Let's Make Some Art, Dammit

October 31, 2018. This is our front door today. But it's cold, it's rainy, and it's Wednesday - still waiting for our first Trick-or-Treater. https://flic.kr/p/2baHYDr

Watch on YouTube here: Conversation With Tony Hirst Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

October 30, 2018. Spent a good day working on JSON and RSS feeds. Costco on the way home, where I spotted a GINORMOUS flock of crows flying overhead - this is only the tiniest sample of it. https://flic.kr/p/2bac7g2

October 29, 2018. We had a morning fog today and the photo doesn't really do justice to the hayfield with the woods in the distance. Still was worth seeing, though. I had a security briefing this morning and worked on OPML and RSS for the rest of the day (I ran into a nasty 'publish' bug that resulted because I was missing a slash (hence sending a value instead of a reference to a subroutine). https://flic.kr/p/29K1EgJ

October 28, 2018. I spent the day indoors working on a paper. Not that it was very nice outside. In mid-afternoon we had an apple tree full of cardinals, but this was the only one I could photograph before they all took off. https://flic.kr/p/NKm42c

October 27, 2018. Andrea baked while I did some work on the course in the morning, and then in the afternoon we took her croissants and went to visit family. It was her first effort making croissants, and they turned out brilliantly. https://flic.kr/p/NKkMVa

Watch on YouTube here: Harvesting Feeds on gRSShopper Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

Watch on YouTube here: Using OPML Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

October 26, 2018. This is the back window of a car parked in our office parking lot today, and it made me start the day with a smile. Good day to just attend to errands related to the course; it's really beginning to take shape and I'll be able to get more experimental as we proceed. https://flic.kr/p/2bk9nZ1

Watch on YouTube here: The Semantic Condition Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

Watch on YouTube here: The Semantic Condition Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

October 25, 2018. I stopped on the way into the office when I saw this field full of thousands of geese. I couldn't resist walking up to take a photo of them flying away. The noise was unforgettable. It's a good metaphor for today; I feel I'm finally catching up with things, got some things in the course working, and was pretty relaxed all day. https://flic.kr/p/NE9UD2

October 24, 2018. It turned out to be a beautiful fall day, as this roadside view this morning attests. I'm getting some of the backlog in the course covered, fixing things and adding things. https://flic.kr/p/Qhzg3N

October 23, 2018. Today was a 100% paperwork day, except for the short time spent watering my office farm. Here you see a nice little pepper forming on my pepper plant. https://flic.kr/p/2cqrbtk

Watch on YouTube here: Installing gRSShopper on Reclaim Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

Watch on YouTube here: Conversation with Shelly Blake-Plock Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

October 22, 2018. This is the third and final panel at the Symposium today. L-to-R Abhishek Gupta, Tylor Burrows, Nevena Francetic, Stephen Downes. I clipped this from the 9 hour video of the entire day-long symposium, available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVKqWYeJ2VE https://flic.kr/p/2aXk6SH

October 21, 2018. More work on the course, then I drove into Ottawa for this e21 Symposium reception at Shopify downtown. https://flic.kr/p/2cm79ta

October 20, 2018. While I was working today Andrea baked this quince tarte (which was a very detailed process). It was delicious. Me, I spent the day working on the E-Learning course. https://flic.kr/p/Qdfkt3

Watch on YouTube here: AI in Education Symposium - Introduction Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

October 19, 2018. This is a cemetery on the side of a rolling hill in Keene, a small town about 8 km off highway 7, which is the route I took from Toronto back home. It took me 8 hours, but it was better than driving on the 401. https://flic.kr/p/2cefHzX

October 18, 2018. Another early morning preparing slides, then I gave the second of my talk today. I spent some time getting all the audio and video uploaded, went to the losing reception, then went for a walk around the city taking photos - the polarized lens really brings out the night shots. Finally a couple beer at the Rex to celebrate a week well done. https://flic.kr/p/29sEvyE

October 17, 2018. The view outside my hotel window. Spent the morning preparing my talk, then I attended a session and after gave my talk, then dashed back to the hotel room to interview George Siemens, then made it an early night. https://flic.kr/p/2c9DsN7

October 16, 2018. This is a view of the underside of the Gardiner Expressway at Yonge Street. This was Day One of the conference, and I attended some sessions, but I also had to go to OCADU to retrieve my lost lens cap (though on the bright side I got a great polarized filter for cheap in the interim). Mostly, though, I was focused on making slides and preparing my talk. https://flic.kr/p/2c9CSnJ

October 15, 2018. Another day locked in my hotel room (Travelodge by Wyndham Toronto East, in Scarborough), working. This was the view from my window, but the window was so dirty I went downstairs to get a decent photo. I also transferred hotels today, moving to the Westin Harbour Castle midday. Other than that, I didn't see daylight. But I got my report done. https://flic.kr/p/2cedAHK

