the boredom begins...for them.

Summer holidays are not even here yet and I am hearing that lament from my kids. In an effort to stimulate them to creative play I started naming off some fun things I did with my brother when we were kids. As it turned out, most of the things I thought of, I hesitated to recommend. In this bubble-wrapped, politically correct, helmet-wearing, booster seat (until you are 9!)-using society, games like 'stretch' and 'cowboys and indians' don't fit in. When we were bored we parachuted off the swings-until a kid split her head open when the swing came back and nailed her. We played stretch until an adult saw how close the knife in the ground was to our feet. We watched the brave 'Tommy M.' climb the roof of our school to get the rubber balls that were up there. Once, the janitor climbed up after him and the two of them ran around the roof, the latter chasing the former until the former climbed down the water pipe. At home, my brother and I rode the horses bare-back, without saddles or bridles. It was fun until the horses had enough and started running off with us hanging on to their manes and wishing for glue so our pants would 'stick'. When we saddled up, we often took them and jumped them over the empty ditches made deeper every spring from the run-off. Other favourites were hiding in the 4 foot tall grass, catching snails and frogs in our pond, and making up maps to hidden treasures on the farm. We carved those maps right into the bark of the poplar trees in special places.

160 acres of pasture and hay was our home. It was a kid's paradise and if our parents worried at all, they never let on. Outside everyday, even when the temperature was well below freezing and the snow drifts over our heads, we made up all sorts of stories and created the objects to go with them.

Now, when my kids say they are bored and ask me for suggestions, I know what I'd like to tell them. "Go outside and play". Should we have to say more?

climbing the walls

I think it is good to push myself beyond my comfort zone and opportunities come at surprising times. Last weekend my family went out to our local Bible camp and conference centre as volunteers for their big spring clean up. Lots of maintenance and preparation was required for new equipment to come in. Yep, this is not kids camp as you remember it. This place is decked out with amazing toys! Situated on Ness Lake, the camp has the usual canoes, Kayaks, and cabins, but they also have a huge jungle swing, a zip line that runs high above the ground, an indoor climbing wall, and gymnasium. This year's big project was to clear treed area for the new high wire course that is being installed. These facilities are used to challenge kids and adults alike to physical and spiritual strengths they never knew they had. Once the work was done, we were able to check out the equipment. I have never climbed before so I was thrilled to be able to use the climbing wall. My kids and the dad-guy all climbed as well. Fun stuff!

'excessories'

I have been cleaning, purging my household of 'excessories'; those items without a purpose that seem to build up around the place. They arrive in the arms of well meaning friends and kids who's parents have told them to get rid of their junk. It would seem that junk carries an energy necessary to its survival. Some people unconsciously feel this energy and have a hard time letting go. As an alternative to chucking it out, they try to find a new home for it. This is an admirable thing to do considering how full our landfills are becoming, but my question is "where did the junk come from in the first place?" I think this is a complicated question with more than one answer. While in the Anchorage, Alaska airport last summer, my daughter and I spent a lot of time watching planes land and take off from the cargo runways. We were shocked at the number of cargo planes from China. They stop at Anchorage to refuel before continuing on to their destinations. I was puzzled at first until I made a connection between all the labels on my items at home, "Made in China". It is rare now to find items that are not made in China . It's all about marketing. Lower production cost, lower retail cost. The lower price is so enticing that many times I have bought an item on impulse because the price was so good. I am working on breaking that habit, separating 'needs' from 'wants', after all, how much 'stuff' do I really need?

Web 2.0 - a curiosity

The way in which we use the web is changing dramatically. Once a place to 'go and get' information, the web has become a base for self-generated, self-published content.  On March 20th, the College of New Caledonia where I teach is holding a form to discuss these changes and what we can expect from the web in the future. Web 2.0 and Beyond will have a panel of guests whose experience will bring a very different angle to web-based social networks. Kate McCabe, Eric Karjuloto, and Heather Smith will face off on a variety of topics. I am hoping they will discuss the very interesting notions taxonomies, specifically of folksonomy, defined by www.thewebworks.bc.ca as "an Internet-based information retrieval methodology consisting of collaboratively generated, open-ended labels that categorize content ..." for example, tags, tag clouds.

