Tic-a-tic-a-toc tic-a-tic-a-toc

I bought a new watch today. It's very grown-up and sensible, especially compared to my cheerful and colourful Care Bears watch. It also has an analog display, so I'm going to have to retrain myself to tell time the old-fashioned way. Sigh. Change is so hard.

A reminder that "12 of 12" is fast-approaching... August 12th is a Saturday, and it's looking highly likely that I will be spending the weekend in Fredericton. And I know you're all dying to know what the city looks like on the weekend. Well, prepare to be dazzled. And I'm open to suggestions for the bonus picture, which is to be based on the word "homage". Can I have the word origin? Can you use it in a sentence, please? Are there any other alternate pronunciations?