Live for something! Do good and leave behind you a monument of virtue that the storm of time can never destroy. Write your name in kindness, love, and mercy on the hearts of the thousands you come in contact with, year by year, and you will never be forgotten. Your name, your deeds, will be as legible on the hearts you leave behind, as the stars on the brow of evening. Good deeds will shine as the stars of heaven.
Thomas Chalmers

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.

If you want to help (this is an easy way to contribute for those who aren’t coders), go to http://wordpress.org/extend/ideas/view/considering and start looking at threads. Start from the pages at the back of the list, and on each one you can help resolve:

• Read the thread.
• If you don’t know if something exists as a plugin or has been implemented, use Google.
• Add a comment to the thread indicating the status/outcome. If you found an appropriate plugin, link to it.
• Add the “modlook” tag.
• Bask in the glow of knowing that this small task is part of a big job, and is much appreciated by the community.

The sooner we get the old ideas cleared out of there, the sooner it can become more useful as a discussion tool (and clear up Trac to focus on accepted features and enhancements). So thanks, Jeffr0, and anyone else who steps up to join us in this task!
Jane Wells

I will be adding this to my daily to-do list of WordPress related items, will you?

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.

The location is the Swan & Firkin at 2205 Bloor Street West in the Bloor West Village.

I am expecting the same great group of people as well as a great discussion on topics of interest related to WordPress, blogging, et cetera.

See you there …

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.

Thanks to @smashingmag for sharing it.

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.

Uncle Don passed away this morning, he would have been 70 this year; and, he is the first of the nine brothers and sisters in my mother’s family to leave.

Born July 13, 1940. Died February 10, 2010. May he rest in peace. Amen.

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.

I left home about an hour before the scheduled meeting was to start. Most people who know me also know I often get lost, sometimes by chance often by choice as I like to check out new places and areas. One of the best ways to learn a little about an area is to start by getting lost in it.

I arrived at High Park about 30 minutes later. I do not recall being inside the park but I am sure I have been there before … maybe. I drove up Colborne Lodge Drive as the Google map showed a fairly easy and clear route to the Grenadier Restaurant in the middle of the park. Less than five minutes later, about a quarter of the way in, the northbound side of the road ended?! Having reviewed maps of the area (and having a print out with me) I thought … No problem, I will just go a little further east and take Parkside Drive and enter the park from the east side.

I drove out of the park; turned left on The Queensway; and, headed east looking for Parkside … I didn’t see it. I chose Sunnyside Avenue and headed north thinking I can turn around somewhere and head back west looking for Parkside … or some other route into the park. I drove around the block that St. Joseph’s Health Centre sits on and ended back on The Queensway heading west. I found Parkside … as I drove over its underpass.

No worries, I thought to myself, I will just drive back to Colborne Lodge Drive turn south and head back along Lakeshore Blvd W to Parkside and be on my way … it was closed for construction to eastbound traffic. I believed at this point I had managed the lost phenomenon! I drove a little further east along Lakeshore and there was a turn-around to head back west, which I took; and, as I was heading west trying to sort out the next approach I saw that Parkside was open to westbound traffic and proceeded north to High Park Blvd.

I entered the park and arrived at our meeting place at just before 1:45PM … this was a truly great starting experience. I got lost(?) and I still arrived early. I walked into the restaurant and looked around. It was busy. Lots of people in the park and a good deal taking advantage of the restaurant’s good food and warmth. I did not see any particular person or group that looked like our Meetup members immediately so I started walking through the restaurant looking for a potentially familiar face, or sign. I notice there was a more formal dining area, still causal, but a maitre’d podium with a “Please wait to be seated” sign drew me closer.

Craig Taylor, the organizer, was waiting to be seated … and so we began. We were followed by five more people and the meeting lasted for well over two hours. We discussed various WordPress related topics and sorted out some ideals for future meetings. The attendees (in an order following how we were seated around the table):

• Craig Taylor
• Chris O’Brien
• Martin H
• Joel but you can call me Joe
• Joel’s +1 (my apologies for not getting your information for this post)
• Alex Frakking
• Daria Sukman
• Edward Caissie

To join the group, just follow this link: http://www.meetup.com/WPToronto/

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.

Also, as a reminder, the first meeting of The Toronto WordPress Meetup Group is scheduled for this Saturday (Jan 23, 2010) at 2:00 PM. We will be meeting at the VSP Grenadier Cafe in High Park.

There will also be an announcement, for members only, regarding the upcoming WordCamp Toronto in March 2010, too.

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.

I have looked at today as my New Year’s Day for longer than I can remember. There have been years I was introspective; some years were open and exciting; other years passed uneventfully; but, this year … this year starts a new decade!

I see myself continuing in my works with WordPress. I find it interesting; I enjoy delving into and explore its functionality; and, I see it as something to transition with into the future.

I plan to get back to writing, too. Maybe just more blogging, or maybe I will get to that book I have always dreamed of penning.

The imagination is a remarkable place, one without boundaries, waiting to be explored. A great story is only the road map to get you started.

Some interesting items to note from January 14, 1966:

• It was a Friday.
• It was celebrated as New Year’s Day by those following the Julian calendar.
• French-born American Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote in a letter: “The best way to solve the problem of rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s is to have nothing that is Caesar’s.”
• David Bowie released his first record (Can’t Help Thinking About Me)

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.

I am suggesting the twitter hash tags: #wpto (WordPress Toronto) and/or #wptomu (WordPress Toronto Meetup) for following …

© 2010, Edward Caissie. All rights reserved.