Joy! Rapture! Hallelujah!!

Nothing like being in the midst of a last minute panic stricken e-filling of ones taxes at the ABSOLUTE LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT, only to watch this turd pop up on the screen. All of the available e-tax programs are spitting out this rubbish right now, and I'm about to poop a canary...

A Substantial Improvement on the Weekend.

Well, today was pretty rough for the first couple hours. We went to get the cats from the pet hotel, and no cab was willing to go there because there wasn't enough money in it (welcome to DC), so we had to carry both cat carriers and the 30lb kitty litter home. Good times. The day was spent trying to calm two sketchy cats while getting caught up on errands before we head off for three days in New England.
By mid afternoon we decided we needed to find a patio somewhere and regroup. After a cool beverage and a nice snack we swung by the library to borrow a couple movies and see what was on the book cart. The title to the right caught my eye as I really enjoy Ansel Adams. When we got home, robin recommended I look it up on ABE books because it's a first print, first edition. Not a bad investment for $1. Sunday has been saved =)

Here's some photos from our last day, when Dolores took us for a fantastic tour of the Columbia River Gorge. 'Twas awesome.

Portland is a kickass city, and Robin and I really loved it. Currrently, we're home, having survived a rather eventful day of travelling. Like any day that involves an airline or two, highlights included the stewardess dumping a full cup of hot water on Robin, our three hour layover in Chicago where we had the worst food imaginable, and being 6 feet tall in seats designed for people not 6 feet tall at all. Anyhoo, we're both groggy, grumpy, and crusty from the day on planes. That's all for now!

Where She Goes and How She Gets There

Wow, quite a boom you got there, Portland...

...quite a lot of very modern and funky high rise condo's litter the landscape just past what I understand to be "downtown" in the "Pearl District", which is where the photos are from (the dog dish fountain is probably my favourite public monument I've found so far). I spent about five huors walking around today and this afternoon trying to better understand how the city itself is arranged. The Pearl district is extremly nice, and obviously a bit pricier given the amount of Land Rovers and Benz's encountered there. I just thought I'd post a few pictures of some of the buildings and blocks I walked through and found particularly interesting. All in all, there were about 6 or 8 blocks of reclaimed buildings and condo developments. Try and imagine a meat packing district over taken by upscale condos, and that's what you get. It's pretty neat...

Some were having troubles with the link, so heres a few shots from the pack




















Here's a link to a few more photos =)

A few more shots from Portland. Apparently you can walk right into churhes here. Oh, and the museum is closed on Mondays. More later...

Well, we started bright and early, and managed to walk the full length of the waterfront, up to the highest hill and then back again. It took about five and a half hours. In that time we managed to see the Chinese Garden, the Saturday Market, the Japanese Garden, the bulk of the waterfront on the downtown side of things, and a quick pop into Powells Techincal Bookstore just passed the public library. And all before 5pm...

Welcome Back To The Wet Coast

So, after some crazy flights on some seemingly 50's era soviet cargo planes rebranded with the American Airlines logo, we arrived in the lush west coast downpour encompasing Portland. The city looks gorgeous, even through the veil of spullatering rainitude. We snuck out to grab some food for our kitchenette at the hotel and to grab a bite at a brew pub. The beer, well, was shite. The food, however, was fantastic, and Robin can finally eat off a menu again, as the west coast is incredibly more Vegetarian friendly than the east. Also the prices here are considerably more reasonable then the DC area by far. I had a Halibut Burger for the first time in ages, and it was lovely. Our secondstop before returning to the hotel to call it an early night was to go to Powell's Books, the largest independant new and used bookstore in the world. We swore that we were only going to have a quick look, but Robin still managed to leave with two books despite our having been there less than fifteen minutes.

Anyhoo, we're exhausted and calling 'er a night. More later....

So, Colin's deal was this:

I've uploaded the pictures; now you write the text.

Okey Dokey.

Only problem is that I can't think of anything witty to say about these images.

I'm tired.

And we are leaving for Portland first thing tomorrow morning. I'll be doing a week long practicum at the Oregon Health Sciences University.

Colin will busy himself by taking pictures... of everything.

