Pointless SPRING!!! photos of the day, quick version

Look! Green!

No, look closer. It's there.


Really. Try clicking on the thumbnail to make the picture bigger.

Still not getting it? Ok, there's a close-up of one part of the green below, for those who don't believe me.

These daffodils are always amongst the first things up in my father's yard, partly because they're close to the house's foundation and partly because the heat from the dryer vent tends to keep things fairly clear of snow. I don't imagine we'll be seeing too many other sprouts for at least a couple of weeks yet.

Still, you grab a hold of whatever spring you can, right?



Sorry this post is short, but for a change I actually got around to participating in Illustration Friday this morning. First time in over a month. Yeah, I've been lazy... or, more to the point, I've been creating "art" that really isn't worth posting to the blog. Maybe spring will get me back in the groove? Well, maybe (looking at the amount of snow that's to the right of the struggling green in the top photo) you should ask me in another month or so when spring might actually be here.

Gotta love Canadian "spring"



No computer for me tomorrow, so no post since I still haven't figured out how to do it telekinetically. See you in a day or two.

Chapter 1730: Wherein Dee muses about work on her day off and doesn't really know why

Today's pointless photograph was taken in the sanctuary behind the nature centre where I work. And yes, that is a major road off in the distance, going right past the nature preserve.

I kind of like the road, oddly enough.

I mean, I don't like the road per se. It'd be better if it wasn't there. We occasionally lose animals to it... although not as often as you might expect. Our urban deer are fairly road-savvy. Apart from that, though, it's noisy. It breaks the mood. You come out of the forest, walk a little ways, and see modern life coming back to smack you in the face. It's inescapable, the road. It reminds you that as much as you can pretend that you're off communing with nature, one turn in the path is all it takes to be in the city again.

That's actually part of the reason I like the road, though. It's a pretty good teacher.

I can take a group of kids out, teach them about some natural whatsit, and then show them that this is all still taking place in the city. That there can be nature in a city. That if things are managed properly, wildlife and people can exist in the same space. It's a darned good illustration of concept.

Things are managed pretty well for wildlife in the city that I live in. When the park system was created, each node (with one exception that they're still working on. Erm, somewhat) was connected by bike trails and green spaces. That's convenient for the people, of course, but it also means ways to get from place to place for the bigger wildlife, and that in turn means a lessening of the island effect on populations that you might see if a city's parks were all isolated spots with no interconnections. Fairly smart planning for the early eighties, I figure. Nature was taken into account, even in the middle of trying to plan a large, brand new park system. And as far as the road you see above goes, nature was taken into account there, too. When the road was extended and was poised to become a major thoroughfare, it was decided not to put any off-ramps down to the road that goes past the nature centre. This could, I suppose, just be looked at as a cost-saving measure, but the fact is that by not having direct access to our road from the main road, it's kept our road from becoming a huge shortcut to downtown. That, naturally, cuts down hundreds-fold on the amount of disruption traffic causes to the sanctuary. Sure, it also makes it very frustrating for first-time visitors who think that they can access us from the main road (I've talked to many people on their cell phones, giving them directions on how to swing back around as they watch the sanctuary go past them with no way to get down there), but shouldn't the wildlife come first in a designated wildlife sanctuary?

Obviously, I think so.

You may be interested to know (or not. This might be boring the snot out of you, for all I know) that the city hasn't forgotten to think about wild spaces as it grows. There's a plan in place for a huge expansion of the park system into some new areas, and if anything the wildlife side of the plan has become even more entrenched than it was originally. Buffers around wetlands, green corridors... it's all really neat to see, and I hope that it stays in place as the new parks are developed. It's nice to live in a city with a council and planners that actually take the time to realise that people aren't the only things that live there. Besides, people with ready access to nature, even in cities, are more likely to be healthier themselves. Don't believe me? There are an awful lot of studies out there, and all it takes is a quick google to find them. I'm not going to do it for you today, however. It's my holiday weekend too, and I've already talked too much about work stuff today. Poke around a bit on your own if you're interested, though, by all means. You might be surprised just how much being outside can help both physical and mental well-being.

