Okay, so it's been nearly a month. So sue me.

But thank God Mike's points pointed to me, so I'm roused from my slumber. (In reality, I have been trying to focus on getting my bearings at my new job and sending angry letters to our new mayor and getting ready for Christmas. And also, getting a teeny, tiny cute little tumour hacked out of my bladder by my new (and fabulous) urologist. Now, thanks to the wonders of modern anasthesia (and the necessary intubation), I have half a fat lip and a sore throat -- but am cancer free and thankful.

So here we go: Five things you don't know about me.

1. One of the things that brought my partner Cathy and I together (a long, long time ago now) was that we had both lost siblings. (Wow, that's a downer, innit?)

2. The first thing I ever got paid for after leaving university was a CBC Radio commentary on miniature cows.

3. I make a mean carrot cake, and a damn good rendition of my mom's chocolate chip cookies. Both utterly unhealthy, both perfectly delicious. Recipes on request.

4. One of the few things I wish I had done as a journalist was to cover a political convention. It's likely more fun to watch other people cover it, but I'd just like to have done it.

5. I spent eight years in a marching band, starting on bass clarinet, moving to tenor and baritone saxophone, and occasionally bass drum if the regular bass drummer's gout acted up or he was too hung over. I figure that if pushed, I could write out, from memory, respectable sax parts of most of Kenneth J. Alford's great marches. And with the exception of "The Liberty Bell", I have grown to hate John Phillip Sousa.

And that's all, folks -- not a mention of Scotch or cycling among the five!

Now, on to Ian, Hadeel, Vicky, Jennifer, and Brendan.

Ciao,
Bob.