tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26559425601454708792012-01-25T20:19:24.190-05:00thoughts and visual musings from a repeating islandMelindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.comBlogger2581100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-52454430918476773022012-01-21T13:48:00.002-05:002012-01-21T13:48:49.431-05:00

An impromptu midnight skate on the canal last night, the first of the season, what fun! But the price this morning is a runny nose, aches and sneezing, gah. I wanted to blog today about signing-up for the learn-to-run course again which starts tomorrow, about being really excited to wend my way back to my former Caribou self. I'm hugging the box of Kleenex instead and sipping boiled water - a

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-42107004652387089422012-01-14T08:18:00.000-05:002012-01-25T20:19:24.197-05:00

We've had big snow these last days, finally feels like winter. A funny thing about it finally feeling like winter is that you look forward to ice-skating on the Rideau Canal and you start to dream of spring.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-64710840543231020312012-01-10T06:14:00.002-05:002012-01-10T06:31:00.858-05:00

Ah ha! Just what I always knew... Brought to you from Type Books, Toronto.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-204430932563165432012-01-08T18:10:00.001-05:002012-01-08T18:15:03.157-05:00

Oh the Places You'll Go at Burning Man. I can honestly watch this a thousand times...

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-86716051612136819992012-01-07T12:30:00.000-05:002012-01-25T20:19:12.701-05:00

It's wet and grey outside - a good argument for slippers and pyjamas today. We can't help being reflective at the turn of the year, I've been thinking about this time last year and how tired I was to go back to work (a workplace I love, but even so...). This time last year was the beginning of a slow realization that I needed to do something else, to find a way back to my deeper

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-19436974215631809152012-01-06T23:15:00.001-05:002012-01-15T11:57:42.282-05:00

  A new Eritrean cafe in the 'hood (80 block Holland). Friday night take-out. Yum.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-52994909562442920112012-01-03T23:58:00.001-05:002012-01-07T12:50:36.247-05:00

Here's me trying out new photo-sharing apps from my smart phone. The idea of posting while not at home in front of my desktop makes me smile. Growing-up with ribbon typewriters and liquid paper, these new possibilities are sheer giggly madness!

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-24852881426235945212011-12-21T19:07:00.000-05:002011-12-21T11:59:54.847-05:00

These were taken in September while on a mountain hike in Vancouver with Max and Mary, my brother and his fiancée. It was a great workout, I glowed the usual cherry red/fuchsia pink, and it was lovely being with family in the majestic outdoors. I like to imagine myself back in those BC forests. I'd forgotten how attached I was to that land.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-16155541188266432922011-12-18T10:30:00.000-05:002011-12-21T12:00:26.003-05:00

Work's been busy with committee and advisory meetings, a great pleasure to seriously ponder all things visual arts. John Southworth at the Elmdale Tavern was good friends and magic. The season's been unseasonably mild and grey (a bit too much like BC weather). On the cool blue days I loved the sky and light.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-36611846532994307532011-12-16T21:53:00.005-05:002011-12-16T21:53:42.687-05:00

Last September I took the ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo, Vancouver Island. I'm trying to imagine myself living there next Summer.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-85602591689153941062011-12-11T14:25:00.001-05:002011-12-13T08:34:38.792-05:00

I think the theme this week has been pilgrimage. Being haunted by the idea of a long walkabout these days, I guess it's no surprise. Lost and found cousins, dusty paths, open roads and artistic yearnings have swirled in my dreams. Twitter even conspired to offer up Brain Pickings' list of the 11 Best Photography Books of 2011. The entire list is pleasure, of course the first book is Annie

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-69331997130483981182011-12-04T17:45:00.001-05:002011-12-05T22:07:19.655-05:00

Seems awhile back I promised to post some film photos of Whitehorse, Yukon. These are of a walk in the woods at the edge of town. It's dark, grey and raining here today, so feeling a hint of nostalgia for this blast of light and colour.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-39939718348516259502011-12-04T13:33:00.001-05:002011-12-11T18:28:59.265-05:00

The ghosts of unwritten Saturday Morning posts have me sitting at this keyboard today. How to catch-up? How to get back in tune with living and words? My apartment is officially for sale, some showings but no takers as of yet. I feel a bit anxious and a bit judged  that somehow my place is not immediately desirable to everyone who crosses its threshold. It's silly, I know. But you can't help

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-11127384628118383542011-11-19T17:25:00.001-05:002011-12-04T09:22:12.233-05:00

Autumn's blessed us as long as she can. I've never seen so many leaves, so much yellow filling the light this late in the year. There's beauty and melancholy in letting her go. The city is winterizing. Lobby carpets, boot trays, snow-plow markers, winter tires...

