Let's Make Some Art, Dammit

November 30, 2020. Now that there's snow on the ground and the grackles have left, the backyard bird feeder is back in business and is attracting a steady trade of sparrows and chickadees. On today's mainly rainy day I spent the build on my time working on data equity, as well as on my newsletter and the presentation pages. https://flic.kr/p/2kcfBRS

November 29, 2020. Most of our 14 km walk today was en route to and from the Conroy pits. When we got there we discovered that it's a very large off-leash dog park (which was no problem at all). The trail was snow-packed so it was a bit harder to walk than usual. This is a chickadee we spotted along the way; we also saw squirrels and downy woodpeckers. https://flic.kr/p/2kbTSSf

November 28, 2020. These may be more common that I expect, but it's the first pair of conjoined mushrooms I've seen (and I used to work as a mushroom picker). Today was a work day, despite it being Saturday, first to give a talk online, then to check every slide presentation on Slideshare to make sure I had it before deleting my account. This evening played Among Us for the first time with a group of students in Barcelona, and had quite the enjoyable time (I'll have to do that again). https://flic.kr/p/2kbssTu

November 27, 2020. I'm not exactly sure what this plant is but I like the contrast of the green and brown colouring on the snow. I've been preparing presentations recently; this afternoon I recorded one that will be presented next week. https://flic.kr/p/2kbsq58

November 26, 2020. While waiting at the Costco I took a walk around the parking lot to stretch my legs. I found this, a very well tended back of the kiosk at the Costco gas station. https://flic.kr/p/2kbw8rU

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November 25, 2020. This is what greeted me out the front window this morning. It continued for several hours. No matter - I spent the day indoors attending several meetings, worked my way though a bit of a dispute, and outlined my slides for a presentation I'm recording Friday (followed by another one Saturday). https://flic.kr/p/2kaDWmZ

November 24, 2020. This is what I had for breakfast today and have every day - oatmeal plus fruit and (not pictured) maple syrup. Spoon is on the left had side for lighting, not because I'm left handed (I'm not). I spent the better part of the day today writing a post on a UNESCO 'Futures of Education' document. https://flic.kr/p/2kab4Jq

November 23, 2020. We woke up to snow on the ground - and in our case, a single set of cat prints on the deck underneath the bird feeder (now full of seeds again now that the grackles have departed). I did some work on data literacy, continued to transform presentations, and did some background reading on quantum algorithms. https://flic.kr/p/2kaayB6

November 21, 2020. This is a view of a cat on a bag, looking straight down. It is, of course, Charlemagne. The bag contained a pair of shoes I bought Saturday. Sunday, with snow in the offing and having already been out, we played it safe and stayed inside. https://flic.kr/p/2ka6CdV

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November 21, 2020. We went to the National Gallery today to visit the first floor - that's the exhibit of Canadian Art (there was no special collection this visit). It has changed a bit since the last time I was there, and most notably, now allowed me to take photos of the collection. This work by Eleanor Bond was new to me - it's called Elevated Living in a Community-built Neighbourhood (1998). It's quite large and definitely appeals to me. https://flic.kr/p/2k94ULy

November 20, 2020. This is a bonus photo of Andrea and I at the Diefenbunker. https://flic.kr/p/2k8LLUV

November 20, 2020. This is my brother Bill and family. We went to what may be the world's largest escape room, a full level of the Diefenbunker, a bomb shelter created for the Canadian government during the cold war. It was quite well set up, my first escape room experience, and a lot of fun. On the job, I found myself quite unexpectedly attached to a new project today, in addition to my other work - so the variety continues. https://flic.kr/p/2k8Mc6r

November 19, 2020. Yes I know, it's another cat photo, but there's no way I could really resist taking and sharing this one. Dig his huge polydactyl paws. Did some reading on quantum algorithms today, as well as a couple of meetings on projects. Also converting presentation pages as I continue to move from Slideshare (I have more than 500 presentations to convert *sigh*). https://flic.kr/p/2k8GHGx

November 17, 2020. Another cool motorcycle picture (it's not a trend, I promise), this of a Zero motorcycle we happened to see on the back of a truck. I had my first meeting of NRC's Research Ethics Board today, which was interesting on a number of levels. My work has become quite varied recently, which keeps me interested. https://flic.kr/p/2k8GEwV

November 17, 2020. This is a regular stop for distilled water (for my CPAP) and Ricoloas. I tried to capture it as a promo-style shot (couldn't do much else with cars in the parking lot). Just one meeting today, and I completed a page-turner online course on security (same course I took two years ago, because of course). https://flic.kr/p/2k7J3Ea

November 16, 2020. Today started out with a meeting first thing in the morning, then a presentation, then did some work to move my presentations off SlideShare and onto Microsoft. Also cashed an insurance cheque from the dental appointment of last week. https://flic.kr/p/2k7HVx4

November 15, 2020. Cloudy, six degrees, and rain, but we went for a 14.7 hike around the top of Mont Rigaud, which is about an hour east of here, just over the Quebec border on the way to Montreal. The trail was everything I hoped it would be - varied despite the November weather, well-marked, rugged, but still quite walkable. https://flic.kr/p/2k716MR

November 14, 2020. We still have the cat-guards on the stair railings, though they're almost too big now to fall through by accident. Now every time I go downstairs at least one cat has to play with me between the balusters. Quiet day, mostly a do-nothing day, though I did update all my work passwords, no small feat. https://flic.kr/p/2k6V2Go

November 13, 2020. This is what the three kittens look like when they're gathered by my chair in my home office. Today was flue shot day (yay!) and spent reviewing award nominations, reading up on Research Ethics Board stuff, and wiping out almost all my email backlog. https://flic.kr/p/2k6fHbF

