A Thank You to Those Who Keep on Creating

keep drawing from studio shelter on Vimeo.

Years ago, I tripped over Elizabeth Perry's blog, where she posts simple drawings about her daily life. They are wonderful, funny, beautiful snapshots. She never writes very much in explanation of her subject, but the objects she draws do.

She partakes in other wonderful projects. Like going to a museum every day it is open for over seven months and making a drawing of something she sees.

She is the type of person who, given a choice, I'd love to meet over a long cup of tea and just ask her about what she sees and how she see it.

Over the years on my blog, I have republished a lot of the videos Elizabeth has put on her other blog (including the one above). This post is just an expression of thanks for all the creative input she gives those of us who enjoy her art.

Why My Mother Is An Anglophile

One of the things that my mother and I used to disagree on when I was younger and Quebecois was how cats pyjamas the Brits are. She loved everything British. I less so.

Yet, the literature, the free London museums, and the Guardian has done much to make my views milder over the last years. But, it is Alys Fowler and her terrier (I believe called Isabel), who made me realise how Anglophilia is part craziness (in all the right ways), as it is a marrow transplant of fay. I love the fact that she looks incredibly elegant and happy in her garden, all the while having dirt under her fingernails.

If you wish to see more of Ms. Fowler's videos, do go... here.

Cherry Blossom Petals

photo from topmedic

Young boy loses himself playing in a sandbox populated with last year's toys and carpeted with this year's cherry blossom petals.

Sometimes Life Flows Gently

The last week or two, life has been good. It is hard to describe except life appears to be flowing gently. I call a potential customer and they say, "Sure, bring your concept over." I call the insurance company who has just sent their second notice and they say, "No problem. When can we expect payment." (I kid you not). A friend sends a photo of a peace lily, which I am hoping to make up into a collage for another friend's new home and right from the first moment the collage makes itself.

Then to top it off, I am bundling up to go outdoors after having spent a hectic day trying to get some office work done, and my mother-in-law (who lives next door) comes in and ask if it is ok if she makes dinner tonight. How marvelous is that!

Travelling through time

"Artist Jyll Bradley drew on the dying tradition of Cornish flower farming to create a series of evocative posters shown on rail platforms between Penzance and London – named after the now-defunct overnight trains carrying fresh flowers to market."

There is nothing bad and much good I can say about the British newspaper, The Guardian. It is one of my starting points for information no matter what topic of interest I am searching. It is also one of the main sources of gems. 

Watching and listening to Jyll Bradley reporting on the state of the Cornish flower farming industry was like discovering a treasure. Her words are poetic, the people she interviewed so appealing, their plight easily to identify with, and the visuals very moving. She has literally woven a bouquet of a journalistic mastery.  

Of Gods and Men

There was a time when stories were told simply,
With heart and soul, and even laughter.
With actions restrained, facial gestures
Naked and vulnerable, yet understated.
Never forgeting the understatement.

That time might be of the past,
But, I witnessed it today sitting
Almost alone in a darkened cinema
Watching a masterful movie
Told so touchingly, that hours later
I write this while tears still stream
Down my face. Remarkable.

Swan Lake

I just bought tickets to see Swan Lake with my daughter over the holiday season. It is one of my favourite classical ballets: both for its choreography and music. In one of my past lives, it was also one of the ballets I learnt to dance. That is such a long time ago, it is hard to remember or even believe in.



What I do remember was the experience of going to watch Swan Lake with an ex-ballet friend in Munich some 20 years ago (long after we had both had left the ballet profession). It was a stunning performance. I remember the pure unfettered pleasure watching the ballet brought to my heart. This was something I hadn’t experience during the years while I danced.

Gone was the critical scalpel vision every dancer posses while observing other dancers. Something that cuts each dancer’s movements into feet, extensions, pointe work, and arms; each solo into the number of pirouettes turned and heights leapt; and pas de deuxs into lifts mastered. Instead, I sat mesmerised by the graceful movement and was deeply moved by the music.

I was not feeling nostalgic for those past times, but rather the experience of watching the ballet was enhanced by the familiarity of a personal shared history. This made me wonder whether this is what happens in life in general. Do we, as we grow older, receive pleasure by watching others dance the dance of life’s ups-and-downs in a way we could not when we were younger?