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-1327578444423145182011-11-14T08:28:00.001-05:002011-11-14T19:41:09.321-05:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-32687452342885561262011-11-11T13:51:00.001-05:002011-11-14T23:09:13.738-05:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-79378909344685882782011-11-06T21:25:00.000-05:002011-11-11T09:13:41.426-05:00

The shoulder seasons are my favorite, like traveling by boat or train, they are moments of transition in which I feel the most at home.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-9463777402791689902011-11-05T15:01:00.000-04:002011-11-05T15:01:16.913-04:00

A backlog of film has finally been developed, it's lovely to re-live these summer moments from a charmed drive in Quebec's Pontiac region with Zan during her visit last August. More film photos of Vancouver and Whitehorse to come.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-58942970828807192282011-11-05T08:32:00.000-04:002011-11-11T09:16:32.827-05:00

I've said it before, but I do love waking up in my own bed on a Saturday morning. Too much work traveling this year has certainly aided in drawing this quiet pleasure into focus. Last weekend it was Toronto for the Toronto International Art Fair. This weekend I can lounge around in pyjamas a bit, then get things ready for listing my apartment for sale. Almost there.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-54641104956364174002011-10-22T10:25:00.002-04:002011-10-22T10:25:43.001-04:00

Overnight temps are starting to wilt the outdoor plants. A sure sign of the earth's orbit doing its thing. In my sphere, I'm minimizing house clutter and "depersonalizing" rooms, getting ready for the big sell. I've way too much art for this place. Whatever will I do with it in a smaller apartment? I've never sold a house before, I think it's more challenging than buying. There's an element of

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-5170715473119650152011-10-21T22:08:00.001-04:002011-10-21T22:20:42.780-04:00

I was in Whitehorse recently, a side trip from Vancouver. It was beautiful Autumn. I just about fell in the Yukon River trying to get a smooth river rock as a souvenir, it's smooth, flat and round, and turquoise/green as the river.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-330301856226842012011-10-15T10:12:00.000-04:002011-10-21T22:46:57.304-04:00

These are likely the last flowers I'll enjoy on this balcony, my Ottawa home. With good grace, this time next year there will be new flowers in a place I can't quite imagine yet - A balcony? Garden? Nearby park? There's only one way to get there and it's through a long list of tasks that starts right now. Packing, painting, sorting, writing, organizing. It's been a full week, under the weather

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-24404122367800407512011-10-14T00:55:00.001-04:002011-10-21T15:11:36.330-04:00

Here's my brief and half-formed post to tell you about the important agency of the Ragged Edge, where Justine Musk uses Uncertainty as a starting point to talk about "6 So-Called Rules for the Badass Creative Woman". Your ragged edge is your point of growth, she says, it's the outer limits of your comfort zone. I love this vocabulary... living on the ragged edge, you might know it well.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-66140192986643395552011-10-01T10:36:00.001-04:002011-10-21T15:11:46.277-04:00

It`s Autumn and I love it. After the paint job to freshen old old walls and dingy baseboards, with boxes of books piled in the living room, I'm deciding whether or nor not to keep them packed or return them to the office. Home is about staging now. The process of getting ready for sale is also a process of disengaging and saying goodbye to this lovely, sunny corner of my world.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-29041072126772219862011-09-18T15:23:00.000-04:002011-10-01T10:58:23.196-04:00

Day four in Vancouver to attend an international performance art festival. It's good to be back among artists and old friends, wandering familiar downtown streets with so many memories of lifetimes ago. Between the festival at night and gallery-hopping in the day I'm exhausted, but the art is so good my intellect and soul are giggling and sighing with relief. Staying at the

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-10425193935870414802011-09-10T09:26:00.000-04:002011-10-21T15:11:55.313-04:00