And ADHD, even, depending on who you believe...



Aaanyway. Enough of this stuff for now. I'll try to be on a less preachy topic tomorrow (although, really? I don't think this was terribly preachy at all. Was it?), or at least post a photo of the daffodils that have decided to come up over by the dryer vent on the corner of the house. Do you suppose that they have the slightest clue that their artificial warmth has given them at least three weeks start on the rest of the yard, which is still half a metre deep (at least) in snow? Ah well, at least it's something springy-looking.

No so random bird

I'll post more thoroughly tonight if I'm in the mood, but for now at least I thought you might like to see one of the Downy Woodpeckers that's currently trying to eat me out of house and home. Those aren't peanuts in that peanut feeder, boys and girls. They're expensive mixed nuts (think Christmas nuts, but without the salt) that I bought on a whim. I couldn't believe that people would spoil their birds with mixed nuts without a reason, so I thought I should see -- for professional reasons, of course -- whether people were buying the stuff just because it made them feel good, or whether the birds do, in fact, like them better.

They do.

An awful lot better.

I've been seeing well over twice as many birds as I usually do on the balcony. Chickadees and nuthatches, of course, but I've never had such regular woodpecker visits before.

Sigh. Experiment gone the opposite way that I wanted it to.



They're getting peanuts again the next time I buy seed, though. If I don't get to have mixed nuts most of the year, than neither do the birds.

So there. Nyah.

Random bird

It's a Waxwing, being waxwingish. As they do.

I'm kind of busy with work here at work (again, yes. this is getting serious), so the bird is going to have to do you for today. I took this shot here at work yesterday when I was out taking pictures for the work blog. They're up on the work blog now, if you're interested.

What? You don't know where the work blog is? Well, there's a link on the work website.

Don't know where the work website is? I guess you'll have to look for it then.

Where?


Geez, do I have to do everything for you people? E-mail me if you're actually interested.

Don't know my e-mail?





Sigh. It's on the other blog if you're desperate.

Don't know where the other blog is?

Ok, I draw the line there. Check the freaking sidebar already.



Gotta go now.

Watch this

Today's pointless photo is not of a watch. Nor is it of something you'd necessarily want to watch, unless the glowing light of the dial when the radio's on gives you a thrill.

It's not real, by the way. Or old, I mean, since it is, in fact, an actual radio. It's a reproduction and it probably takes up way too much space in my apartment, but I like it so it stays. It sounds really good, too, which tells me that they at least put a decent speaker in the thing. A speaker, yes. One. It's showing a little authenticity by not being in stereo.

Incidentally, I do own an authentic old vacuum tube radio. Bakelite, even. My grandmother gave it to me. She bought it originally to listen to a boxing match, of all things. There's probably a picture or two of it here on the blog, knowing me.

Um, but that's not why you called. What's with the watch, Dee?

Well, I'm not wearing my watch today.

You're obviously not getting what a big deal that is.

I always wear my watch. Especially at work. Part of it is practical: when I'm programming, I need a watch. I need to check my pace. I need to make sure that I'm done on time so that the class makes its bus and gets back to the school all right. The watch? A necessity.

I wear a watch when I'm not programming as well, but it's probably not all that crucial. If I'm at the desk I can glance at the computer screen to check the time, after all. If I'm in a meeting I can look at the clock on the staff room wall. I should be able to be watchless on days like today.

Oh, before I go on, I can already tell that some of you are wondering why I don't just look at my cell phone, as so much of the world does these days. The fact is, I don't want to get into the habit. Looking at your phone in the middle of a program is very, very bad form. It can make your group think -- even if it's just subconsciously -- that they're not your primary focus. Glancing at a watch doesn't give nearly the same effect. One of the things that I always tell new interpreters is that they need to get a watch. Most of the younger ones these days give me a blank stare at that point, since they've almost never told time by using anything other than a phone. That's when I explain the no-phone reasoning and tell them that even if they just go to a bargain store and buy a five-dollar watch that they only ever use for programming, they still should have a watch.

