Karen Ruby

It's been a long road, but I'm back...

It's been a long while since I last posted, I know. My life circumstances changed a few years ago and I wasn't in the right frame of mind to post anything but awful, depression-sounding, why-bother posts. That wasn't what I wanted to have out on the internet under my name.

Now. I'm in a better place in my life and feel the need to reach out again and contribute to the blogosphere.

I've developed a new blog called, A Meaningful Existence, where I am writing more personal development posts.

If you want to continue reading about interesting, cool or thoughtful articles, stay on this blog.

If you want to be inspired, please join me over at www.ameaningfulexistence.com .

Either way, it's nice to be back :-)

Picasa Web Albums

Google came out with their latest foray into taking over the entire internet by releasing a beta, limited release of Picasa Web Albums last week. I received my *special* invite to check out the new feature today.

I've uploaded to "My Public Gallery" over a 100 pictures of my first trip to Montreal that I took last month.

Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Karen.Ruby

So far, I'm quite impressed with how easy it was to download and install the new Picasa2 application so that I can use the Picasa Web Albums feature. Uploading my first album only took a couple of minutes.

Picasa Web Albums allows you to share your albums or keep them private. You can choose who gets to view your albums and you're also able to bookmark "My Favourites" albums.

I've always resisted opening a Flickr account for some reason, although I do enjoy viewing my friend's albums on the site. There's no tagging in Picasa Web Albums (yet), but this is a very easy way to share my photos with friends and family (and my blog readers). I'll continue to upload selected photos on this blog (check out my numerous photo albums to the left), but since I don't want to over-load my blog storage limits, and since I take a lot of pictures, I'm very happy to be now using Picasa Web Albums to share my photos.

You can also view other people's Public albums and download all their photos to your computer. Not sure why someone would allow this, though. I've turned off this feature on my Montreal album.

I love using Picasa, and now that they have added this Web Album feature, I can see myself using it more and more to share my photos. With 250MB worth of storage space, I can really share my photos now.

Check back often to "My Public Gallery" as I'll be uploading more albums soon.

You should definitely sign up and check out the new Picasa with its Web Albums.

Tags: Google Picasa Picasa Web Albums Flickr

Toronto Harbour Boat Cruise

Isn't this a cool picture?

 

I took this picture last Saturday night when I went on the Yankee Lady III (Map) boat which cruised around the Toronto Harbour, Ontario Place and the 13 Toronto Islands. This picture is out of focus and skewed, but I thought it turned out quite interesting.

I had a great time on the boat cruise (dinner, dancing, seeing the sites) and snapped some good pictures of the Toronto skyline from the boat.

Here's a couple more pictures that I thought were pretty good:

It was evening when I snapped this picture from the top deck of the Yankee Lady III boat and it was cool that night (not like today when it's 40 degrees with the humidity). Last weekend was perfect boating weather, IMO.

Seeing Toronto from the water gives you a different perspective. Look how big the CN Tower and the Rogers Center looks in this picture. Very impressive.

If you're planning on visiting Toronto, I would really recommend seeing the city by water, it's a pretty fun and interesting way to see Toronto.

Tags: Toronto Yankee Lady Toronto Harbour

Publish On Demand

I came across a couple of self-publishing or publish on demand sites that I thought I would share.

As you may have read here, a couple of months ago I self-published my Mother's poems and provided everyone in the family with a copy of the book. It turned out fantastic and as this was something that I had always wanted to do for my family, I don't have to live with the regret of not completing this goal any longer.

Even though it's in beta, Blurb.com looks like a really really easy way to self-publish your book. You can even use one of their book templates if you didn't want to design your own book from start to finish. You have to install their software on your computer, but as the site says: What will your book be? Start-to-finish publishing software simple and smart enough to make you an author. The prices seem pretty reasonable, too, at $29.95 for a 40 page colour book. I'm waiting until they complete their blog template before I decide to take the plunge and self-publish some of my blog posts for members of my family who don't own a computer.

Another site that is pretty cool is the Lulu.com site that allows you to not only publish your books but also you can publish other products such as calendars, videos, images, music and audio and then sell those products on Lulu's site. There is a ton of stuff to check out at Lulu.com. The Lulu.com site is a more robust site that offers so much more than just publishing your book, they have marketing services links that provide you with everything you need to design, market, publish, graphic designers, and get your book sold on their site. The site has a wide selection of books and other products that authors have used Lulu.com to create. Thinking of writing a non-fiction book? I noticed quite a few non-fiction titles in their Top 100 books.

