"Don't put your faith in rock & roll - it will only let you down"

So said the front man of uber-Canadian indie band Broken Social Scene, Justin Peroff, yesterday in the out and out rock-a-thon on Olympic Island, Toronto. While that may be an apt statement in general, yesterday there was not a let down to be seen. It was sunny and hot, but not in the really oppressive way that it has been lately, with a nice breeze off the lake, the beer was cold and plentiful and the indie-kid crowd was in a good mood.

We got there just as Milton's The Most Serene Republic took the stage and they seemed really really good, although we didn't give them our full and undivided attention. Following them was Do Make Say Think, who offered up a set of what they described as "Space Rock" - complex and layered post-rock that is perfectly suited to swaying. I picked up their latest album and have not at all been disappointed.

The concert really began with Metric. Their set was superb: a good mix of new stuff with their best from "Old World Underground..." Their songs translated really well onstage, the highlight in particular being one of my favorite songs at the moment, "Calculation (theme)," being transformed into an even more lush version than is found on the album and the stellar closer "Dead Disco." Emily Haines was great onstage. She approached the mike very seriously and what could really only be described as robotic before breaking out with a kick and a yell and completely rocking out. It was pretty clear that the whole band was having fun and giving it all.

Broken Social Scene was mind-blowing. Their albums are very good but their performance beat even that all to pieces. We spent the first part of the set eating so didn't have a perfect view, but the sound was excellent. The nature of the concert suited the band to the tee - collaborative by nature, with 11 people listed as members of the group, they had all kinds of freinds and lovers onstage with them - including Emily Haines, Leslie Feist, Amy Millan (of Stars), and guys from Apostle of Hustle and Raising the Fawn. There were upwards of twenty people onstage at times. I can't say enough about how cool they sounded.

Lastly, were the headliners Modest Mouse, by far the most rocking of all the bands on the line up. I was told that they put on a good show and was not disappointed. Their entire set was excellent, but of particular note was the fantastic banjo playing on "Satin in a Coffin" and "Bukowski" and the final song (before the encore) "The Good Times are Killing Me" for which members of all the bands that played the show came out for.

All in all a really good show from some of the best bands around. Thanks to Mark and Danielle for their usual good company and hospitality. I took the day off today so I think I am going to find some place dark to crawl into and try to get rested up for the three-day work week ahead.
rgsc

Birds and Rocks - Things seen on the road North

Hi folks. I am currently transmitting from the lovely library of Laurentian University in sunny Sudbury. I am here for the second conference of my summer - the Archives Association of Ontario Conference. The theme is "Building Community Archives" or something like that. The program looks ok but, more importantly, the menu looks very good. I will have some free time so might be here frequently.

The drive went quite well. I made very good time, arriving here in about 5.5 hrs from Belle-vegas after stupid Expedia had the stupid wrong address for the stupid car rental place. Bah. The car, a two door Accent is pretty damn awesome, although it has a lame colour - I think it is called "glacier blue". It is tiny but very zippy. After renting two cars in a relatively short period of time I am becoming quite a fan. They are brand spanking new (smell and all), super clean, and, if you get the absolutely everything covered-type insurance you can drive the shit out of it.

The drive was really good, with clear skies all the way, and Sudbury and the campus seems nice (although I think I might have a very different opinion if I were here in February). It is very tree-filled and rocky. I am staying the University of Sudbury's residence (affiliated with Laurentian) and it is pretty weird to be in a spartan student room again - cinderblock construction and all.

Any way, I saw two pretty cool things on the way up. The first was Canada's glory in the skies - the Snowbirds. I saw them flying in formation, doing loop-de-loops and filling the sky with smoke while driving through Oshawa (apparently in town for the Canadian Aviation Expo). It was pretty cool to see them although I didn't get the best of looks as I figured I should pay attention to the road more that the sky.

The other cool thing that I saw was what seem to have been a whole army of Inukshuks. Starting just after Barrie on Highway 400 (later 69) I began to notice little piles of rocks on the larger outcrops. The first one I noticed was about five rocks stacked on top of each other. Later I saw more - some simple piles, some more complex humanoid piles. None of them seemed too big and sometimes they were alone and others were in small groups. They were placed all along the highway - for at least 200km - and I think they are pretty damn cool. Unfortunately I don't have my camera or I would have stopped to take a picture or two.

That's all for the moment. I am going to get ready for the opening reception.
rgsc

Download while you still have the chance!

Yesterday, the Act to Amend the Copyright Act (Bill C-60) was tabled in the House of Commons for its first reading. This amendment has been in the works for about four years and it was hoped it would clear up a lot of ambiguities that are currently in our Copyright Acts. Ideally, copyright works to protects the moral and economic rights of authors of an intellectual work while, at the same time, protecting users and consumers. We, the users in Canada, have enjoyed a mostly satisfactory balance in the past but it seems that this balance will pretty much be done away with when and if the bill passes as it sits. Archivists, educators, and legal scholars have weighed in already and they are pretty much unanimous in their statement that it is the recording industry, first and foremost, that is pleased with the bill (with ISPs and photographers also feeling that their lobbying has not gone unnoticed) - note, that is the recording industry and not recording artists as Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies, apparently, voiced his concerns about whether or not artists would see any benefits from the bill. The copyright law-talking guy Howard Knopf is quoted in the Globe and Mail as saying "It might as well have been called the Canadian Recording Industry of America Act." Among other things, the bill spells out that Internet Service Providers are not liable for the content traveling over their wires and would have them serve notice to potential infringers and keep their personal information on file for 6 months, gives photographers the copyright of the photographs they are commissioned to take (previously it was the commissioning body who had the copyright over the images unless spelled out otherwise in contractual law which overrides copyright), and makes it illegal to circumvent encryption even for non-illegal uses. It gives creators (read: Recording Industry) a great deal of power in controlling who gets their product and how much and how often they are going to pay for it.

