Let's Make Some Art, Dammit

February 28, 2024. This is artwork on the front of Feleena's, a Mexican restaurant on Bank Street. It's across the street from the bike shop. I was there in the afternoon after spending the morning and lunch hour preparing then delivering my seminar on open online learning. Late afternoon featured record warm temperatures then huge dark clouds and a thunderstorm. https://flic.kr/p/2pANwT7

February 27, 2024. This is the illustration on a wooden box of smoked salmon I bought ages ago and which now decorates my office. Honestly, I bought it for thr artwork, not the fish. It's as distinctive as it gets. Today was a work at-home day with a meeting and time spent working on my presentation on open online learning for tomorrow. https://flic.kr/p/2pAHB8A

February 26, 2024. I saw this out the window first thing this morning and snapped a photo before it went away. And it did go away, and there was no snow after 7:45. Tough day today, lots of work to do, especially on the Agora project before work and in the evening, but also a good amount of work on my day job, plus a gruelling visit to the dentist, 1.5 hours in the chair. Ugh. https://flic.kr/p/2pAr8xQ

February 25, 2024. Some very tall spruce trees in Larose Forest west, just north of Limoges. We were there for a 5 km snowshoe hike this afternoon. Probably the last snowshoeing of the year. Ball game was on. Fixed an emergency issue on the Agora website. Listening to some alternative electropop music. All is well; still waiting for spring. https://flic.kr/p/2pA92p2

February 23, 2024. This is a chocolate easter bunny, I know, I'm jumping the gun on the holiday a bit, but, chocolate. Meetings today, and I wrote a blog post rebutting the objections to AI in education. https://flic.kr/p/2pzU6jY

February 22, 2024. These fish decorate the parking garage in the Glebe, which is where I went over lunch to look at a bicycle, a 56 cm that will fit me properly. I was pretty happy with the fit and put down the money. Also, I finally finished my literature review on context, which is a load off. Also watched the first spring training game of the year (which L.A. started by scoring 8 runs in the first inning, bleah). https://flic.kr/p/2pzGina

February 21, 2024. Wen t to the dentist this morning and while it was all OK it sort of set me off for the rest of the day. I got a little work in but nothing like what I wanted to do. It's like I'm passing time waiting for winter to be over. I see some people about a bicycle tomorrow, and after that the first ballgame of the spring will be on (Blue Jays start Saturday). https://flic.kr/p/2pzwSTJ

February 20, 2024. Where the tracks cross the side road, just outside town, as seen on my daily walk. It wasn't quite as dark as depicted here but I wanted to emphasize the clouds and the afternoon sunset. Today was another full day working on my literature review; it's almost done and really is in the process of final crafting. Four days till the first spring training ball game. https://flic.kr/p/2pzk92R

February 19, 2024. This is a close-up of some wall art we bought at an auction a number of years ago. But mostly it's me testing how closely I can shoot using my 50mm lens. Worked from the home office today, mostly on the lit review, partially on some tech. https://flic.kr/p/2pzbEDf

February 18 2024. It was snowing in the forest today where we went snowshoeing, a bit more than 4 km. Not too cold but snowy and blowy. https://flic.kr/p/2pyWwk4

February 17, 2024. This guy worked itself into the cage and spent a long time working on the feed cylinder, enough time to allow me to take this shot with the telephoto. It could be better; I shot at an angle through the hazy window by hand, but it's still pretty nice. I had other plans for today, but there was a No Man's Sky expedition to play, and even though they're 5 weeks long, I like to finish them (and live-stream the video) in the first weekend. https://flic.kr/p/2pyMadC

February 15, 2024. But the Sun isn't there. There's just this faint glow behind the clouds. It's cold. It's snowing this evening. And the plants are dead. It must be the middle of February. Spent the day working on my literature review, started a new No Man's Sky expedition in the evening, and added DMARC records to my email servers to email will continue to work. https://flic.kr/p/2pyrQGx

February 14, 2024. Butterfly decorations on the front of a house in my neighbourhood. I've always liked the way people put butterflies on their houses; there's no real incentive for them to do so, but they do it anyway. Today was much more productive than the disaster that was yesterday and my literature review is finally taking shape. https://flic.kr/p/2pygwxX

