Archive for the 'Navel-Gazing' Category

Rainbow over my new hood

Published
by
duncan
on October 26, 2007
in Montreal and Navel-Gazing
. 0 Comments

Where’s the pot of gold?, originally uploaded by D u n c a n.

I recently moved. My new neighbourhood straddles the frontier between Outremont and Mile End.

I used to think of Outremont as being quite snobbish, and while there is an element of that, I find that it’s also quite relaxed and family-oriented, which is a nice change from the noise and frequent rudeness by drivers on the Plateau. Here, they actually stop at designated crossings that don’t have lights! (Which, in Montreal, is practically a miracle.)

Another reason I love this neighbourhood is the crazy mix of people. Hasidim, students, hipsters, artists, politicians and intellectuals all cross paths here. You never know who you might bump into.

Then there’s the general friendliness and six-degrees-or-less element. The other day I was at my new fav grocery stop on Avenue du Parc, when I bumped into an old friend who I hadn’t seen in years. We got into the what-are-you-up-to-these-days schtick, and she announces that she’s now married to the musician she was dating the last time we spoke. “Wow, congrats! What band is he with these days,” I ask, and she (somewhat shyly - Montrealers are too damn modest) mumbles the name of, ahem, a relatively unknown up-and-coming group known as … the Arcade Fire. “Oh,” I reply, feigning perplexity, “the name rings a bell.” We chuckle and I marvel silently at how fast life can change.

A few minutes later, I am fishing Greek feta out of a vat and this tall surfer-looking guy sidles up to me and starts mumbling something while cradling a bunch of asparagus in his hands. Oh-oh: crazy alert. But no, he was mumbling because a store employee was right behind him and he wanted me to know that there was a much cheaper place to buy feta right around the corner… While I enjoyed living on the Plateau, I don’t remember this sort of random act of kindness happening there.

IM not talking to you

Published
by
duncan
on September 4, 2007
in Geekery, Navel-Gazing and Work
. 0 Comments

So, here I am, working at the office, and we’re all sending instant messages across the room instead of actually talking to each other. Real geeks, huh? Maybe, but I think the phenomenon may have as much to do with maintaining productivity-enhancing silence in an open-concept office.

It’s not you, it’s me

Published
by
duncan
on August 29, 2007
in Navel-Gazing and Work
. 0 Comments

One Saturday evening in August, my phone rang.

- “Hey, where are you?”

- “Um, chilling at home…”

- “You’re not coming to the loft party???”

- “Er, yeah, was supposed to go but I’m soooo tired…”

- “Man, we hardly see you anymore! Did I say something to piss you off?”

- “No no no no, not at all! I just haven’t had much time or energy to spare lately.”

The past few weeks have been a blur. I’ve been living in startupland, that exciting mythic country that is the workplace equivalent to partying in NYC: it’s a 24/7 adventure that is super-energizing and super-demanding all at the same time.

You see, I have become the voice of The Code Kitchen. Which means, among other things, that I have been dedicating more time lately to The Code Kitchen’s blog than my musings here…

What I’ve been up to

Published
by
duncan
on April 23, 2007
in Navel-Gazing, Travel and Work
. 0 Comments

For those who are wondering if I’m still in the land of the living, this entry is for you.

There’s been a lot going on lately, and my blogging appears to have suffered for it. It’s all been good, of course. Let’s see, where do I begin?

I’ve spent a lot of time so far this year out West, mostly in and around San Francisco. What started off as an unlimited flight pass for a couple of months has turned into a life-changing series of events. The first leg of my pass took me to San Francisco for a visit to Macworld, motivated purely by curiosity. Neither the tech-heads I met there nor the ever-humourless US customs and immigration officers were buying any of it: they all thought I was down there looking for work. (Ha! Truth is, I’ve had more work that I can handle lately and I really love Montreal.) While in California, I agreed to collaborate on an early-stage startup project based there. I had heard that there was a tech startup conference happening a couple of weeks later in Quebec City, so I went to check it out.

