The other day I decided to bring a Pearl Jam poster into work because I’ve been running out of room for posters in my own house. Why not spread them out into my massive office space?
This is a cool poster from 2010 and the PJ community were having a ball when Ames Bros. released it. I mean, what’s not to love about this poster?
Anyhow, I brought it into work where a few people were interested about it in general, some people were indifferent and clearly I was in a team of people who weren’t fanatics like myself. Sidenote: find new friends who love Pearl Jam.
Over the weekend I start thinking about the poster and remember that it was pretty hot on the resellers market. I checked on Ebay and had a moment of instant regret when I realized that I had left a hot seller of a poster in my open cubicle where thousands of people had access to it!
Luckily, I come in on Monday and it’s still there. I quickly take it back home and came to decision that if I sell this, it could pay for my trip to Chicago this summer.
Slap it up on Ebay and a week later, it sold for $1,200+. It was exciting to see the bids climb up over the past week (as any Ebay seller knows). Sure, I’ve sold video games in the past and have gotten excited when they creep up past $100 but this is a whole other world. This will help pay for the flooded basement we are in the midst of dealing with.
Vero went to Mont Tremblant with her sister so that left Sierra and I all alone for the weekend. This took a lot of mental energy. Not to handle the situation, but to ensure it was the greatest weekend she has ever experienced in her life! Much preparation is needed for such an event. I can’t just have her hang around the house all day long and consider that a ‘super fun time weekend with Dad’.
First stop, Larose Forest! Google Maps led us astray a little bit and I ended up on a road which is closed during the winter. I only clued in when I ended up on what can only be described as an ATV trail. Luckily, my parental senses took over and made me realize I should just backtrack and go check out the parking lot with a giant P7 sign. Sure enough, we found a lot with three entrances…one for a hiking trail, one for cross country skiing and another up the road for dog sledding. There wasn’t even any need for the snowshoes that I packed which was a bonus!
The first part of our trek was underwhelming. But about 300 metres down the path, the actual forest appears and it was like something out of Middle-Earth. This wasn’t some Vars cemetary path riddled with birch trees…this was something else! What a fantastic path.
We only encountered two cyclists during our trek for an hour through the woods. Luckily there are some signs which pointed me towards a lone picnic table in the woods. Sierra is unfortunately in a tight squeeze on the backpack so it was good to get her out of it and take a break (read: 30 pounds on my back is quite heavy!). Here Sierra is enjoying a snack while getting really excited any time she heard a bird chirping.
Hanging out.
After our break she still wanted to walk around. We ended up encountering a bridge which she thought was quite incredible. She ran up and down the bridge a few times. Then I realized our trek out of the woods would take us about 6 hours if I let her stare at every branch we encountered so I put her back into the backpack.
I like this picture. It only took 40 tries.
When we exited the path and were walking up to our car, we heard quite the chatter down the road. After listening for a few seconds I realized it could only be the sounds of many dogs barking! There must be some dog sleds up ahead! We walked down the road and sure enough, we encountered about a dozen vehicles with dog sleds next to them. I had never seen that many dog sleds in my life. Sierra was having the time of her life. I ended up chatting with one of the women there. Turns out that they pay a membership fee to have the trails groomed and so they go every weekend they can to train the dogs on these trails. Must be a really interesting group to be part of. Sierra was not too happy when I decided to head back to the car. I’m pretty sure I found teeth marks on the security straps of the backpack as she was trying to chew her way back to seeing all those dogs.
Luckily I found something else to distract her with.
If Vero notices some tree sap on Sierra’s jacket, this is where it originated from.
Sierra trying to get one last look at the dog sleds before leaving. All in all, the Larose Forest was a great success and I can’t believe it’s been there all this time and I only went to visit now!
After lunch and an afternoon nap we headed to the St. Laurent mall so I could look at some frames to hold some comic artwork in. Unfortunately they didn’t have any in stock so I decided the only way to salvage the situation was to bring Sierra to Toys R Us. My favourite part was when she found a house set that she already has back at home. I managed to snap this photo in the split second that the box decided to jump out at her.
