy-dandy contact form to send me birthday wishes!... |
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Reminder
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Just a reminder that K and I are on vacation for the next week - we're driving down to Calgary tonight to spend a few days with our friend Aida, and then we're coming up here to go into hiding for the rest of the week. With luck, I'll get some work done on the work I've been putting off for all this time. The site should be relatively quiet until next Monday.... |
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Early Birthday
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I had a bit of an early birthday present on Saturday from Kirsten. I decided a few months ago that what I really wanted for my birthday was a new barbeque. We bought our old barbeque about 2 years ago at a garage sale for $10, and it's served us well. However, a couple of things were really getting under my skin: the first was that the grills were encrusted with a decade's worth of BBQ fixings, and had also started rusting out. It was weird to see them turn white when the heat got on them; another was that... |
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Vacation
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I booked 2 nights at the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge in Canmore last night for June 19-21. We're going to travel down to Calgary a couple of days early, have a quiet birthday dinner with our friend Aida on the 18th, and leave the dogs with her as we stay for awhile in Canmore. It's highly likely that we'll go for a hike or two while we're down there. They've got free wifi with the rooms, but unless I have my MacBook by then I doubt we'll be taking advantage of it. And quite frankly, even with the MacBook I... |
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Radio
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I'm in radio silence mode for the next $indeterminate_time, as I work on overdue schoolwork and a new contract I've picked up. The ethics application should be going into committee in the next week or two, so keep an eye open for a survey appearing on an Internets near you. Until then, go here. By the time you finish the game, I should be back.... |
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Crappy Easter
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This weekend SUCKED socially, for some reason. We decided not to hold an Easter dinner this year; the only problem was that everyone else assumed we had already made plans, so didn't invite us to their own shindigs. We ended up making chorizo arrabiata and watching the start of King Kong while I tried to put together my Lego monorail. It was a very sad night. (That being said, Orion had us over to watch the new Doctor Who yesterday)... |
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Things you might not know about me, #2
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I really enjoy listening to hip-hop / electronica / jungle / drum&bass / whatever-you-want-to-call-it music, such as what is found in this clip: North Korea vs. South Korea.... |
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Prize fighter
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I went to the dentist yesterday and got some work done, and I feel like I'm on the losing side of a 10-round match with a prize fighter. The left side of my jaw is approximately twice as large as it was this time yesterday :( As somewhat of an addition to this a day later, life gets interesting when you can only open your mouth a half-inch.... |
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Happy Birthday Susan!
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As the calendar over there notes, it's my sister's birthday today! Happy 26th birthday, kiddo! As a birthday present, I'm NOT going to tell an embarrassing story about you. :)... |
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Johari Window
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I've decided, as an experiment, to try the Johari Window Go to the linked site and choose 5-6 words you think describe me -- it'll be interesting to see what matches up to my own self-perception and what others perceive of me. You don't have to put your real name in the Name box, but do put your URL or some other identifying information if you don't.... |
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Made it.
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For those who may have been wondering, I made it back with George alive and well. The roads were completely clear and non-snow covered the entire way and the most excitement I had was trying to get the new wipers to wipe the windshield properly. I left Abbotsford around 8ish (PST) and got into Edmonton at around 8ish (MST), so all in all it was good time. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to find/burn the CDs suggested in that other entry. I'm planning on looking for them in the coming weeks and using them as "getting my ass in... |
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*hop*
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In a culinary extravaganza last night at Quazine's here in Abbotsford, I ate kangaroo. It was actually quite tasty, though apparently it's not something that one would generally be able to afford to have, at $55 per kilogram. We had much other goodness as well, including ahi, rabbit, veal, alligator and crab. And although I wasn't too fond of the alligator or the rabbit, I ate everything up happily. Yum.... |
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One foot of Snow and other Delights
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It snowed, hard. Got a suit. |
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Things you may not know about me #1
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Things you might not know about me. |
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broke a printer, fixed a printer
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So as part of the new floor, I rearranged my office downstairs to separate the desks and create two zones: a "Windows" zone and a "Linux" zone (yes, I'm a geek. you should know that by now). As part of the rezoning, our printer - an old HP Laserjet 4 - was reassigned to the Linux box (as it turns out, two 17" monitors AND a collossal printer is just too much when placed on the same desk). And thus my descent into figuring out how to share a printer to Windows workstations began. I thought I'd had it figured... |
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What happened yesterday?