As more and more information is used and stored by more individuals, methods of finding and managing that information need to be developed. Additionally, users are wanting to access their stored information from more that one device, cell phones, and ipod's being two examples of that. There are a lot of questions that come to mind about storing and retrieving huge amounts of information. The first one is

'why' do humans feel compelled to do this?

How often is the stored information accessed by the collector? Or is the purpose to have others access the collection?

I'm sure you have all experienced or contributed to the passing on of jokes, photographs and urban legends through email. I am not fond of receiving information this way, especially since I did not solicite it in the first place, so my question again is why do people search for and send information to their online friends?

In a post from graphpaper.com , Christopher Fahey states:

"People are actually doing (free!) work for other people, adding metadata to information where the information’s “owner” could have done that work. The brilliant thing about folksonomies is that internet users have shown themselves time and time again to be remarkably willing to do their part to help the greater good, even if it means doing labor that happens to bring financial benefit to someone else."

It is a curious thing, a compulsion, an attempt to advance one's position in life. Interesting.

cool water crash

Change is always difficult for me, even if it means something exciting will enter my life. In my observations I have noticed that change comes in waves. Sometimes those waves are huge, sometimes several small, rolling waves crash my shores. I find myself standing, gazing out towards the sea, looking for the next wave. Even as it closes over me, I think, "please, not now, I do not want this to happen." , but the only way passed it is through it. Someday all will be calm again. Until then I will let that cool water crash over me as I ride it out.

stats...

Today is the first day of the new semester. It always feels like a fresh start at the beginning of each term. I thought I was ready for this week, but I keep finding little tasks that I have forgotten. I think I will make myself a pre-semester check list for next time. It became difficult to stay organized when I took on a full course load. I now have 3 sets of students in two separate programs, 4 courses, and one 'team-teach' course. There is a lot to organize. Last semester I had over 150 computer files handed in to me just for 'one' assignment in one class. These courses are complicated to teach as they deal with creative software that is constantly changing. Last semester I taught students to use 6 different pieces of software, digital cameras, scanners, lighting kits, and 5 different drawing and painting styles. I marked 279 assignments, facilitated 163 critiques, gave 35 lectures and tallied 36 final grades. The number of meals I made at home were.... ha! I had you going, didn't I? I think it would be interesting to keep statistics at home as well as work. Then when you ask yourself, "Where did the time go?" You will be able to answer yourself accurately. In the meantime, I started this semester with 1 lecture as of today...have a great new year!

give and take

I received a gift today, during this season of giving (and taking). It is an invoice from Canada Revenue Agency(CRA) for over $400.00. Their timing is impeccable, this day being December 24th, a day when most people would like to set the worries of the world aside and concentration on family. In this world of hard, cold business, is there no time in which these corporations rest?

completion

It feels so good to reach the end of something that you have worked so hard at. The fall semester is finished at the College where I teach. I have submitted final marks for everyone....my students, if you are reading this, breath easy, you all passed. Excellent work and I am looking forward to the learning we will do next semester. It it will be like a fresh field of snow. In the meantime I am going to rest, spend time with my kids, play, eat...maybe too much, and enjoy the many Blessings that are in my life! Shalom, peace to all over the holidays!

no phone, no water

This house has been without phone service for 4 days now. Apparently there are 70 homes in our community without this vital connection to the outside world. The phone company says they have no idea why the lines are down and they have no estimated time of repair. We are not terribly isolated, but enough so that if there was an emergency, there would be no way to solicit help from police or ambulance. Some have cell phones, we do too, but there is no service in this part of the valley. We would have to drive 2 kms to the top of clay hill to make the call. Our home is located 40 kms north of Prince George, British Columbia. You can travel north from the highway that passes by our house all the way to Alaska. We live in a community called Salmon Valley, home to about 250 households, most are agricultural or rural hobby farms. The last 4 kms of Salmon Valley road often suffers power outages, snowed-in roadways, and phone outages. We (apparently) live on the wrong side of the track. It is very frustrating! To make matters worse, tonight our water is not working. We have a shallow well with an 'above ground' pump that sends water to a pressure tank in our basement. Right in the middle of the dad-guy's shower, the water quit coming.  He is in the well as I write to you, checking out the equipment and trying to trouble shoot the problem. It is 11:24pm. Tomorrow is a work/school day which begins at 6am. At this moment, I sure could go for a place in town.

you know you need a break when...

