Posted: February 11th, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 5 Comments »
There’s probably no shortage of swanky lists that rate and rank the various airlines of the world. I don’t check any ranking lists though when I book my flights. I just search up what I need on Kayak and go with what looks best. However, after so many years of flying in and around Canada, I have come to strongly prefer Air Canada. They’re not perfect, don’t get me wrong, but I think they’re better than most. I’ll even pay a little extra to fly on Air Canada, and I have a dozen reasons why. In no particular order, the dozen reasons why I prefer Air Canada are… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: February 3rd, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah, web | No Comments »
I had the good fortune to contribute to a cool roundtable post up on the Where I’ve Been blog about visiting Canada. It covers some really good questions about destinations in Canada. I definitely recommend checking it out if you’re ever likely to visit Canada or know someone who is.
I really like the style of those roundtable posts they do at Where I’ve Been. Comparing the different answers from various travel folks gives a different sense of perspective on the topic. Plus it’s neat when all three of the contributors give the identical answer to a question. Then you know there must really be something to it beyond personal opinion. This is actually the second one I’ve contributed to and with some luck I hope to do more in the future. Anyways, check it out!
Oh, Canada: In a few days, epic NBC Winter Olympics montages will remind the world that its rugged environs have provided us photogenic landscapes, hockey, poutine and moose for decades. And while Bob Costas and co. might boost interest, Canada remains a remarkably overlooked tourist destination. Why?
Continue reading Travel Tuesday Roundtable: Canada on the whereivebeen.com blog.
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// shawn
Posted: January 20th, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 4 Comments »
By all accounts good old Dorothy was a self-destructive, sarcastic, lunatic. She was horribly fantastic at seeing life for what it really was — love it or hate it. And she certainly knew how to live it. A great many writers seem to have an unrealistic, or overly optimistic “seize the day” style pep that simply irritates any sensible person. Dorothy’s writing often bears that message of living as though you may find yourself dead tomorrow. However, she doesn’t have that nauseating tone of a born again rainbow salesman. Which as a die hard realist, I certainly appreciate. Live how you must, but do it now. That’s ultimately the underlying, idealistic fuel for a life of experience, exploration and exhaustion. Wouldn’t you agree? For example,
On Cheating The Fiddler
“Then we will have tonight!” we said.
“Tomorrow — may we not be dead?”
The morrow touched our eyes, and found
Us walking firm above the ground,
Our pulses quick, our blood alight.
Tomorrow’s gone — we’ll have tonight!
I had considered “Enough Rope” as the title of this very site in honour of Dorothy. A sober point that it’s very easy to throw out your baby with all that bathwater. The freedom and wherewithal to shrug off the nine to five and be independent for a living really is just enough rope to hang yourself, isn’t it? Note: should anyone ever wish to give me a treasured gift, I’d eternally swoon over an Enough Rope first edition. Just saying. Ultimately, it came across as a bit too sobering of a title for what should be a fairly sunny genre of writing. So I opted for nonsense instead.
If you ever have the opportunity to acquire a copy of The Portable Dorothy Parker I highly recommend seizing it. As I got down to the very last handful of items in my apartment to toss, I came across my copy. As one of the only books left on my shelf I was torn over what to do with it. My old back says there’s no way I’m toting it around in my backpack, but my bloody heart says that it surely must come with. At the time of this writing it rests tentatively on the “pack me” pile. We’ll see. I leave you with some of Dorothy’s shorter and more famous quotes. Good day.
“Drink and dance and laugh and lie, Love, the reeling midnight through, For tomorrow we shall die! (But, alas, we never do)”
“I don’t care what anybody says about me as long as it isn’t true.”
“Lips that taste of tears, they say are the best for kissing.”
“I shall stay the way I am because I do not give a damn.”
“I wish I could drink like a lady / I can take one or two at the most / Three and I’m under the table / Four and I’m under the host”
Finally, my very favourite, “You can drag a horticulture, but you can’t make her think.”
