Posted by songdawg at 5:39 PM | My Life

February 6, 2007

Broiled Beef

I have been trying to use up some of food in my fridge so I haven't been following the rotation diet to the letter. But close.

Tonight I broiled some organic beef in the oven, made some smashed cauliflower and steamed some swiss chard. It was the best beef I have ever had (not that this statement means that much :)

Marshall said that the next time he meets Twyla he is going to run up to her and give her a huge thank you hug.

Posted by songdawg at 6:49 PM | My Life

February 5, 2007

Butternut Squash & Chickpea Stew

Roast a butternut squash in the oven. Cook some celery and cauliflower over medium heat until tender. Add the cooked squash, some spinach, cooked chickpeas and some vegetable broth. Add basil, oregano and paprika to taste and cook until warmed through. Serve over cooked millet.

Posted by songdawg at 6:37 PM | My Life

February 4, 2007

Roasted Turkey and Root Vegetables

My acupuncturist Twyla Martin has created a weekly diet for me that takes into account allergies, rotating food families, low glycemic index and balanced nutrition.

Today's menu included roast turkey with roasted root vegetables. The last time I tried to cook turkey it didn't quite turn out - rubbery and dry :) So I bought a meat thermometer - Ha! I could have never predicted owning a meat thermometer. But it worked great, the turkey was cooked perfectly. And I found out that our oven is off by 25-50 degrees.

Organic free-range turkey breast.

I cooked the roast sweet potatoes and carrots a little too long. And made gravy with potato flour for thickening instead of wheat flour.

Tomorrow for lunch - spinach salad with turkey.

Posted by songdawg at 7:56 PM | My Life

Sprouts

As part of my quest to eat as much unprocessed food as possible I've started sprouting. I have tried in the past but often ended up with a jar full of neglected and dried wisps. Last week I managed to grow some alfalfa - great in salads and Berkeley loves them too. This week along with alfalfa I am trying mung beans.

Posted by songdawg at 5:30 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

January 31, 2007

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Tonight's experiment is Acorn Squash stuffed with Quinoa.

Put some red and white quinoa and twice as much water to cook in a rice cooker.

Cut the acorn squash in half and remove seeds. Place face down in the microwave with a bit of water and cook until soft - about 7 minutes depending on the size.

Fry some minced ginger and a small zuchinni (cubed) until brown. Set aside. Chop some swiss chard and steam until lightly cooked. Stir the quinoa, zuchini, ginger and swiss chard with some salt, cinnamon and a bit of butter or oil.

Stuff the acorn squash with the quinoa mixture and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Posted by songdawg at 6:35 PM | My Life

January 30, 2007

Sunday Cookoff

Last week I slacked off from the new diet - I ate junk food and drank coffee and wine. My energy was pretty low and my histamine reaction high - I felt miserable. But I am back on track - it pays for me to stay focussed and not slip. Lesson learned (I am slow that way:). So I cooked up a storm on Sunday. First off a sheperd's pie with mashed cauliflower. I thought the beef was gross - I guess it was too much meat for me in a week :) Marshall loved it though.

Sheperd's Pie with mashed cauliflower and dill

I also made vegetable stock from scratch to start a pot of Turkey and Wild rice soup. The stock was very good - light and refreshing. I can't remember ever eating meatloaf (and probably never will) but have been curious about trying a veggie loaf. I cooked up Mahvellous Millet Loaf from the Food Allergy Survival Guide. It is very tasty and gentle on the stomach. This book has a ton of information and many amazing recipes.

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup and Mahvellous Millet Loaf

Posted by songdawg at 6:08 PM | My Life

January 28, 2007

One Mystery Solved: Fining

I like white wine especially sauvignon blanc and had a glass (don't know what type) at the concert on Friday. But often within minutes I get a histamine reaction on my face and hands. My face gets flushed, hot, itchy and swollen. Is it the tannins? Sulfites? I think the answer is probably fining - I have a strong allergy to eggs and never made the connection.

Fining: A clarification process where flocculants, such as bentonite or egg white, are added to the wine to remove suspended solids.

So I guess it goes to show that the less processed foods I eat the more control I will have over what I eat - there are so many hidden sources and terrible labeling. I read that food manufacturers are only required to label what is in the food they sell but not what was used to process the food. So really unless labelled egg-free I need to rethink any processed food I eat or drink. Even wine.

Other names for egg:
Albumin/Albumen
Conalbumin
Egg substitutes, e.g., Egg Beaters®
Globulin
Lecithin (may be made from eggs or soy)
Livetin
Lysozyme
Meringue
Ovalbumin
Ovoglobulin
Ovolactohydrolyze proteins
Ovomacroglobulin
Ovomucin, ovomucoid
Ovotransferrin
Ovovitelia ,Ovovitellin
Silico-albuminate
Simplesse®
Vitellin

Posted by songdawg at 12:23 PM | Comments (1) | My Life

January 25, 2007

Tofutti Vegan Better Than Cream Cheese

It' s been a long week and I am very tired and wanted some easy comfort food. Today's experiment included Tofutti Vegan Better Than Cream Cheese. I have been craving something creamy but still wanted to stay dairy free. So I made creamy smashed cauliflower with dill, sweet potatoe fries and some leftover spaghetti squash from yesterday. I also tried to cook some turkey but cooking meat is not my forte and it was dry and bland.

Marshall raved about the cauliflowers. To make just cook some cauliflower (I used frozen organic). Once it is done put it in a food processor, add a scoop of cream cheese, some salt and dill and blend. Of course if you don't have a food pocessor you can mash them by hand but I really like how smooth they came out. And very tasty.

Posted by songdawg at 9:43 PM | My Life

January 24, 2007

Spaghetti Squash

Tonight's dinner was awesome - Spaghetti Squash with a tomato meat sauce and a salad. So easy and it really hit the spot. Just cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and place the cut side down in a microwaveable dish. Add a 1/4 cup of water and cover. Microwave for 7-10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and then scrape the spaghetti out with a fork. Add some tomato sauce with meat or lentils and enjoy.

One of the things I have been struggling with is getting more protein in my diet. Protein sources that are out are eggs, pork, chicken, nuts, peanuts, dairy, fish and seafood. I can only eat a litle soy since it doesn't agree with me. So what's left? Good question - beef, turkey, quinoa, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Legumes like lentils and chickpeas. I am not a big meat eater so eating duck, lamb ,bison or venison might be too much of a stretch.

While I am feeling better in some ways, it is still slow going. On Friday, I am meeting with my acupuncturist. She knows a lot about nutrition and is helping me set up a menu plan. I can definitely use the help.

Posted by songdawg at 6:55 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

January 23, 2007

Beef stirfry

Yesterday, I made a beef stirfry with beef from Sunterra and lots of veggies in a wheatfree soy sauce with a sprinkle of sesame oil. Yum.

