Rented Forever

I'm a few songs into Counting Crows' Live at Town Hall when I decide I want more of this. Not just this concert but this kind of thing. The thing where a band you love stands on a stage somewhere and plays for two hours, and somebody

Come Sit At The Table

The Lunar New Year is almost here, and 2026 ushers in the Year of the Fire Horse (Bing Wu). If you’ve ever read about the zodiac, you’ll know the Horse is already a symbol of energy, movement, and independence. Add fire to that and you get intensity. Passion.

A World Without Pretence

There is something almost ritualistic about Davos. Leaders gather in a carefully constructed atmosphere of seriousness and cooperation, where the language is polished, the tone calibrated, and the assumptions quietly shared. Against that backdrop, Mark Carney’s speech landed differently. It wasn’t alarmist, and it wasn’t theatrical. It

Life in Reverse

When I was younger, I used to make resolutions. They were sometimes lofty, perhaps bordering on unattainable, but I figured it was good to set goals. I never really shared them with anyone and would often just brush aside any questions about making resolutions. I don’t really make them

A New Home

Much has changed since I last posted and even more since the last time I updated you on what’s new in my life. This summer, I left my role as Operations Manager for a Los Angeles-based company providing creative/technical consultancy and execution for concert tours, festivals, permanent installations

No Happy Endings

Spoiler alert: This post contains major plot details about The Last of Us Season 2, including Episode 2. If you haven’t watched it and care about spoilers, stop reading now. For real. Let’s talk about Joel. There’s been a tidal wave of outrage since Episode 2 aired,

Better by the Sea

Reading a book recently on remote work and productivity, I came across a line that stuck with me: "Remote work makes people more productive because you go from having the biggest distractions—other people speaking to you—to the least distractions—no one speaking to you." It made

Ottawa, Seasoned: A Few Ideas

With all the incredible food, entertainment, outdoor activities, and charming neighbourhoods Ottawa has to offer, it can be hard to know where to start. That’s why I’ve put together some sample one-day itineraries designed to help you experience the best of Ottawa during the spring and summer months.

Ottawa, Seasoned: Spring/Summer Neighbourhood Explorations

Ottawa’s neighbourhoods each have their own distinct character, and the warmer months are the perfect time to explore what makes them special. From bustling markets and historic sites to vibrant arts districts and waterfront strolls, these areas showcase the city’s charm and diversity. Here’s my guide to

Ottawa, Seasoned: Spring/Summer Outdoor Activities & Excursions

Ottawa’s outdoor scene is spectacular in the warmer months, with a mix of urban adventures, green spaces, and water-based activities. The city is also home to the vast Greenbelt, a 200-square-kilometre area of protected natural spaces encircling Ottawa, offering hiking trails, wildlife spotting, and picnic areas. Whether you prefer

Ottawa, Seasoned: Spring/Summer Festivals & Performances

Ottawa truly comes alive in the spring and summer, with festivals and performances that cater to every interest. Whether you’re a music lover, a theatre enthusiast, or someone who enjoys a good street festival, the warmer months are packed with events worth planning a trip around. Here’s a

Ottawa, Seasoned: Spring/Summer Museums & Galleries

Ottawa is known for its rich history, culture, and national significance, but it’s also a city where the arts and sciences thrive. Whether you’re here for a weekend or a longer stay, the museums and galleries are worth making time for. Spring and summer add their own vibrancy,

ottawa

Ottawa, Seasoned: Spring/Summer Food & Drink

There’s no shortage of travel content about most major cities these days—just search “must-see spots in Ottawa” on YouTube and you’ll find plenty of roundups from visitors passing through town. But as someone who actually lives here, I figured it was time to add a local voice

canada

A Duty to Vote

Ontario’s most recent provincial election had a voter turnout of 45.4%. That’s an improvement over the record-low 44% in 2022, but it’s still a dismal number—one that should be setting off alarms. We are, by choice or by apathy, allowing barely half the population to

family

Educators

In all of our lives, we’ve interacted with educators — whether through school, training, or mentors we’ve encountered along the way. For the most part, my educators have neither strongly shaped nor hindered me, but a few stand out. I think we’ve all had teachers who weren’t

music

Groove Unseen

There’s a funny thing about disco music: it’s everywhere, but not everyone knows it. I mean, sure, we all recognize the glittery melodies, the four-on-the-floor beats, and maybe even a good falsetto or two, but the bass guitar? Criminally underrated. That realization hit me recently while listening to

politics

In the Shadows of Resignation and Annexation

The resignation of the Prime Minister is one of those moments that highlights how polarized we’ve become. For my non-Canadian readers, it’s worth noting that Canada’s political system differs significantly from that of the United States. We do not directly elect a Prime Minister, nor does anyone

social media

Threads vs. BlueSky: Picking Sides After the Fall of Twitter

When Twitter morphed into X, I started looking at the other social platforms—like everyone else—to see if any could capture that same blend of community and engagement we’d had on Twitter. Now, a few months in, Threads and BlueSky have emerged as the most likely alternatives, but

music

Fresh Out Of Batteries

There’s something magical about music that transports you back in time, and few albums have done that for me quite like Weezer’s Blue Album. Released in 1994, it was a defining soundtrack of my high school years—an era of flannel shirts, grunge, and the rise of alternative

technology

SORA

The buzz around Sora, OpenAI’s latest innovation, is hard to ignore. It’s a new generative video model that turns short text prompts into detailed, one-minute videos. As someone deeply involved in entertainment tech, I’ve been seeing some of the reactions being posted online. There’s a lot

productivity

Scheduling Smackdown

Hey everyone! Here we are, diving into the world of productivity apps once again. Today, I'm putting two promising calendar apps under the microscope: Rise and Amie. Both apps have been generating buzz for their unique approaches to scheduling and task management, so I decided to take them

review

Journey of Discovery: Espresso

I’ve always been a bit of a food snob or at least an appreciator of good food but recently I’ve started expanding into coffee; or more specifically, Espresso. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m still very much learning the ropes here but today

review

Things 3

With my last post I had been exploring moving back to Apple Reminders after splitting my professional and personal task management solutions into their own silos. As you may have guessed by the title of this post, I’ve moved away from Apple Reminders to Cultured Code’s Things 3.

technology

Rediscovering Apple Reminders

I've got some updates on my quest for the perfect task management setup; or at least an improved one. After contemplating a switch to Things 3, I've decided to go in a different direction, opting for a combination of Todoist for my work tasks and Apple