End of the Year of Giving

For ten years I've had the same hair cut and worn the same blue Canadian Cancer Society wristband on my right wrist.

Constant reminders.

Year of Giving

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of our mom's death, my siblings and I raised money and shaved our heads. In less than a year it will be 20 years, and I want to do something big again. I haven't grown my hair back in, so the head shaving event won't have the same impact.

Meeting Number 53 of the Innovations in Theatre Seating Working Group

Working Group Leader: Guys, it's 2009 and we've been getting a lot of complaints about how uncomfortable our seats are. Today's meeting is a brainstorming meeting. Throw out every idea you've got, no matter how crazy or costly (okay, not too costly), and we'll come back next week to settle into the most comfortable ideas.

One Week In, Nine To Go

It's been a mostly eventful week for the Tiny Human: parties, steering committees, and non-verbal communication.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

One of my favourite books growing up was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle ...

Parental Leave Prep

Starting next week I'm going to be on parental leave for 2 months. I expect that this is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done.

Bringing Ava into the world...Guest post by Kate Turner

"Dealing with a wife who scraped by with her life is not part of anyone’s birth plan."  Here is the birth story of my daughter through the eyes of my wife, Kate.

Kitchen Renovation

Want to see pictures of our kitchen renovation? Of course you do! The more the better!!
Want to read a long story about our renovation? No? Then you're in luck, the story is short and there are lots of pictures.

Rocktoberfest

The Toronto Rock are pretty good to their season ticket holders. There's often a little trinket in with the tickets each year, and lately they've hosted a season ticket holder party. I generally do everything I can to pass along these favours to people who will appreciate it the most - kids (like my nephews). Last year they started Rocktoberfest, a two week draw of prizes for everyone who renewed or purchased season seats before the deadline. Cool stuff, but it's not like I'd ever win anything ... except that trivia contest when I won an autographed Whipper ball and playing card.

Sid Dickens Fall 2012 Preview Review

Hi again everyone. I've been about as motivated to type up this review as Sid Dickens was to design the Fall Collection for 2012 (Collection of Curiosities), which is to say that if I can do better than mail this review in, I will have one-upped Sid. But before we get to this collection's review here are the previous ones: Spring 2012, Fall 2011 and Spring 2011.

Fireworks: Perpetual Pursuit of Perfection

Well, the first part of summer has flown by. Seems like just yesterday that I was buying fireworks for the May 2-4 long weekend. Since then I've learned a few things that I wanted to pass along.

NLL Crystal Ball: 2012 Champion's Cup

Ouch!
My playoff picks have been atrocious. I've only got one of the 6 games right. I should've quit when I was ahead, i.e. after the regular season. After the break I offer absolutely no insight into the National Lacrosse League Champion's Cup Championship game.

Fireworks: The How To Guide by this Idiot

It is nearly the May long weekend, which means it is time to celebrate Queen Victoria by blowing up a small piece of Canada with fireworks. Yes, that's right. FIREWORKS!!!

Fireworks!

In this blog post I'm going to explain how to do your own show in your own backyard.

NLL Crystal Ball: 2012 Division Finals Edition

Nothing like two upsets to really bust a playoff bracket, especially when one picks an upset that didn't happen. Hence my abysmal 1-3 record in the first round of the playoffs. The best news of the last week is that when the Rock host the championship game they will do so on Friday May 18th at 7:30pm. This means that I can watch the game without interrupting my long weekend plans (i.e. FIREWORKS). And those fireworks will be extra special with a seventh Rock Champion's Cup championship (PS the NLL needs a better name for the cup).

NLL Crystal Ball: 2012 Playoff Edition

In the final week of the NLL season I went 2-2. I finished the season ahead of all the experts at IL Indoor with a record of 40-32. <pause to take bow and accept flowers from the roaring standing ovation> Since I started making predictions about the NLL I'm 46-33, so now it's time to see what I've got for this year's playoffs.

NLL Crystal Ball: Week 17

Well, we've reached the final week of the regular season. I went 3-2 last week, so I'm at 38-30 on the season. Over at IL Indoor the best of the experts (Jenner and Pilson) are at 35-33, so as long as I go .500 this week I'm guaranteed to finish ahead of them. As I've been saying all season - the less you know, the better. It's been an odd season for making picks. Maybe next year I'll get Lannis to work her smarties, and the Gnome to flip his coin and see how random methods stack up. This week's picks, favourites and bonus bets are after the break.

NLL Crystal Ball: Week 16

I went 2-2 last week, which brings me to 35-28 on the season. I've never really appreciated how bad some of the announcers are for lacrosse, because normally I watch several games at a time with Livestream and I have them all on mute. More on that after the break, as well as my picks and favourites to win the cup.

NLL Crystal Ball: Week 15

I went 2-2 last week. The blame lies entirely at the feet of Philadelphia. Thanks a lot, jerks! I'm now 33-26 on the season, which is one up on Jenner and Pilson and a lot up on the other Insiders. This week's matchups are interesting, and thankfully the Wings don't play so they can't screw up my prognosticating ... this week. There's the battle for second overall; actually, it's not much a battle, since Colorado only needs to win one more game on the season to ensure they finish ahead of everyone in the East. There's also a battle of cellar-dwellers between Buffalo and Edmonton; a win would give either team an advantage in the race to not miss the playoffs. My picks and favourites are after the break.

NLL Crystal Ball: Week 14

I went 4-1 last week. So I'm at 31-24 for the season. It's a pretty straightforward week for picks, which makes me nervous.

NLL Crystal Ball: Week 13

I went 3-3 last week, so I'm at 27-23 on the season. I made a few prognostications last week for which I would like partial credit. First, I was convinced that Philadelphia and Colorado would split the series. I guessed, poorly, that the home teams would win. I could've been 5-1. I was also hesitant about picking the Stealth the way I did, but it worked out, so we'll call that one a wash with the Wings-Mammoth. Second, I wrote this about the Roughnecks-Goondits game: "Two teams that are perfectly matched for extracurricular nonsense, but Calgary has more talent." Ding ding. Ring the bell, the Goondits are back in town. I pity the team who plays them this week ... well any week really.