Tuesday, January 26, 2010

"They got a lot of strange stuff on that there internet..."

Good day my friends!
I was a little bored this morning, so I decided to go through some of my old emails and I've put together a little compilation of funny and interesting links from all over the web that I think you'll enjoy as much as I did.
  • This first link was actually on my home page this morning. You've got to love facebook. Click Here.
  • Our next link explains 17 things you may or may not have known about cats and is drawn in a cute, comical fashion. Paw Here.
  • From the same website comes a link anyone with a computer (and a relative who doesn't understand computers) can easily relate to. Click Away.
  • I can't say I've ever thought of drawing on a styrofoam cup, but this guy did, and he's very good at it too. Sip Here.
  • Imagine if paper towel could talk...I would LOVE to try this sometime. "Pull down with both hands here".
  • This is cool, a guy that makes himself invisible by painting himself into the background. No photoshop. Watch him vanish here.
  • Finally, this link is a little more PG-13, but still really funny. Talk about lost in translation. Click for subtitles gone wrong.

Well, I think I've wasted enough time in front of the computer today. And if you looked at all of these links, you did too. :)
It's a nice day, so Go outside and play!

Have a great day, everyone!



The Wandering Oak

Monday, January 25, 2010

My Hometown

Hello Everyone!
   You might have noticed I've been away from the internet for the past little while (you did notice, right?) and there was a very good reason for my absence. I took a trip up to my hometown of Campbell River to visit some of my family. Yes, my brother does have internet and I could have used it to keep up with Facebook or check my emails or whatever, but I chose not to. I was on vacation and I just wanted to get away from everything for a while and, quite truthfully, it was really nice.
   I went three days without reading about Haiti, hearing about celebrity breakups and public f*ck ups, the Olympics, politics, war, and best of all three days without seeing all those silly Facebook statuses that say: “post this as your status message for one hour to raise awareness about whatever (but don’t tell the boys!)”. (Oh I’m going to get it for that one).
   Internet aside, the main thing I wanted to write about today was visiting my hometown. Campbell River is a quiet little city about midway up the Eastern side of Vancouver Island. Although populated by First Nations peoples for centuries, the town itself wasn’t actually established until about 150 years ago and is reportedly named for a ship surgeon by the name of Samuel Campbell. The community’s economy is largely based on the forest industry, but also relies on mining, fishing, and tourism. (Oh, and parts of the Twilight movies were filmed there too. Blah.)
   While all of these industries have suffered one way or another in recent years, Campbell River continues to grow and change and every time I go back to visit I notice something new. Here, in no particular order, are a few photos from my most recent visit. My friends on Facebook can see more photos there.


The view from my brother's front door. This was in the morning. As the sun moved across the sky, those mountains really lit up!


Somewhere on the beach in Willow Point looking North.


Bald eagles everywhere!


Breathtaking scenery!


Big Rock. Self explanatory. It's a 10,000 year old local landmark with an unoriginal name.


Downtown C.R. near Tyee Plaza. This has really changed! The logger up on the pole is old, but he's been rebuilt and mounted on a new tree (poor old tree). On the left is the ugly new "Spirit Square" slapped together for the Olympic Torch relay. I hate it, and I miss the grassy hill that used to be there.


The M.V. Powell River Queen, also known as the Quadra Ferry.


Another bald eagle enjoying a snack on the beach. She knew I was there, but wasn't bothered by my presence. It was some other kid on the beach that scared her off.

   That's all I'm going to post here, my friends. As I said, there are a lot more on my facebook page, but this is all I want to post on my public blog. I hope you enjoyed them.