Shoot. I don't want this blog to turn into a whining, overly introspective one, but I'm caught in a decision moment. Seems sleeping is just more time for my unconscious to work through things while my poor embattled ego takes a break. They're tag-teaming, turning ideas over, trying on scenarios like clothes to see what fits, hopefully getting me to the right place. I'm number crunching all

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-53910865768094051652011-09-08T16:48:00.001-04:002011-10-22T10:32:12.530-04:00

Ooof! The end of my holiday draws near. This time at home has flown by with a good amount relaxing and a good amount of visiting with dear friends, being a tourist in my own town. No work though on the couple of unfinished bits I brought home from the office. No driving lessons as I promise myself every summer. No braces for my crooked teeth, no major purging of papers or old photo equipment

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-51329748299156094992011-09-03T07:25:00.000-04:002011-10-21T15:18:39.529-04:00

It's Mum's birthday today. I think about her all the time but especially every September 3rd and every August 13th, the day she died. She would have been seventy-one today, she would have had twenty-eight years more living, she would be older than me. I wonder about how much more I would have gotten to know her, about confidences given with the passing of time when she decided that I was old

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-52450727203842886182011-09-02T10:24:00.000-04:002011-12-11T18:45:02.333-05:00

The telephone gods have been mischievous as ancestors. I would say that for the majority of of my holidays, my landline has been crossed and disconnected, making me involuntarily incommunicado during my séjour chez moi. I first realised something was amiss when the only time the phone rang was for wrong numbers and surprise three-way calls with polite strangers (the naughtiest thing I've done

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-72456116982526498982011-08-27T09:12:00.000-04:002012-01-15T12:27:48.737-05:00

Do you ever have the feeling that something is going to happen to change the way you remember the past? Usually this happens as significant events are unfolding and we are left trying to make sense out of them. Seems we've had so many occurrences this year. Who could have imagined on December 31, 2010 the Arab spring, Japan earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster, East Africa famine, Libya,

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-14022346587008601422011-08-20T12:30:00.002-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.304-04:00

Late summer light is sublime and even better with the excellent company of my dearest friend Zan from Toronto. We've spent the morning in our pajamas discussing the virtues of Instagram (yep, we're hopelessly addicted), social media and future forecasting in the cultural sector - an area where Zan is poised to become a forecasting genius. It's going to be bright, watch out

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-84029992135578901672011-08-17T17:20:00.001-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.423-04:00

Day three of a cold aggravated by another humdinger migraine yesterday. I don't like calling them headaches 'cause that's just a bit misleading. A full-on total body nerve storm is more like it. And just when I'm flailing about, out of sorts, feeling miserable and still somehow feeling responsible for these attacks (it must something I'm doing or not doing enough, I punish myself), I

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-84460594884659202432011-08-15T13:57:00.002-04:002011-10-21T15:19:16.157-04:00

You can almost set your clock by it. Day three of holidays and I'm getting sick with a cold. I guess that means my body knows it's safe to let go. A wonderful thing about staying at home though - I get to enjoy the stellar neighbourhood, even if it's just to buy fruit and veg for juicing or books for curling up with. Alas, the Big Art Party, I'll miss.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-52172843918682226082011-08-14T06:14:00.004-04:002011-10-21T15:19:35.328-04:00

Day one of my month of freedom was spent renewing my library card and tinkering on the blog. I hope you like the new look. I also scanned a ton of found photos, which will now be posted on a separate link at the top left along with the pinholes). Today I'll scan more pinholes, so that over the next weeks you'll see the two new blogs take some form of (hopefully) elegant shape.This blog will

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-72367709574094535472011-08-13T08:40:00.005-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.413-04:00

The first day of a one month holiday and loaded-up with 35mm film (woohoo!).

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-10711968131494976292011-08-12T07:18:00.003-04:002011-08-13T17:10:38.919-04:00

"Fatigue Duty" "1918" Films developed and printed at D.J. Young and Co. Ltd. Calgary Alberta.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-55624414349494773762011-08-11T05:38:00.004-04:002011-10-21T15:20:12.233-04:00

My derives through the city with the Pentax continue. Walking along Byron Ave - my favorite running path in the neighbourhood - I noticed the first yellow signs of autumn. Canada Geese honking by on their migratory path woke me early this morning. There's a coolness about the mornings too. Sure signs the end of summer draws near. I'll confess to being a bit relieved even if I haven't

