This is my first post in a long time, as you can tell. One of the reasons I'm writing an entry is due to what's been going on in the WordPress world. In case you've been living under a rock, there is currently a big public battle going on between Matt Mullenweg, the company he runs, 'Automattic', and a rival called WP Engine. I can only speculate as to the real reasons for this public spat. On its surface, one side claims it's about a trademark dispute. But based on the actions of that same side, it seems to be some poorly thought out plan to exert more control over the community, and to attempt ...

Despite the amount of cool technology I own (iPads, iPhones, etc.), I actually don't really spend much money on anything else in my life, other than plane tickets when I travel. While I appreciate new clothes, my brain rarely comes up with the idea that I actually go buy some new ones. The one exception to that is socks - whenever I see a nice pair I generally always buy them. Which is why I probably own about 100 pairs (and even then it's hard to find a matching pair from time to time). That said, one personal item I have been shopping for recently is a new wallet. I can't say that I've ever ...

Well, it's been 9 days since I arrived in Buenos Aires, and I thought I would give an update. So far, I'm really enjoying myself here, although I haven't been too far from Palermo Soho yet other than to set up my cell phone. Today marked a pretty important milestone in my journey - laundry. In Buenos Aires they don't really have coin operated laundromats, they have what are called lavaderos. They are usually small shops where you drop off your laundry and pick it up later after it's been washed and folded. I managed to muddle my way through some dialog to drop my clothes off this morning. I walked ...

Things are moving quickly now. My apartment is about 90% packed at this point, and I'm currently cleaning like a mad man so that I can get most of my damage deposit back. I've already moved in with my parents for the month of December, after which I'll be heading to Vancouver Airport and catching a plane to Buenos Aires. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm excited. Truthfully, not yet. I know I will be, but packing and moving are both a bit stressful, and I haven't had too much time to fantasize about my first beer in Argentina yet. I'm hoping once December rolls around and I no longer have the keys ...

Strangely enough, most people in Vancouver probably don't remember me as ever being super skinny. For whatever reason, I've always had a bit of meat on my bones. You can chalk it up to a slow metabolism, or crappy genes or whatever, but there are not many times in my life where I've been rail thin. The first time I came close though was probably around grade 11. I was playing three sports at the same time, getting lots of rest, and for the most part, lived a pretty stress free life. I couldn't tell you what I weighed during that period, but looking at old photos I definitely think I looked fairly ...

Last night's tweetup was a ton of fun, so thanks to everyone for coming out. I crashed at a friend's place in Vancouver last night, and came back to Chilliwack around noon today. Unfortunately, someone drove a tractor over my head sometime in the middle of the night, and I had a nice headache for most of the day. I ended up crawling into bed around 1:30pm when I got home, and somehow slept until around suppertime. Given that my fridge was pretty empty, I decided to order some pizza and spend the evening watching a few movies from the couch. I'm not sure what the weather will be like later this ...

Time comes, time goes. Yesterday was June, and today's September. No fierce battles, only casualties. Last night I picked up a nice steak and threw it on the BBQ. Half way through cooking I ran out of propane. First time in two years that's happened. I guess change is floating in the air these days, little wisps of something else to do, somewhere else to be. The leaves will fall soon, and then the rain, and then the snow. Turn a few more weathered pages in the book and it'll be June again. Wash, rinse, repeat. It's cold in here - grab the axe and help chop down another few years for the fire. I ...

As you can tell, this is my first entry for the 2008 Blogathon. The purpose of blogathon is to, over the course of 24 hours, blog and attempt to bring some exposure to a local charity of our choosing. For me, I have chosen to represent the Union Gospel Mission, a Vancouver charity that helps the homeless and those in need. Another Long Night In Vancouver The housing crisis in Vancouver is worsening, and many people find themselves without shelter each and every night. Those individuals, who are a part of this city, are often neglected and left to rot on the streets while our government dumps ...

I love the smell of Saturday in the morning. The sleeping in, the sound of traffic that pulls me out of bed at 11am. It's not very often I get full days to myself these days, so when I do get them, I definitely enjoy them. I'm just demolishing my second cup of coffee, and then will probably hit the open road for a few hours. I went by the hospital last night to see my friend Clay. Clay had a quintuple bypass surgery, but is doing relatively well. As I well know, being in the hospital totally sucks, so I'm gonna swing by for a bit. Then, who knows. Maybe down to Urban Fare to get some groceries. ...

