Let's Make Some Art, Dammit

March 28, 2022. This is Charlemagne on the shelf behind my kitchen chair (where he insists on being carried every evening) playing with the string. Today was the day of the data literacy presentation; I finished off the slides in the morning and delivered it this afternoon, where to my satisfaction and relief, it was well-received. Now I have about three weeks to polish off the report, and then I have a four-day cold April bikepacking trek planned. https://flic.kr/p/2nbn6Ki

March 27, 2022. I know I already shared a version of this, but this is my official 'daily photo' version. Yes, we're headed to the world cup. I watched the game (and also the Blue Jays game before it) as I worked all day on my data literacy presentation. For the record: I'm a long-time soccer (football) fan. I played on the high school soccer team and have been a World Cup junkie ever since - I have many memories of watching the games over the years. I even worked at soccer games during the 1976 Olympics! https://flic.kr/p/2nbdZDZ

March 26, 2022. This is a dark-eyed junco lurking in the weeds in the back yard, its favourite location. Nice how it blends in. Today was an indoor day spent entirely on preparing my data literacy presentation based on the last few month's research. https://flic.kr/p/2nbjshj

March 25, 2022. We saw a line-up of seven comedians at the Aultsville Theatre in Cornwall last night, a presentation of the CrackUp Comedy Festival . Sure, there was some rust - they haven't performed live in two years, and this was the first night the theatre has been open in the same time. But it was also quite good and I really enjoyed headliner Paul Rabliauskas. Another full day on data literacy. https://flic.kr/p/2naLWoz

March 24, 2022. This is a very swollen Butternut Creek as seen today on my longest bike ride of the year (17km). Still working the gravel bike along road shoulders to build up my strength. Google Maps is terrible at recording creek and even river names, and of course it's not signed locally, but you can see the name on Mapcarta mapcarta.com/24181720 Another full day on data literacy. https://flic.kr/p/2naztHS

March 23, 2022. Busy today and just thought I'd take a top-down photo of a tripod, but of course around here you can't do anything without a cat. Also, because I'm now depending much or on the corporate laptop, I bought a new monitor. Also a new keyboard-mouse set for the other computers, because the old one was wearing out and making it difficult to use. Another 100% data literacy day today (and this will be true for the next month at least). https://flic.kr/p/2natYvc

March 22, 2022. This is a house just outside town with a Ukrainian flag. The Russian invasion and Ukraine's fight for survival has been on everyone's minds over the last month. It's hard to stay focused when all this is happening. But it also highlights how important my current work on data literacy could be. Not that I expect to have a direct impact on anything, but indirectly, yes. Anyhow it's data literacy all day in any case. Interesting work but the deadlines add some stress. Also had some meetings today. https://flic.kr/p/2natUsC

March 21, 2022. Back out on the bicycle today, though it's still cold. This is a pond in a local park, still frozen (though I wouldn't walk on it). Today's work was entirely focused on data literacy, reviewing a number of academic articles from our literature search. https://flic.kr/p/2na8hDG

March 19, 2022. Had fun posing with Charlemagne this evening. Quiet day, played some video, created a bunch of posts, puttered on data literacy, mostly just rested and enjoyed the ball game. https://flic.kr/p/2n9C5sx

March 20, 2022. Things aren't growing yet but the snow is melting and the forest breathlessly waits for sprint. We only walked about 4.5 km today; it was difficult to walk even on packed snow. But still, there was more colour and more atmosphere on the trail. https://flic.kr/p/2n9L7bp

March 18, 2022. This Buddha used to sit in the hallway in Moncton, but we don't have a hallway here so it sits on a table. I didn't realize the hat was so dusty; time for some spring cleaning. I finalized all accommodations on Anticosti for the summer. The rest of the day I spent on my data literacy project. https://flic.kr/p/2n9rJ3i

March 17, 2022. The bike is back from the shop and I took it for the first ride of the year, a 10 km jaunt through the new housing development. Otherwise 100% focused on data literacy. Learning a lot. Using gRSShopper to manage my learning, which is an interesting exercise. https://flic.kr/p/2n9rGUw

March 16, 2022. Up at dawn to get on the exercise bike. It's only dawn because we changed to Daylight time. Add me to the list of people opposed to changing the clock twice a year. Spent the full day on my data literacy project. Making good progress. https://flic.kr/p/2n9thhu

March 15, 2022. My new Garmin InReach Mini 2 arrived today, representing an expensive but necessary piece of insurance for my upcoming adventure. On Anticosti Island I will be hundreds of miles from the nearest cell tower. Or even from the nearest person! This will track my progress and allow me to send satellite text messages. As such, it's one more very tangible step toward my August expedition. The rest of my day was completely devoted to reviewing and documenting resources for the data literacy project. There is - as always - a whole community dedicated to the topic and a rich base of resources. It's fun to explore literature in the same way it's fun to explore islands. https://flic.kr/p/2n8YoMC

March 14, 2022. This is a picture of a chicken we bought at the Victoria Craft Fair back when we first moved into our house in Moncton. It has hung in our kitchen ever since, first there, and now here, and to me it signifies a sense of permanence and place. Today was an indoor day dedicated to the data literacy project, setting up the website a bit and adding resources. https://flic.kr/p/2n8Ynoa

