My passport renewal is on the way

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

Canadian passports expire after five years. Today, I sent off my application. It was actually a real pain to pull together. Now, I understand that it's important to make faking passports difficult. But I was annoyed the various hoops I had to jump through.

It's also scary to send off my existing passport and my birth certificate in the mail. At this moment, I don't have any official proof that I'm a Canadian. What happens if I need to make an emergency return to Canada? I'm not sure.

I'm hoping that I just worry too much!

Forty-Eight Birthday Drawings. 48 is a very special number in my mind: the number of preludes and fugues in the two books of JSB's Well-Tempered Clavier May there be another set of 48 in 48 years!

I want to read The Next Sweet Thing to better understand the increasing interest in high-end chocolate that I see in myself and my friends.

I missed the Berkeley Edge festival but have some interest in learning more about Terry Riley, especially since I once saw his name associated with J. S. Bach.

Is it "Laura and my home" or "Laura's and my home"? The latter is correct.

a good way to move?

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

As I'm about to move in the next month or two, I'm wondering whether to use a service like Door To Door or instead to rent a moving van. Any thoughts?

Coca-Cola Zero: what is it?

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

The first time I've ever seen or heard of yet another Coca-Cola product: Coca-Cola Zero At any rate, It's available in El Cerrito, CA.

The Onion is now available on the newsstand!

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I've enjoyed The Onion sporadically in its online incarnation. I'm not sure yet whether I'll make the effort to pick up the paper version to read it.

Photos for the expert to take

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I'm in the process of renewing my Canadian passport. I thought that I'd be able to take my own passport photos, but the requirements made it rather onerous. It was a relief to get my photos taken by a local photo shop. There I learned about all the other types of government (or media-) mandated photos. Apparently, all the photos have different requirements. Why can't the world just agree on some standard photo formats -- or at least fewer formats?

free pamplets for the home repair person

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

Maybe I can become a fix-it up man myself! (Flyers are at Berkeley Ace Hardware)

water bubbles on branches

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

It's easy to expect sunny skies all the time in Berkeley. So when the rains come, I remind myself to see the beauty in water that eludes us for much of the year, including rain on trees.

Yesterday, during my walk to campus, I had the opportunity to celebrate the after-rain environment by taking a lot of pictures: