Simon Winchester

It's a little delayed, but last Friday I had a date with my mom. It was going to be me, mom, and dad until pops realized he would miss another Oiler game. So he drove mom down, hung out at my place and watched the game while I took off with my mom.
But you don't really need too many details of my whereabouts (and my family's) posted on here. The point is the Edmonton Literary Festival.
After my initial alarm at being twenty years younger than anyone else there, we settled in and waited for the clowns to work out some technical difficulties (Mr. Winchester never did get a working mic). He came out and talked about meeting with the folks who were approving new words for the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) just before he came to Edmonton. And the only reason I mention this is that the Edmonton Journal coverage ended there. The reporter must have had a date.
Simon Winchester wrote a few books you may recognize including The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, and Krakatoa.
I can't even begin to try and tell the stories the way he did, but he began a journey from Uganda to England, to the troubles in Northern Ireland (making front page on the world papers), to Washinton, DC the day Watergate hit the news (again making the front pages around the world) to London, to New York etc.
He mentioned two things that struck me as a journalist (at least someone who has the training and a little bit of experience, if not the booming radio voice or natural skill). One was a piece of advice he'd received - Never lose your sense of wonder. Isn't that true? A person will be dead if he/she doesn't enjoy the things we see everyday. And the second was the only way a journalist can have any staying power is to write books.
So a series of amazing events occur, and a little book about the making of the OED has now sold 2.5 million copies. The Professor and the Madman is the book.
What an interesting guy, and what wonderful stories he tells.
And it never stops amazing me how my mom comes up with these cool things to do. I'll go on a date with her anytime.
I don't know if this post makes much sense - maybe one of those "guess you should've been there" moments. The thoughts I am trying to convey are that it was terrific to get out to something like that. The stories are almost unbelievable and I guess that's what makes him such a successful author.

Zambia

There's a first for everything I guess. I delivered a postcard yesterday from Zambia!!! It's the first one I've seen in a solid year. It's a funny thing about my job - delivering postcards from strange places. The back of it had Zambian stamps which look familiar to me - and I flipped it over and saw it was a picture of a lake or big pond in front of the University in Lusaka. I better go check that out for myself in January.
Hope the exams went well Sarah!

One PERFECT week

What a start to the month of October. And a finish to September here in Edmonton. On Wednesday last week I finished work quite early and piled in the truck with mom and dad and went fishing.

I really thought Sarah would like to see dad's hat - but it was incredible out there. What a splendid evening it was.

The sun was shining so beautifully. And an added bonus on the way out of the crescent when we saw a Canada Postie still working. Ahhh the little things in life. The lady was still delivering her route and I had been home and out to St. Albert and on the way to the lake. (Dad also waved at school as he towed the boat by while staff meeting was on.)

Proof that mom came along this time. In her usual spot up at the front.

That little tiny Jack fish is the only one we saw all day. Dad caught it, and I was skunked. But the hat really does rule!!! Giant Tiger special. He tells me that's what happens when you go fishing and forget to bring a cap along. He bought that one in Saskatoon.