Then some mint tea and wheat-free, egg-free, dairy-free banana date bread adapted from a recipe in The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook. This book has plenty of information on substitutions, on rotation diet with a helpful list of food families and of course a lot of recipes. Next weekend I'll try the grain free muffin recipe with quinoa and amaranth flour.

Posted by songdawg at 5:31 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

January 21, 2007

The Investigation Continues...

So far I have remove wheat (and most sources of gluten), all dairy, all tree nuts, peanuts, alcohol and caffeine from my diet. And of course because of allergies I avoid eggs, pork, chicken, kiwi, fish and seafood. The result - I am feeling a lot better and every day my system is in a better state. Except of course when I ate out last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I tried to order things that I thought would be OK but by Friday I had totally slipped and I even had a couple of drinks. But now I know - sticking to my plan is well worth it. Slow, consistent and steady is the way to go.

So tonight I made a Chickpea Curry with Red Inca Quinoa. It was good though the curry was a bit strong - next time I will use a lighter hand with the spices. I love red quinoa - it is so cool. It is hard to see in the picture but quinoa becomes little spirals when cooked. And it is a complete protein.

And for dessert? Mango Coconut Ice with two gluten free cookies. Since we bought a blender over the Holidays, Marshall has been making amazing smoothies. Sometimes they are so thick they are like ice cream. So I made a batch by mixing frozen mango pieces with coconut milk and water. Yum.

So even though I have removed so many things from my diet I definitely don't feel deprived. It just takes more time and planning.

Posted by songdawg at 8:04 PM | My Life

January 9, 2007

What doesn't kill me gives me hives...

Well, that what it feels like lately. And this is the year that I get to the bottom of it. I love reading stories of people who have figured out the key to what was making their lives hell come out of it bouncing for joy. Like Gluten Free Girl for example.

So I am putting my super sleuth hat on and tracking the foods I eat (very tedious). The first two suspects are gluten and casein (dairy products). I thought I had cut out gluten for a week but it turns out that it is very sneaky and even though I have cut down I still have been eating it. I will try again once the casein experiment is over.

And milk is also in a lot of products. But it's been 4 days of no cheese, yogurt, butter etc and no coffee since I never liked the stuff without cream. Wow - did I ever have a caffeine withdrawal headache. So it's been four days and my skin got a lot worse but seems to be a little better. From what I have read it could take up to two weeks. It's worth the effort to get to the bottom of it.

Here are some inspiring vegan cooking blogs that I have been reading. Since vegan food doesn't have eggs or dairy the only modification I need to make to the recipes is to use gluten free products.

Posted by songdawg at 9:31 PM | Comments (3) | My Life

January 7, 2007

Awareness

Between stimulus and response is the freedom to choose.
Viktor Frankl

Posted by songdawg at 9:21 AM | My Life

November 28, 2006

Feels like -41

Yup - it's a little fresh in E-town.

Posted by songdawg at 8:13 AM | My Life

October 30, 2006

October 30th

Winter is here. I am trying to shake off this cold. Still coughing lots - annoying everyone around me in the process.

Berkeley cuddling on the couch.

Posted by songdawg at 8:31 PM | My Life

October 28, 2006

Week Update

What a week - lots going and I am slowly recovering from a chest cold.

On Thursday we went to see Bonnie Raitt (opening act was Maia Sharp) . Thursday and Friday I went to a project management course. All great but I am wiped out - mostly it is the cold.

Tonight we are going to Blues on Whyte to see Kenny Blues Boss Wayne. Russell Jackson is playing with him and borrowed my new Eminence bass so I get to hear what it sounds like.

Here's a picture my Mom sent of her two new cats Maybelle and Sammy. Can't wait to visit my Mom - maybe this spring.

Last week I was scanning my favourite bass site TalkBass.com and came across a discussion thread about best albums featuring the double bass. I took some of the suggestions and checked them out of the library - artists like Duncan McTier, Brian Brombeg, Charlie Hadden, Ray Brown, Willie Dixon, Ron Carter and Marc Dresser.

It snowed last night so I am just going to stay inside sipping mint tea and listening to new bass-centric music. It's going to be a good day.

Posted by songdawg at 8:39 AM | My Life

June 8, 2006

Comments closed for the time being

Hi Folks,

Comments will be closed for the time being - I am getting comment spam like you wouldn't believe. I just don't have time right now to sort through it to approve the real comments. So I am very sorry if you have left a comment and I have missed it.

The rumour is that once I upgrade my blogging software to the latest version I won't have as much of a spam comment problem so I will enable them back to on as soon as I find the time to do that. Until then just drop me a line.

Posted by songdawg at 4:58 PM | My Life

May 17, 2006

Back from Montreal

Montreal was amazing - what an great conference and what warm people. I had a blast and definitely want to save up to go again next year. I'll write more about the people I met at a later post.

Right now I am very tired and hot - the air conditioning isn't functioning at work and Edmonton is sweltering - it was 30 degrees outside today and who knows how much inside. Plus everyone in the city is hyped up about the Oilers game tonight - craaazy. (Go Oilers Go!;)

Bought our Marianne Faithfull tickets!

Well, I am off to go clear my comment spam - I have been getting over 200 a day so my apologies if I have accidently deleted your comments.

Posted by songdawg at 7:30 PM | My Life

May 9, 2006

Cellulaire

On Saturday when my Mom and I were walking around downtown Montreal we stopped to get a book. I saw a paperback copy of Stephen King's new book and decided to pick it up. It wasn't until we got back to the hotel that I realized I had bought the french translation. I can't remember the last time I read something in french.

Well, I have been slowly working through it and last night I had trouble putting it down - it's very good. Post-apocalyptic and kind of creepy - all about some kind of virus affecting people through their cell phones. So I read a few chapters and drifted off to sleep. Until the cell phone rang - which jolted me awake and freaked me out - funny how Stephen King novels get under your skin. It was Carol saying hello - we agreed to connect the next day.

So I drifted off to sleep again. Only to wake up in a start - by a fire alarm. For a few seconds I thought the world was coming apart. Maybe I have too much imagination and shouldn't be reading scary books at night alone in a strange city. It was a false alarm and went off again about an hour later. Getting up this morning was hard.

But it was a great day. Devteach is a good conference - it has excellent speakers and is small enough that you can meet them, ask questions etc. I am glad I came.

Well, I am bushed and going to crash. First though I think I'll just read a few more pages...

Posted by songdawg at 8:07 PM | My Life

May 8, 2006

Montreal

Yoga was awesome - I feel so much better - a little sore but all the kinks from sleeping in a different bed and from sitting all day are gone. I picked up some veggie sushi and a drink from the local depanneur and I am kicking back.

The session Introduction to Visual Studio 2005 Development With VB.NET today was good - the presenters were great even if the content was geared more towards .NET newbies. But I picked up some new tips about Visual Studio 2005 and got to play with the tools a lot. I had fun exploring Nullable Types, Table Adapters and Master Pages. One of the presenters - Rod Paddock - will be speaking in Edmonton on May 25th at 5:30pm for the Edmonton .NET User Group.

