The Good Life

Look dad, he's naked!

2009-11-03T17:00:00.001-05:00

We were driving to Canadian Tire last evening to fetch a few items needed as fall turned to winter. Florence was her usual bubbly self, signing and chatting with me in the car. At the last red light just before the store, she innocently mentioned "He's naked, Dad! Look, he's naked!" I, flabbergasted, as well as outraged, that someone would be out at night, in 5 degree (Celsius) weather, naked, and that my daughter had spotted him.

"What do you mean naked?" I quickly answered back. "Look, he's naked!" What!! "Look dad, he's naked, and this one's not!" I was breaking my neck trying to look left and right, and all the way behind me, trying to spot the pervert.

The light turned and I started driving off. Then everything made sense. "Did you see dad, that tree was naked, and the other was not! It had leaves!" Trees. Leaves. Naked and not!

I started to laugh, and did so until the car came to a stop at the entrance of the store.

What is that?

2009-10-27T10:50:00.000-04:00

Words of wisdom, especially when I think about raising my 2-month old son and my father is stepping into retirement.

If you ever fall off a horse, simply get back on

2009-05-11T21:13:00.005-04:00

That lesson is true as well for blogging. Though I haven't been completely away from my blogging duties (see my other blog here), I did neglect this personal blog. That changes today.

The reason for my absence my absence are many. At the top of the list is TIME. Since I started as a Media Intelligence Specialist at CNW, it's been quite hectic in my part of the woods. That has been especially true for the February to April period. But things are now getting manageable again. I'm almost at the 6 months mark, which is where the pieces of this new professional puzzle start to make sense. I've finally nailed a few key accounts and feel as though I'm on top of the game.

So besides the job, what have I been up to? Lots! Our daughter turned 2 on in late January, a few weeks after we learned that we were pregnant again. I say "we" cause I've always seen this as a team project. Her pregnancy is half my responsibility. We're expecting "Junior" (yep, it's a boy!) sometime in early September (09-09-09 is the official date).

Which has put another big project into motion, one which has taken a lot of my leisure time: the basement office project. Or as I like to call it with my Twitter mates, the BatCave Projek! As I write this things are going really well on that front. I'm at the stage now that the gypsum boards will be going up next week-end. If all goes well, we should be done by mid-June, at the latest. Then if get our daughter moved into her new bedroom, once I've painted and decorated it.

In early April, the wife and I took a week off, and flew down south to the Dominican Republic to recharge the batteries. We'd left our daughter with both sets of grand-parents. She had a blast, and we came back refreshed. The photo above is of the pool side - which is where we spent all of our days for the full week!

As you can see, I've been keeping myself quite busy. And there's so much more left to be done.

Until then, I'll be dropping here once in a while, putting up videos, links and personal accounts of what's on my mind.

Thanks for sticking with me!

Signs - an interesting video on communications

2009-03-10T12:28:00.001-04:00

Some time to myself

2008-12-28T08:43:00.003-05:00

It's now been 2 days since my better-half and mini-me have left for Florida to stay with the in-laws for a week. Having started the new job at the beginning of the month, I neither had the accumulated vacation days, nor the desire to go really. Not that I would have liked the opportunity to enjoy some great weather. As an example, yesterday we had a mix of rain and freezing rain, whereas they got mostly sunshine with a nice 24C. Poor me!

They'll be back next Friday, which means that I'll be spending New Year's Eve by myself. Which I actually don't really mind. The last few years my wife and I have spent that evening at home enjoying a nice sushi dinner and remember the year that was, and the one that is about to beginning. Which I still what I intend to do this year.

The past year was particularly tough for us, with my job loss in April. But it also gave me opportunity to spend more time with my daughter and prevented my wife from having to rush back from work to pick her at daycare.

It also allowed me the chance to work on my gaming blog, CrazyKinux's Musing, on creating a community of blogger around the MMORPG I play, EVE Online, and to work on two new podcasts. The skill set I built in order to do this also opened new employment opportunities, of which CNW Group was one. It was a tough year, but we came out on top!

I plan on spending most of the day working on the basement; continuing the work that I started this summer. The goal is to have done by early spring. Lots of work ahead, but with my wife's uncle helping out, it should go well.

This ends the December wrap-up!

In and Out of Love - Armin van Buuren

2008-12-22T08:26:00.000-05:00

After playing the video below over and over, I finally caved in and bought the CD through iTunes. It seems that van Buuren is becoming a favorite DJ of mine; add to that the voice of Sharon den Adel and I'm in!

I'm now subscribed to the Armada Video channel as a lot of great video are published by them!

Did you know?

2008-12-18T08:15:00.000-05:00

Here's a great little video that will leave you amazed of the world around us. It allows you to see a glimpse of the world of possibilities that surround us!

What are you reading right now?

