Halloween covid style

 Decorated and put out candy. Got candy stolen. Put out more. Got candy stolen. Put out a bit at a time. Quite a few little kids. Pretty nice night. Very happy that Geremy, Ellen, and Rory came and held up that tradition. I made a video: here it is: https://youtu.be/_6HAcyAI8NI 

Pumpkin carving

I carved a few this year but my main contribution was just gutting them. William and Margaret made the best jack o lanterns. We roasted lots of seeds. William ate too many (it's practically like eating wood - who thought of this idea). 
 

Bones

Took Narges on a masked field trip to the university to explore the vast vaults of bones held there in the Science labs. With some choice items borrowed, I am very enthusiastic about her project this term. 

 

Painting break

 Working about 12 hours a day this week but needed to eke out a couple hours to paint with Lori. Battery died in phone so didn't get picture of it in progress. Glare on this one. I'll need to re-photograph the whole set sometime soon - maybe during the break. This is a Sony Handycam and the 150th different camera I have painted. 

stress painting

 Big deadline this week. I was totally ready for it until I discovered that the application submission process has been severely altered due to covid and am frantic to make sure I do  everything correctly. My choice this evening was to have a shouting fit or do a painting. I chose to do this rather inconsequential Nikon AF 230 point and shoot 35mm from 1997. 

New medicine

 20 years of trouble led to 2 years of bigger trouble. My new specialist has put me on a seemingly endless list of medications, all of which were either ineffective or had severe side effects. Today I've started on something new. It's supposed to have no side effects but is expensive (only the insurance companies know what it costs). 

Kevin visits

 Kevin came by to return some books. Hung out inside for a while. Like yesterday, a short and distanced visit. 

Allan visits

 Allan came over for a visit this weekend. It's our first time to have him in the house in months. Too cold to socialize outside this week and it looks like winter is upon us. Careful and short visit. 

Film arrives

 My 35mm from my recent "Gentleman Farmer" shoots arrived, the negatives having been processed at the Niagara Lab in Toronto. They also transferred the super-8 from last  year (both William's apple tree film and my backwards journey film). 

One Take Super 8 Covid Event

 On some levels, the One Take Event carried on as usual. People bought into it, getting their rolls of super-8 film, shooting them, returning them. However, the rush of the event wasn't the same. It was exciting to be in the RPL theatre with the other 20 filmmakers, but without the strangers it wasn't as exciting. 

The black and white film stock, or the processing of that stock, seems off. Perhaps it is due to some new stocks introduced. Regardless, the work in black and white, which was more than half the films, didn't look too good. Perhaps the transfers will improve them. 

Painting Nikonos

 Painted an Nikonos 35mm camera. Richard lent it to me. It is a waterproof camera that was apparently a popular model in the Vietnam war since it did not rust of seize up due to the moisture. I needed instructions online to figure out how to open it. I loaded it and am shooting a roll. 

Way behind

I've not been blogging for a while. I think about it now and then. It shouldn't take me long but I have so many things to do that every time I get near my computer, I am overwhelmed with anxiety about my lists of stuff I need to accomplish that I cannot allow myself to blog. It's frivolous.  Talking about my first world problems is pathetic. In fact, I don't even feel like I have problems. I like most of the things I'm doing. Classes are a bit strange and that causes stress, but the stress makes things alive again. Earlier today I was talking to a grad student about how jobs start off stressful until you know what you are doing. At that point they are exhilarating because you feel so capable. That eventually wears off and every job gets boring. Times like this pull the rug out and make us afraid again. 

Snow this morning. 

Winter tires

 Got winter tires on. Seems like just a few weeks ago that I put the regular mats in, but I suppose I should put the winter mats back. 

Heater in the gazebo

 The new heater, used this weekend for only the third time, works well but the screens of the gazebo are not effective at holding in the warmth so it ended up being a chilly visit with Allan. 

Margaret's Birthday

 

William shopping first

 I waited in the car as William procured his first bottle of liquor as a gift for his mom. 

Painting an SLR

 Obvious angle that I'd not done before. The point of view a photographer would look at one of these cameras many times a day. 

Under the knife

 After festering for four years, I got a swollen blocked pore surgically removed from my back. Took about 15 minutes. Local freezing resulted in my not noticing how much blood I'd lost to the floor and area. 

Catfish gets new home, cameras borrowed

I noticed that our big catfish has been acting odd, either staying in a corner or racing and jumping wildly. Then I noticed that his whiskers are so long that they span the width of the tank. This means he will always feel enclosed. It took a while to trap him but after I did, I gave him to Sandra. They have a big tank to overwinter fish. He survived the journey. 

 I borrowed eleven more cameras from Richard. 

Antique store in Indian Head

 We were undecided until mid-afternoon but then gathered our wits, filled the gas, and headed to Indian Head for the final hour of the last day of the season for the antique store there. William got a clothes brush and I got a shiny stereoscopic viewer with four inches of cards. 

Early Thanksgiving

I roasted a big turkey a day early. Margaret bought an unfrozen one (bit of a premium) which turned out quite well. Later in the evening I wasn't debilitatingly full and then realized that we'd NOT capped the meal with perogies. 
 

yard cleaning

 Did a bit of painting and yard cleaning. Most, but not all, of the leaves are down. 

Gift camera

 Deb gave me this Brownie camera with a flash. I've done this camera before, but not with a flash. Love that flash. 

House warming for Eric

 A couple of days ago I painted a super-8 camera for Eric for his new house. Put it in vintage frame that I think works for it. 

Jade saved

Need to start moving all plants into house. The jade is out of control and leaning out of it's pot. Margaret divided it into two pots. 
 

Mom's birthday

 It's mom's birthday. She drove past for a very short visit in the yard and William gave her a half finished card. Rats. She wondered why he drew rats for her. 

Painting at home

 I've started to feel more comfortable painting at home. I think it's the records.