I met another Edmontian named Evan this morning and we had a good talk about Test Driven Development. I still don't get it - probably because where I work we autogenerate the "plumbing" business and data services so there is no need to write tests for them. What interests me is testing the stored procedures and presentation layers - maybe on Friday's Test-Driven Development (TDD) Hand-on workshop by Scott Bellware session a lot of my questions will be answered.

I would load up some pictures of my trip but for some reason the upload function isn't working on my blog.

Tomorrow is the first official day of the conference. I'll see how it goes with soaking up as much as possible without burning out :)

Posted by songdawg at 7:16 PM | My Life

Montreal!

I am here in "La Belle Province" and loving it. Montreal is such a beautiful city. I met my Mom here on Saturday evening and we headed off to explore la Rue Ste-Catherine. Lots of shops and even more people window-shopping. And here the pedestrians rule - doesn't matter if the light is green or not most people (except for tourists like us) just walk across streets. And sometimes they even look before they cross.

We ended up at an amazing Japanese restaurant called sho-dan. We started with miso soup which was delicious - not too salty. Then we had some off the menu vegetarian rice paper rolls with a black sesame dressing. We also had had the avocado maki and the vegetarian maki. It was beautifully presented and taaaaasty. We finished with a bit of mango and pear sherberts.

It was great seeing my Mom - we caught up and had a relaxing time walking around and checking out downtown Montreal. And eating of course - montreal bagels with cream cheese at a deli, cheese and fruit and salad on a patio. It was great - wish we lived closer - it would be great to meet up for a casual lunch whenever we wanted. I saw her off on the train on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday evening I had a quiet time in the hotel room surfing the web and watching Desperate Housewives (TV!!!!!!). Lame I know but it's been so long since I vegged and watched cable that I just had to indulge.

Well, gotta head off to a yoga class at Yoga Classique. I'll blog more later.

Posted by songdawg at 3:52 PM | My Life

April 9, 2006

Victoria 2006

My trip to Victoria with Carol was amazing - I can't believe it took me so long to blog about it. Here's a run down of what we did - thanks to Carol for being so organized and sending me pics, notes and links.

Thursday night
Carol and I both left in the afternoon. I was flying out of Edmonton and my flight was delayed by an hour and a half because of snow. She ended up having a one hour sailing wait at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal in Vancouver. She picked me up at the Victoria Airport and we headed to town.

We checked into the Magnolia Hotel and dropped our bags off in our room. Then we headed out for a late dinner of chicken marsala (moi) and spinach pasta with pesto (Carol) at Pagliacci’s. We had to bring an umbrella because of the huge snowflakes that were coming down (and here I had visions of Victoria in the springtime but get snow when I arrive).

Magnolia Hotel Lobby

SUPER singles beds in our room

Friday
After a continental breakfast at the hotel, we were off to The Yoga Shala studio for a Ashtanga Basics class at noon.

We then drove into Oak Bay and treated ourselves to massages at the Vitality Treatment Centre.

Bloomin' Cherry Tree

Then a late lunch of miso soup and salad at the famous Rebar vegetarian restaurant. Which is now one of my favourite restaurants in the world.

Then an evening 1 ½ hr restorative yoga class at the MokSana yoga studio in Fan Tan Alley. (yep, carol actually fell asleep in a back-bending posture towards the end of the class … zzzzzzz)

And back to our comfortable hotel room for hot showers/baths, a bit of comedy on TV (This Hour has 22 and Just For Laughs or something like that) and a late supper of Greek pizza deliver via room service accompanied by champagne (Bollinger of course).

Saturday
After continental breakfast at the hotel, I was off to visit my long time friend Rufus Stewart of Rufus' Island Guitar Shop. Rufus loos like he's doing great - it was wonderful to catch up.

Meanwhile since Carol didn't get enough of her massage the previous day, she headed back to the Vitality Treatment Centre for more work on her shoulders/neck and an adjustment to correct her left hip after a few learning-to-snowboard falls the previous week (nice bruise!)

We reunited back in front of the hotel after Toby took a nice walk back from visiting Rufus through Beacon Hill park with a stop along the way for some Bernard Callebaut chocolate.

Back to Rebar to share another one of their fabulous house salads and some fresh fruit juice blends to energize our bodies in preparation for a 2 hr Bikrams Yoga class (oh yeah, it’s the HOT yoga!). Can't believe I signed up for it and that I survived. And I did though I don't know if I will EVER do it again.

Soggy yoga mats drying in our hotel room.

After much needed showers back at our hotel room (during my shower Carol managed to set off the smoke alarm while lighting incense - which caused a dilemma since the shower felt so good I didn't want to get out but was wondering if the hotel staff were on their way - I opted to stay), we set off in search of dinner and found ourselves at the Wild Saffron Bistro (a recommendation we’d received the last time we visited the Magnolia Hotel, but were unable to dine there as they were closed the evening we chose).

It was a FANTASTIC dinner: I had a blackberry chicken entrée accompanied by a BC sauvignon blanc and Carol had roasted lamb tenderloin accompanied by an Australian shiraz. Yum Yum

Sunday

After our last continental breakfast at the hotel, we had a walk around Victoria to capture some photo evidence of our trip.

East Entrance to Bastion Square

Boats docked next to Wharf Street

West side of Wharf Street

West entrance to Bastion Square

West end of Johnston Street

BC Parliament Buildings

Willow and Flowers

Tall Ship

Tall Ship - inner harbour

Sailboats and the Parliament

Coffee at the Rising Star deli (and retrieval of a stray scarf Toby accidentally left at the Yoga Shala studio).

Carol with a Canadiano

Me post-Bikram

Then back to the hotel to pack up our bags and head to the Victoria airport in time for my flight back to Edmonton (via Calgary … where there was a power outage … much delay … and LOST luggage!)

Carol managed to catch the 1pm ferry out of Swartz Bay back to the mainland - and even took some photos along the way to share with Toby later.

If was a fantastic weekend - can't wait to do it again! I am all for making it an annual tradition.

Posted by songdawg at 12:39 PM | My Life

February 21, 2006

Vegan Lunch Box

I love the site Vegan Lunch Box - wish it was my lunch that she was making. Every day there's a new vegan lunch - lots of variety - looks great. Love the lunch box too.

Posted by songdawg at 6:18 AM | Comments (3) | My Life

January 15, 2006

Medic Alert Bracelet

I wear a medic alert bracelet. I am supposed to wear it everyday but it is clunky looking, hard to put on and doesn't quite fit right. I sometimes would go for days without wearing it. And then I came up with an idea for an interchangeable/resizable bracelet and I met Maggie Murray of Delvin Designs. And she made my idea happen. Now I wear my medic alert all the time.

