This ain't the movies

NYC

2010-03-16T18:09:00.003-04:00

Posing outside the United Nations, New York City

I took an extended weekend vacation at the beginning of March. The whole idea of getting paid to take a vacation day is still pretty fresh for me - but I think I can get used to it!

There was a destination involved in my mini-vacation: NYC.

I hooked up with an EMS and Fire show while I was there. There were a few interesting things, but it wasn't even close to a highlight of the trip.

Did you know that the Statue of Liberty isn't really as big as it looks in all those postcards?

At Ground Zero, a crazy man who tends to the monuments recited some street poetry about how the official count from 9/11 did not include a lot of people. It had never occured to me - people working illegally and street people were not counted.

This fire station is literally across the street from where the World Trade Centre stood. Their staff was decimated.

The day I was to fly into New York, my flight got cancelled. No matter. My travel companion had travel insurance so we lived it up in downtown Montreal!

Getting "stranded" in Montreal wasn't so bad. Here's the view from the hotel!

Swimming excellence and Santa - all in a weekend

2009-12-07T21:37:00.001-05:00

Arch, on the left, waits with one of his classmates for the word from their instructor.

The A team both went to the next level in their swimming classes. That makes one in level 3 and one in level 6 for the next go round. Arch has decided he's taking a break next session, so that'll give Angus a chance to get a little closer to his brother's level.

This is the first time Archie actually jumped, but he's sort of 'gone off' the diving board all year.

Angus had a tough time getting a hang of the hole floatation thing, but now he's psyched a swimming. He's excited to keep on going - and I'm excited to let him!

This is the last class of level 2 - and the very first time Angus went off the diving board all on his own! You've got to watch close, 'cause he was so fast!

Archie wants to try Tae kwon do. I guess he doesn't remember that he did this before. It wasn't too interesting to him when he was 4, but now he thinks he'd like to learn how to break through a board. With his bare hands. Or, feet. I'm happy as long as he picks out one physical activity so I guess that's it.

Angus had a good discussion with Santa.

We went to the annual children's Christmas party on the weekend. The kids were chuffed to sit on Santa's lap, even though they've decided that this fellow is likely not the actual Santa but a helper of sorts, who plays the part so that Santa can attend to his affairs at this time of year.

Archie said Santa asked if he'd waited long, and if the wait was worth it.

We rounded out the weekend by doing some Christmas baking, the first of the season. Angus decorated the cookies including the one pictured below, which he affectionately labeled 'Elvis' and insisted that his father eat it.

Driver Refresher

2009-07-21T18:49:00.003-04:00

Another Driver Refresher session will take place beginning at 6:30 on Monday, July 27, at the Community Centre. If you have not yet driven the course, please make arrangements with Charlene to do so. This is a mandatory refresher.

Wet. But, still summer, yes.

2009-07-18T19:24:00.005-04:00

Well, here I am. It's Saturday evening and I've got no date. I had an offer, but I declined. Instead, I'm at the office doing the last bit of admin after a day on set shooting another video for Face a Face.

As you might have noticed, the last one we made for them did quite well. This one is part of a training module with some pretty nifty interactivity ... I should know because I'm building it.

The summer so far has been work and work. I occasionally meet up with Rob in the hours just before bed for a late-night dinner. We went to Anis et Marjolaine one night this week. It had been so long since the big guy and I had been there that the owner asked us what we were celebrating. "It's Wednesday!" we quipped, but it actually seemed like a great reason to go out to a nice bistro. Last night we grabbed a roti at our favourite spot for such things in Montreal. And, La Belle Province is a regular spot for us, being as how it's 132 steps from our door to theirs.

Eating out has been in and out of my good books. There are so many things that we can make at home, that I actually enjoy making, that I'm often disappointed in restos. For the moment, I'm indulging out of twin needs. First off: we've got no water chez nous.

The hot water tank was the first to go. Water, water everywhere. Just as we got that mopped up, the cold water, too. It started splurting from the one of the last bits of copper piping in the house. We're going to need to do a big plumbing job ... as soon as we can decide what should be included in the job. Water of all kinds is, obviously, the priority.

Here we sit in Riverside, NB, at Char's brother's place.

That brings me to the second part of the rationale for eating out all the time this summer. With the kids on their summer vacation in Cape Breton, the big guy and I are working a lot. Every day, pretty much, and long days at that. At the end of a day, meeting your sweetie and having someone else prepare you both something fine ... well, it's civilized and swell.

roadtrippin' to Deepdale via stopover in Moncton

Reports from the lads are that Deepdale is t-rriffic! The boys took the July 1st Holiday as their opportunity to skedaddle. The little red car took us all as far as Moncton, where we visited with James, Debbie, Donna, Nicolas, Jeremy, Pam, Bob, Kathy, Mark and his wife and daughter that I met for the first time. (Nicolas is getting married in September!) That night there were fire works, and the next day, the lads went East while the big guy and I headed West.