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// shawn
Posted: January 2nd, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 3 Comments »
All holiday season I’ve been flying around North America, so I haven’t really had time to read much online. Normally I would do a little “what I liked on the web this week, omg isn’t the internet neat” post around this time. So this week is just a little wtf-ever potpourri of stuff. It’ll have to do until I get a bit more spare time and I can wash off the smell of flight attendant farts and cheap orange juice. That said, let’s commence with some bidtits from this week.
I learned that pumpkin beer is delightful. If you enjoy beer – I mean real beer, not budweiner – and you’re not struck infertile at the site of a pumpkin, then I recommend trying out some pumpkin beer. Good friends of mine are wise in the ways of beer, and they assembled a few pumpkin beers for me to test drive. For the record, pumpkin is pretty much one of my favourite things. There was Swans, Phillips, and I think the other was Granville Island. All three were quite good, and each surprisingly different from one another. It was nice though how well the pumpkin flavour fit with the natural beery flavour. It wasn’t out of place or contrary like some of the more gimmicky beer types can be. So if you have the means, I definitely recommend giving pumpkin beer a try, you may just be pleasantly surprised.
I learned that you can put salt on grapefruit. It was a normal grapefruit, not a pink one, and it was surprisingly pretty good. It doesn’t taste at all how you would think. Try it.
I learned that Chupacabra on 6th street in Austin not only makes damn fine cheap tacos, but they also have a good selection of imported Central American beers. Also some from the Philippines, Portugal and elsewhere. Definitely worth a visit since they’re just $2 a bottle! Speaking of taco beers, Adam just showed me this awesome Dos Equis commercial that makes me want to drink it even more.
I learned that playing tons of Wii frisbee golf on xmas day will totally make you want to play it for reallies. I’ve got my eyes open for chances to play now.
I learned that if you can make a bored barista laugh she just might give you an extra cupcake for free. Sweet!
Lastly, I learned that it only leads to frustration if I set lofty or detailed expectations of people. No one can match the expectations of a bored guy with a good imagination, so I need to just let people do their thing and be cool with that.
What did you learn this week? Have a nice new year, and keep on truckin’!
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// shawn
Posted: January 1st, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 1 Comment »
Dearest Shawn
Hey buddy, how’s it hanging? You remember how kids in elementary school would write letters to themselves then open them a year later? Yea, haha, you remember how our letter was just a picture of Skeletor with, “Keep it real, baby” written on it? Anyways, this is one of those letters. I’m dropping a reminder in our calendar for a year from now to come back to this and see how absurd this sounds. So, what’s on my mind today that I think will matter in a year? Let’s get this embarrassing party started.
It’s the first day of 2010, and I guess if I read this again in a year, it’ll be 2011. Good job on staying alive all these years. I totally knew those Flintstones vitamins were a good idea. So I think the obvious topic in the forefront of my mind is how will this whole travel plan work out. Was it actually a good idea to drop our sweet career like a “6″ girlfriend with tourettes? Will it be worth it to backpack around, see stuff, try things, and generally explore what the world has to offer? I mean really worth it? Worth the insecurity of no income, and worth all the sacrifices? Does this end up setting my life back by a year, or more, or is it my life? I can’t even make an educated guess where I might be in a year. I’m worried I have too much tech stuff packed – did it end up being too much? Do I go broke and starve in less than a year?
Hey, so how does that Iran scene play out? Quite a mess there right now. Oh and what happens in Glee? Is the google phone as awesome as I hope it is? Did the Canucks win the Stanley Cup (Although I secretly predict Chicago to win)? Are we still thinking of moving back home to the Victoria/Vancouver area and settling down (sort of) in a few years?
Alright chief, I’ve got to catch this flight to Austin. Peas.
.
// shawn
Posted: December 29th, 2009 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 5 Comments »
This holiday season I’m doing a little tour of 7 North American cities in 17 days to visit family and friends. It’s also nice timing because then in a few weeks I take off to Asia with no real idea of when I’ll be back. While flying around I decided I wanted to mention the topic of being an introverted traveler, and how I make it work for me. It’s not much of a big deal, but it is really nice once you understand how to get the most enjoyment out of your travels. Read the rest of this entry »
