Link of the week

Trying to cut down on what you carry around in your wallet? Try out the Jimi wallet. It is made out of hard plastic and has enough room for 5 cards on one side while the other side has a money clip that will hold three or four folded bills. It also comes in various colours to suit your style. If I didn't have so much crap I needed in my wallet, I just might try one for myself.

Books 10 & 11

It's been a while since I last posted about what I've read so I figured I should take a quick minute and update the list.

Book 10 was Deep Six by Clive Cussler. Lately it seems like I've been reading mainly light fiction that doesn't require a lot of thinking and Clive Cussler always fits that bill. I've read many of his other books and have always enjoyed them and this one was no different. They have the right blend of adventure and intrigue with a splash of romance thrown in - Dirk Pitt is, after all, quite the ladies man. I've been trying to convince A. to give Cussler a try because we tend to like the same books but he refuses. One day I will prevail.

Book 11 was Without Remorse and was also the first Tom Clancy book I've ever read. A. recommended this one specifically so I thought I'd give it a go. The story was interesting and the characters had depth but man, was it ever long. I've been told that this is the way Clancy writes but frankly, I think a lot of the extraneous details could have been removed. I do have to admit however, that the last few hundred pages gripped me and it was hard to put the book down.

I'm currently reading The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person In the World by AJ Jacobs, which is about Jacobs' quest to read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica from A to Z, and I'm finding it quite amusing. Hopefully after this little foray into non-fiction I'll be up for something a little more literary.

*****

My mom and Gary came out for Easter weekend and we had a great time together. They arrived in Vancouver on Friday morning and once we got our act together we went down to Yaletown to wander around the shops. I'd never actually been shopping in Yaletown and found it expensive and pretentious although I don't know why I expected anything else. After reading Matt's review of Milan's Bistro we decided to stop there for lunch and I wholeheartedly agree with his statement that the caramelized onions on the perogies were worth the visit alone. I'm generally not a big onion fan but these were incredible. After our shopping expedition, during which we bought nothing, we headed home and I made Siamese Dream pizza for everyone since it was high on the list of food requests.

Saturday we headed out to Steveston because my mom has wanted to go there ever since I talked about it two summers ago. We had a lunch at a restaurant overlooking the marina and then wandered around in the pouring rain and went from shop to shop. We stopped in at a gift shop called Pieces which was full of amazing little treasures. I walked away with some French freesia perfume and a beautiful necklace. I also bought some tea at a shop down the road. After we dropped off our purchases at home we headed over to North Van for some amazing Greek food at Anatoli Souvlaki. I've been raving about this place to A. since he got here so I'm glad he finally had a chance to try the food. I will never get sick of that place but only manage to go on the rare occasion.

Sunday was another full day and to start things off right we went to the Lion's Den Cafe for breakfast. We then spent the afternoon wandering around a PACKED aquarium but everyone really enjoyed it. We managed to catch both the dolphin and the beluga shows and everyone agreed that it was worth the $18 admission fee. Once we had all had our fill of fish we headed home and mom and I made a delicious Easter dinner of ham baked in beer, broccoli salad and potatoe casserole. We also had some fabulous wine and, of course, hot cross buns that Gary had brought all the way from Calgary just in case we didn't have any.

Unfortunately, A. had to work on Monday but the rest of us went for Thai food for lunch before my mom and Gary had to catch their plane back to Calgary. All in all, it was a great weekend but I think I'm still trying to recover my energy.

*****

Work has been going well and yesterday we got to go for a tour at AT-BC to get an overview of their services and have a discussion about how we can partner up with their agency to better serve our clients. It was definitely worth going and I am jealous of their office space. One day I dream of CILS having our own facility.

*****

This weekend is shaping up to be a good one, weather-wise, and on Saturday night there is an LTAIG social which Emma and I planned. Hopefully quite a few people will show up and it will be a great success. Fingers-crossed.

Calling all drivers

At some point in the maybe not-so-distant future, A. and I may buy a car. We went to the Vancouver International Auto Show this past weekend and saw a lot that we liked (not that we can necessarily afford mind you) which gave us a good idea of what we will be looking for. As part of my research I like getting the opinions of people who have actually driven the vehicles we are interested in. So, what have you driven in the past and really liked? What would you never purchase? Any tips? The cars we are thinking of at the moment are the Honda Civic and the Volkswagen Golf (most likely used for both.) I'm also trying to toss in the Toyota Corrola because I'm a big Toyota fan.

So tell me what you like and dislike. Go...

Link of the week

Are you interested in some knock-down, drag-em-out literary brawls? Check out The Morning News' Tournament of Books, "in which 16 of the past year’s best novels are pitted against each other in a battle royale for the coveted Rooster award."

I have to admit that I haven't read any of the books on this year's list but I'm pulling for Ali Smith's The Accidental because it sounds like an interesting story and well, it's the book I've heard the most about.