The Barenaked Ladies were awesome tonight. They’ve been around for 19 years and are really green. Ed Robertson liked the idea of handing out CFLs to folks who attend their shows. We’ll see if that works out. For now, we have a new snap for the growing Porchlight celeb gallery. Oh, and I also met Stephane Dion today (photo tomorrow), who spontaneously changed a bulb in his Parliament Hill office during my visit. Don’t tell the National Capital Commission! Last year the federal agency responsible for heritage buildings in the capital actually said “energy efficient lighting is inappropriate for heritage buildings.” One Change feels good tonight.

I often find myself in awkward situations when it comes to official protocol. Sometimes it works for me. Sometimes not. I’ve spent weeks going to meetings with duct tape holding up the hem of my dress pants. Those who know me well are familiar with my fear of “spontaneous hem failure.” Yesterday I found myself in a similar situation. It’s February in Ottawa. The roads and sidewalks are a slushy mess. On my way to Parliament Hill to meet Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, I decided at the last moment to stash a fancy pair of shoes in the Porchlight bag I’d brought for the Leader. A minute before my meeting,…

Ever since Australia announced a ban on incandescent bulbs, the phone’s been ringing off the hook. Suzy’s fielding calls from Yukon where she’s helping to deliver 10,000 bulbs. We’ve done interviews with The National Post, Toronto Star and CBC/RDI. This afternoon I’m live on the air on NewsTalk radio stations in Kitchener and Windsor. Suddenly, everyone wants to jump on the bulb bandwagon. Yesterday I pressed the ban issue with Environment Minister John Baird. Today at 3:45 I’ll do the same with Opposition Leader Stephane Dion. Tonight we meet the Barenaked Ladies back stage to get photos of the boys with our bulbs. Fully dressed. We say, Canada should follow…

Jasper is about to lose a tooth. For the first time. He says he’s the last kid in his class to “lose it” (I know what that’s like) and he’s getting all kinds of advice: Wiggle it. Bite toffee candy (which he thinks is a great excuse to eat sweets). Let it fall out on its own. Push with your tongue until you feel the hole underneath, then pull. His teacher (Mme Sylvie) is away this week; the temp is obsessed by germs; he’s apparently not allowed to wiggle in class. Jasper’s main worry is the possibility of swallowing the tooth. I have been assuring him that the Tooth Fairy…

I’m back from Whitehorse and Calgary. Suzy’s now in Whitehorse. She gets back Saturday, and Sunday I leave for Winnipeg and Calgary. St. John’s may be next. Washington again in March. I’ve started collecting frequent flyer points and now know why people who travel lots don’t cash them in. When you can stop, you do. All’s good. Just a bit tired. Jasper’s getting tall; I find it hard to carry him up stairs to be at night these days — lack of exercise on my part and 65 lb on his. He will always be my little boy. Tonight he asked me about Angus (his identical twin who died a…

The dog sled with bulbs was cool. But never wear Ontario hiking boots in the Yukon. Go for the big Sorels. And rent a car from a company that knows the north. If you’re going to drive an hour into the mountains of the Yukon, you need stuff. Like basic gear. And by the time you need it, it’s too late to find it. “Is there an emergency kit back there? It’s getting cold.” After a morning of mushing, we actually thought about asking to hook up the dog team to the car. Because I was already late for my flight. And because Lisa was hungry. “Emergency kit?! Stuart, there…

5:00 – awake because of time change 6:00 – finish Bill Bryson “Walk in the Woods” 7:00 – confirm media release and Yukon event scenario 8:00 – CBC Yukon interview 8:30 – hand out bulb at Zola’s while drinking latte 9:00 – meet new staff 9:00 – 11:00 staff delivers bulbs in Whitehorse 10:00 – find out why web sites are all off-line 11:00 – pretend everything’s fine despite lack of national web sites on launch day 12:00 – breathe sigh after sites reappear; swear to get new web host 1:00 – lunch with old friend Helen from 1992 – 15 years of catching up in 45 minutes 2:00 –…

It’s cold here, but not as bad as in Ottawa. Everyone’s quick to point out that it’s a “dry cold.” I can just hear Stuart MacLean doing a bit about this. So Canadian, talking about the weather. I discovered Yukon cold yesterday as I set out in the dim 9AM light in search of breakfast, on a Sunday, in downtown Whitehorse. Everything was closed. It was profoundly quiet. You forget how prevalent background noise is in a city, until you don’t have it anymore. As I was walking along Main street (which is all of 4 blocks and about 500 meters long), I was startled from my reverie by a…

The flight to Whitehorse was uneventful, but it seemed over before it began. Air Canada told me at 7:30 this morning in Ottawa that I was on stand by on the first leg of the journey. I said, “No. I’m not.” It worked. But the indignant check-in clerk punished me by jamming me into a centre seat. Try reading the Saturday Globe and Mail with your elbows on your belly. Vancouver was sunny and 8C. I felt like busting out of the airport to run in the green grass. On the short hop to Whitehorse I met a Tlingket First Nations woman who runs a film company in Teslin, Yukon,…

The campaign couldn’t be more successful right now. And life is sweet. But I’m a realist. Some have said ‘pessimist,’ but that shows a lack of understanding of me. I think. But how can I expect other people to understand me when it’s only dawning on me at 38 that what I might have once described as sadness or a tendency toward depression is just awareness. I’m going to die. So are you. So all these accolades and all this success is just great, but it’s not everything. It’s why, I think, I love my cabin so much. It’s small and simple and not necessarily appropriate (1200 km from where…

Gord Downie is a cool guy. Or so Suzy says, anyway. I was picking up the kids while she was at the Tragically Hip sound check party with speechless fan Dan to get a photo of the band with our Porchlight bulb. We’re in good company now. I hear the show was good too. The madness continues. This weekend we launched the 10,000-bulb Guelph campaign in a blinding snowstorm. 80 people showed up and 1000 bulbs were delivered. It was -25C. Next week we launch the 40,000-bulb Thunder Bay campaign. It’s -40C there today. And next Tuesday we kick off Porchlight Yukon with 10,000 bulbs in Whitehorse where it’s a…