Impromptu picnic at the forks.

Impromptu picnic at the forks.

Brothers

Brothers

Always fun when Winnipeg gets a random mention in my regular internet wanderings.

Always fun when Winnipeg gets a random mention in my regular internet wanderings.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/06/cowboys-must-be-deranged.html

This morning:

This morning:
Sara, "Nate do you want cereal for breakfast?"
Nate, "No, I want ... [pause while trying to think of something clever] ... broccoli!"

It's a shame we didn't have any on hand, or we could have called his bluff.

Kites in the park.

Kites in the park. 

Went out with good friends, had a couple drinks.

Went out with good friends, had a couple drinks... discovered something fundamentally new about the way the universe works. 

(Picture taken at the newly reopened Basil's on Osbourne. Fantastic restaurant by the way.)

I'm not quite sure how this is physically possible.

I'm not quite sure how this is physically possible. I understand that our boys eat a lot of cheerios and that they drop quite a few of them, but what I don't understand is how you amass a pile that big directly underneath you without crushing it into cheerio dust.

(Striped car seat is James, check is Nate)

Note to self: Do not use the term "We need to jet" around a three year old.

Note to self: Do not use the term "We need to jet" around a three year old.

The next ten minutes included repeated requests to fly in a jet, an explanation of why "We need to jet" implied we need to go fast, explanation of why jets are considered fast relative to other modes of transporation, explanation of what physically makes a jet go fast, more requests to fly in a jet, explanation of why travelling by jet isn't an efficient means of travelling within the same city...

Posted purely because of the name of the game.

Posted purely because of the name of the game.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/17/3091922/play-this-snakes-on-a-cartesian-plane

Went with our kids and the Ifland kids to our regular park, only to find out it was a full on kids' carnival.

Went with our kids and the Ifland kids to our regular park, only to find out it was a full on kids' carnival. They had music noisily blaring, and there were two boys (between 10 and 12) waiting in line for the train in front of us, they had the standard boy of that age hair mop under ball caps, and were practicing their we're too cool to care poise when they suddenly looked at each other in unison, shouted "It's Beiber!" and started popping and locking like little gangsters. Oh to have had a pair of Google glasses to capture the footage.

Microsoft is really surprising me these days.

Microsoft is really surprising me these days. Launching a neat app first as an Android exclusive, and having their big E3 announcement be open platform.

Unfortunately, this app requires Facebook login for some reason, but still...
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/05/onx/

Nate likes to "shave" with me in the morning. (He's using my single blade razor, with the blade removed.)

Nate likes to "shave" with me in the morning. (He's using my single blade razor, with the blade removed.)

Sara and I went on a date to a restaurant last week, the food was good, but they had the unfortunate habit of using...

Sara and I went on a date to a restaurant last week, the food was good, but they had the unfortunate habit of using "real" as an adjective in their menu, as in "real chicken" or "a salad with real eggs" (it actually said that). Using "real" as a descriptor in a menu falls under the category of things that while good that they are true, are actually more disconcerting to mention than positive. Examples of words that fit this category are "edible", "palatable", and "non-toxic".

If I'm in your restaurant and I'm reading the menu, I'm just going to give you the benefit of the doubt that the ingredients you list are actually going to be provided (especially if your entrees are $25 and up). If you mention that the egg in your salad is "real", now I need to challenge my basic assumptions. The egg is real, but they didn't say anything about the tomatoes... or, what were they thinking of providing instead?

While I'm ranting, the other restaurant peeve that they triggered, was listing olives as part of their salad and then only providing two. At two olives you are not exceeding anyone's expectations, there's no room for you to go any lower, and you're dangerously close to not qualifying for the "s" at the end of "olives". Seriously though, at two olives it's not part of the salad, it's a garnish You don't need to mention it, surprise me. It's like noting that it comes with a sprig of parsley. Also, as a basic rule of aesthetics, things look better in odd numbers. Is that extra olive going to break your profitability margins? Live a little, throw in some extra olives.

A child's perspective.

A child's perspective. Normally I just come home from work and think nothing of it, but the other day I was crouched down giving James a hug, when I caught this perspective of our front yard. Thought it looked nice, so I took a picture.

James gets a much needed haircut.

James gets a much needed haircut.

Impromptu picnic in the park after watching our godson's Cello recital.

Impromptu picnic in the park after watching our godson's Cello recital.