My Favourite Things

There have been a number of things I've purchased or have been given as gifts in recent years that have become valued possessions. These are the top 5.


5. iHome Stereo


This was our family present this past Christmas - the iHome audio system. I had spotted it in Macleans magazine in the fall and suggested to my lovely wife what a great present it would make. Compact, sleak and contemporary it provides a dynamic sound scape for our living area. There is nothing better than a 75-song iTunes generated jazz Playlist, a good book and Heather sitting close by. Music sounds so much better when she is near.


4. Crocs

I had bought a pair of patent leather shoes during a sale at Bob Barrett's Men's Apparel and decided to wear them to work one day. They were tight, a little too tight, and by the end of the day my heel was bleeding profusely, ripped to shreds from the stiff leather. For the next few days, no matter what I wore, the wound would reopen and force me to limp through the remainder of the day. We headed to Edmonton for Dylan's surgery around this time and while limping down Whyte Avenue I had a revelation!

"If I bought some Crocs, my heel would be able to be open to the breeze and feel a thousand percent better."

And lo and behold, there was a Croc store, my oasis in the desert of pain. They have been my warm weather companions ever since, arguably the best $35 I ever spent.

3. Shoppers Drug Mart Handy Dandy Weight Scale

I went out on a cold Boxing Day to find a weight scale, the catalyst to begin my middle age bulge battle. It sits in my study adjacent to our bedroom and is the first order of business when I wake up in the morning. Whatever I'm wearing comes off and I hop on the scale to face the music. The results go into a spiral binder notebook I keep within arms reach. I feel lost when I go on trips and leave the weight scale behind.

2. BlackBerry for Heather

Ironically, one of my favourite possessions isn't even mine. I had purchased a BlackBerry for Heather as she began another year of study for massage therapy, knowing that her health wasn't the best and that I wanted to be better connected when she was away. Neither of us are big phone people, but being able to send quick text messages is a godsend. It's also cute as heck to watch Ben chatting with his Mama, ardently typing his thoughts with words that may or may not be decipherable on the other end.

1. iPod

I had a number of the cheaper iPods, several versions of the Shuffle, before starting to covet the 80 Gb iPod Classic. I would find myself drifting to the mall and into The Source to look at this black beauty, once, twice, three times.

"What am I doing?" I asked myself, wondering why I've made three separate trips to look at something reasonable that I wanted and could most definitely afford. So, I made a fourth trip and coughed up the cash so I could bring it home.

It's been several years since I started downloading my CDs and iTunes purchases and have yet to reach the half way mark of available storage space. I fully suspect the unit will die long before I'm able to fill it up.

As a child of the 80's who thought the Sony Walkman was a miracle, the iPod is out of this world--an entire music library in something that is smaller than a deck of cards. It plugs into my computer speakers, the car stereo, the iHome audio system, pretty much anywhere and has a battery life that gives and keeps on giving.

May 24, 2010 (Bob Dylan's 69th birthday) 193.4 pounds, 28.9 % body fat