CaptainOrange

It seems that we haven't spoken since February. Typical. There is a lot going on in this post. don't try to understand it or put it in order. Let it wash over you. The bad writing and glaring inconsistencies in the "narrative" will be less obvious this way. Naturally, the first thing I did upon arriving home from New York was to turn my travels into a great storytime for the preschool kids and parents that I get to read to every other Tuesday. There was some reading, a lot of jumping and falling as well as a cautionary tale regarding 5-year-old children flying planes. The kids loved it. Celebrating winning free coffee at a Huskie Basketball game Watching the Huskie women play basketball has become a tradition for us, ever since Anwyn has been playing for their Jr. developmental team. We began watching the women play as support for Anwyn and to allow her to see her coaches excel. Typical parenting move. Strong women... leadership roles... blah, blah, blah....

Vin, James and I went to P.A. last Wednesday. It ties in with Vin's Project '88, but I thought it would be nice to tag along (and drive, as it turns out) and take some pictures to go with the many memories I have there. 8th Street Duplexes After getting into town, we headed down to where it all began for me. This is where I lived from age of 1-4.75 years. Government subsidized housing  that has been since torn down and then rebuilt. In the original structures, we would have lived somewhere near the middle of this photo. Didn't know it at the time, but Google maps tells me this house was only 1.5km from Dave Aschim's house, if you were willing to cut through Cooke Municipal Golf Course. I never actually met Dave until I moved to Saskatoon to attend the U of S. Just before my younger brother James was born, we moved about 5 blocks to the NE. 836 5th St East I've made a little Google map with a couple of my memories from the neighbourhood when I was a ki...

I had a great sit in session at Tim Horton's on 8th and Cumberland on March 17th. I sat, read and wrote for well over 2 hrs. on my own and then for another 2 hrs. with Vin and James.  In attendance: Mike, James, Vin Regrets: Dave Absent: Geof I hope all Questers managed to find the renewal that we all crave. I was suffering from serious lethargy, due to cold. I still managed to have a fine evening and stay up until 1:30am. We mostly reminisced and drank coffee (I broke a very long dry spell by winning a free coffee -- despite the stated 1:6 odds). I am still hopeful that we can get together for a more formal gathering if/when Dave makes it to Saskatoon. What follows is a peek into my brain while reflecting on the celebration that is Quest New Year. My thoughts aren't well edited. I've mostly included them as part of my need to archive my thinking. ******** I don’t know what the Quest Era is. Traditionally, we have kept track of Quest bi...

Our Modest Christmas Eve Snack It has been an unusual holiday season for our family. We have just finished having Jodi and Brad stay with us for a few days, but beyond that we had no house guests over Christmas. Normally, we expect at least two weeks of company. When added to the mild weather and absence of snow, it almost doesn't feel like we had Christmas at all. That said, I had a great holiday. I've been continuing to study flow ( as discussed last post ) and how it integrates with the Quest. As a result, I anticipate this being the most successful winter of my adult life. Whoa... talk about raising expectations. I know that February is coming, but I think (foolishly or not) that I will avoid my usual slump. Something feels different. Tender, buttery Brioche Anyhow, we had a terrific time planning out all of the goodies that we would bake this year. The girls have trouble keeping to just 5 kinds of cookies and I chafe at the thought of only making 4 types of f...

In a lot of ways my life is a mantra about trying new things, but I don't often think about it and I certainly don't put pressure on myself to perform new things on a particular schedule. This was a hard week. I found that I had put a lot of pressure on myself. Not only to try 'new' things, but pressure that the newness in some way be special. I found myself pre-judging everything as too mundane, (even though I apparently said something about that in my last post) or too close to something that I had done before. I believe Wendy thought I was an idiot much of the time as I struggled with finding something suitable. It's a good thing that she was around, though. Twice I was in the final throes of desperation. It was approaching 8 or 9 pm and I hadn't chosen a new thing to do, yet. Wendy's stellar memory would recall several things I had done that day. "But, I wasn't trying  to do those things," I would whine. Yes, I can be a whiner -- and sadl...

We'll play a little catch-up, here... There is a serious lot of activity here. Take what you will. Things have been pretty busy around my house. Since we've been back from Ottawa and Kitchener , Leora and Anwyn have completed another level each in swimming. They love the pool so much they would have lessons in the morning and then we would take in the "loonie swim" after 6pm. Since the whole family could swim for $2 it seemed like an easy way to kill some time. The below album is from an occasion where we went to George Ward outdoor pool with Erin and her boys Michael and Chandler. Swimming The girls and I managed to sneak away for the day to the Pollard family reunion right at the end of July. It was fun and they wanted to stay longer. As usual, we stopped to enjoy my favourite time of day. Pollard Reunion Jodi and Brad were in town following our excursion. Jodi and I played Rock Band and ate Pizza until 2am. James came over for an hour and rocked out w...