Toys R Us…the ultimate daycare?
The next morning our plans for visiting Ethan and Ellie for a morning music session fell apart so I had to rack my brain for something else to do. It was a beautiful morning once again and the sun was out so we decided to go for another walk. This time we went back to the Vars cemetary path. There’s no picnic table in the middle to have a snack at, but it’s a nice path nonetheless. I didn’t need the snowshoes which was a bonus.
Another great snack in the woods.
When we got off the path, I knew I needed a break in a few hours (aka, I needed Sierra to nap) and the only way to do that is to make sure she expels some energy! She walked most of the way home. However, as any true adventurer knows, you don’t have a time limit when there are wonders around. Here is Sierra taking a look at an eaves trough making some noise.
One driveway later she encountered a mud puddle! There was no shortage of things to discover in the span of 20 meters. It was going to be a long walk home!
My favourite part of the walk home was that at one point, she looks at me, proceeds to sit down on the pavement in the middle of the street and then lie on her back. I had a good laugh at her. Clearly she was pooched! I threw her back into the backpack and we headed home.
In the afternoon I was racking my brain for what we could do, but I saw that it was sunny out and hovering around zero degrees so we decided to have a campfire. It was a great idea until two minutes into it when she wasn’t having any of it. I brought her around on her sled for a few laps and when she finally convinced me to leave and go inside, Vero, Andreane and Danielle had arrived home. The super fun time weekend with Dad had officially closed! I hope she had fun. I sure did.
More specifically, I miss watching shows in a world where on-demand didn’t exist.
Now, before you and tell me that I’m crazy, of course I prefer the on-demand world. I was one of the first people out there figuring out how torrenting works so I could download the latest episodes of Lost on my computer so I wouldn’t have to rush home from whatever I was doing in order to catch the latest episode. On-demand is a fantastic addition to our lives because it allows us to live our lives a little more.
However, at the same time, it has taken something from us. It has deleted the ability to have a collective experience surrounding a cultural event. Say what you will, but I’m saying that the tv series Lost was a cultural event. Much like when a new Netflix series drops unexpectedly and everyone jumps into the zeitgeist of How to Make a Murderer or Stranger Things. It gets people talking…but not for long.
I am re-watching Lost right now with Vero. It’s an exciting time for me because I get to watch the show knowing what will happen, but I also get to see Vero’s reaction at all the mysteries that need solving and remember (fondly) how I was asking the same questions along with my friends.
That is the problem with on-demand television right now.
Television production concept. TV movie panels
Instead of your friends getting together one night for dinner and saying “Yeah, what’s up with that monster on Lost?!”, the conversation veers more towards “Have you seen Stranger Things? Isn’t it awesome?”. That’s where the conversation ends when talking about the newest, greatest TV series out on Netflix. We basically get to share and compare a few notes on how we think the TV series is great, but that’s it. We don’t get to dive into details like “OMG, what is Character X going to do about Situation Y?!” There’s no concept of the water cooler talk where we discuss specific mysteries. Because…the mystery has already unfolded over a 10 hour series which you probably binged-watched over the weekend. The moment is gone and was captured in your mind for 30 seconds until you put on the next episode.
Network TV still subscribes to the model of one episode per week so we haven’t completely lost the concept. But in an on-demand world, it’s hard for me to find people who have watched the same exact episodes at the same exact time as me.
Me: “Did you see the new Star Trek Discovery episode? SO GOOD!”
Colleague: “Oh no! I have not. I will catch up.”
Fast forward the next week, I’ve already gone past that moment in time and never think of bringing it up again.
Nat: “OH MAN, it’s crazy what happened in the latest episode of Rebels!”
Me: “Wait, I haven’t seen it. Let’s all pause our talk.”
