Sunday
May 12, 2002

The good old days.

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Here are a few of my favorite online haunts:

REALTOR.ca
[This is the site I visit to fantasize about living in Toronto again, which is almost every single day during the winter]

Jonathan Cainer's Zodiac Forecasts
[This is where I visit in the morning, when I need a positive spin on things past, present and future.]

Living Local
[This is where I go to see what Canadians are up to, sometimes I even buy things from the businesses listed there.]

Environment Canada Weather
[This is the site I visit every morning, and before every road trip during the winter]

Today is Mother's Day. It is raining "cats n' dogs" and it is cold. Although the world outside our door is not inviting, the company and conversation inside our walls is warm and welcoming. Luna and Janus arrived with Janus' father, mother, and brother.

Sitting around the table, we enjoyed pancakes with freshly sliced strawberries and authentic maple syrup. The meal was delicious and the interaction lively. Janus' mother is a warm ,talkative woman who never fails to entertain, while all the while ensuring that everyone feels included. Time slips by pleasantly and easily in her company.

They all merrily climbed into their vehicle and set off to their next destination; we waved them goodbye from our driveway. After returning to the house, Attila and I made short work of the after meal cleanup. We have settled down to our respective domestic activities, Attila in the kitchen planning this evening's meal and myself in front of the computer tapping away at the keyboard.

Some time ago, I lived in a large Canadian city. One of the very best opportunities this afforded was exposure to street musicians and performance artists. Walking down a busy sidewalk in the city, one would often encounter an open guitar case or an upturned hat, accompanied by a performer. The level of talent varied, from painfully rendered cover tunes to riveting original performances. The worst music I have ever heard was on the streets. The best music I have ever heard was on the streets.

Where I live, this practice of street performance is called "busking".

These experiences create a taste for quality that cannot be satisfied by traditional performance venues. To stand beside a performer, to make eye contact, to personally offer one's appreciation for talent; these things cannot be experienced at a theatre, concert hall, or on a screen. In my opinion, no amount of production expertise can improve upon the magic of a good spontaneous performance.

Reading the latest entry in John Bailey's journal has led me to ponder the art of "busking". John has opened his case and offered his talent in the true tradition of bards and musicians. You can now "throw a coin" in to the open case to show appreciation for a recognized talent. This is accomplished via a small and unobtrusive PayPal Donate button at the bottom John's journal entry pages. One need not click on the donation button to gain access to the excellent writing found on John's site, but if you choose to demonstrate your appreciation, you can do so tangibly.



Top of Page
RECIPES :: Cast

Worldly Distractions

Street Musician
Outside
the Establishment



By the Easy Chair
Cry of the Wind
by Sue Harrison



On the Screen
The Man Who Knew Too Little
starring Bill Murray



Weather
15:58 EDT
Temp: 8`C
Humidity: 100%
Wind: E 17 km/h
Barometric:101.4 kPa

Sunrise 6:04 AM EDT
Sunset 8:36 PM EDT
 

Page by Page: A Woman's Journal
Photography
Poetry
by Maggie Turner

Canadian Maggie Turner writes and publishes poetry, photography, and a personal journal online. Her work reflects the current way of life in Canada, embracing Canada's past, present, and future in a unique portrayal of everyday life. Maggie's voice is one of the many that actively depict the rich diversity of Canadian culture.

Photography: "a term which comes from the Greek words photos (light) and graphos (drawing). A photograph is made with a camera by exposing film to light in order to create a negative. The negative is then used in the darkroom to print a photograph (positive) onto light-sensitive paper.
Source: University of Arizona Glossary

Poetry: "a form of speech or writing that harmonizes the music of its language with its subject. To read a great poem is to bring out the perfect marriage of its sound and thought in a silent or voiced performance. At least from the time of Aristotle's Poetics, drama was conceived of as a species of poetry."
Source: Creative Studios

Journal: " "Though a journal may be many things - a treasury, a storehouse, a jewelry box, a laboratory, a drafting board, a collector's cabinet, a snapshot album, a history, a travelogue..., a letter to oneself - it has some definable characteristics. It is a record, an entry-book, kept regularly, though not necessarily daily.... Some (entries) will be nearly illegible, written in the dark in the middle of the night.... Not only is it a record for oneself, but of oneself. Every memorable journal, any successful journal, is honest. Nothing sham, phony, false...." (Dorothy Lambert from Ken Macrorie's book, Writing to be Read )
A journal is a way to keep track of your thoughts about what you read... as well as what you did on any given day."
Source: Journal Writing

A Blog is an online journal created by server side software, often hosted by a commercial interest.

"The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger[4] on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999.[5][6][7] Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_blogging


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