Have to say it. Taking the cats to the kennel was one of the more traumatic events in my little life. Poor Lou. You can see in the picture that she glued herself to the inside of her pet carrier. The attendant (is that what you call the people who work in a kennel?) had to turn the carrier upside down and shake it to get her out. Poor baby. I felt bad for the attendant too. I'm sure she thought we were nuts as we stood at the glass and took pictures. Then Lou took a swipe at Imelda and hissed at the staff. Can't blame her. Except, now there is a warning on her little cell. Our baby: the troublemaker.

That's about all I have to say for myself. I'm off to pack my bags and enjoy my three hours sleep before having to get up and onto another plane.

And yes. I double-checked the flight details this time.

A few shots from the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Gallery of Art, the Sackler Museum and the Environmental Protection Agency (archway) all taken from an afternoon spent trying to figure out settings on the camera.

Introducing Le book

Back Online

We are officially wired again, thanks to the good people at Comcast.

Unfortunately, I don't have many cheerful things to post. The massacre at Virginia Tech has us all upset. I was at the Computers in Libraries Conference in Virginia when the shooting took place. I found it really disconcerting to be there (even though Blacksburg is nowhere close to Arlington). During a morning recess in the conference, I saw the breaking news story about a shooting in Virginia. It made me want to crawl under the nearest table.

In the 24 hours following the shooting, lots of arguments were made about gun control. Some people wrote that more guns on campus could have made a difference; that students carrying weapons could have stopped the shooter. And others argued there should have been greater restrictions so that the gun never made it into the hands of the shooter. And still others said that, with the number of deaths in Iraq escalating, we were wasting energy worrying about a little school shooting.

Personally, I fear nothing sensible will result from this senseless act. The opposing arguments -- more guns vs. no guns -- pretty much guarantee that nothing will be changed regarding gun control laws in the United States. And media coverage of the event will distract from the battle in congress over war spending (to say little of the horrors taking place in the Middle East).

It is enough to make you want to crawl under the nearest table.

So, to lighten the mood, I posted the video above "Introducing Le Book." They showed this video at the conference at a session entitled "Open Access and the Government." I think it is a brilliant example of the anxiety over re-formatting content. I love when the monk grabs the scroll and compares the two technologies. Priceless.

Gadzooks! A major wind storm seems to have knocked out our Internet...and because our phone runs through our internet, that means the phones out as well. Left with no way of communicating with the outside world, Robin and I have scurried down to the public library to get caught up with the outside world. It'll likely be a quiet night at home, as we've picked up some movies and have some left overs to get through. Tomorow's a busy day, so hopefully the internet will be back up and running at Cassa Walsherstone.

Back to the Grind

After a glorious trip to Halifax for Mitz and Mat's "Mish-Mash" wedding, Colin and I are back in DC. But not for long.

Next Saturday (a week today) we are off to Portland, Oregon for a week. Poor Lou-Lou-Belle and Imelda will be spending the week in the luxurious PetSmart Pet Hotel.

They will likely never speak to us ever again. Not that they did a lot of speaking to begin with.

Anyways, we are hoping not to repeat our latest "goof" in Portland. Our last day in Halifax turned into our second-to-last day when we missed our flight. Well, I can't really say we missed it. That would imply that we tried to catch it in the first place. We slept right through our departure because we got the days mixed up. Oops. And there isn't any "stupid insurance" to cover this kind of thing.

I checked.

But, to commemorate this costly mistake, Colin did take a picture that I will treasure always.

Random maritime weatherly photos and a note further down...

Robin and i are exhausted, but finally home.

a few pictures to share to compensate for the fact that we're both about to pass out, and will start posting info tomorrow.
R&C

A few quick shots from the wedding day. It started snowing about an hour before the guests began to arrive, and would proceed to dump thirty one centimeters over night. Throughout the wedding and reception it was golf ball sized snowflakes. Oh, and did I mention that in order to get to the bathrooms we had to go outside through the court yard?
It was a fantastic wedding, and everyone had a wonderful time. When we get back to DC we'll explain who is who and where and post more details. more later,
Colin & Robin

A glimpse of Tom's for those who've never been.

...some random shots from our visit thus far...

... A few quick shots of the grooms and a quickie post:

A quickie post:
Halifax Is Going Well

Mitz and Matt appear to be having a blast, and people continued to pour to the airport in advance of tomorows wedding. Mitz is the one in Red, Matt in Blue. There've been a number of relaxed social events, the first of which, the boys stag, was at Tom's Little Havana Cabin. It was a good time and they managed to take over the bulk of the pub for the entire evening. It was a blast.

