The Trudy & Dave Times

Statue in Paris. David's First Black and White Print at NSCAD

David's Excellent Adventure

   David's adventure began on Friday, March 1st, 1996. Elan was visiting from Toronto and they went out to a Grizzlies game. On Monday, David was to leave for a series of job interviews. After the game, David and Elan discover that the car had been broken into. David's laptop, along with the final copy of his job talk were gone. His heart stopped. He couldn't go to academic job interviews without a job talk. Over the next 72 hours he sat in front of a computer, with very little sleep, and recreates his talk.
   He arrives in Toronto for a one day stop over and gets some much needed rest while seeing the family, visiting a few friends and having a traditional lunch at Kiva's. Next, he flew to Rochester, NY via Laguardia Airport in New York City (ie. not exactly a direct flight). His next flight took him to Boston to meet a professor in the Media labs at MIT. He loved Boston, met with a few friends and toured some excellent labs at Harvard and the Cambridge Research Center. Unfortunately, the work being done at MIT was not well suited to David's background.
   After another 2 day stop over in Toronto, David was off to Paris by way of Heathrow Airport in London. He visited the gardens, walked the streets, took in a Mozart concert at a 1,000 year old church, toured museums, visited the Arch du Triumph and the Eifel Tower (see photos this page) and, of course, took lots of pictures. It was spring time in Paris and the city was fantastic. He couldn't truly enjoy himself, however, without Trudy. All the while David was wrestling with his decision of which position to accept. Rochester seemed great, but he also had offers in Houston to work with NASA, and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to work on a neuro-imaging project.
   His final interview was Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia (after, of course, the now standard two day stop over in Toronto). David met there with Dr. Raymond Klein. His lab was chaotic, disorganized and bustling with lots of people. David really liked the department, the city and the unique character of the lab. Ray is very friendly and the research sounded extremely interesting. We finally decided, after many long-distance deliberations, that Halifax was the place for us. It was Canadian, the fellowship was endowed by a famous Canadian, Isaak Killam, and we looked forward to a cross-Canada experience.
   After one final stopover in Toronto, David was finally on his way to Kelowna, BC where Trudy was on a ski vacation. We were planning on skiing Big White for three days. David arrived on time, but his bags took a short detour to Tokyo and it seems as if his health and strength went with them. David's hectic world tour had gotten the best of him and he ended up spending most of the three days sick in bed. And, as most of you know, David has to be pretty sick to pass on skiing! At least he managed to get out on the hill for a half day. Finally, nearly three weeks after he left, we drove back to Vancouver. David was now free to focus his procrastination on his thesis.

Where in the World is Liane LaFrenière?

   "So where is that Maid of Honour anyway?", is a question that many of you may be askingor maybe not. Anyway, Liane is at it againtravelling the world that is. She taught English in Pusan, South Korea for two and a half years. Despite the long distance, we have managed to see her several times. In September 1995 she had a stopover in Vancouver on her way to Korea. She managed to make it back for New Years 1997 and again managed a brief stopover in Vancouver on her way back to Korea. She spent a good part of that summer travelling in Vietnam and China and she reported that both were simply magnificent. This past September Liane was joined in South Korea by Sheila Windle who is teaching in the English Department at Sungsim Junior College of Foreign Languages. Liane made a surprise (as well as surprising) trip back to Canada this past summer and even made it out to Halifax for a short two day visit. What a jet setter that girl is!
   Here is a short excerpt from one of Liane's recent E-mail messages: Here's a riddle for ya...I walked home along the beach last night... er... should I say stumbled... with fresh pineapple stuck between my teeth (not to worry - I brushed 'em)... my skin is pink... and there's sand in my bed... Where am I? BORACAY!!!!! My day yesterday... consisted of ... breakfast by the beach... some laying around ON the beach... swimming in the turquoise water... a nap in a hammock in our bungalow NEXT to the beach... and a one and a half hour shiatsu/ reflexology massage beside the beach... you get the idea...I'm starting my dive course tomorrow... Sounds like heaven! Boracay is in the Philippines, by the way.
   Liane has taught her last lesson in Korea and on March 3rd departs for India, where she plans to spend a month or two. After that it's on to Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vancouver and then home to Ontario sometime around the beginning of June.

Our New Year's Tradition

   New year's with the gang from Waterloo (mostly) has become somewhat of a tradition. Five years ago (1993) it was a van trip down to Florida which Trudy hooked up with while visiting her parents when they were living down near St. Petersburg. The next year, several of us headed down to New York City to crash at Sheila's place - very cool (see Vol. 2 No. 1 for details). We had so much fun in New York that the next year we took a hiatus from the gang and spent new year's in Vancouver getting engaged. For 1996 we rented a large secluded cottage somewhere in the Muskokas. It was a very entertaining get together, made even more interesting by the trek into the cottage from the highway. It was several kilometres best covered with snowshoes during the daylight hours. Of course, many of our party ended up making the trip with groceries and other supplies (not packed so well), without snowshoes, in the dark and with very few flashlights. Apparently, it made for quite a comedy scene. Last year's event was in a slightly more convenient location which had its own supply of fresh farm eggs. Liane's presence (all the way from Korea) was definitely the highlight of the party. This past year we had a casual dinner at Mike and Michelle's place and then made our way to one of Toronto's classier establishments, Grossman's, to see Gerome Godboo's new band. It was a blast! Next year, who knows where we will be...