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So, what happened yesterday? Really, I'd like to know, since I don't remember about half of it. Yesterday I went in for some dental surgery that required me to be sedated and given laughing gas (I've been waiting for awhile to get this work done because the area just wouldn't freeze and I needed to go to a specialist). I remember going to the dentist's office, taking the first pills, and vaguely sitting down in the dentist's chair..... and then nothing until putting my coat on and being bundled into the car by Kirsten. It was a weird experience, and... |
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Cheerup. STAT.
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It's only 3:30, but I don't think it's too early to call the day: it's a rotten, no good, very bad, awful one. Someone cheer me up, quick!... |
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Getting Things Done.
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You won't be able to see it yourself (in theory, it should only display when I access it from work or home), but I've added the next extension to the "Upcoming things" list on my site -- a calendar I really need some sort of in-my-face visual reminder that I have things I need to be doing, and this may be the best way. Time will only tell whether it is useful or I learn to ignore it. Now all I need is a way to synchronize this with my Palm calendar.... |
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Gifting
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In other news, I finally spent the gift certificate Pam & Igor got me for my birthday at MEC - we picked up some maps for the Kanaskis region that I was missing (including the hike we got really, REALLY lost on a couple of years ago). Combined with my compass and our GPS, we're virtually guaranteed not to get lost now.* * Guarantee not applicable in the Banff/Kanaskis region... |
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Update
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Update... |
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Things that I'm not quite ready to call resolutions, but rather "Things I really should do" for 2006.
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Rumours of my death are only partially exaggerated.
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For the three readers reader who is wondering why I haven't posted for awhile: I've been incredibly busy doing not much of anything. Work is coming to a head for the moment, as two products I've been working on are nearing release; since I'm taking time off for Christmas from the 19th until Jan 3rd, I've been running around trying to tie up all the loose ends so I don't get frantic emails/phonecalls while I'm supposed to be relaxing. Though, I won't be relaxing. Instead, I'll be writing a paper on the shift of online community away from a social... |
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Happy Anniversary, Kirsten!
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Happy Anniversary! |
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Still alive
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Still alive. School & work keeping me super-mecha-busy. Social life bleak. Antisocial behaviours kicking in big time. Way behind on readings, really need to write thesis proposal.... |
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Manbag
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It's happened... I need to get a Man Bag. I need something that I can both carry around on a regular basis (so not too big) and bike with, but also has lots of pockets for holding the notebook, pens, PDA, and wallet, and isn't overly expensive. Any thoughts?... |
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Congratulations Susan and Michael!
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My sister Susan and Michael got married yesterday! They're now winging off to Mexico for the week. And as an added bonus, here's a picture of me in one of the two suitish-like things I now own (oh, and the blushing bride as well). More pictures here... |
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Heading into the mountains
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We're heading into the mountains tomorrow to attend my sister's wedding in BC. We've decided to drive down, since we're taking the puppies. Not entirely sure how it's going to go, since Ruby has never been in a car for that long.. we'll see. Cayce will be fine - she's driven to Abbotsford and back already. Anyways, content will be lighter here for the next week.... |
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Also...
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In further news, K and I are going to be down in BC from September 1-4 (well, actually the evening of the 31st to the morning of the 5th, but since we're driving, those days are non-existent, visiting-wise). I'm booked for the night of the 2nd and the full day of the 3rd for my sister's wedding, but drop us an email if you want to get together otherwise!... |
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Unduly stressed
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My sister's getting married.... what the hell do I wear? |
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So. tired.
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Quick - somebody comment here with something interesting to wake me up.... |
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Reflections after a fortnight
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Updates on the life of us. |
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First hint of badness
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We had to downgrade the good:bad ratios of both the puppies. While we were at the theatre watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night (short review: Frickin' awesome! Loved it!), either Ruby talked Cayce into digging a MASSIVE HOLE in the garden, or Cayce talked Ruby into it. Either way, both dogs dug a MASSIVE HOLE in our corner bed, we think in search of the bone meal we'd put in there to supplement our new dill plants. In short, we no longer have any dill, and a troillus was taken out as well. Then, at some point in... |
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Too many <strike> tags!
