14-3-5

Going to Vienna in the morning. Can't wait.

14-3-4

I'm lovin' it.

14-3-3

14-3-2

14-3-1

The cat sees ghosts.

14-2-28

14-2-27

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14-2-25

Four days of snow and then sun.

14-2-24

 

14-2-23

Splatter paint party, no better way to spend a day when you're seven.

14-2-22

14-2-21

14-2-20

14-2-19

Oscar and Gilbert.

14-2-18

14-2-17

It's an endangered species, the local garage. I don't know if it's because cars are getting more and more specialized or when a plot of land with a decrepit old shack of a house on it is worth nearly a million dollars, a commercial lot as big as this one, a lot that could hold the better part of 20 condos, I mean "homes", this lot isn't financially viable as an independent enterprise. You try by selling the space on the sign to manufacturers but the advertising revnue is minimal and market forces develop stronger alliances to Mr.Lube because of the glossy advertising on national television and the type of people who live in half million dollar studio condominiums don't like taking their precious automobiles to dirty shops. (I've got a secret to tell you, cars are dirty)

I took my car into Bert's Automotive for a syncromesh for second gear and a clutch. It's a dirty shop and buried on a part of Kingsway that isn't particularly hip. I hope that saves Burt's from renoviction for a few more years to come. The place above, Tireland, is on Main Street and that yellow sign on the side of it is the death certificate. "Here there will be condos." And if history proves a reliable predictor, there will be a Chain Coffee Shop™ and an Authentic Tacos Made By White People lunch counter on the ground floor. And a cell phone service retailer, maybe a discount one, maybe even one of the big three.

The Tireland building isn't particularly beautiful. But this city doesn't really need more condos, what it needs is for some of the estimated 20% vacant condos purchased as investments to be rented out. With that kind of influx of housing all rents in this city would likely go down.

Tireland won't specifically be missed, but what it represents will be, at least by me even if I'm in the minority.

14-2-16

14-2-15

As she got older I believe my grandmother's favourite time of the day was mid afternoon when she was allowed to have herself a rum and coke. I'm not sure if she still got her drink once she went into the care home but I hope she did. She passed away early this morning. It was time, she's had Alzheimer's for a while now and it was getting pretty bad, but it's still not easy.

And today I'm having a rum and coke in the afternoon. I might even have two or three.

14-2-14

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14-2-10

End of film.

14-2-9

14-2-8

Saturday with Sophie at the World of Science.

14-2-7

14-2-6

14-2-5

14-2-4

5 years in the making and I have these shelves. I've drawn them more than once, lost the drawing, thought about it again, dreamed of a table saw capable of realizing these twelve boxes, accepted that IKEA would forever hold my books, rebelled against IKEA, thought about them again. The whimsical, slightly skewed box at the top holds the first camera I ever owned that I can no longer get film for, and my father's Spotmatic that no longer recognizes light with it's meter. I can't reach the top shelf anyway, not without a ladder.

I'm going to shoot film for a bit. For this blog, film. The thing with film is that it's slow, much like the establishment of my living space, slow. So the updates won't happen for a while, not until I've shot the first roll of film, developed and scanned it. 36 pictures? I could shoot that tomorrow so it might only be 2 days before the first update. Realistically? A week. How long will I do this? Well, it took five years to build that shelf. So....

14-2-3

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14-2-1

14-1-31

When all else fails, just point your camera west-ish as the sun sets. You'll probably get something passable. Tiny apertures will get you funky faceted artifacts too. Cool.

14-1-30

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14-1-28

I invested in a lot of kitchen stuff lately. Some stuff I spent a lot on, buying the best I could afford, other things I saved on, buying things that I imagined didn't need to be "invested" in. Yesterday I broke my grater. It was less than a year old. A grater is the kind of thing that I figured lasted forever. No moving parts. Pretty basic design. Most every cheese grater I've used has been quite old, rusty even, but still perfectly effective at doing what it was supposed to do. I didn't imagine I would have to give my purchase of a grater much consideration.

And then it broke. It came apart at the crimped seam. I thought about welding it. I tried to recrimp the seam with a pair of pliers. And then I considered my $6 grater and how it had already failed me and decided I would replace it instead.

I'm at an age where the things I buy might very well be the last of the type of thing I'm buying. I bought a pretty decent carving knife before Christmas, it should last 40 years. And I bought a good chef's knife a few years ago. It, too, should last 40 years. And today I bought this cheese grater. It comes with a 25 year warranty. I have a hard time believing any company will be around for 25 years these days. But the promise of 25 years of service was intriguing, and I spent $30 on a cheese grater as a result despite a perfectly serviceable one being on the shelf next to it for a mere $7. The quick math suggests I could buy four $7 cheese graters for the price of this one, and if they all provide me the good, solid year of performance my first affordable grater gave me I'd still be looking for a grater 21 years before my fancy new grater would, in theory, be done, assuming the warranty represents an actual life expectancy.

I was warned that this grater has actual, sharpened blades vs the stamped metal openings more traditionally found on most graters. "Be careful. You don't want to be explaining to your guests what the 'special ingredient' is in your dinners." I'd prefer to keep my finger tips, I will be careful.

So now I'm set for graters for the next 25 years. And tonight the handle came off my 1 cup measuring cup. How hard is it to attach a handle to a measuring cup?

14-1-27

Beswick Cantering Shire Horse.

14-1-26

14-1-25

Foggy night walks. It's the silhouette of the man on the sidewalk, dark and anonymous.

14-1-24

14-1-23

I'm not sure if the tree is a metaphor for the house or the house is a metaphor for the tree. I'd be happy if both could hold out against gentrification for just a bit longer.

14-1-22

14-1-21

14-1-20

14-1-19

14-1-18

South end of Saturna Island.