SOME HUMOUR

Here are a few great ideas from Sadanduseless.com

Dog balloons

COVID-19 humour

Art work recreations
Here are a couple of ideas.




Thrift store monsters

TEACHING IN THE TIME OF CORONA

I am impressed by the motivation of Princess Pirate's teachers, with the Ministry giving them a free pass in obligations.

Some are sending weekday links to topical articles, and asking a simple question:
What is herd immunity, and why won't it work for this pandemic?

Others are alerting us to resources already in place for online learning.
Here is one example from Douglas College Learning Centre.

Here is one French language site called alloprof that PP has talked about using but hasn't had time all year. Now she has no excuses! (my favourites are Quebec history, and the much briefer Canada history)

MONTREAL HISTORY GROUP

McGill announced the early death of Professor Jarrett Rudy, at the age of 50, after complications of heart disease and bypass surgery. It was a nice obituary for a tragic end, and I wonder where he was at the time, as restrictions in hospital were very stiff in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. I hope he had made it home, and that he was not alone, but I am quite sure that he and his family were impacted by the virus, as so many are. Even if you are able to die at home surrounded by family, the funeral arrangements are so limited that many are only present virtually, or not at all. It's a difficult time for all, but I feel particularly sad about those whose loved ones pass, and they are restricted in gathering.

To be clear, this is essential. It can be no other way. But it another cost of the pandemic that sometimes farther reaching than the virus itself. We need everyone to do their part, so if we have to ask it of the grieving, we ask it of everyone.

This tenured assistant professor was a writer, and was working on two things I found very interesting. One was a novel on time-telling in Quebec (I wonder if McGill's Roddick gates restoration saga featured in it, and if it will be posthumously published), and the other was his role as a "co-convener" of a group of  Quebec scholars called the Montreal History Group, "nurturing intellectual exchange and warm merriment". I will have to take a walk to Room 328, Ferrier Building, 840 Dr. Penfield Avenue once the social restrictions allow. Maybe next year the Jeudis d'Histoire and Muffins and Methodology workgroup will be up and running again, and receiving guests.

It is a beautiful homage to a life cut too short. You know that you have written a wonderful piece when a stranger wishes that they would have met the man.

THINGS I HAVE GIVEN UP FOR LENT THIS YEAR

Biting my nails
Touching my face
Kissing my daughter
Hugging my friends
Eating out
Library
Museums
Art Galleries
Ballet
Opera
Rock climbing
Gym training
Guests
Chick flicks
Movie theatres
Plays
Binging
Book club
Car pooling
Dental cleaning
Massages
Physiotherapist
Haircuts
Renovations
Playgrounds
Sharing food
Doing things for others
Shopping on a whim or for a need
Walking with friends

FOOD AND WHERE IT COMES FROM

CIAT: International Center for Tropical Agriculture

There are beautiful graphics that show where crops are originally from, how we eat now, and what the production of food is now, and where we are getting it from.

These maps show were food comes from, from another site; the NPR (National Public Radio).

AGAINST SOCIAL DISTANCING-FOR PHYSICAL DISTANCING

Social distancing is not the right term. Physical distance is imperative. This should not, however, come at the cost of social connectivity and physical activity. These are just as vital to our health.

So keep your distance: 6 feet, 2 meters. But interact with neighbours. Smile and say high to strangers. Go for a walk, a job, a hike. Protect others by chatting from a safe distance. But do stop and connect with others.

SPINACH SALAD A LA CAPRESE

Fridge offerings: Baby spinach, feta, sesame dressing
Cupboard offerings: currents, pecans, canned mandarin oranges

BISTRO LE VALOIS - OUR LAST LUNCH

My friend and I made plans to go out,  but we only had a little time, so I deferred to her, and she took us to a place her family has loved many times. In appearance, Bistro Le Valois is not a typical French restaurant , but my friend always defaults to French cuisine when she can, and this was no exception. The ceiling is a dated stained glass, but the restaurant is set on a plaza that clearly draws people out to gather in droves when the weather is fine. There is as much seating out as in, and the sun shines into the dining room, where we chose to sit.