May 14, 2022. We went for a snowshoe hike through Larose forest. I also completed a short report on XR. Overall, a good day. The end of winter is in sight. https://flic.kr/p/2n8CJb6

March 12, 2022. Sitting in my office with a cat climbing my shoulder. Spent the day playing No Man's Sky, finishing Expedition 5. I recorded the whole expedition on live video (and even had an audience for some of it). https://flic.kr/p/2n8vZHq

March 11, 2022. Friday. Stayed in all day, and Julia stayed in her cave right by my chair. The red is an Ottawa Redblacks backpack given out at a game a few years ago. Finished off the Latex cold and wrapped up the day a bit early and played video games. Long week. https://flic.kr/p/2n8vXoA

March 10, 2022. We saw the first robin of the year today, in our crabapple tree. Poor robin, arriving before winter has ended. Feeling better today but still missed a bunch of meetings I was supposed to attend. Instead, I wrote a script to have gRSShopper save pages as Latex (an side-project inspired by one of my projects). https://flic.kr/p/2n8vLF8

March 9, 2022. I felt pretty under the weather today and messed up my meds, so I decided to take a covid rapid test. Here you see the result: negative. So I'm still covid-free and attribute my state to stress (I guess). I took a sick day today and didn't really get much work done, just the newsletter. https://flic.kr/p/2n87oUm

March 8, 2022. This is the Buddha that sits by my computer in the kitchen and which reminds me to relax and reflect (so very unlike the Buddha in my office that looks stern and says "work!"). Today was meeting day, and later in the afternoon I was host for a Creative Commons Lightning Talks session. Fun. https://flic.kr/p/2n83PmD

March 7, 2022. Wear. That's how I'm feeling right now. This is the wear on my table in the kitchen caused by the amount of sitting and working I've been doing. I had to give up and admit defeat today, asking for a one-month extension on my Data Literacy project. Just too much to do, too much not working... https://flic.kr/p/2n7SFfB

March 6, 2022. The redpoll is attracted by the finch seed. It has a distinctive red cap. You can see the icicles from the freezing rain. They didn't last long as it got quite warm (and windy) today. Spent about half the day working on my Data Literacy project, the rest on No Man's Sky. https://flic.kr/p/2n7FofT

March 5, 2022. This pine cone landed in the fork of this small tree and is just hanging there in midair. We went for a snowshoe walk on a Saturday this week because Sunday weather looked questionable. Same route as last week, though just a little bit longer. Spent the rest of the day playing No Man's Sky, because I need a break. https://flic.kr/p/2n7MXdG

March 5, 2022. This is Kenny Robinson from the rankbvile stand-up comedy show at the Atlantic in Alexandria. The 'Tic is a fun place with decent food, though it was really short-staffed. The comedy was offensive, as it should be, but I've seen far worse. Good for some chuckles and a fun time overall. Finally got gRSShopper running multisite perfectly; now the issues are with the load balancer. https://flic.kr/p/2n79xXA

March 6, 2022. The redpoll is attracted by the finch seed. It has a distinctive red cap. You can see the icicles from the freezing rain. They didn't last long as it got quite warm (and windy) today. Spent about half the day working on my Data Literacy project, the rest on No Man's Sky. https://flic.kr/p/2n7hNAL

March 5, 2022. This pine cone landed in the fork of this small tree and is just hanging there in midair. We went for a snowshoe walk on a Saturday this week because Sunday weather looked questionable. Same route as last week, though just a little bit longer. Spent the rest of the day playing No Man's Sky, because I need a break. https://flic.kr/p/2n7f4vE

March 3, 2022. This is the hedge to the side of the house, as viewed from my exercise bike. It feels odd to be exercising while watching coverage of the war in Ukraine. Like I should be doing something even though there's nothing I can do except urge the government to greater support. I took my gravel bike into the shop for a tuneup, new wider tires and handlebars, which should make it more stable on the rough gravel. Six weeks before the first bikepacking trial run, over the Easter long weekend. https://flic.kr/p/2n77p16

March 2, 2022. This fence post is about two blocks from us, and I've looked at it often waiting for the right light and background to take a photo. Meeting day today, mostly, and more work done on my Data Literacy project. https://flic.kr/p/2n7bzK1

March 1, 2022. More snow today and the bird feeders remain a popular attraction. Here we have a cardinal braving the snow for a quick snack. Worked on gRSShopper today, trying to get multisite to run properly, and also on my data literacy project. Also wrote the second part of my response to Bates, 'How Does Learning Take Place?' https://flic.kr/p/2n7bxNf

February 28, 2022. Our old forever-kitten Lexi drinks out of the tap. She's about 16 years old now, but is thin and athletic, kept on her toes by the kittens (who have not yet mastered sink-drinking (and if Andrea has her way, never will)). Back to work today, first writing a response to the first part of Tony Bates's review of my connectivism article, and then to working on the gRSShopper startup script. https://flic.kr/p/2n6kaMV