My new bracelets are very fine and beautiful, the stones include moon stone, fresh water pearls, turquoise, tiger's eye. The medic alert part is the heaviest part and ends up on the inside of my wrist where it isn't obvious - it just looks like a pretty bracelet. If you are interested in one of these bracelets contact Maggie Murray of Delvin Designs

Posted by songdawg at 10:50 AM | Comments (1) | My Life

December 4, 2005

Real Albertan Now

Well, I feel like an official Albertan now. Bought my first pair of Sorels. And a long down jacket. Folks it's all about keeping warm.

Posted by songdawg at 6:50 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

October 13, 2005

Newsy Update

Every year when fall rolls around my hibernating instincts kick in. There is lots to do like the concert Woodbend is playing tomorrow, the yoga I do every day, playing with Wildwood Flower, hanging out my wonderful and talented husband, learning new songs like One More Dollar (Gillian Welch), The Long Ride Home (Patty Griffin) and Rhonda Vincent's version of Jolene (which kicks) and my great new job where I am learning all about OLAP and data warehousing (which is very cool but demands that I look at data in a new light - call to my techy friends - if you ever want to go out for a drink and talk about it let me know - like I said it is very cool).

But even with all these wonderful things it seems that every October I just kind of 'fall' into a funk. The days are getting shorter and every morning when I drive to work while the sun is coming up I just wish I was in bed - and staying there all day.

Been checking out some fine Edmonton blogs, two of note include:
Digital Dream Machine: My favourite post so far is the Tortoise Walk.
Bill's Blog Crazy Ass Planet: I think I worked with him at TELUS when I was working on the alberta.com team. Small world, interesting blog.

On the home front, Marshall has set up some dates to go into the studio and continue recording his CD. John Wilds wherever you are you are greatly missed. Another wonderful person that I miss is Deana Dufresne. I can't believe it has been a year since she passed. I guess that was just a gentle reminder to not take anything or anyone in your life for granted. Cause you never know.

Oh and I recently got an amazing gift in the mail. Matante Lyne who is so thoughful and a great keeper of traditions sent me some seeds from my Great-Grandmother. Carol called them Heirloom Seeds which is a great name. I can't wait to plant them in the spring and see them blooming in my backyard. That's only what? About 6 months away.

Posted by songdawg at 5:20 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

September 9, 2005

Life is short, but wide.

Perfect music for a fall day: Neil Young's The Painter from his new album Prairie Wind.

Posted by songdawg at 5:17 PM | My Life

August 15, 2005

Return of the Pink Panther

Had a quiet weekend mostly sleeping and watching movies trying to work through this nasty cold. We're watching some Pink Panther movies. Marshall's been walking around the house quoting "Is that a booomp on yer hed?" and "Does yer dog biiite?"

I am currently downloading some live concert recordings from Rockygrass (recorded by Brian Skalinder) to listen to on my way to Shady Grove this weekend. I am using BitTorrent. Also downloading some Del McCoury, Crossed-Eyed Rosie and Little Feat files from Internet Archive.

Sam - Marshall said you would be interested in this.

Posted by songdawg at 8:03 PM | My Life

July 14, 2005

Moving

I have finally made the move to my new blog home from http://www.doctorblues.com/Toby/ to www.songdawg.com. When you have a moment please update your links, favourites and bookmarks.

Posted by songdawg at 5:46 PM | My Life

July 12, 2005

Hostas

Can't believe how big the hostas are getting.

Posted by songdawg at 8:13 PM | My Life

June 21, 2005

Counting

Only three more days until a weekend full of mountains, music and relaxing:

Canadian Rockies Bluegrass Festival

Posted by songdawg at 10:37 PM | My Life

May 18, 2005

Garden photos

Iris Prairie Crocus

Posted by songdawg at 8:37 PM | My Life

May 7, 2005

Spring

Finally some green. I think spring might be here.

Posted by songdawg at 5:27 PM | My Life

May 3, 2005

ACL

Posted by songdawg at 6:35 AM | My Life

April 18, 2005

New camera lens

I bought a telephoto camera lens for my digital camera and wanted to test it out as soon as I got to my car. These seagulls were across a parking lot. Feels like summer is coming. Funny that there are seagulls in a land locked city.

Posted by songdawg at 7:17 PM | My Life

January 13, 2005

It's cold

Today .. Sunny. High minus 27.
Tonight .. Clear. Low minus 34.
Friday .. Sunny. Wind becoming west 20 km/h in the morning. High minus 21. Extreme wind chill minus 41.

No time to blog... I am spending all my energy on keeping warm.

Posted by songdawg at 6:20 AM | My Life

December 24, 2004

Christmas Atkins

It's Holiday party time. On Wednesday we went to the NBCMS Christmas party. I was pretty low energy so we went home after visiting for a bit. Last night we went to a co-worker's house for a get together - it was fun - good tunes, drinks, pizza and pool. We played a fun game towards the end so that more people could play. Everyone picked a token to get a number (1-16) and kept it hidden. The person whose ball is the last one on the table wins. If you were lucky enough to get #16 you automatically win since there are only 15 balls. So everyone takes a turn shooting, if you sink someone's ball they are out. It was a fun evening and reminded me how much I love to play pool. Oh and the Soy Nog was good but I still on the fence about the Nog and Screech.

I am fully enjoying having today off. I did get out of pjs to go buy some supplies (food, wine and books) but came home as quickly as possible - it is a zoo out there! Last night Shannon and Dixon were at the party and told us about their experience with the Atkins diet (he lost 48 lbs and they both have more energy). The idea of eating all that meat grosses me out but sounds like heaven to Marshall. So I bought him some books (Atkins Essentials/ Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution /Atkins Shopping Guide Bundle ) for him to read. I got a copy of the Low-Carb Vegetarian, I just can't wrap my head around eating so much meat. And I have allergies to eggs, pork, shrimp, scallops and cashews which are all great sources of protein. I guess I will just have to read up and see what it is about.

I also picked up a copy of SQL Server 2000 Stored Procedures & XML for some light holiday reading and playing.

So back to my sitting and reading while sipping green tea and munching on chocolates (Non-atkins I am sure). Tonight we carry on the holiday tradition of popcorn and a movie at the local cinema. The last few years has been an easy pick - Lord of the Ring. This year is a compromise. I want to see Meet the Fockers or Spanglish and Marshall wants to see Blade 3 so we compromised on Nicholas Cage in National Treasure. Nice to have traditions even if they are unorthodox :)

Oh and if you can go see The Incredibles - it's a great fun movie. We went on a night when there were a lot of kids and it was great to hear 200+ kids giggling.

Posted by songdawg at 2:05 PM | My Life

September 28, 2004

Yogaaah... again

Posted by songdawg at 5:08 PM | My Life

September 9, 2004

SNOW

I can't believe it - from sandals to mittens in 4 days.