We were both very happy, although I did not plan to be as carnivorous as I turned out to be. My youngest brother would have loved the soup and salad with a heavy side of bacon that it turned out to be!

My friend ordered two appetizers, and was very happy. There were breaded salmon croquettes with wafu mayo, lime and soya sauce dips. The croquette itself was very good. My friend loved every bit of the foie gras, and we ate the bread bowl empty.

I ordered the soup of the day. Because I make mine vegetarian, I forgot that split pea soup is not usually made that way. Still, with the greens on top, and the day chilly, the soup was delicious.

I had heard of this pizza called Flammekueche, and it was on the daily menu, so I ordered it. It was filling, and tasty. It was very akin, unfortunately, to a Matza bread, so I would take a step back next time. The caramelized onions and arugula balanced out the meaty "lardons", much elevated than the ones I have eaten in the past.

I have seen my friend eat very little in a day, and skip meals, but that day she had room for dessert, and was willing to share! The lemon meringue pie elicited exclamation from us both, as we ate first with our eyes in its wonderful presentation.

Pea soup

Flammekueche

Lemon Meringue pie with lemon coulis and a candied lemon slice. Truly a "piece de resistance"!

MANGIA COOKIES

Lower Left: Date cookie
Upper Right: Pistachio

Not cheap, but dense and delicious, and not easy to make yourself.
I think these are versions of Ma'amoul, made often in the winter, in preparation for Eid and Easter.
It it thought to have existed in Egypt in one form, and is also served during Purim, making it an ancient recipe beloved by many cultures and religions. Here is a recipe from Chef in Disguise to try, maybe in muffin tins. Without fancy ingredients, but also worth a try is Amanda's Plate version.

Maamoul Date Cookies

Author: Amanda

Prep time:  45 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  1 hour 5 mins

Serves: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 3 cups farina (milled wheat flour/ can be found at middle eastern stores)
• ½ cup All Purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup ghee, clarified butter (regular butter works too)
• ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
• ½ cup lukewarm water
• ⅓ cup whole milk

Filling

• 3 cups dates, pitted
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil (other vegetable oils work)

Instructions

Filing

1. Blend dates together in a food processor with spices and 1 tablespoon oil until smooth. Add orange blossom water. Roll 1 tablespoon dates into 24 small balls.

Dough

1. In a small bowl, mix yeast in water and allow to stand for 3 minutes.
2. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix together farina, AP flour, salt, sugar and butter.
3. Add the yeast and water and milk to the bowl and mix until dough forms.
4. Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
6. Using mold, press dough into the center, place date ball in the center of the dough. Place a second smaller piece of dough over the top of the date, cover the filling.
7. Tap the mold until the dough releases.
8. Place on parchment lined baking sheet.
9. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. Enjoy

A RAINBOW OF POMEGRANATES

I have enjoyed pomegranates for a few years. It's a yuletide treat that seems to have a longer season than ever. But when my friend served me a golden pomegranate, it made me realize that there were more versions than the one called Ruby Red that arrives successfully to Canadian markets. In searching for the varietal, I found this article that suggests there are 13 types and has a nice story about a biologist with family history in breeding exotic fruit.

I have a strong memory of the only pomegranate tree I have ever seen, full of fruit. It was in the garden of the Forbidden City. It was explained that in Chinese culture, the pomegranate, with its many seeds, was a symbol of fertility. This was especially meaningful, since I was pregnant with my first child!

There are interesting attempts at opening this fruit in "the best" way. I have found the red fruit to be best dealt with by cutting carefully and peeling in a deep bowl. Here are few experts with their tried and true methods. I find the geometry of this fruit very beautiful, but not always predictable.