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-27359665183121646692011-08-10T07:18:00.002-04:002011-10-21T15:20:40.706-04:00

I've been thinking a lot recently about British Columbia, I've lived there longer than anywhere, trying to imagine if going back would feel like a homecoming, misguided nostalgia or a new adventure. Probably all of the above.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-21727130617516929582011-08-09T07:50:00.000-04:002011-10-21T15:20:56.966-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-89280038411294957932011-08-08T05:13:00.005-04:002011-10-21T15:23:59.031-04:00

My love triangle with the Pentax and Ottawa continues. Here is the ByWard Market - quintessential Ottawa - everyone just calls it "the market". maple syrup Looks just like my nephew from behind, at least when he was 18 months younger, it's been that long since I last saw him. I can't wait for my next trip out west in September!  A market landmark My new favorite patio is at

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-53018748246633087872011-08-07T08:38:00.004-04:002011-10-21T15:24:26.783-04:00

Been wandering around town, thinking about how much I like living in Ottawa. Been shooting with a 35mm film camera too. There's definitely something powerful about going back to a way of photographing and observing not done for nearly 20 years.  It feels good and healing to get reacquainted with a simpler, more elemental way of seeing that is optimistic and has faith in the

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-58657525338248063732011-08-06T09:15:00.004-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.389-04:00

One more week left at work before some time to catch-up, pare down, plan and not-plan, read, walk, run. Relax. Really looking forward to my month of freedom. Living in the nation's capital, working  for the nation, it seems a favorite dinner pastime of public servants is to rail against the foibles and frustrations of the day, mull over various escape plans, ponder alternate lives, then talk

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-2892396652189782242011-08-05T08:14:00.007-04:002011-10-21T15:25:12.586-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-8026045925310832362011-08-03T07:55:00.004-04:002011-08-13T20:15:56.199-04:00

"Pat, (his cigar) and I. Those coveralls really fit, don't they?  3-1-45" "John in front of combined harvester. It cuts, thrashes, sacks and throws out the straw. It is pulled by horses." "1941 - already in book"

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-67937463371118222062011-08-01T09:32:00.015-04:002011-10-21T15:39:19.967-04:00

I've returned to a Pentax and become a born-again photographer, back to the 1980's when I first picked-up a camera and hungrily photographed everything on my walks. It feels good. That was a time of inner ferment resulting in a shift from a career in psychology to the study of art. What a wonderful arc of a life it's been since then! Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" has

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-90443923809176018062011-07-31T09:02:00.004-04:002011-10-21T15:26:13.415-04:00

More from New York, but this time in January 2002. It was my first visit to that fair city, just  four months after 911. The air was still a brown/pink haze with faint acrid smell. Flowers, shrines, notes and letters were on the street, at fire stations, on lampposts and fences. It was heartbreaking to see such a majestic city for the first time still wounded and raw. I've visited a few times

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-9892707664695260132011-07-30T21:29:00.004-04:002011-10-21T15:27:02.217-04:00

With the new scanner I've tentatively begun the gargantuan task of archiving thirteen years of pinhole negatives. I say tentative because if I really think about what a huge task that is I won't stick with it. Maybe this is a "writing a first novel" equivalent, something squeezed in, in the quiet alone time outside of the day job. I'm trying to decide whether or not to create a separate blog

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-66544342473364318902011-07-30T07:34:00.003-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.406-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-16171117782527077552011-07-28T22:20:00.001-04:002011-08-13T17:07:18.619-04:00

I've replaced the broken film scanner, woo hoo! Time to celebrate with some new Good Finds:

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-5580207529165079552011-07-26T22:33:00.003-04:002011-08-13T16:59:51.095-04:00

A Madsen Print - Oct 15 1934 June19, 1938 (Wisconsin)

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-31103754637562060242011-07-24T12:28:00.004-04:002011-10-21T15:27:51.992-04:00

thunderstorm shade  devil tree heatwave

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-35737409447379258922011-07-24T10:29:00.005-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.342-04:00

breakfast for one This is the first time a Saturday Morning pic is posted on a Sunday. I blame tiredness and this incredible heatwave that evaporates what energy remains for timely action. It's been hot. H.O.T. hot. Really and meanly hot. I hate using the A/C, it disturbs my breathing and sleep, but these nights it's a necessity. So after tossing around to the A/C all Thursday night, I woke