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So, we didn't get the terrier cross. We finally met him at about 4pm on Saturday and we didn't really 'click' with the dog. He was a nice enough dog, and seemed to get along with Cayce. But with no 'click', it's not a good fit.... |
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The Thief, Again.
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Our neighbourhood thief has struck again. This time, however, he didn't get anything of value. But he did manage to cause damage, of course -- he popped the lock out of the trunk of my car. I really need to think of a feasible way to catch the bastard redhanded. It's more than obvious that he's local, likely living on our street. And it's high time he had his ass handed to him. Update: I have a plan, and it has something to do with this. Of course, I'll also have to clear the plan with K, since it involves... |
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LGATs
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LGATs, or Large Group Awareness Trainings are starting to get pretty popular again in multilevel marketing and management/personal training. One person wrote about his experience at one of the seminars, and it sounds pretty eerily cultish. I'm worried that four people I know (two couples) are in something like this, spending thousands of dollars on something that's not helpful, even possibly harmful. And frankly, I don't know what to do about it (or even if I should do anything about it, since they're big boys and girls, and should be able to decide for themselves if they want to be... |
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Great long weekend...
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Shaved ourselves a cat, had an otherwise good weekend. |
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Tomorrow is truly a day to celebrate
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Tomorrow is a truly important day. A day for celebration and joy. A special day, which must be observed. For, you see, tomorrow is the day cable television comes back to our house.... |
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Happiness is...
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Happiness is a woman who buys you a 24-pack of Jones Soda for no reason whatsoever.... |
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The last week or so...
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Or, how I lost a day of my life, and spent the other 6 days working my butt off. |
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Another year older...
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God do I feel old today.... |
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A timeline...
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It's my birthday on the 18th, and as usual around this time of year, I get a little reflective. Today, I decided to do a little retrospective of the Life of Darren so far... so here's a little timeline. 1974. Born. Noticed that this place I was born into (Saskatchewan) was awful flat and boring. 1975. Successfully lobbied parents to move to a more mountainous land with water. Great aunt Mi comes to welcome us to our new home, and ends up dropping my first birthday cake. I'm reportedly not amused. 1978. I form a great friendship with Harvey, my... |
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Double the fun!
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I can't remember if I blogged this or not, but I picked up a second monitor for home (the University was selling them off CHEAP!). It's immensely fun to be able to watch a movie/tv show on one monitor and be working on the other.... |
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Digital Phone
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Kirsten made the executive decision for our family that we're going to try out Shaw's new digital phone service, which is currently only available in Calgary and Edmonton (hey, there's got to be some rewards for living this far north!). Apparently, it's unlimited long distance anywhere in North America, any time of day, with call waiting, callerid, voicemail, conferencing, etc... and we get to keep our phone number. All for $55, which is about what we were paying for our service at Telus, not including daytime long distance. Time will tell as far as whether it's worth it or not... |
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Happy Anniversary!
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It's Carol and John's anniversary today, so I'm passing a big, hearty, happy anniversary! If you want to send your own anniversary wishes, email them to me and I'll see that they're forwarded.... |
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Just super.
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This is turning out to be a super day. I was flossing after lunch, and a huge chunk of molar just sheared off. Is it too late to just go home and hide under the blankets?... |
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Goddamnfuckingbastardsonofalamemule
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Where I become victim of thievery yet again. |
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Update from the trenches.
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Catching up... |
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Bhudda belly
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3 months, 30 pounds. Breaking away from 10 years of weight gain. |
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Wow. Blast from the past.
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I'm not entirely sure how I got started looking at this, but I found old online journal entries from 1997. Which means I've been keeping an online journal for almost 8 years now. A few things I noted:I was just as stressed out about life then as I am now. The only difference is that the things I was stressed out about then seem pretty stupid and inconsequential to me now. Will I look back 8 years from now and think the same thing about my current objects of stress? I was much more open about my life then than... |
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Exhausted
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Sleepless nights; upcoming month or so. |
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How to tell you're old...