February 13, 2024. This is a tree at the office in the city. Seeing this tree is one of the few benefits of driving in to the city. Today was a zero-productivity day; I got my meds wrong in the morning and was off all day. Wrote a short bl;og post; that's about it. https://flic.kr/p/2py75bJ

February 12, 2024. A sparrow snags a seed from the feeder. Shot with the telephoto but the camera decided to take the photos in lower-resolution JPG format. Still learning this new gear. Anyhow, I spent most of the day trying to write a script to post articles to LinkedIn using the API. I had zero success. People *really* need to learn how to write documentation. https://flic.kr/p/2pxUBYf

February 11, 2024. Spotted this squirrel in the bird feeder along the Mer Bleue trail on our walk today. I was trying to photograph birds (without a lot of success) with the telephoto. Puttering on some projects otherwise, maybe watching football this evening. https://flic.kr/p/2pxGmCU

February 10, 2024. These are what appear to be starlings high in a tree down the road a bit. I could only see them from below, and this is the best my telephoto lens could capture. It's a pretty good image considering how far the were. Other than photographing the underside of birds, my day was spent working on my European project. https://flic.kr/p/2pxyvZb

February 9, 2024. The is a wasp's nest from last summer in a tree in the neighbour's yard (taken with my new 600mm lens). White sky and medium light. Even though I put out more seed the birds stayed away this afternoon (it's warm and melting so they're feeling pretty comfortable). This is a work-from-home day today, doing some reading and writing up my literature review on context. https://flic.kr/p/2pxjSuR

February 8, 2024. Over lunch today I checked out Green's Creek, an area of the Green Belt I have explored before, with an eye to hiking there on the week-end. The site looks nice, but it was very slippery with the recent thaw and freeze. It was another in-office work day today, working on the same project on context. https://flic.kr/p/2pxbaZw

February 7, 2024. This is Julia, not only one of our cats, she's also the first daily photo to be shot with my new 600mm lens. Yes, I finally picked it up today. Also: a full day in the office working on context stuff. https://flic.kr/p/2pwWiD8

February 6, 2024. This is the Nation River about 5 km from Casselman. I stopped to get a photo while dropping Andrea off at the dentist. Today was mostly a recovery day, catching up on email that had accumulated during our short trip to Quebec City and figuring out how to eat the most recent trove of vegetables. https://flic.kr/p/2pwNKoM

February 5, 2024. It's an odd potato from this week's Odd Bunch shipment. This week's was even better than last week's, even though it was outside for a couple of days - we got strawberries, a melon, avocados, parsley, and much much more, including this potato. Drove home from Quebec City today, took the 40 the whole way, right through Montreal, and were home in an astonishing 4 hours and 15 minutes. https://flic.kr/p/2pwFMYT

February 4, 2024. We had another fun day at the Carnival today, walking 7 kilometres around Quebec City (including up the escarpment after the funicular stopped running. This is the classic photo of the Chateau in the same style taken by thousands of photographers before me - including me, at least twice. https://flic.kr/p/2pwsw2h

February 3, 2024. This is Claudia Bouvette in concert a the Quebec Carnival. Easily the coldest concert we've ever been to. We spent the day enjoying Carnival. https://flic.kr/p/2pwhk8Y

February 2, 2024. We spent the day driving to Quebec City today for the opening on Quebec Carnival. Though it's a Canadian institution, this is the first time we've even been to it. We got out passes this evening and retreated to the hotel in the face of a biting cold east wind. We have the right clothes for the weather, but weren't wearing them. Resting tonight, then enjoying the events tomorrow. https://flic.kr/p/2pw5k4P

February 1, 2024. These are some of my Wittgenstein books on the shelf in my office. I think about them often, partially for the ideas, and partially for who Wittgenstein was. He is the one I think about when I ask myself what sort of philosopher I should be (and in some sense, what that means is, not a philosopher at all). Anyhow, as the picture suggests, I spent the day in the office, working on the topic of context and decision-making. https://flic.kr/p/2pvVjLv