On being making the most of a beautiful Saturday

Yesterday afternoon my friend Katherine and I went on an adventure to find fabric and food while taking in the fresh spring weather. We wandered through various neighbourhoods; Chinatown, Hintonburg and Little Italy, conversing and stopping to photograph the spring flowers. Fueled by Lemonaide and Ice berry tea, we browsed antique stores full of dining tables and teek pieces. We managed to avoid the rest of the local food temptations on Wellington street in Hintonburg, an impressive feat given the line up.

The only time we were aware of day passing was when we let out a few mid-afternoon yawns and later when our stomachs grumbled to mark the dinner hour. It wouldn't have been difficult for me to have sat down on a bench beside the street, placed a straw hat over my head and taken a 30 minute nap. Sadly, I didn't have a straw hat, though I've added one to my summer shopping list for future outings. I'm certain long weekends were inspired by similar adventures, weather and fine company.

Katherine enjoying our rooftop dinner reward.
Homemade quesadillas, hand squeezed fresh virgin Mojitos and Arugula salad.

During our stroll through Little Italy, I picked up some black polka dot fabric to make Oxford pillowcases for my bed. The fabric had just arrived at the fabric store and the storekeeper said he was having trouble keeping it in stock, so I just had to purchase it. I used a simple pattern found on the a blog by Victoria Peat (Little black duck blogger). To ensure that I was able to complete the project without too many frustrating surprises, I had pre-measured everything, reviewed the pattern instructions several times, made all my fabric calculations, compiled a list for the fabric store and had Katherine double check my steps as I went along. The first pillowcase took me about an hour and the second about a half an hour. I'm quite proud of the resulting pillowcases and happy I picked black fabric, because it hides my wobbly and not-so straight seams produced by my intermediate sewing skills.

Brownie film roll 3

Carnival Ferris wheel, Sparks street at Metcalfe Ottawa May 2013
(minor photoshop editing: inverted from negative, cropped)

Another perspective of Resilence

I recommend reading this article in The Walrus Magazine, "Mind games" which discusses the developement of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and finishes with a reflection on the concept of resilence.

Happy weekend!

mb

On Girls (Lena Dunham's foray into television)

A few weeks ago I overheard a conversation at a party about one of my favourite televison series HBO's Girls. I've been thinking about writing a post on my experiences watching the series, reading about it in the media and discussing it with friends. I just couldn't stop thinking about this one comment so I decided to use it as a catalyst to start sharing my thoughts.

I overheard one of the young woman seated in a mid-century lounge chair say "oh, they're just making fun of Sex and the City".

Ah! (I hope I didn't betray my disagreement too much with my facial expression, luckily I was seated clear across the room on a couch). To me this statement couldn't be farther from the truth. There aren't strong references to Sex and the City (STC) in Lena Dunham, Jennifer Konner and Judd Apatow's scripts. Most of the episodes foray into territory uncharted before in the primetime schedule. Yes, it takes place in New York City (Brooklyn not Manhattan) and there are multiple female characters but to me the resemblance stops there. Girls has more depth, character and more in common with my single girl reality than the haute couture clad women of Sex and the City. (Which also reminds me of Alison Pill's character's outburst in the season finale of The Newsroom about how disconnected STC was with reality. The Newsroom is another HBO series by Aaron Sorkin, I may have grown accustom to watching on repeat).

I've also heard/read comments that say that Girls is a show about nothing, just a way for Dunham to be naked on the television and how the second series is not as funny or good as the first. Seinfield reference aside, what the second series lacks in humour, it makes up in its expression of humanity—from exploring the realities of mental illness, the limits of our inner ears to the struggles young women encounter in their parental and romantic relationships. To me there is a whole lot going on that needs to be unpacked. For instance season two episode five entitled "One man's trash" guest starting Patrick Wilson, revealed the raw yet strong voice of Hannah, her insecurities and her need for connection. Which is sadly revoked by Wilson's character as we encounter his inability (when it mattered to her most) to relate to Hannah or be open with himself. For me it was a revealing moment, awkward like most moments in the show, but it had the ability to draw me deeper into Hannah's frustrated sense of being. Something not all the alien from my own experiences.

