BNJMN

Such Bulk, Much Barn I've been to three different Bulk Barn locations a total of four times in the last two to three weeks. They newer store design with Black walls and bold images of naked products is much nicer than the differently bold red and yellow look. It's actually so much fun seeing just all the different products they stock and that you can get, especially beyond the many section, which let's face it, is where I spent most of my time historically. I love that they are pushing the bring-your-own-container philosophy. It makes shopping much more fun and stocking the pantry much easier. Or, in this picture, stocking my snack station on my work desk. Hopefully it lasts me a bit. No promises. I was inspired recently by Food YouTube to, when baking cookies, use chocolate wafers instead of chocolate chips. This made a huge difference in the cookie batches that I've made more recently. At Bulk Barn, the chocolate wafers (item 1809) were pretty good, but the...

Pair a' bowl Every Tuesday, we get a food box from Foster's Family Farm , as part of their community-supported agriculture. It's a pretty useful set-up where we fund the farm before their growing season kicks into high gear, and in exchange, we get boxes of (mostly) vegetables weekly through to harvest season. In years past, I've always had a hard time thinking about what ingredients we will get in any given week, and how to use them to make meals. Seems like the point of it all no? This year, I'm focusing on what are we getting and what can I make that's hopefully exciting and simple enough to make. Tonight, I focused on cauliflower. We got a decent head in our box and I didn't really want to use it as a side like I normally would. I wanted to use it all at once in a fun way. Can cauliflower really be fun?You don't even see it in there, but I made a rice-like with it and built a rice bowl atop what turned out to be a delicious foundation. ...

I participated in the inaugural Ottawa Sporting Life 10K race over the weekend. It was a 10K circuit along the Canal (always a great running route), starting and ending by Landsdowne. It’s also been my first tour of the newly redeveloped space – it’s a beautiful and fascinating part of town that I rarely visit. Landsdowne / TD Place manages to feel both big and cozy at the same time. My biggest fear about the race was not being able to run it because of my leg. In true House-ian fashion, I have been suffering from a leg pain since late February. Unlike the dear doctor, mine just came out of nowhere. Like the doctor, the early solution was to down meds (naproxen, not vicadin). After a month of that with the pain, duller but lingering, I decided that physio would be a better, longer term solution. Thankfully, it has been an improvement. The pain has shifted and it easier to deal with, but still, up to this point, I haven’t had the ability to run more than about 4K. So, how was it ad...

I am not a swimmer. I don’t enjoy the water. Actually, I rather enjoy water; I do not enjoy being in the water. I mean, who willingly jumps into and flails around a substance that, if it gets into your lungs, can kill you? There is, I suppose, the benefit of knowing how and being able to survive in said substance, something that really should be emphasized in a country like this one, where water is abundant – from rivers and lakes to pools and the like. Underwater Underwater selfie in the Dominican 2015 Yes, I’ve played in pools and could float about if I had to, but I never really reached the point where I wanted to do it, whether it be for fun or fitness or to cool off on a hot summer’s day. And I really should try to get to that point. So I signed up for swim lessons. 30-year old me. Ottawa has great resources for its residents, including recreational activities. There was a swim program with one spot available that started immediately, so I took it. And that’s where...

It’s been nearly two and a half years since I’ve posted anything to a blog. That’s a long time, isn’t it? I got an email from my wonderful webspace company, reminding me that I will be billed in a few weeks if I’m planning to keep my webspace and url and all those fun digital products and services. It’s not a ton of money to keep a website, but it’s a lot of money if I’m just wasting it. I would rather have $5 in my pocket than throw $5 down a storm pipe. Storm pipe? Is that a real thing? What I love about websites is their permanence. Well, if I decline to pay the good OneAndOne folks, then my site will be, to say the least, un-permanent. But websites and blogs are like stone tablets compared to the disposable records we share through Snapchat and messaging platforms. Even Twitter and Facebook, you get instant shares, instant likes, but I couldn’t tell you what I tweeted a month ago. I could look it up to an extent, but there isn’t always that context, that base. Thoughts and mes...

So my last blog entry had me trying to convince myself not to buy a new computer. I needed strong convincing. Then I thought about it. By waiting, sure I could set aside the money… Sure I could get by with my poor, falling-apart Dell. By waiting, however, I’m inching closer to a newer shiner iMac (expected anytime between tomorrow and never). I’m suffering for no real reason. Why not get an iMac now, start transferring over my life. Start all the projects I’l get to “when I get a new computer”? In short, I bought my Mac. It’s like a 15-year dream finally come true. iMac on the bus Who says iMacs aren't portable? Let me tell you, few things are as joyous as the moment when I plugged it in and that screen lit up. It was magic, enhanced by all 27 inches of screen. I’ve lugged all kinds of stuff on a bus before. Faux Christmas trees, giant pencils. Mannequins. Other computers. Bringing a new iMac box on the bus turns heads. It starts conversations. It could seat two, if t...

I am the world’s worst blogger. I see many great people who blog daily, weekly, biweekly, or whenever they feel like it. And usually, they feel like it every few days! I always feel like I will, yet somehow I just run out of time. Perhaps I should just be more disciplined and allot a block of time every few days. Work out a schedule. Put to use this iPad of mine, perhaps? What I like to believe in my head is that it’s unproductivity as a result of poor tools. The Dell laptop I’ve had since 2008 is really on its last breaths (not even, since the fans don’t work properly. To use my laptop in this crazy hot summer, it has it’s own oscillating fan), and I’ve been postponing lots of projects until I get a new computer. Podcasting. Blogging. Video. Photo even. At this point, I’m ready to embrace the full Apple ecosystem: iPhone, iPad, iMac. I’ve wanted an iMac ever since those futuristic, blue, all-in-one machines started popping up in my middle school. Thankfully, they’ve evolved qui...