We're currently staying with Doug and Amy out in Hacketts Cove at Joan's House, which is abolutely lovely. It's about 45 minutes from the city, and extremely comfortable. We've gotten lost a couple times trying to get to or back to it, but we seem to be managing.

This is just a quick note with some photos. More when time permits.

Colin (&Robin)

Beat, Broke & Halifax Bound

Well, we're just putting the final touches on everything and making sure we're ready for the big trip back to Halifax. All the necessary arrangements have been made, and now it's just a case of making the flight on time. Oh, but there'll be an extra "doohicky" coming with us as Robin and I juggled the finances so we could bring OUR (well..I think it's "OUR") NEW CAMERA!!!

Hello Lovely Pictures (& Raman noodles)


We'll make every effort to provide some updates while we're there.
(but it's a short trip...so it may wait until we get back, to be honest)

Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival April First Walking Around Down By The Washington Monument
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Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival April First Walking Around Down By The Washington Monument
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Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival April First Walking Around Down By The Washington Monument
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Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival
April First Walking Around Down By
The Washington Monument


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Zen and the Art of Gastronomical Indulgence

Well, I got my wish, and today started just how I'd hoped; at noon. I stayed in bed until noon, which is a perfectly respectable time of day to get up on your birthday. Robin, Uber Woman that she is, was kind enough to help me great the morning with hot coffee ready and waiting. That, and an incredibly abusive birthday card (my FAVOURITE kind!!!). The card was so abusive in fact, that it could only possible be outdone by it's envelope. I'll take a picture of it and post it later, as it's as funny to me as the card. So far, my morning was Solid Gold, baby.

Zen, according to Wikipedia, is a school of Buddhism that places great importance on moment-by-moment awareness and 'seeing deeply into the nature of things' by direct experience. I haven't a snowballs chance in hell of ever really understanding that to the extent that I'm supposed to, but I suspect that it's a lot like what I achieve over Breakfast at run down Diners. Not any old breakfast, but Greasy Bacon and Eggs, preferably served in the company of Burnt Buttered Potatoe Chunks sweating profusely the lard from whence they came. If the stars are aligned in perfect harmony, i'll have a few wedges of white-as-white-yet-burnt toast (also awash in buttery goodness) and some hotter than hades coffee served in romantically stained institutional porcelain.
Thus, in Equivalent-To-Zen like glory, I sat early this afternoon, enjoying my meal and serving of salvation in the hustle and bustle of the Tastee Diner, all by my quiet self. You see, my wife, being vegetarian, understandably chose to "Opt Out" of this particular dining experience, as the last time she tried to join me in this very establishment, she ended up leaving a sincerely unhappy and still hungry camper.
The diner was absolutely packed with the Palm Sunday crowd, as church was now out and families and the devout fought for seats and yelled for pancakes or more coffee. As most diners do, there was a comfortable stool waiting at the counter for me, so I sat on the line with the other solos and scanned the paper. My coffee appeared within seconds, and my order was taken in under a minute. I was sitting so close to the line cook that once it came off the grill, he shrugged and just passed it to me so I wouldn't have to wait.
Four eggs over easy, burnt bacon, buttered home fried potatoes, and white toast.
Heavenly.
It didn't take long to polish off, and I managed to get good value out of the price of a cup of coffee with a couple refills. It couldn't have been more than an hour from when I left the house that I was strolling back towards home again. A little bit slower, the urgency of hunger now a distant memory, and the eighty pounds of buttery cholesterol I'd likely just ingested making every footstep a little heavier. I wanted to get back to Robin and get the rest of our day underway. We had a lot planned for the afternoon, and my intent was not to spend it alone, despite breakfast. The diner was something I needed, today especially. A moment to think about the year past, it's predecessors, and to prep myself for the year ahead as much as I could. Now that was all said and done, it was time to get on with things. Currently the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival is on here in Washington, and robin and I spent the afternoon checking out the trees down by the tidal basin, the Jefferson memorial, and the Washington Monument. You'll also see a couple photos from the Smithsonian Castle and the Sackler Gallery. It was a pretty kick ass day, and a good way to start the year :)