In one of her books, Julia Cameron suggested writing morning pages as a way to get one’s creative juices flowing – at least three pages of writing about whatever comes to mind. I still don’t know exactly how pages translate into blog posts, but I thought it would be nice to break up a string of Emacs-related posts with proof that I do, too, have a life. ;) (Well, a life outside Emacs, at least.)

That statement would probably have been more powerful had W- and I not chosen to skip the Ottawa Linux Symposium’s closing party in favor of working on our computers. He’s been trying to figure out how to get kubuntu up and running with all the usual IBM stuff, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to give Emacs all the features I like in Eclipse and more. So yes, that was what we were doing on a Saturday night: learning more about our tools while sharing a Killaloe sunrise beavertail. (No actual beavers harmed; it’s fried dough.)

We’re heading back to Toronto today. I’m looking forward to having oatmeal for breakfast and preparing a simple, Sacha-sized meal for lunch and dinner. A full week of eating out for every single meal has left me craving the kitchen. Yes, cooking takes more time, but I don’t have to decide between feeling guilty about leaving food on my plate and feeling satiated, I don’t have to take a chance on whether or not the restaurant will be closed (as was the case with many of our choices on Saturday evening), and I learn a lot more in the process. This is one of the reasons why I don’t like traveling for an extended period of time. I miss the kitchen. I miss turning meals from just fuel or explorations of tastes into experiments that’ll teach me something interesting along the way.

And yes, I’m also looking forward to getting back to the gym. It’s funny how you miss it. I’ve been making up with lots of walking, but still. I miss what I feel like after a good workout: bedraggled but triumphant.

I’ve enjoyed my brief stay in Ottawa, though. I didn’t get to meet the people I had been looking forward to seeing, but I did go to some of the birds-of-a-feather get-togethers. I checked out the Sparks pedestrian mall, the Rideau Centre, the Bytown museum, and I saw the cat sanctuary near Parliament (awwww!). I figured out some of the pieces that I’ll need to improve if I want to telecommute effectively from the Philippines. VOIP is a big one, and a backup calling card won’t hurt, either. I also need to figure out the timezone thing. =)

It’s been a good trip.