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Here's a quick and easy litmus test for whether or not you're old. Do you spend days debating feature sets, 'bang for buck', and general benefits of buying: a) a new car b) computer equipment/electronics c) an over-the-range microwave If you answered c, congratulations - you're old!... |
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I was a teenage Napoleon Dynamite
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My last night in BC, I went through some old photo albums with Mom. I was looking for a wedding photo of her and dad to put in our family table (we have a glass-topped table with a drawer underneath that we have a set of family photographs in). As I was leafing through the albums, I came across one that left me short of breath: yearly photos of me from 6 months to 21. The early photos are, obviously, very cute. I was a moderately attractive child. Then puberty hit. From 13 to 19, I was a complete and... |
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Bon voyage, Aunt Mi
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Hermione McKay, 1918-2005 - may you be showing the afterlife some new tricks. |
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Crazy life.
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Due to a myriad of good (high grades, reference letters submitted for funding proposal) and bad (too personal to divulge blogwise, but nothing you should worry about), I've been going through a rollercoaster of emotions lately. Universe, if you're listening, I'd really like to live in non-interesting times.... |
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:(
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I hope this week is just a "case of the Mondays" for 2005, and not indicative of how the rest of the year is going to go.... |
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Back in Edmonton
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There and back again, a tale by D James Harkness. |
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It's happened.
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I knew it would happen some day. I tried to fight it for years, claiming I didn't have time for it... didn't want to do it... couldn't think of a good use for it... Then, last night, I joined the legion of the damned. $_REQUEST['deity'] help us all.... |
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A boatload of honest worries
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Warning: some self-pitying contained within, written freely and without editing. Do not read without grain of salt, and please do not email regarding it. (also, comments closed)... |
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Bachelor weekend!
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Kirsten and the puppy have gone down to Calgary for the weekend to visit our friend Aida, leaving me home alone this weekend... I wish I could say I was planning lots of fun bachelor-type things to do, but it turns out I have this big stack of books to read, a shower to reinstall, a sink drain to fix, some moulding to put up, and a couple of websites to work on. (That being said, I plan to spend the night tonight eating McDonald's and watching Battlestar Galactica... and maybe even play some Doom. Oh, life is good.)... |
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Update on the tasklist...
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An exhaustive list of what I did this weekend. |
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I need to find my center
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I need to find my center again. Any ideas where I left it?... |
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It's our anniversary, baby!
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Everyone needs to stop what they're doing right now and email Kirsten right now to congratulate her on putting up with me for the last 6 years. Today, we celebrate our 6th year together. To learn all about how it started (as if you haven't heard the story 15 times already), go here.... |
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Congratulations are in order!
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I got a call last night from my sister, Susan. Her long-time boyfriend, Michael, proposed to her on Wednesday at the top of a hike they were on. She called me last night after my classes to break the good news. Congratulations to both of them!... |
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You know, some days I just feel like giving the hell up.... |
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The Dharkness
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Foxboro Splendour. |
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Garage Sale
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Something you may not know about Kirsten and I is that we're pretty avid garage salers. That is, we often go to the garage sales around our neighbourhood, not that we hold garage sales ourselves. I'm not entirely sure what the appeal of the garage sale is for us; certainly, it's a good place to find some nifty stuff for really cheap. In the past, I've found some great stuff -- some Star Wars action figures and ships for a couple of bucks, which sit in my office (nothing like flying an X-Wing around the office to get the creative... |
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The state of the Darren
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The current state of the Darren. |
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What should I do?
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I admit it. I'm a writer. |
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Ugh.
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Worst. Weekend. Ever. |
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Pictures of the new 'do
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Just threw up a picture of the new 'do here. Likely my ugly mug will show up in the rotation on the page here too... don't say I didn't warn you.... |
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Oh, and...
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It's gone... it's all gone... |
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I'm old!
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Happy birthday to me..... |
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Birthday gift ideas revisited
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Kirsten suggested that I should repost my list of birthday gift suggestions, so here it is: * Barbeque * 17" or 19" LCD monitor * MP3 player * Full metric and SAE ratchet set * Table saw * Canon Close-up Lens 250D (52 mm) & Conversion Lens Adapter LA-DC52C * ATI 9200 or 9600 video card Books: * Shadow Puppets (Orson Scott Card) * Hey Nostradamous (Douglas Coupland) * (good) Graphic novels. Movies (DVD or VHS): * Being John Malkovich & Adaptation * Bubba Ho-Tep * FOTR and TTT extended versions DVDs * The Royal Tenenbaums * Family Guy Seasons... |
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Hmm.
