However, first off my bowl of Cafe au Lait.  Important details to start, of course.    About the size of a medium soup bowl.  Caffeine heaven.  

Now for the collage.  Though the individual pictures have been added to my photoblog, I thought it'd be easier to lump them here as one collage than have many strung out in a row.

1. Known locally as "The Response", this is a picture of the National War Memorial lit up at night. You can see the gleam of the clock in the Peace Tower of Parliament behind it.
2. This statue sits on a roof top terrace of the American Embassy.  Despite assertions from the American government, Canadians believe the statue is flipping off the Canadian government, as it faces parliament.  The American government maintains that the statue is supposed to depict a tree.  I'm siding with the Canucks on this one.
3. These little grotesques, yes that's the name for these little carvings, cover the Parliament building.  
4. Marmots!  So cute.  If you look closely, you'll be able to see the nose of a third one poking out from a hole between the other two.  Marmots were not an uncommon sight in Ottawa, but this mother and her two pups on the grounds of Carleton University let us come closer than most.  I suspect they're often fed by students.
5. View of the locks on the Rideau Canal. Parliament Hill is off to the left.
6. A view of Parliament from Quebec.  The rectangular structure is Parliament.  The rounded structure in front is the library.  They're built in slightly different styles as Parliament burned down in 1916, except for the Library.  The Centre Block of Parliament, which houses the Senate and House chambers, was rebuilt in a modern Gothic style, while the Library is a beautiful example of Victorian High Gothic style.
7. Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica in Ottawa. Notice the silver looking paint on the roof and steeples? It's actually an aluminum based paint. Most cathedrals in Ottawa have the same paint on their roofs.  The joke is that Alcan (the Canadian aluminum company) salesmen did a great job in Ottawa.
8. A view of Quebec from the Peace Tower at the top of the Parliament building.  In the foreground is the roof of the library.  
9. Inside the French Embassy in Ottawa.  No, I'm not a French citizen.  Doors Open is a weekend in Ottawa when government buildings and some embassies not typically accessible to most of the population open their doors.  Not every building or embassy participates.  However, I think it's a nice concept and quite fun.  The American Embassy just started this year, however we couldn't get in as they only let in a certain number of people who reserved ahead of time (in order for background checks to clear the guests).
10. The cat sanctuary by the Parliament building.  Yes, they feed and care for wild animals, mainly cats.  I took this picture because my dad feeds wild cats (and all other critters that will eat free dried cat food) too.
11. View of Ottawa from the Civilization Museum in Quebec.

Ottawa is a beautiful city; I can't hope to do it justice here.  I took many many more pictures, but those have pictures of other friends in them, and I'm not comfortable posting those (especially without their permission).  Sadly my pictures of Baltimore didn't much come out.  

Ta!

-G

There once was an actor named Sheen
Who when asked claimed he was clean

From CBS he will get no more green.

Charlie Sheen has exploded all over the interwebs with his crazy interviews and tweets.  The following clip is from on of my favourite old tv shows, Stargate SG-1.  Jack O'Neill and Teal'c the only people on Earth stuck in a six hour time loop.  This is driving Jack batty, as he describes to Teal'c.  I believe it could be applied to Sheen's state of mind.

What do you think of Sheen?  And aren't limericks fun?

I have a friend who has his life all plotted out.  I like to tell him that plans change the hour they're made, but so far his have mostly held true.  He's still a student (in med school) and like most students, he goes home during the summers.  He was surprised recently when his folks packed up his room and converted it into an office.  They took the loft above the garage and moved him in there.  Which he's now joking is his "summer home".  

I know people who have a second home.  So I got to thinking, what would I want for a weekend home.  Here's my pick:   Cool, right?  Ok, I admit it.  I'm not serious about the weekend home bit.

I had a tree house growing up.  Actually it used to be illegal to build a treehouse in Miami-Dade County.  One of those laws cops never enforced, like jaywalking or turning left across traffic from the far right lane.  My dad was issued the first building permit for a treehouse.  He will never do anything that's not above board.  Unlike most treehouses, there was not a nail in the tree.  There were three distinct stories, none of them stacked like a house, but spread among the branches.  Each had a roof, sheltering us from the sun blazing through the leaves.  I loved to read there during the middle of the day, when the heat kept us from riding.  It was the coolest spot not indoors.  And while we don't have that treehouse anymore, I have great memories of reading Tolstoy and Costain and more while sprawled on a blanket on its wood floors.

Did you guys have a treehouse growing up?  Fond memories or horrid ones?