Anyway.

Today, as an experiment, I put on a bracelet instead of my watch. I don't really have need of a watch today, and I wanted to see just how many times I'd unconsciously check my non-present watch during the course of the day.

The result?

I first looked for my watch about ten minutes after I got here.

Yeah, I lasted that long.

The tea I was making isn't supposed to brew too long, you see, and I when I put in the tea ball I checked to see what time it was so that I knew when to take it out.

My bracelet wasn't much help with that.

How am I making out since then? A bit better, since I've been mostly at the desk and the little clock is right there at the bottom right hand corner of the monitor. I've looked at my wrist maybe a half-dozen times or so.

Still have a few hours to go, though.

And this bracelet keeps knocking against the typing shelf and annoying the crap out of me.

I want my watch back.



Still have a few hours to go, though...

Working at work

Yeah, again. Terrible stuff. I should have time to think of a blather tomorrow, but for now I'm mostly just posting so that I don't disappear for over a week again.

Which, as you've noticed, tends to happen if I don't stop by to at least post a pointless photo. Speaking of which...

This is just another random shot in my apartment taken from the bed because I was too lazy (or bored) to get up. The conch shell is a souvenir from a Hawaii trip. The one where I was in high school, I think, not the earlier one. And yes, I can blow the conch. I don't do it often in the apartment for obvious reasons, but every once in a while if I get the urge and I think it's likely that not many people are home (like, say, mid-afternoon on a weekday), conch trumpet it is. I like to think that it confuses the hell out of anyone who does happen to be home.

The glass-looking thing is a glass thing. Or maybe a plastic thing. With a laser scorpion engraved in it. I think it was a present.

As for the rest, well, I have a shelf and a half of dictionaries. I like dictionaries. Old ones, new(ish) ones (haven't bought a new standard dictionary in years because I, like the rest of the world, tend to use the internet for modern references these days), translating ones, biographical ones... I can get pretty good mileage out of a dictionary, as odd as that sounds. The thesaurus, on the other hand, I may have opened once since I got it.

No idea why.

Anyway, that'll have to do for today. See you next post. Whenever that is.

Cake or death

Picture? Nothing to do with anything.

Post title? Same thing, except that it gives me an excuse to link to this...

Ok, well, there was dessert involved in my morning. Someone brought in SASKATOON PIE.

Yes, that needed capitals. Saskatoon pie is one of my favourite things in the world (which led me to the age-old question of cake or pie, which then led to Eddie Izzard. As things do), and I don't get to have it very often any more since I don't have my grandmother around to make me one.

Saskatoon pie is fantastic. And if you've never had saskatoon pie, you should. And if you don't live in Alberta or Saskatchewan and don't have any easy access to saskatoon pie, well... sorry.

Yep, just sorry.

Gotta go do a program now. Maybe, if I'm lucky, there'll still be some saskatoon pie left when I'm finished.

Later. Sorry this is so short, but hey. At least it's a post. There haven't been many of those this month.

I have no idea what this post is going to be about

Just about says it all, really. I don't want to post about snow, which is what I'm seeing out the window. I don't want to post about the planetarium, which is where I've spent the last couple of days. I don't want to post about the pope, because I'm not Catholic and I really don't care.

What does that leave, exactly?

A beaver-chewed log, I suppose, if you're judging from today's pointless photo. But I don't want to blather about beavers, either.

I guess I'm feeling a little contrary.

What could I blather about, then? Well, I suppose I could tell you how it feels to have your brain explode when you open a credit card bill and instead of seeing the $700ish balance you're expecting you find $11,000.

I could also tell you how sheepish you feel when you slide an obviously-opened credit card bill under your neighbour's door with a note apologising for not noticing that the mailman put it in the wrong box before you ripped it open.

I'd sooner feel sheepish than have the bill back, though.

Still no topic, then. Come on, Dee. It's not like you've posted much for the last couple of weeks.



Ok, then. How about this? I... want to make some art.

