I’m 1in 25 people that have been selected to review the new xm mp3 player that’s hitting the streets at the end of November here in Canada.

The Product arrived yesterday and I took some pictures of what was in the box. I will be doing a review on it in a few days after I get a chance to play with it, Also If your interested in this I have be giving away some promos offers to those who feel like they need this.

Thanks to matchstick.ca for the chance to review this.

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you knew you could reach it, but just did not know how or even where to start?

I have, and the time is now! being somewhat of a tech junkie I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with myself these days. For those who are unaware about my situation, well…it’s complicated. In a nut shell, I moved to Ottawa in April 2008 from Sturgeon Falls(North Bay)because of lay-offs in my past profession as a instructor.

Ottawa has always been a dream of mine and I figured that I should make the move.

Never have a done such a spontaneous move such as this. But it worked out. Me and Melissa has 3 days to find a place to live, 3 days…the weekend! thus come a great find in Westboro. We fought and cried for this location, not knowing were we were situated. But we nabbed it. A great home in the Ottawa Center with great neighbors and have enjoyed every single second here. But and there’s always a BUT, when I stepped into the great city I knew someone from back home that worked in IT at the Government and basically gave me a “casual” position here. Not knowing what casual means in the government…well its 3 months and that’s it.

Now I find myself looking for something to call home as a career, which I finding quite harder then I thought, I think the problem is that I don’t have a specific skill set. I have all the basic skills needed, but do not have a strong point. Meaning, I can fix your computer, hardware, software. I can create a website to your needs, I can create anything Multimedia or I can even teach you the latest technologies. But the problem is that I get the calls, but there is always someone better then me.

Trust me I have ideas and skills to make these visions happen, but I just fall short because of cash and those bills that everyone has.

For those interested here is a PDF of my resume.

In other words if anyone out there has any ideas I’d love to hear them. Please comment.

This have been a Sunday afternoon rant.

November 14 is the birthday of Canadian Sir Frederick G. Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin in 1921.

Type 1 Diabetes must be treated with insulin shots. This involves injecting insulin under the skin — in the fat — for it to get absorbed into the blood stream where it can then access all the cells of the body which require it. Insulin cannot be taken as a pill because the juices in the stomach would destroy the insulin before it could work. Remember, insulin is a hormone, and like all other hormones, insulin is a protein and therefore it has a very important 3-dimentional structure which is destroyed by the acid in the stomach.

Even if it did make it through the stomach, the digestive enzymes secreted by the digestive part of the pancreas would digest the insulin protein molecule. Scientists are looking for new ways to give insulin. But today, shots are the most widely used method.  Some new insulin pumps are being developed and tested.

I’ve been using his product since the age of 16, I’m now 32. It’s been a long journey for me, but I’m hanging in there.

Thanks!!!

Wendell the wallaby, whose story attracted national headlines and scores of searchers who responded to marsupial sightings across Eastern Ontario, is dead.

Carla Saunders, Wendell’s owner, said the animal’s body was found by a neighbour yesterday morning in a field just east of the Saunders Country Critters and Garden Centre, south of Kemptville.

“It was an awful phone call for her to have to make,” said an emotional Saunders. “I’m a basketcase.

“He was a wonderful animal,” she said, adding: “At least we now have closure.”

Wendell will be buried at the Country Critters and Gardens Centre. The zoo has more than 60 species of animals including kangaroos and wallabies. Wendell was born at the zoo.

Read the full story here

In my ongoing series of profiling bloggers from Ottawa it’s my great pleasure to be able to present to you one of the founders of ottawadogblog.ca

Liz Kerrison

Before we get to her interview let me say this, dog owners need to frequently visit the site for up to date information on events in the local area such as Adoption Shelters, Breeder Information, Charity Events and even where to shop.

The layout of the site is simple and beautiful. The navigation can be used from the novice to the professional internet user. Being a new dog owner myself, I always refer to this site for all information about, well everything Ottawa Dogs.

ottawadogblog.ca is the place to be when looking for information about your favorite canine. Liz is also a known for her design skills which come through on her blog http://lizkerrison.ca/

She is also accompanied by Thomas Bradley and well known designer here in Ottawa.

Liz has graciously answered my questions for your pleasure. Here’s what she had to say:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.   Who Are You: (profile of your blog, or about yourself)

My name is Liz and I am the founder of the Ottawa Dog Blog, which is a blog about everything to do with dogs in Ottawa. It features dogs in Ottawa as well as dog stores, parks, breeders, shelters, charity events and offers general information about training, behaviours, outstanding products and more. I am a self dubbed crazy dog lady and this is a constructive way to channel my obsession.

