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Ontario has begun phasing the opening of businesses, and certainly it seems like people are going back out there in search of the new normal. Combined with the lack of contact tracing, I think we can expect a second wave of cases and deaths in a couple weeks. I've read that the modest drop in the rate of new cases can be attributed to institutions - their wave has passed but the broader public's still going up . Not much new to report from our household as I continue my parental leave/quarantine. The ants are back. Our bird-feeder is very popular and I've seen some cardinals and rose-breasted grosbeaks. Sora is basically crawling, and her first two teeth are peeking out. My health is coasting along -- not great, not terrible, some nights better than others. Quality sleep still manages to escape me, there being so much to do all the time. I have been getting a fair bit of reading done, mostly fiction. The Golden Compass/The Subtle Knife/The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman....

Well, it's certainly been an exciting few weeks since I last updated! Just when I was really hyped on the US Democratic nominations, COVID-19 rolls in and now we've passed through into a totally new world, a reset of global events. My hope, beyond seeing the curve flatten, is that people learn some lessons on politics, capitalism, epidemiology, statistics, and basic hygiene. Certainly it seems that everyone has an opinion on how things are being handled/mishandled by our governments. On the bottle I started social  physical distancing back on March 12th, as MJ had pointed out then how important getting ahead of the virus was, in particular to keep it away from Sora. My work is mostly doable from home but the less than ideal setup makes it a bit of a pain. I definitely miss having a large choice of convenient lunch and snack options. How strange to think that a month ago I was on the TTC going about my day, living my life, washing my hands only after using the bathroom. ...

Hola The days pass by pretty quickly, each moment slipping by. There is some routine to my week, as you can see: 08:00 Get up, feed the cats, make breakfast (usually oatmeal with toast), get dressed. 09:30 Catch the streetcar, check e-mail. 10:00 Work — meetings, more e-mail, programming, reviews. 13:00 Lunch, sometimes with friends but often listen to a podcast. 14:00 More work. Usually a bathroom break. 18:00 Head home, play Hearthstone on the streetcar. Pick up groceries. 18:30 Help prepare dinner and/or watch Sora. Eat and catch up with MJ. 20:00 Bathe Sora, prepare her for bed by rocking her to sleep. 21:00 Clean kitchen, sterilize baby stuff. Clean kitty litter. 20:00 Evening ablutions, check Twitter, watch Netflix or YouTube. Pretty hum-drum stuff. Seeing Sora is an absolute joy, to be sure, but I’ve little time for much else as you can see. This may change in April when I take my parental leave for five months, which I cautiously look forward to. My condition has...

Mary Jean gave birth to our daughter at Sunnybrook hospital last Thursday morning, two weeks earlier than the estimated date. We had made arrangements to have the birth at the Toronto Birth Centre but the intensity of the contractions combined with the slow progress forced a trip to the hospital. The actual act of delivery was unexpectedly quick, a comically sudden arrival of a vernix-covered tiny alien, an event I nearly missed by taking a bathroom break at what I thought was an early stage. We spent the next three days in the hospital as they monitored Sora's various vitals, and in particular her blood sugar and red blood cell count. MJ practiced her breastfeeding skills and I attended to her needs, both of us running on adrenaline and the jolt of being parents earlier than expected. I also got to practice my sleeping-in-chair skills, something I probably haven't done since my days in university. Being away from home, away from my comforts, was actually quite bearable -- we...

Last month I came down with a terrible flu. I wondered where I could've picked up such a punishing version of the virus. Wherever it came from, it hit me hard, forcing me to spend several days in bed, weak and feverish. With my appetite so affected my usual meal regime was thrown out the window, and my trips to the bathroom were more uncomfortable than usual. I had such a bad cough that I ended up going to a walk-in clinic, getting some heavy duty cough medicine and an inhaler to stave off pneumonia. In those moments of wakefulness, between sips of tea and soup, I found myself turning to old anime. Namely, I watched Hikaru No Go and Great Teacher Onizuka again. Oh, how it does bring me back. The voice acting in both of these series is really quite excellent. And the music! Haha oh man it brought a smile to this old brain. Out of curiosity, I started reading the Hikaru No Go manga, and so far it's been a real treat, seeing the source for the anime. I think I can recommend bo...

