New Year's Eve

We had a pretty quiet day and evening. Margaret suggested that we take in the fire dancers outside Darke Hall. We arrived late and missed the live music (no loss I'm sure) and saw the last big round of fire before heading home for a few games of Lovecraft Letter (which Margaret destroyed us at). 

 

Visit with Fred

 I'd hoped this to be a painting and catching up day. I have been pecking away at my list of essential things to do since classes ended but cannot come to the end of it. Instead of staying home, I drove people around including picking up Fred from his class and spending some time chatting. Margaret built a tine snow man for him on the front yard and it is surviving well. 

Richard and Gerda

 
Stopped in to visit Richard and Gerda for a while. Margaret had a heavy suitcase full of artist trading card or collage collective stuff (not sure which) that we needed to drop off there. Had a coffee and some baking. I'd managed to make four different cookies and three squares (Nanaimo bars, funeral squares, puffed wheat cake) so didn't come empty handed. 

Painting

 I'd hoped to paint a handful or more of cameras over the break. This is the first time I've managed in a week and have the feeling I won't be doing many more until new years. This is another beauty from Mike Decker along with a card. 

Dianne's birthday

 Last night I baked a Saskatoon cheesecake for Dianne Ouellette's birthday. We had her over for a while in the afternoon to eat and chat. 

Boxing day game

 Mike and Paul came over and we had a few hours of Munchkin. Last year I sorted the cards so we could select sets to play to have focused games. Margaret and I won together. 

Christmas day

 Christmas morning at home, as usual and traditional, and comfortable. WE had to rush out and go brunch with George and Fred, fitting them in to a small pocket of time before George hosts his closest for another feast this evening. We were off to my sisters where we had a really nice meal and evening. 

Christmas Eve at home

 A few people dropped in this afternoon (Gerda, Steve, Elaine) and then Mom was over for turkey supper Margaret got me a 20 pounder, like I wanted. It was nice. I'd booked Fred to come over too, but George changed his plans and wanted Fred over for Christmas eve as well as Christmas day, so we compromised and did it George's way. 

Game from Geremy

 

Geremy gave us a few sets of "One Card Maze" which are really interesting. I think I'll stop blogging and go play one. We went over to his house later in the afternoon and ate some treats and did a bunch of nothing for a while. 

Further Christmas pret

William penciled a card for Geremy. This is the first draft, before we looked at Geremy's actual robot design. I have been exhausted. Cat rested with me for a while. 

 

Baking.... finally

This is likely the latest that I have begun my baking in many years. I just did my biscotti and a painting, but will ramp up tomorrow. Grading has been done for a couple of days. 

 

Cooking experiment

 Experiment in making sponge toffee. Tastes is fine but the sponginess failed. 

Friday rush

Days are not slowing down yet. Got a message from the radio station basically saying that William's next two shows need to be delivered by 3:00 pm today. After I had breakfast with mom at Smitties (have not been there in decades) Geremy and hid mom came over and William and Geremy did a brilliant recording using I Ching to help interpret the comics. Will air next week. 

 

Margaret doodles

Margaret rarely just lets the pen wander these days, but when she does there is a magic to every stroke. She's trying to figure out a Christmas letter, something that places William into Beetlejuice. 

Road work and Sheila supper

Woke up to sound of trucks. They tore up the street yet again, shutting off our water for about 4 hours. I was home grading and it was too cold to want to work elsewhere. I only went out to join my colleagues at dinner with Sheila, celebrating her retirement. 

 

Jhazley defends

 Successful MFA defense for Jhazley Pinzón Higuera whom I co-supervised with Sheila Petty and who had Mark Wihak on her committee. The external was Antoine Bourges from UBC. 

William empties studio

I helped William clear out his studio at the university and bring his artworks home. The sheep drawing look great together. 
 

Tree spread

 Got tree. Small this year, but once it was in water for few hours, it spread out nicely. Spent most of the evening debating the layout of the room and changing the positioning of the furniture. 

