Let's Make Some Art, Dammit

December 8, 2024. Dried and perfectly preserved wild cucumber. We went for a walk along Crysler Trail today, just near the town of the same name. It was a crisp December day, windy and sunny at times, with plenty of birds. https://flic.kr/p/2qyF2eE

December 4, 2024. Working from the office today, even though it's snowing. I'm in that state of mind where I'm immersed in a project that has me being otherwise irresponsible on other obligations, but I don't want to stop because it's going so well. These bursts of creativity are rare enough I don't want to waste this one. https://flic.kr/p/2qyvN8f

December 3, 2024. This is a genuine used CFL football signed by four RedBlacks players and now my newest office decoration. We purchased it at the annual RedBlacks locker room sale. Another day working at home; same project. https://flic.kr/p/2qy8mkD

December 2, 2024. We got a dusting of snow overnight; here it is reflecting the morning sunlight in my back yard. Working from home today, on my CList app. https://flic.kr/p/2qy8iUb

December 1, 2024. We went to the RedBlacks annual locker room sale today and then stayed to watch an Ottawa 67s Jr. A hockey game. The 67s did not fare well, though it was entertaining and the first place London Knights did not disappoint. https://flic.kr/p/2qxp3VU

November 30, 2024. We had a much smaller Christmas Festival than usual this year, but there was still road hockey. Also chili dogs and other treats. I released an OPML2JSON application today, part of the larger app that has been consuming all my attention recently. Also did an awstats install. https://flic.kr/p/2qxiQWg

November 22, 2024. This is what remains of my office farm. I overwatered it before leaving for Croatia and a lot of it died off. I found a couple of small potatoes. But it's still alive and I'm letting the soil dry out some before watering again. https://flic.kr/p/2qwEb8H

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November 24, 2024. This is an impressive pitcher plant at Garry Fen, near Alexandria, Ontario. We could see a lot of them all along the shore of the fen, bright red in their fall colours. https://flic.kr/p/2qw9s9T

November 17, 2024. We went to a nature preserve in Ottawa called Mud Lake and took photos of birds and squirrels, including this one. https://flic.kr/p/2quQFyn

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November 12, 2024. Costco run after work. Demoed CList today. https://flic.kr/p/2qtJFAJ

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October 31, 2024. The banks of the Sava River in Sisak, Croatia, near the triangular fort where the battle of Sisak was fought between the Austrians and the Ottomans in 1593. Sisak is smallish, about 40,000 people, and I spent the day wandering around (mostly walking out to the fort and back) on a cool fog-shrouded day. Last full day in Croatia. https://flic.kr/p/2qsiu61

October 30, 2024. I took the train for what turn out to be a three hour trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia. I had all day to explore the city in alternative fog and sunshine. https://flic.kr/p/2qs7H1D

September 28, 2024. Sljeme is a mountain peak just north of Zagreb, and after the conference ended today I took a tram, bus and cable car to get to the top. This resulted in a lot of up-and-down hiking, but he peak was shrouded in mist and it was certainly beautiful. https://flic.kr/p/2qs7smD

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October 21, 2024. Worked from the home office today mostly fixing bugs in gRSShopper. I need it functioning properly because I'll be on the road again soon. https://flic.kr/p/2qpgCfE

October 20, 2024. Today's walk was through Pine Grove Forest in Ottawa to enjoy the fall colours. It also included a trip to Costco and the Metro. https://flic.kr/p/2qp1tK8

October 19, 2024. Went out for a short bike ride today on a beautiful fall day. This is the local harvest, locally called 'cow corn'. As cattle feed, it supports the eastern Ontario dairy industry. Watching the football game as I upload this; it is not going well. https://flic.kr/p/2qoEoxJ

October 18, 2024. On the way home from Mont Tremblant we stopped to see the Sentir des cimes, a skywalk and forest tower. The season was perfect with brightly coloured leaves and nice fall weather. Along the way there were birds, and this was one. https://flic.kr/p/2qoBzQH

October 17, 2024. Hiking near the top of Mont Tremblant. My foot won't allow me to climb it or descend, but I did manage 100 meters of ascent. https://flic.kr/p/2qoo2Lp