Posted by songdawg at 7:25 AM | My Life

July 23, 2004

Chip

Backyard wildlife eating a piece of apple

Posted by songdawg at 10:06 PM | My Life

July 11, 2004

Hail in July

Posted by songdawg at 11:49 PM | Comments (3) | My Life

June 29, 2004

Day off

Posted by songdawg at 4:20 PM | My Life

June 3, 2004

Apples

Our apple tree is in full bloom - looks like we are going to have an amazing harvest this year.

Posted by songdawg at 7:15 AM | My Life

May 27, 2004

Best Dressed Bass

Posted by songdawg at 9:48 PM | Comments (1) | My Life

April 14, 2004

White stuff

Posted by songdawg at 7:08 AM | My Life

April 12, 2004

Phew... Catch up on blogging

Posted by songdawg at 10:14 AM | Comments (2) | My Life

April 4, 2004

Nude in Armchair

Posted by songdawg at 1:20 PM | Comments (1) | My Life

April 2, 2004

Back to the Land of the Living

Posted by songdawg at 6:12 AM | Comments (1) | My Life

March 30, 2004

Gogoi steps up

Posted by songdawg at 8:19 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

March 25, 2004

Dinner Alone

Kicked out of the house so the Buffalo Brothers can practice. So I grabbed my laptop and left with the best intentions of getting work done. Instead I ended up eating alone at a restaurant while reading a book. It was a great escape - like a mini-vacation. This morning I put up the poster for Deits' Music Benefit at www.wildwoodbluegrass.com.

Posted by songdawg at 7:18 AM | Comments (6) | My Life

March 17, 2004

Juggling

Posted by songdawg at 7:13 AM | My Life

March 7, 2004

Blog mess

Posted by songdawg at 8:41 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

February 2, 2004

Drive carefully

Drive carefully folks! It's winter out there.

Whytemud freeway
Sunday, February 1st

Posted by songdawg at 7:45 AM | Comments (1) | My Life

February 1, 2004

The Graces

La Primavera: The Three Graces Artist: Sandro Botticelli The Three Graces Aglaia personified beauty and/or radiance Euphrosyne personified joy Thalia personified blooming or flowering The Graces were the three goddesses of joy, beauty, charm, happiness, and feasts. Hesiod gave the three goddesses the names of Thalia (Good Cheer), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Aglaia (Splendor). Aside from being representatives of beauty and charm, they were also thought to represent the personifications of overall joy and well-being. They delighted the gods with their songs, dances, and charm. They were known as the "queens of song". Flower: Rose Tree: Myrtle Symbol: Dice

Posted by songdawg at 6:32 PM | My Life

January 31, 2004

Firetrucks

Woke up this morning to some excitement on our block. Five firetrucks and an ATCO Gas van were parked across the street working on a house. Scary sight especially after this week of fires in Edmonton. Monday this week: Condo fire leaves many homeless Tuesday: A new Chinese grocery store fire Wednesday: Edm fire crews battle plant blaze in icy conditions, evacuate 15-block area Well, the trucks have all left from our street so hopefully everything is alright. Gotta go pack for the Winter Jam camp.

Posted by songdawg at 10:19 AM | Comments (2) | My Life

January 29, 2004

It's sooo Cold

It's so cold that the clothes I left overnight it the dryer that were a little damp are now frozen solid.

Now that's cold.

Posted by songdawg at 7:18 AM | Comments (1) | My Life

January 28, 2004

Back from Victoria

I had a great time in Victoria. The -39 degrees took my breath away walking from the Edmonton airport terminal to the parking lot. Marshall picked me up in the Bass Case cause his little car is stranded at the Ranch - it is so cold it won't start.

Brrrrrrr. Even with the cold I am still glad to be home.

Posted by songdawg at 7:28 AM | Comments (3) | My Life

January 24, 2004

Pheonix

OK - I think this is the design: Pheonix rising from the flames

And I think I know why I am so into finding a great design for my case. It's cause I can't get a tattoo so this is the closest thing to it :)

Posted by songdawg at 11:20 PM | Comments (3) | My Life

January 23, 2004

Update Bass case embroidery

Looks like I will need to choose an embroidery design from the following two sites: http://www.dakotacollectibles.com or http://www.greatnotions.com.

I was thinking of either flowers or a coyote. Songdawg or rather songdog is a nickname for coyote. The dawg spelling is a tribute to David Grisman the onventor of dawg music. I could add my web address under it. Here's a coyote design that I am considering:
http://www.dakotacollectibles.com/comm/stock_detail.asp?stockcode=MI0349&view=. I will have to look at more designs. This is so exciting - my very own bass case.

More dog images:

http://www.dakotacollectibles.com/comm/stock_detail.asp?stockcode=CH0293&view=

http://www.dakotacollectibles.com/comm/stock_detail.asp?stockcode=CH0854&view=

http://www.dakotacollectibles.com/comm/stock_detail.asp?stockcode=MI2055&view=

Or Dogwood? http://www.dakotacollectibles.com/comm/stock_detail.asp?stockcode=FL0833&view=

Posted by songdawg at 8:20 AM | My Life

January 9, 2004

Morning commute

	Early winter morning commute
	My New Year's Resolution: To take the stairs whenever I can. So twice a day I trek it up 7 flights of stairs. The first time I thought I was going to die my heart was beating so fast. But by the end of this week it's already better. Working the quads.

Posted by songdawg at 8:33 PM | My Life

January 8, 2004

Little Christmas etc

Posted by songdawg at 7:54 PM | My Life

January 7, 2004

Torticollis

Posted by songdawg at 7:25 AM | Comments (4) | My Life

January 4, 2004

Something strange

Looks like something strange has happened to the formatting of my page - not sure what's going on and I wish I had the energy to figure it out. Wonder if it has to do with the domain masking I set up with godaddy.com. If anyone has an insight let me know.

Update: Yup, it was the masking. I removed it and everything seems to be fine.

Posted by songdawg at 7:17 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

December 27, 2003

Ice on Whyte Festival 2003

Posted by songdawg at 10:14 PM | My Life

December 26, 2003

Christmas socks

Posted by songdawg at 9:35 PM | My Life

December 22, 2003

I am a Non-Smoker

Posted by songdawg at 12:11 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

December 18, 2003

It's a fiddle thing

Posted by songdawg at 8:03 AM | My Life

New shoulder rest

Posted by songdawg at 7:53 AM | My Life

December 14, 2003

Dark Early

Posted by songdawg at 10:52 AM | My Life

Lazy Sunday

Posted by songdawg at 10:47 AM | My Life

December 2, 2003

That sinking feeling

Posted by songdawg at 5:03 PM | My Life

November 14, 2003

Vagina Monologues Auditions

Edmonton International Women’s Day committee is again staging a benefit performance of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues. This year the performance will take place on February 28, 2004 at the Provincial Museum, but there's a lot of fun to be had before the curtain goes up!

Women and girls are encouraged to audition for volunteer roles as monologue presenters and in supporting roles. No theatre experience is necessary; just enthusiasm and a wish to participate in an event dedicated at ending violence against women and girls.