Letter tiles with Fred

Pulled out letter tiles with Fred after I brought him home. He got really engaged with them. George got in and I went to Rona for a tree. Fred continued to use the tiles to spell words using the entire bag while we were out. 
 

Berting glass

The other day Wilf Gayleard and I noticed that the work site in the food court, open but for a plastic ribbon, had everything disassembled and the commissioned glass displays created by Jacqueline Berting were removed. Wilf followed up and we've now been assured that they are safe but now there is debate about appropriate treatment of artworks and how they are being re-mounted. 
 

Computer upgrade

Picked up new fundraiser calendar today from Robert. This year's was by Holly Fay. My computer upgrade starts today. Chris came in and took my old one away while I was at the faculty meeting, which I went to in person (more and more of the Film department, all of whom used to attend these face to face religiously are now zooming in). Met with Erika afterwards and read through her draft of her thesis proposal. 

Classes over for William

 When William got home from his last visual art crit today, I made him a celebratory bacon and eggs lunch. Now just wait for the grades and the degree is done. William has finished his BFA. 

Sheila retirement party

Dozens of people gathered in the ShuBox this afternoon to celebrate Sheila as she retires after 35 years. I took my last film course from Sheila, back in 1992 when I'd come back to school to finish my degree. Afterwards she wrote me a reference letter for grad school, then hired me as a sessional when finished that. When I had doubts about myself, she didn't. She convinced me to apply for the tenure track job that became my career. She invited me to participate in by research projects such as the NMSL, and when she became dean, she asked me to be the Film Department head. She was always challenging me but always on things she knew I would rise to, knowing me better then I knew myself.  
 

Coffee with mom

 Went out for coffee with mom. Lori was busy so it was just the two of us. Got a berry scone at the new place on Albert St. They have fairly good snacks but under these new owners the service is slow. Not just slow, but mind-bogglingly slow. I think they have hired people who cook and bake and make coffee but have never worked in a restaurant before. 

Russ drives in

Weather was nice today. Russ Klitch drove in from Humbolt to pick up some 16mm prints from me. I've not seen him since 2000 so we had lots to catch up on. He left me a Kodak Pony 135 camera to paint as well as a rare Viewmaster projector. I'm excited to try it out. Margaret made some mini-snowpeople. 
 

St. Nicholas Day shoes

Shoes mysteriously filled again last night. I ended up with the pjs I wanted, and Margaret got Italian leather gloves. William got some mini-figs that haven't been on the market for 10 years. All in all a magical morning.

Class notes

 I've taught Film 200 quite a few times. I redesigned it in my second year teaching and have modified the core assignments a couple of times since. This week I started combing through my 8 inch thick stack of notes to compile teaching notes for Dianne to cover my other section next term (I'll teach two sections and she'll teach the third). Most of my notes are timeless - they  talk about f-stops or focal length or creativity or team building. However, some notes such as this one (a suggestion for a breaking of the ice discussion topic on week 4) don't hold up as well. 

Car repair

 Picked up the car from some repairs today. Started perfectly but when I started to drive it, it made an awful noise as if I was dragging something beneath it. Out of the parking lot, I pulled over and looked around. Everything looked fine. I pulled back out into traffic when suddenly all the alert lights went off in the dash all at once. I came back to the garage to show them. They thought at first that a belt might have broken, but that wasn't it. Then they surmised that, having washed the car for me on this very cold day, one of wheels had frozen in place and I'd actually dragged it across the icy ground out of the parking lot before it started to rotate. This caused it to trigger every alarm on the dash. Reset, they sent me on my way. 

Go big before you go home

 William's time at UofR is nearly over. Today was the last photography class and he unveiled his single print, a collaged image of a dozen or so "Saw-Boys" outside of the Centre of the Arts. 

Sunny days

 While the cat napped in the sunlight, Meanwhile, William did a bit of pinhole photography. 

Cat in the box

 Sylvie was complaining about a bunch of stuff so I carried out to the garage to spend time with me out there. She mostly waited at the door, but did explore a bit and mainly clawed things.