Posts

Accessibility Camp Toronto 2011, and Accessibility Summit 2011!

/0 Comments/in /by

This isn’t something that I’ve written about in great detail here, but over the past year and a half or so, I’ve become kind of a web accessibility advocate. It’s something that I’ve been able to start bringing into my work, which is very exciting for me, and I’ve become something of the accessibility go-to person in my department. Even though I’ve gained a not-insignificant amount of knowledge that we’re starting to apply, I am always eager to learn more.

Over the past week, I’ve had some great opportunities to do just that. On Saturday, I attended Accessibility Camp Toronto, an un-conference designed to bring together attendees to learn and share in a more informal environment than the traditional conference. I was able to attend a number of really cool sessions- I particularly enjoyed the demo of FireEyes from Deque Systems, and the more informal presentation about HTML5/jQuery and the Fluid Project, from members of the IDRC and Everett Zufelt.

Even though I got some really useful new information, I think the thing I took away from the conference is just how much interest and excitement has been growing around this subject (It’s not just me!). There’s an amazing community of people that are driving huge amounts of improvement in websites, applications, and all sorts of information delivery, and it’s not just because the legislation is requiring it.

On top of that, today was Accessibility Summit 2011, which is an online conference presented by Environments for Humans. There were a ton of great sessions, from some big names in web accessibility. I was a little apprehensive that an online-only conference wouldn’t have the same amount of discussion/networking/collaborative opportunity, but looking at how many new people I’m following on Twitter, I think that worry was unfounded.

Glenda Sims‘ (again from Deque Systems- these people are pretty cool!) presentation about captioning, and Derek Featherstone‘s presentation, “Everything I Know about Accessibility I Learned from Star Wars”, were major highlights of the day for me. However, every single presentation was top notch, and the issues were few, considering that there were additional technical considerations to deal with to make the online delivery work.

So now, I’m pretty much buzzing with even more ideas and excitement than normal (and I have an idea train that is already hard to slow down). Watch out!

Birthday present to me!

/0 Comments/in /by

So I got some really awesome stuff for my birthday- a gift card for the spa so I can get a massage, and some homemade cinnamon rolls (yummmmm!). But I hadn’t gotten anything for myself yet! Until today.

I got a guitar! I’ve been wanting to learn, and now I have my very own! Now all I need to do is build up lots of calluses on my fingertips. 🙂

Summertime

/0 Comments/in /by

It has been a while since I wrote a post here, there is a lot to catch up on! It’s full on summer now. The weather has been hot, dry and sunny for a bit, which is nice, but we could use a good few storms to catch up on our rain.

My last post here was a few months ago, so the biggest new development isn’t reflected here yet- I’m pregnant! I’m about 14 and a half weeks along now. The first trimester was okay to me- a little rough at times, lots of nausea but I never threw up. I feel pretty good nowadays, but I’m still pretty tired here and there. Things seem to be going well- I’ve had a few ultrasounds, and have gotten to hear the baby’s heartbeat and things. I have a hard time sleeping at night, but overall, things aren’t too bad.

I’ve been enjoying an increase in free time- I’ve been paring down my volunteer activities, and it’s been great to get more time to myself again. I’ve cut back on theatre, and I’m not sitting on the board of KWLT anymore, which frees up some time, and I’m not singing with the Phil next year, so that frees up some time as well. Work is busy, but I hardly notice because I get to go home in the evenings, heh.

Having more free time also means I can devote some time to those around-the-house projects that have been backburnered for a long time. We got the walkway weeded over the weekend, did some cleanup, and next weekend, I’m planning to paint the front door and garage door (if it’s not too hot).

I saw the final Harry Potter movie over the weekend, and it was good! I definitely bawled my eyes out over Snape’s story. It might be the hormones, but that was a tear-jerker! It was pretty awesome overall. We also hit up the ribfest in Kitchener on Friday evening and had some nice bbq. It was pretty great.

Things that are Awesome, Part 3

/0 Comments/in /by

Surprise Parties

Crazy photo of meSo I happened to say in the course of talking about something else, about how one of my lifelong dreams was having someone throw me a surprise party. I just mentioned it in passing, in part of answering a question about ways to win my heart.

Some awesome friends of mine happened to notice this, and actually threw me a surprise party (for my half-birthday). I have to say, I was 100% surprised, didn’t suspect a thing at all! AT ALL. It was awesome. Seriously one of the most awesome things ever.

Also they got me a cake! And made me drinks and played games and it was thoroughly awesome. And Trevor took that crazy photo of me. Yay!

Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age LogoTrevor picked up the Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition (Dragon Age: Origins, along with all the downloadable content, and Awakenings). He picked it up because he thought he’d like to play it, and I took to it quicker than he or I expected. And I’m a huge fan. I’ve never really gotten into an RPG video game as much I have this one. I think part of it is the characters- I find them very engaging, and I definitely enjoy all the character interactions. The story is pretty awesome as well.