Swimming lessons are rounding out for another session. The boys' time in the ocean water will now be spent playing instead of learning.

Rumour has it that the lads' Bubba - that's grandfather to you - had a hand in building the raft

Last weekend, I said, "I'm going for a hike. Wanna come?" to my sweetie. He's always up for one of my wacky adventures. Hiking might not sound like much, but keep in mind that it's rained every damn day this summer. It's raining right now - even though the sun is shining brightly. That's just how it is, and a person needs to do summery stuff regardless.

We decided to do a sort of pilgrimage/hike up Mt. Rigaud to the chapel. The drizzle started on our way to Rigaud. Then, it rained. It poured. And, just as we made the top of the mountain, the thunder began. By the time we got into the chapel, lightning was all around us. Scurrying down the mountain, we looked like two wet sausages. Not that there were too many others braving the extremes of summer 2009. We had the picnic area just about to ourselves.

Cheers. To summer.

Never say never

2009-06-19T17:03:00.003-04:00

Arriving at the New York City offices of Ogilvy on June 16

I've always said that I'd rather produce than direct. Then, just this week an opportunity came up to direct a shoot in NYC ... at the HQ of advertising giants Ogilvy and Mather! Yikes.

Of course I went for it.

Here I am inside the Ogilvy New York building for my directorial debut!

After getting a few pointers from the directors at Picture This Productions, I realized that directing has a lot of organizational and planning work involved. At least, the way I approached it, it does. This is exactly the work I thrive on, so directing for me was about getting the shoot logistics organized - on paper and in my head.

As the producer I do generally have a big part to play in planning, set-up, and running the show - so to speak, but it tends more toward managing and coordinating the big picture. Shooting, it turns out, is about putting the big picture just slightly out of focus so that I could see the details.

Are there ever a lot of details to think about.

A "double-room" at NYC's Chelsea Star shared by me and the camera-op featured one bed, one chair, and just enough space to take your shoes off.

Other than the shoot, there wasn't too much time to take in NYC sites. Luckily, we stayed right in the midst of Manhattan, across the street from Madison Square Garden. I should have realized that sleeping in Manhattan would be just wishful thinking!

I didn't foresee it, but going on a shoot in New York was a fantastic way to spend my birthday!

Angus brought home a library book on drawing baby animals

2009-06-04T17:07:00.001-04:00

Angus has been working his way through a book on drawing animals for the last two days with some pretty amazing results. My favourite so far is the goat, but he's puping the drawings out at about one every hour, so I reserve the right to pick anew!

Yesterday, I suggested that artists often sign their works. He obliged me the one time, but he's too busy on the art to worry about signing it.

Last week he had a project where he was devising a new superhero. Here are the two contenders that didnt's make it, and the one who did: Popcorn! I really can't decide which is my favourite - they're all such great concepts for a superhero!

All of these drawings are completely untouched by me other than scanning them - Angus is now colouring many of his works.

2009-04-27T21:15:00.000-04:00

I just had the wonderful opportunity to review my son's schoolwork in his portfolio. He showed me page after page of his work, and on nearly every one there was some whimsical rendition of a creature or a representation of the concept he learning in the work. Four vampires plus three ghosts equals seven monsters.

The boy informed me that I need to ask his permission to show this picture, and - as you can see - he said yes when I asked.

It's March Break!

2009-03-05T23:39:00.005-05:00

The Quadruplets I Never Had

The kids are off school for the week. It's a melange of work and play for the MacIsaac-Vacon clan.

Today, with Rob and Arch off to Toronto, Angus and I went into Picture This for a few hours of officin'. Angus didn't think the connection to the internet at the office was very good. His flash games weren't smooth ... But, I let him know that my productivity was what was holding up his play. I had big files uploading via ftp and they were eating up all the bandwidth.

We cut out in the afternoon to go see an IMAX movie - Fly Me to the Moon - with a friend, Brian. Since it was at the Montreal Science Centre, it was interesting to see a little bit of what goes into making IMAX movies. The movie was too short, but Brian tells me that 45 mins is typical for one of these movies. The movie itself as ok - the story was a bit strange in a few parts, and the ending was oddest of all, but it was cool to experience the 3-D animation. (Sidenote: words like "whimsical," used in the movie description, are always harbingers of a strange, slightly unpleasant bent.) Angus thought it was ok, too.

Thursday evenings, I'm off to my French class. Brian and Angus hung out together, made pizza, and got out the camera for a few fun shots, like the one you see here. A fun day of work and play.

Digital vs Analogue

2009-02-12T09:17:00.002-05:00

Cameras are magic, right? How is it that they can produce an image of what it is that I'm ogling? Sure - you can tell me the science: I just finished reading the Apothecary's House, so I have some vague sense of the photographic process as it relates to chemicals.

