Dan & Libby’s Pictures of Our San Francisco Vacation
[ imaginaryfriend.org ] Summer 2004 – Steve, Dina, and Ben visit San Francisco
Comics Reserve
I keep my comics reserve at the magnificent Astro Books in Montreal: Excellent communication and service, and the best pre-order discounts in town.
Boom! Studios
Incorruptible
Irredeemable
Dark Horse Comics
Magnus, Robot Fighter
Solar, Man of the Atom
Turok, Son of Stone
King Conan / Conan the King TPB
Elric of Melnibone Omnibus
DC Comics (and imprints)
Astro City
Ex-Machina TPB
Planetary TPB (DECEMBER 1ST! Mark your calendars!)
Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales TPB #2 (it’ll be published…someday)
Tom Strong & the Robots of Doom
IDW Comics
Kill Shakespeare
Marvel Comics
Criminal vol 2
Incognito: Bad Influences
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Misc.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Because Google Has an Answer for Everything
That\’s My Boy!
I love the fact that Ben snores, even when he’s sleeping on his tummy.
Remiss with the Roundups
I can’t believe that I’m a week late with the Weekend Roundup! What on Earth have I been doing with my time?
Last Friday, Mom arrived for a week-long visit. Ben was thrilled to see his Grammie again. In the evening, we went over to the mall and toured the shops for baby clothes, adult-sized clothes and game (both baby-sized and Steve-sized).
We had a birthday gift to buy for Vincent. While Mom took Ben around for an ice cream cone (no ice cream yet. He’s just a young’un.), Dina and I tested all the noisy and fragile electronic kids’ toys we could find. There were so many! But, instead, we decided to go for something a little more robust and incidentally educational: a big red truck with a hand-turned crank. Who wouldn’t love such a thing?
We took care to hide the truck from Ben, just in case.
Last Saturday was Vincent’s first birthday party. Ramsay and Mirela set up a couple of picnic tables at Parc Lafontaine. Ramsay’s parents were there, along with friends from work and the neighbourhood, and old mutual friends from high school. I haven’t seen Phil or Gareth and their families since Mirela’s baby shower last year.
We used to hang out in the yearbook room in high school. Now, we’ve made our own people. Crazy!
Watching the kids play together was the most fun.
Last Sunday, we drove down to the Townships to visit Lou and Tilly. It was a long drive, and both Ben and Mom fell asleep along the way:
They’re so cute!
Instead of the usual big dinner at the house, we drove to Newport and ate lunch at Hoagie’s restaurant. They make terrific pizza and subs.
Ben demonstrated the table manners he picked up on his travels. Everyone was duly impressed.
After lunch, we wandered through Dina’s favourite antiques shop. We very nearly left with a tiny blue recliner for Ben. We were just this close, but it didn’t have a little handle. And who needs a recliner without a handle?
Then, we drove to North Troy to visit Louise, an old friend of the family who was visiting her granddaughter. We hadn’t seen Louise since she moved to Ontario, and she had never met Ben before. They got along famously.
And then, a very busy week passed.
On Friday, Mom returned to Windsor. Ben and I kept ourselves busy at the apartment. There was much crawling around and emptying of recycling boxes and card boxes. Good times!
Saturday, Maggie, Andrew, Colin and Robert came over for an afternoon visit. We had missed Colin’s birthday party on Friday, but we had all these presents for the birthday boy. Colin is seven, and is fascinated by city maps and the metro system. So, Dina picked up a small Canadian atlas, made him a card and then, the piece de resistance: a framed map of the Montreal metro system!
Colin was suitably impressed. As he should be. Getting that poster took some finagling on Dina’s part.
We had a good visit, and then, a quiet evening.
Sunday was bright and sunny, and we would have taken greater advantage, but Ben spent the afternoon napping. We did start the day off on the right foot, though, with Dina whipping up a batch of buttermilk pancakes, served with berries and warm maple syrup. The delight is in the details. Yum-my!
When Ben finally awoke from his much-needed rest, we took him out for an afternoon stroll. We zipped into Blockbuster and rented The Punisher, then stopped by the drugstore to take advantage of a sales promotion, and then did some grocery shopping. Ben was in fine form the entire time.
After dinner, Ben conked out, Dina went to work on some office projects, and I watched The Punisher.
All in all, a sedate little weekend.
Two Steps!
That’s right! Ben took two deliberate steps into Dina’s arms tonight.
No, we don’t have the moment on video. He isn’t under constant surveillance…but that might be a good idea in the near future!
Congratulations, Ben!
At Last!
Finally, I’ve finished Baudolino. No, it wasn’t a particularly difficult read (especially not for an Umberto Eco novel), but finding the time to read was difficult.
It took me six months to finish this novel. Next up: Steven Erikson’s Midnight Tides. At this rate, I ought to be done by Christmas!
CCGeekery
How am I spending part of my weekend? Sure, there are chores, shopping trips, office projects and Ben-chasing to occupy my time, but I’m also going through scads of Doomtown cards from my recent eBay purchases and matching them up with the others in my collection. I’m using the entire dining room table for this project.
Why am I doing this? How else would I know that I only have three Mystical Bags, an insufficient two Slumber Needles, and an extra Battle for Lord Grimley’s?
Ahh, CCGeek bliss.
(Keep an eye on this space. It’s almost time for FreeCCGs III.)
More evidence of a Google browser (kottke.org)
Interesting. And here I’ve just gotten used to Firefox.
More evidence of a Google browser (kottke.org)
[via ***Dave]
Down to Our Last TV…
It was a sad moment this afternoon when Dina turned on the TV in the living room and the picture tube flickered and died. The speakers worked fine, so we could listen to the available shows, but nothing more.
This was a floor model TV I bought in 1998, back when the sub-basement levels of the Place Cathedrale mall were closing up in anticipation of renovations. This electronics store was selling everything dirt cheap. I think I paid $150 for the 24-inch colour set, and the salesguy threw in a universal remote. I just picked the set up off the floor and walked out the door. No box, no user manual, and not even a second glance from the security guards.
The set served us very well over the years.
Fortunately, I still have a TV that my parents left me when they moved to Windsor. I believe they bought it from Sears back in 1988.
That set is still going strong!