Auditions will take place on Saturday, November 29, 2003 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you want to take the stage and support this great cause, call 423-4102 and ask for Liana or Tarra to schedule your audition time.

Posted by songdawg at 2:46 PM | My Life

Garudasana: The Eagle

I had a private lesson with my yoga instructor last night and she create a routine to help strengthen and stretch my arms, shoulders, wrists and hands. It’s intense – I can’t do any of the pushup type exercises yet. I am going to be soooo buff!

Here's one of my favourite poses to help loosen shoulders: Garudasana. I do a modified version that doesn't include the legs but only the upper body.

Posted by songdawg at 7:33 AM | Comments (2) | My Life

November 3, 2003

Still snowing

Posted by songdawg at 9:07 AM | My Life

October 28, 2003

Brrrrrrr...

Posted by songdawg at 8:10 PM | My Life

October 18, 2003

Lyle Lovett has a new album out

Posted by songdawg at 11:23 AM | My Life

October 14, 2003

Slow cooker

I bought a 5 quart crock pot last week and have been cooking up a storm. I love the idea of throwing a bunch of things together and tadaaaah! 8 hours later I have a yummy stew. Takes about 7 minutes to pull together, my kind of cooking. So far I have made:

• Beef stew with sweet potatoe, potato and carrots
  
• Turkey stew with parsnip, acorn squash, carrots and celery (with sage and paprika). I also made some stuffing in a box: President's Choice cranberry stuffing which was quite good.
  
• Beef stew with lima beans, carrots, potato, celery and peas with dumplings
  

I freeze any leftovers for lunches. Yum yum. If you have any great recipes let me know.

Posted by songdawg at 5:20 PM | My Life

October 10, 2003

Churchill Square

Walked by Churchill Square a couple of days ago to go to the library to borrow some cds (they have an excellent collection). The whole park is boarded up and under construction. Seems the city is building an underground parking lot and rebuilding the park. These two guys were air brushing the fence.

Posted by songdawg at 11:27 PM | My Life

Photo Friday - Translucent

This week's Photo Friday theme is "Translucent". I feel like I am cheating by taking a photo I took last Spring but here it is. I was sitting in my car during the first spring rain trying to get the momentum to dash to the office in the downpour.

Posted by songdawg at 9:08 AM | Comments (2) | My Life

October 9, 2003

Adding Categories

I am adding past entries to categories, so if the past entries come up as unread - well that's why!

Posted by songdawg at 8:03 AM | My Life

October 3, 2003

Business Adjustment

Posted by songdawg at 8:29 AM | My Life

October 1, 2003

Fall

The leaves are turning

Edmonton downtown on a crisp and hazy morning

From my living room window

Posted by songdawg at 5:27 PM | Comments (1) | My Life

September 19, 2003

Yogaaaaaah!

I have been inpired lately by Les, Chantal and now my Mom. They are all taking yoga and are loving it. I have taken it in the past with Carol and it was great. It is such a good release, I usually feel more relaxed and happy.

Lately I have been in a funk and very grumpy I decided it was time. So in the latest community newsletter I noticed an ad for yoga classes. The amazing thing is that they are about 2 blocks from my house - perfect! So I went to my first class last night and enjoyed it. I wish I could do it everyday. It was great.

Posted by songdawg at 7:34 AM | Comments (2) | My Life

September 16, 2003

It's snowing - Sept 16, 2003

Fall is officially still 5 days away and it's snowing. The summer was just way too short! Now, where did I pack my gloves and boots?

Posted by songdawg at 10:40 AM | My Life

August 1, 2003

Cool summer doggie

Quick snap of a cool summer doggie:

Posted by songdawg at 8:16 AM | My Life

CIPS Telus Field event

Posted by songdawg at 8:14 AM | My Life

Andrei's birthday

Posted by songdawg at 8:10 AM | My Life

Aug 1, 2003

My skin has flared again. I was really slipping on watching my diet, guess it's time to get back to it: no eggs, nuts, kiwi, milk, wheat, seafood, chocolate, sugar or alcohol. Oh, and no cheese - I had pizza twice this week and I think that is what really did it. Lots of meat, rice/potatoes and veggies. Guess I'll BBQ a bunch of stuff and freeze it. Time to refocus.

Great online book for kids with ezcema. http://www.undermyskin.com/

Posted by songdawg at 7:39 AM | My Life

July 31, 2003

July 31, 2003

The more stuff you have the more time you spend investing in that stuff...

Lately we have been gathering more stuff. I have been spending so much time and energy in the last while on selecting, buying, delivering, setting up, cleaning and maintaining all this stuff. It's really quite interesting, I feel like a typical north american consumer gobbling up resources.

And now I am spending time and energy fixing the stuff. In the past few days our new dishwasher doesn't work properly, the new car's windshield got a rock chip which turned into a huge crack and this morning, horror of horrors - our internet connection stopped working. What is going on? My life is all about stuff! It's taking over my life!

But I am staying on top and taking care of business. I set up an appointment for the dishwasher service person (they can only come during business hours - I have to take a whole day off of work for my dishwasher?!), got the windshield replaced (why can't Ford make a rock resistent windshield?) and reconnected to the internet (the router's ac adapter blew so I had to buy a new adapter).

Makes me think the the less stuff you have the better... except of course for those pesky conveniences like my car, dishwasher and internet connection :)

I am a consumer.

Posted by songdawg at 12:51 PM | My Life

July 28, 2003

July 28. 2003

I have been so busy with renos, my mom's visit, and the Calgary Folk fest that I haven't had time to update my blog. Tonight we start setting up our home office - which means pics of the last few weeks are coming soon.

Blueberry is this weekend! My fingers are out of shape. If I am going to survive the marathon jamming sessions I better start gearing up this week. Time to start thumping that dawghouse!

Posted by songdawg at 7:30 AM | My Life

July 1, 2003

July 1, 2003

We are buying our first couch. Here are a few that we liked and that were comfortable. Which one do you think would look best? They are all about the same colour: chocolate brown. But it's hard to judge the colour because of the flash.
Divano? I like the wood and the shape. It isn't as long as the others though.
Divano Sofa	Divano Love seat
Utah?
Utah Sofa	Utah Love seat
Fiery?
Fiery Sofa	Fiery Love Seat
We might get this chair for the office. It is sooo comfortable.

Posted by songdawg at 4:15 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

June 29, 2003

Renos continued some more

Posted by songdawg at 7:58 AM | My Life

June 16, 2003

June 16, 2003

Good news - the carpet was ripped out and the hardwood underneath looks great. Tomorrow it'll be finished! Here are some (crooked sorry!) pics of the living room and bedroom.

Before (pics from when we first moved in 3 years ago):

Now:

We heard a couple of reno horror stories - we have been soooo lucky.

