The Ear Iris

Earlier this summer, Sean and Sylvia and I were travelling from Leduc to Edmonton. A discussion of laziness, chores and perceived roles of men and women ensued. We often ask Sean to help with household chores, and I joked that when one of these requests is detected, a mechanism in Sean's ears closes like an iris to prevent him from hearing about the chore. I extrapolated that most men have this ability, which made both Sylvia and Sean laugh.

This would seem an handy mutation. 

Day of the Denti

Trek to Nowhere

To honour Star Trek's 50th anniversary, here's another in my series of fake "Edge of Nowhere" novels. In this case, I had fun skewing text using paths instead of rasterizing the layer, which leads to a much sharper result. 

The Second Last Question

"Why do you insist on drinking milk from the carton?"

The Ring Finger Thing

A couple of months ago I discovered a small lump on the underside of my left ring finger, between the second and third knuckles.

"That's weird," I thought.

I stroked it with my thumb to test its consistency. It was quite hard, and resisted my attempts to move it very far. To see if it was painful, I applied pressure.

To my surprise, it popped without a sound and vanished. There was no pain, just a feeling of vague unease. Had I just burst a malevolent sac of festering disease, or an air bubble waiting to give me an aneurysm? I experienced some anxious moments, but now that several weeks have passed I assume I'm in the clear.

It was still a little weird, though. 

Geekquinox Trek II: The Broth of Pete

Since this is Star Trek's 50th anniversary year, Pete thought it apropos to prepare another Trek-themed Geekquinox dinner.

The festivities got off to a scrumptious start with toasted bread topped with your choice of three salsas and garlic.

Note the Galileo shuttlecraft centrepiece (actually the container for Star Trek Trivial Pursuit).

Several of us dressed for the occasion...

...though contrarian Mike arrived in a Star Wars shirt.

The libations were otherworldly.

Everyone's always delighted by my constant flash photography at these events.

The Redshirt Diaries.

Steve ignored his hail to the bridge.

My favourite course of the night: "The Wrath of Prawn," or cilantro lime shrimp. Juicy, tender, savoury. Just put it in your mouth, not your ear.

Scott failed to contain his excitement.

Jeff delighted me by making "voom" noises as he flew the shuttle around the table.

"Spock's Brain," or cauliflower cooked in pork fat. I'm not generally a fan of cauliflower, but this was pretty good brain food.

Sylvia dressed as a Bajoran in Starfleet, even though Bajor didn't join the Federation until the late 24th century...

...that's why I came dressed as an agent of the Department of Temporal Investigations (DTI).

Pete's Red Matter soup was my second-favourite item of the night.

Jeff may have found it a little spicy.

Everyone was anticipating the main course, which I somehow failed to photograph, as I was too busy eating. Here, then, are a few more highlights of the evening:

Thanks again to Pete and Ellen for hosting yet another marvellous, out-of-this world dining experience. Truly, the feeds of the many outweighed...uh...I had something there, almost. Feast long and prosper, that's it! Woods out.