My little piece of the Internet

Since Marya passed away, I've had to teach myself how to cook. Today's XKCD strip is so apropos.

Another year has passed, and I again come to the time when I cannot help but reflect on the changes that have happened in my life, and what changes may come in the next year.

This year has had it's share of both happiness and sorrow. I have come to love some people more, and lose some people as well. But, that's how it goes.

My father passed away last March.

I didn't really know him; he and my mother divorced when I was in high school, and afterwards, I didn't hang out with him much. He remarried a few years later, and moved to Nova Scotia to spend his retirement. I never visited him there, and he only visited me once, before moving east.

This summer, I've taken to relaxing on the deck (or in the hot tub), and reading. I've spent many a warm bright day lounging in the sun, absorbing all the wit, wisdom, adventure, and education that my extensive library brings me.

This seems to be the year for losses.

The latest losses to the world are Frank Frazetta and Lena Horn.

In one, we lost one of the best SF & Fantasy artists of our times. In the other, one of the best singers.

Rest in Peace, Frank and Lena

Terry and I took her two adult children to Montreal for a Christmas with the family. The visit was to last only about a week, with Terry staying a bit with her family, and I bringing Mark and Katherine home on Dec 31. But, that was not to be.

Terry's mother was not well. We had Christmas dinner "out", to spare her some anxiety with the elaborate preparations for an 18-person meal, and there were a couple of less-elaborate "at home dinners".

This week, I unearthed the chocolate moulds and chocolate wafers from where they had been stored in the basement. Most of the chocolate had spoilt, the surface turning a powdery white, but enough remained to try my hand at making chocolates again.

Rare Monster

There once was a cordial troll,
Who's words were as black as his soul.
"Gimme!" he cried.
Extortion he tried,
And he dug himself into a hole.

In October

Spider's winter nest
Fake Butter drips o'er the web
"Clean up on aisle three!"

Recently, I become interested in a new project: The Village Telco. The Village Telco project intends to bring low-cost telephony to the second and third world through the use of Open Source software and hardware. The project has already passed one of it's milestones by creating a cheap, wireless VoIP appliance (the Mesh Potato) from open software and open hardware.