Sunday, February 05, 2012
Friday, November 04, 2011
When I became a man, I put away childish things
A bit of a poignant milestone this weekend. We needed to make room in the basement for an electronic drum set, and this necessitates cleaning out the toy cupboards and saying farewell to some well-loved toys. Bionicles, in this case, but there are more. It's always hard to see these go.
Even the boy showed a moment of uncharacteristic sentiment.
But all to this end: This was driving us nuts, day after day. The boy is actually a great drummer, but the sheer volume and duration (drumming is actually an endurance event! ask Neal Peart) was making us crazy and he was restricted to practicing when the rest of us were either out of the house or closeted upstairs with the dooor closed.
So the idea of an electronic drum set, which can be played with headphones so only the drummer can hear it at volume, sounded better and better all the time. But we needed to make room for it.
He can actually pull it out and have a bit more elbow room, but so far we all think it is pretty sweet. He can wake up at 3:45 in the morning and play it and the rest of us will be none the wiser. Happiness is restored.
Even the boy showed a moment of uncharacteristic sentiment.
But all to this end: This was driving us nuts, day after day. The boy is actually a great drummer, but the sheer volume and duration (drumming is actually an endurance event! ask Neal Peart) was making us crazy and he was restricted to practicing when the rest of us were either out of the house or closeted upstairs with the dooor closed.
So the idea of an electronic drum set, which can be played with headphones so only the drummer can hear it at volume, sounded better and better all the time. But we needed to make room for it.
He can actually pull it out and have a bit more elbow room, but so far we all think it is pretty sweet. He can wake up at 3:45 in the morning and play it and the rest of us will be none the wiser. Happiness is restored.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
A break in the weather
It's not always calm enough to see reflections in the river, but today was one of those days.
Thanksgiving weekend
Thanksgiving harvest. Tim and the kids brought in our small but satisfying garden produce. Not overwhelming, so at least we won't have the guilt of veggies decomposing in the cold room.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Doing what I don't usually do, and kind of liking it
Even though I don't really do art journals, I have greatly enjoyed Tammy's recent posts at Daisy yellow, particularly her video Pastel Chaos in the Exacompta in which we see her create a double page spread and give her thoughts on the process. I love her emphasis on freeing oneself from artificially imposed rules, and focusing instead on an intuitive, playful approach to paints, ink and the blank page. Right away, you can see she's not scared of a blank page - making you realize that you don't need to be, either.
Another recent post, Art Journaling 101 for kids, teens and beginners is a terrific introduction to useful materials and techniques without bogging the reader down with too much information or the need to go crazy shopping for every art material under the sun. If the bright images don't inspire you to start splashing paint around, then her contagious enthusiasm and encouragement will (and vice versa). All through her posts, you get the feeling that she just wants you to really be immersed in the process of creating something meaningful to you, something you can see and touch and feel on a physical page; something you made with your own hands. And that's important, in a world where an increasing proportion of images and text are ephemeral and electronic and created by someone else.
Art journaling may not be everyone's process but it's worth trying at least once, or twice, or any time the feeling hits. Most of us have the basics lying around the house anyway (particularly if, like me, you have accumulated an entire cupboard of art and craft materials). It's worth taking them out and taking the time to play.
And, see? even if I don't usually do the art journal thing, she made me want to try it again. So, I did.
Another recent post, Art Journaling 101 for kids, teens and beginners is a terrific introduction to useful materials and techniques without bogging the reader down with too much information or the need to go crazy shopping for every art material under the sun. If the bright images don't inspire you to start splashing paint around, then her contagious enthusiasm and encouragement will (and vice versa). All through her posts, you get the feeling that she just wants you to really be immersed in the process of creating something meaningful to you, something you can see and touch and feel on a physical page; something you made with your own hands. And that's important, in a world where an increasing proportion of images and text are ephemeral and electronic and created by someone else.
