Introvert Vacation

            It’s been a very long time since my last vacation – three years, I think. Well, I guess now the counter is down to one day, since Colleen and I just got back from a lovely two-week vacation (you didn’t even notice I was gone, did you?) up in Collingwood, Ontario.

            We stayed at a place called Georgian Manor, about a ten minute walk (if you don’t mind crossing a busy road) from Georgian Bay in one direction and the Georgian Trail in the other. It didn’t take long for me to suspect that there was a theme for naming things in the region.

            Now, some people, when they go on vacation, go looking for a place with resorts, theme parks, and loads of things to do. For this vacation, though, Colleen and I were looking for a nice, quiet, relaxing time that would be perfect for a couple of introverts like us. Instead of looking for things to go out and do, we brought along a bunch of books, movies, crafts, and games. It was wonderful – we got to work on a lot of projects that we never seemed to have time for at home.

            We weren’t entirely reclusive, either. Every day we managed to get out for a walk – most of the time the weather was good for it. Sometimes we drove to one of the parks by Georgian Bay, were there were plenty of pokestops so we could play Pokemon Go as we walked (and we met up with some local friends one day), and other days we walked to the Georgian Trail – a complicated procedure, because the trail that led to it was quite waterlogged. Luckily someone had provided stepping stones and planks for the most impassable areas, but even so we had to turn back a couple of times after it had rained.

            The first morning though, after we had awoken early almost early enough to watch the sunrise (some hours early than we were used to waking up – but, oddly, the early rising persisted throughout the vacation), we walked to the park closest to where we were staying. We only walked there once, because we needed to cross a busy road to get there, but that morning we were up early enough that there was almost no traffic.

            It was a pretty little park, and we never even would have found it if it hadn’t been for the pokestop that led us there. It had a fantastic view out over the Georgian Bay, of which we took a few pictures.

            Being who we are, the vacation wasn’t entirely work free, of course. I had brought along a commissioned scalemaille shirt to work on as one of my crafts. This turned out to be quite fortunate, as the person who the shirt was for had family in Collingwood, and leaving it with them would save us six hours of driving to deliver it normally. That put a little pressure on to get it done before we left, resulting in a blister on the palm of my hand (and a nasty pliers-stab on my thumb), but I think it was worth it.

            There’s not much else to tell. A chorus of frogs sang us to sleep each night. Overall, it was quiet, fun, and relaxing – exactly what a vacation should be.

To finish off, here are some pictures of the wildlife that frequently visited us, right outside our back door.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Strange Gatherings

            One of the most fascinating things to me is how quickly complete strangers can bond over common interests. This could partially be because I, as an extremely introverted person, tend to prefer staying home and avoiding as much social interaction as possible. The idea is somewhat alien to me that people actually seek out social situations. That said, I do occasionally emerge from under my rock to mingle with the living.

            Last Thursday was one such occasion. The vast excitement over Pokemon Go had bred whole new social circles. There are now Facebook groups focused on helping each of the three in-game teams co-ordinate their catching and gym battling efforts within their city, as well as sharing their latest victories.

            On my team’s local group (team Mystic), the idea came up to throw a PokeParty at one of the local parks – just to get together, meet each other, have a barbeque and maybe battle the nearby gym. Within a few weeks, the pavilion was rented and the event was organized. They even decided to open the even to the rival teams.

            So, Colleen and I thought, why not? We went down to the park with my sister-in-law to see what it would be like, catch some pokemon, and maybe meet some people if it couldn’t be avoided.

            Now, this was an all-day event, which was nice for making it available for people with many different schedules. The flip side was that the result was that, rather than a whole lot of people, there was a small amount of people there with the members changing throughout the day. As an introvert, I greatly approved of this.

            For most of the two hours we were there, there were seven of us there. We flipped between hanging out as a group while eating hamburgers and wandering between the nearby pokestop and gym. All of us got along astoundingly well – not surprising, since we were all team Mystic.

            Then the gym was claimed by some team Valor players. Through struggling back and forth for control of the gym and watching the nearby people, we were able to identify the three rivals who were, like us, wandering between the pokestop and gym. So, after we claimed the gym a filled it full of magikarp (Pokemon players will understand how hilarious this is), one of the party’s organizers approached the Valor players and invited them to join us for some hamburgers.

            So, the party grew – and, despite the playful trash talk (now mostly aimed at the not-present team Instinct players), we all got along wonderfully. While I wasn’t there for the rest of the event, I think it can be considered quite a success.

            It’s even more interesting, though, when you look at our current society. We’re told from childhood to beware of strangers. We avoid all contact with people we don’t know. It’s like we have this fear that anyone we don’t know is a horrible person, or someone we wouldn’t get along with.

            Yet, all it took was a single point of interest to bring together a group of people who would never have spoken to each other. Not only that, but that point of interest (and food) was enough to ignore that we were on rival teams and competing for control of a gym. There was reason (at least for extremely competitive people) to be antagonistic, but we were all friendly.