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Hmm... interesting... |
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Darren's Birthday Wishlist
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Birthday gift ideas, should you want them. |
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The weekend
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What We Did This Weekend. |
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Just a reminder...
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Just a reminder that it's only 25 days or so to Darranukah XXX. If you've been invited for the festivities on the 19th of June, book your tickets and buy your presents... the party is on (We got the deck and patio rebuilt this weekend - pictures to come - and should have the railing in place for the party!)... |
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Shmooey
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I get shmooey. Those who disdain affection, avert your eyes! |
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*yaaaaaaaaaaaawn*
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It's done. Life on pause. |
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It hurts to type this.
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ow. |
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d'oh!
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Life gets busy. |
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Advance Notice
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In the "I'm telling you this now, so you have no excuse not to know" department. |
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New life
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Moving forward? Or just moving? |
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Updates
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Updates on the book, the cat, and life in general. |
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Some good news...
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In good news..... |
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Argh.
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My day, thus far. |
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It's Cheer Darren Up Day!
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Seriously, help cheer me up. |
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Weaker than a kitten.
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In fact, a kitten could kick my ass right now. |
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As weak as a kitten.
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boogada boogada |
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On actual writing...
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This one is not a joke. :) |
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Birthday greetings!
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My little sister's turning 24 today! God, I feel old now. For which, I must write embarrassing stories of her youth as vengeance... :) |
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Good news and bad news
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Good news and bad news from the Harkness-U. household. |
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toothache
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Sore tooth today. Ugh. |
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A little breathing room
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Quick update. |
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running silent again
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Going into silent running. |
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Root Canal Tip #32
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Tips for a healthy root canal! |
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What I did last night.
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Update on the dentist, and a quick summary of what I did after the dentist. |
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eep.
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Have to go to the dentist today... :( |
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busy.
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gah! |
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Natural light
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Light! yay! |
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A great revelation...
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Wherein I have a eureka moment as a revelation into the current state of my life pops into my head. |
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And now, for a dog-related post.
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Where I talk about the dog. Skip down for non-pet related entries. :) |
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Addendum
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But I also need to say... |
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and what a year it was.
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2003, a year in review. |
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ZZzzzzzzzzz
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So. Tired. |
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Happy Birthday!
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Go Kirsten, it's your birthday... |
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ANd now for something completely different.
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Wherein I ruminate upon my lunch. |
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There's a birthday coming up!
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All about a birthday... |
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*snip*
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So, um, I don't have long hair any more.... |
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made it back alive...
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We made it back alive from Saskatoon, and don't have too many interesting stories to tell (it was a research trip, after all!). Though I do have to take a moment and complain about the service we got at the bed & breakfast I'd booked for us. We rolled into Saskatoon around 11pm - 5 minutes or so earlier than we'd told the innkeeper we'd arrive, in fact. We rang the bell, as instructed....... and nobody came. So I rang it again. Again, nobody came. Finally I knocked. Nobody came. As I knocked loudly... finally the innkeeper came. We were... |
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she's a geek-girl
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Every once in awhile, I get all misty-eyed at how far along the geek path K has come. When we first met, she barely used her computer for anything other than writing essays, and had only been on the internet once or twice. She didn't even have an email address! Now, she's an email ninja, knows a heck of a lot about the Internet, and even has her own website (albeit, a page for her English 101 class). But last night she showed her geek merit once again. I brought home a new fish and a new frog (she loooooooooooves... |
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Gone, she's gone...
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It's little ol' me by myself until Sunday... Kirsten's on her way right now to Baltimore, Maryland for the Attending to Women conference until Sunday. She's also taken the digital camera with her, so I won't get to show you kids the photos of the window install until she gets back.... |
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and furthermore...
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We just booked off time to head to Saskatchewan Nov 21-24. We're driving out of town Thursday night, and staying at a nice little bed & breakfast near the University of Saskatchewan. Kirsten's heading there, as one of the resident profs has a plethora of manuscripts that are helpful to her research. I'm of course tagging along as the technical aide and driver. (And to visit Saskatoon again, the place I was born). Though it means a long, boring drive to Saskatoon (think snow-covered flat land and straight roads), it'll be a heck of a lot of fun.... |
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But on the bright side...