Posted by songdawg at 9:43 PM | My Life

June 16, 2003

The C Word: and how I learned to love it (website)
How a woman who used to grit her teeth at the C word learned to love it through a book, an inspirational author, and a bonding experience.

Posted by songdawg at 7:33 AM | My Life

June 15, 2003

July 15, 2003

Posted by songdawg at 4:21 PM | My Life

June 10, 2003

June 10, 2003

It's about time.

I am busy this evening trying to download the video Marshall took this weekend and burn it to cd. Also starting to pack so that we'll be ready for the floor renovations. I am tired and low spirits - I think it's the weather. It's so cloudy and dreary.

Posted by songdawg at 6:34 PM | My Life

June 2, 2003

June 2, 2003

"Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!" - Bill Paxton in Aliens

I am getting my ass kicked - by my allergies! Must be the tons of pollen in the air.

Posted by songdawg at 6:46 AM | My Life

May 31, 2003

Bathroom Renos Done!

Before After The bathroom renos are done - mostly! Just waiting for the black tiles for the bottom trim of the wall to come in. We just have to add those touches - curtains, cupboard door handles, prints on the wall, etc. I can't wait to try the bath out!

Posted by songdawg at 7:59 PM | My Life

May 30, 2003

Photo Friday - May 30

Posted by songdawg at 7:41 AM | Comments (2) | My Life

May 29, 2003

May 29, 2003

Posted by songdawg at 7:19 AM | My Life

May 28, 2003

Bathroom renos cont....

Posted by songdawg at 11:16 PM | Comments (1) | My Life

May 26, 2003

Bathroom renos - tiles!

Bathroom with tiles on the wall! We are also renovating the little bathroom in our bedroom. It's coming along - can't wait until it's done. I had no idea how dusty and smelly and dirty renos are. But I think it will be well worth it.

Posted by songdawg at 7:15 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

May 22, 2003

Bathroom Renos cont...

We now have a tub!

Posted by songdawg at 9:29 PM | My Life

May 22, 2003

Posted by songdawg at 9:28 PM | Comments (2) | My Life

May 16, 2003

May 16, 2003

Posted by songdawg at 8:48 AM | Comments (1) | My Life

May 11, 2003

Bathroom Renos

Posted by songdawg at 7:18 PM | My Life

May 11, 2203

M Spent last night, watching chick flicks. M went out and did the blues thing. Lonely but it was nice to chill out and get a little space so I could relax.

Posted by songdawg at 11:08 AM | My Life

May 9, 2003

May 9, 2003

Bus driver hooking up the bus to the wires. I had never seen that before. Today is photo friday and the theme is urban.

Posted by songdawg at 7:43 AM | Comments (2) | My Life

May 8, 2003

May 8, 2003

Downtown building At the Bluegrass Jam Woman with guitar

Posted by songdawg at 7:20 PM | My Life

May 7, 2003

First Rain

At least it's not snow. Rumour has it there are hundreds of pigeons that live in this tunnel and that the city has a programme to catch and relocate them.

Posted by songdawg at 6:49 PM | My Life

May 6, 2003

New camera

Exchanged the new Pentax Optio S for a Canon Powershot A70. I like it better already. This rooster is part of our metal animal sculpture collection that we put in our garden when it isn't snowing. And yup it's still snowing, the heavy snowfall warning should end sometime tomorrow.

Posted by songdawg at 7:44 PM | My Life

May 5, 2003

More snow

Another snowy day	Elena
My current cubicle	Squeak
Gogoi

Posted by songdawg at 8:29 PM | My Life

May 4, 2003

Still Snowing

Still snowing...

Posted by songdawg at 11:40 AM | My Life

April 30, 2003

Honda Ad

This has been getting a lot of pass-along lately. A TV ad for Honda that uses an intricate Rube Goldberg getup: http://home.attbi.com/~bernhard36/honda-ad.html

M's mom is feeling better every day and should be going home on Saturday.

Since I drowned my digital camera I have been looking into buying a new one and it looks like the best one for us will be the Canon Powershot A70. M would rather have a digital video camera so that we can record his parents' telling their story. Looks like the Sony DCR-TRV33 is the best bet. One of the helpful sites is the CNET reviews section: it has comparisons, specification, user reviews etc. It is american so all of the dollar amounts need to be converted. I am definitely not an expert when it comes to comparison shopping for this stuff - if anyone has some insight send me an email or post a comment!

Posted by songdawg at 7:22 AM | Comments (2) | Funny and/or Cool | My Life

April 27, 2003

Heavy Snowfall Warning

No joke - Environment Canada has a Heavy Snowfall Warning for the region.

I would show you a picture but I fried my trusty digital camera by accidently spilling water on/in it. Way to go! It's an older model - I bought it in January 1999, it is getting obsolete but still worked great for web photos.

I worked out this morning so I feel pretty good. I am going to have lunch with Marshall and watch the snow fall while listening to CKUA.

Posted by songdawg at 11:05 AM | My Life

April 22, 2003

Furnace Dude

I am cranky and tired and I am going to rant a little...

The furnace ordeal took 9 HOURS and cost $900!

Furnace Dude was here until 12:15 last night - he was obviously overtired and not thinking straight. He had to change the gas valve - it took him over 40 minutes just to take it off, seems when his company installed the furnace they put it on too tight. Then he had to go and get a replacement (Should you go get and test one before you take the old one off?). The replacement didn't work so he had to get another one. Then he had to change the ignition - which seemed to work before he started working on our furnace but stopped during his fixing. It was a crazy long night. Which cost us $900 for parts including a $65 visit fee.

The furnace is only 5 years old and we didn't realize that our warranty was up about a month ago - BURN!

I have no idea if the repairs were all necessary and if it's normal for a furnace to only last 5 years before you have to replace the major parts - the original furnace cost $1500 - the repairs $900. The downside about owning a home is having to learn about all of this stuff that I would rather be oblivious to.

Posted by songdawg at 7:07 AM | My Life

April 15, 2003

More Snow

Woke up to more snow this morning - I can't believe it. Here's a picture of our back yard through the screen in the back room. Come on summer! I worked out last night for the first time in two months and I am not even sore this morning. I am going to try to keep it up and work out at least 3 times a week, it really makes me feel more relaxed and focussed. Maybe even make a habit out of it...

Posted by songdawg at 10:27 PM | My Life

April 10, 2003

Geeks I Work With

I am back working at the Sierra Highfield office, picture are some of the Geeks I work with.