            It seems to me that all it takes for people to get along is one thing in common. I wonder how much better a place the world would be if people, when looking at others, looked at the similarities rather than the differences (and maybe shared some food).

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Augmented Reality and the Future

            In the past couple of weeks, the internet (and, indeed, the world) has exploded about the new augmented reality game, Pokemon Go. There are two major opinions – the people who love the game and those who think it’s stupid. To me, though, the important thing to look at is what this game means for the future.

            Last year, I shared the story of the Zombies, Run! app and how it got Colleen and myself out exercising regularly when otherwise we could hardly dream of it. Pokemon Go has done the same thing across the whole world – people who would normally be inside all summer playing video games are now outside, exercising, exploring and socializing. People with mental health issues, such as depression and PTSD, are reporting improvements.

So, what do those two games have in common? They make exercise fun, rather than a chore.

            Now, the term “Augmented Reality” is something I’ve become quite familiar with over the past year. Why? Because one day, while out running from zombies, I said to Colleen, “Wouldn’t it be cool if someone developed a technology that would let us actually see the zombies that are chasing us in the story?” I then went on to hypothesize that you could take a virtual reality headset, mount cameras to feed in the scenery and then add in the digital characters.

            I figured I couldn’t be the only one to come up with this idea, so I did some research. What I found was astonishing – in particular, a company called Magic Leap that is working on a piece of technology far beyond what I had been imagining. My brain was flooded with ideas for the possible uses of this technology – yes, games were at the forefront, but there are so many practical purposes as well. It functions as an immersive mobile computer, an art platform, a communications device. With it, people have the potential to holo-comute to work.

            To me, though, the best application of augmented reality is the ability to combine work and play. Imagine being able to go into work and have the work you do become part of a game. You could have high scores that you try to beat each days, achievements and awards for completing a certain amount of work at a certain speed. Goals and praise that can break up an otherwise dull and tedious work shift. From an employer’s standpoint, it could be used to improve worker output and even work quality through turning work into a game.

            Pokemon Go is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re entering a future where science fiction is becoming a reality, and it has great potential for improving life in innumerable ways. All it takes are some deceptive photons and a little imagination to make the world a better place.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

A Few Steps Behind

            I've never really been one for being up-to-date on the newest and latest. My parents somehow managed to teach me that if you wait for something, you find out if you really want it. Combine that with my (almost) infinite patience and you've got someone who is quite happy to wait for what he wants. Sometimes it’s worked for me, sometimes against.

            I think the first example of this would be Pogs. Do you remember those? They were little pieces of cardboard with pictures on them that you collected, traded and wagered in games involving flipping them with plastic (sometimes metal) Slammers. They became a huge thing when I was a kid, but I didn't get into them until just months before they were banned throughout the schools (because it was gambling, plus it was causing loads of fights and bullying).

            Next would have been Pokemon – the video game; I was never interested in the cards foe some reason. When the Pokemon games first came out, it was released on the Gameboy. Newer versions were released on the next handheld system, the Gameboy Color. I didn't get my own copy of the game until the Gameboy Advance came out, at which point I got a used Gameboy Color and Pokemon Gold Version (I wanted Yellow, but it was no longer made). It was also no longer “cool” to play Pokemon, though I didn't care about that one bit.

            Harry Potter was something that I wasn't quite as late to the party for. I believe the third book was released within a year of my parents giving me the first one for my birthday. Over the next year I read that book ten times, the later times being followed by the second book, then the second and third. That was the first time I was ever riding the crest of the wave, waiting for books four through seven to come out.

            The better side has revealed itself in more recent years. Dr Who is the perfect example. I only started watching the show last year. My reward? I haven’t had to wait for any of it! I was able to buy all seven seasons (I haven’t gotten into the older stuff yet) and watch at my leisure. The same went for The Big Bang Theory – when I started watching it, I had plenty of seasons ready and waiting for me to watch.

            On the flip side, of course, are the few interests I have gained that have (along with my wife’s less-patient influence) managed to get me waiting on the edge of my seat. The video game, Portal was so amazing that Portal 2 was the first thing I ever pre-ordered. Also, the Assassins’ Creed series that has me chomping at the bit as I wait for each new instalment. And we mustn't forget BBC’s Sherlock, which I just watched the first two episodes of the third season tonight and must now wait for the third episode to become available.

            Weighing these two styles of obtaining entertainment, I find that I prefer being late to the party. That way I save money (because prices drop the more you wait), I get larger portions of my chosen entertainment at once and I don’t already own everything so it isn't redundant when I get extended and collector’s editions of things. All I get for keeping up to date on the latest thing is I can talk about it with other people who keep up to date on it. Besides needing to avoid spoilers while cruising the internet, living a few steps in the past is much nicer.

            Better late than never is a very common saying. Perhaps it’s actually better to be late than on time.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.