April 13 Photo: Something I Found

Since my day was pretty much spent on my computer, I wasn't very hopeful of getting a good shot for the theme "Something I Found".  But there came a point in the evening on my laptop when I realized I was running out of memory on my laptop and needed to clear some space. So in rummaging around some very old folders and I found some forgotten little .wav files made one night when I had my nephews and niece for a sleepover.

This is back when I was playing around with customizing all the bells and whistles on the old computer and wanted to replace the old Windows operating system audio files with something a bit more personal. So the intent was, have some fun audio clips that would play when I turned the computer on and off.

I'm not sure what the point of Nana and Popsicle were as audio choices but I probably had some other cues that I was planning on replacing as well. The voices you hear on the fotobabble below start with my little niece in the top right corner (using my nickname "Eah") and then a stern "Go to Bed" from her older brother and then a somewhat enthusiastic "This is Fun!" from the middle boy. Then a Goodnight from all three in the same order. Fun to find after so many years.  Just click play on the photo below to hear the clips.

I'm sure that after this, we went to the kitchen for a warm brownie just out of the oven and a cold glass of milk before they climbed into their sleeping bags for their sleepover at Eah's house.

 

Saturday's Smile: Caine's Arcade

Caine's Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

This is another great video on how amazing it is when you support a kid's curiosity and creativity.

 Caine made his dream come true in cardboard as he hung out at his dad's spare parts garage on the weekends. His first customer, Nirvan Mullick, a kid at heart and a film maker, helped share it with the world. It has been picked up by broadcasters, noticed by top decision makers in the US Department of Education and shared over and over again so you may have already heard all about Caine.

The video was able to raise over $125,000 for Caine's future education in just three days. My favourite message on Twitter is someone thanking Caine's dad George for not using up all the tape!

Friday's NON Failure - Audri's Success

This is a great illustration of the adage, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again! What a smart kid. Audri plans on becoming a theoretical physicist when he grows up. At seven years old, I had no idea that a theoretical physicist was even a real thing. 

He saw a video made by the band OK GO (the guys who danced on treadmills - remember them?) with a Rube Goldberg machine and that was the inspiration for his creation.




I love his expression at 00:18! Great job Audri!!

April 12 Photo: Stairs

MRU Stairs in the rain

MRU Stairs at Recreation Services

MRU Stairs in the EA Knuckle

Another view of MRU Stairs in the EA Knuckle

Other stairs around MRU

Stairs are all over this campus! So picking just one set was a hard choice. I managed to send one email and make a handful of decisions this morning in time to take a break over lunch and a walk around the campus. My ultimate goal was the stairwell in the EA building - I love the shape of the stairs and the stained glass windows hanging on the second level. But I took the long way around. Into the main building, and down past the E wing where I got the shot of the outdoor courtyard stairs in the rain. Then through the back hallways of the campus over to Recreation Services which also had an interesting staircase. Back through and some random shots including some poky little stairwells in hidden corners.  Then over to the final staircase in EA which doesn't show off as well on such a grey and rainy day (which is actually now a snowy white day).

A few other distractions along the way included the visit to the campus by our Mayor (moved to a larger venue I see) and some artworks that I hadn't run across before.

That is as interesting as I can make the topic of STAIRS.  Tomorrow's assignment is something I found so I'll have my eyes peeled.

April 11 Photo: Where I Ate Breakfast

I typically eat breakfast at my desk at work. I'm not someone who wants to jump out of bed and eat and by the time I get ready for work, I just want to get out the door. Because usually it is later than it should be. So I pack up my yogurt and a piece of fruit and I'm off.  Today I grabbed some granola to toss into the vanilla yogurt. I sometimes add a hard-boiled egg or a piece of whole wheat bread with some peanut butter. Oh, and you can't forget the peppermint tea. If you have not tried peppermint tea and vanilla yogurt, I highly recommend it!

But the assignment today is not WHAT you eat but WHERE you eat and that is where the desk comes in. The office is open area, so I plug in my headphones and stream Tempo on CBC Radio 2 as I review my morning email and my calendar while I eat. Right now, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 is playing. On my desk you can see my computer wallpaper is the Puzey barn - I rotate images fairly often and wanted something that made me think of fresh air in the country. Also on the wall behind the phone I have a calendar, postcards and photos, also routinely rotated. Under my monitor are a wire ladybug, a bobble-head turtle and a small painted clay jar with paperclips. What you can't see in the top picture is what is to the right of my monitor - my Indonesian puppet. I used to have him sitting in a corner of my house, on the stairwell landing and I remember my nephews and niece weren't too happy to have to pass by him - not the most pleasant looking fellow. So he came to school, where he has made numerous appearances within our International Education Week displays. He was a garage sale find for $5 - I remember that garage sale. Great townhouse in the Kensington area with a lot of finds from travels around the world.

And speaking of stairs - that is tomorrow's assignment. I have a set of stairs at the University that I like so I think they will be my photo of the day. If I can pull myself away from my desk, that is.

April 10 Photo: Cold

Funny, it seems like a cold drink is the most popular photo for today's assignment! I like to drink my water COLD. Cold from the tap is NEVER cold enough. I keep a pitcher of water in the fridge so I always have cold water and now we have a Brita pitcher at work as well so I don't need to keep up with the ice cube trays to enjoy cold water throughout the day. In Korea, in the heat of the summer, everyone wanted to serve me hot drinks, hot soup. I just didn't get it. I heard lots of reasons but I don't really care if there is some scientific reason for this - cold is the way I want my water, any season!

April 9 Photo: Younger Me

Younger me at the Calgary Zoo. Wasn't I cute? I have always loved going to the zoo. I especially loved seeing Dinny the Dinosaur. He was so amazingly BIG to little me.  My favourite animals were the elephants and monkeys. I had seen a picture of my cousins' spider monkey (they were living in Guyana at the time) and also loved reading Curious George so it just made sense that a monkey would be a wonderful pet. When I think back, I don't like the small cages the lions, cats and bears were in. But I didn't know any better at the time. And even though I thought it was boring, I looked forward to going into the Conservatory and getting a soft icecream cone.

The zoo has had a lot of changes over the years and now we have PENGUINS!! I haven't been yet but hope to get there soon. Any one want to lend me some little ones to take?

April 8 Photo: Inside My Wallet

My wallet REALLY needed to be cleaned out - this is not even half of what I found in there. There were also a handful of receipts, more change, more cards, coupons, more change, a cheque I need to deposit (sorry Jo!) and some phone numbers. The twoonies and loonies will now move to my "Whatever" bank, and the tickets to Sweeney Todd at Vertigo Theatre will go in the tickler file for June. The cards will be reviewed for relevance - do I need to carry this many every day?? My trusty orange wallet has been around for almost a decade now but it still does the job!