Just a short distance away from the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary is a little-known attraction that gives plenty of bang for your buck. The Bow Habitat Station, built in 1973, is a fish hatchery that for the past several years has been giving tours. There’s an aquarium in the basement stocked with Albertan fish, and a floor of exhibits that show how wildlife coexists here in the province that’s good for kids and adults.
I recently did a Vipassana meditation course here in Alberta, and I got a lot out of the experience. The course involves 10 days of almost non-stop meditation, in total silence. Their instructions of what to bring and how to prepare are pretty good, but there’s still little things that I wish I had known/done before and during the course.
Before the course You will want to camp out for course spots - they go fast!
In years past I’ve written down the lessons I learned from the year. I didn’t blog a thing here in 2013, so I am starting this back up.
Simplify 2013 was a busy, difficult year. I changed jobs, houses, took up springboard/tower diving, and filled out paperwork for what seemed like days.
The simple little processes and practices that I had figured out and put in place when my time was more plentiful saved my bacon.
I just finished reading Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday, and his thoughts on snark seemed dead on to me.
“To be called a douche is to be branded with all the characteristics of what society deigns to hate but can’t define. It’s a way to dismiss someone entirely without doing any of the work or providing any of the reasons. It says, You are a fool, and everyone thinks it.
After last months’ review-dump, I’ll be sticking to a monthly format, as it’ll be a little clearer what things I’m thinking and reading about. September has been an interesting month for reading, as well as other things (such as ‘getting married’). The month started out with finding the three A.J. Jacobs books for sale at the library, followed by getting a whole bunch of books from the library sooner than I thought.
I’ve rediscovered my love of reading this year, and so I’ve taken a page out of Nick Hornby’s book (har har har) and am going over the books I’ve read over the past several months. My hope is that this will make up for the fact that all this reading has taken away most of the time I usually allocate towards blogging.
Books read:
Duran Duran, Mike West Bossypants, Tina Fey Trends, Tom Peters The Giver, Lois Lowry Comedy FAQs and Answers: How the Stand-up Biz Really Works, Dave Schwensen Teach Yourself Stand-Up Comedy, Logan Murray The Ultimate Improv Book: A Complete Guide to Comedy Improvisation, Edward J.
2012 is the year that Calgary is the cultural capital of Canada. Coming up on March 15th is the first of a weekly event that hopes to have artists collaborating along with the public. I had a chance to quickly chat with the organizer of It’s AHHHH Live!, Vi An Diep, and find out a bit more about the event.
“I broke the words down. ‘AHHHH’ is the recognition of the spark of something seeing something, curiosity.
2011 has been a spotty year for music, with few real highlights and a lot of releases that I had much higher hopes for. The one disc that’s been getting steady play at LC headquarters since it came out in June has been Doug Hoyer’s breakout record Walks With The Tender and Growing Night.
Hoyer, associated with the Old Ugly outfit out of Edmonton, has managed to evolve from standard guitar-and-drums rock into a fuller electronic sound that has turned his songs into otherworldly pop confection.
For me, the most pure form of ice skating is that done on ponds and lakes - the ice has character, the crisp winter air stings the nostrils, and the surrounding nature a nerve tonic for the world-weary. On a brisk Christmas day, I went out to Lake Louise to enjoy a real ice skating experience.
A light snow was falling on the lake when I arrived, and the parking lot was full of tourists (most of whom have totally lost their fear of motor vehicles).
2011 has been a strange year, but no doubt I’ve learned plenty this year. As with previous years, I’ve collected wisdom that I’ve found along the way:
A new bed *is* worth it I had a lot of oddball injuries this year, but my body has felt a lot better since we bought a new bed. You don’t need a top-of-the-line model, just something better than your 8 year old IKEA futon.