Digital cameras are mystical. The image is transformed - transmographied - into data. What is data? When I'm reasearching, data is the information that I write or type. Typing it on the computer complicates this idea, since the formation of the letters and sentences is again data-fied into some ethereal, mathematical, cosmic goo.

The goo is put somewhere, and when I want to examine it in a form that my little brain can understand, it has to be translated. The translation process I can grasp a bit better - the cosmic goo is put through the Universal Translator a la Star Trek (original series). POOF! I see pictures and words. I hear music. Wow.

What could possibly go wrong?

I guess I don't know, but something does go wrong somewhere. The digital camera informs me, while I'm using it to gather data for my work, that I'm done for... Actually, what it says is, "Clean card with a soft cloth." I understand this: the Universal Translator is not about to translate. Whatever cosmic goo I have stored up is not going to be vulgarized into anything I can wrap by mind around.

So, I poke at the buttons. I change the batteries. I clean and polish and blow out all the dust. You know already this doesn't help. I know it, too, but I have to do something.

I turn to the internet, to find out where I've erred and how I can get back on the Universe's good side. Error: poking at the buttons in the first place. Getting the Universe to return to me the images I stored: dunno.

This calls for someone less enamoured of the digital camera than I am; an unbeliever with a firm grasp on cosmic goo.

Rob pokes at the buttons, but systematically.

"Data? Are you in there?"

He thinks he hears something, so Rob sets off to find an add-on for the Universal Translator. Will the add-on translate? Will I see pictures? Stay tuned for next week's show.

Cooking for one

2009-01-27T10:17:00.005-05:00

I really prefer cooking for other people. To see people filling on something that I've made for them is personnally fulfilling. If they appear to rather enjoy it, well, that is even better for all involved.

It was one of those rare occasions when I went to some trouble to enjoy a meal all my own on a cold day this month. My tastes called for soup and bread.

As a youngster, I enjoyed oatmeal brown bread with its sweet, slightly nutty flavour. I was able to create a loaf faithful to my memories by using that morning's leftover porridge. I mixed it into the sponge with a good hand to the molasses. It turns out that I've been a bit shy on the molasses over the recent history of my breadmaking. More is better. It's adding a good half cup that brings the good brown tones and sweetness to the bread.

Once I set the loaf to rise in the pan - one rise only this time, which also not my typical method - it was onto the soup. Opening the fridge for my inspiration, I set on a tray of various half-eaten Quebec cheeses that I picked up during the Holidays. They were starting to get really funky - perfect for cheese soup. A carrot in the broth gave it an orangey complexion, and a potato gave it some heft. After blending, I melted the cheeses in. Unctuous, piping hot, and yummy. For a pint of red homebrew to go with...

Grown-ups at play

2009-01-19T09:27:00.004-05:00

Adrenaline junkies.

Some of my first responder buddies and I got together over the weekend to shoot at each other. Cathartic, and a good pasttime for people who enjoy adrenaline.

You do not want to get hit by this weapon.

I've recently relented on my stance that the kids should not have guns. I admit it - guns are fun.
Cap guns were one of my favorite toys between the ages of 7 and 9.

The paintball gun is almost as fun. It makes a great noise when it shoots, and certainly feels more powerful than the cap gun. What it lacks is a good gun smell. The paint stains, but it doesn't have that scent of having just shot at something.

Just after I got home, one of the kids snapped this. It looked much worse the next day.

Before you ask if it hurts to get shot, let me address the joy of pain. You really want to avoid getting shot when you know it's gonna sting. I got bruised all over my arms and chest, and it really felt like something when I got nailed in the top of the head. The face is covered, and I donned a breast-plate to protect the more sensitive parts.

I'd play again... just as soon as these bruises start to heal.

Looking for an attitude of service

2009-01-16T08:15:00.005-05:00

The morning train is a great idea when the temperature is low.

At -26 degrees Celsius this morning, my car didn't even consider starting. I turned the key. The radio came on and the lights did, too. But, there was abosolutely nothing happening in the engine compartment.

I did look for an outlet on the little Ford Focus last night. Didn't see one. Is that possible? Maybe I've got one of those cars that's not supposed to go out in the winter. Like a Porsch. Yes, that's it. My car: it's like a Porsch.

My Porsch-like Focus is not jealous of the plugged-in family van.

In the mornings this winter, I typically drive as far as the train station, and catch a train into Montreal. There are plenty of seats when I get on, being as mine is the first stop. I can comforatbly read the paper, or hop on my laptop to read a magazine.

Since my mother-in-law left me her copy of The Apothecary's House, I've been reading that on the hour-long train trip. It's an enjoyable read and it makes the trip go very quickly. In fact, I almost didn't get off at my stop on the way home earlier in the week.

The train has its drawbacks. Big on my list is that there are no bathrooms. Yes, I can hold it. But, when the A-team was very young and I took them aboard, they couldn't. Sorry about peeing between the railcars, AMT. Maybe you could consider our comfort.