I don't want to complain, really. But Saskatchewan's  record breaking precipitation  in May shows no sign of giving up in June. April showers May flowers ring a bell? I was already bitching about it on May 10th, if you remember?  Now I'm just throwing up my hands in disgust. I've suggested to Wendy that we give up on traditional Saskatchewan crops and start growing rice. She isn't sold on the idea. If you like, Wen's blog has information about what is blooming and growing in this sludginess. Anyway, I haven't been idle. Why just today I was up on the roof cleaning out my gutters. I would have waited for a dry moment, but the water pouring over the eaves was a kind of siren call. Actually, it was fun up there, in a way. Normally, I need to take up a hose to help with the cleaning, but today nature was happy to supply plenty of lubricant. There have been a couple of spectacular sunny days mixed in with the mess. When I see the sun I don't ask question...

Winter's Icy Grip Crushes Goose Vanguard I've been struggling a bit with this weather. It's a bit of an understatement (we may talk of that another time). Cold and lack of sunlight have me a bit down. I've been grouching at the girls, sighing a lot, and projecting gloom around the house in the evenings. Wendy gave me a kick in the pants last night and told me to take today off. I didn't have any work with the library scheduled, but I would have spent the morning making and canning chutney out of the beautifully ripe mangoes that I got on monday. Instead I went to Don's Photo and found an awesome deal. A used Sigma 70-210mm f/4-5.6 auto-focus lense for $40! It's twin was sitting next to it for $100 (they were both on consignment and the price on one had just been dropped). OK, so Sigma is a bargain brand, but it's my first telephoto--I'm excited. Naturally, I had to go take some pictures. 1st set, 0-0 I went to campus and fooled around a bi...

Sometime last year, Dad went to turn on his Playstation 3 and was greeted by the infamous Yellow Light Of Death. It's tough to find a good description of what the YLOD is, but this forum thread is somewhat comprehensive. Essentially, the PS3 does nothing but show a single LED. Apparently there are a number of possible causes. Dad had just bought a new game it was stuck in the Blue-Ray player and no amount of coaxing was getting it out. With a repair price of about $150CAD (+ shipping) Dad simply bought a new Playstation ($300). tiny ribbon cables galore I had some spare time a couple of weeks back and Dad had found a suitable heat-gun to attempt the, by now, common "re-flow" repair. We watched this very good YouTube video (which is in two parts ) and took the plunge. If it failed I was planning to at least crack the Blue-Ray drive to get the game which was M.I.A. Death by a million screws. One of the biggest challenges in this process is remembering where a...

Pre-Dawn March 17th The Bad Beginning: I was worried about QNY this time 'round. Not getting together with people until April 2 is an unprecedented delay and I typically NEED the pick-me-up that our quest conference usually provides me. This year it was especially true, what with my popped rib-head, a cracked rib, alienating my parents and all. The evening had some disappointing elements for me, but on the whole, was very satisfying. It started out with a great walk to our chosen meeting place. For the first time the girls came with me and we were all giddy with anticipation. We took our time, stopped at a couple of parks, and talked about what Questing meant to the three of us. Anwyn took an approach similar to mine. She said that anything you did could be a Quest, it was how you did it that mattered. Shepherd Book might have said that "how you get there is the worthier part." Leora thought that Questing was pushing boundaries. She thought that to do it you might ...

Dad's 7D Dad loves his cars. I enjoy the spectacle, the in-your-face paint jobs, big car nostalgia, whatever. He invited everyone out to the Draggins spring car show at Prairieland Park. I think everybody had a good time. The adults tried not to drool on all the chrome. I took pictures and tried not to drool on Dad's new camera, and the children collected plenty of suckers, pre-Easter chocolates, pamphlets, hand sanitizer, yo-yos--the kind of junk kids seem to love collecting. Handwing gets roughed up by The Boss Oh, and James had a little altercation while trying to make off with one of the cars... At the bottom of this post is a link to the rest of the pictures . Most of them are not cars--they're family near  cars ;) I swear there would have been more/any shots of Matt if he didn't constantly throw his hand up AND scowl anytime a camera was pointed his way. Quick reflexes. Though, he did submit to one shot. Satisfied customers If you actually want  t...