2.   Where do you blog (home, office, place)

I blog from home mostly. We have an office set up in our house and I blog from my iMac. If I had a laptop, I’m sure I would blog from more interesting places, At the moment, I don’t make any money from the blog so I do it in the evenings and on weekends. The platform I use to blog, Wordpress, is wonderful and allows me to publish to the future, making it look like I am blogging all the time. I hope to one day make money from the blog so I can do it full time, but for now, I am very happy blogging in my “spare” time.

3.   Are you originally from Ottawa?

No. I actually was born and raised in a city just west of Toronto called Mississauga. I moved to Ottawa to do a post-graduate course at Algonquin College in Interactive Multimedia. I fell in love with the city and stayed. I have discovered a wonderful canine community here and love being a part of it. I am a graphic and web designer and my partner in crime, Thomas, is a web developer. We are both very lucky to have found great job opportunities in Ottawa and are so happy to call this city home.

4.    Why do you blog?

I get asked this question a lot, or a form of it in “why did you start the blog?”. To be honest, it was a culmination of a few things that began in November 2007. November was when our Morkie, Paddington, started favouring one of her legs. Immediately I knew something was up. I have written about her luxating patella surgery on the blog, and the ordeal we went through with that. Not only money wise, but recovery period. Paddington has problems in BOTH of her knees and after discovering this and speaking with many many people about it, I realized what I had suspected all along: Paddington came from a puppy mill.

Now when we got Paddington, I had no clue what a puppy mill was or that places like that even existed. I cringe at the fact that I unwittingly supported this horrendous industry. I wanted to do something to make sure that others did not make the same mistake we did. I want to give our community a place to find reputable breeders who treat their dogs with love and respect, as well as to educate people about local animal shelters and about rescuing rather than buying a puppy. I had no idea, and I feel it is my responsibility to make sure that I do something.

The second reason why I started the Ottawa Dog Blog was to have one place where the community could go to find information about all of the great rescues and shelters in Ottawa. I know that I would never be able to work at a rescue organization because I am not strong enough to see what they see. I couldn’t deal with it. So this is my way of helping. The Adoption Shelters Page has now outranked the main page of this site for popularity and number of people visiting and that, to me, is the most wonderful news.

5.    Do you write for yourself, your readers, for Google, for a living?

I write for both myself and the readers, as well as for rescue organizations and for dogs who need a voice. My goal in starting this blog was to help at least one dog, and I know now that I have done that and it feels wonderful.

Circling back to Paddington’s ailment, in writing about her ordeal, I have been able to help many others through this same surgery and have met many people from all over the world who are helping their dogs through this tough time. It is great to know that the blog has made a difference to the lives of some people, and their dogs.

Through the blog, I am able to write articles on things I am passionate about, such as good nutrition and awareness about puppy mills. I have people sending me story ideas all the time and I am so grateful to them. The blog has evolved into its own community, helping people even outside of Ottawa.

I feel it is very important to have a place for the dog community to come together and Ottawa has really embraced this blog. I have received extremely positive feedback since its launch in February 2008. Already the blog is receiving over 300 hits per day from people living all over the world. I have been able to connect with dog lovers from many different places and raise awareness for the numerous dog rescue organizations in Ottawa.

6.    How do you promote your blog? ( twitter, facebook, other network)

Promoting the blog has been a lot of fun and I have been able to meet so many great people. When I first launched the blog, I was actively searching and emailing shelters and rescues directly. This in turn created a good response in that the shelters would spread the word about the blog because not only was I posting information about their organizations, but also posting and promoting their fundraising events for them. Now, I am lucky to have the shelters emailing ME about their events.

I stay on top of SEO for EACH page, post and event and make sure to optimize each one properly and to its full potential. Checking Google Analytics on a daily basis has helped me streamline the optimization and has the blog appearing on a lot of searches through Google. I also promote the blog through flickr, Facebook, Twitter and Dogster.

Other ways I have promoted the blog is through getting out there in the community and participating in events. I have a merchandise shop through CafePress and I purchased shirts for myself and my dogs to promote the site at charity walks and other events.