2008-12-01T23:03:00.000-05:00

I love reading. I love books. Ask some of the people who helped us the last time we moved, and they'll tell you I/we have too many books - but I would tend to disagree.

One peculiar thing I like to do is read more than one book at a time. I've always read a few books at the same time, and though I've tried the one book, then another, then another approach, it just doesn't work for me.

Almost 2 years ago, in early January 2007, I set myself a little book challenge to see if I could stick to reading one book a month. I must say I failed miserably at the task. So now, I'm back to my old habits and reading more then one book at a time. Currently, I' reading to following:

Deadhouse Gates, by Steven Erikson (100 pages left)
Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell (a third into the book)
EVE - Empyrean Age, by Tony Gonzales (half-way through it)
Wikinomics, by Tapscott and Williams (just starting)

Here's what I'll be reading next:

So far, I much prefer this old approach of mine. Somehow I find that as I need time to digest a book, being able to jump into another while I do this, greatly helps me appreciate the books I read. Go figure! I'll try to write a little review as I finish reading each of these books.

And how about you? What are you reading these days?

Beauty is often found in the most unexpected places

2008-11-30T22:32:00.003-05:00

I took this photograph on the last warm days of fall. The picture was taken at a city park near our home in Montreal West Island. Sometimes beauty stares at us in the most mundane locals. As I was walking through the park, I was looking for interesting pieces to photograph. Then, I looked up and saw this. Truly inspirational.

Taken by CrazyKinux

My Sleeping Beauty

2008-11-21T20:51:00.003-05:00

Shhh, don't wake her up. Isn't she beautiful?

Could you live without music?

2008-11-20T15:58:00.005-05:00

Music has always been an integral part of my life. It's an anchor from which memories are attached. Play different songs from different groups, and different memories come to life. Play any ABBA, or Demis Roussos song, and I'm reminded of my youth in northern Quebec. Play something from Marianne Rosenberg and my year in Jamaica comes back to life.

It's really incredible.

Anyways, these were artists my folks were listening to when I was a youth, but you see my point. Music is tied to our memories and vice versa, and I just couldn't live without either.

The videos below are some of the groups I'm currently listening to these days. I guess I could use music to retell the story of your life. Which is why I'd have a hard time living with music. Could you?

Nothing endures but change

2008-11-19T19:00:00.002-05:00

A new chapter in my life is coming to an end and another exciting adventure is about to begin. I do like the analogy of a book, as a comparison to someones life. Mine has a lot of different chapters and is now intermingled with two others, my wife's and my daughter's.

About 8 months ago, I became a stay-at-home-dad after leaving my last employer. At the time, we had decided that though I would still look for work, my focus during the summer would be on spending more time with Florence, doing chores around the house, starting to finish part of the basement, and doing a bunch of other items on the List. You noticed the capital "L" and the bold did you? Every husband should be warned about the List, before tying the knot. But that's another story and another post!

Over the last few weeks, I've been in interview processes with several employers. These are very mentally exhausting weeks, where you prep and pump yourself to win them over. But this has finally come to an end. Today I've accepted a Sales Specialist position with CNW Group. I'll be starting at the beginning of December, in just over a week.

I'm very excited about this opportunity and am more than ready for the challenge - the house was getting smaller and smaller. It does mean that I'll be returning to a more hectic schedule, especially mornings and end of days, but eh, it's all part of life.

I'm currently in the process of simplifying my online activities - reduce the amount of feeds and emails amongst other things - in an effort to be more productive, since I'll have a lot less leisure time. As part of this effort, over the next few days, I'll be moving posts from my other (non-gaming) blogs and then deleting them. I've actually done this to one such blog: The Digital Fold. Don't look for it, because it's already deleted. So, expect some new-old posts to show up here from now till the end of November.

Two blogs is plenty enough to maintain.

Everything from A to Z

2008-11-19T11:40:00.003-05:00

Here's a little commercial that aired during last holiday season and which our daughter, who was 9 months at the time, really loved.

I wonder what she'll think of it this year?

Flowers in the Park (Suburbia, Canada)

2008-10-08T13:20:00.000-04:00

Originally published on A Small Blue Dot blog - which I no longer post on.

Flowers in the Park, by CrazyKinux, that's Me!.

Would you believe I took this shot 5 minutes from home, in a little city park? When my wife saw this picture, she couldn't believe such beauty existed so close to our house. Goes to show you that it's only a question of opening our eyes, and letting Nature show herself!

And if this was Happiness?

2008-10-08T11:43:00.007-04:00

What is Happiness? Is it a destination, something to constantly strive for? Something that's around the corner, once we've accomplished A, or changed B, or moved beyond C. It's elusive, something that we'll never quite reach, or that seems to slip through our fingers like send.