Everyone wants to be an author and everyone has a unique voice. If you are thinking of self-publishing or publishing on demand, check out the links.

Tags: Blurb Lulu Self-publishing

Trip to Montreal

I went to Montreal over the Victoria Day May long weekend. Check out my new Montreal photo album for some of the pictures that I took. I had never been to Montreal before and had always wanted to visit there since it's only about a 5 hour drive from Toronto and it's supposed to be such a beautiful city. I wasn't disappointed and had a great time while we were there.

We stayed in the downtown Novatel Hotel, which was really impressive with its helpful staff service, large rooms, and its central location. We were able to walk to a lot of places downtown or to the Metro to take the subway to visit the tourist spots from our hotel.

I picked up the Top 10 Montreal & Quebec City book before the trip and managed to visit a lot of the Top 10 places, including:

• Basilique Notre-Dame (stunning, a must-see)
• Chapelle du Sacre-Coeur
• Seminaire St-Sulpice
• Marche Bonsecours (beautiful building, but expensive shops)
• Place Jacques-Cartier
• Chateau Ramezay
• Biosphere (cool!)
• Labyrinthe du Hangar 16
• Casino de Montreal (had fun but didn't win any big pots)
• McGill University
• Chinatown (smaller than Toronto's but the dinner we had there was delicious)
• "Old Montreal" and the "Quartier Latin" (great for taking in the local Montreal flavour)
• Centre Eaton (just like Toronto, but with a lot of unique stores)
• Bar Jello (had a great time at this bar, live music)
• the Underground City (HUGE shopping centre and underground pathways)
• Reuben's (the BEST smoked meat restaurant, and had the BEST service)
• Simons
• walking along Crescent Street (great restaurants and shops)

The highlight of the trip was seeing the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. What a spectacular sight! If you are planning on going to visit Montreal, this is one place that should be on the top of your list of sites to see. There was so much to take in at the Basilica - the stained-glass windows, the Sanctuary and Altar, the Pulpit, the Casavant Organ, the amazing bronze Daudelin Sculpture, and all the rest of the artwork and sculptures. Simply breathtaking. I'm so glad that we were able to go inside (cost $4) and view this magnificent structure.

Walking around Old Montreal was another highlight of the trip and gave us a feel for the culture of Montreal. The narrow cobblestone pathways and quaint shops lining the streets gave a glimpse of what Montreal used to be like. When I visited New York earlier this year, it felt like I could have still been in Toronto, but I didn't get that impression while I was in Montreal. You knew that you were in a different city, not only because of the French signs everywhere and the people speaking French, but because of the culture and architecture of a lot of the buildings. Montreal is quite unique in Canada. They say that Quebec City is like a European city, but since I have never been there before, I think I know a little of what they mean by visiting Montreal. The history of the city jumps out at you everywhere. They certainly know how to honour their people and the city is very proud of its past.

Montreal is a very friendly place to visit. We had great service everywhere we went, from the hotel staff, the waiters/waitresses in the restaurants we visited, the shop owners, the Metro station operator, casino staff, and local people. English was spoken everywhere, which was good although throwing in a a Merci and Bonjour was appreciated.

I would certainly recommend visiting Montreal if you are looking to absorb some culture and see some spectacular sites.

Tags: Montreal

INXS at Air Canada Centre

I'm still thinking of the INXS concert that I went to on Sunday night (May 14th) at the Air Canada Centre (along with 15 000 other people). What a performance!

INXS is on tour to promote their new album, Switch and is made up of Andrew, Tim and Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, Garry Beers and J.D. Fortune.

I was hooked on the TV reality show "Rock Star: INXS" last summer as many, many other people also were and was very happy that a fellow Canadian, J.D. Fortune, won the show to become the band's new lead vocalist.

Okay, I admit it, I didn't think he would win last summer, but am really glad that he did. I absolutely loved the "Pretty Vegas" song that he co-wrote with the band's guitarist Andrew Farriss and seeing the band perform the song live was fantastic, if a little surreal as I can remember watching them perform it on TV last summer. But, nothing compares to seeing the band's hour-and-35-minute live performance.

