Autumn Adventures in Ottawa
Exploring Gatineau Park, discovering Taimane’s music, and uncovering the roots of emoji.
Welcome to a media-rich edition! We were in Ottawa a week ago today to celebrate the long weekend and our anniversary of dating. Just over four hours away, we’ve enjoyed this city four times now, each having its own focus and fun. We stayed just south of Byward Market, a great launching pad in the center of the city.
Besides the main attraction of visiting Nordik Spa Village in Chelsea, we thought it’d be fun to get some hiking in. We had no idea that Gatineau Park was the largest green space in the region (361 square kilometers) and we were just minutes from it. It’s so large and popular, they have well-organized shuttles to get you to trailheads and keep cars off of the parkways. We took a shuttle to King Mountain, and then walked to the Domaine Mackenzie-King Estate via the waterfall trail before making our way back to the visitor center (along the wonderfully named Chemin Scott). After that 7 mile hike, we drove our car to the first parking area along Lac Meech, where we did an out-and-back 6-mile run on a beautiful leaf-strewn trail.
The best part about the park, besides the leaves, of course, was the digital trail map. They offer their map for the free mobile app Avenza, which allows you to see your location on the printed map at any time, even without cellular. I downloaded the map before we left the US, and it was a pleasure to use it as a navigational aid as we hiked.
Let’s see, what else can I show you? I shot this short clip from my bedroom window. The birds were going after the seeds in these coneflowers, and it was literally just a single day that they swarmed the flowers. Props to the iPhone camera for letting me get so close.
When I get tired while driving, I tune into one of two things: really loud Metallica or Aerosmith (if I’m alone), or NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. On our way home from Ottawa, Taimane was on the NPR program. If you’re a fan of Hawaii or the ukulele (and I can now tell you how to properly pronounce it), check out her music. She started playing publicly at a very young age and was discovered at age 13 by the legendary musician Don Ho. Her appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert is old now, but very much worth a watch. Also on that edition of WWDTM, a brief conversation on the uptick in cocaine use by seniors (reference). I always learn something on that show!
I virtually attended the Smashing Magazine conference on October 7th and 8th, which included a surprise talk from Yiying Lu titled “Life is a Mystery.” In the talk, Yiying shared the derivation of the word emoji. It comes from Japanese, combining these three words:
e (絵) – drawing
mo (文) – language
ji (字) – character
Lastly, Amy and I went to Geneseo’s alumni night at Personal Best in Ithaca last week. In a twist of irony, Cornell announced their Zinck’s Night at the same time, same place. I signed up for both events, since I earned my undergraduate degree from Geneseo and my Masters from Cornell.
A Tip for the Modern Worker
Share how you feel. It may be tempting to always have your game face on at work. However, it’s good to share how you’re feeling, even if the only byproduct is your own unburdening. It’s more likely, though, that you find out you’re not alone. Sharing can help unearth trends in how a team is doing. Sharing can help bring more empathy into the workplace. Sharing can lead to change. These can all lead to greater satisfaction and productivity at work.
This tip is one of 365 in my Handbook for the Modern Worker. That followed my first book, The Art of Working Remotely, about my experience working from home since 1998. Depending on where you work and which way the wind is blowing, these may be banned books or fan fiction. I hope it’s the latter.
Mail Bag: If you work remotely and have come across an issue that needs solving, a thorn that needs removing, or just an observation you’d like to share, hit reply. I’d love to hear from you.