Darcy Casselman

Organic Restaurants

I’m on the lookout for local restaurants serving organic foods–meats especially. So I was impressed that the recent [Networking](http://news.therecord.com/Business/Small%20Business/article/269376) column buried in the business section of the Record had two potential options.

One was the Exhibit Cafe, located in the Children’s Museum in downtown Kitchener. By the sound of it, they deal in light lunch fare, serving local and organic meals. They’re attached to a local company called [Millbank Foods](http://www.millbankfoods.ca/) (with no website for the cafe that I could find). I think they had a booth at the Canada Day thing at UW.

The other is [Village Creperie](http://www.villagecreperie.ca/), which *does* have a website with a lovely PDF menu. The menu promises “We only use organic flours, fish, meats, vegetables, fruits, dairy,” which is nice. I’m not entirely sure what a “Galette” is, but some of them sound good.

NaBloPoMo 2007 Final Status: Fail

I was doing pretty well up until the last week too…

Ah well, maybe next year. Actually, I kinda want to try WriMo again next year. We’ll see what’s going on with stuff, I guess.

What it came down to, basically, was the stuff I was spending most of my time thinking about is stuff I’m very reluctant to post out in public like this, and the stuff that I could post about was losing out on processing time to the other stuff. The goal, however, was to get myself to write even when I didn’t feel like writing, so that excuse doesn’t really wash.

Ah well.

I was enjoying it while I was doing it, though. I’ve still got a few posts I wanted to write but never did. There’s also that whole unresolved laptop thing that is just as unresolved for me, too. And I never told you what happened when I went to the gym. I’ll save telling those stories for when they have satisfying conclusions.

For now, though, I am tired and should go to bed.

The gym

I haven’t been having much luck convincing myself to get to the gym.

I’ve gone a few times, but I’ve never managed to work it into a routine, or get over the feeling of anxiety and dread every time I think about going in there. So it hasn’t worked out so well.

I’ve been thinking that I should sign up for a personal trainer, on the theory that if I have an appointment to make, I’m more likely to make it, and also if someone actually gives me some idea what the hell I’m supposed to do in a gym, I might have an easier time seeing myself going.

I’ve been procrastinating on that for an awfully long time, though. A significant part of me envisions dealing with a personal trainer to be incredibly awkward and unfun.

Much cheaper and less awkward than a personal trainer is [this little key fob thing](http://www.columbialakehealthclub.com/fasttrack/personaletrainer/) that they have. Computers. That’s more my speed. I signed up for an orientation session for the things. Maybe that will give me some idea about what to do next.

I was supposed to go tonight, but they had some meeting or something so I moved it out to Wednesday. Which is fine. I had better things to do anyway.

Doctor Who’s 44th

I don’t want to fall any more behind, so I’d better post…

Today is (or was, I suppose) Doctor Who’s 44th anniversary.

In my plan for how this whole NaBloPoMo thing was going to work, I had it set out that I’d write a wonderfully reminiscent post about Doctor Who in my life and why it’s totally the best show ever. And I think i could pull it off. I just don’t feel like writing that post tonight.

At least in part, it’s because [Verity Lambert died yesterday](http://www.dwin.org/blog/archives/000279.html). Verity Lambert was Doctor Who’s first producer.

She, along with Canadian [Sydney Newman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Newman) set out what Doctor Who would be. She was perhaps as much responsible for the Daleks as [Terry Nation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Nation) was. Sydney Newman wanted Doctor Who to be a show that taught kids about science and history in an entertaining way, but with no bug-eyed monsters whatsoever. Verity Lambert, however, knew nothing about science, so instead commissioned a story about mutant monsters surviving a nuclear war.

There’s a line in the Season 3 episode “Human Nature” where the Doctor, as the human named John Smith, mentions his parents “Sydney and Verity”.

I want to write more, but I’m fighting to stay awake. I have people over and we’re going to have a Doctor Who party tomorrow. I am very happy about that, but right now, I need some rest.

Squash

Deep-fried squash chips are surprisingly good. A little bit of salt and it’s wonderful. Even with a bit of the stringy inside bits… That stuff crisps up really nicely.

I’ve never been a big fan of squash, but I probably didn’t have the right sort of experiences. Not like a squash-tasting party.

I really liked the Delicata squash. The Butternut squash was really good as well. Buttercup squash, I wasn’t quite as fond of, although I admit is was better steamed than baked.

Baked squash seeds were nice as well. Again, the Delicata wins out. They had a surprising sweetness to them.

And you know, puréed butternut squash with maple syrup and blueberries makes a really nice dessert. I’d never have guessed.