Well, I came close. Really close. I looked up articles on the web regarding archiving my blog, and I set out to finally, delete my blog from existence; To purge it for good from the cyber-sphere.
But then an interesting thing happened. During the course of the archiving process (it is quite the process since a one-button archive does not yet exist) I had to modify the blog to display all my posts on a single page. I viewed my blog to see if, indeed, this had happened. I started reading some of the first blog posts I wrote, then I read 2, 3, 5, 10... and before I knew it, I discovered again why I loved to blog.
I read in a recent Wired magazine about the death of blogs. The article was stating that since the internet is so flooded with blogs. it is virtually impossible to have a voice on the internet. The judge of a "successful" blog was one that found its way easily by random users via web searches.
But after reading my own past blog posts, I once again realized something profound: I actually like to write. I enjoy words, and grammar, and most of all I enjoy finding just the right sequence of words that conveys precisely what I intend to convey.
So what if I don't get found by the masses and change the world with my blog. That's not what I'm in it for. But for the record, I still am the number one search result for the string "my random blather" (even without the quotes)
Monday, December 15, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Andrew is at work. updated 10m ago edit
It's not really that much of a surprise that Facebook has caught on. In our impulse buying world of instant gratification, it seems all we have time for is quick updates on what are friends are doing. Just like the title of this blog, our current activities are summed up in one quick, ambiguous statement. I don't know how my friends are actually doing, but I am aware of their current status. Oh, look... this person is tired, that person is looking forward to the weekend, and here's a guy who just "is". That rings a bell; I thought there was only one person who could refer to themselves as "I Am".
Now, I'm not about to start or join any movement to get Facebook banned. I check and use Facebook on a regular basis, and I don't intend to stop; And here's why: I don't have time or motivation to write a whole lot of words describing what I'm feeling, or what I'm doing, or what I've recently done on my last weekend. Even as I write this my motivation is waning, and I'm considering giving this post up! But what I can do, is post pictures, videos, tag people, update my status, write blurbs on people's walls, and add applications that express my interests. It's kind of like the popcorn generation... manageable, bite-sized pieces of time that I can handle. Somehow, spending 45mins in 3-minute increments is easier than spending 30mins in one stretch.
The irony is that I actually like blogging better. I like to have control over how my posts look, finding and inserting just the right pictures; the simplicity has always attracted me to the idea of having a blog. I guess I'm just lazy!
So that's my little rant. I'll post something more substantial as soon as my "blogger-self" wins over my "facebook-self".
Now, I'm not about to start or join any movement to get Facebook banned. I check and use Facebook on a regular basis, and I don't intend to stop; And here's why: I don't have time or motivation to write a whole lot of words describing what I'm feeling, or what I'm doing, or what I've recently done on my last weekend. Even as I write this my motivation is waning, and I'm considering giving this post up! But what I can do, is post pictures, videos, tag people, update my status, write blurbs on people's walls, and add applications that express my interests. It's kind of like the popcorn generation... manageable, bite-sized pieces of time that I can handle. Somehow, spending 45mins in 3-minute increments is easier than spending 30mins in one stretch.
The irony is that I actually like blogging better. I like to have control over how my posts look, finding and inserting just the right pictures; the simplicity has always attracted me to the idea of having a blog. I guess I'm just lazy!
So that's my little rant. I'll post something more substantial as soon as my "blogger-self" wins over my "facebook-self".
Friday, August 1, 2008
The last 215 days
It's been 215 days since I last posted, and I have probably lost anyone who was reading my blog on a semi-regular basis. Yet, I have been told twice in the last week that I need to update my blog... so this post is apparently for 2 people only!
Kate and my lives have been a strange mix of interesting, hectic and routine. For the benefit of my very small following of readers, I will skip the routine stuff and focus in on the hectic and interesting stuff.
