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A personal reflection on finding unexpected love and joy after embracing solitude, and the liberating effects of letting go of social media and embracing real connections.

2024 - Year of Discipline

2024 - Year of Discipline

Today is Bell Let's Talk Day, a day focused on mental health awareness. For the past few years, I have been using it to talk about a theme for the next year.

Turning 14 Years Old

Another challenging year, but coming out stronger than in the past.

Latest

A Summer of David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace has been an indirect influence on my writing for as long as I have been writing a blog. He was and still is a major influence on some of my favourite writers, primarily Bill Simmons [http://grantland.com/contributors/bill-simmons/] and Jason Kottke [http://www.kottke.org], with how they phrased things and their generous usage of footnotes. 1 The unfortunate thing for me has been a lack of reading the original source. The options to read his work are not limited to a few b

Tags: books | david foster wallace | reading

Exit The Queen

You are going to die in an hour and a half. You are going to die at the end of the play. — Queen Marguerite, Exit the King My real introduction to theatre1 began with Eugene Ionesco’s, Exit the King. It was a small production at The Guild, in the early part of 1997, in Whitehorse, Yukon. I remember the time and year distinctly, because it was one of the first assignments to be done for my first semester in the MAD program. MAD stands for Music, Art, and Drama, a school-within-a-schoo

Tags: high school | life | theatre
An Afternoon in Fintry BC

An Afternoon in Fintry BC

> Serene He stands among the flowers And only marks life’s sunny hours For him dark days do not exist The brazen-faced old Optimist — George Allison1 In preparation for the coming summer season, I have been taking some time to explore the Okanagan more. Partially to satisfy my own natural curiousity about the historical background of the region, but also to provide ideas of things to do for the guests of the vacation rental [http://www.dosbalconeskelowna.com]. When I first arrived in the

Tags: hiking | okanagan | waterfall

Alto’s Adventure

Ever since purchasing my new iPhone [http://www.foursides.ca/New-Year-New-Phone/], I’ve been discovering that playing games on the larger screen is a much better experience. Alto’s Adventure came out this week for iPhone. It’s an endless snowboarding game1, meaning the level only finishes when you crash. The game play is incredibly simple: a tap is a jump, pressing down causes you to flip. That’s it. What sells me on the game is how beautiful it is. During the game, the light changes from

Tags: games | ios | iphone

My Problems With Dating

> We don’t commit now. We don’t see the point. They’ve always said there are so many fish in the sea, but never before has that sea of fish been right at our fingertips on OkCupid, Tinder, Grindr, Dattch, take your pick. We can order up a human being in the same way we can order up pad thai on Seamless. We think intimacy lies in a perfectly-executed string of emoji. We think effort is a “good morning” text. We say romance is dead, because maybe it is, but maybe we just need to reinvent it. Maybe

Tags: dating | relationships

Year of Essentialism

The fall brought me a sense of panic that could have easily escalated into larger problems if I wasn’t careful. My daughter’s mother was once again going to be working in northern Alberta, leaving me to care for our daughter most of the time. The last time this happened, I didn’t handle it very well. Gained weight, felt miserable, and was completely unmotivated to do much of anything until the summer sun started to show up. This time around, I did not want that to happen again. My biggest cha

Tags: books | essentialism | life | reading | work

New Year New Phone

After several years of watching people use large Android phones, Apple released their own larger phones this past October. Initially, I resisted diving in and buying one. I was rather content with the size and the camera of my two year-old iPhone 5, but then I started seeing the photographs of people using the newer phones and was greatly impressed. Seeing all the gorgeous images on Instagram [http://www.instapaper.com/foursides] helped nudge me in the right direction. What finally encouraged

Tags: apple | iphone | photography

Number 5 - Another Birthday for My Daughter

> Kylie is really blossoming into a lovely little lady. She may cause me to want to pull my hair our, but at the end of each day, I am glad she is a part of my life. A big part of it. Number 4 – Happy Birthday to My Daughter [http://www.foursides.ca/Number-4-Happy-Birthday-to-My-Daughter/] December 31st, roughly 9:00 PM, 2009: a life was born, and my life changed forever. The one story I have told to several people recently is about everything that happened after my daughter’s birth. I am

Tags: birthday | kylie
ProMixx Vortex Mixer

ProMixx Vortex Mixer

No Shaking, no Lumps, smoother smoothies and a better taste overall. ProMixx Vortex Mixer is a great addition to any fitness enthusiast's kitchen or gym bag.

Tags: diet | fitness

A Film About Coffee

> Because of the complexity of coffee and because of the way it drives us and makes us feel, I think it occupies a special place in our culture. Because it’s always been like that, over centuries. That sort of connectivity, that exchange, is consistent. — Peter Giuliano, Specialty Coffee Association of America [http://scaa.org] A Film About Coffee [http://afilmaboutcoffee.com/#top] is a wonderful blend of stories from around the world sharing their experiences in what goes into a great cup of

Tags: coffee | film | reviews

Virunga - Documentary Film

> The oil issue might destroy everything. If we fail, we’ll not only lose Virunga, but also the other parks in Congo. All the other parks are going to sink. Everyone will say, ‘You’re not allowing us to exploit the oil or ore in this park but you did so in Virunga.’ If we fail here, the whole conservation sector in Congo is going to fall. It would be a disaster. — Prince Emmanuel de Merode, Director of the Virunga National Park I woke up last week to an email from Netflix [http://www.netfl

Tags: africa | documentary

35: A Reflection

> I — I hardly know, sir, just at present — at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then. Alice, Through the Looking Glass [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1500759546/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1500759546&linkCode=as2&tag=four0b-20&linkId=MMGIUW7JVWOAHQON] 35 Years. This past year, like Alice, I woke up feeling like I knew who I was, but by the time I went to bed, I was someone different.

Tags: birthday | life

Juice Challenge

> Permanent results only come from permanent changes in diet and lifestyle. — Joe Cross A friend suggested I check-out a site about a juice challenge, and that led me down a white rabbit hole. I explored his site, discovered he had a documentary, watched it, and decided to make a big change in my life. The documentary was Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004V4ASGC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004V4ASGC&linkCode=as2&tag=four0b-20

Tags: diet | health | juice

Run The Jewels - Free Album

> Throw your hands in the air And wave ‘em like you just don’t care Keep ‘em there Run the jewels, run the jewels, run the jewels. LL Cool J, Cheesy Rat Blues [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwx6pLz21gE&spfreload=10] Rap is one of the few music genres that I don’t really care for. When I heard that a group called Run The Jewels had released a new album that was available for free, and that people were raving about it, I had to check out just to hear for myself whether it was that

Tags: music | run the jewels

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