I think J.D. was born to be on stage and be a singer.  It got me thinking that it must also be surreal for him to be fronting a major band like INXS as it wasn't too long ago that he was living out of his car when he heard that INXS was looking for a new lead singer and was holding auditions for the Rock Star: INXS TV show. It's amazing and motivating to me how fast he turned his life around. I know that a lot of people were very impressed with his performance on the show, even though sometimes his antics were considered to be very arrogant and selfish. But, you can also say that he was confident in his abilities and wanted the lead singer position more than any one else on the show. You can tell his hunger was more pronounced than the other contestants/singers.

I also think there's a lesson there. If you want something bad enough, have the talent to back up your words and actions, are hungry enough, and believe in yourself, you can achieve your dreams.

Just something to think about.

Tags: INXS Switch

Dell Flat Panel Monitor

I finally took the plunge and bought myself a flat panel monitor. Whippee! Is it ever gorgeous!

Dell was offering some amazing deals for the first week of May and I picked up their "UltraSharp 2007WFP 20.1-inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor" for $429CAD (with tax it came to $493) and didn't pay for shipping. It was regular $649 plus tax. I think it was a good deal at the time. Within two weeks the monitor was delivered and setup. Here's a picture of it on my desk:

It takes up so much less space than my older 17" Dell CRT monitor. What a difference!

Because it's a widescreen monitor, I popped in one of my widescreen DVD movies. Watching a widescreen movie on a widescreen monitor makes a huge difference. Now you can see how the directors wanted to make the movie, without the fullscreen distortion. It's like having another TV, since my actual TV is only a 19" model. Can you tell where my priorities lie?

You have to get used to the widescreen aspect of the monitor since webpages are sometimes either stretched to fill the screen or as you can see in my picture above, there are great big side panels on each side of the web page.

Here are the specs if you are interested: Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP 20.1-inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor. What I really like, beside the huge 20.1" screen, is the USB ports on the side of the monitor. No more swapping USB peripherals on my PC. I also really like that I can add a PVR PCI card to my machine and use it with the new monitor to actually watch TV on my computer. I may do that shortly, especially now that I have space with the new 160GB hard drive that I bought late last year.

It's the small things that make one happy.

Self-Publishing Poetry Book

My Mother has written poems all her life and one of the things that I've always wanted to do was to give her an actual book of her poetry. Last month, I was able to accomplish this major life goal of mine by self-publishing her poems.

Here is a picture of my Mom's books on the day the order arrived. Talk about exciting! The book turned out better than I ever expected. You cannot imagine the thrill of holding a "real book" in your hands, until you self-publish. No wonder so many people self-publish and want to be authors! It's quite thrilling to hold the finished product in your hands.

Here's a close-up of the spine and cover:

I had always wanted to do this for my Mom and as an keepsake for each member of my rather large family. I had originally wanted to give the book for my Mom's 70th Birthday (which was 3 years ago). When the opportunity presented itself to self-publish her poems, of course I did was so happy to be able to do this for her, for my family, and also for me. My Mother's health is failing and I did not want to live with the regret of not having my Mom's poems in a book form so that everyone in the family and her close personal friends could have a copy of her beautiful poetry.

You cannot imagine the reaction to the book in my family - everyone is so thrilled with it. Of course, I am too! This is something that can be passed down from generation to generation in our family. My Mom is already a great-grandmother and one day her great grandchildren can remember their "Noni" by reading her beautiful poetry.

Here's one of my Mom's poems that I particularly like:

Thoughts

Sometimes I lie awake and think about things
How mountains grow and streams run
Silly thoughts, serious thoughts fill my mind
And leave me with an appetite for more
A thirst, a craving of what, why and how?
This often escapes me and I become
Impatient for this knowledge
For when can I grasp as much as my cup will hold
Then shall I know where lies my future

Rita G. Ruby

The book was relatively easy and painless to get self-published. I worked with a graphic designer to design the cover page and the spine. I had already typed up all the poems (54 pages of them) and ordered them into chapters. I also wrote the page page, describing the book of my Mom's poems. The graphic designer worked with the printing company to print the pages and with the binding company to perfect bind the book. We also included two pages of colour photographs of different stages of my family. We only have a handful of pictures of everyone in the family in one picture.