At the conference in Quebec City, I discovered after looking through the bios of attendees that one of my clients, François Lane from Mastodonte Communications, was also there. Since we had never met in person, I sat down beside him at lunch and introduced myself. One thing led to another, and a few days later we were meeting in Montreal to discuss how we could work more closely together. Since then, I have been actively collaborating with François on a weekly basis. A long-time entrepreneur in the Quebec market, he has recently decided to go international–where English, for better or worse, is often the common language. The first fruit of that effort is a white label email marketing application that we have christened Cake. François is sponsoring the One Degree website this month, so we’ve got a little teaser campaign going.

But life is not all work and no play. Oh, no–far from it! I spent Easter doing the tourist thing in San Francisco with a couple other Montrealers who’ve been bit by the wanderlust bug. It was my third time in the Bay Area in as many months, but this was the first occasion I had to really do any sightseeing. I’ve been to BC a couple of times so far this year too, spending time in Vancouver with friends, in Nelson visiting my folks, and in Victoria visting my sister, nieces, nephew, and a couple old friends from high school. I also tagged along with the Mutek crew to their gig in Washington, DC in February, which was great fun and a truly amazing evening of stellar performances. I stayed with a friend I had met at the Mutek festival a few years back, as a matter of fact.

So given that all of this has been going on in addition to my usual freelance workload, you will pardon me if I have been slow to return emails, phone messages and the like. There doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day…

The year that began with a bang

Published
by
duncan
on January 14, 2007
in Navel-Gazing
. 4 Comments

Hey folks, I hope the new year is treating you well so far. I can’t complain, but it’s been quite a wild ride so far, and we’re only two weeks into it… For me, 2007 is the year that started with a bang.

If you’re thinking champagne corks, you’re only partly right. I did enjoy a little Veuve Clicquot on the 31st after a very tasty dinner at Luce’s place. Then I headed across town to a private loft party put on by some friends. Round about 3, some of us decided to head to another party where Eloi Brunelle, Pheek and Mossa were playing. Failing to find a taxi, we came back to the loft. That’s when things got weird.

Seems that, hearing the music from the street, some random people had infiltrated the party. One of those people thought I was picking a fight with a friend of mine (which is laughable for anyone who knows me) but we were just horsing around. Anyhow, this guy shoved me violently, I went flying back and landed on a concrete floor, on which I seriously banged the back of my head. I didn’t pass out, so no-one thought anything more of it, but the rest of the evening is a confused blur. The next day, it was confirmed that I had a concussion. In some ways, having a concussion is like temporary madness. Symptoms include erratic and aggressive behaviour, anxiety, confusion, slurred speech, etc. So that would explain things if you saw me that night and thought I was acting weird or super-drunk.

But things get stranger still. I suppose the guy could have killed me perhaps, but he just may have saved my life — 20 years from now. After I developed increasingly intense migraines 36 hours following the incident, I was admitted to the hospital and had my head scanned (CT) the following morning. Fortunately, they found nothing serious. But they did find something else that is “benign” now but could, if left undetected, cause me problems 20 years from now. Maybe, maybe not. But now that I know about it, it’s much less of an issue — and maybe not an issue at all. So I am strangely grateful to the guy who pushed me, whoever he is.

All of which goes to show you that there is a reason for everything; we just have to understand what it is. This year, I hope we all learn to spot the silver lining in any clouds that come our way.

One blog is good. Two blogs are…

Published
by
duncan
on December 4, 2006
in Blogging and Navel-Gazing
. 0 Comments
  1. Better.
  2. A sign of addiction.
  3. A serious distraction.
  4. An entertaining introduction to juggling.
  5. A chance to compare Movable Type to Wordpress.
  6. Not that much additional effort, really.
  7. All of the above.

