Not long back, I wrote a post which shared my excitement in being able to hear the voices behind blogs. In it, I noted that many of the blogs I read include a photo of the author, so the voices were going to be the big draw for me.
Well, I was wrong … my dear Ottawa bloggers and their readers [...]
Archive for the ‘Ottawa Fun’ Category
July 8th, 2010
BOLO: faces behind blogs
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June 25th, 2010
BOLO: voices behind blogs
Some people hate it when their favourite books are made into movies. The movie just never measures up. That’s generally a given. But personally, I love it.
I love comparing how I imagined a character to look — and move and speak — to the movie’s version. Sometimes it’s very close, but sometimes it is so vastly different that it simply [...]
June 6th, 2010
A Saturday Night in O-town
Stop #1: Anna Fine Thai Cuisine
Where: 91 Holland Avenue (Parkdale market area of Ottawa)
What: Super-yummy Thai food with great service. My Mom had the seafood Pad Thai and I had the Dinner for One, which came with soup and a selection of tasters including ginger fried veggies and red chicken curry (see how cool the dishes are! and even better? it was [...]
June 4th, 2010
What makes a novelist, a novelist?
Here I am with Joanne Harris, author of one of my favourite books Five Quarters of the Orange but most famously known for her novel Chocolat, which was made into the Oscar-nominated film with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche. I recently had the chance to hear her read from her latest offering blueeyedboy when she came to Ottawa as a guest for Writers [...]
May 10th, 2010
8 Tips for Camping with Kids
Good Monday morning! My daughter Stella has shared her top tips for successfully camping with kids in a post that is now live on the Kids in the Capital blog.
If you are ever in the care of children in Ottawa, this is the blog to hit for ideas! It covers activities, playgroups, books, crafts, cooking — you name it! — [...]
May 4th, 2010
Skin cancer doesn’t happen in Canada, does it?
When you live in Australia, as we did just recently, you very quickly realize how seriously they take their sun protection. The combination of a light-skinned population with prolonged sun exposure leaves Australians at real risk.
The risk is so high, in fact, that according to its Cancer Council two in every three Australians will develop skin cancer before the age [...]
April 28th, 2010
I giggled and stomped, but the cup just kept laughing!
There’s so much happening around Ottawa that I think one can be forgiven for missing out on even something as fantastic as the NAC’s Kinderconcert series.
It seems this series is one well-kept secret; one that – happily – I have now stumbled upon! Here’s what I found when I attended my first Kinderconcert, titled Giggle & Stomp …
Before the show: there were fun [...]
April 16th, 2010
Recipe for a Wonderful Evening
1. Call up a good, true friend that you haven’t seen lately because the mundate elements in life keep stealing all your time.
2. With only one day’s notice, ask that she join you for an evening out.
3. As you step into the car pulled up at your driveway, you can already feel that the mad rush to get dinner and homework [...]
March 19th, 2010
Ottawa’s NAC & staying relevant
We’re about the same age, the National Arts Centre (NAC) and I. It would seem that, like most of us, the NAC’s biggest fans are its parents — the generation that created and brought this centre to life.
But there’s no doubt about it, its biggest fans are getting older. The people who are their most loyal subscribers will soon be retiring from their seats [...]
March 15th, 2010
Winner of the NAC tickets!
Thanks to everyone who came to visit and enter their name into the draw for 2 tickets to see Mysterioso: Music and Magic opening at the NAC this Thursday!
I just entered all of your names into random.org and the winner is KELLI! Congrats Kelli – I will contact you directly with the details.
March 11th, 2010
Magical mystery tour (ticket giveaway for Ottawa’s NAC)
Magic shows make me think of a Ken-doll look-a-like man, a Barbie-esque assistant, and tacky costumes with too much skin. And velvet — lots and lots of velvet. But I’ve never actually seen a live magic show though, have you?
Well here’s your chance: Joseph Gabriel will be performing a magic act in concert with the National Arts Centre orchestra. The show is [...]
March 8th, 2010
Winner of the GCTC tickets!
I was so pleased to see the interest in blood.claat — a unique and fabulously performed piece — playing at the Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC)!
I entered everyone’s name into random.org to come up with a winner’s name (and no, Kaitlin, you weren’t too late!) and the winner is: STEPHAN.
Congrats! I am sure you’ll have a wonderful night out. I [...]
March 7th, 2010
The Winter Resolution series: Bush party! (shhhh … pass it on)
When I was a teenager, every so often word would spread that a “bush party” was going to take place on the weekend. Unlike the “house party” which took place at some poor unsuspecting parent’s home while they were away, a “bush party” involved no house, just a location in the woods somewhere.
The two types of parties still shared some [...]
March 5th, 2010
Destructive cycles (+ ticket giveaway to blood.claat, a play @ Ottawa’s GCTC)
She’s a 15 year-old kid in a school uniform. And she’s just given birth to a baby conceived through violence. That is her story. But it’s also the story of her mother. And her grandmother before that.
This is a cycle that’s fairly common in Jamaica, according to a 2006 Unicef report:
Approximately 20% of births are given by adolescents. In other [...]
December 4th, 2009
The Winter Resolution
Although I gave up New Year’s resolutions ages ago, I have made a winter resolution for this year.
I’ve got a terrible track record with resolutions, and thus why the New Year’s ones were deemed a fruitless exercise. But I am hoping I can make some progress on this. For my own sanity as well as for my family.
My resolution is [...]
