It's gone viral

For all of the YouTube addicts out there, AOL's The Videologist presents the Best Viral Videos of 2007.

I think my favourite is still The Landlord from Funny or Die.

All good things must come to an end

Here we are on day 30 of NaBloPoMo and I've done it - I actually managed to post every single day of the month. So what have I learned from this experiment? I've learned that even though I may not have something to blog about every day, I do have something to post most days and that I shouldn't sit on something I want to post about because chances are I will forget about it and it won't get posted at all. I've come to accept the fact that I'm not a prize winning writer but that I shouldn't worry about it - not all posts have to be long intellectual discourses. And lastly, even though it would be nice to have a large readership, I should post about things because they bring me enjoyment. And hey, if someone stumbles upon my blog and happens to like, that's just a bonus.

So, it's been fun. To cap off this posting extravaganza, I give you another photo.


The Lido Cafe, Calgary, Alberta

I have lots of great memories of this place - Thursday morning $3.88 breakfasts, mini jukeboxes, fall in Kensington...

I'm loving...

I picked up the new issue of Blueprint magazine the other day and fell in love with the dress on the cover from Basix II. Unfortunately, it would probably wash me out. Oh well, a girl can dream...

Sweet mother of pearl

Only watch the following PSA from WSIB Ontario's prevent-it.ca if you don't scare easily. I swear to always clean up any kitchen spills!

I'm loving...

In keeping with my mid-century modern kick here are two clocks that I adore.


Vintage Starburst Atomic Eames Era Wall Clock


Vitra: Sunflower Clock from Velocity

Meet the mascots

The offical mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games have been revealed. Miga is a sea bear, Quatchi is a young sasquatch, and Sumi is an animal spirit. Surprisingly, I think they are quite cute even if they are more of a Japanese style than Canadian.


Miga, Quatchi, and Sumi

Coat woes

I have been on the lookout for a new fall/winter coat for some time now and haven't had any luck. The only one I've found that a) fits and b) I like was over $300 and I don't have that kind of spare cash. Ideally, I am looking for a coat that is either brown or a nice print (i.e. houndstooth) or even dark gray, that hits at the hips or slightly lower (so I don't have to worry about it pulling around my big butt), and doesn't have a slit in the back. This season's details like big buttons and a funnel neck are a bonus but not musts. It would also be ideal if it cost under $150. Any ideas?

*****

On the work front, Microsoft has announced that in 2008 they will be releasing a free plug-in for Microsoft Word that will convert Word documents into DAISY XML files. Not only will this be incredibly helpful to our clients but maybe it will even make our production processes more streamlined and efficient. Great news!

Book 28

I recently finished rereading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and was happy to discover that I still love it as much as I did in high school.

The characters and the setting and the imagery all make me want to go back and live in that time. It's such a timeless story and I look forward to rediscovering it in the future.

*****

Only 4 days left of NaBloPoMo. This experience definitely cemented the fact that I don't have enough interesting things to write about everyday and frankly, I amazed I've made it this long.

Day 25

Almost forgot to post today and since I have nothing to say, here is another photo.


Ambleside Beach, West Vancouver, BC, May 9, 2003

I'm loving...

If, by the grace of God, A. and I ever own a house with a wild and overrun garden, this indoor/outdoor sofa and Voltaire chair by Modern Front would be perfect.

All of the items in their Plastic-Fantastic series are reconditioned antique pieces that have been covered in a soft skin rubber. Ingenious!

Podcast Love

If you've ever read Dan Savage's column Savage Love, you know that his advice on all things sex is often crude but always funny and insightful - he definitely doesn't sugar coat things.

On the recommendation of my friend Aaron I decided to check out his podcast, or lovecast as they call it. What I found was yes, full of naughty language, but also funny, interesting and informative. Definitely a good way to spend 40 minutes at work - just make sure you plug in your headphones.

Savage Love Podcast

For something a little more family friendly but no less humourous, check out Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe podcast from CBC Radio.

Stuart's Vinyl Cafe show is a CBC Radio mainstay and his hilarious stories about Dave, Morley, their kids Sam and Steph, and a cast of other neighborhood characters are even funnier when listened to.

I'm loving...

When it comes to home decor I tend to lean towards more traditional style furnishings, so it was a surprise to me that I really love this mid-century modern credenza/dresser. If we ever have a bedroom, and A. approves, this is the type of piece that I would love to have.


Danish Modern R-Way Dresser

I am also loving this cute gocco print desk calendar from ebonypaws.

Ramping up

Christmas is approaching which means I get more excited by the day. The only unfortunate thing about Christmas in BC is the lack of snow, so today I give you an old photo of a snowflake Christmas tree ornament.


