Who is Kim Siever?

This summer, we travelled to Ponteix, Saskatchewan, for a family reunion on my mother’s side of the family. It was 100 years the Cloutiers had been on the family farm.

I brought my camera along becase I felt going to my mum’s hometown would present some nice photo opportunities.

One of the photos I took was after Regan and Aisling had been playing on a playground near our hotel. They wanted to check out the creek that runs through the city, and we had to cross the train tracks to get there.

While we were on the tracks, I saw the elevators off to the east, and the gorgeous colours the setting sun produced. I had the children sit on the tracks, and snapped a few photos.

I was pleased with how this one turned out. So were others, and I had multiple suggestions to submit it to a photo contest.

So I did, albeit nonchalantly.

Today, I received a package in the mail from Tourism Saskatchewan saying this photo was given an honourable mention in the “people” category of their Great Saskatchewan Photo Contest. I received a 2010 calendar as a consolation prize.

I thought that was kind of neat. Winners should be posted on their site next week.

Posted via web from hotpepper’s posterous

Seen at Grammar Girl:

Other than maintaining formality, there are two valid reasons you might want to use “which” instead of “where.” Many times, you can add a preposition before the relative pronoun “which” to make your sentence quite precise. For example, “The house at which I saw you” has a slightly different meaning from “The house in which I saw you.” If you use “where,” you lose the subtle distinction: “The house where I saw you.”

Read the original post.

A lot of people have the idea I am some sort of environmentalist or hippie. After all, I compost, take the bus to work, live in a 798 sq ft house with my family of six, use a reel mower, have a tankless water heater, use grocery bins instead of plastic bags, and recycle. The list goes on.

The funny thing is, however, that none of that has anything to do with the environment.

You see, I’m Scottish. And Dutch. Which means I’m cheap.

I compost and recycle because it means I don’t have to buy as many garbage bags. I use a reel mower because I don’t have to buy more gas or spend more on electricity.

I take the bus to work because I don’t have to buy another car, which means a car payment, more insurance, and more gas.

My family of six lives in a 798 sq ft house because we bought it for $75,000, reducing our monthly housing costs at the time by $150. I use a tankless water heater because it saves money on gas usage, and we don’t run out of hot water.

I use grocery bins instead of plastic bags because I can pack them faster in the store, and my store charges for plastic bags.

I don’t hate environmentalists. Some of my best friends are environmentalists. Just realize that most of my seemingly green choices are generally just simple practical choices.

Yesterday, I received a copy of “Crush It!” by Gary Vaynerchuk.

I won it in an online contest held by the Three Dudes and a Mic podcast. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but everyone I know who has read it can’t stop talking about it.

I am looking forward to reading it, but I have to finish The Amber Spyglass first. Earlier this year, a meme spread across Facebook that claimed the BBC ran a list of 100 books and said most people will have read no more than 6. The list ended up being published by The Guardian, and I had read 13 of the books.

After reading how far behind I was compared to the numbers my friends had read, I decided to read all 100 books. The His Dark Materials trilogy, of which The Amber Spyglass is the final installment, is 9th on the list.