Part of the reason I went back to Chilliwack this last weekend was to get caught up on sleep before all the craziness begins this month and next. Thankfully I managed to do just that, and often slept in until 11:30 or noon. I actually feel fairly refreshed, which is a nice change. Chilliwack Rainbow One of the things I'm going to try to do over the next two months is to lose a few pounds. Before being in the hospital and all my surgeries, I was in a fairly happy place with regards to health. But this last year has been tough and I haven't really been that vigilant with watching what I eat and ...

Yes, this is what I look like before I cut off your head and steal all your powers, bitches. Big thanks to Clay for misusing all our web design resources at work to make this possible. Apparently he thought the whole Star Wars thing was too retro, and came up with something better. Thanks for supporting my cause against the evil guys against me, dude. Watch out for my sword. PS - I'm commando under all that shit. Believe it. Also, tomorrow is a big nerd session at my place. John Bollwitt, Boris Mann and John Biehler are definitely swinging by to drink some beers, watch some movies, and play catch-up ...

Yes, it's that time of month again, maid day. When I got sick with pneumonia in the fall my mom came and spent a few days with me and ended up cleaning my entire apartment. Being a busy, single guy, it was in a pretty sad state. My mom, being a constant worrier, implored me, for her sake, to get someone to help clean my apartment so it would be clean and I wouldn't have to worry about getting sick at home. Since I'm sort of cheap (at least for things that don't involve technology), but wanted to put my mom's mind at ease, I made myself a compromise -- I'd get a maid but cancel my cable TV to pay ...

Eight easy steps: 1. Toss and turn all night 2. Fall asleep at 5am 3. Get up at 9:30am and try to head to work 4. Call a cab, and tell him to take you to work 5. Pay cab driver. Drop money all over the cab and look dumb. 6. Exit cab and close door, making sure to slam your iPod touch in the door 7. Stand there looking at iPod touch drive away with cab driver, only to fall off a half block away 8. Pick up iPod touch on the concrete, now without headphones ...

Yup, I now have proof that yours truly is in fact a published travel photographer. What does that mean? That if you have a plane, a sandy beach, and maybe a few cute locals in bikinis waiting, I'd be more than happy to come help you out by shooting some photos. Air Transat's In Flight Magazine, Atmosphere Air Transat sent me a few hard copies of their Atmosphere in-flight magazine, since I had only heard from a friend that some of my photos made it in. Sure enough, a few of my photos from the Dominican Republic are on pages 20-21 of the Winter edition of Atmosphere. Thanks for mailing it guys, ...

Well, that's it folks -- 2007 is basically all over. For me, it was undoubtedly one of the hardest years in my life. I have usually always been able to find the good in things that sometimes turn out bad, but this last year is one that for the most part I am happy to leave behind. That being said, I have lots of good memories from this last year. Rob's wedding. Massey Hall show in Toronto. Crazy halloween eyeball smashing party. Las Vegas. The Dominican Republic. Drunk Camp. Finland. New friends. Old friends. Tomorrow night I'll be bouncing around Toronto, and for the first time in quite a few ...

So, I've been meaning to ask this question for a long time. Yesterday I had a pile of traffic, thanks to a few inbound links from some massive sites. I broke into the thousands for unique visitors, which doesn't happen that often in Duane-land. Given that only about ten people ever comment, I gotta ask, who are the rest of you guys? Nearly 50% of you are returning visitors every day, and yet you lurk in the shadows, thick as thieves I say. The lack of comments either means: I'm really boring YOU'RE really boring I'm pretty sure I am not boring all the time, which means it JUST MIGHT BE YOU! ...

Today was a long, dreary day. I didn't get home until around 9:30pm, and barely had enough strength to pound back some left-over lasagna. I was really looking forward to sitting back and watching heroes tonight, but mininova was down and my internet connection turned out to be pretty flaky. Today was officially full of fail. I've not been feeling myself lately, and I don't really know why. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's because I'm still battling an infection, maybe it's lots of things, but I find myself pretty bummed out the last few days. One thing that's been bothering me lately is that ...

So everyone else is blogging this, so fuck it, I might as well too. My friend Raymi in Toronto has a very unique, and often copied, blog. So tonight, after getting a bit tipsy, I attempted to recreate some of her brilliance myself. The end result is a funny parody, complete with drunk dancing by myself. You can check it out at duanetheminx.com. Thanks to Keira for helping me put the header together. Clearly I need massive help. ...

I'm guessing I wasn't having a good time there. ...

Someone convinced me last time I was at the bar to start posting the best of my cell phone text messages to my flickr account. So without further ado. Yup, that's a mistake I'm not likely to make again. If anyone has any wicked ones as well, let me know. Maybe we can start a cool Flickr group. ...