DONNA LEON

I was further into McGill’s library than I had ever been before. After admiring the Marion Scott painting titled Cement and perplexing at Holgate’s subject in Woman at a Window, I was admitted to the Rare Books and Special collections room on the 4th floor of the McLennan library. I had seen an event advertised to see the author I had followed through Venice, Donna Leon. I was early, so I perused a museum display full of paintings and facts on naturalists of the past. I occasionally looked around, wondering if I would recognize her if she stood beside me. When the hour to start neared, I found a seat in a good line of sight, and knew her immediately. She was petite, and attentive, and in companionable conversation.

Organized by Roarr and Friends of the McGill Library

What a perfect cookie to celebrate these crime writers!

Not only a great hostess, but also the designer of the geometric presentation of the square cookies on a circular platter!

SUN VALLEY IDAHO RESORT WHEN YOU CAN'T DOWNHILL SKI

This was to be the return trip from 2 years ago. A rare March break, #3 in my lifetime, and the second one at Sun Valley resort. It's not an easy trip from the east coast. Three flights, over 12 hours, starting at 3:30 with a taxi to the airport, and travelling through Atlanta and Salt Lake City, to arrive at Hailey, Idaho.







Then I fell on the last run, when we decided to ski down the runoff instead of downloading. In the end, something happened over exposed grass, and I fell to my left, hitting my temporal skull, denting my helmet, and straining something in my left shoulder. I was relieved it wasn't a broken neck, but my plans to ski the next 3 days were hard to give up.



The first day I had a headache walking, so I started to realize that I probably wasn't going back to the mountain. On the one hand that was a relief, as the resort helmets started at $300 US. But having my roommate go off every morning to ski in spring weather was tough. So I needed to find something else to do, and the first thing was to see what my options were for the lift tickets I wouldn't need.



I drew. Read. Watched HGTV. Wandered the hotel. Listened to cardinals, geese, nuthatches. Admired the sun, the trees, the mountains, the food. I learned a little history.

The mountain that began the first ski resort in North America was found by an Austrian. The Inn now was the original Lodge from 1936, when the Union Pacific Railroad built it. The chairlifts have been upgraded, but the first in the world started as a single chair in 1939. The resort had been founded by the Railroad's chairman, Averell Harriman, and he started a race at Sun Valley called the Harriman Cup. This was the site of the first downhill race in America that had a lift, and a skier from Vancouver, Washington, named Gretchen Fraser won the cup, and went on to win the first Gold for the US skiiing team in the Giant Slalom in 1948. Initially slated to go to the 1940 Olympics, the Games had to be moved from Japan to Finland, and then finally cancelled, as was the 1944 Olympics, due to WWII.

The movie called Sun Valley Serenade was filmed in 1941, and Gretchen was the stunt woman for the skating star Sonja Heine, herself a Gold medallist, volunteering for the job to keep amateur status, and once being replaced by a boy in a blond wig so that she could be away for a race. The film was one of tow that starred Glenn Miller's orchestra.

Now there is a run called Gretchen's Gold, and the Lodge and Inn are filled with famous visitors. Ernest Hemingway is reputed to have written the book For Whom the Bell Tolls on the second floor of the lodge. The Kennedys, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all past visitors.

 

The next day I had to keep slowing myself down, because my regular pace brought back the headache. I opted to get a pedicure with a $40 dollar credit towards it's $80 US price. It wasn't available until the next day, which gave me time to watch the 1941 Sun Valley Serenade on channel sixty-six in snippets, read menus, and wandering the resort to the Nordic Centre that doubles as the Golf Club in the summer.

The next morning I was debating about using another credit, when I discovered that the Sun Valley Pedicure included almost an hour of a massage chair, and that I could walk short distances at a reasonable pace, so I headed to Guest services, and exchanged the next day's pass for the rental of equipment and access to the Nordic Trails. There was a flat training field between the Club and the beautiful Mt. "Baldy", and I took it very easy, marvelling at the state-of-the-art Rossignol boots and skis. It was a beautiful afternoon, and Lief's Loop was a decent consolation to a day on the slopes.







