I talked previously about my thought process in moving from cartridges to an adjustable “safety” razor. But having said all that, and discussed the not-insignificant financial incentive, what’s it like to actually use the thing on a day-to-day basis? Read on…
A few months ago, I picked up a 1960s-era Gillette Slim “safety” razor off eBay. It was only about $30, and I thought it would be fun to give it a shot.
Up until using the Slim, my only previous experience had been with cartridge-based razors (and an electric, briefly), but I’d been reading about the alternatives, and had been curious to try them out. Read on…
Somewhere, a Telus rep is congratulating himself.
Four months ago, I was completely ready to ditch Telus and switch my phone service to an MVNO. Indeed, if Zehrs hadn’t been repeatedly sold out of the handset I wanted, I’d probably be on the President’s Choice pay-as-you-go service. For light usage such as mine, it really is—by far—the most sensible and economical option.
In doing some soul-searching and bill-examination, however, it became apparent that my usage level really wasn’t light enough to realise a savings from switching to prepaid. So I called Telus and made a deal. Read on…
I had an opportunity recently to do some design work for a now-just-released app for iPhone.
Although visual design is not something I have ever studied in a formal setting, it’s an area of interest to me, and something I believe is as much a matter of inherent taste as it is of formally stated rules. As with good writing, there are guiding principles and empirically derived standards, but ultimately, you become a good writer by reading good writing, and by practicing it.
So I’m always up for more design, as the opportunity presents itself. Read on…
As with many things in my life, I view clothing and footwear as practical matters of necessity more than as vehicles for much personal expression. I wear the occasional funny t-shirt, and I’ll dress up for a dance now and then, but those are the exception. As items wear out, they are tossed with little thought; a dwindling wardrobe is replenished as necessary.
But this pair of shoes is different. They will be retained as backup for some time, I expect, but here and now at the end of their useful life, they deserve a modest eulogy. In their two years of service, they’ve seen a lot of floors in a lot of cities—it’s time for a few shout-outs.
Traveling has become a way of life for me now. I enjoy seeing different places and people; the variety and adventure is thrilling. But this is not something of my upbringing—indeed, perhaps it was the stability of having lived in the same house my entire childhood and youth that mentally prepared me for moving about later on. That later, though, has a very specific starting point, and the shoes have been with me since exactly that date. Read on…
This weekend was Thanksgiving for my Canadian friends and family. I thought I’d challenge myself a little and spent Sunday afternoon attempting to bake a pumpkin pie. How were the results? I was pleased, especially for a first attempt.
The recipes I followed for both filling and crust are easy to read and pretty straightforward. I still ran into a few gotchas, though; I’ll be noting those as I can. Read on…
Just saw this guy in the grass this morning, on my way to campus.
Who says you can’t get shallow depth of field out of a pocket camera?3
For those who are interested, WP-Cats now works with Wordpress 2.5.1.
Update: Wordpress 2.6 is now out; WP-Cats works fine with it as well.
I took a Richard Powers waltz workshop in Toronto a few months ago. I’m not very good at it and haven’t had enough chances to practice, but I can now hold down the basics of cross step and rotary. Since learning it, I’ve begun to notice much more distinctly songs that are in 3/4 or 6/8 rather than common time. All swing and related dances are strictly in four, so the lilting rhythm of waltz time can be a lovely change for the ears and feet.
The traditional music of waltz is, I think, largely Strauss and a number of other pre-20th century composers. And there’s merit in doing a dance to its traditional music. However, waltzing seems to work well to plenty of modern tunes too; here’s a selection of my favourite popular songs in 3/4 and 6/8 time. I’ve linked each to somewhere you can hear at least a sample of it—Amazon MP3, YouTube, or an artist’s page. Read on…
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