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... someone did card me at the liquor store yesterday. (of course, she also looked a second time and said "Oh, never mind.")... |
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also
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I've had the strangest urges lately... two of the top contenders are:Opening an art gallery in Edmonton, and stocking it full of paintings, sculpture and photography I find interesting. Locales have ranged from my own home to a warehouse bay. At this point, it's totally not feasible without an external cash source, but it's definitely something I'd consider doing if someone else came up with the capital. I already have a couple artists I know who would get first dibs on exhibits. Saving $5,000, selling just about everything I own and travelling the world for a couple of years. I'd... |
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exhausted.
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Someone send me some extra energy..... I'm just EXHAUSTED today.... |
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exhausted.
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Someone send me some extra energy..... I'm just EXHAUSTED today.... |
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It's that time of year again...
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Happy Anniversary! It's our fifth anniversary this year - and what a year it's turning out to be. (for those of you who missed it, I put up a special page a couple years ago with the story of how we met). Kirsten - we've gone through a lot over the last 5 years, both good and bad. Our strength has been challenged, but we've always prevailed. As we walk together into this new year together (and into a new phase in both our lives) know that I love and cherish you, will give you strength when you are weak,... |
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lichen planus
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lichen planus - basically (since all the online definitions I can find are full of medic-speak), it's an inherited, non-contagious auto-immune disorder that affects the skin. In a nutshell, the body's immune cells start attacking the skin cells, and small lesions start forming. There's no known cure, and no known cause. It takes 1-2 years for the lesions to disappear, until the next time it recurs. In other words, it's a big mystery that doesn't go away. What they do know is that it can be made worse by stress and high blood pressure, as well as allergic reactions to... |
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100ish things about me
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Since I can't concentrate due to exhaustion anyways...... |
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house warming (not yet)
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For those who may be wondering... we're not planning a housewarming for a little while. We have a lot of work to do in order to make the place look better - and we'd rather wait until we're happy with it. :) In other news, the photoblog won't be updated for a little while... my computer still isn't hooked up to the network (and probably won't be for a couple of weeks), so I can't manipulate/resize photos for the web.... |
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slightly more...
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So, as you can tell, I'm back online now - though not fully. Until we get the basement sorted out (read: less full of junk, sawdust and contractors), we only have Kirsten's laptop hooked up to the 'net on a little table in the upstairs spare bedroom. It's actually kind of nice having this small station here, with the cablemodem flashing merrily beside me, and a lamp on the left lighting up the birch tree outside. I was rudely introduced to the filth that is cablemodem traffic this afternoon. I'd hooked Kirsten's laptop up to the 'net, then ran downstairs... |
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in the new place...
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In the new place. Exhausted. Long story to follow when not exhausted.... |
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So now we know how...
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Let's face it, our cats are fat. Since Heidegger moved into our apartment, Zelda has been growing larger and larger; Heidegger's been trying to keep up with the weight gain, but his multiple episodes of sickness/wounds have helped curb the weight gain. A few months ago, we cut down the amount of food we give them on a daily basis, in the hopes that they wouldn't gain weight quite as quickly. Of course, they continued to be the lovable porkers we were getting used to. In the days leading up to our big move (tomorrow! eek!), we finally discovered why... |
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The Big News
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Ok, so I've got the go-ahead to release details on the big news. We bought a house. As can be expected, there's quite a story behind it...... |
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Looks like we're back...
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Looks like we've come out the other side of the server switch relatively unscathed. Big news to be revealed here within the next day or two.... |
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eep (again)
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16 days.... |
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now with less eek
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The newer, but more exciting piece of news is almost ready for public release....... |
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recap
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I know I've said this before... but Kirsten is the bestest girl in the whole wide world. (just needed to get that out)... |
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8O
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eek.... |
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Also, people suck.
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In news from the homefront, someone broke into Kirsten's car early yesterday morning and stole the brand new CD player I had installed as a surprise for her. People suck.... |
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Oh, and...
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I don't think I've asked this before... If there are any readers from New Orleans / Savannah, Georgia area. We're dying for some Pralines and Southern BBQ. I doubt you can get the BBQ here in time before it spoiled... but if you'd like to send some Pralines our way, drop me a line. :)... |
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so much going on...