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-21563839179939821612011-07-16T10:53:00.005-04:002012-01-07T01:11:38.060-05:00

It's going to be a scorcher. Heatwave coming. After two days of a killer migraine - a very nasty something that I would call a complete body migraine - I'm up today and feeling normal, which is such a blessing. Refreshed, I've already weeded the plants that were being attacked by aphids, recycled and deposited my first bag of organic waste in the new green bin program that finally arrived to

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-32641753239375362812011-07-12T09:07:00.002-04:002011-10-21T15:28:24.997-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-76024430674850266312011-07-10T10:10:00.001-04:002011-10-21T15:29:11.357-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-61824297362931149622011-07-09T08:27:00.001-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.394-04:00

It's just so lovely to wake up in my own bed on a Saturday morning. I'm bleary-eyed in a Benylin fog fighting a scratching cough and thick head. But so happy to be at home.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-35135079878308867872011-07-08T07:05:00.000-04:002011-10-21T15:30:23.512-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-3802652071991772762011-07-07T23:47:00.005-04:002011-10-21T15:30:39.500-04:00

I've become slovenly again, getting rotund, working too hard, drinking too much coffee in the day and too much wine at night. Not exercising -  running has turned into regret and shame about not running. I'm tired, stressed at work, sleeping badly, low energy. My doctor's concerned, I need to take care.  So in the spirit of taking care I decided to walk home from work today (no point in

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-6336313771626720802011-07-06T19:32:00.000-04:002011-10-21T15:31:47.558-04:00

Fire trucks, the RCMP and half the town were out for the Canada Day parade. Free hotdogs, chilli, face painting and general merry-making followed. This country as a construct is laid bare here, an uneasy proposition for me. Arctic Char Car Local superhero Polar Man (yes, he really walks around town like this conducting random good deeds) Daredevils doing wheelies in

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-26095725870668053282011-07-06T18:47:00.001-04:002011-10-21T15:32:17.041-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-47465367311819590552011-07-05T21:33:00.004-04:002011-10-21T15:32:46.680-04:00

Here are different peeks out my hotel window, around midnight, two and six in the morning (the order might be a bit mixed-up... hard to tell)

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-45292623414040947842011-07-04T14:17:00.006-04:002011-10-21T15:33:49.325-04:00

Being an island without trees, it's amazing to ponder all materials that make this town have arrived by plane or boat. This explains the preponderance of transport containers used as sheds and housing extensions, shipping pallets stacked for future use or re-purposed, and the space-age prefabricated buildings that look like lunar compounds. All convenience foods, fruits and vegetables are

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-14509384909423650102011-07-04T10:03:00.005-04:002011-10-21T15:34:28.405-04:00

Apex is a small hamlet about 5km from Iqaluit. The red and white buildings below are part of an old Hudson's Bay Company trading post moved there in the 1950's when Iqaluit was an "off-limits" U.S. military base. An art gallery is in one of the buildings now (sadly closed while we were there). We walked for a couple of hours back into town from Apex and saw this tent

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-83218373496444554322011-07-03T08:57:00.001-04:002011-10-21T15:35:20.851-04:00

Flying over Nunavut, seeing the incredible expanse of land and sea. Being summer, we were lucky to catch the last of the sea ice, so beautiful.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-47862523381570851892011-07-02T22:16:00.002-04:002011-10-21T15:35:39.263-04:00

first night Home now... and it's dark outside. Feels extra inky dark after five nights of sunshine. I've been home long enough to half-unpack, go shopping for groceries, water the wilted and thirsty plants and shoo away the flies. I've downloaded the hundreds of photos taken - it will take weeks to go through them. I've two days to get my head back for the office. Two days that will feel

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-50860198054529941582011-07-02T07:14:00.009-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.377-04:00

Here's the view outside my Iqaluit window at 6:30 am. I woke up at midnight and at two to peek out - the shadows were different and brightness was the same. Dark night at home is going to feel odd and welcomed tonight. In Iqaluit, CBC Radio Qulliq plays a lot of Bert Kaempfert's A Swingin' Safari  in between stories, news and the weather. Hearing it now reminds me of Mum, we grew-up listening

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-38815405858669437462011-06-30T08:57:00.003-04:002011-10-21T15:37:59.940-04:00

