I have had a continual debate with myself for some time about being political in my blog. I have always backed down on making a statement, but the time has come to go there.
There is often a handful of dedicated protesters across the street from Fredericton's women's clinic with placards that support a pro-life stance. I have an odd reaction to seeing the various persons there, and as I drive by and wave, I find myself singing this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kJHQpvgB8
It's perhaps a funny choice of song, but being that both men and women appear there, and that their belief in the idea of the moment of conception being the beginning of life as we know it, I would want to push the argument back and ask which came first: the egg or the protester?
....and no, I don't want to start a riot over this, just want share an odd reaction.
--
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Up & Coming
The Fredericton Arts Alliance Summer Residency Exhibition opened last night at city hall. It looks very nice and the range of artistic talents that is shown is fantastic.
Also coming up is the 5th Annual Arts Trek Open Studio event starting with a Gala opening at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre on the evening of Friday October 16th and the studios are wide open on Saturday (17) and Sunday (18)
To see a copy of the poster: http://www.frederictonartsalliance.ca/trekposter.pdf
Tickets for the Gala are $35 each and available at Westminster Books as well as through the Alliance.
In other news, back in the studio now that the shop is closed for the season, getting ready for the Christmas shows, and back to teaching classes more regularly for a bit.
--
Monday, September 21, 2009
Changes:
or rambling because I refuse to address the real issue :-P
'Tis the season for change.
Fall has set in with the first signs of frosty mornings and colourful leaves. The hummingbirds are long gone and the last of the tomatoes have been picked from the plants.
The casemate that I shared for the summer in the Garrison District closed yesterday and I gathered all my things from it last night. I will miss the place and the social activity that it provided. Fortunately this week is a busy one with something on for every evening and classes all day on Saturday.
Another sign of the season was changing the stovepipe in the studio. Inevitably it rots out after awhile and wood heat is the only heat source in the studio for the winter months. Winterizing has started.
I am seeing changes in people too with the change in season, the return to school for some, leaving summer vacation behind for others. Changes in the way we dress, an extra layer, woolly somethings added, or for the brazen, adding a colourful scarf and hat to an outfit. Attitudes are changing too, we seem to be calming down and leaving our summer bravado behind as we prepare to hunker both into ourselves and our eventual snow-covered abodes.
A lot of folks that I have spoken with lately really hope that we have a another month or two of warm weather reaching into the high 60's or low 20's depending on wither they are Fahrenheit or Celsius minded. Our summer was Hobbes-ian: "short, nasty, and brutish" with far to much cool and wet weather followed by what seemed far too much heat and humidity and suddenly a few brief days of near ideal conditions for the first weekend of September.
Upcoming adventures on my agenda for this week include getting involved with Fredericton's Pride 2010 planning, going to the season opener for the Women & Business Network, the opening of the Fredericton Arts Alliance Summer Residency Programme show at City Hall on Wednesday night at 5, and teaching.
And finally, an early Happy Birthday to a friend who will soon be entering his mid-life crisis in style. That's the way to do it darling!
'Tis the season for change.
Fall has set in with the first signs of frosty mornings and colourful leaves. The hummingbirds are long gone and the last of the tomatoes have been picked from the plants.
The casemate that I shared for the summer in the Garrison District closed yesterday and I gathered all my things from it last night. I will miss the place and the social activity that it provided. Fortunately this week is a busy one with something on for every evening and classes all day on Saturday.
Another sign of the season was changing the stovepipe in the studio. Inevitably it rots out after awhile and wood heat is the only heat source in the studio for the winter months. Winterizing has started.
I am seeing changes in people too with the change in season, the return to school for some, leaving summer vacation behind for others. Changes in the way we dress, an extra layer, woolly somethings added, or for the brazen, adding a colourful scarf and hat to an outfit. Attitudes are changing too, we seem to be calming down and leaving our summer bravado behind as we prepare to hunker both into ourselves and our eventual snow-covered abodes.
A lot of folks that I have spoken with lately really hope that we have a another month or two of warm weather reaching into the high 60's or low 20's depending on wither they are Fahrenheit or Celsius minded. Our summer was Hobbes-ian: "short, nasty, and brutish" with far to much cool and wet weather followed by what seemed far too much heat and humidity and suddenly a few brief days of near ideal conditions for the first weekend of September.
Upcoming adventures on my agenda for this week include getting involved with Fredericton's Pride 2010 planning, going to the season opener for the Women & Business Network, the opening of the Fredericton Arts Alliance Summer Residency Programme show at City Hall on Wednesday night at 5, and teaching.
And finally, an early Happy Birthday to a friend who will soon be entering his mid-life crisis in style. That's the way to do it darling!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Thanks
Well now, there's a milestone for the blog: "1000" views since I put the counter on it... On the funny side of this, it would have been nice to note the date that I did that... and "no", the tracking software for it doesn't count my IP, or for that matter just about any IP that runs through the particular ISP that we use, blocked a large series of IP's when it was set up.
As always, please tell me what interests you or comment. Tell me why you keep coming back to visit, I know that some of you do, or why you stopped by in the first place.
Cheers.