While I'm on the topic of comfort, I would like to rant about those days when every seat is full. It's not fun to come to the end of your work day, and have to surf your way back to your part of the province.

If it were only comfort on the banlieue (the suburban train line), I'd hold my tongue. It's actually that the evidence seems to suggest that myself and those who run the AMT are operating under different definitions of the idea "service." To me, it's where another entity works to provide those served with things that will be helpful, useful, and even thoughtful. Traveling the train is probably better for the environment, and it's definitely easier on the infrastructure of Montreal (in terms of roads, parking, city workers).

The AMT's idea of service is more like doing a favour for people who use the train. We should be grateful to have a train at all.

Alas, if it were only the suburban train that operated with this vacuous conception of service... I'm afraid that a good many of our public services operate in such a way that the users feel more denied than served.

It's one of the most important services, emergency healthcare, that has about the worst wervice attitude I can imagine.

When you require service, you should feel cared for. You should not feel like you are in the way, or merely fortunate to have a meagre utility that's masquerading as a service. True service requires an attitude of caring, putting another's needs at the forefront of your actions, and humility.

The boys came at home

2009-01-11T12:15:00.002-05:00

I was talking to my mother this a.m. It was just the usual mother-daughter chit chat about nothing in particular.

Lorraine says that Gabriel and his son, Wyatt (that would be my nephew and my great-nephew, respectively), came in this morning and whisked her away to Tim Hortons for her coffee and Timbits. I know that I come by my love of the all-Canadian (just pretend with me, please) institution genetically.

We got to talking about wee Wyatt, who's now a year and bit old, having arrived nearly three months pre-maturely and precisely on his father's birthday. That topic lead direclty to my own dear mum recounting briefly the arrival of her first born.

My mother has four children. The first of them and the last of them (moi!) were delivered in hospital. The two middle children, however, were delivered at home. That may seem like nothing much, given that is how people had babies "back then," but today is the first time I'd heard that the boys were had at home and the rationale behind that decision.

For the first child, my mother had taken out a bond which she paid for out of her earnings from working. Lorraine always worked, and she always saved money. The bond was enough to pay for the time spent in hospital to have the baby, and there was a little left over "for me," says Lorraine. And, a good thing it was that the baby was had in hospital because the nurse had to wriggle around the stuck babe.

When it came time for babies two and three, in the mid-1950s, there was simply no money to pay for the hospital and doctor's fees. It hadn't ever occurred to me that mum would have had to pay for that, but of course she would have. It was before socialized medical care (which came in either 1957 or 1966, depending how you count). By the time it was my turn to come along, there were no user fees to have the baby in hospital.

2009-01-11T12:10:00.002-05:00

Angus sketched out the lines for a creature

Angus has been, as always, working on his drawings. He found a tutorial online, and has been using this method where shapes are used to layout the creature like in the sketch above.

Angus created this evil-doer in the same manner. He wasn't satisfied with the face - I cannot fathom why not.

2009-01-08T12:36:00.000-05:00

We've pretty much got the whole Christmas season down to a reproduce-able process. I really thought that, this year, I knew what was supposed to happen and when it was supposed to get done. Here is how it works for the MacIsaac-Vacon clan of Saint-Lazare.

First, it's the baking. The cakes have to be done early, ideally in October.

The fruit cakes have to be baked early so that they can set-up in their liquor bath for a good long while. It all starts with the fruit mix. This I keep on hand all year long in a gallon jar, replenishing whatever fruit I use and topping it all up with the dregs of rum or whisky. Fruit like this can be used to make cookies or other cakes whever the mood strikes. I first came across this method of keeping dried fruit available when I was making a wedding cake for Linnet and Rona. Linnet's mum, Robin, gave me the lo-down on storing fruit in spirits. It didn't take much convincing for me to adopt the method.

So, it didn't happen "ideally" in October this year. The cakes didn't get made in November, or even in December. I missed it entirely, but no one else seems to have noticed that it wasn't around. There remains one fruit cake from 2007, but I was too afraid to look in on it. No fruit cake this year.

After the baking, the next thing to do is the cooking. (As you have no doubt noticed, this task list is presented in order of importance.) There are two staples of my holiday that I can prepare in advance and send to the deep freeze: rappie pie and meat pie. This year, I prepped both of these for New Year - just hours before we devoured them on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

The turkey dinner cannot be cooked until the day of Christmas, it's true; however, I brined the turkey beginning on the 23rd. The frozen bird was bought just a day or two before.