The Wandering Oak

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

My Birthday Wish List

Hey everyone,
Well now that the 2009 Holiday season is ancient history, and the supposed "most depressing day of the year" has come and gone, I have another annual occasion to prepare for in just under three weeks - my birthday. I also share that day with my very good friend Jennifer, which is really kind of cool since I've only ever met a couple of people in my lifetime with the same birthday.
I have to admit I'm actually looking forward to this one. I'll be 33 and I like that number. You only get to be a twin-digit age every eleven years and I hope to live long enough to see number 99. After that it's tripple digits! I'm not one of those people who gets upset over getting older. I may not be as young as I used to be, but I'm still young enough to make the most out of life.
I've got a wonderful wife, great friends, a family that loves me, a roof over my head (though I wish it was something I owned and wasn't just renting) and a pretty rewarding job, so there really isn't much else I could ask for in my life. However, some of my closer friends have asked me for a birthday wish list so I decided to go one step further and publish it. Why not?
Although I really don't need anything, here is a list of things I wouldn't say no to. In no particular order...
  • Books, DVD’s or Music. Always accepted. A gift card for a music store or book store could go a long way.
  • Specific music would include any Beatles album (I know, surprise right? I actually don't own any Beatles albums!) such as Abbey Road, The White Album, etc…; Anything from Kings Of Leon; or the Foo Fighters latest album.
  • Specific books would include anything on world history, rock and roll biographies, ships and Navy, or even a cool coffee table book with interesting photos.
  • A new scarf. I know it’s halfway through winter, but the one I have has seen better days and isn’t long enough to properly wrap around my neck. Something masculine that would go with anything. Wool or synthetic doesn’t matter.
  • A new microphone for recording my music. This might be something I’d have to pick for myself since I have specific needs and they’re a tad pricey, but a gift card to a music store like Long & McQuade or Tom Lee would help.
  • Games for the Nintendo Wii. I already have Sports Resort, and a Star Wars Lightsabre game. Not interested in Wii Fit, but I’ll take anything that’s fun and a little challenging and that I can play over and over.
  • A bottle of rum will never be turned down. Sailor Jerry’s is my preferred brand, but I’ll accept any nice spiced rum. Not too fond of the white rum.
  • A tambourine or a small pair of bongo drums. Just for fun.
  • World Peace. It doesn’t hurt to want that.
  • I could use some new t-shirts. Size medium (though I find one store’s medium is another store’s large and another store's small) no splashy brand names, but cool prints are ok.
  • A new SLR camera with a better zoom lens. Yeah right, I know you like me but I’ll never ask someone to spend that much on me. This is just a wishlist.
That’s really about all I can think of. Truthfully, I really can do without any of these things as long as I have my family and friends.☺

The Wandering Oak

Friday, January 15, 2010

Friday Fun


Hey gang!

My inlaws are a never ending source of jokes and funny pictures and during our last visit I heard the best line ever:

"Oh you're just jealous because the voices chose to talk to me!"

Just for fun this Friday I encourage everyone to try to use that line today. Imagine the response you'd get.

At work...
Boss: "I thought I asked for those reports hours ago."
You: "Oh you're just jealous because the voices chose to talk to me."

On a date...
Your date: "...so after college I backpacked around Europe for a year with my cousin and...wait. Are you even listening to me?"
You: "Oh you're just jealous because the voices chose to talk to me."

The possibilities are endless, so try it!

Before I head off, I'll leave you with this picture from my father in law that you might have seen before.

"If only someone would invent something to keep the sun out of my eyes!"

That's all I've got for today my friends. Have a great weekend!

The Wandering Oak

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A Little More Effort


Hey everyone,
First of all, a very belated Happy New Year! (Unless you follow the Chinese calendar, at which case I'd be early on that one).
So it's 2010, and we're already 13 days into the new year. Unbelievable. Is it just me or is time going faster and faster? I've had this blog going for almost a year now, and I'll be celebrating birthday number 33 in just a few short weeks.
When I started this blog last year I intended to write and post photos quite regularly, but even I've got to say I've been slacking. As a result this page is far less popular than my previous blog ever was. Besides being distracted by other things in my life, I lay part of the blame for this on facebook. I don't mean that in a bad way against facebook, but like many people today I guess I've just come to like the instant gratification. It's weird how something I post in my status message that took only seconds to write generates more feedback than anything I've posted here that took time and effort to compose. Mind you, not everything I post there gets as much attention as I hope it would (videos, photos, links, etc), but with so many users doing so many things it's likely many people simply don't see some things because their walls could be cluttered up by someone else's activities.
Well instead of letting myself get down about it, I've decided to put a little more effort into promoting this page. Initially I was going to remain anonymous on this page, and I still will be to those who come here by way of say google or just randomly flipping through blogs, but I'm going to start importing my notes to my personal facebook page so that my friends can read or see what I've posted, and leave comments there if they choose to.
Of course this also means I'm going to have to start posting more often. I seem to remember reading something when I first signed up here that said that's the key to generating traffic on your blog, so I'd better get my acorns together and do just that.
And if I can't think of something to write about, you'll get a nice photo to enjoy. Like this one of a sunrise I watched last week:



Until next time, take care of yourselves, and each other.
The Wandering Oak
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