in the 'hood

that's the grandparent-hood...have been in it almost 4 years with darling #1 whose birthday approaches and as it approaches, so does the arrival of darling #2, his little sister due October 1st...this is one of the nicest 'hoods to be in; once you arrive you get to stay and enjoy all the associated perks: falling in love with a new person, holding their hands, hugging them, bathing them, listening to their little sounds then attempts at speech, singing to them, making up stories for them, reading to them, watching them crawl, then waddle along then walk, run, climb; shopping for them - all these activities are legitimate and encouraged. So, you can enjoy your Bel Air, Pacific Heights, French Riviera, Arrondissement # whatever, Central Park, Kensington Palace Gardens, Westmount, Forest Hill, Rosedale - I'll take the grandparent 'hood any day.
this image is from an almost-completed oil painting of darling #1 at the beach

The Annual Birthday Celebration - covers at least 1 week

what fun it has been to celebrate this most recent birthday - a few of the highlights: as a guest of Gerry and Lucie I attended the 5th Annual Patsy Cline Birthday Party at a Toronto night club, the professional performers each paid tribute to the late PC by performing one of her recorded songs, a highlight was by a female jazz guitarist who did her rendition of "I Fall To Pieces" all the performers were excellent, and so was the company and the dinner. Next night was a lovely dinner on an outdoor patio in the 'hood with Marg and Tony and today Margaret and Brink hosted me to a tasty brunch at University of Toronto's Hart House Grill, yummy menu! As we exited that historic building on campus, a carillon recital began from the Soldiers' Tower. Take a Gravol and watch my shaky video to hear some of the heavenly music.

in pursuit of

the other day I overheard a snippet of conversation as I walked past 2 men, one said to the other something about "a life of active leisure" - how I liked that phrase - I immediately decided that I am seeking a life of active leisure; what will I do when I reach it? walk farther each day? - yes; hike? - maybe; ride my bike? - yes; swim? - yes, back to aquafit classes!; go canoeing? - maybe; go kayaking? - yes; these last two require trips out of town...or further afield as in Walking the Camino de Santiago de Composela - maybe part of it, i.e. between a couple of 4-star hotels; living in Provence for a month or two? very high likelihood; rock climbing? no; skydiving? no; roller blading? no; so you see there are degrees of "active" in the term active leisure - yours may be more "active" than mine, but in any case, it is a worthwhile pursuit, n'est ce pas?

Census/Senses/Sense

Free me from talk of the national census! I want to discuss senses.
On my morning walk this day, I was conscious of a whiff of damp cedar; it evoked an instant memory of girl guide camp some - oh, it can't be that many!! - years ago. A visit to that camp site in the Boreal forest of the Laurentian Mountains (or should that read the Laurentan Mountains of the Boreal forest? please do not hesitate to correct me, gentle reader, if need be) - but I digress, a visit there by my Pater led him to purchase the family summer cottage in that same general geographic area. One olfactory memory leads to another, from damp cedar to damp bathing suits, the damper on the smoky fireplace at the cottage, roasted marshmallows - you get my drift. This leads to thoughts of both the late parents, thus to thoughts of humans' mortality. Leaving that area: on to the sense of sight. The photo above is of one of the things I see on my short, daily voyage in the 'hood. I am far from Oz, but these whimsical sculptures please the visual sense.
You may have an opinion to share on the current 'hot' topic of the Canadian long-form census questionnaire.
As for common sense, you may have some valuable insights. My thought on that is: there does not seem to be an abundance of common sense floating about. What say you?

Blogging Technology

Some days this technology seems beyond my limited abilities - note I said 'some' days, not all days - but on this day I must thank my brilliant sister-in-law for her kind assistance in sorting out some 'blips' I was experiencing. Thanks to the lovely and multi-talented Sue, my blogspot has been efficiently re-vamped in ways that can be seen (and some that cannot be seen)!

is anybody out there?

Hot days in Toronto - Ice Cream Saves Lives

No profound thought: simply this - hot weather bad, water good, ice cream good, eat it.

How I spent my summer vacation

Last week I visited Highlands, North Carolina, a gem-like little town set in the mountains, with a small year-round population whose numbers swell in summer. And for good reasons: great air and scenery draw visitors from surrounding states and further afield. This photo was taken yesterday on the drive from the town back to the Atlanta, Ga. airport, leaving Highlands this site overlooks Blue Valley in the Nantahala National Forest - breathtaking. The region boasts countless waterfalls, rivers, gorges, hiking trails, but no mountain climbing as hooks cannot sink into the granite...if you go, the town is about 150 miles from the Atlanta airport...and if you are lucky you will be hosted by a Southern belle as graciously as we were. Mountain lodges, art galleries, theatre, all are on offer. A 2-hr drive from Highlands to Asheville takes you to the Biltmore Estate - truly worth a visit - while there you may be tempted to just hunker down in one of the 250 elegant rooms - believe me the thought crossed my mind...do you think anyone would have noticed?

Can-Am Weekend

It's the weekend when both countries in North America which straddle the 49th parallel celebrate their national holidays - Canada Day is July 1st and the U.S. has 'The Glorious Fourth" of July. Having had one parent who was originally from the U.S., and because I am travelling south of the border tomorrow, I feel that I am covering both sides this year - and fireworks are among my favorite delights!

perfect remedy

for having overdosed on press coverage of the violence and vandalism on my city's streets on Saturday and Sunday (indeed, is it over?) the answer was spending peaceful hours in my studio in the company of Naples yellow, Zinc white, Alizarin crimson, burnt umber, French ultramarine blue and others on Sunday - turned out to be a creative and restorative day...this painting is almost finished, don't tell Team Parent...onwards!

Toronto - in the limelight - protests abound

Our city is currently hosting the G-20 Summit - media attention is being paid to the deterioration of peaceful demonstrations today...predictably some protesters are violent and destructive. Police cars on fire, storefront windows broken - negative images to be sure. As it continues I can only wish that the next several hours will not see more and worse consequences of these actions.

One thing really puzzles me: people who purposefully go down to view the "action" - I guess they are fearless (read: misguided) or is it just that I certainly am too much of a wimp to deliberately place myself in the line of fire?

Peace and love,

Luminato Festival of Arts + Creativity 2010 in Toronto

Today I visited a couple of the art installations - part of this year's Luminato Festival; beautiful and thought-provoking offerings, I am attaching a photo of one: an art/fashion installation in a breathtaking venue, the Galleria space of a downtown office building, this space was designed by the well-known architect, Santiago Calatrava; the piece is entitled "The Ascension of Beauty" by Mark Fast a UK based knitwear designer (hails originally from Canada), the dress on the mannequin is knitted on a machine and the white ropes are its train, also, I believe, made on the knitting machine, the train goes on for a great distance reaching into the top of the Galleria and swings down and up, quite lovely. The other installation was film and really too esoteric to try to describe herein - especially after two glasses of Australian chardonnay...a la prochaine, mes amis,

I'm Back! by popular demand and unrelenting requests

hello, gentle readers, after a prolonged absence from the blogosphere I have returned; I am technologically challenged and have changed my e-mail address since I last wrote, now I can see if you leave me a comment - which you can do if you are yourself logged in as a blog user - but I will not get your e-mails as it seems impossible to change that...but if I find out how, you will be the first to know. You can still gain access to my website, please visit.

Lots of changes since I last wrote, I have moved house and job locations (same job, just moved locations) now working from home base and I love it - no commuting problems, yea! Each morning I walk around the block then I enter my home office and plug away at the tasks which require my undivided attention...