After baking and cooking, I'm in the holiday spirit. Ready for the parties, that is! There are a standard five that I attend, beginning with the children's xmas party at Rob's Investor's Group office. The Puff and the Pillpoppers Christmas party is a late-night bash held early in December. My EMS team usually goes with an early party, as well, and it's comparitively pretty tame. About 3 or 4 days before we actually have the party, it occurs to the folks at Picture This that there should be some kind of office party. This year, it was an English tea at Griffon the week before we took our xmas time off. Mid-December, the ringette gals have a dinner party. Then, rounding out the season, it's the extravagant Investor's Group soiree. I got gastro exactly mid-way through the ringette party, and was still battling it when the IG soiree went ahead without me.

Pointe Claire Piranhas dinner party

Puff Holiday soiree

Next up, the decorations! The time to put up the xmas decorations is November 12. I began with the wreath on the door and ended with the xmas tree. (In between those two stages, some 40 days passed.) Rob went out to get the tree at the same tree shop four blocks away that we've been going to for the last four years.

The method for choosing a tree is greatly simplified by now: Rob says to the lovely woman at the shop, "I'd like a 7-foot tree." She steers him to a nice cultivated tree, and he greatfully hands over fistfuls of money. He never actually sees the tree unbound until it's home in our dining room. Every year, it's perfect!

The tree decorating is a process that takes several hours and requires mulled wine, egg nog, hot chocolate, and whatever baked goodies I've managed to get together. The A-Team was 100% on board with the decorating - for about 10 minutes. Angus stuck it out for a bit longer, since he liked the hat so much.

Phew! Once we get the tree up, and decorated, we place nic-nacs hither and yon and voila, country Christmas.

At this point, I feel it's necessary to have at least the first tin of Quality Street chocolates. There should also be some homemade fudge, homemade nuts & bolts, and another 2-3 boxes of chocolates. Alas, the stores were bereft of Quality Streets this year. It wasn't until after the holidays that I happened upon a rack of half-price tins at the local Pharmaprix while I was shopping for a Montreal Canadiens mug (another story). The good things about that is that I'm eating one right now!

Christmas cards are a staple for us, since they are the #1 means for distributing the Maggie Times, our holiday newsletter. This year was the ninth edition, which means next year's has got to be something special. We distributed our cards and newsletters to some 115 recipients during the last two weeks of December.

Rob at the xmas card preparation station

Yes, there are gifts aplenty exchanged during our Christmas. On this matter, this year was no different than any other. I developed a good list in early December that I was able to tactically achieve throughout the month, largely using the eBay and Amazon.com. I don't have to do too much on this front, since Santa makes sure to bring what the kids ask for as well as stuff all 6 of the stockings. In the last week before Christmas, I head in to Zellers for Rob's pajamas and slippers. Easy.

Santa managed to find an out of print video game for Archie

The family gatherings this year both came during the holidays. First, it was my sister Joanne's Christmas Eve dinner. She made a superb, if "untraditional" dinner of Asian cuisine, including a marvelous orangy-glazed turkey. It was Archie's turn to battle gastro, poor dear, but by the end of the evening he recovered enough to open presents and have a bite of the holiday meal.

Tante Joanne, Angus, Oncle Andre and Archie

Vicky and Stephane opted to have the cousins over during the break between xmas and New Year's, an idea that I thought was excellent. We had a huge brunch and then nestled around the television watching the wee cousins get their Wii chops up.

Christmas Day starts at 6:30 when Archie gets up, has a look to see if all is at it should be, and then begins to whisper to the rest of us that it is, indeed, Christmas. Rob makes chocolate chelsea buns that we munch on while the stockings are opened, and the presents unwrapped. After a second cup of coffee, I get to the prep for our traditional turkey dinner.

Butch and Margie open their stockings while Rob's chocolate chelsea buns await

Then, there's New Year's Eve. This year, I decided to play it safe. After last year's head-on collision involving Harmony's car, a little blue Honda Civic, and the Highway 40 median, I had the desire to be warm and comfy at home. We popped a bottle of champagne at 12:00, toasted the New Year with the kids, and were tucked in our bed - all of us in the one bed! - by 12:15.

I can see now, as I recount the story of the 2008 Holiday season, that not everything happened as it should in the process. Yet, I feel now - as much for their absence as the their presence - that the MacIsaac-Vacon family has our very own holiday traditions. And, that is a warm, sweet feeling.

Frosty the birthday boy

2009-01-05T21:35:00.000-05:00

Sure, it's January and it's c-c-cold. That's no reason not to get some fresh air.

I'm of the opinion that a person has to find some things that she enjoys to pass the long winter. I enjoy playing in the outdoors, as long as I have four layers (minimum), a good pair of mittens, excellent socks, warm boots, a tuque that covers my ears and the promise of hot liquids once I go back inside.

Saturday, Angus was off to a birthday party, a birthday tubing party! The Base de Plein Air was the locale for the mad dash, and I being the mother that I am (that would be "fun-loving" mama and not "overbearing" mama, in case you were wondering) could not resist the invitation to tag along.