Sounds of Failure

Yesterday, I mentioned listening many hours to my backlist of podcasts and watching videos and how inspiring I find all of their content. One of those podcasts is Radiolab and one of the series of videos is PopTech 2010. Today's post combines them both with this presentation by Jad Abumrad. 


In the video blurb they write that "He uses sound to explore ideas and share stories", but I think this video has more to do with the letting us listen to and delight in the sounds of failure.

Do enjoy!

Small Gestures of Appreciation

"Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary."
Margaret Cousins

My grandmother was a kind and gentle person, who spent her life in service to her family and her God. Even though she gave much and was given little in return, I believe she was the person who taught me most about appreciation. She had a gift of observing nature (the passing of the seasons, the changes in weather, the warmth of sun rays) and mentioning each mundane occurrence or force of nature as being something of wonder. As the years pass, I find that wonder of hers for the coming of the day and quiet pleasures of a long autumn evening.

Dusk

The first quiet day spent at home in a long time. Bliss. Rain falls. This American Life podcasts play the hours away. Slowly, dusk comes unannounced and almost unnoticed.

International Travel

These are some of the observations of my trip yesterday:

What is it with people traveling in their flip flops? An international airport and an airplane where you are squished together, are not the places to wear beach gear. Enough already.

Having an hour in the earlyearly monring to sit and watch the "ramp agents" (kid you not, that is what was written on their polo shirts), window cleaners, shop people, and waste disposal people clean up and prepare their shops and the departure lounges for a busy day, was like watching a symphony of efficiency of motion.

A note to Air Canada: taking the very bad idea of a corn dog, stripping it of its stick and hot dog, squirting some chickpea mush back in and serving it in a paper container with Air Canada stamped in the corner, does not make it a meal.

Boy, can I talk up a storm when I am dizzy with exhaustion, joyful at seeing dear friends, and so excited at the prospect of sharing their company for the days to come.

Early Morning

On my walk this morning, I caught the glimpse of a couple taking their boat out for an early morning journey. Most of the other people on the bicycle paths and sidewalks were rushing on towards their offices or school classrooms. I imagined the couple standing near on the top deck with the thermos full of hot coffee and a sunny day in front of them, and was envious of their freedom.

Then I realised that I also had the freedom to take a short journey of my own.

So, I sat on the sunny bench in an empty playground and listened to Krista Tippet and Alan Dienstag's insightful conversation titled, "Lessons from the Lifelines Writing Group 
for People in the Early Stages of Alzheimer's Disease: 
Forgetting That We Don't Remember".

It was a wonderful stolen hour.

Strolling along the my favourite Café

If I remember correctly, I told you about my favourite café that is located in a flowershop not far from where we live. Here is a slide show of photos taken last week...



On a side note, my favourite season in Germany is spring. My favourite season in Canada (east coast) was autumn.

Since I am at home looking for meaningful employment, I tend to go out for a lot of long walks. Sometimes I go along, but not always. I have a handful of friends that occasionally accompany me during these meanderings. Their company and our conversation is as much a comfort, as it is an opportunity to explore all things vast and small.

Janelle Monáe - Something Fresh

Janelle Monáe featuring Big Boi of Outkast, “Tight Rope.”

I just love this fusion of song, dance, storyline, and music video production. Janelle Monáe and the other musicians and dancers have created something fresh, though there is some very old about the moves too. Maybe not old, but classic. Can you make something new that is already classic? I've watched the video now five times and with each viewing I learn to like it better each time.  

Onto The Next Round

Last Friday, we received the good news that our preliminary project proposal was accepted as one of the finalist in a research funding competition. After walking around with my head in the clouds the whole weekend, I sat down today and started working on the more detailed proposal we have to submit in a few days time. There are strict requirements about how long the text can be, so every word is weighed and every idea is examined closely before putting them down. My brain is mush.

Magical Night Journey

One of the many joyful experiences I had during this last trip Montreal happened during the last hours of the journey. When the plane hit Europe (Ireland) and all the way down to Munich we had a spectacular clear view of all the cities and highways illuminated in oranges, reds, and yellows.

It is impossible for me to describe the magical beauty of this aerial landscape. The hour or so I watched, I thought we were seeing veins of burning lava, a treasure chest of jewels, and brewing colony of insects all in one. We flew in a perpetual dawn that never became sunrise...

