tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:39:52 +0000"Simplify, simplify." - Henry David Thoreau <p> A Prince Edward Island place. An Ottawa web space. Stuff.</p>http://www.waldencabin.com/noreply@blogger.com (Stuart)Blogger429125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-8587781181162305772Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:37:00 +00002010-02-17T16:37:06.585-05:00One Change – Simple actions matter. » Enter to win a free signed Martin Brodeur jersey!Posted using ShareThishttp://www.waldencabin.com/2010/02/one-change-simple-actions-matter-enter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-6708552017575817056Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:57:00 +00002010-02-16T22:33:39.142-05:00Last night I wrote a bit about death. Things were fine then. It was all so abstract and remote. Then this morning at about 7:30 AM Suzy stepped into the shower and stepped out in excruciating pain. She hadn't pulled a muscle or twisted. Something random had happened. And we spent the whole day in the critical care unit at the Ottawa General Hospital. For a while there this morning we were talkinghttp://www.waldencabin.com/2010/02/all-you-need-is-trees-trees-are-all-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-189977696282300194Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:21:00 +00002010-02-15T21:45:01.496-05:00I think about death a lot. I don't know why, really. Life is great. I'm still close to the median age, and I like how Canadian life expectancy is climbing at about the same pace that the earth circles the sun.It's fair to say that I don't want to die. My biggest fear is leaving my kids prematurely. I picture Jasper and Simon sad, lonely. Suzy would pause and move on. She's like that. This summer http://www.waldencabin.com/2010/02/tuft-of-down.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-5103861010331300767Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:50:00 +00002010-01-18T22:01:03.755-05:00My super team at One Change has been working on a water campaign for about a year. We've got energy nailed (or screwed) with bulbs as the catalyst action. Like the light bulb is to the house, the tire gauge is the car, the simplest first action. The sound the tire gauge makes (Psst!) is the call to action of fuel efficiency. That works well.But then there's water. I thought we had the scoop on http://www.waldencabin.com/2010/01/sometimes-simple-things.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-6458259125246520094Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:12:00 +00002010-01-17T21:28:02.141-05:00I'm having powerful cabin dreams. Usually this doesn't happen until February/March. I decided years ago that this annual phenomenon indicates that I've been away from Walden for too many months -- that I need to get back to the woods. But this year, the dream is different. I'm moving stuff around. I'm discovering new rooms or whole new floors that I didn't know were there. Sometimes the world http://www.waldencabin.com/2010/01/walden.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-5969737075369268165Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:23:00 +00002009-10-28T22:48:36.713-04:00Why do new TVs have to sing a little song when you turn them on? Seriously. Who thought that up? Imagine yourself in the board room that the idea was first presented: "Customers will love it, like the TV saying 'Thanks for turning me on!' It's the fifth anniversary of Project Porchlight today. Five years ago this morning Suzy walked a hand-written application form over to City Hall to register http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/10/misc-observations-of-unremarkable.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-668700736025340287Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:59:00 +00002009-10-25T22:32:36.805-04:00Strange things are happening. Again.Yesterday. I'm driving. It's cold and rainy and dark. At 11AM. And I'm thinking: "We gave away 13,000 digital tire gauges this summer, and now that it's cold and wet, nobody's going to be checking their tire pressure."So I pull into the parking lot at the Starbucks closest to Jasper's Saturday hockey game. 10 minutes later I'm getting back into the car, lattes http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/10/under-pressure.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-7842775262918669852Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:46:00 +00002009-10-23T22:55:38.477-04:00If patience is a virtue, how would you describe someone who continues to come back to a blog where the author has not posted in 4 months?Here's a reward: This is the first place I'm announcing an exciting news bit: My little NGO has signed Ed Begley Jr. as a US spokesperson! He just seems like the right kind of celeb for One Change, and I only discovered in the last couple of days that in http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/10/youre-first-to-know.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-488873744838178058Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:11:00 +00002009-10-20T17:16:56.226-04:00OK. By now, nobody's reading this. No, I'm not calling you a nobody. Thanks for dropping by! Life's been so busy lately. Too busy. But I'm happiest when I'm writing, so I'm determined to try to tap out some thoughts and observations here. The big news is that One Change is now a charitable foundation in Canada and the US, endorsed by the UN. And we have some new celebrity help to get the word outhttp://www.waldencabin.com/2009/10/more-time-in-woods-please.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-1277382419058346995Fri, 22 May 2009 02:00:00 +00002009-05-21T22:02:08.426-04:00http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/05/test.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-2809478135376767423Fri, 15 May 2009 02:10:00 +00002009-05-14T22:33:59.221-04:00No, they're not in jail. It's the loft at Walden. The boys love it when I shut off all the lights and get the candles of the chandelier going. It's amazing how bright it seems with 6 candles burning in a small cabin miles from any street lights or city light pollution. Every summer at the cabin I have to spend at least one evening on my back on the dew-soaked lawn, staring out at the stars. Even http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/05/far-away-on-hill-perspective.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-5935053447625885164Mon, 11 May 2009 02:05:00 +00002009-05-10T22:31:26.683-04:00I love this photo. The energy and hope in the flag. The joy on Jasper's face. Me not quite believing that this is my son, at my place. That was before it was "ours."It's June 2001. The leaves are just coming out, but the grass has had a few weeks to get ahead of us. Jasper was making his first day trip to Walden. He was only just over a year old, but really ten months because back then we were http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/05/god-keep-my-land-glorious-and-free.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-3532141317117870376Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:43:00 +00002009-04-12T13:23:32.877-04:00I ran 14k yesterday. It's the first time I've gone that far in one day, and it felt great. I started and ended at the Agriculture Museum of the Experimental Farm in Ottawa, running along the Rideau Canal and over Hartwell locks to Hogs Back and on to Mooney's Bay. The Agriculture Museum was packed with kids, including my own, who were there with Suzy and one of Suzy's best friends Michelle and http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/04/simple-things.