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{ Monthly Archives } September 2007

Photo gig #2. Also unpaid.

Okay, so I’m not a professional photographer, and most of the time I shoot with a pocket-sized Canon. But someone liked my geese photos, and now someone likes my shots of Deerfield Beach pier in Florida.

2007 09 26 photography Comments (0)

Twittering

Funniest tweet that I’ve seen in days:

Pardon me sir. I didn’t mean to step on your Long Tail.

2007 09 25 humour
technology Comments (0)

FatFree Vegan Kitchen

I’m not vegan, although I do have a lot of vegan-like days since getting turned on to macrobiotics a few years ago: meat is not a daily staple, I rarely eat eggs, and cheese has become more of a treat than a regular occurrence. (That being said, I did eat both lamb and chicken at dinner last night) There’s a great vegan restaurant in my ‘hood, Fressen, as well as a good vegetarian place, Fresh, and I’ve taken carnivorous friends to both places without complaint: good food is about good ingredients and preparation, not whether it contains meat.

I stumbled on a great recipe website this week for those of the vegan persuasion, FatFree Vegan Kitchen, and there’s a lot of recipes there that would work perfectly well for any audience: Greek-style soy yogurt, a.k.a. yogurt cheese (which I used to make from cows-milk yogurt), whole wheat pasta with roasted veggies and olives, portabellas stuffed with red pepper hummus, and gazpacho with roasted tomatoes and peppers were just a few that caught my eye.

I have a lot of business travel in the next few weeks, which means that it’s very difficult to eat well, but I’ll be trying some of these out when I return.

2007 09 16 food & wine Comments (0)

Eat, drink and do your part for breast cancer

Willow, a breast cancer support group, is hosting their annual Eat to the Beat event on September 25th:

Willow’s Eat to the Beat is the only event of its kind in North America that features delicacies and delectables prepared by over 60 of the finest women chefs including famed television host, Chef Anna Olson.

Now in its 12th year, the event brings together high profile women chefs from across Canada for an “all-out feast of the senses”. Guests can stroll through an eclectic array of food stations while sipping on a selection of fine wines, spirits and beers from around the world.

2007 09 12 food & wine
women Comments (0)

Online retailing to drop? I don’t think so

From an article today on Money Morning:

More than a decade after Internet pioneer Amazon.com burst upon the scene and revolutionized online retailing, experts are projecting that Internet-based shopping is destined to fall out of favor.

In the next five to 10 years, those who are already comfortable shopping online are likely to grow even more so. But the bulk of the folks who haven’t already made purchases will likely be staying on the sidelines, experts told The Associated Press.

Although I agree that store-based retail will outstrip online retailing for a long time to come, I just can’t see an actual decline in online retail sales, for several reasons:

  1. Although the boomers are starting to retire and will have more time to spend on shopping in person, they’re fairly tech-savvy and will likely keep shopping online for the convenience. That portion of the market will likely stay stable, or drop slightly as their income drops on retirement.
  2. The younger generations — X, Y, whatever — are increasing their earning power and therefore their disposable income, and they’re definitely shopping online. This part of the market will continue to grow.
  3. Some large number of ”the bulk of the folks who haven’t already made purchases” are in the 65+ age range, and will die off. Although this doesn’t increase the amount of online shopping (except maybe for their grandkids with the inheritance), it does pull down that part of the curve when you’re looking at the number of people who have never shopped online.
  4. More stores are offering online shopping. For those of us with a preference for online to in-store shopping, that means that more of our disposable income will go to online shopping as it becomes available.
  5. Small businesses are increasingly shopping online to save time and money: I buy office supplies, computers, office furniture and anything else that I can find for my business online.
2007 09 06 business
technology Comments (0)

Women in technology

O’Reilly is running a Women in Technology series of articles. I suspect that this will be primarily a series on women in American technology, which is a significantly different experience from those of us in other countries (speaking from the point of view of having worked in tech in both Canada and the US, and traveled on business to about 20 other countries), but it’s a start.

And for all the independent women out there, a lovely little fairy tale sent to me by a friend today:

Once upon a time
in a land far away,
a beautiful, independent,
self-assured princess
happened upon a frog as she sat
contemplating ecological issues
on the shores of an unpolluted pond
in a verdant meadow near her castle.

The frog hopped into the princess’ lap
and said: “Elegant Lady,
I was once a handsome prince,
until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.
One kiss from you, however,
and I will turn back
into the dapper, young prince that I am
and then, my sweet, we can marry
and set up housekeeping in your castle
with my mother,
where you can prepare my meals,
clean my clothes, bear my children,
and forever feel
grateful and happy doing so.”

That night,
as the princess dined sumptuously
on lightly sautéed frog legs
seasoned in a white wine
and onion cream sauce,
she chuckled and thought to herself:
I don’t fuckin think so

2007 09 04 women Comments (0)