But what if Happiness was now. Yes, right now.

We're nostalgic of our past and hopeful about our future. Yet we never seem to appreciate today. This precise moment in life, which we call the present.

Maybe it's because the 'now' rushes past our eyes, just as a river does. If we only took the time to stop thinking about what we didn't accomplish yesterday, and what still needs to be done tomorrow, maybe then we'd have the time to appreciate the present.

A few years back, I used to have a very stressful job (Customer Relations) for a big IT company. Over time, I developed a stress relief mechanism that aloud me to unload all that tension build-up. Everyday I made sure that focused on something beautiful. I'd focus on it and remember it throughout the day. This could be the laugh of a little girl, a beautiful sunset, the sound of snow crunching under your boots, or anything that brought a smile to my face.

This focus on the present on the now, is something I still do everyday. And it has brought me a lot of happiness.

So what makes you happy?

Digital Media White Papers

2008-09-29T16:30:00.000-04:00

Originally published on The Digital Fold blog - which I no longer post on.

While working at LVL Studio I had accumulated links to very interesting white papers on digital television, media & convergence, all of which had aloud me to become familiar with these industries and its trends. I've put together a list of these here in the hopes that it will help other, and as future reference material for me as well!

If you know of others that I should add to this list, please let me know in the comments and I'll make sure to add them! On to the list now.

Sorted by date of publication:

2005

2006

2007

2008

Competing for the Digital Consumer
more to be added...

Where to find more:

IBM Global Services - Business Consulting
Accenture Outlook Magazine
White Papers @ Silicon.com
more to be added...

Wetlands of Gao-Mei (China)

2008-09-26T13:21:00.001-04:00

Originally published on A Small Blue Dot blog - which I no longer post on.

The Wetlands of Gao-Mei, by @King.

Wetlands are an important part of the earth ecosystems. They filter water as it returns to rivers and eventually to the oceans. They're needed today more then ever. Yet, in our continuous abuse of Mother Nature's gift to us, we destroy them to make more room for ourselves.

In the end, we'll be the only one's responsible for the mess we're digging ourselves into. I just hope it's not to late to reverse the trend.

Setting the right example

2008-09-17T15:53:00.006-04:00

Me (4 years old) helping my dad with yard work.

A few months ago I wrote how being a father had pushed me to be a better man. Oh how true these words are today now that our daughter is slowly becoming her own little person. Not that she wasn't before, but it's becoming obvious with time that she mimics our behavior and attitude towards everything we do.

And this goes for everything that she sees and hear. From the way my wife and I talk to each other, from our reaction when she falls, when she's playing with her toys, or when she plays with our nerves, to how I drive and interact with others. It's amazing to see her copy things you've just done, whether it was to show her something or not.

It's amazing, but it's also daunting to realize that your attitude, your behavior will be the foundations upon which your child builds his. It's something that's always on my mind, yet I've come to appreciate it.

In wanting to set the right example for my daughter, I've become a better person.

Rouge-Matawin Wildlife Preserve, Quebec (Canada)

2008-09-17T13:24:00.000-04:00

Originally published on A Small Blue Dot blog - which I no longer post on.

The Lake, by CrazyKinux.
I took this shot on the second day of a 4-day week-end at the Rouge-Matawin Preserve in the Laurentians. Every year, on the last week-end of June, we get together with 3 other couples and rent cottages for a 4-day week-end vacation. We fish, sit around a fire and simply enjoy good food and good company. I can't wait until next year!

Why RIM's answer to the iPhone will fail

2008-08-26T16:26:00.001-04:00

Originally published on The Digital Fold blog - which I no longer post on.

Anyone whose played around with an iPhone 3G, or to a lesser extent with an iPod touch loaded with the App Store, will agree that it is one beautiful piece of technology. The UI is the most convivial that's currently available on the market for smart phones and with the iTunes software the iPhone becomes a powerful multimedia devices.

Word on the street these days is that the Blackberry Bold is RIM's answer to the iPhone. If that is so, then it's a poor excuse for an answer. Play around with both devices and you'll quickly realize that they're not in the same categorie. Now, I won't go in a head-to-head comparison of the two devices as there are tons out there. Instead, below is the iPhone Blog's comparison of both devices, which is sufficient to make my point.

And this without comparing the two platforms in terms of adding applications. And let's not even go into the iPhone as a gaming platform (more on that later).

So will the Bold steal away some market share from the iPhone? I don't think it will even make a dent. Now I'm not saying that the Bold is going to fail, but that it will as a serious competitor to the iPhone. I'm looking forward to this fall when a few Android driven handsets make their way on to the market.

Now here is a platform that might make the iPhone sweat a little!

Honfleur Harbor, Normandy (France)

2008-08-18T13:25:00.000-04:00

Originally published on A Small Blue Dot blog - which I no longer post on.