I’ve essentially killed the conversation because it’s not like Nat is going to come back and say “So…what did you think?” Nat has already moved onto another series that she wants to talk about.
I miss Lost…and I’m glad to be re-watching it with Vero because it brings me back to the time where it’s exciting to talk to someone about what is going to happen in the next episode. Of course, in an on-demand world, we just hit play and watch a new episode. But at least those few minutes in between are interesting and gives me a glimpse back to a more interesting time to watch TV.
I don’t know about you, but spring is in the air around Ottawa. It’s quite rare that we have consistent above zero temperatures near the end of February. Perhaps we’ll be out on the bicycle by mid-March!
Sierra is loving life outside and enjoys going on the slide as much as she can. I think it upsets her when we do arrive from the daycare and we go straight indoors because it’s too dark/cold outside. But for the past week it’s been neither so we get to have some fun outside with her for a few minutes before heading inside.
Speaking of having fun outside, I have to say the hot tub has been getting some good use in the past month. I have to say that I don’t really care to venture out in -20 degrees unless a friend is with me goading me on. But when it gets to -5, no problem convincing me to sit in the tub and stare at the moon!
The daycare that we drop Sierra off to has someone come in to give little notes on how Sierra is doing. Today’s note said something like “She likes to play independently, but also tries to have fun with the other kids as well.” I noticed the same thing when we were at a birthday party last week. She likes keeping to herself and playing with some toys. Granted, it all comes down to the age factor as well…the kids at the daycare are at least a year older so they are able to run around a lot easily. But it does gives us a glimpse into what sort of person she will be.
At this point, we don’t think she has any allergies at all which is completely different than a year ago. We are very happy with everything we have tried in the past month. She even ate some peppers and didn’t react at all. We do notice a little rash that appears on her legs and little feet from time to time so we’ll have to keep an eye on it. Perhaps it’s a form of eczema.
She babbles a lot more these days and it almost seems like she is forming sentences of non-sensical words. She does has a few key words for items: Aye is yes. Na na is her soother. Maman is pretty well everyone she sees! It’s funny…she knows I am Dad, but she doesn’t call me that at all. I wonder where kids pick up different words for items?
She has always loved to hear music and starts bopping around in her carseat when a good tune comes on the radio. I’m starting to now get her to choose the album to listen to. I typically show her the Arcade Fire ‘Everything Now’ album and she says “Aye!”. She really the tunes Everything Now and Put Your Money on Me.
We bought a new sleigh off of Kijiji. Turns out that it was our neighbour selling it! We are enjoying it so far but unfortunately the back runner cracked when Sierra fell off so I’ll have to see if that’s salvageable at this point. I have to say it’s getting impossible to bring her for a walk on the street with this thing considering the lack of snow! Luckily we have trails near us.
Vero and Sierra going for a lap around the track we snowblew in the backyard.
Was I telling you all about my new parka? It is the cats meow but near of February, it’s impossible to wear outside without sweating off 20 pounds!
Oncle Claude and Aunt Mary dropped by for a visit and Oncle Claude taught Sierra a new way to be entertained.
While it takes Sierra a few minutes to warm up to people visiting, she hit it off instantly with Aunt Mary!
We thought it was hilarious that she wanted to wear the scarf like this for her ride.
The learning tower is in good use each night around suppertime. Here Sierra is helping out Maman with some muffins.
We thought this was a hilarious sign on the bus.
Mom and Dad came down for a visit for a few days to help finish off the suspended ceiling in the bathroom. Surprisingly the renovation went off without any major complications! We must be finally learning. This is a photo of us enjoying a spaghetti supper at the Vars school. Sierra sure loved her spaghetti but Dad and I had to scoop up a whole bunch that she had left on the floor!
Mom and Dad made this table set for Sierra. Here’s Dad and Sierra building some puzzles. Sierra is pretty good at them…you can ask her to find the cat and she’ll find the pieces and put them together.