One Love

Unless I got my dates mixed up, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Not a day we celebrate in our household, at least not in the conventional or (commercially) traditional sense. At most, we shyly say the words, "Happy Valentine's Day" and smile at each other. Much in the same way we might say, "Happy Groundhog Day", if we happened to know when that was. Still, I'd like to send loving thoughts out to all of you who read this blog. It means a lot to me that you return day after day.



I've published another video of the Playing for Change songs. All are good. Some are so touching they bring tears of joy every time I hear them. Enjoy.

Word of the Year 2009: Accomplishment

A friend and I went to the fitness studio yesterday afternoon. While we walked down the steps into an almost empty studio, she says, “Look and weep! As of tomorrow (Januray 1st), this studio is going to be completely full of people with their water bottles and New Year’s Resolutions. And, we are going to have to wait until February or March before they give up and we have the studio to ourselves again.”

I almost had a moment of smugness for not being one of those people with New Year’s Resolutions. Instead I have a word. This year, 2009, I’ve decided upon the word Accomplishment.



If you want to know about the whole Word of the Year deal, you’ll have to go to Christine Kane’s blog and read this article. Basically, Christine wrote,

“Several years ago, my friend Kathy and I decided that, instead of making resolutions, we would pick a word that would guide us throughout the year. It would be our touchstone. It would remind us of living our lives at the BE level.”

This past December many of her readers wrote about their words of 2008 and their motivations and experiences with the words. On December 12th, in Christine S. blog entry, she wrote,

“I am now treating “accomplishment” as a noun rather than a verb, having it serve as a reminder to stop and give myself a mental pat on the back and encouragement to keep up the good work.”

This post was published on a day that promised to be mad with activity at work; for we were holding a large public event. I knew the day would be crazy and I wasn’t sure about the outcome. Yet, one thing I was certain about was that no matter what happened during the event, the fact that it happened at all was an accomplishment. Not only that, but it was my accomplishment. Something I would not have realised if I hadn’t read Christine S. words that morning.

So, this year’s word is accomplishment:

noun

1. the reduction of inflation was a remarkable accomplishment
   achievement, act, deed, exploit, performance, attainment, effort, feat, move, coup.
2. a poet of considerable accomplishment
   expertise, skill, skillfulness, talent, adeptness, adroitness, deftness, dexterity, ability, prowess, mastery, competence, capability, proficiency, aptitude, artistry, art; informal know-how

I must say I get dizzy reading some of those words. Uncomfortable even. Well, this promises to be a good ride.

What is your word for this year?

The collage above is dedicated to various people who have taught me much these last six months about how easy it is to accomplish good work and true purpose.



There are a lot of you, but I’d like to particularly mention Romina, Rev. Wasike, Rev. Teh, Birgit, and Julika for all their humble kindness and perseverance.

Summer Breeze

We, in northern Germany, do not usually "do" summer well. There is something about the Baltic Sea breeze that tends to bring in a lot of grey cold weather, or, on occasion, scorching heat. We rarely get much in between. That is until May of this year. Let it be said that we have had the most spectacular sweet summer weather I've ever experienced in the last twenty-six years of living in Germany.

Cooking Course January 2008

It was just a fantastic day yesterday. But, boy, am I tired today. So, just to show you guys what we prepared, feasted upon, and delighted in learning to make…

(Claudia, can you send the descriptions of each of the courses?)

Note to all, we made Everything. No opening jars, or taking out of packages… the chefs were amazing at keeping us all busy beavers, even though it must be three times the amount of work to delegate instead of just doing it themselves. Three times… say ten times.

Entré I

Some sort of liver paté (didn’t eat since I’m vegetarian) with some sort of chutney

Entré II

A shrimp thing

Not an entré but don’t know what it is called…

Ravioli with goat cheese, something, something, and parmesan stuffing, Thai asparagus

Not an entré but don’t know what it is called…

Red snapper

Main course

Quail breasts, artichoke hearts stuffed with sweet potato mix with mozzarella melted on top, a flaky pastry stuffed with a potato/vegetable stuffing (I ate everything but the quail)

Dessert

A pineapple and estragon salad, a chocolate ball (when the hardened exterior is punctured, out pours liquid chocolate), and roiboos tea ice cream

A harmonious group of workers, considering the fact that we didn’t really know each other beforehand. Not complete strangers; two of my friends and I each invited two other friends and this is how the group of nine was formed.

Hats off to the chefs.

Stay tuned. The gods willing, there will be a slideshow in a few weeks time.