but it has been unavoidable. We have been spending a lot of time in Ottawa interviewing for jobs, meeting old friends, and most time-consumingly, buying a house. We finally succeeded – after two other abortive attempts – and we’re moving to the mighty Capital City at the end of June. More details to come.

For those who are interested, this is the new place:

It was an action packed holiday this year, full of travel and family and food and fun. So, to summarize, some random remarks:

• We spent a few days in Ottawa, where I was in fact underwhelmed by the selection at the LCBO outlets I visited. To be honest I fail to see how this is funny in any way either. It was shocking to me that one of the largest wine buyers in the world was so poorly stocked in Bordeaux, particularly in the mid-range but also in supposed high-end Vintages shops.
• On the other hand, I was a little surprised at the unanimity of reaction to our local SAQ strike. I guess people aren’t that sympathetic to cashiers who don’t know their product but still make $16.00 an hour.
• There’s nothing like spending Christmas around a 10-month-old baby!
• A lot of people in Ottawa warned us of the traffic on the A-5 North to Chelsea. These people clearly haven’t lived in a big city recently. 15-25 km in ANY traffic doesn’t take THAT long.
• It was really interesting to spend an extended amount of time in Ottawa with my favourite francophone in the world. I learned that the city is a LOT more French than I ever knew.
• We avoided deciding between several choices for New Year’s Eve until the last minute this year, and boy did that work out well for us. We went to Ed and Martine’s house for a great cocktail party that lasted well into the night. I was lucky not to get allergic to Spiff all night and although I drank far too much, I nevertheless managed to have wonderful conversations with several people who are new to me, including Beth and her SO, J. (I haven’t noticed his name online yet, so I’ll not post it myself.)
• Doing nothing is highly underrated
• We saw both The Aviator and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou over the holidays. Both were quite enjoyable and I recommend them, although in different ways. The Hughes biopick is an interesting, if over-packed, study of a life. Too ambitious by far but still fun. The Life Aquatic is a film for Wes Anderson fans. If you’re not a fan already, the gang here isn’t going to convince you. If you are a fan, you’ll see it in the theater and still buy the DVD as soon as it comes out.

We got back from a short trip to Ottawa over the last five days or so. I disconnected a bit during my time away, and celebrated a birthday and visited with my niece Ella, who is the cutest thing on the planet (trust me).