Returning to my main argument, another aspect of Hannah's life that makes Girls different from Sex and the City is her bout with anxiety and writer's block Hannah, which she experiences when trying to write an ebook within a tight deadline. I only recall an episode or two where Carrie struggles with her own writing, struggles with relationships were plenty, but reflective writing always seemed to come to her. Hannah's struggle with writing, her reaction to hide from her closest friend in her apartment and then hitting rock bottom as she suffers episodes of OCD are all places I bet many of us have been, but haven't been able to reflect upon in the same very public way that Dunham is able to. Yes, she might have the connections and the writing skills, but I don't think she's far off from many people's experiences or realities in life.

I'm excited to see what happens to the show in it's third season, the finale of the second was more positive than I had expected and yet many of the characters could have been said to have fallen backwards, into familiar old relationships (a bit worrisome to this viewer). I'm not sure how optimistic I can be about this peace lasting, I mean, didn't it take six seasons and a movie for Carrie to finally have the lasting relationship she was looking for with Mr. Big? I guess like all things in life only time and HBO's scheduling will tell.

On starting over: the thoughts of Huruki Murakami

Think about the approach to rebuilding described in this quote by Haruki Murakami, the author of 1Q84, a book on the Toyko subway attacks and many other novels. It's his ability to acknowledge that your foundation has shifted, that you build again but not from your original foundation that I appreciate the most. I think of this acknowledgement as being part of building resilience, being mindful and moving on:

"Some of the pain goes away over time, but the passage of time also gives rise to new types of pain. You have to sort it all out, organize it, understand it, and accept it. You have to build a new life on top of the pain." 

                           - HARUKI MURAKAMI (via The New Yorker)

RIght now, I'm reading My Berlin Kitchen by Luisa Weiss, but soon I plan on picking up (figuratively because I'm reading the ebook) Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I hope it doesn't turn out like my experience reading Douglas Coupland's Girlfriend in a Coma. 

On resilience

I'm taking some time out this evening to write to my future self. It feels weird to address a letter to yourself (like a new form of talking out loud to yourself or something). I was struck recently when attending a workshop on resilience, that it's a powerful concept for organizations, nations and individuals. I also reflected that resilience is a quality central to my own character.

Since that day, I've been trying to get myself to write down or somehow capture the strength I gathered up last fall and put into several projects, my health and a few personal desires I'd been neglecting. The idea was to write what I had been thinking so that the next time things weren't going well....well I'd have a reminder of what I was capable of. I sure hope never to experience a repeat of the terrible anxiety, stress, bed bugs, a wicked break up, wisdom teeth surgery, losing my home, depression and career frustration I experienced last fall. So what better way could I find than to write and remind myself just how resilient I could be. If only I could overcome this bout I was having with procrastination. I'm really stubborn and man does it ever suck when it stops be from doing awesome work.

Over the weekend, I read a tweet by @thomkearny about an reflection assignment he gives his students. Thom asks his students to write their Eulogy:

So I thought about writing my letter again and again procrastinated away the entire weekend.

At this point in my life, I'm more interested in writing a letter to myself about resilience and less about what I want other people to say about me when I pass away. But I think that both forms of reflection are valuable and worth my time and attention. I'll be keeping my resilience letter (even though it's a first draft), hopefully I don't have to use it, just the memories should be enough. Being resilient isn't something that is easily forgotten.

An evening with Will Ferguson

A close friend and I attended an Ottawa writer's festival pre-festival event this evening with Will Ferguson. It was a good occasion to relax in the lofty ceilings of a local church, focus (turn off the twitters) and take in a humourous story or five. Despite Ferguson's latest novel 419's dark intertwined tales, the mood was upbeat, light and filled with a few unscripted brusts of laughter. My favourite reflections introduced throughout the night, on the theme of fatherhood, childhood and transitions were Ferguson's reflection on reading the Hardy Boys in your 40s and the idea that "growing up is a slow forgetting".

We used to be makers

Found in my aunt's house. Dennison is now part of Avery, but  I couldn't find any archival documents about Drummondville online.

Flat, practical and good for small spaces.

(via @domino small spaces).

Brownie Experiment - Round 1

Shot of my (new) Brownie taken on Christmas day.

For christmas I was gifted a really sweet DSLR camera. And then my parents also brought me my Aunt's Canadian made Kodak Brownie. I read up on the Brownie online and asked a few photographer friends. I started my experiment by buying some extra film spools on eBay and film from the local camera shop. I finished my first roll a few weeks ago at a friend's cottage and then took in for developing. Since I had to re-roll the film from it's larger plastic spool and add it to an old metal spool I was worried I might have accidently exposed the film. I was careful to respool the film in the dark recesses of a basement (listen to music really helped this process). It was a very strange experience, I recommend trying it. It's amazing how much you can do when you only have your sense of touch to guide you.