November 12, 2020. If you look closely, you can see my reflection in these Christmas decorations at the Shopper's Drug Mart. I think any time before December is too early. Today was a mix of writing, a meeting, and several sessions at the Open Education conference. https://flic.kr/p/2k5WWRr

November 11, 2020. This is Emma enjoying some quality time with me at the end of the day as she chases anything that moves. It ended up being a work day as I caught up on email, did some writing, and prepared for upcoming meetings. https://flic.kr/p/2k5RGX1

November 10, 2020. It was another beautiful day today but I was stuck inside working. Still, I did enjoy looking at it outside my window, watching the late afternoon light paint the trees orange. Another presentation today; it's one of my busier fall seasons, even if I'm not traveling. https://flic.kr/p/2k5gGrQ

November 9, 2020. It was a beautiful warm sunny day today, and so the perfect day to put on snow tires. So I drive into the city to get the tires changed, brought my bike, and attended the Open Education 2020 conference through the day while enjoying a beautiful ride through the city. Work, leisure and chores all combined. Ah, but the piper always laughs last, as I also had to have expensive rake work done on the car, and my trip ended up taking me all day. Still, I really enjoyed taking photos of a part of the city visitors don't usually see. https://flic.kr/p/2k4YFM7

Nobember 8, 2020. This is a female evening grosbeak we spotted while walking on the Eastern Greenbelt Tail today. There was a flock of 8 or 10 of them. It was gorgeous out today, 20 degrees and sunshine, and we walked 11.75 km. https://flic.kr/p/2k4H65k

November 7, 2020. This is the last leaf on our mountain ash in the back yard. I thought I'd go for a bike ride, or maybe work on my upcoming presentation, but I have no discipline, and ended up writing a blog post. https://flic.kr/p/2k4jzn9

I just read a post from Mitch Resnick on the seeds that Seymour Papert sowed, and highlighted for myself this most important statement:  "Seymour rejected the computer-aided instruction approach in which 'the computer is being used to program the child' and argued for an alternative approach in which 'the child programs the computer.'" As I commented in my OLDaily post, this is a lesson I have always kept in mind, and as I look at the criticisms of ed tech (and especially the work of people like Audrey Watters) I think this is the form a response should take.  Or as I said in my presentation last week, "it's not about the technology all the time, it's so often about critical literacy, about perception, sense of belief, it's so often about how people see things, what their environment is, what their ways of perceiving things are, how they're going to learn." A few minutes later I read a post in Getting Smart from Tom Vander Ark sa...

November 6, 2020. This is Charlemagne interacting with the kangaroos on the TV (the Animal Planet preview is back on again this month). We wasn't just watching, he would touch noses and stand up to be closer to them. Not so productive today; one of my weaknesses is that when I get upset I can't really do anything, and yes, I was upset by some work stuff. https://flic.kr/p/2k42tpB

November 6, 2020. In between meetings and writing we went to the grocery store today where I saw this really cool motorcycle (since the pandemic started I wait outside while Andrea goes in, because I'm in a much higher Covid risk group). That's our car right behind the motorcycle. I used to ride a motorcycle, when I was much younger, and I have an appreciation for a good bike to this day. More on the Valkyryie . https://flic.kr/p/2k3ZG6h

November 4, 2020. Our dentist's office has always been pretty clean, but these days it's squeaky clean and socially distant as well. I went in for my cleaning and check-up this morning, and for the first time in Casselman, I had no cavities or work needing to be done, even though I had missed an appointment during the lockdown. The difference? Since last March I've been using a flouride rinse. https://flic.kr/p/2k3Z2mJ

November 3, 2020. I knew it was going to be one of those days when I awoke early to find snowfall on the ground. For me, it was a Day of Four Meetings, including a conference presentation first thing, so I spent a lot of time on Zoom and Teams. Oh, and there was some event in the U.S. but it wasn't over when I went to bed. https://flic.kr/p/2k43M2c

November 2, 2020. This is some forest as seen in the sunset from our front door. Busy day today as I prepared and ran a presentation in the morning and then spent the afternoon preparing for another presentation. These presentations are important to do - they're where my ideas come from, after I've primed them with a lot of reading. https://flic.kr/p/2k3XKFn

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November 1, 2020. We went for a 12.3 km walk in the rain today through Pine Grove Forest, part of Ottawa's Greenbelt. It gave me a chance to test out my new raincoat (I got it mostly for cycling but the forest walk was a good test). We had a few swampy sections, but nothing like what we faced in Mer Bleue. https://flic.kr/p/2k2xqyC

October 31, 2020. I used this photo of my ceiling as an example in a transcript. When I look at our ceiling I see multiple images of dogs - the knots form eyes and a snout. It's an example of how we recognize images, how they emerge out of chaos. Anyhow, today I wrapped up that transcript and also finished off a long-standing piece of writing. Of course, now I'm thinking of all the ways I could have done it better. https://flic.kr/p/2k2mQvG

October 30, 2020. The days are getting shorter and busier. The leaves are almost gone. I wrapped up a fair chunk of writing for data literacy and my colleague finished off the document with a flourish of professionalism - loved it! Also, more meetings today. https://flic.kr/p/2k2hZKU

October 29, 2020. We weren't sure exactly what couldn't be done. The first thing that springs to mind is "wash this truck". Oh well, it's a mystery. https://flic.kr/p/2k2hWUt

October 28, 2020. I don't know why cats sky away from cameras, and our Julia is the shyest of the lot. Today was another busy day in a busy week (the best sort of week) - I've been catching up on tasks that have been sitting there, for example, completing transcripts for talks. https://flic.kr/p/2k2mXnZ

October 27, 2020. Andrea made cookies. They were delicious. Busy day, including a presentation and meetings, more work on data literacy, https://flic.kr/p/2k2hrLt