One of the joys of backpacking is seeing the night sky away from light pollution. There are so many more stars visible and they seem so bright. We often lie on our backs watching for shooting stars, especially if we are backpacking in mid-August during the Perseids meteor shower. Apart from Orion’s Belt and the…
I love, love, love city walking, and miss living in London, where you never quite know what architectural wonder or street busker is going to meet you around the next corner, and cafes and bars spill out everywhere, inviting you in to relax for a while. I can’t wait to be back in Europe, where…
I will be in Stockholm for my 6-week practicum in the Spring and aim to get plenty of hiking in and around the city. This post will focus on day hikes from the city that can be reached by public transport. I’ll take a look at walking in Stockholm itself in a separate post. Swedes…
Zoom Our class today was on Zoom. It certainly missed the buzz of our usual classes, but it was great to round off the half-semester in PJs. It was interesting for me to hear that Zoom can be used for Screencasting, and I will certainly be looking into this. I think Screencasts would be a…
After a clear first day, last year’s WCT hike dissolved into drizzle overnight. At first it felt like no big deal. Our tents had held up well, apart from a build-up of condensation on the inside, and the rain stopped just long enough for us to make breakfast and pack up. We had decent rain…
Rich McCue from UVic’s Digital Scholarship Commons was a guest speaker this week. I was unaware of this group within the McPherson library and ended up spending most of the lesson diving into their website rather than getting on with the workshop tasks (I will get caught up!). The purpose of the Digital Scholarship Commons…
Last year we hiked the West Coast Trail from Pachena Bay to Gordon River, known as southbound or SOBO. This year we are northbound or NOBO, so planning the route is a little different. The south section is significantly more technical than the north end of the trail, so we need to take our heavier…
Well today was a fun lesson. I came away feeling positive and exited – quite the contrast to last week’s lecture! After my somewhat negative last post, I need to clarify that, although I personally hate social media, I’m not remotely a technophobe and really enjoy the aspects of our digital age that can work…
Phew, Jesse’s presentation was quite the ride! He packed an enormous amount of information into two hours, and had some strong (!) opinions. It was a lot to absorb, and I came away with an unsettling sense of the dangers of this age of “ubiquitous connection”, but no clear idea of how to address them….
I have been reading some enthusiastic reviews about using ChatGPT as a personal assistant to take over menu planning, grocery shopping lists, workout plans, etc. This idea appeals to me and so, given that I joined UVic’s CARSA gym this week, I decided to see if ChatGPT could help me put together a fitness plan…