A View of Paris from the Arch du Triumph

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Statue in Paris. David's First Black and White Print at NSCAD			David's Excellent Adventure
			David's adventure began on Friday, March 1st, 1996. Elan was visiting from Toronto and they went out to a Grizzlies game. On Monday, David was to leave for a series of job interviews. After the game, David and Elan discover that the car had been broken into. David's laptop, along with the final copy of his job talk were gone. His heart stopped. He couldn't go to academic job interviews without a job talk. Over the next 72 hours he sat in front of a computer, with very little sleep, and recreates his talk. He arrives in Toronto for a one day stop over and gets some much needed rest while seeing the family, visiting a few friends and having a traditional lunch at Kiva's. Next, he flew to Rochester, NY via Laguardia Airport in New York City (ie. not exactly a direct flight). His next flight took him to Boston to meet a professor in the Media labs at MIT. He loved Boston, met with a few friends and toured some excellent labs at Harvard and the Cambridge Research Center. Unfortunately, the work being done at MIT was not well suited to David's background. After another 2 day stop over in Toronto, David was off to Paris by way of Heathrow Airport in London. He visited the gardens, walked the streets, took in a Mozart concert at a 1,000 year old church, toured museums, visited the Arch du Triumph and the Eifel Tower (see photos this page) and, of course, took lots of pictures. It was spring time in Paris and the city was fantastic. He couldn't truly enjoy himself, however, without Trudy. All the while David was wrestling with his decision of which position to accept. Rochester seemed great, but he also had offers in Houston to work with	NASA, and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to work on a neuro-imaging project. His final interview was Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia (after, of course, the now standard two day stop over in Toronto). David met there with Dr. Raymond Klein. His lab was chaotic, disorganized and bustling with lots of people. David really liked the department, the city and the unique character of the lab. Ray is very friendly and the research sounded extremely interesting. We finally decided, after many long-distance deliberations, that Halifax was the place for us. It was Canadian, the fellowship was endowed by a famous Canadian, Isaak Killam, and we looked forward to a cross-Canada experience. After one final stopover in Toronto, David was finally on his way to Kelowna, BC where Trudy was on a ski vacation. We were planning on skiing Big White for three days. David arrived on time, but his bags took a short detour to Tokyo and it seems as if his health and strength went with them. David's hectic world tour had gotten the best of him and he ended up spending most of the three days sick in bed. And, as most of you know, David has to be pretty sick to pass on skiing! At least he managed to get out on the hill for a half day. Finally, nearly three weeks after he left, we drove back to Vancouver. David was now free to focus his procrastination on his thesis.
Where in the World is Liane LaFrenière?
"So where is that Maid of Honour anyway?", is a question that many of you may be askingor maybe not. Anyway, Liane is at it againtravelling the world that is. She taught English in Pusan, South Korea for two and a half years. Despite the long distance, we have managed to see her several times. In September 1995 she had a stopover in Vancouver on her way to Korea. She	managed to make it back for New Years 1997 and again managed a brief stopover in Vancouver on her way back to Korea. She spent a good part of that summer travelling in Vietnam and China and she reported that both were simply magnificent. This past September Liane was joined in South Korea by Sheila Windle who is teaching in the English Department at Sungsim Junior	College of Foreign Languages. Liane made a surprise (as well as surprising) trip back to Canada this past summer and even made it out to Halifax for a short two day visit. What a jet setter that girl is! Here is a short excerpt from one of Liane's recent E-mail messages: Here's a riddle for ya...I walked home along the beach last night... er... should I say stumbled... with fresh pineapple stuck between my teeth (not to worry - I brushed 'em)... my skin is pink... and there's sand in my bed... Where am I? BORACAY!!!!! My day yesterday... consisted of ... breakfast by the beach... some laying around ON the beach... swimming in the turquoise water... a nap in a hammock in our bungalow NEXT to the beach... and a one and a half hour shiatsu/ reflexology massage beside the beach... you get the idea...I'm starting my dive course tomorrow... Sounds like heaven! Boracay is in the Philippines, by the way. Liane has taught her last lesson in Korea and on March 3rd departs for India, where she plans to spend a month or two. After that it's on to Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vancouver and then home to Ontario sometime around the beginning of June.
Our New Year's Tradition
New year's with the gang from Waterloo (mostly) has become somewhat of a tradition. Five years ago (1993) it was a van trip down to Florida which Trudy hooked up with while visiting her parents when they were living down near St. Petersburg. The next year, several of us headed down to New York City to crash at Sheila's place - very cool (see Vol. 2 No. 1 for details). We had so much fun in New York that the next year we took a hiatus from the gang and spent new year's in Vancouver getting engaged. For 1996 we rented a large secluded cottage somewhere in the Muskokas. It was a very entertaining get together, made even more interesting by the trek into the cottage from the highway. It was several kilometres best covered with	snowshoes during the daylight hours. Of course, many of our party ended up making the trip with groceries and other supplies (not packed so well), without snowshoes, in the dark and with very few flashlights. Apparently, it made for quite a comedy scene. Last year's event was in a slightly more convenient location which had its own supply of fresh farm eggs. Liane's presence (all the way from Korea) was definitely the highlight of the party. This past year we had a casual dinner at Mike and Michelle's place and then made our way to one of Toronto's classier establishments, Grossman's, to see Gerome Godboo's new band. It was a blast! Next year, who knows where we will be...
				A View of Paris from the Arch du Triumph
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