Much exercise was had by all. Does it strike you that everything you do outside in the winter takes about 50% more energy than at times when there isn't three feet of snow on the ground? I slept well that night.

The cold has a good deal to do with the feeling that everything outside in the winter takes more energy. Heating my body used the energy from an entire can of Monster, pre-drunk in order to keep up with the young'uns.

The temperature was in the -13 degree area, which is not exceptionally cold. It was, however, plenty cold enough for the birthday boy to get frost nip on his cheeks. This may have been precipitated by the nasty wind: chilling, indeed. If you notice that your cold, rosy cheeks are developing white patches - that's frost nip. It's the universal signal that it's time to head in for the hot chocolate, and that is exactly what we did!

As for the tubing at the Base de Plein Air, it's good. The two runs are pretty short, and straight as she goes.

Bedard Park is better. The kids there - surely without the insurance worries of organized establishments - have carved wicked bumps into the runs. These are the kind of fun that makes you scream. Not that I went over them. Oh, no. Too scary. Angus took them on his butt, knees, and - this was hard to watch - on his stomach.

At the tubing party, the kids went in twos and threes on the tubes. NB: three is too many. One gets knocked off and run over by the very tube he was supposed to be riding. By the laughter and screaming, I'd gauge it a great party. In Angus words: "That was the best party ever!"

Photo op captured in video

2009-01-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

[download]

Sorting through the Christmas pictures from 2008, I came across this gem.

I have Rob's camera to thank for this one. It'a an Olympus FE-310. The control that shifts between still photo and video easily turns to whatever it fancies. I've got at least half a dozen sort-of video clips from the sixty-nine things that I thought were photos. That's too high of a percentage.

But, in the case of this moment - where a photo opportunity was in the offing - I recognized that the camera had snuck into movie mode and went along with it. A good thing.

2008-12-24T14:22:00.000-05:00

This is not a Christmas zombie

2008-12-23T17:26:00.000-05:00

My youngest son's favorite holiday is Halloween. When it's his birthday, he wants a Halloween birthday party. Now that it's the Christmas season, his artwork continues to reflect Halloween-ish themes with nary a baby Jesus, or a reindeer, to be seen.

Both of my sons are amazing with a pencil. Archie started drawing at about 5 years of old and hasn't stopped yet. If he's on the computer or watching a movie, it'll be with a pencil and paper at hand. He's been able to develop tremendous detail in his drawings and has moved on from simple figures to more complex scenes.

The work with a pencil has created a wonderful calligraphic touch in his printing. If we still call the talent of wielding a pencil "penmanship," then I can say that Archie's penmanship is quite lovely.

Angus, who started drawing at the same time as his brother, was three when he chose the pencil over the crayon. Now, as well as his interest and talent in drawing characters, Angus enjoys adding flourishes wherever he can. His homework has elaborate colour schemes and sketches of scenarios depicting what a good student ought to do.

Drawing is a wonderful interest, and one that has come in useful many times that I can tell. That this simple passtime will occupy both of my boys for hours on end is a blessing for the sons - and, for the mother who's taken them to so many (boring) meetings.

You'd like to know how to make a moist, chewy cookie?

2008-12-21T20:27:00.000-05:00

Lots of people ask me how to make a better cookie - actually, they usually ask me how to make a good cookie. Like my grandmother, I'm loath to give away my secrets. Being as it's Christmas, and I seem to be in the giving mood, I will tell you this today: most people over bake their cookies.

Maybe you say, "the definition of 'over baked' depends on what kind of texture you prefer." Let me answer with a question: do you prefer dry and crumbly, or moist and chewy when it comes to cookies? If it's the first, then there's no hope for you.

OK. I'll agree that dry cookies have their place. If you intend to make your cookie for dipping in a beverage, then by all means cook it 'til it's hard as tack. Go for it if you're making tea cookies; and for biscotti, you'll be forced in this direction by double baking. Otherwise, please be kind to your cookie; take it out of the oven once it's set. You can say I'm fussy, and you'd be right. But, I have not met anyone who prefers an over baked crumb to one that is moist and soft.

Another benefit to properly cooked cookies is that they'll probably taste great for several days. I wouldn't know, because perfectly done cookies don't last in my house. (My cookie errors, as if to prove my point, stay around for weeks... and they do not improve with age.)

How will you know when your cookie is set? Well, dear, that comes with practice. (Again, channeling a relative, this time my own dear mother.) There are a few techniques you can employ while doing your homework on this. First up, if you're following a recipe, then it is probably telling you to leave the cookies in until they are overdone. You may think, "Why, Ms. Char, would anyone purposefully tell me to overcook my food?" In this case, I remind you of the way in which vegetables were cooked just a generation ago. By 2008 , most of us know that broccoli should be green and carrots should be orange. But, this bit of insight was hard-won. Overcooking is sometimes just a bad habit; the good news is that it's one you can change!

