In the midst of life we are in death etc.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

That's right, I'm a winner

So you might notice that big flashy square located on my sidebar, well what does it mean? Well it means like many people I entered this years NaNoWriMo, and like many other people (but a slightly less number) I was able to fight through and write a total of 50,000 words this November.

Now, this isn't the most difficult feat in the world by any means, but you'd be surprised by how difficult it actually is. You have to write 1667 words per day in order to do it. In the beginning it's pretty easy to keep up that pace, but when you start getting to week three and week four it really starts to drain you. You stay up late to finish, and if you are like me you spend almost all of your time in one room.

So you profile, where you can view a fabulous graph of my progress can be found here: selsine.

For information on what NaNoWriMo is check out the FAQs.

Now my novel isn't done by any means, when you write at that pace, you really need to go back and edit, but it's a fun way to force yourself to start something that you always said you were going to get to.

So that's that.

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Monday, November 27, 2006

Rock Climbing and other wii sports

So this weekend Marge was in from Dallas for a wedding so we got to go out with her and Fiachra on Thursday night. We went out for some nice vegan tapas and then for a few drinks at "The Sparrow" which is a put I have driven by and always wanted to stop at because I thought it had a super great name.

So Thursday night was a blast, but also really tiring, so on Friday Night Danielle and I just took it easy and stayed home. Danielle is really busy right now with school so she needed the time to get some work done.

Saturday Rod and Laura came into town for the One of a Kind craft show and because Rod had a fencing tourney on Sunday somewhere around Toronto. So while Danielle and Laura went to the craft (after Danielle took care of some work) Rod and I went indoor rock climbing at The Rock Oasis, which was really cool.

Both Rod and I had never been rock climbing before but Rod's friend Ian and another old friend from high school (who's name I totally forget) climb often so we met them there. Rock climbing was a lot of fun, a really neat think to try, although my poor forearms are still sore today, and my fist making skills are pretty lack luster as I type. But if you ever get a chance to go I would recommends it, I mean climbing is fun and this is an excuse to safely climb really high. Here are some photos of the place, sadly I'm an idiot and I forgot my camera.

After that, we all went out for dinner with Natasha to belatedly celebrate Rod's birthday and Laura's new job. We were going to go to The Victory Cafe, but it was too busy so we ended up eating at Butler's Pantry which was very tasty.

Apres dinner it was back to our place for some Nintendo Wii sports action. Now I must say that the Nintendo Wii is tonnes and tonnes of fun. We played the sports games all night and it was great fun. We mostly stuck with bowling, in which Danielle was the big winner.

The ladies went to bed around 12:30am or 1:00am and Rod and I foolishly stayed up till 4:00am like a couple of kids.

The next morning it was an early breakfast at the Victory Cafe, then Rod and laura took off home. Then that evening we went to Southern Accent for dinner to say goodbye to our friend Jessica who was heading back to Mexico after completing her masters degree.

We also go to see Marge and Fiachra one more time before Marge headed back to Dallas this morning.

Whew! So that was the weekend in extra dry detail, man am I tired.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Neat 360° Picture of Toronto

Found this cool 360° photo of Toronto on digg and I thought it was interesting enough to post on here.

Legend of Zelda Timeline

If you are a Nintendo nerd and you like the legend of Zelda you will probably find this interesting:

Monday, November 20, 2006

Just another manic monday

Well it's been a weekend hasn't it? Had a good time on Friday night with Fiachra and his friends from work on Queen St. We went to Czehoski, which as the article explains used to be a Polish butcher shop.

It was a good time, but I was out a bit later then I wanted to be, but I mean really ain't that always the way?

Saturday Danielle and I lazed around the house until 4:30 when we headed over to Matt and Natasha's place to do some baby sitting. Matt and Natashsa had and outing to go to, so Danielle and I were to be the sole caretakers of Sydney and Bailey, as seen here:



and here:



It was an interesting experience for sure, I would like to say for the record that they baby I handled (Bailey) went right to bed and was no problem the entire evening, but Sydney, whom Danielle was working with, had some problems falling asleep.