The last day, I knew I had to pick up my skis that I had stored from the first day, but I was feeling well enough that I wanted to get out twice, and I took a route that was guaranteed to have hills, but had a gorgeous route along Trail River Valley. I walked down a few hills after a minor crash, but revelled in the views. The day was sunny and the snow was fast. After a rough start, it felt like I had made lemons into lemonade.





Three beautiful meals at Gretchen's, clear skies, and daily pastries at the Konditorei.  Walking around this week, with views of the Sawtooth mountains, and reminders of Tyrollean architecture and food were all around. It was like being in Austria for a week, even if the slopes were off limits for most of it.

Konditorei
Swan cream puff and hot chocolate
Tastes even better than it looks!

Ram Bar
Poke (without the bowl)

Konditorei
Linzer torte
Raspberry on a spiced pie crust

Gretchen's
Coconut Red Curry Bowl
Roasted butternut squash, sunflower seeds and sprouts, sautéed kale
Bed of black rice
Thai coconut curry sauce

Konditorei
Sacher Torte
Apricot jam, chocolate ganache
Art in a hot chocolate by polyglot Volodymyr originally from the Ukraine

Gretchen's
Lavender panna cotta
Steve Smith No. 55 Lord Bergamot tea

The Village Station
Caesar Salad
Garlic croissant
Pappardelle in brown butter sauce with hazelnuts and sage

THE YOUNG KARL MARX

I find it fascinating that movies are made in the fashion that Europeans live, in a multi-linguistic environment. This film had the main characters speaking French, English and German, like Marx and Engels would have.

I will review it later, and tell you a funny story about their statues in Berlin, but for now, I just wanted to transmit these two ideas.

One was that they joined, and seemingly took over, The League of the Just.

Second is a quote that is spoken in french, but translates as:

Criticism devours everything that exists, and when there is nothing left, it devours itself.

Thoughtful ideas all around, and I have now a clearer picture of how Engels got involved, and how some causes are most difficult for those who don't suffer from it, but for not having it. A kind of survivors guilt, I guess.

DORVAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

I've walked it all now, and understand how the airport, bus, train and commuter train link together. It is not too bad once you know the tricks, but it definitely is not made easy by any of the four, which is a shame.

The closest link is the bus and the via train. It's easy to go the wrong way, because it feels like you are walking into the territory of "stay off the tracks", but it's a small path, cleared even in a blizzard, to the east side of the bus station, just a short walk toward the north.

The bus shelter and the commuter train connect with a tunnel that has a greenhouse garden that is quite unexpected and well maintained.

The walk from the airport is treachourous, and the bus payment is quadruple the real price. If you have a regular pass (I carry one now with me), you can get the same trip for just under $3, instead of $10 at the only machine at the airport. They don't even try to make it easy at dorval station. There are no machines at the station for bus. If you walk several kms from the airport to the mall, you can buy tickets at the pharmacy by buying an OPUS card. All of these are inexcusable gauges that do not seem to have a rhyme or reason.

BOOK REVIEW: ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE

It was hard for me to feel that Eleanor's character was real. The pace was slow and the directions unsurprising. Things were larger than life. Still though, I found it enjoyable to live in her fantastical world, even when it was a crushing lie for the character.

Listen to this prose:

"Mummy said that we were empresses, sultanas (india) and maharanis (arabia) in our own home, and that it was our duty to live a life of sybaritic pleasure and indulgence. Every meal should be an epicurean feast for the senses, she said, and one should go hungry rather than sully one's palate with anything less than exquisite morsels. She told me how she'd eaten chili-fried tofu in the night markets of Kowloon, and that the best sushi outside of Japan could be found in São Paulo. The most delicious meal of her life, she said, had been chargrilled octopus, which she'd eaten at sunset in an unassuming harbor taverna one late summer evening on Naxos. She'd watched a fisherman land it that morning, and then sipped ouzo all afternoon while the kitchen staff battered it again and again against the harbor wall to tenderize its pale, suckered flesh. I must ask her what the food is like where she is now. I suspect that Lapsang souchong and langues de chat biscuits are in short supply."

