Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 8:57AM ...on a wee writing retreat at the moment, [courtesy of a dear friend] tucked into a mysterious Gulf Island with No Distractions.
Except the view, of course. This morning's office window:
Yeah, it's pretty painful, all right.
More soon...
~kc
Pender Email Article Saturday, January 12, 2013 at 9:45PM Which sounds like the name of an evil character one of my students invented, but is actually the effect the sunset created here, glowing so brightly that it illuminated the shadow of the fingernail moon.
Those are the lights of Gibson's and Sechelt in the distance, below the umber sky and above the indigo water.
A beautiful end to the day.
More soon...
~kc
Friday, January 4, 2013 at 6:53PM It's my birthday, and it's no longer 2012, both good reasons to take a night off.
Which is what I'm going to do.
More soon...!
~kc
Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 1:18AM Hope you had a fine night, celebrating 2013 in style.
I had a date with my daughter to watch a movie, but she bailed around ten.
Piker. She's a morning person. [Not sure how she comes by that, but it ain't honestly....]
I filled the time waiting to see if I was destined to be a designated driver for my son conducting only noble pursuits: playing my new WoW character [Night Elf -- level 13, I'll have you know], and adding up my treadhead mileage for the year.
What? [I'll pause for you to make fun of me here. Go on -- get it out of your system!]
Ahem. Geekiness aside, the numbers are pretty good, happily.
I walked 1778 km on my treadmill this year, whilst working away on this or that. For the first time, I recorded the little runs I do, too, and they added up to [a rather more paltry] 274 km. But you have to start somewhere, right?
Anyway, the big total just edged over the 4000 km mark, at 4023 kms walked and run since I started using the treadmill desk as a workspace for part of the day. This has taken me [virtually] to a spot on the TransCanada just west of Sarnia, Ontario.
See?
I know I've said it before, but ... man.
This. Is. A. BIG. Country. It's taken me nearly three years to get this far!
The thing that makes me happiest is that I've managed to beat my mileage for each consecutive year since I began this little endeavour. I lost the treadmill for a big chunk of this year to repair, so it was touch and go there, but in 2010 I logged 1026 km [mind you, I didn't start until more than half-way through March that year, and on a bum knee], and in 2011 I bumped it up to 1218. This year I beat that total, too.
Pressure's on for 2013!
Okay, kidding aside, the best part of this is that I'm not having to sit my whole day away at a desk. I know a bunch of writers now who have unconventional writing systems -- some standing desks, some sit on a Swiss Ball instead of a chair, and others walk while they work. If you're thinking of making a resolution this year, I can highly recommend adding a little motion to your workday. It doesn't replace regular exercise, but our bodies were not meant to be stationary all day, and if you can change things up -- why not give it a try?
I wish you luck, love and -- if you are a writer -- a pleathora of beautiful words in 2013. Happy New Year!
More soon...
~kc
Sunday, December 30, 2012 at 10:08AM 
I don't have one, tho' I'd be interested to hear from you if you do.
I've been meaning to do an end-of-season wrap-up garden post for ages, and suddenly it is the end of the year, and I woke to a sunrise that actually showed a bit of blue sky today.
This got me thinking about the bounty of this year's harvest and planning for next.
This year I grew cucumbers, sweet peppers [large and small], tomatoes, basil, chives, rhubarb [unsuccessful due to over-enthusiastic harvesting], mint and edamame. Apart from the little rhubarb debacle and the pretty much outright fail of the edamame beans, everything else did pretty well.I'll probably replant all the successful ones. I may add a few new items, too. [Thinking baby potatoes...]
I'm open to suggestions!
With the relative success, I still learned a few hard lessons. I knew to plant tomatoes in direct sun, but the reason why was brought home to me by one plant I'd hopefully put in on the shady side of the deck, and which grew to more than 8 feet tall seeking sunlight -- but didn't really grow any tomatoes. It turns out mint is best grown in its own container. Also? I have a black thumb when it comes to edamame.
The successes outnumbered the failures, though, and as a big salad person, totally worth it.
So on this sunny day, I'm already thinking about springtime, and what I'll grow in my 2013 garden.
How will YOUR garden grow this year?
More soon...
~kc
garden Email Article