As always, please tell me what interests you or comment. Tell me why you keep coming back to visit, I know that some of you do, or why you stopped by in the first place.
Cheers.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Shots for September
Fall is setting in and winter will follow just as surely as the birds are beginning to flock and devour the fruit of the mountain ash.
The sunny yellow flowers of the pond lilies are still showing their warmth and will continue to decorate the pond until the frost finally skims the top with ice.
The same frost will take its toll on the remaining brown eyed susans and the colourful painted daisies of the garden.
But once in a blue moon, and the moon is hanging high into the morning sky...
.. .a fawn is spotted on the lawn still showing the marks of youth...
...before dashing away after its twin through the remaining fall flowers.
It is not the first the fawns have been spotted since spring, but it is the first time that I could quickly get to the camera and grab a couple of shots through the window.
The sunny yellow flowers of the pond lilies are still showing their warmth and will continue to decorate the pond until the frost finally skims the top with ice.
The same frost will take its toll on the remaining brown eyed susans and the colourful painted daisies of the garden.
But once in a blue moon, and the moon is hanging high into the morning sky...
.. .a fawn is spotted on the lawn still showing the marks of youth...
...before dashing away after its twin through the remaining fall flowers.
It is not the first the fawns have been spotted since spring, but it is the first time that I could quickly get to the camera and grab a couple of shots through the window.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Romance & Technology
I am quietly laughing at an email from a friend this morning. It appears that the way his brother is announcing his engagement to his family is via chat on X-Box. I hope that he didn't make the proposal to his affianced in a similar method.
Our teenager also maintains her romances and friendships via IM and FB, and I am frequently informed of break-ups and make-ups and make-outs that are entirely electronically based.
In a way, this both intrigues me and saddens me, whatever happened to going to the florist to wire real flowers, and send real love letters via snail-mail? Is the lack of the tangible in relationships going to be the death knell of real romance?
Our teenager also maintains her romances and friendships via IM and FB, and I am frequently informed of break-ups and make-ups and make-outs that are entirely electronically based.
In a way, this both intrigues me and saddens me, whatever happened to going to the florist to wire real flowers, and send real love letters via snail-mail? Is the lack of the tangible in relationships going to be the death knell of real romance?
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Ritual
I had the opportunity to discuss the value of ritual in out lives with Nate this morning.
When a lot of us think of ritual we consider it in a wholly religious sense relating to church ceremony, but it's not just that. It is something that can be a personal practice. Our lives are filled with habit but rarely ritualized practice.
A ritualized practice is something that we can do everyday to prepare ourselves for writing, playing music, or getting ready for work as examples. A ritual can bring us back to ourselves and remind ourselves of a relaxed time, a moment when we felt peace or joy.
For myself, a ritual that developed when I was on vacation this spring was getting up in a quiet house, making an espresso and heading outside to the deck with my notebook. Sitting in the sun and just enjoying the beverage and early morning light. Simply relaxing into that moment of time before starting my journal pages for the day. Another thing that got added onto that time was some walking meditation for about 10 minutes, just breathing and taking small deliberate steps in a pattern. Even though the location has changed, I am here and not on vacation, I can recapture that moment of quiet by simply going through the ritual of brewing an espresso and heading out the door to a lawn chair with my notebook in hand.
The problem with ritual is that even when we know that something has the ability to relax us, to allow us to experience a pleasure sensation, we tend to put it off in our daily lives because we don't have time. We revert back to the habit of looking after the daily grind, rather than taking 15 minutes for ourselves to be with ourselves.
It's good to be reminded that a daily practice, whatever it is that we choose to practice, is soothing for both the mind and spirit.
I'm going back outdoors, then back to the studio.
--
Currently listening to Chocolate Drops - Emanate 7
When a lot of us think of ritual we consider it in a wholly religious sense relating to church ceremony, but it's not just that. It is something that can be a personal practice. Our lives are filled with habit but rarely ritualized practice.
A ritualized practice is something that we can do everyday to prepare ourselves for writing, playing music, or getting ready for work as examples. A ritual can bring us back to ourselves and remind ourselves of a relaxed time, a moment when we felt peace or joy.
For myself, a ritual that developed when I was on vacation this spring was getting up in a quiet house, making an espresso and heading outside to the deck with my notebook. Sitting in the sun and just enjoying the beverage and early morning light. Simply relaxing into that moment of time before starting my journal pages for the day. Another thing that got added onto that time was some walking meditation for about 10 minutes, just breathing and taking small deliberate steps in a pattern. Even though the location has changed, I am here and not on vacation, I can recapture that moment of quiet by simply going through the ritual of brewing an espresso and heading out the door to a lawn chair with my notebook in hand.
The problem with ritual is that even when we know that something has the ability to relax us, to allow us to experience a pleasure sensation, we tend to put it off in our daily lives because we don't have time. We revert back to the habit of looking after the daily grind, rather than taking 15 minutes for ourselves to be with ourselves.
It's good to be reminded that a daily practice, whatever it is that we choose to practice, is soothing for both the mind and spirit.
I'm going back outdoors, then back to the studio.
--
Currently listening to Chocolate Drops - Emanate 7
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