Art journaling may not be everyone's process but it's worth trying at least once, or twice, or any time the feeling hits. Most of us have the basics lying around the house anyway (particularly if, like me, you have accumulated an entire cupboard of art and craft materials). It's worth taking them out and taking the time to play.
And, see? even if I don't usually do the art journal thing, she made me want to try it again. So, I did.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Bright and bulletproof: blues and browns
The Lamy Safari (and its clear demonstrator version, the Vista) is just about my favorite pen for everyday use. It's neither sleek, nor stylish, but it's cheerfully hardy, and I never freak out if it should fall on the floor (I once sent one skittering down a considerable length of linoleum in a school hallway) or worry if it might be getting scratched by my keys in the bag. So I am pretty much have one in use at all times.
Lamy often comes out with Limited Edition colours and this years LE was Aquamarine. Since everyone in my house uses a fountain pen, I thought it just made sense to make sure we had enough around the house - you know, near the phone, in the kitchen for grocery lists, and wouldn't this one make a nice addition? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
It turns out that the pen colour is really hard to get right in camera, or at least, get right while also trying to get the ink colour right. This is Noodler's Bulletproof #41 Brown - possibly the best behaved bulletproof Noodlers ink I've tried, excepting the original Bulletproof Black. My only quibble is the tendency for ink to creep onto the nib. Otherwise, it's chocolatey good in this pen, and glides wonderfully out of the fine nib onto the paper. The first picture shows the pen a little too dark, but the ink colour is about right - a rich neutral brown. The second picture shows the ink more red than in real life, but the colour is much more true for the pen - bright, happy, almost turquoise. This is my current everyday carry to take to school/work. It cheers me up just to look at it. And with the lazy days of summer coming quickly to an end, we'll take as much school and work cheer as we can get!
Lamy often comes out with Limited Edition colours and this years LE was Aquamarine. Since everyone in my house uses a fountain pen, I thought it just made sense to make sure we had enough around the house - you know, near the phone, in the kitchen for grocery lists, and wouldn't this one make a nice addition? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
It turns out that the pen colour is really hard to get right in camera, or at least, get right while also trying to get the ink colour right. This is Noodler's Bulletproof #41 Brown - possibly the best behaved bulletproof Noodlers ink I've tried, excepting the original Bulletproof Black. My only quibble is the tendency for ink to creep onto the nib. Otherwise, it's chocolatey good in this pen, and glides wonderfully out of the fine nib onto the paper. The first picture shows the pen a little too dark, but the ink colour is about right - a rich neutral brown. The second picture shows the ink more red than in real life, but the colour is much more true for the pen - bright, happy, almost turquoise. This is my current everyday carry to take to school/work. It cheers me up just to look at it. And with the lazy days of summer coming quickly to an end, we'll take as much school and work cheer as we can get!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Blueberry swirl
At last, helped along by several episodes of the British comedy Vicar of Dibley, I have finished and cast off this two-tone Shetland triangle wrap.
It still has to be blocked, but I always like the rippled look it has fresh off the needles.
This has been hanging out in my knitting bag for several months now, so I promised myself I'd finish it before starting a new project with the beautiful Madeline Tosh DK I got from my SIL Julie at Valley Yarn. Still looking for the right pattern, but I'm looking forward to a new project with new yarn.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It still has to be blocked, but I always like the rippled look it has fresh off the needles.
This has been hanging out in my knitting bag for several months now, so I promised myself I'd finish it before starting a new project with the beautiful Madeline Tosh DK I got from my SIL Julie at Valley Yarn. Still looking for the right pattern, but I'm looking forward to a new project with new yarn.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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I was reminded of it when she pinged me on Google chat last week, and again this weekend, at the memorial of a friend who loved walking through, as she called them, the "voluptuous coulees".
So here's to Kathryn, off to wonderful new opportunities in a new job and province, and here's to Lee - may she ever continue to walk far, through a blaze of colour and the voluptuous landscape of unknown horizons.