I'm still here in Iqaluit, the major purpose of the immediate work is complete, so now I can relax a bit and enjoy being in this place. It is incredible, beautiful, poetic and devastating to be here. My ancestors are triggered and are wreaking havoc at the rawness of this contact between cultures old and new, written and oral, of the land and diasporic. Many old and unanswered wounds. Lots to

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-64330479879878472552011-06-30T08:52:00.002-04:002011-10-21T15:37:25.955-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-56216441486698134722011-06-26T11:03:00.001-04:002011-10-21T15:36:59.539-04:00

Five days into summer, the suitcase is out and I'm digging around for winter clothes put away... Work trip coming. I wish I could be more enthusiastic and I'm really hoping that excitement will carry me once I'm there. How many people have the chance to experience Iqaluit after all? And Canada Day too? In the meantime, home is my comfy place, my retreat, my haven of peace.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-51985133827425728892011-06-18T07:12:00.004-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.383-04:00

Home beckons, but work demands...

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-43237184519858269342011-06-12T18:39:00.004-04:002011-10-21T15:41:37.224-04:00

I've a full six days coming-up at work, don't know if I can blog. So, to fill the future, here are some photos from  last week (posted on Instagram)   balcony sunsets, a great pleasure office tower watching at work sky watching at home balcony garden blossoms little lost ones on my morning run sunrise morning run major storm, dark at 5pm

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-68043687107895472972011-06-12T07:35:00.003-04:002011-06-12T14:23:24.199-04:00

... a short film by Nic Askew featuring Julio Olalla AMO LA VIDA from Nic Askew on Vimeo. (thanks to Rebekah over at Big Fun in a Tiny Pueblo for referring it).

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-56692115592269942702011-06-11T12:43:00.004-04:002011-10-21T15:42:21.809-04:00

listening to the trees

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-38895365841634187012011-06-11T12:26:00.005-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.348-04:00

I'm posting these a little late. Slow this morning, pretending to do housework. Go Canucks Go! Chocolatine, half-devoured

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-24810382060595515452011-06-08T08:59:00.004-04:002011-08-13T17:24:33.368-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-45363028126704400022011-06-05T07:59:00.001-04:002011-10-21T15:43:22.303-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-74768509124502303512011-06-04T13:51:00.002-04:002011-10-21T15:43:50.570-04:00

I love the majesty and artfulness of this city. It's definitely an art town. More photos (taken with my phone) will be posted shortly. Hotel room with a view!

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-78962163366788857532011-06-04T11:45:00.001-04:002011-10-21T15:44:11.351-04:00

It's taken some trips and a while to get through the Holga film, three cities in fact. I'll be honest, after years and years of taking pinhole photos, I'm not too sure the Holga is for me, the results are somehow too blurry for lens photography, the mechanics of the camera too present in the image. I haven't quite connected to this camera yet. Nevertheless here are some I took in the abandoned

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-27506855501882280532011-06-04T10:22:00.006-04:002011-10-21T15:44:30.529-04:00

almond croissant all gone

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-15025382507922720342011-06-03T21:22:00.005-04:002011-10-21T15:45:26.085-04:00

I haven't shot 35mm for decades -  a lot rusty, but it's fun to get back to it... Spring Saturdays, good to be at home Favorite cookbooks A day in the Bytown Market, avoiding the crowds Tulip Festival, Majors Hill Park, ignoring the crowds and the tulips

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-88004584907796467802011-06-03T07:26:00.003-04:002011-10-21T15:45:42.628-04:00

Some Holga and Vitessa T photos are coming... (New York, Winnipeg, Chicago & Ottawa)

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-57634788884452953192011-05-29T11:32:00.022-04:002011-10-21T15:46:00.883-04:00

It's grey and raining today, proper autumn weather in spring, definitely not a laundry day. The fine folk at Uppercase Journal have inspired this post with their article on the benefits of hanging your clothes to dry. There's even a website called Project Laundry List that promotes and celebrates air-drying and cold-washing where, among other things, you can find mapped photos of laundry lines in

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-42230632556130714822011-05-28T08:47:00.002-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.361-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-40976315020469532082011-05-28T07:15:00.034-04:002011-08-13T13:56:37.370-04:00

