Everyone asks me how it feels to be older.
It’d be nice if the back pain went away as the years rolled by.
Pity…

Cake
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

The cake was good, though!

Fettuccine con pesto
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Summer, and fresh pesto, are sorely missed.

New Yorker
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

We were only at the Hudson for a short time, back in July. The next day, we moved our bags to the New Yorker Hotel, which is significantly less spacious. We were joined by Ani and Alex, who split the room with us, and were also attending the same conference.

The Last Hope is a computer security conference held at the historic, but doomed, Hotel Pennsylvania. That hotel was even more cramped than ours!

There were a few talks that I wanted to attend, but I mostly wanted to see my friends. It’s nice to have friends all over the world, but it does make it inconvenient to have them over for dinner. We did attend a talk on how to get passwords out of your computer, even when it’s been turned off. And saw a demonstration on lockpicking. And ate some instant icecream.

Jacob Appelbaum
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

I was most happy to see ioerror, janviere, secretsoflife, and Micah. All of which I hadn’t talked to in a very long time. I also got to have dinner with bokunenjin and meet princessleia2, at a stylish, but awful, restaurant.

You know, I’m getting worse and worse at actually attending conferences. Instead, the worrying trend is that I go to foreign cities to shop for hats, buy books, drink tea, and eat. Strangely enough, this doesn’t make me unhappy at all.

Small baths do, though. I got the worst crink in my neck while I was there. And bathing was so necessary in the sweltering moist heat of a metropolis in July. It should be no surprise to many of my readers that this was something highly encouraged, and frequently ignored, at this conference.

Artists used to live here
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

On the last day of HOPE, we scooped up some bottles of Club-Mate, grabbed some souvenirs, and went to stay with andukar. All the ex-NITIots in New York seem to be living under the same roof, which is nice because it’s a rather lovely one. We shopped for clothes in Williamsburg, took some photographs, and ate with regyt and novalis.

I can’t wait to go back. But mostly for the pizza.

This is the first actual day of my vacation.

So far, I have managed to ignore most of my work e-mail. And I’ve only read one patchset. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll do better.

I miss them already.

Akoha
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Steak
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Dessert
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Say, we’re hiring!

If you know someone who’d like to do one of these jobs, send them our way!

Community Gardener
Professional Vandal / Vandale Professionnel

P.S. I’m still starving.

So very, very, very famished!

Hot hamburger
Originally uploaded by Simon Law.

It wasn’t very authentic, but it was quite tasty.

I’m so hungry right now. Aren’t you?

Ramen
Originally uploaded by Simon Law.

Ultimate spring rolls
Originally uploaded by Simon Law.

Get them at Ben Thanh Viet Thai in Cambridge, Ontario.

I am sitting on the couch eating apples, clementines and curd cheese. Delicious, squeaky curd cheese. This is my final push to eat the rest of the food in the fridge.

There are numerous shirts on the drying rack, waving in the artificial breeze of a fan. They're whites that I'm furiously trying to dry out. This is, of course, because they have to be packed for my week-long trip to the States.

I have to catch the 6:55 train to Kingston tomorrow, so I'd better not get distracted too much. There is an absurd amount of packing to get done and quite a few things I must do. For instance, I've discovered that the blacks have not come cleanly out of the wash. They're going through again right now.

The rest of the family is driving up from Toronto, to meet me halfway. They'll be picking me up in an action-packed sequence where they drive alongside the tracks and I leap from the train on to the roof of the car. Then we'll careen down a hill, jump over a cliff, and end up on the highway to the nearest border crossing. Or something like that.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get the house in some semblance of order. I've stacked the books in piles in the living room, put away most of my tools, and am staring at a pile of dishes. I'll probably get to those after I've eaten. Then it's cleaning out the fridge as best I can and scrubbing the accumulated stains off the stove.

Timin is snoozing on the couch, blissfully unaware of my activity. I think he's gotten pretty used to my crazy late-night packing. The plan for this week is to have cloquewerk and angorian come by every other day and fill the food dish. I have left them little gifts on the table, to make them feel better about trudging through what looks to be bizarre weather. I suppose that cuddling with a cute cat might also be a good reward, but I can never tell how charming Timin is when I'm away.

