Halifax, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down

Okay, to be fair, it isn't so much the city that is bringing me down. In fact, I really do love this city. It's more like my apartment. Not even the whole apartment, really just the mouse problem. When I say mouse problem it sounds like we have one mouse. We don't. We have several. We have a mice problem. I kid you not, while editing the photo for this post I saw two scurrying through our hallway. This was a slight improvement over finding one in my breadbag last week (try picking up a loaf of bread to make a lunch for work the next day and finding a small beady-eyed rodent staring at you from inside the plastic...actually, on second thought, don't do that, it is a rather scarring experience), but is still not really okay with me. I've tried naming them, since this was a suggestion someone gave me when it came to dealing with the spiders that really liked my last apartment and it actually proved to be a useful tactic. It's not really proving so effective with the mice though. Harold, Tom Thumb, Hunka Munka...really, I just don't want to be living with them. On the bright side, I am writing this post with a poodle sitting in my lap, and while she doesn't actually care about the mice until they are dead, I feel slightly more confident as long as she is nearby.

A Chandelier in Pieces

Lot 666, then. A chandelier in pieces. Some of you may recall the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera, a mystery never fully explained. We're told, ladies and gentlemen, that this is the very chandelier which figures in the famous disaster. Our workshops have repaired it, and wired parts of it for the new electric light. Perhaps we can frighten away the ghost of so many years ago with a little illumination. Gentlemen...

I watched the 2004 Phantom of the Opera last Saturday with a friend, and was once again reminded just how much I adore the opening sequence to that movie. I get chills every single time I watch it.

Ps. No, that is not a picture of a chandelier, much less one in pieces. (Although, how cool would that be to photograph? Seriously, now I need to find a chandelier that is falling apart to take pictures of.) It's actually a close up of an old lighthouse signal light that is displayed in the Maritime Museum in Halifax. It's probably one of my favourite things in the museum.

The Most Important Things

Yesterday, the lovely A and I were sitting in the coffee shop chatting while we should be working. This is pretty much a daily occurrence for us, and therefore isn't particularly notable (other than the fact that it is a practice I kind of love). But, as is often the case with our conversations, I left mulling over quite a few things. In particular, we have been talking about priorities a lot lately, especially when it comes to people. A's excellent advice: Don't make someone a priority who isn't willing to make you one. There are, she has wisely pointed out to me, times when you have to make someone a priority who isn't making you one right at that moment. We lead busy lives, and in a university town there is always school or work to get in the way and screw up our nicely established priorities. But you should be sure that the person would do the same for you, that when your life gets busy and you drop the ball when it comes to them, allowing them to slide down your priority list, they will keep you high on theirs until you can rebalance your life.


This is the kind of lesson it takes me a long time to learn, although I wish I was a better student.

Home Sweet Home

Welcome to my blog's new home! It looks the same, but the address is different. Kind of like the houses in new subdivisions. Only with more character and personality, I like to think. Since my dream home definitely includes a chandelier in at least one room, and the likelihood of me finding a place that allows for such extravagant decorating anytime in the near future is quite slim, I figured it might be fitting to decorate this new, virtual home with something pretty and sparkly. What do you think?

The Regular

I know I'm at Just Us too much (or, perhaps, just enough) because...

The baristas know my drink order. Including the ones who have been there less than 3 months.

I have no problem just working without buying a coffee if I bought a coffee to go earlier in the day. Similarly, I have no problem buying one coffee and then staying for several hours.

When it isn't busy, one of the baristas will bring my drink to my table rather than just call it out.

I am willing to leave all of my stuff, including my computer and camera, unattended while I run home to get something I forgot.


Oh the perils of having a fantastic coffee shop nearby...