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There's so much going on right now that I want to talk about, but can't. Which is annoying, because it's all relatively exciting news. :) The newest bit of news is only known by a couple of people, outside of Kirsten and myself. One day soon, I hope, I can spill it all here. We spent most of the weekend running around. When we weren't running around, we were at home watching the first two seasons on The Family Guy on DVD. My god, I forgot how funny that show is -- even after 3 hours, it doesn't get stale.... |
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this and that
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I've got some more photos for you kids sitting on the camera right now... I'll try and get them off there tonight. I haven't been taking nearly as many photos as I should; I don't know why exactly. I guess there just hasn't been that much around me to take photos of (that I haven't taken a hundred times already) I need some more ideas, some "assignments" to shoot, that sort of thing... it basically boils down to 'I need to get off my ass and do it already'. Not that it's going to be easy over the next couple... |
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today's bike ride...
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And on the bikeride into work today? Snow. Not much of it, mind you - just a rogue flake or two hitting me in the face as I sped to work... but it was enough! Kirsten was very sad last night as we watched the news and she heard there was snow in the mountains already - 5cm worth. So long summer.... |
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Summer, she is gone.
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On my bikeride into work this morning, I came to the distinct conclusion that summer in Edmonton is no more. If you look over to the right there, at the "Edmonton Weather" box, you'll notice that we're in the single digits, temperature-wise. This morning when I left home it was a little under 6 degrees - now, it's a little under 5!... |
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Happy Birthday!
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Birthday wishes go out to my almost-brother-in-law Delmar - happy birthday, dude!... |
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good vibes...
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Everyone send Kirsten some good vibes RIGHT NOW... she's just meeting her new batch of students for the year. Also, and this is belated news, she received a tuition scholarship this year. Congratulations, baby!... |
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oh!
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Oh yes, I almost forgot... today I became a Public Library User. My car's really been acting up lately, and it has everything to do with this little sensor on the gearshift, that tells the ignition it's ok to start the car (it's an inhibitor switch). Basically, for whatever reason, the sensor isn't getting into the right position, so the car won't start. So I wandered down to the library today, paid $12 for an annual membership, and picked up the Chilton guide so I can fix it. (Turns out it's a relatively easy fix, but it's on the underside... |
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writing...
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Life is about to get extraordinarily busy for me in the next few weeks. Update: Can't actually talk about it yet... not until t's are crossed and i's dotted. Hence, the cryptic nature of this post. (but there is a hint in there)... |
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10 year inventory.
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Michael has taken stock of the last 10 years in his life What have I gained and lost in the last 10 years? 1 incredibly talented, beautiful woman who has not only put up with every stupid thing I've done for almost 5 years (found her in 1998; we hit our 5th anniversary on October 27th), but still loves me despite myself. 2 cats, Zelda (2001, at 3 yrs old) and Heidegger (2003 at 2 1/2 years old). 6 jobs: Wilway Lumber, Internet Direct, WorldGate Inc, Netmaster / Merilus, Matrikon, Sandcastle, GE 3 cars ('87 Hyundai Stellar, '89 Honda Civic... |
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My first house...
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Ernie asks if we remember the first house we grew up in... I remember bits and pieces of it. It was a dark, washed-out yellow rancher in Abbotsford on Merlin Drive. When we (me, my mom and my dad) first moved to Abbotsford, we lived in a townhome, which I remember nothing about (being only 1). Shortly after, we moved to the house on Merlin. What I remember about the house is that it was nice inside, but small; it was a single-story two bedroom house backing onto a ravine. Memories from that house are scattered; I remember zipping around... |
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The Shocking Truth!, or, How the Head of Marketing Screwed Us Over
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I've been getting a LOT of traffic on my site from my former employer lately. They've been hitting the site off and on throughout the last seven months since I left, searching for god only knows what. I assume they want to find me badmouthing them somehow, in a way that they can then use against me litigiously...... |
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Five Questions...
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There's this meme that's hit most of the blogs out there... I saw it first on Heather's site, and then on many, many others... Chrissie has sent me five interview questions, so here are the answers.1. If you gave up on the geek life, what would you do? That's a good question... there's a few directions I'd go:Teacher. Always wanted to, and got turned away from the path. Perhaps when K is comfortable in a tenure-track position, I'll go back and get it. Dad. K and I talked about this quite some time ago; if we have kids, there's a... |
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I'm a little excited.