It was my first experience holding a screaming baby and having no idea what they need, you know they don't want the bottle, their diaper (nappy) is clean, so why are they screaming at the top of their little lungs. It turns out that laughing at gas is always a real winner with the under one set, the same goes for sneezing, a genuine riot.

So Sydney had some problems falling asleep, but after Danielle put her to bed at 9:30pm (est) she was down for the count, and the rest of the evening was smooth sailing.

And that was pretty much the weekend, Sunday was another relax day, with some time thrown in for a 40 minute jog in the cool air.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Rock it don't stop it

Sooo Rocking and rolling along I was going to go to Loblaws on Wednesday for some groceries when my car wouldn't start. Wouldn't do anything, no interior lights or dashboard lights just all around deadness.

So I thought battery first of all, I hadn't used the car for like fifteen days, so maybe something had been left on like the interior light, even though I don't remember turning it on. Sadly when I got in the car the first thing that I noticed was no interior so I fiddled with the switch without paying attention to the position that it was in. So note to self: in the future if there is no interior light make a note of the switch position, at least if it is on you'll know the culprit.

It wasn't that big of a deal though my neighbours friend kindly helped me boost the car and it started. He had one of them handy-dandy portable booster type things, which is pretty cool, reminds me of the time that guy from 92 Citi FM tried to help me boost my car when it was -43 outside, only that time it didn't work at all. That time it was because the cord to my block heater was dead and it was -43. You know there are some things I honestly love about Winnipeg, and having my car not start on a -43 (before the wind chill) morning is actually one of them.

So the car got starting and I drove it around for about a half an hour charging the battery up. By the time I was done it was after nine and too later to go shopping, so I parked the car and hoped that it would start.

Then last night I went to go start the car, and low and behold, it started fine, so I went grocery shopping, all-in-all not that bad of a deal.

Here's my niece Isabelle during her first Halloween:

Monday, November 13, 2006

So you know, things have happened

So, since my last post, well things have happened. Like for instance Danielle and I gave away some clothes to Cerebral Palsy last week, which about time for both of us. It felt both good and bad to get rid of some of that old stuff, mostly cause I always think that a lot of it is still in good condition.

And since it's still in good condition I could use it at some point in the foreseeable future...but if I haven't worn it in two and a half years will I ever really wear it again...I doubt it, plus my dresser was getting quite full. Man did I have some big assed pants back in the day. Hopefully some one who loves baggy pants will get some use of those Chad Muska beauts.

Other then that, you know life have been livin' itself along. Going for jogs and stuff working on Christmas lists...oh and speaking of that, Danielle and I are heading back to the Ol'Peg on December 19th and then cruising back to the T-Dot on January 4th. So we'll be in the peg for just over two weeks, and for what is often called "New Years."

So that's really it on the what's happening in my life right now, which means that it's not much fools, but that's cause I'm just biding my time, waiting until I burst forth and really really start doing some cool things again, like making my nipples bleed, or finding rotten garlic, man those were the days!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Happy Birthday Rod

Happy Birthday Rodney!


So it's Rodney's birthday today, and what do you do when it's someone's birthday and you remember? Well you wish them happy birthday and put up a photo of them on your blog.

Ain't that always the way.

So, have a happy on Rod.

Friday, November 03, 2006

The pumpkin I carved

Oh hey I forgot to put up some pictures of the pumpkin that I carved for Halloween. Yeah I know it's not Tux or anything but I did it quickly and really loved the roasted pumpkin seeds that came afterwards.



Thursday, November 02, 2006

Hike Hiking Away

So last weekend, after enjoying the previous weekend so much, Danielle and I decided to go on another hike. This time we decided to head out to the Scarborough Bluffs in order to see what they were all about.

Turns out it was actually a pretty nice hike, and we only got a little bit muddy near the end. It was a windy day, blowing in-shore, so the lake was a little bit higher then it normally would have been blocking our route and forcing us to turn back.

All in all it was a nice way to get a little bit of nature in on a Sunday afternoon.


Danielle when we arrived


The View


Our route


The Bluffs and some birds nests I think


More Bluffs, we had to end out hike right around that point that sticks out into that water as it was just a bit too deep.


Where we were trying to get to.


Me all hikeriffic


A marshy area that we passed


A rose in the Rosetta McClain Garden all close up.