I have been extremely lucky to be able to team up with the awesome ladies at Bark and Fitz Ottawa (http://barkandfitzottawa.com) and have been doing a lot of cross promotion with them for charity events. I have lent my photographic services to help raise money at events like the Wiggle Waggle Walkathon, BARK at the Ballpark, Greenboro Veterinary Clinic’s Charity BBQ, Dogs in Disguise Halloween Contest and currently, Dogs in the Holiday Spirit. The photos taken at the events are available for download through the website, which drives traffic to the blog and keeps everything “green”. The most successful event as far as promotion is concerned was the Dogs in Disguise Halloween Contest this fall. The voting for this contest was done online and I had over 1500 email addresses register to vote. It was a fun event that we are definitely looking to repeat it again next year.

7.    Blogs or other sites you read or would recommend? Give me 5 if you can:

I am addicted to Google Reader and am on it all the time. I could give you so many but for this, I am going to provide you with five of my favorite dog related blogs.

Shine Pet Photos Blog - http://www.shinepetphotos.com/blog/
This has to be my favorite of all of the dog related blogs I read. Grace is a Pet Photographer based out of California and is one of the most talented photographers I have ever seen. Her work is stunning and I love seeing her updates to the blog. She also has a dog, Maeby, who went through TPLO Surgery (very tough stuff) and she kept a blog to chronicle her recovery. I reviewed this blog and provided it as a resource on the Ottawa Dog Blog last spring.

Merrylog - http://www.pamperedpuppy.com/merrylog/index.php
This website is great. It chronicles the life of Merry the Pug who lives in Toronto through a daily picture on the blog. The photographer is awesome and gets the best shots of her beloved pup.

Scruffy Dog Photography - http://scruffydogphotography.com/blog/
This blog is another Pet Photographer, this time based out of London, Ontario. She captures such honest and raw energies with her photographs that I really feel that you get to see who the dog really is just by viewing her shots.

Licked Toys - http://www.lickedtoys.com/
This website makes me laugh. It is a website dedicated to all toys who have been destroyed by dogs. Paddington made it on here after she ripped open a friend’s cat’s toy. Bad dog.

Daily Puppy - http://www.dailypuppy.com/
Who doesn’t love puppies?? This website provides me with a daily dose of cute puppy eyes and ears to look at. It makes my day better.

Thanks to Liz for her great interview.
Have you thought about doing a podcast about your site?

Cats and Politics, hummm that’s my idea of a great blog. Mitsu has a great thought process and loves to speak about her cats of her favorite politician. Her blog was one of the first one’s that I saw when I first moved here to Ottawa.

I love forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

Here are her answers to my online interview:

1.   Who Are You: Mitsu S.

2.   Where do you blog?: ottawameowmeow.wordpress.com

3.   Are you originally from Ottawa? Yes. I lived in Montreal during the most awkward years of my life (12-18), then I moved back to Ottawa for university, with no intention of leaving again!

4.    Why do you blog? Just for the hell of it. I started the blog on a slow day at work last May, and it’s still alive. I wanted to give Neko a voice at the time, hence the title, but now it’s just a blog about anything and everything.

5.    Do you write for yourself, your readers, for Google, for a living? For myself, and possibly the 3 other people that read my blog.

6.    Do you use Twitter, Facebook or just blog? I use Facebook for my friends (people who actually know me in real life, which is why I have under 100), and my blog for my rants and whatnot. The two don’t link; I like to keep things separate.

7.    Blogs or other sites you read or would recommend? Give me 5 if you can:

whitecoatrants.wordpress.com - random rants and funny stories about US healthcare.

crasspollination.blogspot.com - another US medblog; this nurse rants a lot about drunks and drug seekers, I find it hilarious!

deeplycarvedwritings.blogspot.com -  a blog by one of my ‘comment buddies’.

psychokitty.blogspot.com -  by a cat, for cats! cuteoverload.com - cute cats and baby animals, need I say more? ( I also recommend uncultured, of course).

Picture this! Claire was a little 8 year old girl from the north, she was not poor nor was she troubled, but one day while in school the teacher asked the students to depict what future “job” they wanted to do.

Little Claire jumped on the idea and started drawing away with only one thought in mind, Money! as Claire drew away, the teacher looking over at little Claire and started to notice a pattern happening in her drawing, but made nothing of it.

As the hour rolled on, students were turning in some of their work, little Gilbert drew a picture of his dad on the computer what looked like him creating some kind of graphic design, Jim’s drawing was a beautiful depiction of her mother working as a nurse.

As for little Claire…she drew this:

Click for Full View!