I never seem to be able to pack light, but by George, I'm going to try this time. I've limited myself to a camera bag, a messenger bag, and a small luggage on wheels. How I'm ever going to get around in style, I have no idea, but we shall see if we can be inventive with the outfits.

As you can plainly see, my mind has started wandering quite a bit. I've had a nap this afternoon, but I can tell that my plan to stay up all night is going to be interesting. scjody is staying over, in the hopes that Aslan can benefit from the same attention as Timin. I have just realized that I've forgotten to tell my wonderful, beautiful, generous volunteers about the extra kitty they'll be feeding. So I hope they don't get too upset upon reading this.

I have been surfing the Internet to find places to eat while we're across the border. Thankfully, the lovely people at …an endless banquet have reviews of New York pizza joints, which I will have to try. But first I have to finish this absurd amount of fruit.

Oh look, that alarm has rung. I'd better go down and fetch the laundry.

Stables
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

We are back from a trip out in the country. This time, the Akoha developers were there for a crunch week, which involved hacking away like madmen to get crazy amounts of work done. Overall, I'm pretty happy about how we did.

Unfortunately for you, dear readers, what we did for work is all hush-hush.

Fortunately, you get to hear about other things. Like how I am sick as a dog. I woke up this morning, crawled downstairs, and managed to work only a couple hours before having to crawl back into bed. I have to admit, though, it was a sweet, sweet bed. I only wish I could have enjoyed it without a headache.

Now don't let me give you the wrong impression! We had a marvellous time out there. There were plenty of things to do during the day and after work!

I'd start the day by stoking the fire, to take the chill off the morning air. We might look at the birds as we munched on breakfast.

I caught the cat trying to catch a fat little squirrel who was nibbling on fallen birdseed. Sadly, it escaped.

One day, after lunch, we went snowshoeing up a hill. After fifty centimetres of snowfall, it was clean and crisp and just plain gorgeous up there.

Across the lake
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

And then there was the food! Café Massawippi did an amazing job catering our trip. These have been the best off-site meals I have ever had. But photographs are far more convincing than words, I'd bet.

Foie gras
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Sponge cake
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Chicken supreme
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

The most adorable little bakery is just a few blocks from my place. Cocoa Locale bakes some of the best cupcakes and cakes I’ve ever tasted.

Just look at this! Doesn’t it make you want to go there right now?

Chocolate-mint cake
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

As autumn approaches, the trees start turning colours. And the wind gets brisker at night.

So it's good to have a room-mate who bakes.

Cinnamon bun
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

The rest of the summer flew by quickly. I had less and less time to take photographs as more and more of it was consumed by, you know… I don't remember. But in any event, I was so busy I barely had time to sit down and edit photographs.

Plus, I started to feel more and more guilty about not writing. You know that feeling, where you haven't done something for so long that you put it off because you're too embarrassed to just pick it up again? Yeah, I knew you'd understand.

Facepainting
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

I stayed in Ottawa for the Canada Day long weekend. After lounging around the city, trying to avoid the crazed tourist mobs, I ended up on Parliament Hill with ostraya and her friends. We blew bubbles and painted people's faces, as we waited for the fireworks.

Spotlights
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Through the grapevine, we heard that the organizers might cancel due to the weather, but in the end they launched them. Jas, who had tagged along, eloquently described the spectacle as “fucking awesome”.

Cappuccino
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

When I returned to Montréal, I discovered that the office had acquired one of those fancy Italian coffee machines. I tried my hand at grinding, tamping, and pulling a shot.

Not bad for an amateur, eh?

Pool
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

The bosses had been talking about the July offsite meeting for some time and I was beginning to dread it. For some inexplicable reason, I thought of suffering in a lousy hotel at the corner of Nowhere and Nothing.

Instead, we drove to a lovely cottage retreat, had a local restaurant provide us with gorgeous meals, and lounged around in a hot-tub every evening. I love working here!

Colgate
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

I soon discovered that my favourite abadoned store, Gillman's, was closing.

Binky Holleran, a local restaurateur, bought it. With the excess unsold inventory in hand, she asked various artists to make something out of it. Their exhibit was a fabulous tribute!

