Let's Make Some Art, Dammit

September 28, 2021. We were back for another RedBlacks game tonight (which we won!) in our usual seats in the north stands, pictured here. I know it has a new name but I spent a *lot* of time in this building in the 1970s working for Versa Foods, I have a lot of good memories here, and it will always be Lansdowne Park to me. They say they need to tear it down and build something new but I would hate to see the iconic design disappear. Another productive workday starting with an 8:30 meeting, more development for the MOOC, some mandatory training 'completed', and more. https://flic.kr/p/2mvNuJc

September 27, 2021. This is Julia on her shelf in front of the window in the kitchen, right up behind where I sit. She is much more approachable these days and seems to look forward to being up there when I'm in the kitchen. Good productive day today as I got a lot of the content and structure in place for my upcoming MOOC (recording some videos of me doing that work, because hwy not?). https://flic.kr/p/2mvNmay

September 29, 2021, bonus photo of the day. Laetiporus is a genus of edible mushrooms found throughout much of the world. Some species, especially Laetiporus sulphureus, are commonly known as sulphur shelf, chicken of the woods, the chicken mushroom, or the chicken fungus because it is often described as tasting like and having a texture similar to that of chicken meat. https://flic.kr/p/2muGXE7

September 26, 2021. We were on the Quebec side today, about a half hour north-east of Buckingham, at the La Forêt Blanche Ecological Reserve. It was another bright beautiful fall day, a bit windy, but of course we didn't really feel that in the forest. Disappointed with my photos from last week, I took my tripod and tried for something a lot better, and for the most part, I think I succeeded. https://flic.kr/p/2muRzGK

September 24, 2021. This is Julia enjoying the vivid colours of our back yard in the fall sunlight. I began this Friday with a panel to wrap my participation in the TILT conference, and then more work on the OERu install. I got tired of that and made a couple of No Man's Sky videos. I'm up to episode 18 now and can easily imagine doing a hundred of them. If you're curious, here they are. https://flic.kr/p/2muqK2W

September 25, 2021. These apples are growing wild on a former farm now known as the Reveler Conservation Area. I took a 50km bicycle ride there and back this afternoon on a brilliant fall day. In the morning I set up the website for my upcoming MOOC; the website will launch on Monday, the MOOC itself in early October. https://flic.kr/p/2muscVz

September 23, 2021. This is where I change into my biking clothes; it's the downstairs bathroom (which doubles as the laundry room). What I mostly did today was to work on the OERu WordPress-Docker setup, which I still can't get to run. I'm running out of things to triple-check. It's a puzzle. Good thing I'm persistent. https://flic.kr/p/2muqF71

September 22, 2021. The highlight of tonight's @RedBlacks game was the pizza, which was much improved over last game. And the rain was cool. But the 24-7 score flattered the losing side at home. Anyhow, I spent the work day working on the OERu-style WordPress setup; still no joy. But I also watched some interesting CC conference presentations. And I made incremental progress in some other projects. So, step by step, things get done. https://flic.kr/p/2mts1r5

September 21, 2021. Andrea burned some of her popcorn yesterday, which she placed in this bowl. Result: a tasty treat for me, because I don't mind burned popcorn at all. Work day today: meeting in the morning, attending the Creative Commons summit online, and working on the MOOC server using the OERu setup (learning tons, again). https://flic.kr/p/2mtd6Er

September 19, 2021. A chickadee makes its escape with a load of seeds. We were in the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary, where we went for a 7km hike through forests and marsh. I had my camera set wrong for the conditions so the pictures weren't all they could be, but I got photos of ducks, frogs, turtles, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, dragonflies, blue jays, and much more. https://flic.kr/p/2msBe94

September 18, 2021. These are asters in our back yard. As promised, it was a work day today, though I wasn't as productive as I would have liked. Still, I got caught up on some correspondence and writing. Otherwise, played video games. https://flic.kr/p/2msqP6v

September 17, 2021. A heron flies across the water of the St. Lawrence near the Long Sault Parkway, my destination in a 107 km ride I took today. It was a nice summery day so I decided to take a weekend day Friday and to work Saturday. Of course I ended up doing a fair amount of work anyway, doing my newsletter and also attending the AI Policy Community of Practice meeting and delivering a short presentation (from one of the islands along the Parkway) on progress to date in our working group on AI in Learning for the Public Service. https://flic.kr/p/2mrZKWC

September 16, 2021. This is looking out the back window to see the morning fog and rays of light from the rising sun. The camera on my phone (a Google Pixel 4) is pretty good for ordinary shots, but for low light or zooming, as in the last three days, it really reveals its weaknesses. Today was Day 2 of the Data Summit, and also an advisory group meeting for our Virtual Reality training project. https://flic.kr/p/2mrXpCJ

September 15, 2021. We had a brilliant red sunset today and I'm afraid this photo does not do it justice. Today was online conference day as I followed the proceedings of the Open Data summit, and also took part in a Creative Commons ethics of sharing meeting. https://flic.kr/p/2ms1YGB