OKAY ANOTHER YEAR WITHOUT A FAMILY DOCTOR

MISIRLOU

A classic guitar tune with a 60s style dance by Dick Dale and Del Tones

ORGANIZING PHOTOS

My computer is starting to labour in the same pathetic way as my refrigerator did without proper maintenance, and tonight seems like a good one to try to consolidate two libraries into one (Thanks to a backup, a robbery did not talk my photos away this time, but did hide them and create duplicates!).

I found a nice video that seems like a good place to start: My Albums. They had run away, honestly, and it was great to eliminate them in one fell swoop, with the reassurance that the pictures were all still there.

Next, I created folders that were each year (1911 was NOT the first picture, despite that being posted as the case), then smart albums, and those can be subdivided into groups, which is what I wanted all along!) There is a place to update the correct dates. He gives a practical suggestion to focus on the correct year.

Wish me luck! If you want to see the details, watch David here.

Useful keys:
shift allows you to highlight the first and last in a sequence and select those in between
command A = select all
command N = new album

BLOOM'S (COGNITIVE) TAXONOMY

There are 3 hierarchical models in educational objectives as set out by educator Benjamin Bloom:

Cognitive/Knowledge based
Affective/Emotion based
Sensory/ Psychomotor/Action based

These are further broken down into objectives:

COGNITIVE - 6
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create

AFFECTIVE-5
Receiving
Responding
Valuing
Organizing
Characterizing

SENSORY -7
Perception
Set (Readiness to Act)
Guided response
Mechanism
Complex overt response
Adaptation
Origination

UPGRADING RENAISSANCE MAN TO INCLUDE WOMEN

I like the idea of being a renaissance man or a jack of all trades, but with XX chromosomes, neither term fit. Then I came across a term from the greek that applied to Leonardo Da Vinci: polymath.
This term, in latin (homo universalis), is the only one that describes an individual whose known and problem solving skills spans a number of subjects, without suggesting gender.

I am proud to call myself a polymath!

BIOLOGY TAXONOMY

I love sorting, but it was clear from grade 8 science that the world I knew in high school has not stopped changing in its classifications.
When I was growing up, there were 5 kingdoms: Monera, Protista, Plantae, Fungi, Animalia
and the big name, Linnaeus, based these on anatomy, morphology, embryology and cell structure.
Viruses weren't considered living organisms, so they were not even included.

Fast forward to today's viral pandemic of Coronovirus 19, and the world now is represented in just three "domaines of life":
1. Bacteria
2. Archaea aka life's "extremists"
3. Eukarya -Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia

SERIOUS RESOLVE

FACETIOUS

JANICE'S SKOR BARS

This picture does not do it justice, but I was very happy to make this recipe without worrying about throwing away a candy wrapper. I have this initial recipe from my neighbour Janice who lived across the street from me when I was growing up. She made them on soda crackers which would be perfect, but I had stale graham crackers.T hey did the trick, although would not have balanced as well, lacking the salt of soda crackers, and did not avoidbeing overly sweet, but there were no complaints from this version.

This is popular at passover with leftover Matzo bread, affectionately known in Jewish circles as Matzo crack!

Mock Skor Bars
Using a baking sheet lined with a silpat or aluminium foil (shiny side down), layer out your crackers to fill 9x13". Or however many have gone stale in your open package.

Preheat oven to 350F.

In saucepan, boil 1 c margarine and 1 c brown sugar until boiling. Remove from heat after 3 minutes. I used butter, and I would expect white sugar would work also. I stirred the butter and brown sugar version with no problems.

Pour over crackers and bake in heated oven for 10 minutes. Pour a scant layer of chocolate chips over and smooth as it melts, about 1/2 cup (some recipes say 1 cup).

Cool and break into smaller pieces.

Try not to eat too many at a time!