Framed

One of my favorite things to do when editing photos is incredibly simple: cropping. It always amazes me how much cropping an image can change it. It brings completely new elements into focus. It's also just as much about what you leave out as what you leave in. Sometimes I have a hard time deciding exactly what it is about a particular shot that I want to focus in on. So today I decided to demonstrate the power of cropping. The first image is the original picture I took. It's a couple years old and I took it at a farmers' market in Halifax on a delightfully grey, Nova Scotia-y day. It's a fine picture of a lovely flower, but nothing particularly spectacular. However, crop it in a few different ways and voila, you have some truly special images. Personally, I am a big fan of the first cropped version. I like that you can still kind of see that it is in a tray of pots and not in the ground. It retains that market feel and yet is focused on the beauty of the flower. The second one draws the attention to the details of the flower, which is something I love to do. When I look at nature and often when I am composing pictures I focus in on the details, the tiny things. That's just what tends to grab my attention. By cropping the photo, the details become all there is to see and therefore that much more important and captivating. The third photo is a pretty standard way that I tend to shoot flowers or crop existing shots. For some reason I really like the composition of just part of a flower in the frame of the image against a non-descript background. It brings the attention to the flower without being your standard, central focal point. The last image is a bit blurred because of the part of the original that I cropped it out of, but I kind of like that about it. It is not a specific flower that is depicted. I love the intensity of the green too. And that just distinguishable bud curled into the bottom of the frame is great.

I went to see the latest round of exhibits at the AGA today and it was fantastic. The one I was most excited to see was "Reframing a Nation", which is a collection of works by Canadian artists. I should warn you now that this is likely to turn into a nerdy ramble. I will not be offended should you decide to stop reading right now. In fact, I won't even know. Anyway, I was excited for this exhibit because I am fascinated by the concept of national identity and how it is formed, particularly when it comes to Canada. Do we even have a national identity? Or do we simply define ourselves in negatives (we are not American, for example)? And it really fascinates me how literature and art play into the development and reinforcement of the Canadian identity. So much can be seen in these paintings, but one of the important things to consider is what has been intentionally included and what has been intentionally excluded. In Canadian art the landscape is what is depcited most often; typically the harsh, barren land is shown while hints of civilization are completely ignored or played down. This is the bush myth at its finest. This is how Canadians define themselves. We are a people beset by Mother Nature, who must struggle for our very survival. It is us against the land and although the land is beautiful, we have to protect ourselves from it. We take pride in the conditions we face. What Canadian has never bragged about surviving a winter where the windchill made it feel like -50*C? How many of us love hiking and climbing mountains? (Not me, but I appreciate the views and admire those who do participate in these activities.) I know that this isn't limited to Canada, but there is something unique about the Canadian relationship with nature and it is definitely part of our national identity. I just find it so fascinating how much you can learn about our national identity by looking at what we include and exclude in our art. This is actually what I want to study at grad school, how Canadian literature and art construct, reveal, and reinforce the Canadian identity. I will now stop rambling because I could talk about this endlessly. If you are ever so inclined to have a discussion about Canadian identity, art, or just national identity in general let me know, I would love to hear other people's views on the subject.

A Blanket of Creativity

The weather has turned from blazing hot to cool and rainy. And when I say rainy, I mean "build the ark now" rainy. I know I talk about the weather a lot, but it has such a profound effect on my mood and on what I feel like sharing here that it is kind of an inevitable topic. I hope you all don't mind too much. Anyway, I have mentioned before that grey skies and rainy days make me think of Nova Scotia. So, today's picture is from the Halifax harbour. I thought these rocks looked kind of cool all piled up next to the red wall. I also love the lighting in this picture, the sky was quite cloudy that day so the sunlight was filtering through all these dense clouds and that combined with the reflection off the water created this almost mystical quality to the light. I think this is part of why I actually kind of like rainy days. In a way it is like all the magical bits of the world only wake up when it's raining. There is just a different feeling to the world somehow and it leaves me feeling like a blanket of creativity is being settled around my shoulders. I often feel tired and sluggish at times like this, but I am simultaneously driven to create things. The sensation that this image evokes for me embodies the feeling of today perfectly for me. Am I the only one who finds that pictures can evoke specific feelings, not just emotions, but actual physical sensations?