This year started with Kate and I being home only 8 days during the month of January. I arrived back home from Australia on Jan. 12th, and after being home only 2 days, was off on a tower climbing trip to Alberta for almost 2 weeks. Kate was still in Oz during this time, so I was happy that she was not at home alone during the winter. Well... not for a long time; When Kate got back from Australia, I was sent to Prince Rupert for what was supposed to be a quick 2 day trip to climb one tower on a mountain behind the city. But... due to nasty January weather, the helicopter could not fly every day. So for 4 days in a row my schedule was as follows:
- wake at the hotel at 6:30am
- get all our cold weather gear on
- get driven to the helicopter place
- sit around waiting for the weather to clear
- weather not clearing... get a ride back to the hotel
- take off cold weather gear
- hang out in Prince Rupert
- call Kate a apologize for being away one more day
But we survived. Soon after that trip I informed my work that I was not going to go on any more trips until further notice. I didn't want to be away from Kate for awhile, so I decided to stop my trips for a bit. My boss was very understanding and let me take all the time I needed.
We recently spent 5 days in Las Vegas! We went with Ryan and Jenn Toyota. It was amazing! (See photos on my and Ryan's Facebook pages) We saw Cirque Du Soleil "O", Mamma Mia, and Phantom of the Opera. We also ate very good (and sometime very expensive!) food. But it was worth it! We've been wanting to go to Las Vegas for a long time and we finally decided to just go for it. I highly recommend it, it's an amazing place. A little overwhelming, but very incredible the scale of the place... nothing in Vegas is done on a small scale.
The last 10 weeks of our lives have been eaten up by two tiny furballs... we are proud owners of two very small, very cute kittens: Sam and Frodo. We were given 4 kittens that the Toyota's rescued (once again, refer to Facebook for details). We gave 2 away, and kept 2. The 4 names we chose for them were Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. Our times at home are now spent watching them play. It is better than TV and more entertaining than the computer!! Plus, they are at the stage where they love being with us, so they beg for our attention if don't give it to them.
I will post pictures up soon. In the meantime you can check Facebook... That darn Facebook has killed my blogging. I've gone from posting well thought out missives, to just entering my status, uploading pictures, joining groups, and poking people. Well, I hope to revive what's left of the tattered remains of my once inspiring blog.
Anyway, I must be off to join my sleeping wife who looks so peaceful in bed next to me right now! I will blather on later.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Camping Pictures
Click here for the pictures of our latest camping trip. We went to Deception Pass State Park. I'm sure Ryan Toyota will agree when I say that the scenery really brings out the photographer within!
Monday, September 3, 2007
30.65% of Canada and the US
This last weekend Kate and I spent a relaxing night at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver... for free! See this post for the back story.
The room was amazing; we were upgraded to a harbour view room! C'mon... you can't beat this view in downtown, eh?
But the real reason for my post is the collection of different licence plates that we found in the parking lot. It's been a fun hobby of Kate and me to notice when we see plates from anywhere other than BC. Well, this weekend we hit the jackpot! 16 states, 2 provinces and 1 territory! # provinces, actually, but we weren't counting BC.
We saw...
For those of you wondering... yes I actually did calculate the percentage of how many states and provinces we saw...
The room was amazing; we were upgraded to a harbour view room! C'mon... you can't beat this view in downtown, eh?
But the real reason for my post is the collection of different licence plates that we found in the parking lot. It's been a fun hobby of Kate and me to notice when we see plates from anywhere other than BC. Well, this weekend we hit the jackpot! 16 states, 2 provinces and 1 territory! # provinces, actually, but we weren't counting BC.We saw...
For those of you wondering... yes I actually did calculate the percentage of how many states and provinces we saw...
Friday, August 31, 2007
accidental photography
A large part of my job as a CAD designer, and something that I do on an almost daily basis, is review site photographs. For a typical site, there can be anywhere from 20 to 120 pictures of the site from all angles.
The pictures are taken based on content only, as we require certain shots of certain things, and as long as they are in focus, we don’t care what they look like.
However, every so often I come across a picture like this:
This is a church building in San Diego that houses cell antennas, and we needed a picture of it, but I think it’s an excellent shot! This is exactly how it was taken, I didn't crop it at all.
The pictures are taken based on content only, as we require certain shots of certain things, and as long as they are in focus, we don’t care what they look like.
