Blog On, John Donne...

Just in case anyone thought the reason I've neglected the blog is that I was overly sad about Steve Jobs, rest assured the real reason is we were on a three-week, 6,500 mile road trip to the States. We talked about going back over Thanksgiving, but Patty wisely suggested we head out now, since we weren't working and the weather was bound to be better than in late November. She was mostly right. Anyway, we're back from seeing family and friends in Iowa, Texas, and Illinois.

Nothing says "U.S.A!"like monster trucks.

Everything was rolling along nicely. Beautiful vistas, especially in Banff and the parks in B.C.

At about the 6,000 mile mark, the weather started to turn.

White trees and white knuckles.

But the weather eventually cleared.

And we saw bears.

The trip wasn't without beer. This was a particularly great brew pub in a city in Saskatchewan that rhymes with a female body part. For those of you who are geographically or anatomically impaired, it's also the capital.

Patty swears that this huevos rancheros was the best breakfast she's ever had. My Texas breakfast burrito was also quite good. What's unusual is that this place, the Big Bend Cafe, isn't in Texas at all, but in Golden, B.C., a couple hours outside Banff. We kind of also fell in love with Golden and thought we might like to move there, next year or so, when the global economy collapses.

Steve Jobs

February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs changed my life's trajectory when I discovered the Macintosh in 1986, while in law school. Macs, with their intuitive WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) interface and ease of use, let me see that law school wasn't for me—that I could use this tool to become an inveterate and irreverent teacher, muckraker, creator and trouble-maker. Macs enabled me to spend, but not waste, twenty years having fun and being creative, in a profession that stifles fun and loathes creativity. Thanks, Steve

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

With all it's diversity, Vancouver has some businesses whose transliterations make for some interesting reading. What is that outfit next to the Fox Adult Cinema?

Why, it's Wang On Blinds.

This is quite the diversified business, never mind the name.

Cremations AND tire disposal? This isn't going to be good.

This one's just cute.

For lunch, since it was in the neighborhood, we stopped back at Campagnolo Roma for a little salad and biancoverde za or, as Matt Campbell would say, weed pizza.