This photo reminds me of Vero and her friend Vero.
Vero and Mom took Sierra over to the Vars carnival while Dad and I worked on the bathroom. It was a pretty cold day so there weren’t too many people around. All the more room for Sierra to play!
Sierra sure loves the swingset.
Grandma taking Sierra for a ride.
Sierra practicing for the inverted Skeleton competition for the Olympics.
We just happened to be downtown during Winterlude so we walked around and enjoyed the balmy weather.
It was a great day to check out the ice sculptures because it was during the middle of the week so there weren’t many people around.
I thought this was a neat use of lost mittens.
I love going to check out the ice sculptures each year. It’s pretty incredible what they can accomplish!
Check out the beer glass Mom and I found at Michael’s!
Not to be outdone by Mom’s future Christmas gift!
Mom and Dad made us a Newfie ugly stick! Supposedly if you go and listen to some music in a pub in Newfoundland, chances are, you can find a few of these lying around that you can use to make some noise. Pretty neat idea!
A smiling competition.
Yes, this was the best picture out of the forty that we took.
Hey, you come to this website to get some life tips once in awhile…here’s one for you. If your Mom makes you some slippers that need to be thrown into the washing machine and then into the dryer….have her actually read the instruction instead of suggesting that we just boil them for awhile and stink up the entire house!
Etienne and I checking out a new path around the Ottawa river at lunchtime.
Once in awhile we have a bee show up in the house that we just can’t seem to get rid of! At least Sierra seems to enjoy its company.
Sierra going to town on this chime xylophone.
Mike and Melanie were nice enough to invite us over one Saturday afternoon for a campfire. Maxime and Sierra had some good times out in the snow. I managed to really bang up my knee that day when jumping into the snow…Ottawa has this wicked type of weather which leaves layers of ice in the snow. So basically when I jumped in, it felt like my knee hit an ice rink. It’s still oddly sore a month later when I kneel down. I guess it’s just repairing itself?
Kids having fun.
I’m not entirely sure how Mike managed to position himself like this in the snowbank but it looked hella comfortable!
Sierra telling Vero and Melanie a story.
Max and Sierra were enjoying the wagon ride.
Time to start using a fork kid!
It’s rare that we manage to snap a photo of each other!
Sierra had a great day at daycare for Valentine’s Day.
Probably the first time we ever gave Sierra a candy. She seemed to like it! Num num!
I now have competition for the St Hubert sauce that Vero decides not to finish eating.
Sierra helping us put up safety straps on the dressers. She really loves working with tools and understanding how they work.
Sierra and I enjoying a drink after a hard day of work.
I have no idea why she does this, but I find it hilarious that Sierra is mesmerized with these plates that appear in department store floors! She always stops for awhile to investigate them.
The long walk home.
My colleague Yoon asked me the other day “Can we bring our kid into work on Monday?” “No, why?” “Because it’s family day and the daycare is closed!” Vero and I didn’t even clue into this considering public servants in Ottawa don’t get family day off! Luckily I was able to take it off. Sierra and I started the morning off taking a walk in the woods which was quite the trek considering we had to blaze a trail ourselves! She’s also getting to the limit of what this backpack carrier can handle. I had a good laugh when I noticed she was licking my jacket.
After having a nap in the afternoon, we sat down and played with the play dough that Grandma had made us. Still as salty as a I remember!
Mark the date and time. Sierra now really likes TV. Specifically, she loves watching Full House.
We went for a birthday breakfast for Jona’s fourth birthday. Man, that kid got a lot of awesome toys I want to play with. Unfortunately for him, he burnt his fingers on one of those candles that sparkle. You know how it has that piece of steel near the bottom? Yep, he went for it. While everyone felt bad at the time, I managed to get it on video and we are going to look back and think how awesome it is that we captured that moment. Hey, it’s like the old saying goes…it’s not a party until someone burns their flesh!
You can’t go for a walk in Vars without stopping at the swing set.