However, every so often I come across a picture like this:
This is a church building in San Diego that houses cell antennas, and we needed a picture of it, but I think it’s an excellent shot! This is exactly how it was taken, I didn't crop it at all.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Its a Small World (after all)
I wanted to share a cool facebook story with everyone.
Last week I got a friend request from someone that I have never met, never spoken to or corresponded with in any way. Her name is Christine, and she is my cousin. Now for those of you with large families, this probably doesn't sound exciting, but I have a grand total of four cousins in the whole world, two of whom live in Vancouver (one of whom, Karen, I am very close to), and the other two live in England. My sister has met both of the British cousins, and it was through her facebook profile that Christine saw me, took a gamble on the name and wrote to me.
So far we have written wall-to-wall a couple of times each and are beginning to swap life stories. I'm really looking forward to getting to know my cousin better and its so cool to have this venue to do this.
Last week I got a friend request from someone that I have never met, never spoken to or corresponded with in any way. Her name is Christine, and she is my cousin. Now for those of you with large families, this probably doesn't sound exciting, but I have a grand total of four cousins in the whole world, two of whom live in Vancouver (one of whom, Karen, I am very close to), and the other two live in England. My sister has met both of the British cousins, and it was through her facebook profile that Christine saw me, took a gamble on the name and wrote to me.
So far we have written wall-to-wall a couple of times each and are beginning to swap life stories. I'm really looking forward to getting to know my cousin better and its so cool to have this venue to do this.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
The New Me
I promised myself awhile ago that I would post and document my weight loss journey of the past one and a half years. But its only now, after maintaining my goal weight (and a total loss of 40 pounds) for two months, that I feel its 'real' enough for me to put in writing.
Before
I have felt self-conscious about my weight since I can remember, but looking at photos of myself I can see that I was only truly overweight since I began university for my nursing education.
Having the means to feed myself, I ate things that were cheap, convenient, and that I liked. I had no control, if it was in front of me then it was gone, it was only a matter of time.
Things only got worse after we married and I was the shopper and cook. I loved making food, and tried to fatten Andrew up, succeeding mostly with myself in that matter.
Night shift took a toll as well, I discovered that Denny's at eight in the morning really helped me to sleep during the day but did nothing for my hips. This photo was taken in late October, 2005, during a visit to Australia. That whole visit I remember feeling fat and miserable about my body and the image I presented to the people I grew up with, whose opinions really mattered to me.
I decided shortly after returning from that trip that I was going to do something about my weight, once and for all.
During
I joined Weight Watchers in January 2006, having heard a lot of very positive reviews from sources far and wide. When I weighed in on my registration day, something shifted in me. I realised that it was the first time in my adult life that I didn't feel helpless about my situation - I was making a choice. I lost 3.6lbs in my first week, which cemented my faith in the system of weight loss I had chosen. I love that Weight Watchers doesn't label any food as taboo, but teaches portion control instead. This is a program that I can live with (as everyone knows, I will NEVER give up chocolate!!).
I progressed slowly but surely for the first two months, but it was fantastic when Jenn Toyota joined me at the meetings in March that year. We had been keeping each other accountable prior to this, but now committing to the program together gave me the motivation to keep going. I would never have continued with swimming, till we reached our goal of one hundred laps, or started running without her. I cannot stress enough how important having a buddy is in this healthy lifestyle business.
My journal shows that I had many ups and downs over the 18 months from start to goal, but the end result was worth every week involved.
After
This photo was taken in early June of this year, one week before I became a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. I can tell you that I am very proud of both my and Jenn's achievements in reaching and maintaining our goal weight. I have never been healthier or fitter, and I am loving all the positive comments I have had from family, friends and colleagues who have watched my transformation. This has definitely been one of the most important things I have ever done for myself and hopefully will impact on my family in the years to come. For the first time I really like the way I look, and I love to shop for clothes again, which I am sure has struck horror into the heart of Andrew at times but he is just really happy that I am happy with me.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this post and thank you for your supportive and encouraging comments throughout this process.
I'd love it if you could pray about our goal of starting a family.
And yes, we'll keep you posted!
