I am moving...

Luckily only 10 steps away from my current place. I am staying in the same building. One of my neighbours is going to Africa for 6 months, so I will rent from him for a while.

The advantages are that I have access to a patio, a rooftop patio and a balcony. Yes - some outside space to enjoy the short, yet most beautiful Canadian summer! And I will save on rent and can put some money aside for my adventures in 2009.

I am not looking forward to the actual move, but it's a good opportunity to do some purging. Not my forte, but it needs to happen. I just have to remember Thoreau's and Emerson's advice - to keep it simple.

Simplify, simplify.
-H.D.Thoreau

One "simplify" would have sufficed.
-R.W. Emerson, in response

Kitchen Electro Funk and Vocal Grooves

I came across this kitchen remix (Merci for sharing, Severine!) - it's pretty funny. Perfect, absolutely perfect kitchen remix recipe instructions.

It reminded me of Bauchklang, a group of groovy vocal artists from my hometown STP aka St. Poelten.

Lower Austria, the province/state or - to be precise - the "Bundesland" that I am from, has gotten a lot of bad press lately, usually about weirdos that hide some family members in the basement.

So I thought, I shed some positive light on Lower Austria. I thought, I let you know that we are not all weirdos, but there is some pretty great stuff coming out of Lower Austria - Baucklang definitely being among the top 3 hightlights from ST.P. (let me think about the other 2 for a little bit ;).

Bauchklang means "belly sound" and for a reason - as far as I know it's all a capella, no instruments - and yes, you can feel that bass in your belly. Pretty amazing what Hubsi, Fraenzl Andi and Co. can do with their voices.

Check out the video below, I-Tunes or their website for some audio goodies - I recommend "diss anymore" and "Navigator (drum and bassy) or "I-transmission" or "shaker" or really anything.

Wigging-it-up

Wigging it up - a few weeks ago and a few years ago. Seems to be a hobby. It's such an easy and effective way of feeling different for a little while. And most importantly: it's fun!

Bow Valley Parkway

May I introduce you? This is Big Agnes, the mother of comfort, a spacious 4-person tent, that I plan on spending lots of time with this summer. This last weekend, she was unleashed on a cycling trip with Vik and Kurt to the Bow Valley Parkway in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. I almost forgot: but definitely among the top 3 things in Calgary (besides the blue sky) is the vicinity to the Rocky Mountains. I will remember this this summer and get out to the mountains, as much as I can.

Welcome to the Mother of Comfort. Happy Annie enjoying the spaciousness of the new outdoor palace. I am pretty impressed with the view, that Big Agnes offers. Almost 360 degrees. Better than any wide screen TV.

What's even better is that Vik offered to carry all the group camping gear, including Big Agnes - and there is a reason why there is a "big" in Big Agnes. Kurt and I felt very pampered, as we only had to carry our own personal stuff.

And for the first time in my life, Vik didn't turn into a black little dot on the horizon on the uphill parts, but we were traveling almost at the same speed. Sweet! So in case you cycle with people that are way faster than you: just give them an additional 200 lbs to carry and you might end up in the same league.

The Big Dummy fully loaded.

We are laughing! An empty campground at Castle Mountain Junction. Just us, the trees, the creek, the full moon and a few chipmunks.

Kurt cruising along


Big Dummy - Here I come!

Kurt and Vik's final descent into Lake Louise.

Light-Weight-Tourer Annie

Boreal Annie

When we rolled into Lake Louise, a little bit of afternoon rain surprised us (luckily while we were at the bakery), so we had to carry out Plan B and Plan C. Plan B was a visit to the restaurant at the youth hostel.

Plan C was a drink and a mid afternoon snack at the Station in Lake Louise. Halibut with salad and a corona on the porch. Highly recommended, if you are in the area and crave some luxury, history, scenic views, trains and good food.

It's crocus time

I discovered beautiful prairie crocus on the hill between Bridgeland and Deerfoot Trail last weekend.

I am off to the Rockies tomorrow - we have a long weekend here - yeah! Soon I will introduce you to my new friend Agnes: I am planning a few adventures with her this summer.

blogging away

This post shall serve to encourage YOU to start a blog. If you already have one and you read this post, please feel free to add a comment, as I am by no means an expert. I would describe myself as an intuitive user. If I can’t figure it out quickly, I blame the computer, call it "non-intuitive" or "stupid program" and move on to something else. Or I call a computer savvy friend.

Here are two free blog hosting services, I know of:

• Blogger

Blogger is what you see here. All you need is a gmail account. Fill in the form, think of a blog name, pick a layout, go to posts and write your first entry, add a picture, if you like, and you in the game. It's that easy! I recommend to say yes to "show word verification for comments" to avoid spam. And put your email address in the comment notification e-mail to get notified, when you have a new comment. In "Layout" you can add and delete page elements, like links, slideshows, widgets, and similar and personalize your blog.

• Wordpress

Alternatively you can use wordpress. I have just recently started a blog about sustainability on wordpress - called dolessharm. I like their layouts, they look fresh and new to my blogspot-trained eye, but I still have to familiarize myself with all its functions.

Check out the Wiki How To site for more tips on how to start a blog.

But what are healthy boundaries in the blogosphere? Know that anyone with a computer and internet access can read your blog. That means, it could be your aunt, your co-worker, or whoever.

It’s NOT a good place to talk badly about people behind their back (there is no back - unless you make your blog private), if you don’t want them to know about it. Blogging is public domain. But I guess that is a good thing: it keeps us from wasting energy on gossiping.

The most important thing is: be authentic and have fun with it! I look forward to reading your blog.

I am back

British Columbia was beautiful: amazing views for the eyes, and warm weather for a change. And the yoga conference was excellent for body, mind and soul.

By the way: I didn't see too much damage from the Pine Beetle. I mean, I did see brown branches on pines, but where I traveled the majority of the trees seemed unaffected. Maybe there are more lodgepole pine trees further north?

Click on the picture to see a few pictures from the trip.