All in all, it was so worth the time and money to be able to self-publish my Mom's book of poetry. If you have been thinking of self-publishing your own writings or someone in your family's writings, I really encourage you to do so. From start to finish, the book took only about six weeks and for 50 copies, it was under $1000. The money means nothing - the relief of not having the regret of not doing this for my Mom and for my family is priceless. The joy of actually holding the final book, knowing the happiness that it would bring my Mom and my sisters and brother, cannot be described. Self-publishing a book is pretty cool!

Don't live with the regret of not looking into self-publishing, if this has been something that you've wanted to do. If I can do it, then so can you.

Tags: Self-Publishing Poetry

Trip to New York

I spent yesterday in New York. Check out some of the pictures I took on my New York 2006 photo album.

We left Toronto by a charter bus on Friday night at around 10:00 PM and arrived in New York around 7:30 AM Saturday morning. After a hearty breakfast at Pom Pom's (which was delicious), a group of us thought that we would brave the New York subway to take in some shopping at Century 21 - the discount department store which was recommended. Of course, we took the wrong subway and lost about an hour or so and had to backtrack, but we finally made it. I must say that I was really disappointed in Century 21. To me, this was like Winners - except bigger and not as clean. My friend bought a pair of running shoes for $50 and a pair of Micheal Kors sunglasses for $10, but I didn't buy anything while I was there.

We then went to see Ground Zero, which is just across the street from Century 21. There were a lot of people walking around and seeing the big empty space where the Twin Towers once stood. That was one of the highlights of the trip.

Another highlight of the day trip was going up to the 86th floor of the Empire State building. This was one of the best parts of the trip. It was super windy up on the observation floor, but a must-see if you are going to New York. The views were amazing, as you can see from some of my pictures posted. It only cost $16 to go up, or you can pay an additionally $14 to go to the 102nd floor. Being up 86 floors was high enough for me. Part of the walk-way was closed, as it was just too windy and cold, but most was open to the public. There was also a store on the 86th floor and I picked up some Empire State building souvenirs.

After a few hours at the Empire State building (there were lots of people going up, and there was security everywhere, but the lines moved along really fast), we then walked around Times Square and took in all the fascinating billboards and interesting shops. Walking along Broadway Avenue and 5th Avenue was great!

For dinner we went to a local TGIF's - they don't have that chain here in Toronto. Wow, was it ever pricey but I guess that's because the restaurant was located near Times Square. But, the food was really good and we enjoyed ourselves.

We ended up at the Social Bar and Restaurant on 8th Street and had a great time relaxing and socializing before we boarded the bus on the way back to Toronto.

Although the weather wasn't the greatest - it was a little cold and windy, we all were impressed by the lack of homeless people on the street. I think we only saw two homeless people the whole time we were there. Plus, there were no altercations on the street or mugging incidents or anything like you hear about. There were lots of tourists, that's for sure. Since we stayed around the downtown core area, we didn't run into any problems. If you go off the beaten path though, then perhaps it wouldn't be as safe. Oh, and we were also very impressed by the cabs and cab drivers. Taking a cab from the Brooklyn Bridge to Times Square only cost us $11 total. That's quite a bargain!

My first trip to New York wasn't very long, but it sure gave me a taste of what New York has to offer and I can't wait to return to spend more time there.

Canadian International AutoShow

I went to the 2006 Canadian International AutoShow yesterday to see all the latest models and to have some fun. The Show has been on since February 17-26, 2006.

The 2006 Show was held at three locations this year; the Metro Toronto Convention Center North and South Buildings, plus the Rogers Center. I haven't been to an AutoShow in Toronto before, nor have I been to the Rogers Center (formerly Air Canada Centre) and had a great time seeing all the latest models, some very classic and restored cars and a few concept cars. There were tons of people walking around and taking in the sights of all the cool cars. Today's the last day for the show and I'm glad that I was able to go this year.

Isn't this a beautiful Aston Martin?

Me and my friend loved being able to sit in some of the cars that were on display. We really liked the SmartCar. It's a lot roomier than you would think.

Check out my new photo album for some of the pictures I took at the 2006 Canadian International AutoShow here in Toronto.

Tags: AutoShow Toronto