It occurred to me, some time last October, that I used to really enjoy reading. That is, I hadn't read a book in a long time, and I did not really have an excuse. So I looked up how to read library books on my iPhone, installed Libby, got my library account re-activated (I had applied for one many years ago but it had expired from inactivity), and have been burning my way through books, my appetite much returned. The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian. Still a classic to my heart, an excellent appetizer easing me back on the reading track. I don't think I could ever tire of this series. 5/5 Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. Superbly written, I so enjoyed the film that I was pleased to find that the novel gave so much more. Sublime, thoughtful narrative. 5/5 Master of the Senate by Robert A. Caro. I only made it through a 1/4 of the 1200+ pages before I had to return it but that was enough to convince me that this was a historical work worthy of its many accolades...

Andrew passed away on January 4th after a battle with nasopharyngeal cancer. It was a surprise to us, his university friends, a passing shot fired over e-mail, apparently nearly a year since his diagnosis. Those that could visited him at his house, his frame weak and thin, weighed down by the cancer, drugs, and radiation therapy. He kept a brave face, a rather deceptive face in hindsight. I last saw him on December 12th, about a week before heading to Saskatoon for Christmas. At the time a small thought entered my head, that this could be the last time I'd see Andrew but I quickly dismissed it as we talked of foods he could try and measures he could take to make living at home safer. I was back in Toronto on the 31st when we got word that he had been moved to palliative care and would no longer be taking visitors, a concerning sign but even then we thought he still had a few weeks left, maybe even months. His memorial was on January 12th, in Scarborough near his father'...

How is it already December 19th? Yeesh. And it seems my aim of writing more posts this year has been a failure, a goal that kept getting pushed aside as life threw more things my way. Sure, a lack of discipline can also be blamed, but so can simply having very few tales to tell. And that's due to my disinclination to going out, being shy about breaking my routine and leaving my rather comfortable base. MJ and I did go to Tokyo in September, which I'll write out in full later. A mostly enjoyable trip, memories that are still rather fresh in my mind's eye. I'd never had a strong desire to visit Japan, and I still find it odd that I was there, among the throngs of conservatively-dressed, impassive citizens, along spotless avenues and riding equally spotless subway trains. I'd say the highlight was a bicycle tour which took us through and around the downtown, the city being fairly amenable to cyclists. People talk about how good the food is, but I wonder if those peop...

Halifax Public Gardens Mary Jean got a post-doc in Halifax, and I spent a couple weeks there helping her get settled in. My expectations of the east coast were rather limited*, so I'm glad to have filled some of that in. Indeed, the more time I spend there the more I find myself enjoying Halifax, with its coastal charm, walk-able downtown, and many sprouting districts. As a small city (~400k people), it fits that desirable niche of being large enough to have the amenities of a modern city without the daunting issues of a bigger one. Halifax Central Library My second week there was during an unseasonal heat wave, and while MJ worked I sought shelter in the beautiful Halifax Central Library, an impressive structure that embodies the coming together of civic will, a common good that all can enjoy, a modern structure that makes the most of efficient technologies. I also got to get re-acquainted with some old friends, some dear faces whom I'd never forget but have no...

One might think that with my two months off of work that I had a lot of free time to kill. In truth, however, when I was experiencing discomfort or pain, I turned to Twitter and simple mobile games to keep my mind occupied, and continue to find myself leaning on them to distract me at various times throughout the day. I did watch some Netflix: Disappointed by season 2 of Stranger Things , which makes me think season 1 was perhaps seen through rose-colored glasses. A little too goofy, with side-plots that did not pay off. Thoroughly enjoyed the Fargo the series -- Billy Bob Thornton opposite Martin Freeman, who'da thunkit? Second season was weaker overall, but still enjoyable. Inside Llewyn Davis -- I must be missing something because while it contained many of the ingredients I like this Coen brothers film just did not do it for me. Maybe they are not very good at all? Big Mouth -- Watched this one on a whim and it surprisingly tickled me in the right places. Guardians o...

Well, I made it. The surgery itself was a success, and I remember the day vividly -- the thin hospital gown, the cold floor through flimsy slippers, the narrow operating table, the oxygen mask placed moments before I was put under. I spent a couple days at the hospital, tentatively trying foods (and sometimes failing to keep them down) and calling for pain medication. A couple friends visiting, holding my spirits up. I was, for the first few weeks, going to the bathroom around 15 times a day, including a few trips overnight, which thoroughly disrupted my sleep schedule. After a while I kind of got used to waking up in the dark of deep night, hardly a thought in my head. My father was able to jury rig my toilet seat bidet, a puzzle that neither my friends or I could solve, and it made an enormous difference in my bathroom comfort level. Indeed, I now find using non-bidet toilets a delicate operation at best, excruciating at worst. I had a brief hiccup in my recovery in mid-December,...