CaptainOrange

I played a lot of hacky sack when I was in university. Like so many of my activities, I'm afraid I did it to the point of obsession. My main partner for the game was Dave. We would find a patch of grass in a park and hack for hours at a time. He used to make fun of me for a particular behaviour that I would engage in as I played. Each time I passed the hacky sack to him, I would quickly grab a pinecone, or a small stick that was in the grass and toss it out of my zone of play, which I called my "spot." Clearing my spot was an obsessive activity that I engaged in every time I played the game. Dave said I reminded him of a squirrel--running round collecting things in the grass and organizing them. I just wanted my area to be clear of debris. Poor choice during partner's zoom call 25 years later, I was having a conversation with Wendy. I was trying to explain--yet another instance--of why I liked a particular piece of Lululemon clothing. I may have already told you abou...

Calgary’s new central branch has been open for a week. Since Wendy had a conference in Banff and I was keeping her company, we decided to stop in at the library on the way through. I have some thoughts. Some of them are library insider thoughts, but lots of them are just from the perspective of someone who loves art and learning and books and people. This library was a modern wonder and is beautiful, both inside and out. My phone battery was in critical condition, but lucky for me I had the talented and generous photography skills of Dr. Wendy to fill the gap.  If you have only seen one photo of this library, it is probably similar to the one below. This is the view from one floor above the front entrance. The area to the left of the entrance is dominated by this mural—clearly inspired by the reconciliation movement. The impression I got upon walking through the door was that I was entering into a beautiful art gallery. But not a gallery of precise, unchanging beauty. Instead, it w...