VEGAN BOWL (BUDDHA BOWL)

Makes 4 servings.

Marinate 450 g of cubed tofu for 30 minutes in soy sauce, chopped garlic and chili flakes.
Pan fry.

Combine in blender the ingredient for dressing:
1/4 c tahini
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 " peeled ginger
1 garlic clove
 2 T maple syrup
1 T white vinear
4 T water (on rewarming I added even more to get out the residual dressing so as not to waste a drop)
1/8 t garlic chile sauce
For vegans, consider 1/4 c nutritional yeast for vitamin B12.

Here I had mixed jasmine and wild rice in a rice cooker, which undercooked the wild rice a little.
I added grated carrots and julienned canned beets to the marinated tofu and topped with a quarter of the dressing. One day, I added some sliced almonds which was excellent.

Other options:
Quinoa instead of rice
sliced avocado
sprouts
spinach
pepitas or hemp seeds
cooked sweet potato
chick peas instead of tofu

From Health is Happiness

BOOK REVIEW: KINGDOM OF THE BLIND

The epilogue that Louise Penny writes for this book is in itself worth the read. In difficult circumstances, she paints the picture of how she sat down at her dining room table and slowly wrote this book. Titled after the quote from medieval Erasmus, "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king", the cover reminded me of the dystopian movie Blindness.

I read this book after investing the time to read all the previous ones. It's a series that requires this investment. It requires an understanding of the development of the characters. Some of the friends are expanded, and the family that is Gamache's work family comes together in this story, that is a dénouement of a number of books, some of which I found myself disliking.

In most of the past books, there are usually a couple of ideas that are meant to work out as clever constructs, but sometimes are darlings that should have been killed (glass houses and Spanish Cobradors, as potential examples).

In this case, there are some original, and potentially too unrealistic constructs, but I found the ones in this story more subtle, and woven together more carefully than others in the last books.

A couple of ideas that I enjoyed a lot were:

Gamache's idea that we all have a longhouse of experiences. None can be walled off. All make up the complexity of our existence. In Armand's words:

"...my mentor had this theory that our lives are like an aboriginal longhouse. Just one huge room....He said that is f we thought we could compartmentalize things, we were deluding ourselves. Everyone we meet, every word we speak, every action taken or not taken lives in our longhouse. With us. Always. Never to be expelled or locked away....if you don't want your longhouse to smell like merde, you have to do two things---Be very, very careful who you let into your life. And learn to make peace with whatever happens. You can't erase the past. It's trapped there with you. But you can make peace with it. If you don't,...you'll be a t perpetual war,...and the enemy you'll be fighting is yourself."

The character of a billionaire investor based on Penny's acquaintance with Janislowsky.

A group of people chosen as strangers to be executors of a will.

A young naive couple with romantic ideas and a delusional elderly pair that referred to themselves as Baron and Baroness, who are just as romantic, a play on the name Rothchild (Kinderoth).

I like to imagine the paintings that Clara paints, and the books of poetry Ruth writes.

I prayed to be good and strong and wise,
for my daily bread and deliverance
from the sins I was told were mind from birth
and the Guilt of an old inheritance.

I like to have to look things up: like what is primogeniture? What is the movie A Shot in the Dark about? What food is lemon posset? What is The Wreck of  Hesperus about? Is Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds an actual book? What else did Marcus Aurelius say in the book he is quoted as saying: It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live?

I wish that I could have the wherewithal to think of my favourite things when stressed or scared, like Armnad  lists them in his head, like a rosary.

 Clean sheets. The scent of wood smoke. Feeling Henri's head on my slippers. Flaky croissants. The scent of fresh croissants. Holding Reine-Marie in my arms, in bed, on a rainy morning. Driving across the Champlain Bridge and seeing the Montréal skyline. The scent of fresh-cut grass. Walking along the Seine, holding the little hands of Flora and Zora. Reine Marie in his arms on a lazy Sunday morning. Laundry on the line. The scent of Honoré. Sitting in the garden with an iced tea. Reine-Marie. Croissants. The first log fire in autumn. The scent of fresh-cut grass. Croissants.