Taken April 24, 2005

Mother Mother

On Thursday night I am going with some friends to see The Most Serene Republic, Mother Mother and Dragonette. I had never heard either The Most Serene Republic or Mother Mother but thanks to CBC Radio 3's New Music Canada site, I was able to listen to some MP3s and I must say, I quite enjoy both bands.

*Edit: I couldn't figure out how to stop the mini-player from launching everytime you visit the blog so I've just included the link to the song instead.*

Here, for your listening pleasure is Neighbor by Mother Mother.

What's your stereotype?

Because I have nothing else to post today here is a link to a funny blog that Kyenta sent out last week.

See if you can find one that applies to you. Here's mine:


Left Handed People Can Get Drunk From Drinking Candle Wax

Describes me well

Taken October 6, 2007

Cultural Wars on Religion

Yesterday after work I attended a seminar at the college that was put on for employees by some instructors. The purpose of this seminar was to discuss and debate this new culture of attacks on religion. With plenty of books emerging (Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion for one) it seemed like a timely topic. The discussion was very interesting with both sides being debated but a lot of the concepts that were brought up were over my head. Below is a sampling of quotes from my notes as well as links for various theories that I was unfamiliar with.

Faith is a belief that is grounded on no evidence.

Memorizing religious doctrine means it will stay the same over time - paraphrasing makes it easier to change the meaning. This is why religious doctrine is purposely so vague.

The onus lies with the person making the claim to prove its existence, not with the person refuting the claim.

The ultimate proof of God's existence is to have the most grandchildren.

The Convergence of Intelligences

Multiverses

American Heart Journal study of the therapeutic effects that intercessory prayer has on coronary bypass patients.
NY Times article on the study.

New Atheism

Newman's transcendence

Panentheism

It's Friday!!

First, an update on Google Reader.

I find that as I use it more, I come to like it a little more. I used the "email item" feature for the first time today and I REALLY like that the sent messages automatically get put in my Gmail sent mail folder. This makes it a heck of a lot easier to see what I've sent to people.

And now for a photo.


Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington, October 8, 2007

Blog Readability Test

I saw this on Ballad in Plain E today so I thought I'd test it out on this here blog.



As I commented on Emma's post, this tool must be flawed because there is no way my glob (or blog as the rest of the world calls them) reads at a genius level, unless of course, it requires a genius to decipher what it is that I mean.

Crafty

A while ago I saw this incredibly easy project on one of the home design shows (I don't remember which) and I thought it would make a good addition to the living room.

Presenting... yarn art.



The colours in our living room have gotten progressively warmer over time so we needed some new, and affordable, art for over the couch. We bought the throw pillows at Pier 1 and I thought it would be nice to have something that mirrored the colours. I created this using a large inexpensive canvas and four different colours of yarn. All you have to do is tie it off in the back and wind it around the canvas until you are happy. It literally is that easy!

Battle of the Blog Readers: Bloglines vs. Google Reader

I recently exported all of my RSS subscriptions into Google Reader and I can't quite decide if I like it or not. I decided to try it out because it's one Google feature that I HADN'T tried yet and it seems like a large number of people are using it instead of Bloglines. It does look pretty and has the nice scroll tracking feature (marks each item as read when you scroll past it). I also like that you can mark items as "starred" like Gmail instead of the clippings folder that Bloglines has, which I usually forget is even there. Also, Google Reader seems to be a lot quicker to load than Bloglines. However, overall I think I am still partial to the functionality of Bloglines. I'm not sure if it's just because I have been using it for so long but something about Bloglines just strikes me as friendlier. Some Bloglines features that I love that, as far as I can tell, Google Reader doesn't have are the number of subscribers at the top of each feed and the fact that you can click on that number and see other users that have made their feeds public. I know Google Reader lets you have public pages for each folder, but I have my subscriptions into several folders and I can't see a public page for all of the subscriptions.

For those of you that have tried both out, do you have a preference of one over the other? Why?

Attack of the giant mushrooms

Today was a busy day filled with nothing so instead of writing actual content I am going to post one of my favourite photos that I took recently.


Alice Lake Provincial Park, Squamish, BC, September 15, 2007

PS. Go see No Country for Old Men. It was disturbing and gripping and soooo good! Javier Bardem is seriously creepy in this film.

Lest We Forget

For all of those Canadians, military and civilian, currently in Afghanistan and other theaters of operations - thank you for everything you do.

And for those that served in the past and to those that gave their lives so that we could live ours, we will never forget.


November 11, 2005 Camp Julien, Kabul, Afghanistan

Canucks vs Avalanche

Don't have much to say today so I'll cap off my sports filled week with some photos from the Canucks vs Avalanche game on Friday night.


There were members from each branch of the Canadian military there to do the ceremonial puck drop.