September 14, 2021. This is a quick shot through the window with my phone of a cardinal sporting his fall colours at the bird feeder. The seal in the window has failed and it's getting more and more opaque. Not sure what it costs to fix. I gave my presentation by video to Nottingham today, and as always was focused on that, even after the presentation was done (which explains why I'm slow posting the daily picture). I also finished my model test for TekSavvy. https://flic.kr/p/2ms1SSq

September 13, 2021. This is a pretty typical scene in the fields around here as the crops mature, a very large field of soybeans (I figured there's probably a billion individual soybeans in the shot). My ride today can after a full day thinking about and preparing for my talk tomorrow morning at the TILT ALT conference. https://flic.kr/p/2mq2YJi

September 12, 2021. We paid a visit to the Glengarry Pioneer Fair in Dunvegan today. It was cancelled last year but revived and larger than I expected for this year. Well attended, too. After that we went for a hike as usual, back to the Garry Fen to trake mnore pictrures (especially of the pitcher plant). Alko enjoyed today's baseball game, and made a couple No Man's Slky videos. https://flic.kr/p/2mpfys7

September 11, 2021. I spotted this guy while cycling south of town, and he gave me permission to take a photo. In all I cycled around 75 easy kilometers, including a stop where I ate too much at Rockin Ronda's and more stops to record a total of 12 TikTok videos. View them here . Too much? I don't think so. https://flic.kr/p/2moUYby

September 10, 2021. This is Charlemagne looking at the phone, self-portrait style, which is flat on the shelf. Today was moderately productive; I got some paperwork finished and did some writing. https://flic.kr/p/2moW3rs

September 9, 2021. I read a while back that under today's laws, traditional barn raisings would probably be illegal. But observing this effort, where a barn appears to be being built by one single person, I'm not convinced of that statement. In fact, this sort of activity is probably more common than not. Anyhow, I saw it on my bike ride today after a slow day filled with fatigue and tinnitus. I learned that the power had been off for several hours overnight, which would interrupt the air flow on my CPAP, and explain why it was harder to work today. https://flic.kr/p/2mnQ6Av

September 8, 2021. Like this wasp, I spent the day working. The wasp was in the flowers outside the garage, I was in my home office working on a project proposal, writing newsletter items, and preparing for upcoming presentations. Oh, and I created another video from No Man's Sky: Frontiers, making seven in all. https://flic.kr/p/2mnTX2n

September 7, 2021. I've had this plant for five or six years now; it was my office plant in Moncton, and I brought it home and set it up in my home office. I would imagine my new plants for my Ottawa office are long dead. Today was a work day, back from the long weekend. I'm still getting my various projects organized, and meetings once again intrude, but I'm still inclined to do things like take some time to do a pair of videos on setting up a WordPress installation. https://flic.kr/p/2mnsfQD

September 6, 2021. It was cool and rainy this morning when I set out and pictured is one of the several rainstorms I found myself trying to avoid on my ride. In all I covered 88 km cycling for the first time to Sarsfield and also to Navan. It never did really warm up but at least there was some sun in the afternoon. That, and the results of the Blue Jays game, made it a lot better. https://flic.kr/p/2mmSWnT

September 5, 2021. We went for a shortish hike around Garry Fen near Alexandria today. The clouds were so heavy it felt like late evening, and eventually it was raining heavily. It made for a nice moody photo set (quite the contrast to our spirits). Also, I made the signup sheet and logo for my new MOOC, and signups have started. https://flic.kr/p/2mmzqi4

September 4, 2021. Lexi (left) and Julia (right) swat at each other in a dispute over the high ground in advance of tuna being dispensed. As the cat photo suggests, I made it an indoor day, and in fact, recorded five episodes of a new No Man's Sky series celebrating the new Frontiers release. https://flic.kr/p/2mmpVtf

September 3, 2021. This is on display at the RedBlacks game and inscribed on it are all the season ticket holder names (I looked and ours were there ). The game itself was one-sided the wrong way, but we saw enough flashes to give us hope. I also had a productive day as a whole, going to the dentist, consulting on a MOOC, preparing some paperwork. https://flic.kr/p/2mm94PV

September 2, 2021. Though there are shadows everywhere, Charlemagne has fixated on this one little bit of wall in the bathroom. Any time someone heads that way he will race ahead to get into position. Today was the day the weight of being back at work fell on me - I was tired all day, and even though I managed to do some tasks, I didn't feel very productive. Then I messed up the sound on a video. Sigh. https://flic.kr/p/2mkS9CB

September 1, 2021. This is St. Albert, where I went for a brisk (24kph) ride after work today. I used up every last minute of vacation time over the summer, so I'm sitting with zero days for the first time since I started with NRC. The other big thing today was the release of No Man's Sky Frontiers, which promises to include cities, so I started a new game live on YouTube. I also wrote a poem I'm pretty happy with on Mastodon. https://flic.kr/p/2mkFcbc