So do it, then, silly woman. It's not like you don't already have enough art stuff in your very small apartment.

Yeah, I know. But for anyone who follows the other blog (and if so, why?), you've probably noticed a distinct lack of new posts lately. That's because there's been a distinct lack of new art lately. The why behind that is a little complicated, I guess, or at least a little compounded. Take a few busy work days, add a cold (starting to feel better now, thank goodness, but I still have that annoying leftover cough that just won't. go. away.), sprinkle on some general end-of-winter malaise, stir, and you end up with a lump who comes home and turns on the television rather than doing anything constructive.

Or even destructive. Destructive would at least be making a mess, which I suppose would count as being more creative than sitting.

Can a person sit creatively? I'm not sure about that.

Anyway, I'm getting itchy to get back to the art, but (for me at least) once I've stopped for a while it takes a bit of a kick in the pants to get started again. I brought art stuff to work today because I really do need to get some new things started for our various in-house publications, but I've also been out of the office a lot this week so to sit and draw just doesn't seem like the best plan when there are other things to do. So what, then?

Well, it looks like I'll be staying in town this weekend rather than going in to my father's place (read that as: no blog posts again for a couple of days), so that should probably be a good excuse to get some things out and...

...

Yeah, there's the problem. Get some things out and what? Do work pictures? I suppose I could, but that doesn't sound terribly therapeutic. And it's far too winter out there for me to be inspired by anything of the flower sort. So what, then? Again.

Maybe I should go back to that whole make a mess idea. Maybe I should get out the neglected mixed media journal (otherwise known, appropriately enough, as the mess) and just do. Sometimes it's fun to be a five-year-old, especially when you're being a five-year-old with expensive adult art supplies. There gets to be a little bit of the devil in it, really. Sort of an I know how much this cost, but I'm going to do something stupid with it anyway just because I can.

There's a book I like for that sort of uninhibited mess making called Journal Spilling. I'm not much of a journalist (journaller? Journalist looks funny in this context) , but when I'm stuck for some reason flipping through a book like that can sometimes give me ideas of ways to play and get myself past whatever fly is currently in my ointment. Time to get it out this weekend, maybe. Time to play. Time to do something which will most definitely not make it to the other blog (or might. Who knows, at this point) but will at least get me doing something.

Time to not look at her list of supplies, though, because she always makes me want to go out and buy more neat stuff. Hmm. I don't have any flow release. Maybe I need some flow release. Or some water-soluble crayons as opposed to the scads of water-soluble pencils that I already own...



Time to play with the toys that you already have, Dee. See you after the weekend, all. Maybe even with some art mess.

Bad camera. Bad.

Why yes, that is an upside-down photo of a stuffed sheepdog in an Oilers cap. Good on you for guessing.

Ok, so the truth is that I got bored with having nothing to take pictures of (winter has to end sooooon, she says, knowing full well that we're expecting a storm in the next day or two. Sigh.), so I just started snapping random things in the apartment. Without leaving the bed, which is why the dog with the snazzy outfit (seriously? It's a cap my father got me years ago, and I had no other place to put it. The dog used to wear a vintage 80's parachute cloth bright neon U of A cap -- I, um, used to wear it when I did field work. I was always findable -- but the sun finally destroyed the fabric years ago so Oilers cap it is. I kind of like being an Oilers fan. Means I usually get to stop caring about hockey before the playoffs even start) is upside-down.

Anyway. For a change the bad camera (or, more precisely, camera work) of the post title isn't my own. It's television I'm on about at the moment. What on earth is up with tv cameramen and their strange form of concentration these days?

Before I went to work this morning the Edmonton morning show on some Canadian TeleVision network was showing a group of Israeli dancers there to promote a festival. These people were going to dance. What would you expect the cameraman to focus on? Feet, maybe? Hands? Full-body shots so that you could at least get a feel for the dance?

Well, I can tell you from the bit I saw before I had to leave that the ladies sure had lovely smiles.