Counterclock
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

In my quest to make computer conferences more interesting, I did a cool tutorial at DemoCamp Montréal 3.

Instead of the overdone topic of “How to build a flashy, interactive ‘Web 2.0’ site that only geeks will use”, I opted for teaching people how to build a counterclock.

A counterclock, of course, runs counterclockwise. I ripped apart a clock I bought merely hours before, flipped its motion around, and got it working before the end of the conference. It went over pretty well.

Natasha Duchene
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

tashamonster and rubythirtythree held a little concert at Buddhi Lounge. That's a pretty nifty place that looks like a converted basement apartment. That's too depressing to actually live in, but makes a fun space for a club.

Whoever did their interior decoration is a genius! Colanders for lampshades and a bathtub-mounted television playing Disney movies complete the quirky atmosphere.

Peter Zion
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Because Peter threw a party for his triumphant return to Montréal, we met our really cool neighbour Jen. Apparently, madamewoo and I made such a good impression on her that she invited us to a picnic in the park.

Or perhaps it's just because we live so gosh-darned close? In any event, whipping up a little spaghetti puttanesca never hurts for a picnic that's right outside my front door. And neither does a little bit of photography.

Christine and baby
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Oooh, my friend Christine is having a baby. Doesn't she look beautiful? I got invited to their baby shower where I got to see kids running around like mad, a really happy dog, and three sane men stomping on a wasps' nest.

A little Vietnamese restaurant opened up in early March, up by Parc and Mont-Royal.

I think it's called Restaurant Phở Lâm, but I don't recall for certain, and it's run by a cute little Vietnamese family. Every time madamewoo and I go there, we see the children helping with the restaurant or doing their homework.

It's not bad. The prices are low, the food is decent, and there is excellent coffee. It's not the best in town, but it's convenient for whenever I get a sudden phở craving.

Imperial rolls
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Beef on rice
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Phở
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Dumplings
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

We were walking down St-Laurent and getting hungrier by the minute. So when madamewoo and I noticed the sign for Soy, we knew we had to stop inside to have dinner. We sat down to an empty house, as we were dining on an early Tuesday, but it quickly filled up.

I've heard about Soy before, with its Chinese chef serving up a pan-Asian fusion cuisine. Now I'm not a big fan of fusion food, because it often muddles ingredients and techniques in the quest to stand out and be different. That's not what good food is about. You're not supposed to cook for the sake of novelty, you're supposed to cook good food.

We ordered the table d'hôte and sat back to watch a procession of dishes arrive. First came the shrimp chowder, with a thin seafood broth and hints of coconut milk. Not a hearty stew, but rather something to wake up your palate.

Spring rolls
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

My favourite little treat came next. Only two 小龍包 came in a bamboo steamer, so we got only got one each. I popped it into my mouth and enjoyed the soup burst out when I bit into it. Divine!

An order of deep-fried spring rolls followed that. They were crispy and golden on the outside, fresh and fragrant within. There wasn't a trace of greasiness, it was done just perfectly. Woo seemed to enjoy these the best, which seemed to be on the menu to appease those who craved fried snacks.

A plate of squid arrived. They were marvellously grilled until they were soft and tender, without a hint of chewiness. The red chilli rub they were given matched perfectly with the crispy tentacles. They came with a miso mayonnaise which I found was completely unnecessary. But the bed of pickled cucumber that they rested upon did give a welcome contrast.

Squid
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

The mains were served with a large helping of General Tao chicken, grilled shrimps, and beef. The chicken was lightly breaded and very tender. The shrimp, which I preferred, was juicy and crisp. The beef came with some lettuce leaves which were used to wrap these succulent bites. The saucing was a little heavy for my taste, but my dinner companion mopped up the sticky-sour red sauce.

For dessert, we enjoyed ice cream atop a roasted banana, still in its peel. A subtle and delicious ending to any meal.

To sum up, we had a wonderful dinner with attentive service. It's not very Asian, leaning towards pleasing French-Canadian palates, but it is very well prepared. It is on the pricey side, but the food is worth it. I'd definitely recommend this place for people who want a taste of Asia, but not too much of one.