The manual still in excellent condition.

I was comitted to testing out the first roll and not worrying if I spoiled it in the respooling process. It turns out I didn't spoil the film respooling it, but that the Brownie has a common issue in which light leaks in from the boxes' seals and back (where the frame number is visible. It turns out the seals in the back of the camera have probably dried out (not surprising since the camera was stored in an old house and given that the camera dates back to the mid-twentieth century).

Looking out of the window from the cottage, a shot that survived.

I had some fun adding Flickr filters.

I asked a few questions when I picked up my film (which had two surviving images from my friend's cottage) and the store employee suggested I use plumbing tape to seal up the leaks. Once I finish the second film I have in the camera I'm going to set to work sealing all the leaks. I still have one spool of film left and I plan to see if I can get a few more photos from it otherwise I might just retire the Brownie.









Besides still being a working artifact, I really like that it was made it Canada. Not a lot of consumer goods are manufactured here anymore. My aunt had quite a few neat old artifacts—more on that later.

Lazy Saturday: 2 minute terrarium project

I went out yesterday to pick up some flowers for a family birthday party and came home with all the elements to make a terrarium. I had been looking at options to introduce green into my environment, but wasn't sure if a house plant was for me or what kind would be easy for a forgetful person to keep alive.

The florist has just received a few flats of the most darling little ferms and plants (nothing that comes in a pot with a diameter of two inches can be called anything less). And when I finally couldn't stand being curious anymore, I asked about their purpose, she mentioned that they were for terranium building. I knew then I had found the right green project (and somehow I'd figure out the keeping it alive part).

Here are a few images of the process (if it can even be called that). It took me about two minutes, followed by a 30 second sweep to clean up and ten seconds to find a place to display my creation.

Empty glass container before I installed my terranium.

The three plants I chose included two ferns and one verigated red leafy plant.

Soil: Funny how when you live in a city your soil almost always comes out of a plastic bag of some sort.

Rocks for proper drainage. Some tutorials also tell you to add aquarium or gardening charcoal. My dad taught me the importance of proper drainage, consider yourself warned.

After I carefully dumped in the stones and flattened them into a layer.

First two plants added to the container after the entire bag of soil.

The final terrarium. I'm thinking of adding some other elements, there are so many ideas online. Maybe a plastic astronaut or a cow. Whatever I add, I'll know it's right when I see it.

Nerd Weekend: Raspberry Pi squared

This weekend my friends and I tested out this awesome little Raspberry Pi.  We got the Blink to blink multiple colours.

And today we went on a hunt for Raspberry pie.

Latest snow fall

Research guide to Dundonald Park

Introduction

This is a research guide I quickly pulled together for myself of information and resources relating to Dundonald Park. This park is located in Ottawa Ontario Canada. In June the park will turn 108 years old. You can get a good idea of the park's history and context from the wikipedia article written about it.

I may update it as I research further.

Related organizations

• Friends of Dundonald Park: background or summary here
• Centretown community health centre: background or summary here
• Centretown movies: hosts of pay what you can movies in the park in the summer

Articles / Media releases

• Media release for the Make a Place for People project report release, February 2013 
• David Reevley's Good ideas for Dundonald Park article from the Ottawa Citizen, February 2013
• Apartment 613's Parks are for people overview of the Dundonald park project, March 2012
• CBC article about park safety, June 2012
• Sun article about 8-80 park study, May 2012

Reports

• Dundonald Park report by 8-80 cities, February 2013 

Blog posts

• Make Dundonald Park better and Ideas for Dundonald Park by Richard Akerman

City of Ottawa

• Park rental fees and information (can't locate the Parks and recreation mandate)
• Listing of Parks including Dundonald 
• Map of parks in centretown with summary of Parks and Open spaces text
• Minutes of meeting in which city waves a $200 fee for Centretown Movies to use the park for 17 nights in 2006. It also mentions the creation of a partnership and permit for the group to carry out their project in the park.
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Other resources

• Positive mention of police work in Dundonald from a Ottawa police services report, November 2012 (final comment)

#odhd13 - It's on!

Let the hacking begin, the third annual International Open Data day has begun in Kuala Lumpur and Japan!