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-237565597548891316Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:21:00 +00002009-04-08T21:42:56.969-04:00I type with three fingers of my right hand, and two of my left, plus one thumb for the space bar. I'm fast but not efficient. And if someone's watching I just can't type. Only recently did I realize that the space bar had nothing to do with outer space, but the space between words. Computers are so amazing. Space age.Eight years ago this month I had a burger with my dad at the DQ on Bank Street http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/04/misc-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-8134623985868084362Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:14:00 +00002009-04-06T21:42:50.160-04:00Let's see. Where to start. A secret: I don't think about what I write here before I start to type.A confession: I hate my hair. Tomorrow my experiment with "growing it out" comes to a swift end. A promise: I will add the screen room on the front of the cottage this year.**It's a crime that grey hair has a different consistency to it. I'm quickly losing my flowing nutty brown to kinky wacko grey. http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/04/priorites.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-3829630001467184862Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:38:00 +00002009-04-02T22:02:57.977-04:00I'm disappointed tonight, but I shouldn't be. Today I found out that I was not picked for an international fellowship that I'd been nominated for last December. I won't be going to Yale University after all. It was a long shot anyway. But I had stellar letters of reference. A Premier, CEOs, gurus, etc. I have to admit that I had my hopes up there and was told I was a strong candidate. But there http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/04/year-ahead.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-3840469520602752428Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:14:00 +00002009-03-30T21:33:32.236-04:00In case you're ripe for another random strawberry sighting (see below), you may be interested to know that Kellogg's is running a new contest: Spot the Strawberry. The prize for the contest, which was run on YTV and closed March 23, was a bicycle helmet. I was just in London, after a few days in Oxford. Yes. Well then. Indeed. One thing the British take seriously is a good hot drink. Perhaps the http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/03/gordon-browns-cuppa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-4478732900490357997Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:47:00 +00002009-03-18T00:59:17.631-04:00I flew into San Antonio this evening as the sun was setting. It's my first time in Texas. The sun was hot on the airplane window and the city was shrouded in haze. I think it's the first time I've ever been happy to see summer-ish smog.Sure enough, it was as warm outside as in, and the air was thick with humidity and Spanish. I hopped in a cab and within a few minutes we crested a gentle rise http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/03/yo-alamo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-324531939481711128Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:17:00 +00002009-03-14T01:26:18.712-04:00I get nervous climbing up a ladder to clean the eaves trough on the first floor of my 1.5 storey house. So, faced with the opportunity to change the bulbs on the Calgary Tower, how could I refuse the chance to get over this base fear?It really wasn't so bad. The worst part was climbing the ladder and getting across the threshold of a little window that led to the catwalk along the rim of the http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/03/green-beacon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-6893950314040741288Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:33:00 +00002009-03-12T11:50:34.838-04:00Forty-one is fine. My mother called this morning from a beach in Portugal with birthday wishes. She caught me in the middle of a scramble -- getting the kids ready for school after sleeping in too late because I got home last night at 11:30PM from a whirlwind trip to Pennsylvania and back (12 hours of travel for a 45 minute meeting -- and I'm an "energy conservation" consultant ... ). Life's a http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/03/looking-both-ways-before-crossing-today.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-6310155420294605575Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:45:00 +00002009-03-09T21:55:14.335-04:00Joanne writes from Vancouver:"on my run this morning, I saw a strawberry with a bite out of it sitting on the sidewalk...at the corner of 10th and Ontario, no less...I almost fell flat on my face in surprise...."Living is easy with eyes closedMisunderstanding all you seeIt's getting hard to be someone, but it all works outIt doesn't matter much to meLet me take you down, cause I'm going http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/03/its-spreading.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-7492809573399720900Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:41:00 +00002009-03-06T08:38:14.949-05:00News flash: There's something afoot.You won't read about this in the papers, or even in the alternative media, but it appears that someone in Ottawa is walking around eating fruit salad carelessly. The woman sitting next to me on the flight from Ottawa to Calgary yesterday told me she too saw a strawberry on the sidewalk, but it was in a different part of town. (See yesterday's post, below).I http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/03/granola-with-fruit.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-4584361726186469675Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:58:00 +00002009-03-04T22:34:03.521-05:00This morning Jasper was a bit moody and blue when I dropped him off at school. We'd spent the day at home yesterday because Simon was sick with a bad cold and it's easier to have both of them at home at once. I'd gotten a lot of work done, but we managed to watch a bit of a movie, mess up the house, and slip out for lunch at Subway. So this morning as we skittered across the cold parking lot http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/03/that-sucking-sound.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-5213455229327028459Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:24:00 +00002009-03-02T21:48:52.640-05:001) The double-bagged kitty litter now has to be split between two bags because it is too heavy for the garbage people to pick up curbside. This is too much interaction with Puddy's sullied clumping gravel. If there's a lesson here, I'm missing it.2) Suzy got her sister JD a ticket to see Leonard Cohen at the NAC in an advance ticket sale. This morning people were lined up to buy tickets when theyhttp://www.waldencabin.com/2009/03/crying-crying-over-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433484.post-1734644849565971185Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:06:00 +00002009-03-01T21:26:19.172-05:00I'm still learning. This weekend I discovered that it's just too risky to try to carry a black garbage bag-full of kitty litter up from the basement and through the house en route to the trash can. Double bag it.In bed with me now as I write is "Audacity of Hope" and "Tantric Sex for Dummies." Audacious indeed. With Suzy asleep beside me, it's probably also hopeless.I also have some new toys (no,http://www.waldencabin.com/2009/03/one-thing-to-another.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stuart)2