I think the correct answer is #7, with the added clarification for #3 that it’s a welcome distraction and blogging is a serious pursuit (but never stuffy). Whatever the case may be, I’m guest blogging once or twice a week at Vu d’ici, Marie-Chantale Turgeon’s blog.

I haven’t yet decided if I’ll be systematically cross-posting; not sure whether I particularly like the practice. Perhaps only when it makes sense to do so.

A difficult day

Published
by
duncan
on November 23, 2006
in Gloom, Navel-Gazing and Philosophizing
. 3 Comments

Caveat lector: some may find this entry a tad depressing.

(Now  I bet you can’t resist clicking the “Continue” link, huh?)

Continue reading ‘A difficult day’

How you know you’ve been neglecting your blog for too long

Published
by
duncan
on November 18, 2006
in Blogging and Navel-Gazing
. 3 Comments

People start sending you reminders by fax!

(Hey, at least now I know somebody reads this thing, right?)

How you know you've been neglecting your blog for too long

Les blogues : mode versus mode de vie

Published
by
duncan
on August 30, 2006
in Blogging, En français and Navel-Gazing
. 3 Comments

Nicolas Ritoux, un ami journaliste artisan de phrases bien apprêtés, vient de répondre à l’appel (irrésistible ?) du carnétisme. Son discours inaugural m’a fait éclater de rires :

Il fut un temps où je collaborais à plusieurs sites Web, où j’écrivais de longs discours sur les listes de discussion, et où je poussais l’effort jusqu’à écrire à des jeunes filles sur Réseau Contact. Je viens seulement récemment de retrouver cette fibre de l’écriture bénévole.

Cette réconciliation est peut-être le fruit des trente ans que je viens de me prendre en pleine face. Je me sens soudainement investi d’un paquet de responsabilités : avoir des enfants, m’engager sérieusement avec une femme, devenir sobre, sain et non fumeur, et toutes ces choses qu’on attend d’un homme adulte.

Quoique Nicolas écrivais des textes sur le Web bien avant que les blogues existaient, il ironise sur son sort en disant que « À première vue, créer mon blogue après tout le monde en 2006, c’est pas fort pour un journaliste techno qui se veut à la pointe du progrès. » Je me suis dit un peu près la même chose ce printemps : pour un rédacteur-traducteur qui est sollicité par des agences Web experts en expérience utilisateur afin de réviser leur rapports et gérer la création de textes adaptées à la lecture sur l’écran, c’est drôle que je n’avais pas de blogue.

Ceci dit, je ne crois pas qu’on devrait faire un truc simplement parce que c’est nouveau ou parce que c’est à la mode. Je lis des blogues depuis que ça existe ; je n’avais pas envie d’en avoir un jusqu’à tout dernièrement. Sommes-nous arrivés tard à cette fête carnétiste ? Peut-être. Mais ce n’est pas le premier arrivé qui compte. L’important est d’être encore debout (et intéressant) quand la fête poursuit et bat son plein. Pour ça, c’est jamais trop tard de se joindre à la fiesta.

Bad blogger - bad, bad, bad!

Published
by
duncan
on August 19, 2006
in Blogging, Montreal and Navel-Gazing
. 3 Comments

Has it been a whole month since I last posted?! Yikes. I punished myself by not going to the picnic gathering of Montreal bloggers today. “I’m not woooooorthyyyyyyy!!!!” (Exaggerated wail.)

Time is an anaconda and Montreal is the sadistic zookeeper that starves that anaconda, then drapes it around your neck. It’s been squeezing me tight from the moment I got back. An endless stream of invitations, late nights, early mornings (one must work to support a fabulous lifestyle) and four weekly cultural newspapers crammed with interesting things to do. It took all of 48 hours for me to undo 3 weeks of healthy living and tranquility. So much for that healthy West-coast glow my skin had begun to acquire.

Yes, friends and family: I still have a lot of pics to share from my time out West. Look for a posthumous post as soon as the anaconda gives me a breather…