Stop. Hammer Time

It made me laugh to see this sign, but it seems it is not an original graffiti.

Yarn Bombing Bazaar

I am tickled and delighted to see,

that the yarn bombing continues at Good Companions.

Just like they did to keep the tree warm, and others did to make Ottawa pretty.

It would seem that the elders are guerrilla marketing their bazaar!

How lovely are these lace doilies above?

Is this a wool apron for BBQing?

Pot holders made from rags like my Grandmaman taught me to make when I was a wee one.

I will be there on Saturday at 9:30 on the dot. Be there too!

This is all happening at 670 Albert Street at the the Good Companions Senior's Centre.

Leaving Something

Someone left something to remember Elmaks...

Laser Pencil

I unintentionally came up with another use for binder clips while fiddling during a long meeting.

I can now,

• easily pick up my pencil (great for anyone with arthritis),
• prevent the pencil from rolling off the meeting table,
• prevent chewing my pencil (see the bite marks?), and
  
• subtly aim it at speakers that are boring me and pretend it is a silencing laser!

Ottawa Has Skateboarding Lanes!

Ta! Elmaks

I saw something in my swap box by Elmaks tonight that I'd never really paid attention to.

I figured Elmaks had started to outline the letters of the word Take, and stopped after outlining only the T and the a.

Tonight I saw it differently, and I whispered, ta! back at you Elmaks ... we will miss you.

Ottawa Vampires Beware!

Morning Moon

A howl out to Coyote at Singing Moon

Baby it's Cold Outside

It's getting cold, and the super empathic knitters are hitting the town, and making sure that all stays warm in Ottawa:

X Marks the G-Spots

It seems that someone was inspired to carve a representation of my fashion tip.*


You can see this wooden beauty in front of Wicked Wanda's Adult Emporium on Bank Street.

* But, I do not recommend the use of nails or staples...

Enclosed

I love marbles.

And so, Keir MacDonald, up and coming brilliant young artist, has touched my heart with the photo below and also with the blurb that accompanies it.


Through the lens of a camera; the world around it is compressed into a tiny space. The same phenomenon is taking place in this photograph of a falling marble. I noticed images visible in hanging water droplets, and was fascinated by how much of the world around them appeared to be contained in such a tiny space. This optical occurrence evoked feelings of entrapment and crowding. An entire world, and community existing in a small space. A self contained entity filled with people and their emotions, problems, joys, successes and failures. This kind of an environment is how I have always seen school. A large amount of lives in a tiny space, mostly accepting it as the entirety of their reality. This is an image of a student in front of her high school. The marble, which is falling through frame in the foreground, reveals it as her enclosed world.

Please help get his photo into the National Art Gallery by voting for him - follow this link and click Like next to his photo (you have to be signed in to Facebook).

If you have a blog, I encourage you to ask your followers to vote (pretty please) as the lovely Zoom did on Facebook, and the wonderful David Scrimshaw has done on his blog.

But hurry, the contest closes this Thursday, March 31st.

Love is a Mystery

I used to work with the editor, Richard Garlick, who is an inspiration to me.

I read all the texts that he edited hoping to learn to become a better writer.

Even when he was busy and working on deadlines, he had time to answer my questions, whether work or life related. He loved to share a story or a laugh with anyone who came into his office.

I could hear him from my office, talking with others, and I would listen in. He is a marvelous raconteur. His laugh is musical, and his eyes are kind and encouraging.

He edited one of my texts once, and changed very little in it, and it gave me the courage to consider writing stories.

I don't work with him anymore, but thanks to Facebook I keep in touch.

Did I mention that he is also a wonderful singer and musician?

Here, take a moment to listen to him and his friend sing a tribute they wrote to Buddy Holly:

"Love Is A Mystery - a Buddy Holly song if there ever was one! Written and performed by Richard Garlick and Ian Hammond as a tribute to the man, lost to us 50 years ago, but whose music lives on."