97: Ought-Six

Holidays are upon us, and it gave me a little time to clean up the computer and revisit all the jobbies I did for this site over the past year. Turned out I was busier than even the year before, probably due largely in part to the new camera kicking about. For now, in addition to spending time building pages for the next issue of the HOWieZine (theme: myths and legends), I have some vacation days coming to me – and I intend on using 'em – like I suspect many of us will.

I realize the image here is a big fat mess, but it pays to click here and see the thing in all of its slightly higher-resolution majesty. And if you'd like to have your chocolatey, grubby Christmas paws on any of these 2006 creations high-rez, shoot me a comment here and I'll gladly send you a nice, crisp version.

So be merry, stay merry, and I'll be back to open up shop again in 2007. For now, it's time to rest, and also see where I want to take this thing next year.

Photo: Ambushed

On first glance this may not seem to exemplify Photo Friday's current theme of ambushed. But an ambush of sorts is what it took to get this shot, taken in the spring of 2002 near the outpost town of Roddickton, Newfoundland. This is my mom, a difficult photo subject – with a lengthy record of declining photos and snubbing the camera. On this trip the two of us took together to The Rock, we stayed with a friendly local couple at their cabin (a misnomer, kind of, the place was nine miles' boat ride from their house). Holed up there on a lousy, wet Newfie day, the sun finally broke through with about an hour's daylight to spare – and we tried fishing; rather, my mom and I watched our hosts as they explained the finer points of trying for some of their native ocean-going species. Camera at the ready for a potential bite, I nabbed this shot as my mom was distracted for a moment. I'm not even certain she was even aware it had happened – a photo-ambush. And probably the most honest picture I have of her; no posing, no forced emotions, no hands-out refusal of my attempt.

You can click here for a more detailed image. I played a bit with the time-limited free download of Flaming Pear's Melancholytron photo filter on this shot.

96: My God, It's Full Of Stars

For Photo Friday's current theme of fresh, I present this seemingly endless array of chocolate peppermint stars, made by Kerry for an annual Christmas cookie swap with friends. I believe well over a hundred of these bite-sized jobbies were made, each layered like an Oreo, measuring about an inch and a half across – and in exchange our freezer is now an icy glory box of holiday cookie creations. Sweetness!

You can click here for a closer look at the image, and also here for an outtake from the same shoot. Be sure to stop by my Flickr page for glances at a few other recent shots ... while you're up.

95: A Mighty Handshake

Illustration Friday's theme of might brought to the forefront of my consciousness an apparent fascination of mine with big hands. One of my very first vector illustrations was that of an angry, stomping man with oversized red fists. There was this I-F submission last winter, for their theme of blue. I laughed out loud at the "giant hands" dream sequence in The Science Of Sleep. "Man Hands" is still my all-time favourite episode of Seinfeld. And now this chap with the, um, lobster claws. But really, the theme just gave me an excuse to exercise some of my big-hands kicks – and as I looked around my desk at work and noticed a wind-up lobster from Prince Edward Island, I had an image that would not leave my brain until I posted this picture here tonight.

It's another drawn-in-pen jobbie, intentionally made to look like cheesy, "businessman on the go" clip art. Assistance from Photoshop and Freehand helped round off the image. You can click here for a closer look at the original pen drawing.

One Two Three Four Five

I was recently tagged by Jessie Jane, fellow HOW design forum haunt and buzzsaw-pace creator of Small Failures, an upstart blog on sustainable living (and the like). The tagging refers to a game of mentioning five things about one's self and then passing off to five new people to do the same. Without further adieu, five – quite – random things of my own:

I was recently on The Tonight Show ... sort of. At the tail end of our September local vacation, Kerry and I ate at an upscale restaurant at Elkhorn Resort in Riding Mountain National Park. I noticed trout was available, which I absolutely adore having in my tummy. Kerry began to snort – then laugh – at something she noticed in the menu. The reason? Colossal typo. And a pilfered copy was in the mail to Leno a couple of weeks later, which appeared on the show's "Headlines" segment just last week. Above is a transcript of sorts, which you can check out on the show's website.

I was lunchlady for a day – During a transition period at work between in-house cafeteria staff, the lunchroom has been heroically run by the interpretive centre crew. But on Friday, my buddy Jason and I volunteered to craft the day's lunch special – not completely aware of the amount of work actually necessary. On top of shopping for ingredients the previous night, we prepped and stuffed manicotti over most of the morning for 25 lucky meat-loving (and vegetarian!) co-workers. And to the best of my knowledge, nobody keeled over and died.

I'm selectively moment-oriented– I'm not blessed with the greatest memory; I've forgotten many things in my time, from countless days and events of childhood, to names, faces, tasks and lunches at home in the fridge. But what I do have is a strong selective memory, especially an impeccable visual lock on circumstances and surroundings when I'm in a moment I appreciate. It's difficult to explain. One example happened the same day as the outhouse trout dinner; near the end of a disappointing day of hiking, Kerry and I were on a non-descript trail – when out of the woods popped this completely placid lake and dock (above). And in time I may not remember a lot of the goings-on from that day, but I'll always be able to recall this intensely visual moment. The photo is now framed in the foyer of our home (click here for a highly recommended closer look, and here for a look at the picture's final resting place).

I did not make my New Year's resolution – that of riding 2,080 kilometres on my bike this year, despite beginning a month earlier than normal (wiping on the ice my second day out) and closing near the end of November. But I did put in 1,700.29 kilometres, a personal best. I'm not hardcore – I know some can polish off this number in a few weeks – but for me it's an accomplishment. Plus I got to see the countryside on my way home from work, join the cycling ranks in a marathon fundraiser – and one morning, almost mow down a galloping raccoon.

I do the Sunday New York Times crossword – in pen. Which puts me in a league with whiz-host Jon Stewart and ex-prez Bill Clinton (according to the crossword-doc Wordplay). I don't brag about much, but a couple of weeks ago I destroyed a puzzle in 61 minutes. OK, that too was a personal best, and truth is I only fully complete about one in five – but I do use a pen and almost always finish more than half. And this ties in nicely with my third point: my selective memory.

So that's it, kids! Maybe not the randomness that "tagging" usually evokes, but it was a good excuse to toss some recent happenings your way. I'll spare the pay-it-forward portion of tagging since I think just about everyone I know who blogs has likely done this already.