October 15, 2018. I spent the day locked in my hotel room working on my report. In the evening I drove up Markham Road to Markham Village and explored the area (I had seen it on the drive in and was intrigued). This is a storefront art studio where people can come, learn to paint, and paint with other people. https://flic.kr/p/2cedjiF

October 13, 2018. The beginning of a very busy week in Toronto. Drove from my hotel in Scarborough to Lawrence Station, then took the subway downtown to help the OCADU-IDRC celebrate its anniversary. Sadly it was not in this OCADU building (so I still haven't been in it) but just a few doors down. https://flic.kr/p/2aQm8sB

Watch on YouTube here: E-Learning 3.0 Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

Watch on YouTube here: Personal Learning vs Personalized Learning: What Needs to Happen Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

Watch on YouTube here: test Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

Watch on YouTube here: In Conversation With George Siemens Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

October 12, 2018. I missed my turn and had to take a back road, which is where all the best photos are. This is just a bit north of Bexley, Ontario. I started the day with a three-hour session on blockchain, then spent the rest of the day taking the scenic route to Toronto through Bancroft and Beaverton. https://flic.kr/p/29f2x7A

October 11, 2018. I had a late evening and darkness was falling through the fog on the drive home, but I still managed to take a side road and capture the essence. Fog was also a good metaphor for the day, a day that did not go even remotely as planned, with technical glitches and disappointing results. I'm still really liking the work I'm doing, though, so I'm forging on. https://flic.kr/p/2bSP9ZY

October 10, 2018. It was a brilliant beautiful day today, feeling more like summer than mid-Autumn. These were the trees in our back yard. I started the day was an early meeting, then went to the dentist to get a crown, then ran some urgent errands, then continued work on the activity centre. Time's running out, and this is not how I planned to spend the day today. https://flic.kr/p/2ayFh4T

October 9, 2018. It was misty and rainy this morning and I liked the way these former flowers looked framed by the downstairs bathroom window. Worked flat out on my upcoming course today, finishing up the website and building the activity centre. https://flic.kr/p/2bSMDRQ

Watch on YouTube here: Elearning 3.0 - Introduction Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

Watch on YouTube here: Test Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

Watch on YouTube here: test2 Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

October 8, 2018. I spent the entire day - a holiday! - working on my E-Learning 3.0 course. Here it is , still a work in progress. We also brought in the geraniums this weekend. This one in particular is inside for its second winter. It had a rough summer - one of the windstorms lifted it up and ripped it out of its flowerpot. We never did find the flower pot, and we just planted this in the earth. Now it has a new pot and a new lease on life. https://flic.kr/p/2asMmsM

October 7, 2018. This is my Aunt Marilyn waving back at herself. I spent the day - Sunday! - working on my course, finishing off the synopsis and then messing around with the beautiful design for the pages - keeping it simple but elegant. In the evening the family celebrated Thanksgiving at the local Boston Pizza's party room, which really was a great place. Props to the waitress who did a wonderful job. Here's the full set of photos . https://flic.kr/p/PGBV9C

October 6, 2018. Today I spent all day - a Saturday! - writing for my upcoming course. I got the bulk of the synopsis text done (this will also be the basis for future work). Now it's taking shape! The year of research is coming together. This is well-deserved water at my bedside in the evening. https://flic.kr/p/2bQB1kP

October 5, 2018. This is the view from my office. I spent the day putting together my slides for an upcoming talk in November. It's unusual for me to do slides so far ahead of time, but this means I won't need to do them when things get really busy. https://flic.kr/p/2aJL8Lj

October 4, 2018. This was the sky that greeted me first thing this morning. The rest of the day was quite the opposite, a fairly relaxed day doing housekeeping office work and getting caught up after my trip. https://flic.kr/p/2aCcNgN

October 3, 2018. Spotted this sparrow at the Streetsville GO station on my way home. Went to downtown Toronto for a meeting, then on the train straight to Casselman. https://flic.kr/p/MXRKin

October 2, 2018. I gave my talk in the morning, took a nap, returned for the rest of the conference after lunch, then went for a walk in Streetsville an old former village now completely surrounded by the city. Cool interesting area and I'm glad to have discovered it. https://flic.kr/p/2ayDKcU

October 1, 2018. Conference day, spent indoors, mostly (though I did scoot out toward those buildings to pick up a cheap webcam). Wrote an article, prepared my slides, got everything ready for the talk tomorrow. https://flic.kr/p/2ayDamC

Watch on YouTube here: Continuing Professional Development: Looking at Old Problems in New Ways Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos

Watch on YouTube here: The Semantic Condition Via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZImr64sN4bR4BB_JA82vg/videos