And the voice acting! Some really amazing voice work on this title. I recognized a few voices right away (Tim Russ, Kate Mulgrew, Tim Curry) but I also really enjoyed the work from people whose voices I didn’t know (Steve Valentine, Steve Blum, Corinne Kempa, etc).

I finished my first play-through last night, and I’m going to have to start a new game and try some things differently- I think I’ll have to play through 3 times more at least in order to try all the things I want to.

Another thing that’s awesome about the game- the score. It’s my first real introduction to Inon Zur as a game composer. He’s done other games, but none that I’ve played. I was seriously an instant fan. He makes great use of horns and brass, writes gorgeous melodies (a sure way to win me over) and has great orchestrations that really evoke images and emotions better than any I’ve come across in a game before. I love film music and game music, and he’s definitely one of my new favourites.

Sunshine

A little sun (especially in the morning and afternoon when I’m going to or from work) makes everything better. As much as I avoid too much sun exposure (fair skin and a family history of skin cancer makes for a healthy avoidance of sun damage) I love a nice sunny day in the winter.

Favourite sweaters

Do you have one of these? I have this sort of army-green sweater with a huge cowly turtleneck, and I feel like a million bucks in it. Wearing this sweater just makes my day that much more awesome. I wish I had one for every day of the week.

The sunglass clip

I have to wear corrective lenses to drive, and thus, sunglasses become more difficult, as I’m not a contacts person. Enter the sunglass clip, that clips on to your existing eyeglasses! They’re much nicer nowadays than the flip-up clips from the 80s, and I’m super happy to have mine. I don’t really like transistions or photo-grey lenses, because I think they don’t go back to clear soon enough or fully enough. So this is a perfect solution for me.

Awesome headphones

Headphones
My ears stick out from my head in such a way that finding headphones that fit and stay comfortable over a decent length of time is difficult. At work, recently, we all got new headphones that are actually comfortable for me, and really nice for audio work or listening to music while we’re working! They’re the Sony MDR-V600 model. I love them.

Things that are Awesome, Part 2

/0 Comments/in /by

My Keurig Coffee Maker
I am kind of in love with my coffee maker. Trevor got it for me for my birthday a few years back, and it is seriously magical. It’s one of those cup-at-a-time makers, and since I am the only one in the house who drinks coffee, it’s perfect for me.

I also recently found a shop near me (Tweed and Hickory) that sells a huge variety of K-cups, and particularly my favourite kind (Creme Caramel!), in the larger box size. Yes!

Mini Cadbury Creme Eggs
I’ve never really been a fan of the Cadbury Creme Egg. All that goo in the middle was too much for me. Too much sugary goo, not enough chocolatey outside. And too big to eat without making a mess.

This year, some friends of mine told me about the MINI Creme Egg. So I bought a tube of them (they sometimes come in tubes, apparently) over the weekend, and tried them.

They are lovely and perfect. Much better chocolate-to-goo ratio, easier to eat, and not so huge. Hooray for the Mini Creme Egg!

Chili Cookoffs

At work, we have chili cookoffs twice a year, with the money raised going to charity. I make a chili most of the time, and I also have been running the cookoffs for the past few times. It has gone pretty well! We raise a good amount of money for whatever charity we’re giving to, and the chili is awesome.

I usually enter a chili, but I never win. This time I got a good amount of votes though! I was pleased. Hooray for chili cookoffs!

Winning awards from the WODL

The production of The Penelopiad that was involved with last fall was entered in the Western Ontario Drama League festival as an “Out of Festival” entrant (meaning that we were not planning to be eligible to take the show to the festival that happens each year.

The production won two awards- Best Ensemble, and an adjudicators award that was named “Fearless Theatricality or Theatre on a Shoestring Award”, haha. It was awesome. The first show KWLT has had adjudicated in a long time, and we made quite a good showing. Our director was nominated for Best Direction as well. Awesome!

Life and other things

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Lots of other things going on for me right now- so continuing in that sort of “blurb” format!
Back to the Future Poster
Enjoyable Outings: I went to see Back to the Future on the big screen at the Princess Cinemas on a couple weeks ago. It was awesome. That movie was such a huge part of my childhood, and it was awesome to see it in the theatre- I was too young to have done so when it came out. Aside from the big screen and sound, the audience and experience was awesome. Everyone clapped when George McFly decked Biff, and at the end! I haven’t been. in a theatre that applauded in several years, it always adds to the magic.

Last weekend I went to a ceili for the first time, which was so much fun. For those not familiar, think of like, Irish square dancing, I suppose. The music was great, and the dancing was fun (I actually remembered some of the dances from years past) and I totally want to go back again. It was near Robbie Burns day, so I got to try haggis! It wasn’t bad, but I probably won’t seek it out int he future. 🙂

Both of those outings were in relation to friends’ birthdays- so yay friends for having birthdays!