David the 'Magic Man" "This Hour has 22 minutes loving from down east" Mike Jon the Film Major turned Java guru Jason all-round hardware->software geek

Posted by songdawg at 9:59 PM | My Life

April 8, 2003

Getting Things Done

I signed up for an online course with Barnes and Noble University. They have a bunch of free courses on everything from Astrology to Building Web pages. The course I signed up for is called "Getting Things Done". I am a Virgo and when under stress and when I feel my life is too chaotic I have an unresistable urge to organize. Poor M is lonely and neglected while I isolate myself and create order from the chaos. I've read the first two lessons and picked up a couple of tips. So far I have organized my email (sorted through over 200) and organized my Palm Pilot's calendar, memos and to do lists. Aaaah, muchbetter. I have been listening today to the group La Volee d'Castors (The Flock of Beavers for you non-francos), I saw them at the Edmonton Folk Festival two summers ago. This summer's line up includes: Norah Jones, Solomon Burke, Taj Mahal, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, Eric Bibb, Ricky Skaggs and Dar Williams. It's going to be a great weekend. Today was a beautiful day, it reached 11 degrees - I think spring might actually be here... but I won't bet any money on it. The Leprechaun came by today and started the renos. He just needs to sand the wall and paint. Anyone have ideas for paint colour for our living room?

In Progress

Posted by songdawg at 9:07 PM | My Life

April 7, 2003

The Renos Begin

We are finally starting our house renovations. Of course we are going to hire people to do them which has been tough cause this city has been booming. Step one will be to remove the dark mirrored tiles with the gold lines from our living room wall (pictures to the right). Tomorrow our contractor - self-titled The Leprechaun (it's on his business card I swear) will tear them down and patch the wall so its ready for painting after the hardwood has been refinished. Then we'll meet with him tomorrow evening - to give us his quote for the bathroom and to show us some tiles he found that we might like. He seems like a great guy, I hope it works out. So, after 3 years we are finally starting. Here are the before pictures of our house taken when we first moved in. It's going to be great.

Before shots

Posted by songdawg at 10:05 PM | My Life

April 3, 2003

April snow

Here are a few shots of downtown that I took from the office where I am working in the Canadian Western Bank building. It was an OK day except M is in a bad mood and trying to pick a fight. He is blaring the tv which he knows drives me crazy, I am going to try and ignore him - I am just too wiped to deal with it. Marriage - what a crazy institution. He just walked in the room - yup, definitely picking a fight. Silly boy :)

Dreary downtown - to the right Dreary downtown - to the left

Posted by songdawg at 9:36 PM | My Life

Back to Work

I slept on the couch all day yesterday with a couple bouts of daytime tv watching. It's been so long since I have had the flu that I had forgotten what it was like: hit by a bus feeling, sore throat, fever, headache. No pics from yesterday, didn't think my living room ceiling was that interesting.

Though when they were discussing the SARS symptoms on tv, the symptoms sounded very familiar (being flu-like symptoms). LB jokingly asked how M was coping with my having SARS. If you know M at all you would know that he has hypochondriac tendencies and that he would flip:) But I don't even think it crossed his mind. He was a sweetheart: brought me soup, picked up the slack around the house etc.

Well, I am off to work: CIPS meeting at lunch, project deadline to reach for tomorrow afternoon. Hope it's a productive day and flies by. I feel like going back to bed but instead I will point myself towards the door and forge ahead.

Snowed again last night. Forecast for today: Periods of snow and a HIGH of -7.

Posted by songdawg at 7:28 AM | My Life | TrackBack

April 2, 2003

Out of commission

I caught the bug that is going around so I am at home fighting/sleeping it off. I feel terrible. It's a good thing I don't usually catch what is going around and that I bounce back pretty quick. Lots of Vitamin C and water...

Posted by songdawg at 11:36 AM | Comments (2) | My Life

April 1, 2003

Poisson d'Avril

I woke up this morning to find the ground blanketed with snow ...again. Nature's April Fool's joke.

More snow

Posted by songdawg at 7:12 AM | Comments (2) | My Life

March 31, 2003

Monday

Had a great conversation with C - she turned me onto Lyle Lovett (I bought my ticket Saturday). Actually thanks C! Every cd that you have given me has become one of my favourites. You have great taste in music! Gave a demo presentation today which went OK though I wish we were further along on the project. I am going to study for an hour tonight and start gearing up to write my next exam. It would be great to get all 4 written by the summer but I don't think that's realistic - I would have to drop everything and only focus on preparing. It might be worth it for a few months if it means that I get it done - nah... nice thought but it won't happen... I like playing music too much. Here is a link to what inspired me to create this blog: "Feature - Anything and Everything What is Lomography? Forget everything you've learned about photography, just take your camera everywhere you go and take pictures of your life as you live it. Have fun and capture the moment. What should you photograph? Anything and Everything."

Mystery produce Buying groceries - M's fake stern face Driving home - it's soooo flat here

Posted by songdawg at 9:26 PM | Comments (3) | My Life

March 30, 2003

Broken Leg Dream

I don't usually remember my dreams but last night I dreamt that I had broken my left leg. My foot was huge and purple - it looked like a rubber glove that is blown up- puffy with big fat toes. It wasn't painful but I had to go and get a cast. In my dream, my life kept on going, I went to work etc. The only difference was that I had a broken leg with a huge cast on. So I went snooping around the web for dream symbolism and found a site called Dream Moods. Excerpt: "...To dream that your legs are wounded or crippled, signifies a lack of balance, autonomy, or independence in your life. You may be unable or unwilling to stand up for yourself. Perhaps you are lacking courage and refuse to make a stand... ...Generally, the leg relates to the balance in your life and your ability to navigate through life. And to dream that your leg is wounded in some way suggests that you are preoccupied with the path your life is taking. " That about sums it up...

My feet First squirrel sighting of the year My DawgHouse

Posted by songdawg at 11:15 AM | My Life

March 27, 2003

Long crazy day

Another crazy day. I need to de-stress, maybe I should take up soap stone carving like Ross does. Too bad I have no talent for that kind of thing. I guess I'll stick to playing bass. Attended a board meeting today, pictured are few 'folks' (nod to Peter) that are also on the CIPS Edmonton board. My term is winding down which will leave me with more time for other things like music. CIPS is a great organization, great way to meet other local IT people. I don't know to what extent I will still be involved but I will continue going to the dinner meetings. Work is busy with some heavy duty deadlines looming, I just try to keep focussed and get as much done as possible to meet the target. I know I am getting frazzled cause I find myself holding my breath - always a bad sign! I have (on the commute to and from work) been listening to the Venerable Punnaji Dharma talks that were recorded at the last meditation retreat I went to. What an amazing person.

Ross & Peter Kevin & Ross Cruisin in the moon-mobile

Posted by songdawg at 9:46 PM | My Life | Technology

March 26, 2003

Commute to Work

Spring is on it's way! Here is a picture of the Edmonton skyline that I took on my way to work this morning. You can still see some snow. I am a little stressed about work, so far creating this blog has been a great diversion. Thank goodness it's Wednesday - I got to go to the Bluegrass jam and play to my heart's content. I was able to sing some harmonies with J and S but since it was Band Scramble night I practiced with a few folks and went up to play a couple of tunes. I was so tired that I had a hard time concentrating. But it was great fun as usual.

Posted by songdawg at 10:47 PM | My Life