Before
I have felt self-conscious about my weight since I can remember, but looking at photos of myself I can see that I was only truly overweight since I began university for my nursing education.
Having the means to feed myself, I ate things that were cheap, convenient, and that I liked. I had no control, if it was in front of me then it was gone, it was only a matter of time.
Things only got worse after we married and I was the shopper and cook. I loved making food, and tried to fatten Andrew up, succeeding mostly with myself in that matter.
Night shift took a toll as well, I discovered that Denny's at eight in the morning really helped me to sleep during the day but did nothing for my hips. This photo was taken in late October, 2005, during a visit to Australia. That whole visit I remember feeling fat and miserable about my body and the image I presented to the people I grew up with, whose opinions really mattered to me.
I decided shortly after returning from that trip that I was going to do something about my weight, once and for all.
During
I joined Weight Watchers in January 2006, having heard a lot of very positive reviews from sources far and wide. When I weighed in on my registration day, something shifted in me. I realised that it was the first time in my adult life that I didn't feel helpless about my situation - I was making a choice. I lost 3.6lbs in my first week, which cemented my faith in the system of weight loss I had chosen. I love that Weight Watchers doesn't label any food as taboo, but teaches portion control instead. This is a program that I can live with (as everyone knows, I will NEVER give up chocolate!!).
I progressed slowly but surely for the first two months, but it was fantastic when Jenn Toyota joined me at the meetings in March that year. We had been keeping each other accountable prior to this, but now committing to the program together gave me the motivation to keep going. I would never have continued with swimming, till we reached our goal of one hundred laps, or started running without her. I cannot stress enough how important having a buddy is in this healthy lifestyle business.
My journal shows that I had many ups and downs over the 18 months from start to goal, but the end result was worth every week involved.
After
This photo was taken in early June of this year, one week before I became a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. I can tell you that I am very proud of both my and Jenn's achievements in reaching and maintaining our goal weight. I have never been healthier or fitter, and I am loving all the positive comments I have had from family, friends and colleagues who have watched my transformation. This has definitely been one of the most important things I have ever done for myself and hopefully will impact on my family in the years to come. For the first time I really like the way I look, and I love to shop for clothes again, which I am sure has struck horror into the heart of Andrew at times but he is just really happy that I am happy with me. I hope you've enjoyed reading this post and thank you for your supportive and encouraging comments throughout this process.
I'd love it if you could pray about our goal of starting a family.
And yes, we'll keep you posted!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Camping
|
This last weekend, we went camping at the Kettle River Recreational Area. We went with the Allens, Isteds and the Toyotas. We had three sites between us four couples.
The weather was perfect for the weekend; bright, sunny, and hot! Which was great, because on Saturday we all blew up our floating devices and walked the short distance to the river to ride the currents! It was an awesome day. After convincing some the kids that this was actually fun, and not some sort of weird torture, we all grabbed onto a rope and floated away! See the pictures! Good times.
The tubing pictures were almost lost forever because while moving in my tube, my waterproof digital camera slipped off my lap and plunged into the water! We were right next to an area where people were cliff jumping, so I figured I'd never see the camera, or the pictures, again. But... I spied someone who had a pair of goggles, and Josh (my hero!) went diving down about 15 feet or more to retrieve it! I still can't believe he actually found it. If not for Josh we wouldn't have any pics of the tubing! The camera is toast, but the memorycard survived.
Of course, there was much chocolate and marshmallows to be had at the campfire, not to mention smokies, and corn cooked in the fire. Mmmm.... The days of granola bars while camping are long gone! (Ask Kate about that one, she'll fill you in... I'm still living that one down.)
We would definitely go back to the campground. It is a long way from any main highway, or city, and the stars we saw were incredible! It's about a 4 hour drive from here, but well worth it. It was our first road trip in our new car too. and we put over 1,400km onto it. A/C was definitely an asset this weekend!! Not to mention blasting road tunes from a collection of over 4,100 songs on two iPods! Nothing says "summer" like driving through a beautiful countryside on a bright, cloudless day, singing at the top of your lungs!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