If your recipe says to bake cookies for 9-11 minutes, they may very well be ready by 8 minutes in, and almost certainly will be set by 9 minutes.

Another trick to try when gaging the done-ness of your baking is to pay attention. This should be written in every cookbook as "common wisdom." Alas, wisdom being not so common at all, you'll be ahead of the pack if you just watch what you have in the oven. You need to look at the cookies near the end of their baking. A little bit of golden-glow on the edges is fine; anything more and you're in crispy-cracker realm.

The final tidbit I'll let you in on is not to rush the transfer of the cookies. Cookies that are not overcooked need a few extra moments to gather themselves together before they go out into the world. The requisite one minute on the cookie tray is not enough. These gems actually have to begin cooling right on the baking tray.

The cookies themselves will communicate with you when they are not ready to be transfered to a cooling rack. If you pick up the cookie when it's not ready, you'll hear a little cookie voice saying, "I'm falling," and it will be falling apart making it very difficult to transfer. Get yourself a good set of 2 or 3 cookie baking trays - hey, Christmas is coming! - so that you can bake another tray while this one is cooling. If you time your work well, you should be just moving the last of the cookies from your first tray to the cooling rack when the second tray is ready to come out.

Okay, I'll admit that I've only given you a part of the good cookie baking secrets that I've garnered in years of baking at home and in pro kitchens. I'm just not ready to divulge everything at once.

Happy baking!

Festive Holiday Season

2008-12-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

I find myself in the enviable position of having all sorts of parties and get-togethers this season. Last Christmas, I had the same ones. But, this year I'm so happy to have these festivities since there are all sorts of workplaces that have canned the usual holiday bash.

My workplace is on the crowded economic downhill ski slope. If there was talk about nixing the apres ski nosh, however, I wasn't privy to it. We did an afternoon tea, which was not so different than what we did last year.

My friend Harmony, on the other hand, who works for one of those pharmaceutical research facilities, had her office's Christmas party completely cancelled. It's not a very festive thing to do, and - here's one for the bottom line - it doesn't bolster the morale at all. I think this is typical of her company though, since in a regular year they don't even bother to allow employees to invite a date to the party (not even if they are spouses).

My volunteer org - the Saint Lazare Medical Response Unit - never invites spouses to the holiday party, either. Somehow, this doesn't bother me a bit. It's a different kettle of fish when you're vounteering. This thinking applies to the little company where I work, Picture This Productions, too. When the company is big, and so is the party, spouses ought to be invited along.

On the third hand, when the company brass offers you the choice between firing 10 employees and a Holiday party, what would you say, "Hmmm. Who is it that will get fired?"

What if the company has already laid off employees? It's kind of depressing to go to a party afterwards, and think of all the money they're spending on decorations alone let alone your fifth cosmopolitan.

In this situation, my advice is to just drink your troubles away.

That's what I planned to do at my partner's Christmas shindig. His financial services company always has the most lavish party of my holiday season. Black tie, shiny dress, five course meal. The concession this year - that we don't get to stay in a hotel room on the company's tab afterwards - was actually made due to a change of venue. The recession came after the party was already planned.

If I drink too much at this office party, and make an arse of myself, at least they can't put me up next on the chopping block.

Update: Unfortunately, I missed the party due to a bout of gastro. I promise to hold onto my plan for next year, though, so long as Rob still has a job.

The Inlaws Arrive, Bringing Dinner With Them

2008-12-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

My parents-in-law arrived yesterday for the holiday break. They've been coming to our place every year since the kids were born, so this would be their ninth holiday season here. (Hey, we'll have to have a big party next year to celebrate their tenth!)

Butch and Margie, who are always extremely well organized, arrived with their dinner - and ours - already prepared. And, it wasn't sandwiches. No, it was Nova Scotia delicacies: lobster and roast bison. Both of these were already cooked, so all we had to do was provide the side dishes.

It's typical to have a side salad with lobster, potato salad being the more likely candidate. In this case we had two traditional creamy potato salads and a garden salad. For a more formal dinner, we'd have hot sides. But, for visitors just arriving and bringing their dinner with them, this was a lovely feast and a great holiday season meal.

Milton the warm-hearted snowman

2008-12-18T00:34:00.000-05:00

Last night, I had quite a treat. The family went to see Archie's school Christmas concert. Now, every year I've gone to the concerts, and every year they are lovely. At least, I think they are. The thing of it is - I realize now - I've never actually gotten to pay attention to one.

Last night, Angus sat on Daddy's lap. I went to the back of the room to take pictures and watched the entire concert from that vantage point.

Aside: The fact that I had a black eye - a story for another day - and that Rob and I weren't sitting together was likely fodder for a bit of gossip...

From the back of the room, I was able to pay attention and, for the first time, follow the elaborate story and songs that my son and his classmates worked on for the last two months. It was beautiful!

Well done, son!