Honfleur, France, by CrazyKinux.

Back in June of last year we took a 2 week vacation in France, where my ancestors come from; well most of them anyways. This photo was taken in Honfleur a beautiful little port town in Normandy. The funny thing is that a few minutes after taking this photo, clouds moved in and it started to pour like there's no tomorrow. We left once the rain had subsided. But I had my photo.

The ONE, the future of the web

2008-08-11T16:25:00.001-04:00

Originally published on The Digital Fold blog - which I no longer post on.

The Internet, is getting huge. I mean massive. I contains petabytes of information, which are accessed every day, every hour, every minute, every second by millions of us. In science, this has had a great impact. No longer are models needed. There is enough data out there upon which one can through computing power in order to find the patterns and understand the science. That's the basic premise behind Chris Anderson's article "The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete", published in the July issue of Wired magazine.

And when you think that the web as we no it today, is barely 5000 days old. What about the next 5000? Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired magazine, made a presentation last December at TED in which he talks about the future of the Web, beyond the simple PC-to-PC connection, to a level of complexity when the future web, or as he puts it, the One, will link both to the digital and to physical objects. The web will become one machine, one computing entity, similar to the human brain. He describes the One as

There is only one Machine.
The web is its OS.
All screens link into the One.
No bits will live outside the web.
To share is to gain.
Let the One read it.
The One is us.

Here's the embed video presentation.

Enjoy!

P.S.: Thanks to cguy for the Kelly video

Traveling with kids

2008-08-10T09:43:00.001-04:00

Having recently returned from a 4 day vacation in Lake George NY, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you some of the things I've learned. We traveled many times before with Florence, having been to Orlando, Paris, Cancun. But we'd only made one long trip by car before. Never driven to anywhere that was 4 hours away. This was completely new to all of us!

Now, don't get all worked up here, we did have a great time and enjoyed ourselves. We knew we what we were getting ourselves into. I mean this basically came down to a 4 day week-end with our daughter, who is of all things, a force of nature. Our little bundle of love has enough energy to move mountains and more! Suffice to say this wasn't a completely restful vacation.

If possible, have a second bedroom for the kids. We kind of learned this the hard way. Sleeping in the same room as your child(ren) is asking for trouble. Florence had been coughing a bit for a day or two when we got to Lake George. Nothing major, but enough to wake-up mom and dad a few times during the night. Next time, she'll have her own bedroom, and we'll get some sleep!

Make sure there's a swimming pool. As you may know if you've been reading this blog, our daughter loves water, literally. She'll throw herself in trying to wiggle out of your grasp as if she was Ariel, the little mermaid! Come to think of it, she might be one. Anyways, the point is, most kids love swimming and if you can have a room close enough to the pool, even better. Swimming is a great activity, lets your kids waste away a ton of energy (as if it's going to make a difference), and in some cases, can allow one of the parents to take a break.

Always have baby wipes with you at all times. I can't remember the number of times this has saved us from a little mess, or not so little mess. That advice actually goes for every day life with kids. We've got them spread out all over the house, in the car, in her baby carry-on. They're useful for cleaning up little mess and even yours too!

Eating at a restaurant? Make sure you've got some crayons. And some paper too. Most kids love to draw, and being able to do so while you all wait for your food to be served, will save you from having your little bundles of love be too much trouble. Well, it'll help out anyways!

If driving, make sure to stop every 90 minutes or so. Or else your ears will suffer from high pitch noise syndrome and your nerves will be tested. We planned our route knowing we would have to stop 2 to three times. Usually there are enough rest area along major highways for you to do this. It'll give everyone a chance to stretch their legs, and your kids to run around (and you after them!).

There are probably many more tips and advice that one could give. This list could go on and on. I wanted to give you run down of the most obvious one. This way you'll take the necessary precautions to have a fun vacation where everyone get to enjoy themselves.

Actually, if you've got great tips, please let me know in the comments. I'll appreciate any advice you can give!

Grande Marina, Capri (Italy)

2008-07-30T13:26:00.000-04:00

Originally published on A Small Blue Dot blog - which I no longer post on.

Grande Marina, Capri (Italy), by CrazyKinux.

If you've been following this photo blog for a while, you'll know that I loved my stay in Italy, and that I plan to retire there one day. The photo above was taken just as the ferry was coming in Grande Marina on Capri Island. We spent the day there walking all the way to the other side of the island, to see Picola Marina - the smaller port.

Simply beautiful.

Flower, Ventura California (USA)

2008-07-28T13:28:00.001-04:00

Originally published on A Small Blue Dot blog - which I no longer post on.

Flower Alien, by InTheRough.

Flowers are the most exotic examples of life. There diversity is beyond the imagination. Just look at all the varieties of orchids. Just unbelievable!