October 13, 2024. Stairway to an abandoned building on Rue Bleury in Montreal. We're here for the football game tomorrow (go RedBlacks!) and are driving up to Tremblant for a short vacation right after. I've missed maybe a month of daily photos but whatever, I may upload more later, and whatever I feel like for now. https://flic.kr/p/2qny5Vv

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September 17, 2024. My teeth, up close. Started today productively, meeting and work, but then was at the dentist to get a post for a dental implant. Took a couple tries (ack) but I survived. https://flic.kr/p/2qh5Yuz

September 16, 2024. Found Charlemagne sleeping on the rug this morning. Good productive day working from home. https://flic.kr/p/2qh1i1t

September 15, 2024. We walked the Stonebridge Trail today along the Jock River, north of Manotick. Beautiful warm day. https://flic.kr/p/2qgDKhV

September 14, 2024. Long bike ride today; this was right near the end, in evening. Visited both Dunvegan and Maxville. So warm! https://flic.kr/p/2qgCjQo

September 13, 2024. Friday. Beautiful warm day, so after a productive day coding I went for a bike ride. Must keep descriptions short or IFTTT fails. https://flic.kr/p/2qgErwj

September 11, 2024. The moss-covered apple tree trunk outside my office building in the city. It was the first of three office days this week, a result of the uninformed and arbitrary decision made to reduce work-from-home. Traffic was awful and wasteful, especially considering that my only interaction was by email and Zoom. People who do the sort of work I do should be able to work from anywhere in the country, not just in a designated office. https://flic.kr/p/2qgkkuh

September 10, 2024. Here's a serving of my curry with green onions and, buried under the spicy goodness, a portion of Atlantic Canada salmon. So delicious! A second day of working on a Mastodon client from the home office. https://flic.kr/p/2qga7BY

September 9, 2024. Each week we get a new batch of vegetables and that prompts me to cook them up as a spicy curry. Here's this weeks' sweet potato and carrot curry. Worked from home today, building a simple Mastodon client. https://flic.kr/p/2qga4BK

September 9, 2024. It was fungus day on our weekly forest walk. We went out to Rogers Pond in Marlborough Forest in rural south-west Ottawa. Very few animals or birds. The light was low and I wasn't really set up for dark fungus pics. Evening was spent on a No Man's Sky expedition. Here's the full album https://flic.kr/p/2qfj1Xk

September 7, 2024. The RedBlacks played the Argos this afternoon. A rare day game, it could have been fantastic, but is was cold and poured rain for pretty much the entire game. Nice to see a convincing win, though. Got home, went to sleep right away. Back-to-back events aren't as easy on me as they used to be. https://flic.kr/p/2qfizRd

September 6, 2024. I wanted to share a photo from the Jimmy Carr and Jim Jeffries show tonight, but all I'm allowed to show is this. The show was great but it would have been nice to have something more to remember it by. The evening followed a great day working at home where I got tons done on my CList app. https://flic.kr/p/2qfg3vh

September 4, 2024. This rose is found in the parking lot by the Costco where I went for lunch. Office day, which I spent heads-down all day writing 'Why Free Learning Needs Free Artificial Intelligence'. https://flic.kr/p/2qeQt9e

September 3, 2024. Another nightstand photo. That's what we get when I have a busy day. Today I wrote a script that allows me to post from OLDaily into BlueSky. Pretty happy about that - in the past, it would have taken me a week. https://flic.kr/p/2qecZE4

September 2, 2024. Went out for a nice 63 km ride today that included a jaunt through this, the Larose Forest (which is in my mind always referred to as the Emerald Forest). Cool with a strong northwest breeze. Watching football this evening. https://flic.kr/p/2qdNfiM

September 1, 2024. We went for our weekly hike to South March highlands in Ottawa's west end today. It was a bit cool and a bit breezy, but nice after the earlier rains. Here's the full album https://flic.kr/p/2qdFdgZ

August 31, 2024. The light on my bedstand, the last light I turn off every day. Rainy day today, but I finished something I've been working evenings and weekends on for most of the summer, a set of five articles to join a sixth I wrote in the spring. So nice to have that done. https://flic.kr/p/2qdFrHc