My eyes are burning and my brain feels like a fog has settled over it. I have been staring at my bulletin board, admiring the squares in the background, then back to my monitor, it seems so bright! I'm trying to type with my eyes closed. Not bad, but I cannot keep it up forever. I need to stop for a while, take a break and everything will seem brand new when I return.

in the moment

I spent some time 'in the moment' today. As soon as everyone had gone off to work and school, I took the dogs and headed down the road for a walk. It was cool out, perhaps only +3. The moon,  full and round was still visible in the west. We walked quickly in the crisp air and I could hear the panting of the dogs, my clothing brushing on itself, a few brave birds, and...what was that? Large rustling from the bush to my left. Thanks to the heavy winds of last week, the trees were bare and I was able to see a cow moose get up from her bed to look at me. I am always amazed at how big they are! Their ears are no less than 8 inches high. They looked like awkward teenagers with their long skinny legs. I whispered a silent prayer that she would not see me as a threat. We were so close together, her and I, looking at one another. She made no aggressive move toward me and I could enjoy her beauty while the dogs and I walked past. My large dog let out a low growl and I hushed her. It was a beautiful moment !

This cow was standing outside our dinning room window last winter. She looks very much like the moose I saw today.

the bare bulb

Doesn't the bare bulb above someone's head usually signify the arrival of an idea? (my basement studio, Prince George, BC, 2007)

You might say so, but in this case it is the main lighting for my humble home studio. I am not complaining. Working under this bare bulb, I feel connected to generations of artists before me who also created work under dim lighting. I can't even imagine myself in any space that does not have either a lighting problem, a leaky roof, or some sort of heating issues. Let me show you some of my home studios over the years.

View from my bedroom where I worked, down the stairs in the late 70's

This is the room where I drew horse pictures, and horse pictures....(1970's)

In my apartment in Stony Plain, Alberta, 2 friends look at the work I was doing in the Visual Art program at Grant MacEwan in Edmonton, Alberta. (early 1980's)

My studio in our basement suite in North Vancouver, BC. I was attending my 1st year of college in a Graphic Design and Illustration program.

Still in College and pulling an all nighter. This painting was due first thing in the morning. You can see I have a ways to go to complete it.

Sitting and wishing I could go home for a nap. My studio space in the 2nd out of 3 years in Capilano College, North Vancouver, BC

Painting 'en plein air' (which means outside) in Prince George, BC, (2005)

Let's Stop

A desperate plea from my oldest child who wanted to be polite in front of guests, so instead of speaking out he discreetly slipped me this little note.  You can see my scratched out and erased answer sideways in the left margin. I figured if he was going to be childish, so was I. Sometimes it's hard to tell who the adults are in this house.

eh?

I dunno. You tell me. This sign, where I live, for months! No one knows what it means.

mother of invention

"Driving a minivan is like driving your living room around." ... a quote from my husband as he weighs his new vehicle options. Lets face it, he's right. Most new minivans have dvd players, independent climate control, cushy bucket or bench seats... I remember the old days when I was riding around in my parent's Oldsmobile. This second-hand Delta 88 was quite the ride! The back seat was so spacious, not to mention the back window ledge which was a common place for me to ride. I used to squeeze myself up there on my back and look straight up at the sky whizzing by. And when I got bored of that, I'd look out the window at the grass that was nothing but a blur. I'd try to pick a stick or clump of grass to focus on as it passed just to see if my eyes could move that fast, then complain, "Mom, I feel car sick." As I held in my cookies, my attention would turn to my brother who would be using the huge buckle for the seatbelt as an electric razor, sound effects and all. We had no idea what they were really for. One time, free from the restraint of a car seat I move closer to my mom. I could see the back of her head as it wobbled in front me. I wondered...what would happen if I just gave her a slap on the back of that head? I found out. I am sure it was incidents like that which preceeded the invention of car seats and popularized the use of restraints for kids and not a safety issue at all.