“I’m just so sad,” my mom told me, when she learned Toronto Police Services Chief Bill Blair told reporters he had seen video of the mayor smoking crack cocaine. “It’s just…sad.” It is sad. It’s sad that my partner has to wonder about his mayor screaming in his face and shoving him the way he does other journalists, when the mayor bothers to show up for work — though he apparently has no issue showing up drunk at two a.m….
It’s that time again: time for Toronto’s SF crowd to join together in the avoidance of solicitation and the enjoyment of alienation. SFContario is this weekend, November 9-12. Barring any last-minute changes, this is my schedule.
A while back, I gave a talk at the BorderTown Design Jam. It was held at ThingTank Lab, but most of the Border Town seminars I participated in last year were held at Site 3 CoLaboratory. The first evening of the jam, Alex Leitch (founder of Site 3) and I got to talking about all the labs and hackspaces across town, and how it would be awesome if you could get some sort of passport stamped for each one you’d…
The Border Town Design Jam is happening next weekend, and some spaces are still available. I will be there to give a little talk and maybe some advice, but the sweet filling at the core of the event will be the, er, jam itself. The theme of the weekend is “Everyone Must Pass…” and participants will receive a user experience problem related to crossing an international border. They’ll then work in teams to solve the problem, and present it to…
This is the song I was listening to when you wondered if it was the source of my disposition.
A magnitude 5.5 quake hit the Ontario-Quebec border region today. You can see the epicentre here, and read another article here. Apparently it’s being felt as far as Ohio, but what I felt was one of those mild but noticeable “Is the earth shaking or am I having an inner ear episode?” kind of quakes. (Not that I have inner ear episodes.) That said, I still headed straight for one of the doorframes and stayed there, tweeting away and chatting…
Just look at them. From Toronto I have been having fun with my new camera. I am writing a CFP. I woke up this morning, lifted weights, and washed my sundresses in bubble bath. Then I hung them out on the line and looked at my latest Tor.com post. And Peter is reading my book. Life is good.
…I think. The time may change, but it will still be Sunday evening. Anyway, show up sometime evening-ish, and I will be there reading stories and answering questions. Here is a map. I’ve visited InterAccess before for this event, ArtSciSalon, and it was a really interesting. We met someone who had made his own fabber, and I got to pick up the pieces and hold them. (The extruder ribs them for your pleasure. It’s great.) I took pictures with DeathRay’s…
What you see on my hands is mehndi. I’m going away this weekend to attend an Indian wedding, and was invited by the groom’s family to a mehndi session at their home last night. What you see here is only half the finished product; the palms of my hands are so red with henna that DeathRay blinked awake this morning and started quoting Shakespeare. In retrospect I should have asked for only the tops of my hands to be worked…
C. Wess Daniels has a great post wherein he explains Henry Jenkins’ definition of fandom thusly: Appropriation – A person appropriates in their own life a particular text, work, and practice relating to their fan object. Often these objects are reinterpreted in their own life. Participation – There is an openness for people to participate at all levels within the community. They are so inspired by it they write music, create events, etc. Emotional Investment – People become really invested…