Bank time

 

Was sorting through receipts in my wallet to submit expenses for my class (we need to build sock puppets and props). In my search, I discovered that I've accumulated seven cheques. Figured I should deposit them while running around buying more sock puppet socks. 

Documenting with light

 Did some documenting of a couple of Judy Anderson's works at the Dunlop this morning. Light is strange there and difficult to get it even, so I did everything in time exposures. 

I compiled the first full draft of the script for this term's puppet project (Gumshoe) today. 69 pages. 

This evening William wrote to say he wanted to talk. Bit homesick I think. We tried to zoom but that was rough. Long phone conversation. 

Frans at Slate Gallery

Amazing exhibition with Frans and his metal miniatures at Slate today. 
My allergies seriously triggered from some plant inside the gallery so I snuck out and ended up having a great chat with Mooky who was just arriving, and with Frans who was having a smoke. 

 

Painting with Lori

 My sister was away for the past three classes but is back this week to paint. I did this polaroid from Gertrud's garage - I believe from her sister's estate. 

Chrystene teaching workshop

Chrystene did a great puppet workshop for my class over zoom today. In included her personal history, a history of many types of puppets, some tips about how puppets move, and an exercise in making a puppet. Later I went cloth shopping and got some patterned cloth and some fun fur hair. Prices have really gone up. 

 

Should I paint

 Very busy teaching this week, but if I have time it would be great to paint William's room while he's away. Figured I better document where stuff goes. 

William going to Japan

 William's first big trip on his own starts today. Kyoto with 20 people from the university. 

Early mother's day

As William is going away tomorrow, he gave Margaret a mother's day gift today. Replace her woefully missing Yeti coffee cup. The day was mostly spent packing. Main suitcase is maximum 50 pounds but he is only at 22. Covered it with 70 bucks worth of stickers. 
 

Coffee with Geremy

 Coffee with Geremy and William. They needed to discuss Wario. 

VIewing more Sockvile

 I showed the second of the three parts of Sock-Vile to my class today. Not mixed yet. Don't get too much reaction. Ran it near the end of class so no time to discuss. 

Painting box camera

 Painted a box camera that Deb Potter lent to me. I had to do some research because it had absolutely no brand/model marks on it. It seems to be a Marksman camera, made in Canada, but without the front plate on it that would identify it. 

Chicken

 Changed up my bbq chicken recipe a bit. The pieces were very large but it worked well. 

Visit mom

 With William heading out on his big trip in a few days, mom wanted to have supper and see him off. 

Gertrud's computer

 Gertrud moved her computer and desk into her bedroom. I suggested a larger monitor but she's happy with this one, as it is bigger than a laptop monitor. I connected everything together. Might look at upgrading a few items later in the summer. 

Kevin McKenzie at DAG

Kevin McKenzie's solo exhibition at the Sherwood branch of the Dunlop opened today with a conversation between him and Sherry. Very interesting insights into his work which has gotten away from fabrications out of plastics and artificial substances, and is rather a set of hockey gear made out of leather and other animal parts. 

Visited dad this evening. We had to look for him. The staff call him the magic man. He had gone into someone else's room, locked the door, and gone to sleep in their bed. 

 

Puppet supplies

 Chrystene will be doing a workshop for me in a couple of weeks and asked me to collect some supplies for the students to use. Some of this stuff should also be useful for the big project. 

Sockvile course reboot

 Today I started the class which will (might) create the sequel to Sock-Vile. Class size is smaller, only 8 (possibly only 7). Spent number of months working on the story bible with a huge amount of time this week. Still lots of flaws in it. Overall I'm very nervous. 

Plumber in

 Plumber in today to check for possible leaks. Probably mostly the calking that needed replacing. 

Lunch with Esperanza and Trevor

I took Esperanza out for a celebratory lunch for having defended her MFA last week. We had to do the defense over zoom so she never got a chance to meet her external examiner, Trevor Grant face to face. There were great follow up conversations today as Trevor is well traveled and spend two months in Columbia at one point. Also some advice about Japan and the etiquette of chopsticks. 
 

Coffee with mom

 William and I had coffee with my mom. She wanted to ask about William's Japan trip but he doesn't know enough to really talk about it yet. He'll start hitting the books now though. Coming up soon. 

Cara's Gallery - new art

 Attended an opening of a new gallery above Bushwakkers called Cara's Gallery. Very mixed exhibition of paintings, photographs, and most notably a number of hand made guitars by Alex Crease. 

Cost of film festivals

 Entering a film festival. First off, there are numerous good arguments for film festivals not having fees, but if they do have fees, those fees should simply cover necessities like returning materials. Big fee festivals, ie over $10, should be avoided. However, I wanted to enter this local festival (RIFF) so accepted that it has a whopping $40 fee. On top of that, there is some sort of $2 service fee. Gack. BUT THEN, the entire fee is in US Dollars!!!! WTF!!! I am in Regina entering a Regina festival and paying in US$ Ridiculous. 

Hardware shopping

 Trying to figure out what to outfit the garage with. This workbench with wheels and locking drawers seemed pretty solid. 

Cube painting

 Painted this camera a second time, this time with the flash cube. Camera still has batteries which will trigger and auto rotate the flash. I used the last of the four sides testing it with Deb. 

Esperanza Sanchez Espitia defense

 Esperanza defended her MFA successfully today. She spoke very emotionally and powerfully about her work and process. Trevor Grant was the external examiner. 

Visiting dad and Lori

 Visited dad for a while. Watched some tv. Left just in time for Lori to arrive later. She dropped in to house afterwards and lent me her tax software. 

Antique market

 Wandered the annual antique market this evening. Bought an Iron Butterfly lp and a stereoscopic card with four mirrors in the image. One of the best I've ever seen. 

Fourth year film student screening

 Screening went well. William and I went. The room filled about 30 minutes in, but by the end wasn't full any more. Much of the work was very earnest. Well done. 

Vaccine

 

Vaccine shot #6. Some pfizer version this time. No appointment or waiting. 

Snow!!!

April is the cruelest month. 
 

the survey

This event I answered the phone, the land line, even though I didn't recognize the number. It was a survey and I agreed to answer it (of course). After a dozen questions I had basically told them that I was white and over 50. I'm pretty sure the survey was to determine who answers their land lines (hint, it is white people over the age of 50). 

Dad after lunch

 Saw dad after lunch. This were messy so I called for some help. Dad was tired. I told him an old story he used to tell us about his father, the story that ends with "That'll be the day". He laughed but didn't seem to remember the story himself. 

Saturday without cartoons

 Got up and wanted to watch some Saturday morning cartoons, but the only company I had was the cat so I watched The Recruit instead. 

New art

The craft gallery that used to be at the airport now is close to the Southland Mall. Terry is featured this month with her potery. 

After some time at Rumour, we went to Judy Anderson's opening of her solo exhibition at the Dunlop. Great crowd and lots of nice people. 

 

New coffee maker

 We make a lot of coffee. A lot. Really really really. We buy this fairly high end drip maker with insulated carafe and we have purchased three of them now (or is it 4?) because we use them to death. Margaret does regular cleanings of them but they still cannot handle how many pots she makes per day. This replaces the identical one we bought two years ago.

Painting class

 I've not been able to do my painting class in a year due to work schedule but it looks like Wednesday mornings are free again. I did a rush job on this because I had an appointment booked with a new doctor so had to leave early. Good to be back with people again though. 

Melting snow

 Snow melting. As with previous years, we end up with water standing in the yard, but with the new garage being higher than the previous driveway, it looks like it will be worse. 

Egg painting

 William dove deep into egg painting this weekend.