Ask Blue_Nose

I've been asked to post a recap of my trip, since so many had helped me out! It was great, and a lot of suggestions were very much appreciated!


We went to too many museums:

- the National Art gallery - enjoyed it somewhat, but I've got no tolerance for this bullshit "contemporary sculpture" - one piece of "art" was just a length of dirty rope zigzagged across the floor, and another was a pile of felt squares.

- The museum of Civilization was alright... went to an IMAX about fighter jets, which was decent. I missed the Petra exhibit, which I was really looking forward to.

- The museum of Nature kinda sucked, because we found out after we paid to get in that it's under renovations, so 2/3s of it was closed, and most of the stuff that was open was pretty half-assed.

- The museum of Science and Technology (this one was packed the day we went, because for some reason a shitload of kids were there on a class trip for 'National Engineering Week'. There was an interesting exhibit about forensic science, but there were too many kids to really take it in.

I was pretty sick of museums by the end of it all!!

We ended up skating on the Rideau Canal, which was probably my favourite part of the trip - I haven't skated in about 10 years so I was worried at first, but I did well, and we ended up skating about 9-10 km. We went on a Sunday, so there were tons of people and it was a beautiful day.

We went to E18HTEEN, as planned, and I ate the ostrich, as planned. It was actually really really good... I figured it would taste a lot like turkey or chicken or something, but it was actually more like eating steak... I was a little shocked when he asked if I'd be okay with it being cooked medium-rare - not something I usually consider with poultry!

I also had a beavertail on the canal, a burger at The Works, poutine at Zak's, and went out for a night to Tila Tequila (which isn't really my style, but fun nevertheless).

By the way,...

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Figured I'd post this here instead of in the forums, as I tend not to like personal threads:

I'm going to Ottawa for a week at the end of February, and I was looking for those ever-popular tips on where to go. My girlfriend is living there for a few months, so she'll have a lot planned, but I was hoping to get some ideas from some residents.

We're looking for nice restaurants - I like the sounds of one called e18hteen, mainly because it's close to her house, and it's got ostrich on the menu, which I told her I'm definately getting if we choose it. Anyone have any opinions on that, or where else we should look? As long as the menu is in english, I'm game.

As for places we're going, I know we'll be going to the Museums of Civilization and Nature, and probably the Art Gallery. She'll definately be dragging me to the Hill. Other than that, I didn't have any ideas, so is there something less obvious I should consider?

Hopefully I'll get a few responses, so thanks in advance!!


Daniel

Stepping away from the regular question/answer theme for now; consider this a question I've asked myself:

We've all heard the expressions "Be happy with whom you are", "Be happy with what you've got", etc, at some point in our lives, and mostly accept that as good advice; we are whom we are and have what we have, and we all wish to be happy, right? Well, there's another, more apt name for this outlook on life: complacency.

I understand the underlying sentiment of the expression - it's an attempt to boost the morale of people otherwise unhappy with themselves and/or their lot in life. Whether it be a person struggling with obesity, or someone working in a deadend job, we want to assure them that not everyone needs to be beautiful or successful to lead a fullfilling life. With the superficiality that has taken over most aspects of our society and culture, it's a simple reminder that happiness need not derive from a low bodyfat percentage or a shiny car.

That is, at least, what I assume was the original intent of the message. These days, it's been bastardized to indicate that having goals is a sign of superficiality or discontent, that you should not care about the the opinions of those around them, and/or that everyone should be happy with the way you as well.

First of all, goals are important to human nature - it's not a bad attitude to have to want to continually improve one's position in life. Does that mean I have to be a millionaire to be successful? Obviously not, but the effort should still be there, and if I'm going to be successful in life, it sure as hell isn't going to be just by lowering my standards to what I've already accomplished. Success in life should be measured by improvement, not by having the most lackadaisical outlook.

Having this desire means I'm discontent, right? Again, it doesn't, and I'm probably more content knowing I'm able to improve my situation even more.

People also seem to assume that...

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Well, after a long hiatus (which will resume after this post, unfortunately) I decided to dig into the Askbag and pull out this question:

"I just bought a bunch of steak, and I'm wondering if you have any good tips on how to cook it"

Now, culinary arts happens to be an area in which I'm particularly an expert, so here are a few things to consider:

First of all, a disclaimer: I realize this was somewhat of a time-critical question to be answered, but in case you've been holding onto that steak waiting for this, throw it out. If it's been in the freezer this whole time, it'll taste like MDF, and if you didn't even think to freeze it, you may need a new refrigerator.

Second of all, it's fall, and I don't particularly think standing outside in the cold is fun when I'm hungry. Hence, we're staying focused on cooking inside. Use a pan - it's warmer, it's quicker, and you don't have to worry about empty propane tanks. You've been barbequing all summer, give it a rest.

Next we consider preperation: I don't, to be frank. Marinade makes steak taste like something other than steak, and we don't need that. That doesn't mean you need to buy the higher-end cuts, though - if you do it right, it'll taste good on its own.

I use a non-stick pan to cook my steaks, with a very small amount of oil. I also make sure I have some sort of cover, which I'll discuss in a minute. Make sure there is a lot of space, because you con't just cook a steak by itself.

That's because (and this is unbreakable rule #2) you need some sort of so-called "fixings" - this is what makes or breaks your steaks. This is what you'll cook along with your steak in the same pan, and usually consists of some sort of fruit/vegetable mixture. Anything from the onions and mushrooms to apples and raisins. You need something in there or your steak will be dry. The extra moisture from the vegetables serves to keep from drawing the...

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Blue_Nose asks himself,

"Is my blog really 100 days old?"

I noticed my blog has been around for 100 days now - it's the second oldest here at CKA, and only recently changed themes (25 days ago, incidentally) and subsequently become a little more popular.

So, in celebration of day 100, AskBN becomes BNAsks:

The intent of this post is to get an idea from the readers as to how they feel about the blog - mostly about the design (I prefer the light text on dark, which is different from CKA's normal theme), concept (should I be accepting questions via PM only, and should they be kept anonymous?) or my writing style (do I take things too seriously, too long-winded, etc). I won't be asking for comments on the content, since I rely on questions from readers, and haven't received enough to start getting picky.

That brings me to my next point - please ask questions! I'm thankful to those who've helped out in this regard, but the more people ask, the more I have to work with... I like the idea of basing the content on reader preferences, because the internet has enough enough ranting blogs on topics nobody cares about. Again, thanks to the people who've taken 30 seconds to throw a random question out there for me to consider.