August 30, 2024. The selection of Centrum vitamins for women at the Gloucester Costco . I was searching for Centrum Caltrate, not realizing that these are two separate products. A work-in-office day today, and therefore not that productive, though I did fill out a couple of forms. https://flic.kr/p/2qdAStJ

August 29, 2024. Photo from my afternoon bike ride after work. Much more productive day today, got quite a bit of writing done, a couple of forms filled out, and my proper allotment of exercise. https://flic.kr/p/2qdcXCB

August 28, 2024. The flow in the basement. With my feet. No meetings today. I tried to get some work done but wasn't very productive. I did however make a nice curry for supper. https://flic.kr/p/2qdbE67

August 8, 2024. A combine takes some grain off a field as seen from a distance south of St. Albert on another bike ride after work today. No meetings; just the newsletter and some writing (it's slow going) today. https://flic.kr/p/2qcktrF

August 25, 2024. We went to the Pride parade in the city today. It was a shorter parade than usual but the crowd was as large as ever. We always attend but made a special point of it this year. https://flic.kr/p/2qc6JCF

August 24, 2024. The opening kickoff of tonight's RedBlacks game, a hard fought and very entertaining win over the BC Lions. Football in Ottawa is fun again! Also did some writing this morning and got out for a bike ride this afternoon. https://flic.kr/p/2qbUTvH

August 23, 2024. The view from my bicycle entering St. Albert from the rest. The bridge crosses the Nation River. Started the day with a meeting, then filling in a spreadsheet for management, and some writing, with a late afternoon bike ride. https://flic.kr/p/2qbRu6H

August 22, 2024. This is the wall of the Metro here in Casselman down by the highway. To me, it paints a picture of a society that has given up. No effort has been made to make it attractive or even not ugly. What really caught my eye was that there was jobody parked in front of the No Parking sign - usually there's a pickup truck there. Anyhow, working from home: one meeting today, and the rest was devoted to writing. https://flic.kr/p/2qbA3Rq

August 21, 2024. Coffee mugs and flasks on sale at the Starbucks near my office (by 'near' I mean 1.2 km - the NRC campus is a food and services desert). Longish day today with a thorough Research Ethics Board meeting in the afternoon. Since our forced Return-to-Office I've stopped volunteering for things, but the REB is important enough to stay attached to. https://flic.kr/p/2qbr5ze

August 20, 2024. Taken in the evening in low light using the long lens from in side my home office. I've been a bit off all day, maybe have a bit of a bug, or just didn't sleep right. Experimenting auto-posting this to Mastodon. I hope they appreciate my autobiographical notes along with the photos. https://flic.kr/p/2qbeBQy

August 12, 2024. First day back in the office since before my bike ride and this is what I found. You may recall back in June I found a potato left on my desk had sprouted . I put it into some water and then in mid-July put it into some dirt . I gave it a lot of water (I filled the tray under the flower pot) and then went away until today. And this is what I came back to! https://flic.kr/p/2qb316u

August 11, 2024. The walking trail at Lavigne Natural Park near Bourget, where we tried to take our weekly hike today. The weather wasn't great and the trail conditions even worse so we called it after only half a kilometer or so. Nice pictures though. https://flic.kr/p/2qb1FWd

August 9, 2024. A new Tim Hortons mug I bought on the Quebec trip to get my bike. The traditional Tim's mug has all but disappeared, so I was glad to find this. That's a CFL game on the screen in the background - I like the way they have one game a night at the end of the week. The other mug is a souvenir from when we climbed Mont Tremblant. Work day at home, and you can see how I spent my evening. https://flic.kr/p/2qb2Y6U

August 8, 2024. The RedBlacks make their entrance into tonight's football game. It was a game not to be missed, as it went into overtime, we thought we won it, then we thought we lost it, and as we were on the way out the teams returned to play some more and it ended in a tie. Which really was the only appropriate outcome. https://flic.kr/p/2qb1cSY

August 7, 2024. The view from the biking trail near La Pocatière. We picked up my bike in Rimouski and on the way back scanned the entire roite between La Pocatière and Kamourasks looking for my tent poles, including a segment that has to be covered by bicycle. No luck, though I did enjoy the little extra cycling along the trail. After a long day, returned home with the bike safe and sound. https://flic.kr/p/2qaVwQP