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So I'm a little excited. Some time in the next 4-6 weeks, a battery for my new IBM sublaptop. I bought the battery (guaranteed to hold a charge) for a penny off Ebay. It cost me roughly 931% of the total purchase price (in US dollars, no less) to ship it here. I've been wanting a laptop for quite some time, despite the fact that K already owns one. As soon as I find a small distribution (and maybe an old PCMCIA network adaptor), I'm going to pop Linux on the puppy, and have a nice little thing to keep... |
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randomosity
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I like geese. I remember an 8 year old me playing at Mill Lake, and chasing the ducks and geese - trying, desperately trying, to win them over with my nuggets of bread, thinking maybe if I gave them enough, they'd be my pets, my private avionic companions. They always ran away when the bread was gone. It was different then. The air was more clear; today, the closest I get to that air is when Kirsten and I are hiking in the Kananaskis; but even the air there seems tainted by pollution. There was less rain, and the sun... |
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Places I've been...
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Inspired by Pam's list, here's a list of places I've been: Canada British Columbia Vancouver, Penticton, Kelowna, Penticton, Osoyoos, Trail, Vernon, Nelson, Prince George, Victoria, Parksville, Nanaimo, Texada, Gibsons (the place the Beachcombers was filmed), Powell River, Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Chemainus, Thetis Island, Golden, Blue River, Barriere, Ladysmith. Alberta: Calgary, Banff, Hinton, Jasper, Red Deer, Drumheller, Canmore (and region), Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Ponoka, Onoway, Airdrie, Beiseker, Leduc, Stony Plain, St Albert, Olds Saskatchewan: Saskatoon, Moosejaw, Regina Manitoba: Dauphin, Grandview, Minitonas Ontario: Toronto, Ottawa, Niagara Quebec Quebec City (and outying areas) Outside of Canada: Hawaii Honolulu/Waikiki Washington State Seattle,... |
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OK kids... get out your circle of paper and your safety scissors...
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OK folks, I turn to you. I need a project. Any type of creative project, really, but web/writing/photo is preferred. So fire away with your best suggestion. If there's lots, I'll rig up some kind of poll or something.... |
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kirsten's mom's up
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Kirsten's mom is up for the week, so there's likely not to be much updating this week from yours truly. ;)... |
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update...
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Dentist appointment went fine... MAK Dental in Edmonton is a great establishment. The dentist went out of her way to be accomodating and friendly, and make the experience a positive one overall. They didn't have TVs in the roof, or fancy equipment that *bings*.... instead they had a competent, compassionate dentist who listened to their patient, and did everything she could to make her patient comfortable. Little stuff like that really counts for me. I had to have a temporary filling replaced on one of my upper incisors; not exactly the place you want a deep filling to be. A... |
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*nervous*
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Nervous today... I have to head to the dentist at 2:30 to get a filling replaced (it was a temporary filling put in by my dentist in Abbotsford, and was supposed to be replaced a year ago). What makes it worse, of course, is that I don't have dental coverage until 6 months from now. :( Hopefully, I can work some sort of deal out with the dentist though, or at least get them to not charge so much. :)... |
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Insomniac
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Having a hell of a time getting to sleep tonight, as the timestamp down there will show you... So I played around with this, which is part of some upgrades to the site I have been wanting to make for awhile... There's not much there now, but take a gander. (Yes, I know it has issues in Mozilla... it'll be fixed)... |
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breakfast...
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So, K and I went out for breakfast Sunday morning. We were having a decently good time at the ol' Alberts until I looked over to my right. Right there, sitting at the table next to me, was one Mr. Amin Rawji, boss-man of one of my former employers, and the man who ultimately cut my time short there. K and I cut our morning breakfast short, after speaking (a little louder than we possibly needed to) of Amanda and Anders' successes, and how well they've been doing since leaving the company. I didn't bother to say 'hello', since I'm... |
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Good and happy thoughts
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Good thoughts and nothin' but go out to our friend Mark, a/k/a frogbert, who's going through a particularly rough time right now.... |
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