No Royalty Here. Just Royalties.

The link is right at the top of the page. "Got a Problem?" Yeah, I think I killed Jasper's sea monkeys.

Suzy, Jasper, Simon and I went to Kingston this week for an overnight stay at the Ambassador hotel. The Ambassador reminded me of the Moncton Keddy's Motor Inn I frequented with busloads of other homesick kids on band trips in the 1980s. The hotel was fine, basic. Empty bar fridges. We picked it for the waterslide. And spent some time in the park by the Lake Ontario waterfront. The apple trees were resplendent.

I went to Kingston to make a brief presentation about Project Porchlight with energy efficiency guru Bill Kemp at Queens University. I love Bill's talk about climate change and energy; it's at once uplifting and horrifying. $20/l gas gives us all something to look forward to!

We got home to a quiet house. Puddy was fine. But Jasper went straight to the sea monkey tank.

I had no idea that Sea Monkeys (note caps) have become an industry. They've jumped from the back page of Marvel comics and are now available at "finer toy stores." You can buy different "environments" for your sea monkeys. They must only be propagated in bottled, filtered water (we had to buy some). Sea Monkey accessories are also widely available.

Just don't ignore them, or overfeed them. And they don't really wear crowns. I remember that being the biggest disappointment I felt when I killed my first generation of the little critters, decades ago. I hope to do better this time with Jasper's. Stay tuned to see.

Don't have a cow

The crisis is over. Gordongroup a rapidly fading memory. The Sponsor is paying to redevelop the light bulb plan. My sidewalk is dusted with apple blossoms. All's well.

I'm a bag of nerves.

Maybe I need crisis. Maybe this is just the wave receding. I went for a run yesterday and nearly croaked at 3k. And next week I'm going to be paddling a sea kayak in Glacier Bay. Right. I hope there's no wind.

The Alaska Tourist Authority has invited me on a press trip, my first since Wales in '04. I'll be spending 6 days in national parks that skirt the southern shore from Prince William Sound past Valdez to Anchorage. The neat thing is, I have no idea what to expect. When I went back to Jordan in '02, I was ready for the desert. Hungary in '03 was stangely familiar -- Budapest was brilliant. But my mind can't grasp glaciers. I've been told to pack lightly because the bush planes have weight restrictions. The guidebooks warn of hidden fissures and crevasses "up to 400 ft deep" the "swallow unsuspecting tourists." Aside from the wind and the killer whales, kayaking comes with the risk of upset from mini tsunamis from calving glaciers. The Fodor guide says to listen for "thunder-like cracking, followed by 10-storey chunks falling into the bay." Crisis. I love it.

Talk Time

It's 8:30AM on Friday.

"Do I have time to take a quick shower?" I asked.
"Are you going somewhere?" she replied.
"Oh yeah. Right. No, actually."

-

"What's wrong with your computer?"
"Stuart's 'technical support'"
"That's not fair! You let Simon bang on your keyboard. It's probably That! I keep this house running like a top."
"Freudian slip."

-

An old photo memory...
Jasper

Light a Candle for Porchlight

The Energy Star conference was a great success. The awards dinner was a glittering affair in the Imperial Room at the Royal York. This year's award recipients include Whirlpool Canada, Home Depot and, you guessed it, Project Porchlight. The next day I cut loose a bit during my presentation to the plenary session and let myself talk idealistically about how we're turning light bulbs into symbols of hope, change, empowerment. I thought, heck, what do I have to lose? The response was a bilzzard of business cards. At least four other major utilities and three provincial conservation authorities want to discuss running Porchlight campaigns. That felt good. Feet under me again.

Meanwhile, the Ottawa saga continues. The Sponsor wrote this week, "... we remain commited to the city-wide campaign." I'm not sure what this means. We're meeting tomorrow between 11 and 1. They're providing lunch. Hopefully it won't be bittersweet.

Which reminds me, I've distracted my mind a bit this weekend by cooking. I've never cooked Asian before, so I surprised myself yesterday by putting together a tasty spicy pork loin and rice vermicelli dish with fresh vegetables and home-made hot chili/peanut sauce. It was Very Good. It made me happy. The recipe came from Basic Asian, a cookbook Suzy gave me for Christmas. Jasper and I had gone to the Kowloon Market to get the fresh ingredients. I was somewhat shocked by fish sauce; it smelled like rotting crab. An elderly asian man pointed out the right brand to buy by pointing and giving a thumbs-up with a toothless, wrinkled-face grin. I took it as high praise. And the stuff rocks with pork, though Jasper said the house smelled like hot old socks.

Today I took the kids to the park to meet Juergen and Julie and their two kids Helena (7) and Josef (3). Alex, Claudette and Sacha (3) joined us. Then Juergen put the finishing touches on an electric hub motor on my old '89 hybrid bike and I hit the road! Get yours here! Riding electric is an amazing experience, especially on a weekend when I need the wind in my hair yet don't have the strength to pedal.

Suzy says my chest pains are anxiety. Stay tuned.

Wah wah wahhh

It's 6:30 AM. I'm in my room on the 7th floor of the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Suzy and the kids are asleep. The city's slowly waking. An office tower a stone's throw out my window is largely empty, even though the lights are on. It's that hour of the morning where it's dark enough to see into the building, not light enough to turn the windows all shiny business-like. Everybody's got one of those newfangled flat-screen monitors.

We're here for the Energy Star national conference. Project Porchlight will receive a Market Transformation Award in a glittering ballroom tonight. Tomorrow I'm scheduled to address the conference on our success. I don't feel super successful. In case you missed it, after signing a deal last week to expand Porchlight across Ottawa, our prime sponsor changed its mind. Even though they'd signed. And I'd quit my job. Oops. This trip to Toronto was supposed to be part of our big announcement chock full of words like change, hope, opportunity, power. Now "litigious" comes often to mind. It does have a certain music, although when I think of what has happened over the past week I hear that sound that usually ends an ironic sequence on Sesame Street, or the sad tuba toot that always played when someone overbid on the Price is Right.

The kids went to sleep quickly last night, after the train trip, take-out and swim. Suzy and I watched Lost (isn't it ironic) and hit the hay early. The bulb in the bedside lamp burned out. It was a 60w incandescent. There are 10 more in this room. Change is still Within Reach.

Spam Saviour

The greatest excuse of the early 21st Century is "No, I didn't get your e-mail. My spam filter must have caught it." This of course is actually code for "Actually, I wasn't really interested in your Spiritual Spot of the Day" or "Stop sending me those urgent notes about termites in the mulch."

Really. I don't have time to read your stuff. I haven't felt comfortable sharing this until recently, but lately I've been busy helping the son of the deposed King of Nigeria with his banking. He wants to invest in Project Porchlight!