the good old summertime

In southern Ontario, snow is outside my door. All this snow has me dreaming of being at the cottage in the summertime. This is a picture I took at the cottage one August morning. 

Lessons I've learned: 

A chlorinated pool does not compare to a lake.  

"specular" 

The Victorian Era (1837-1901)

When you think about the history of art, what do you think about? Paintings and sculptures? Do you ever think about the beauty industry? How we decorate and adorn our bodies is also a form of art that dates back centuries. Visit a museum. Check out exhibits on clothes, shoes, jewellery, make-up. What is deemed beautiful has a lot to do with culture and time period.

What did "beauty" look like in Victorian England? 

as superficial as we know it

in our society where "swipe right"

porn and rebound sex reign supreme

(all the cool kids do it)

i want a man to spend a lifetime with

not a one-night stand:

call me victorian. 

my life in self-portraits

circa 2007

circa 2008

circa 2011

circa 2020

Best TED Talk, Ever

I was sad to hear about the death of Sir Ken Robinson (1950-2020). His work on teaching inspires me everyday.  

An excerpt from Robinson's TED Talk: 

I have an interest in education. Actually, what I find is, everybody has an interest in education. Don't you? I find this very interesting. If you're at a dinner party, and you say you work in education -- actually, you're not often at dinner parties, frankly.

(Laughter)

If you work in education, you're not asked.

(Laughter)

And you're never asked back, curiously. That's strange to me. But if you are, and you say to somebody, you know, they say, "What do you do?" and you say you work in education, you can see the blood run from their face. They're like, "Oh my God. Why me?"

(Laughter)

"My one night out all week."

(Laughter) 

But if you ask about their education, they pin you to the wall, because it's one of those things that goes deep with people, am I right? Like religion and money and other things. So I have a big interest in education, and I think we all do. We have a huge vested interest in it, partly because it's education that's meant to take us into this future that we can't grasp. If you think of it,children starting school this year will be retiring in 2065. Nobody has a clue, despite all the expertise that's been on parade for the past four days, what the world will look like in five years' time. And yet, we're meant to be educating them for it. So the unpredictability, I think, is extraordinary.

If you enjoy Robinson's TED Talk, you should check out the TED Interview: Sir Ken Robinson (still) wants an education revolution

Where does our food come from?

You're hungry. So, you go to the grocery store and buy some fruit and vegetables, maybe even some dairy, bread and meat products. But where does this food come from? I mean, how is it grown and produced? How can we build a better understanding of the agriculture industry? 

CropLife Canada offers documentaries of real Canadian farmers. You can check out Seasons 1-3 here. 

Not everyone has equal (economic and geographic) access to healthy food. Activists like Ron Finley in south central LA are changing lives and communities through community gardening. Watch Finley's TED talk here. It will change how you think about food.

untitled

don’t look at me 

with those eyes

i know what 

you’re planning:

to discard 

and replace me

when i’m old 

and outdated 

worn and torn

scratched and broken

and no longer modern 

and in season. 

social movements

For years, I have been talking about needing more benches in my local community. So, this week I was happy to find out about the new "Happy to Chat" bench in York Region.

Have you heard about the "Happy to Chat" bench movement? Chat benches can be found all over the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The purpose of these benches is what their name implies: to get people talking. These chat benches support mental health in an age of social isolation. The pandemic made social isolation a necessity. Social media largely remains an anti-social experience. 

So, when you see one of these benches in your community, try them out. Sit and chat. Tell your story. Share. Learn together.

favourite things

Some of my favourite things: dark chocolate, homemade greeting cards, knitted mittens, ecofeminism, musicals, and live concert footage.   

castle-builders

Lloyd Dobler's boombox serenade

is why people search for love

but are never satisfied 

when they find it. 

He said

Ed Mirvish Theatre

Awhile back, there was news about the Ed Mirvish Theatre being renovated to accommodate for the production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I'm not a J.K. Rowling fan, but I was interested in knowing how it all turned out. The renovations cost $5 million and were completed in September 2022. You can find a 360 view of the newly renovated Ed Mirvish Theatre here. Below are some photos I clipped from the Internet. Tell me what you think in the comment section below!

Before construction:

During construction: 

Renovations complete: 

Click here to learn more about the history of the Ed Mirvish Theatre. 

apples and chalk dust

life is a classroom

and experiential learning 

is the primary teaching method

Dinosaurs? Yes please.

Every time I go to a museum, I head straight to the dinosaur exhibit. I'm a dino lover. So, when I came across the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, I had to share it. Click here to tour the museum virtually, free of charge! 

word of advice

beware the sweet talkers

the "love you forever" types: 

they're all gumdrops and lollipops 

hot chocolate and marshmallows  

butterscotch syrup and ice cream

a sugar crash is bound to happen.

still dancing

I thought, to start the year off right, I would share one of my favourite Whitney Houston songs. May 2023 be filled with music and dancing!