I like the silly ideas of opening a local carnival with Justin Trudeau and running a contest around the village green in bathing suits, wearing snowshoes!

It also may help that this story concludes many uncertainties about the character of the beloved Inspector Gamache. I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Even if you have yet to start the story arc of this series, this book is worth you starting Still Life, reading the preceding thirteen in total, just to get her.

It is worth mentioning that this book rates as parental guidance for violence, homicide (no surprise there!), and vulgarity (F.I.N.E has officially become a darling to be killed!).

OBSENITY WARNING:

They fuck you up, your mum and dad. 
They may not mean to, but they do.

Man hands on misery to man. 
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can 
And don't have any kids yourself.

Or as read to a kid as a bed time story:

Man hands on happiness to man.
it deepens like a coastal shelf. 
so love your parents all you can,
And have some cheerful kids yourself.

This was a well woven tapestry of intellect, justice, hope, irreverence, trust, community, and love. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

AT MY DENTIST

LAUREN HARRIS MEETS DR. SEUSS

PRINCESS PIRATE ARTIST

Science meets art: Fluorine

Madamoiselle Fluoraux

Haida art meets a fantastical creature



Haida art meets Valentine's Day



Rainbow cloud meets the surrealism night sky

LIFE ON THE EDGE OF THE ARTIC JET STREAM

  

STEREOSCOPIC VISION AND A SNOW MOON

I have always been frustrated with how poorly a giant full moon looks when you try and take a picture of it. My friend Susanne, who photographs often to use as reference to produce art, explained it to me. I love that the answer just confirms how incredibly we are made as humans.

A camera always has a focal point that puts everything beyond it at the same distance in the background, but our eyes, with stereoscopic (binaucular) view can distinguish the nearness in the way that can wow on a crisp clear night.

PORTOFINO, QUEBEC

MCGILL CAMPUS TOURS

This map gives me ideas.

Every time I walk by the McGill Campus, I wander. Sometimes I notice motifs on the tops of buildings. Sometimes I have a chance to go inside and explore.

The Redpath Museum.

The Osler Library with its stained glass windows from across the country.

The McLennan Library exhibitions and Gallery.

I recently found the Maude Abbott Medical Museum.

LOUISE PENNY

I just finished her 13th book Kingdom of the Blind, and she has hit it out of the park with this one. Mourning her husband's death, she wasn't sure if she would write again. I think she wrote the best one yet.

As I was looking around for Marian Scott's artwork, I found a couple of lectures that I would like to watch with Louise Penny. First is a Hugh MacLennan lecture. Second is her unexpected road to success.

Nature of the Beast

Glass Houses

At the Library of Congress

MARIAN DALE SCOTT

This Montreal Beaver Hall impressionist has been floating in and out of my psyche recently, and I found her again while obsessing over geometric images for art deco ideas for closet doors.

That led me to this incredible painting.

Lauren Harris Meets Emily Carr Meets Art Nouveau

It feels like she reflects everything I love about Quebec.

Seems like the road to Kamouraska

Bank Street Bridge by her friend Pegi Nicol MacLeod

Snow clearing at Night/Lorne Crescent 1936

Her floral prints are exquisite. My favourite is the milkweed.

Milkweed

Bud 1939 (Art Gallery of Hamilton)

Skunk Cabbage (McGill Visual Arts Collection)

Tulip

Some connections to this artist have surprised me. A small exhibit at the Glen hospital of Norman Bethune includes a painting of his, and there is photograph of what looks like a nurse and orderly teaching children in hospital beds to paint. That woman in hospital garb is Marian Dale Scott, and she was a friend of Normal Bethune!

Untitled Landscape 1932 (Canadian Art Group)

This is a mural I need to check out soon.

Endocrinology 1942 (Strathcona Anatomy and Dentistry Building)