Yoga: I was taking yoga classes at my work, from a co-worker who teaches at GoodLife gyms in the area. She’s stopped giving classes at work, so I was kind of looking for a new place to go, because I really enjoy it. I thought about just going to the GoodLife classes, but couldn’t seem to get out to do it, and I was looking for something with a little more to it than just the exercise/physical aspects. I tried out the community class at Queen Street Yoga last night (after Stacey recommended it), and it was pretty awesome. Definitely going back. I might add in some classes from GoodLife as well, but Queen Street has a great space, and the approach is a lot more body/mind and not so much just exercise.

Theatre: I’ve made a deal with myself that I won’t do any theatre for a while. I’m planning on working on a show next winter, but between now and then, I’m going to just take some time away. I work on projects for KWLT outside of shows (specifically the website), and do so much other stuff that I wound up not having enough time for myself or my friends or family, and that’s lame. So taking a break. Should be nice!

Choir: There’s a concert coming up for choir, and I’m finding this season that I’m starting to feel a little choir fatigue. Maybe it’s just the way this season shook out, and maybe it’s just because I’ve been overwhelmed with other things, but That said, the upcoming show will be awesome, and I’m looking forward to that and the rest of the concert season. I just wish there wasn’t so much work to do between now and then.

Video Games: I started playing Starcraft II, and it’s super fun. I’m not very good at the game yet, but I did start playing a custom map called StarJeweled, and I am pretty good at that! Basically you play a game of Bejeweled and that lets you build units and stuff to beat the other players. It’s really fun! If anyone wants to give me some tips on how to play proper Starcraft, feel free. I’m good at building stuff, but not at winning. 🙂

I also bought Dr. Mario on the Wii over the holiday and that’s pretty fun. We played it like crazy, all New Years Day!

Other Games: Playing my first in-person game of Diplomacy this weekend. I’ve played online with people before, but never with the board and in person. It’s a long game, and I’m not great at it, but it should be fun!

Updates from the home front

/0 Comments/in /by

I’m behind in posting about things, so I’m going to do a few posts to catch up! First, a catchup on homelife!

The Fuzz: Fuzz seems to be settling in. The cats aren’t wrestling and fighting as much as they were (though they still get into it now and again). They’re still not quite friendly, but I don’t worry as much about them killing each other, so that’s good.

Bedroom: We bought a bunch of new furniture for the bedroom, from IKEA. We needed to replace our dressers, and wound up getting new nightstands and a new shelf as well, and a new tv to replace the huge monstrosity that was in there. It’s really nice! Eventually we’ll probably get a bigger bed as well, but that is still a while off.

Trevor took a couple photos! They’re phone pictures, so a little fuzzy, but you get the idea.

There’s already a lot more room to move around in the bedroom despite there being more furniture, which is nice! And the new dresser is a lot nicer than the old one.

Kijiji experiences: We were able to sell our old TV on Kijiji, which was actually really awesome. I hadn’t sold anything on there before, but it’s really great for when you just want to get rid of something- people will come and pick it up, which saves a lot of hassle! Our old TV was really heavy and large, and now, we won’t have to lift it anymore and instead we have a much lighter tv. Hooray!

Next, I’ll write some more about other things that have been going on. Stay tuned!


Things that are awesome

/0 Comments/in /by

This is just going to be a quick catch-all of things in my life right now that are awesome.

Snowthrower of awesome

Our electric snowthrower–  we don’t have a big driveway, but it’s enough that shoveling gets to be a time-sucking endeavour.  This thing makes clearing snow a lot quicker, and we don’t wind up with huge piles of snow that are hard to see around when we’re backing out of the driveway.  It’s a Toro 1800 Power Curve .

It’s pretty sturdy for an electric, and though it’s not made to eat through lots of slush and ice, it does great with all different kinds of snow.

Green Chai Tea – This stuff is awesome.  I like chai, I like green tea, and this particular combination is good.  The little tag on the teabag has a fortune-type thing!

Grooveshark–  Grooveshark is an amazing app that gives you access to a huge catalog of music you can stream- it’s basically like a huge, all-request radio station.  You can upload your own music so that you can access it through Grooveshark, and you can access music that others have uploaded as well.  You can set up playlists or use playlists that others have shared.  It’s really where I think music is going.  I purchased a VIP membership last year in order to  help support the company.

The performance is great. It’s quick, downtime is pretty rare (though not unheard of) and improvements come pretty frequently.  If you’re not already using it, you should start!

Sleep– I think one of my unwritten New Year’s resolutions is to get more sleep.  It’s amazing how much better everything is when one just gets enough sleep.  It’s one of the first things to go when time gets tight, and I think it needs to have higher priority than that.

Photo of Fuzzball, our new kitten

The Fuzz

The Fuzz– Our new cat is pretty awesome.  Even though he tends to start fights with Bumblecat, he’s pretty darn cute and hopefully he’ll calm down some as he gets older and he won’t get himself into trouble as much.