Oblivion

If ever there was a time when classical music expressed my soul, that time is now. I have a lot going on in my head right now. I've been talking out loud to myself all day just trying to work things through and figure things out. Alas, this endeavour has been less than successful and I have instead ended up running in mental circles. I feel like I am just repeating the same steps over and over again, but not making any progress. I went for a walk this evening to try to clear my head and took my ipod with me. "Oblivion" by Lucia Micarelli came on and it captures the exact sensation that I have in my soul right now. Actually her entire album, "Music from a Farther Room", is just exquisite and has become my soundtrack for the evening. While it isn't strictly classical pieces it definitely falls in the classical genre. If you have never heard Lucia Micarelli and have any fondness for classical music you should really have a listen. Anyway, I was walking along in the the darkening twilight after a thunderstorm with this song playing and it felt like a scene from a movie or something. It smelled fantastic because it had just rained and the air was that perfect post-summer-storm temperature. Unfortunately, for all the loveliness of this setting and this song, neither really helped me make any steps to calming my brain down. I have a feeling that sleep will not come easily tonight. Ah well, I will just listen to "Oblivion" on repeat and hope that it helps me drift off into the oblivion of sleep.

Something about the particular way I am feeling right now and the word oblivion makes me think of fog. Of simply fading away. Of trying to grasp something and having it just not quite come into focus. This picture is from Halifax several years ago. It was really foggy the day that we toured the Citadel, which actually made it that much more amazing. I love the effect that the fog has on the simple scene in this picture. Suddenly a parking lot attendant booth beside a road becomes magical and mysterious and beautiful.

Little Bits of Joy

This is not the photo I wanted to put up today, but I couldn't find the one I was looking for so this is the one you guys get. It still fits with where I'm going though. Little spiderweb with raindrops caught all over it. It's one of those details that caught my eye. I'm big on taking close up photos because I think there is something wonderful about taking the time to notice the details of life. I love finding those small things that are beautiful, those tiny moments that make me smile (either out of amusement or contentment). I think I need to take my own advice today. Finals begin on Wednesday and I have officially entered the blind panic stage. I need to remember to stop and think about the good things in my life sometimes. Like, Friday night I went to improv with some friends. And it was genuinely fun and made me laugh harder than I have laughed in quite a while. Or the fact that it has been gorgeous all weekend. Or that the Ballyhoo came out on Friday and I had three pictures published in it and got to spend some time luxuriating in the incredible artistic talents of some of my friends. So, as exams approach, I am promising myself that I will take time to notice the tiny rain-covered spiderwebs in life and take the time to look at them and smile, to find the beauty in the midst of the chaos.

I often thought how proud I'd be in a boat like Gideon Brown*

I mentioned a few days ago that I really love taking pictures of boats despite not having the best working relationship with them when I am actually on them. This is a collection of black and whites that I took the last time I was in Halifax (yes, I am still on my Nova Scotia/maritimes kick...). My mom and I went for a wander around the harbor and naturally I took about a gazillion photos. The day was overcast and so the lighting was actually quite ideal for black and white shots. Plus, boats tend to have good strong contrasting colors. I had never noticed how many little interesting details there are on boats. Personally, I think my favorite shots in this grouping are the one with the ship on an angle in the frame and the close up on the Roman numerals down the front of one of the ships. I have no idea how those numbers function, but they sure look cool!
*The title of this post comes from the lyrics of "A Boat Like Gideon Brown" - Great Big Sea

Lost in the Fog

I woke up this morning fully expecting another lovely, sunny, spring-like day. Instead it was foggy and cold-looking. Even though it warmed up this afternoon and the fog dissipated it stayed grey and dreary all day long. At least it is still spring temperatures, and I really don't mind the occasional grey day, so I'm not complaining too much. It was just a shock to the system so early in the morning. In fact, the grey fogginess of the day actually matches my mood quite exquisitely today (there is totally a word to describe the phenomenon when nature reflects the mental state of a person, I just can not remember it for the life of me). I'm studying for my Art History midterm which is tomorrow night right now so my brian actually feels quite foggy and confusing. I'm also listening to Rajaton, this fantastic acapella group from Finland who have a very etheral sound to them and seem to suit grey days excellently. Perhaps it is becaue they are Finnish. I'm guessing that Finland doesn't tend to be the sunniest of places. Anyway, this picture, which I took in Halifax in July, 2006, suits both the weather and my mental state perfectly.