Seriously, how awesome is this photo that Vero snapped?!
I managed to go downtown to see The Dears at Club 27 (home of the old Zaphod’s). No Mistakes in Space (killer name!) opened and they were quite great! The Dears, of course, did not disappoint. It’s cool to see them in play in a small club like this…they last played at the National Arts Center so I had no idea if they would stick to that size of venue or not. I went there alone but stumbled into Evan and Erica along with Erica’s parents so that was a welcome surprise. The show was great, the crowd was great, everyone was having a great time. I especially enjoyed how there is really no backstage so they band has to weave through the crowd to climb onto the stage!
Another grand event in my fortieth year! I finally managed to go to Di Rienzo’s for a sandwich! Let me tell you…it was immense. I could only eat half of it. I couldn’t comprehend how much meat they put on this thing for $7! It was a great eat and great value, but I have to say I like the bread selection more at La P’tite Epicerie down the street for my work. But that’s not to say that Di Rienzo’s is bad. I would go back any day! It’s a sandwich institution!
Even though it’s not the most in focus photo, it’s the one with the most spirit!
As luck would have it, I managed to score a ticket to go see The Smashing Pumpkins in Chicago in August! I’m pretty pumped. My setup to acquire tickets was a little hilarious…I wish I had a picture. I had my ipad with the Ticketmaster app open, I then had my computer with Ticketmaster running as well as another computer I borrowed from a colleague to handle getting tickets as well! I also found out that Ticketmaster in the US has an automated phone line that I could try. Vero also was helping me out on her end which was greatly appreciated.
After letting go of a few sections I wasn’t really interested in, I honed in on a single ticket, center floor, 19 rows from the stage. Not too shabby I think. I’m now going to the United Center in Chicago on August 13th for the show!
I’ve always told myself that if the Smashing Pumpkins ever reunited and they had a show only in Chicago, I would go and check them out in their hometown. Well, 3 out of 4 original members isn’t bad at all and it turned out that the family trip to Gaspe would have been cut significantly if I had decided to go see the Pumpkins in Montreal on August 8th. This way, I get the best of both worlds plus a fun trip to (hopefully) a fun city! Even though I don’t watch baseball, perhaps I should try a hot dog out at Wrigley Field.
Great news! Sierra is now communicating to us via the word ‘yes’!
However, I believe there’s either some Scottish in her or a pirate because she says “Aye” when we ask if she wants more Cheerios or anything else for that matter.
It’s January here and it’s been mighty cold. -40 for a few weeks at the beginning of the month was not a fun time for Sierra…not much to do when you’re stuck indoors! We did our best to go to a store and let her walk around whenever we could.
Sierra has had a rash that would show up on her cheek and other areas of her body from time to time. At first we thought it might be an allergy of sorts. Then we started thinking it might be some form of eczema. Whatever it is, it prompted us to try some non-scented bath wash/shampoo and some different creams to put on her body. We have no idea if any of this helped, but it went from her cheek down to her legs and feet and at the time of writing, it’s all cleared up. Maybe it’s some weird rash that spreads through the body and then the skin gets used to it and it disappears? Who knows.
For the past week I tend to put on videos about elephants or hippos or other creatures while Sierra eats breakfast. She gets really excited when she sees these majestic creatures.
Sierra having fun with her new abacus…always handy if the nuclear war destroys all calculators.
Good thing we were cleaning out the storage room otherwise it would have been months to stumble upon another Christmas gift that was wrapped up in a shower curtain! Nanny had bid on this item from a silent auction in Gaspe…it is a frame of all formats that music has been released on…78s, 45’s, 33 1/3, 8 tracks…you name it, they got it. Quite an interesting history lesson!
I’ve been really inspired to write music during the past month. I managed to finish up two solid tunes which I’m quite happy with. Here’s my trusty helper showing me how to use the guitar pick.
Sierra practicing some yoga moves.
