Things That Are True - Wednesday of few Words

Sick boy, home from daycare, who woke up long enough yesterday morning to wander out to the couch and fall asleep again. Thirty minutes after I took this picture, he threw up all over the couch cushions that cradle his head here.

So that's the kind of week I'm having. You?

Things That Are True - List the Third

Ten Photos I Took That I Love So Much I Call Them My Art and I Don't Care if Snooty Art Experts Don't Consider Them Good Enough So There*:
 

A photo of a photo - a shot of the Woodwards building reflected in Stan Douglas' vast window photograph of his recreation of the 1971 Gastown Riot. Article about his piece here.

Wormhole! Sitting in the front seat of one of the trains on the Canada Line, looking down the tunnel ahead of us. I love the ghostly reflection of the person sitting on the other side of the train.

Sunlight hits one of the statues of Yue Min Jun's A-Maze-Ing Laughter public art installation in my neighbourhood.

The light in Chicago was amazing that day.

The Imp fell fast asleep in a busy cafe. I couldn't resist.

In Paris, even the graffiti is romantic.

If I ever release an album, this will be the cover image.

A bit of whimsy in my own neighbourhood.


So what do you think? Should I open an etsy shop? Sell prints?

[Edited to add: I took all of these with my iPhone, using the Hipstamatic app.]


*File under: If I Created it and I Say It's Art, It's Art. Neener neener.

Things That Are True - Newton's Laws

"Newton's First Law of Motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts on it."

"I'm hiding, Mommy. You don't see me."

"A body in motion at a constant velocity will remain in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force."

"If a body experiences an acceleration ( or deceleration) or a change in direction of motion, it must have an outside force acting on it. Outside forces are sometimes called net forces or unbalanced forces."

"The Second Law of Motion states that if an unbalanced force acts on a body, that body will experience acceleration ( or deceleration)."

Today was a day of unbalanced, outside forces, if you define outside forces as sunshine, fresh air, and the irresistible appeal of things that need climbing. Which I do.


All that business about Newton's laws was scanged from this NASA page, because yay science!

Things That Are True - We Went All the Way to Paris and All I Have Are These Awesome Memories

Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm choosing to ignore the fact that the new year arrived three weeks ago. I was out of town, I wasn't blogging, I missed all the resolutions stuff. I am, instead, basing my greetings on the Chinese New Year, which was yesterday. So I'm totally timely with my wishes, and may the Year of the Dragon bring you adventures and peace in whatever combination your heart desires.

Paris.

Where to start? We had the best trip ever. The Imp walked around the streets of Paris, sing-songing "Bonjour!" and "Bonne année" to random strangers and charming literally everyone who crossed his path. Old ladies rubbed his head, young men smiled at him carrying his "futbol" around, waiters brought us extra treats just for him. The Imp took it all in stride.

It's hard to condense a three week holiday into a single post, and I am not even going to try. I took 880 photos in Paris alone. Yes, eight hundred and eighty.

We had a great time, and The Imp wasn't the only one who cried when it was time to leave.

(Hey, what do you know? I just condensed three weeks into a single sentence.)

Happy New Year, everyone.

Things That Matter - Lest We Forget

Cenotaph, Victory Square, Vancouver

This is where I'll be this morning, to watch Vancouver's Remembrance Day ceremony. I go every year. I'm descended, on my father's side, from a long line of pacifists. Some of them, while objecting to the motivations and machinations of war, still served as stretcher bearers, contributing what they felt, morally, that they could. Men on my mother's side of the family served their country in World War II. One of my cousins served as a peacekeeper in some really hellish places. HWSNBN's father and grandfather both answered the call.

Victory Square, Vancouver

I go to honour them. To honour their commitment to duty, to what they thought was right. I go to remember those who didn't come back. I go to honour those who serve in war-torn places all over the world today.

Statue honouring the war dead of Canadian Pacific Railways, Waterfront Station, Vancouver

And I go in gratitude that because of them, my son is growing up in a peaceful nation, with the freedom to be who he is. May he never need to know anything different.

But I'll teach him to honour, and to be grateful.