My Beloved First Responders

2008-12-16T23:29:00.000-05:00

I've been a member of the Saint Lazare Medical Response Unit since its early days. I wanted to join in 2003, when they announced that there was going to be a first responder service in Saint Laz. At that time, Angus was just a babe in arms and Archie needed his Mama to take him on walks to the park.

It was in late 2003 - December 6, to be exact - that the service officially began providing emergency medical first response. The next year I joined what was to be for me a true commitment and an incomparable experience.

Last Thursday, we celebrated the service's fifth anniversary with a wine and cheese reception. Since I'm the PR person for the service, it was more or less my gig. That's exactly how I want it: I love the logistics, planning, and just all the behind-the-scenes details that need to be taken care of. Actually, I think what I love just as much is the superb feeling when all of those details are handled and the event goes as well as this one did. All of our team members were shining at just the right time. It's an exhilarating feeling.

Another feeling that can't be beat is meeting someone whose life you had a hand in saving. It actually happens rarely for first responders, since our job is in those first few minutes of a crisis. We rarely even find out what happened to a patient we treated. But, one of our cardiac arrest patients came to our little reception to say, "Thank you," to the people who were there on his emergency.

It truly is a privilege to serve.

Decorating Tree: Not a Religious Experience

2008-12-14T14:19:00.000-05:00

Everyone I work with is Jewish. That's given me a chance to find out that I really, really like gefilte fish and that Hanukkah isn't that important of a holiday. I've enjoyed what small bits of Jewish culture I've been able to gleen from these folks. Somehow, the bunch I ended up working with, while Jewish, are not at all religious. That means that, while they're strong on history, and reliable on culture, they're a bit sketchy on traditions of the faith.

I'm more likely to know when it's a Jewish holiday than Maureen or David. Andrea will usually know that there is a holiday coming up, but not necessarily its import or its exact date. To be fair, although I am culturally Christian, I couldn't tell you when the third Sunday of the Advent is, or what it is, for that matter. I know that the Feast of the Assumption is on the 15th of August - but, I know that because it's also the day Acadians celebrate our so-called national holiday. Since I'm the one in my office who communicates with our clients, that's the reason that I have to keep track of the Jewish and Christian holidays.

My workmates seem to enjoy having a Christian who loves Christmas in their midst. This year, Maureen told me when she bought decorations "for me." Andrea has been playing Christmas music at every chance, and she timidly offered her help - as long as I would tell her what to do - when I was putting up the office xmas tree. We did a nice collaborative tree - or so we thought. It wasn't until David and Maureen's kids pitched in to put the finishing touches on that tree that our office got a warm, cozy 'holiday' spirit.

Some people are into holiday traditions, and some, well... after two years, I'm still waiting for my mates to set up a menora.

Kids and Christmas

2008-12-11T23:02:00.000-05:00

The kids had an opportunity to sit on Santa's lap last weekend. It was the annual Investors' Group kids Christmas party. This year, they were both truly looking forward to it.

After waiting through all the kids from 0 to 5 years old, Angus had to go to the washroom just as Santa began calling up the six-year olds. Run to the washroom; run back to the Santa room. As we're zipping down the hall we hear, "Angus MacIsaac Vacon," and Angus rounds the corner, zig-zags through the room, bounding up onto Santa's lap. Perfect!

Archie tells me he didn't get a chance to tell Santa what he wanted, but he has since written a note to Santa outlining the three Metroid video games (in order of preference) that would really make his Christmas complete.

Christmas is my favourite time of the year. Watching the kids get excited adds now to my own pleasure in this season. Sure, their zeal is largely centred on presents; so was mine when I was their age. What I didn't realize then is that it is - and really always was - about the whole Christmas season. It's the family, and the baking, the decorations, and the time off to enjoy it all that keeps Christmastime full of wonder.

All the same, here's hoping the old guy delivers!

Today I'll start a blog

2008-12-10T17:17:00.000-05:00

The drive in this a.m. was slower and later than usual. We had a snow and ice storm yesterday, and it was just getting cleaned up this morning. So, I had lots of time to tune in to the radio on my later than usual a.m. drive.

I've been listening to the new CBC Radio 2, but opted for Radio One today (yes, the CBC spells out the 'one' but not the '2'). Surprise! There's new programming on 2, too. Nora Young, hosting a show called Spark, was wrapping on ongoing series with a blogging expert.

Now, these tech/media segments usually leave me feeling cold. And, old. I only this week realized that an i-phone and an i-pod touch are two different things. I'm behind the times, yet I still want to be in the know - a frustrating mix that is sometimes exacerbated by these techie know-it-alls coming from my old fashioned radio. Mediating this, however: Nora Young. I can't get enough of her.

Her guest, Merlin Mann, the blogging guy, summed up his truly enlightened thoughts on blogging by encouraging everyone just to try it.

So, I am.