Gifted Typist

Going on a cruise is the last thing I ever imagined myself doing
My travels have always been indie-type expeditions.
Six months backpacking solo through SE Asia, Australia and the South Pacifice.
Indie travel through Europe.
Living and working in Eastern Europe.
That sort of thing.
But an opportunity came up involving members of my beloved family and I thought, what [...]

We had brilliant sunshine, teams of energetic huskies, scary moments with fast-approaching tree trunks, shrieking typists, laughing typists, maple toffee made in the snow and exhausted huskies.

… after a glorious week of dog-sledding and skiing in Newfoundland.
I’m happy to report that I wasn’t eaten by the dogs, although I do appreciate the concern, Doc.
There were a few crazy-arsed moments when the dogs took off and I was left in the sled with tree trucks approaching at speed. (I want my blankie!)
Let’s [...]

Almost didn’t make it home for Christmas.
We were booked to come home from New York on Sunday Dec 21 but with storms, cancellations, delays, Christmas, overbooked flights, standby, hours in airport lounges … the outlook was bleak.
By Monday night, they’d dumped us in Montreal airport and told us we had no hope of getting a [...]

I know. I know. I was just there. In October.
But that trip was a screw-up on many levels, even if it was a good time.
So this time, I’m doing it up right. (You can correct the mistakes of trips past when you have a bundle of Air Miles points.)
All the Typists will be along for [...]

Give me a camera and put me in a city like New York with its energy, history, hustle, architecture, art, characters and icons and I’m in heaven. Here is my photo essay of my excellent weekend in New York. Or you can go to directly to Flickr for more explanation of the shots.

So, I go to New York City anticipating the gruff rudeness you’d expect of the Big Apple ….
And what do I get?
Some of the friendliest, warmest, nicest people I’ve ever met on city streets.
Huh?
New Yorkers were falling over themselves to offer directions or point out the sites. When they saw you with a camera, they [...]

Update: Yup, you’re right about the comments. I’ve darkened them and made them larger. Check it out. I’ve also increased the size of the font in the posts. This theme isn’t widgetized, meaning I have to go into the code to make changes in the sidebars.
This “What Not To Wear” blog styling exercise will not [...]

I thought you might enjoy this email. I wrote it to our local bridge commission in the hope of obtaining a pay-in-advance pass to cross our city’s two lovely suspension bridges. They are promoting these passes as a replacement for tokens which will be banned in two months time. You’d might think they would make [...]

It was sixteen years ago today that I stood barefoot on a beach in Fiji and tied the knot, got hitched, fused, welded together, or whatever your romantic metaphor for getting married.
It was a spontaneous thing, growing out of a beach conversation that went something like this:
I wouldn’t mind getting married.
Me neither.
They’d sure be surprised [...]

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I’m not normally one to gawk, but my word, women’s breasts seem to be getting big these days.
Honestly, the number of supersized hooters bobbing around St. Maarten was absolutely breathtaking. And virtually all of these super boobs were supported by the most minimalist of pouch-and-string bikinis. It’s like the place was [...]

Go here to view these pictures in Flickr

A week in this French/Dutch Caribbean island brought some fantastic seascapes, skyscapes and lightscapes for a typist on the roam with a camera.
Sadly, the UV filter on my favourite lens (Canon 17-40mm) was smashed in transit. When I uncovered the lens on the first morning I found broken [...]

…I’m having a rather spiffing time here in St. Martin or Sint Maarten, depending on which side of French-Dutch border you’re on, on this Caribbean island.
The tropical depression,  now in the mid Atlantic, didn’t make a direct hit but it has churned up the sea and produced a powerful ocean swell that is now slamming the island with spectacular [...]

Well, you convert it into a bar and grill, of course. Or at least that’s what they do here at Flippers..I’d heard of this place but didn’t really believe until I spotted it with my own eyes one day. It is located about an hour and a half’s drive from my house. Luckily I had [...]

When the clock strikes midnight tonight, is it really midnight? Or does time really shift ahead to 1 am.
Technically, it jumps forward. I know.
But metaphysically, what happens to that hour?
Is it like your car keys or the scissors? Do you just lose it? Into thin air? Do you suddenly become one hour older? Just like [...]