New Year’s Eve dinner over at Jon and Chantal’s, where we had supper with a monkey.
Victor Von Dube with his eye on the prize.
The kids put on a great spectacle for us.
Photographing children is an exercise in futility.
Snowman!
Standing straight and tall!
Sierra is starting to play with her food in the morning instead of eating it. This drives me slightly mad.
We got to head up to Lynn and Sue’s for a night which was fantastic (although it was -40 outside so there wasn’t much fun in the woods happening!)
Sierra really enjoyed traveling the world.
The kids playing in the morning
I’ve been working at Place du Portage since 2001 and I never knew there was a greenhouse in the building! Nat and Etienne were quite amazed at the selection.
While Ellie enjoyed opening gifts for her first birthday, Sierra was scoping out the toy room.
Aunt Trish managed to capture Sierra a few times
The trick is to start them young in building Ikea furniture so they can handle their own Billy bookcase when in university!
For the past few months Sierra has been interested in what we were up to when making supper. I stumbled upon the idea of a ‘learning tower’; something that can allow kids to safely watch/help out at the counter height. Someone developed an Ikea hack so I bought this step stool for $25 and spent another $10 for wood (let’s not count the other $20 of screws! I figure that’s a negligible cost considering I used 10 screws out of a pack of 100). Other than freezing my ass off outside in the garage in the middle of January, I would say it was a success. The only issue I had was there were no wood coloured stools at Ikea when we dropped by so I (I mean Mom) will need to paint it white. An important thing to remember is that this thing can still tip over fairly easily. Mike and Melanie one that was pretty much the same design and poor Max tipped it over one day. I’m wondering if I can learn from that lesson and perhaps attach a piece of plywood on the bottom so it would make it harder to tip over. I’ll think about it over a few beer.
It’s exciting to see Sierra very interested in how tools work.
At work, they were moving us to the fifth floor so everyone stored their plants and other assorted junk in my office on the second floor while they moved. I felt like I was living in the jungle for a few days!
Showing off her latest masterpiece.
With the fourth floor closing up for renovations I begged Vero to come visit me at work before they tore it all down. It was in this very spot back in 2005 that Vero rounded the corner and I was blown away by this stunning human being.
A re-enactment of my reaction when she rounded the corner.
This was definitely her reaction years ago. No lie. It was neat to see Vero come back to the fourth floor after all these years (she had worked there as a summer student). Some things had changed and others hadn’t.
Check out this awesome Deadpool that Amy made for Sierra!
Near the end of January it started to get to be nice outside so we took advantage of it and went snowshoeing. Last year we were able to carry Sierra in the sling but this year it was time to try out a sled. We had a bought a nice big red one and it was horrible as she kept falling off when I would pull it. We resorted to using her baby sleigh that she is nearly done with. From the looks of it, she didn’t mind at all!
From my vantage point, I couldn’t tell if she was having a good time or not with those screams.
I think she must have been getting tired at this point?
She sure loves those bubbles.
Mel and Jon invited us over for supper (where we could also try out some tunes for their wedding in July). I snuck off to the basement to hang out with the cool kids at one point.
Sierra is still pretty shy around the kids (maybe not the ones at daycare?). I tried to get a few photos of her but she was always on the outside just minding her own business. No matter, it’ll take a few years for her to realize these friends are awesome.
Theatre friends plotting the demise of their husbands.
I had to leave the party early to see Big Wreck on their 20th anniversary tour of ‘In Loving Memory Of’. It was a great night out with Etienne at Algonquin College. The only thing that sucks about the college is that you have to finish your beer before going into the theatre!
Killer, killer night with them playing their entire first album (and b-side Ill Advice, only one of my favourite Big Wreck tunes!). They also finished off with a couple of extra tunes and blew our minds with guitar solos. Seriously, how insane is Ian Thornley on the fretboard? Also, I have to point out that Algonquin College always offers a great view from the floor, especially if you venture to the right hand of the stage where there is no one standing.