Canucks win!

BCLA 2008

Today after work I have the honour of representing LTAIG at the session planning meeting for the 2008 BCLA conference. At our LTAIG committee meeting last week our executive said they'd like to see more practical sessions and, of course, more sessions geared towards library support staff. I am certainly going to try my best to represent library technicians and assistants.

So, what I'm curious about is this; what would your ultimate conference session be? It doesn't matter what field you work in as long as it's something you are passionate about.

I think mine would have to do with how students with disabilities are served in African schools. Are they able to attend school at all? Are there any services for them or are they shunned by their community members? What about students with AIDS? Would include case studies and examples from people working in schools in Africa.

Whitecaps vs LA Galaxy

I'm at home sick today but the posting must go on if I want to make it to the end of the month. This posting every day stuff is harder than it seems.

Today I give you a photo from last night's Vancouver Whitecaps vs. LA Galaxy International Friendly. The game itself was, frankly, a bit underwhelming but it was still fun and hey, I got to see David Beckham shirtless!


The Whitecaps get ready for a penalty kick.


Shirtless Beckham


This streaker got more cheers than any of the plays during the game.

Gifts for library/book lovers

{Updated Nov 2011: renewed links and added photos!}

Being a library and/or book nerd myself I know that sometimes we are hard to shop for. We have somewhat particular, if not peculiar, tastes and most people think that, if it's worth reading, we've probably read it already. While that is not always the case I thought I'd provide a couple of gift ideas for the nerd on your list.

1. Don't be afraid to give a copy of your favourite book or something you recently read that you loved. Books are ALWAYS welcome and if you go the extra step and add a personal inscription, the gift will be extra special.

2. Since most book nerds have large collections, their friends tend to want to borrow books from them. Need an easy way to keep track of what you've lent out? Try the Personal Library Kit.

3. Any book nerd will tell you that they have long lists of books to read and sometimes it's hard to remember all of them. This Book Lover's Diary provides one handy location to record all of the books that you've read, are wanting to read, quotes that you like as well as other information.

4. Sometimes even the most well-read person gets stuck for something to read. An easy place to turn to for recommendations are books filled with just that. Book Lust by Nancy Pearl or 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Ackroyd are two such books.

5. Most library nerds I know are really into anything that is aesthetically pleasing. Candida Hofer's Libraries is a hefty hardcover book filled with gorgeous photos of libraries from around the world - a lovely addition to any coffee table. Another popular option is this Renaissance Library Calendar. {Updated Nov 2011: no longer available.}

{This is the UK cover, but frankly I think it's nicer.}

6. And, as we all know, reading IS sexy. Let your nerd proclaim it loudly with this t-shirt by Sarah Utter. (Here's the guy's version.) Another option for the grammar nazi in your life is this bad grammar makes me [sic] shirt.

Happy Giving!

I'm (still) loving... Handle Me

I already posted this video on Facebook but I love this song so much I just couldn't help it.

Sweden's Robyn (yes, she of "Show Me Love" fame) is reentering the spotlight with this catchy song. The video is kind of bizarre but I've been playing this song on repeat for the past couple of weeks and haven't gotten sick of it yet!

Oh happy day...

Happy Anniversary A.! It's been two wonderful years - here's looking forward to many more...

Runaway

Book 27 was Runaway by Alice Munro.

Incredibly, this is the first year I have ever read any of Munro's short stories and frankly, I don't know what took me so long. I love her writing style, her landscapes are familiar and the characters are interesting. If you've never read Munro before this is a good place to start as it's easy to see why she is called one of the greatest writers of our day.

Into the Wild

A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.

From "Family Happiness" by Leo Tolstoy

It doesn't happen very often these days that a Hollywood movie makes me stop and think but such was the case after seeing "Into the Wild" tonight. A. and I had a good discussion after the movie and it seems like we both took something different away from the movie. Was Chris McCandless selfish or searching for something that was missing in his life or both? This movie was beautiful and sad and thought-provoking and I highly recommend it.

I'm loving...

... these mid-century modern arch chairs from Jennifer Delonge's Fresh Vintage collection. If only I had $1000 and some floor space to spare.

**As seen on Design*Sponge

NaBloPoMo

So it's National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo for short) and since I have been so bad with posting lately, I think I'm going to try and give it a shot. I don't have any one specific theme for posts so things may be all over the place. Perhaps it will be a word I've come across that I like or don't know the meaning for, perhaps it will be a photo I've taken, maybe a video I like or a repost of something I've seen on Facebook if I'm lazy (which is a definitely possibility).

Today, I give you a word I came across in a Maclean's article that I wanted to look up:

concomitant
adj.
Occurring or existing concurrently; attendant