I should know this by now, happens every time. Finally admitting to fatigue last week has helped to find a way through it. I will get through this. As soon as you stop and name the beast, it's on its grumpy way out the door. And, to make sure the beast can't return, somehow Tom Jones has moved-in. "It's Not Unusual" has taken-up residence in my head and won't go away. How can anything be

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-49378946308985788542011-05-23T15:20:00.003-04:002011-10-21T15:47:10.962-04:00

I've been in a funk of late. Since the thawing of winter, rather than become energized with spring, I've been running out of steam. Work has been busy and I'm hitting a wall. Feels like running a race, you realise it's not that everyone else is getting faster, but that you're getting slower. Your mind conspires to convince you that you just can't run anymore and wouldn't it be easy to stop and

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-10326959597050076172011-05-21T05:54:00.005-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.298-04:00

These must be my earliest Saturday morning pics, being about 5:30 am. I've been up for hours. Can't sleep. It promises to be a nice day, the first after many days of grey and rain, so I'm going to be a tourist in my own town, looking forward to wandering around with my camera eye.

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-73693906702581927782011-05-21T05:09:00.007-04:002011-08-13T17:25:49.815-04:00

I love the fountain and like to imagine a connection between it and the man in the photograph. Why photograph it twice?

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-3006110363766351622011-05-17T21:48:00.036-04:002011-10-21T15:48:13.524-04:00

It's been so busy at work I'm gonna be late for my own birthday tomorrow. I can't believe it. Last year I was strolling around Wakefield deliriously arm-in-arm with my now ex-lover, the ex-spy. The great wheel of life has a great sense of humour, so, this year I'm in the Wonderland Blue Files at work, rushing with grant payments, getting ready for committees, making travel plans, writing memos

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-41989394578430147772011-05-17T08:28:00.005-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.355-04:00

I know, I know... it's Tuesday today, but this was taken on Saturday. Promise. I've been gone too long, swept-up in the office grind not able to see much further than the following day, grinding through dossiers, reports, meetings and memos. There was some lovely respite this weekend with a visit from luminous Zan and Sandy. It was a chance to catch-up with far away friends, listen to music,

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-81821199425620936582011-05-08T14:37:00.002-04:002011-10-21T15:49:11.300-04:00

Here are a few brief impressions (stolen en route and between work meetings) of my first visit to the Windy City... I loved it!

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-628716144416931342011-05-07T10:40:00.003-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.400-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-55133730172288969342011-04-26T08:58:00.002-04:002011-08-13T17:26:18.881-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-58096750685489975412011-04-24T12:05:00.001-04:002011-10-21T15:50:41.351-04:00

It was a week with lots of work in it I photographed around the workplace Stolen peeks at creative and personal gestures found in my colleagues' offices Tulips for the Easter weekend at home Monster guitar player Charlie Hunter cast a spell at The Elmdale Tavern

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-25532965127838209892011-04-23T11:06:00.003-04:002011-10-21T17:04:12.330-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-12330545987320834282011-04-21T07:11:00.003-04:002011-08-13T17:09:20.463-04:00

Norah and Friend

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-17871705872171912962011-04-20T05:39:00.002-04:002011-08-13T17:39:50.141-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-33562643461823177882011-04-19T06:56:00.003-04:002011-08-13T17:40:18.866-04:00

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-73894555016932522272011-04-18T08:43:00.003-04:002011-08-13T20:14:43.659-04:00

"December 26, 1935"

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-60169251200221258232011-04-17T11:06:00.004-04:002011-08-13T17:52:48.067-04:00

In the spirit of place and circumstance, I wanted to celebrate Ottawa by announcing with great fanfare a new series of found Ottawa pics (circa 1920's I believe). The series comes from fifty 15/8" x 21/4" negatives (odd size, i wonder what the camera was) stuffed in a brown paper envelope - an antique shop find from years ago. The negatives were processed at "Photographic Stores, Limited" 65

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2655942560145470879.post-70343294139353993802011-04-17T02:24:00.000-04:002011-10-21T15:51:42.025-04:00

Wow-wee... Last autumn, as part of their acquisitions program, the City of Ottawa purchased two of my large-format pinhole photographs. I'm excited because it's the first time my work has made it to a public collection. My job at 'the national arts funding agency' leaves few options to participate publicly as an artist. So this is really special. The city is having an exhibition,

Melindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15716411027533450558noreply@blogger.com1