If you ever fall off a horse, simply get back on

That lesson is true as well for blogging. Though I haven't been completely away from my blogging duties (see my other blog here), I did neglect this personal blog. That changes today.

The reason for my absence my absence are many. At the top of the list is TIME. Since I started as a Media Intelligence Specialist at CNW, it's been quite hectic in my part of the woods. That has been especially true for the February to April period. But things are now getting manageable again. I'm almost at the 6 months mark, which is where the pieces of this new professional puzzle start to make sense. I've finally nailed a few key accounts and feel as though I'm on top of the game.

So besides the job, what have I been up to? Lots! Our daughter turned 2 on in late January, a few weeks after we learned that we were pregnant again. I say "we" cause I've always seen this as a team project. Her pregnancy is half my responsibility. We're expecting "Junior" (yep, it's a boy!) sometime in early September (09-09-09 is the official date).

Which has put another big project into motion, one which has taken a lot of my leisure time: the basement office project. Or as I like to call it with my Twitter mates, the BatCave Projek! As I write this things are going really well on that front. I'm at the stage now that the gypsum boards will be going up next week-end. If all goes well, we should be done by mid-June, at the latest. Then if get our daughter moved into her new bedroom, once I've painted and decorated it.

In early April, the wife and I took a week off, and flew down south to the Dominican Republic to recharge the batteries. We'd left our daughter with both sets of grand-parents. She had a blast, and we came back refreshed. The photo above is of the pool side - which is where we spent all of our days for the full week!

As you can see, I've been keeping myself quite busy. And there's so much more left to be done.

Until then, I'll be dropping here once in a while, putting up videos, links and personal accounts of what's on my mind.

Thanks for sticking with me!

Signs - an interesting video on communications

Some time to myself

It's now been 2 days since my better-half and mini-me have left for Florida to stay with the in-laws for a week. Having started the new job at the beginning of the month, I neither had the accumulated vacation days, nor the desire to go really. Not that I would have liked the opportunity to enjoy some great weather. As an example, yesterday we had a mix of rain and freezing rain, whereas they got mostly sunshine with a nice 24C. Poor me!

They'll be back next Friday, which means that I'll be spending New Year's Eve by myself. Which I actually don't really mind. The last few years my wife and I have spent that evening at home enjoying a nice sushi dinner and remember the year that was, and the one that is about to beginning. Which I still what I intend to do this year.

The past year was particularly tough for us, with my job loss in April. But it also gave me opportunity to spend more time with my daughter and prevented my wife from having to rush back from work to pick her at daycare.

It also allowed me the chance to work on my gaming blog, CrazyKinux's Musing, on creating a community of blogger around the MMORPG I play, EVE Online, and to work on two new podcasts. The skill set I built in order to do this also opened new employment opportunities, of which CNW Group was one. It was a tough year, but we came out on top!

I plan on spending most of the day working on the basement; continuing the work that I started this summer. The goal is to have done by early spring. Lots of work ahead, but with my wife's uncle helping out, it should go well.

This ends the December wrap-up!

In and Out of Love - Armin van Buuren

After playing the video below over and over, I finally caved in and bought the CD through iTunes. It seems that van Buuren is becoming a favorite DJ of mine; add to that the voice of Sharon den Adel and I'm in!

I'm now subscribed to the Armada Video channel as a lot of great video are published by them!

Did you know?

Here's a great little video that will leave you amazed of the world around us. It allows you to see a glimpse of the world of possibilities that surround us!

What are you reading right now?

I love reading. I love books. Ask some of the people who helped us the last time we moved, and they'll tell you I/we have too many books - but I would tend to disagree.

One peculiar thing I like to do is read more than one book at a time. I've always read a few books at the same time, and though I've tried the one book, then another, then another approach, it just doesn't work for me.

Almost 2 years ago, in early January 2007, I set myself a little book challenge to see if I could stick to reading one book a month. I must say I failed miserably at the task. So now, I'm back to my old habits and reading more then one book at a time. Currently, I' reading to following:

• Deadhouse Gates, by Steven Erikson (100 pages left)
• Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell (a third into the book)
• EVE - Empyrean Age, by Tony Gonzales (half-way through it)
• Wikinomics, by Tapscott and Williams (just starting)

Here's what I'll be reading next:

• A Fire in the Sun, by George Alec Effinger
• Roma, by Steven Saylor
• British Kings & Queens, by Mike Ashley
• The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

So far, I much prefer this old approach of mine. Somehow I find that as I need time to digest a book, being able to jump into another while I do this, greatly helps me appreciate the books I read. Go figure! I'll try to write a little review as I finish reading each of these books.

And how about you? What are you reading these days?

Beauty is often found in the most unexpected places

I took this photograph on the last warm days of fall. The picture was taken at a city park near our home in Montreal West Island. Sometimes beauty stares at us in the most mundane locals. As I was walking through the park, I was looking for interesting pieces to photograph. Then, I looked up and saw this. Truly inspirational.

Taken by CrazyKinux