That annoys me so much (the camera work, I mean. Not the smiles), and it's by far not the only time I've seen dance filmed that way.It's like someone somewhere decided that people who like to watch people dancing (because, really, if you didn't you'd find something else to watch) get bored after a while with watching people dancing so it's a good idea to shoot the scene so that the people watching have no real idea if anyone's actually dancing anymore.

Gah.

I've heard the same kind of complaint with sports camera work, although I don't see nearly as much of that. Still, if a person tunes in to watch a game and the game is exciting, would someone please tell the director that it's a BAD idea to cut to the cute girl (or the idiot in full body paint on a -5C day) in the stands? The only people who like that sort of thing are people who work in electronics stores, you know. All those televisions that need to be replaced after frustrated viewers throw things at them...

On a much lighter note, I get a kick out of one of the cameramen on the Shopping Channel. Seems like whenever I tune in at a certain time to see what godawful jewellery they're pushing this go 'round (what can I say? It's a hobby of mine), this poor bugger is absolutely incapable of keeping a zoomed close-up in focus. It amuses me. Hey, I know it can't be easy and I'd never be able to come near making a decent shot under those circumstances, but it seems to me that when it's your job to frame and focus a saleable shot of some horrible gold-plated monstrosity, you should probably learn how to do it. In this case, though, if unfocused was a drinking game I'd be pickled within a half-hour anytime this guy's working a shift.

Ah well. Back to work for me, now. And honestly? The only reason you got me away from work this long just to blather is that I know I won't be blathering at all for the next couple of days since I'm off-site. So... enjoy the words, I guess.

And please notice that not a one of them was pee this time.





oops

My work? Weird.

What you're seeing: To the right, a deer trail. To the left, pee.

That's right, pee. Urine.

I probably need to explain this photo, don't I?

Ok, well, I was out with the camera this afternoon taking some pictures for the work blog (which, actually, is why this blog is likely going to be shorted yet again. How many times in a day can a girl blog? Especially a girl who's getting lazier and lazier about blogging). Now, my two fans know my feelings about winter. It doesn't get any better when you add work in. Winter is boring, and winter is boring to blog. How many times can you say Look! A deer track. And another deer track. And isn't that a deer track?

Incidentally, that's almost what my work post looks like today. Winter is boring, did I mention?

Anyway, so I'm walking along the trail looking for something --anything -- that I might be able to blog about, and I found what you're seeing above. Pee next to a trail.

Here's where the weird comes in.

I took a picture of it.

I took a picture of it because in my business a person could probably blather on for a while about trail marking and how other animals can tell not only territorial boundaries (in, of course, animals that are territorial) from urine and fecal marks but also the condition of the animal that left the marks and whether it might be worth a try at challenging for the territory. In the case of female marking, males can often tell if the female is mateable from the smell of her urine.

I could go on about this.

I could, but then it occurred to me:

I took a picture of pee. Pee next to a trail.



I decided not to post the pee photo on the work blog. You're getting it here instead, because... um... pointless something, I guess.

My job is weird.

And if you're desperate to read the non-pee-related work post du jour, drop me a line. I'll send you the blog address. Be prepared to read about deer tracks, though.

Without the pee.





Won't it be funny if I'm not around to post for a week again (I probably won't be tomorrow, but I'm not planning to drop out for the entire week this time) and anyone who casually drops by in the meantime just gets read the word pee multiple times?

My blog is weird.

Really quick post to let the blog know that it still exists

Sorry all -- it turned into a bit of a week, and since I don't actually want to write a long, whingey post I'll just ask if I've really had 342 colds already this year or if it just seems that way...

Anyway, back tomorrow hopefully.

I shouldn't make any promises, though.

Augh! Working at work!

Sorry folks -- I really did honestly intend to blather today. The day got busier than it was supposed to, though, and now I have a meeting in about ten minutes so I can't do much about the blog.

And, of course, it's also a weekend coming up where I won't be on the computer. Poor blog. It's definitely been a week of neglect.

Ah well. Enjoy the seed head. I'll see you Monday, or, you know, whenever I get around to blathering next.

Poor, neglected blog.