What the bill does not do is clear up lingering ambiguities or address many, many concerns of the users. The best thing that has been said about it is that it could be a whole lot worse - such as the US Digital Millenium Copyright Act with is often called Draconian and Soviet. Canada has been placed on the US Watch list for possible intellectual property infringement. This is something of a mark of honour as far as I am concerned. It needs to be understood that copyright should not just be for the authors. Users have rights, too.

The jargon is pretty heavy going (I hate, I hate, I hate legalese) so, if you are interested, check out University of Ottawa prof Michael Geist's website for analysis of the bill and for the implications of what it all means.

So go out and get your fill of mp3s, as the fun isn't going to last for too much longer.
rgsc (with thanks to Loryl for her timely presentation at the ACA is Sask.)

Boo to Hello!, Hurrah for Flickr

I am getting more than a tad tired of Hello. It just refuses to work for me. I haven't a bloody clue why it won't upload my photos but it just...uh...won't. I have tried it from different computers, I have followed the help file, I have been patient, I have torn my hair out. So I am trying Flickr. It has monthly limits on bandwidth use (so I may need to still use Hello or something else when my limit has been hit) but it seems much more friendly, is easy to upload, and doesn't require a separate program to use. Check it out. It may save some frustration for you bloggers. I have uploaded pictures to my last two posts so have a look if you want.
So, hello to Flickr. Please don't make me hate you.
rgsc

White Water Wickedness

Rafting on the Ottawa (not us but this is where we were)
Originally uploaded by Rgscarter.

Earlier this week we got a call from Natasha who asked, "Did we want to go white-water rafting this weekend." Sure, I said, sounds awesome - and it was (Laura, unfortunately, had to work and missed out). Natasha, Matt, Mark, and Danielle picked me up in Kingston and we headed to Ottawa, where we stayed overnight at Matt's cousin's place. Early the next morning we piled again into Mark’s trusty Toyota and headed for Quebec. We joined up with Esprit Rafting at a skeezy small-town bar and were taken to the mighty Ottawa River. After learning all we would need to know about safety (first and foremost ‘Don’t Panic' or as they like to say BeCoolBeCoolBeCool) and then getting our gear on, we were all set.

With our intrepid guide Bob, and the guide-along-for-the-ride Slater, the five of us made our way out into the River which, thanks to the crazy amount of rain we got the day before, was running high and fast. We were eased into it, going down the smaller middle channel of the river first. We got to know how to move the boat and how to hold on for dear life when things got nutty and then we went down our first set of rapids. The first one wasn’t too tough but it gave me a bit of a rush. Over the day, when we approached the rapids I would get a bit anxious, but not nervous, and my heart would start pounding. We would go over and be told when to start paddling hard and it was really exhilarating. We were prepared for a bigger challenge which came in the form of a set of rapids called “Elevator Shaft” which featured, as you might imagine, quite a large drop. While I thought at the time that I just might fall in, we managed to keep it together and all stay in the boat. In fact, we didn’t dump the entire day – which is something I think we are all quite proud of.

"Dianne's Furious Daisies" + Bob (with thanks to Natasha for the image)

Bob told us about the natural history, geology, and some interesting tidbits about the area, including about the Shriner’s War, the reclaiming of old logs from the riverbeds, and the location of Neil Young’s cottage (for the record, born in Toronto on November 12, 1945, spent the first years of his life in Omimi, Ontario, and then moved to Winnipeg when his parents divorced.)

We ate a great lunch after finishing the run of the middle channel and then were bussed back to where we started up the river to do the faster, longer, main channel. This part featured a bunch of pretty crazy rapids, culminating in the raft-bashing monster called “The Coliseum,” which featured three very large, nasty waves. Our raft was the first to go through and we managed to get everything right and pull through. The same can’t be said for five of the other rafts in our group some of whom had rather spectacular flips. After we made it through we went around and tried to pick up the folks who fell out of their boats and then made our way down the river to the pick-up spot, swimming a bit of the way in the flat water.

Once we got to Esprit’s main camp, we sorted out our tenting arrangements, hung out on the beach by the river, had a few Blues, and played with the owner’s dogs. Dinner, served from the barbeque on the patio, was absolutely great and we then spent the better part of the rest of the evening by the bonfire on the beach just hanging out, discussing the nature of marsh mallows
Mallow of the Marshes

(as you can see from the links, they traditionally are made from the plant, although gelatin has replaced it for commercial production. I couldn’t find reference to the shortage but I am pretty sure I didn’t dream it up) and all kinds of things.

After a hard day rafting and sleeping in less than luxurious (but dry and convenient) circumstances we woke up tired and sore but were greeted to a Sunday brunch that couldn’t be beat and then headed back to Kingston. The trip was absolutely awesome. The views were gorgeous, the rafting wicked, and the company was excellent. I have to thank Natasha for extending the invite my way, to Mark for his expert driving, and to everyone for making it a superfun time. Hopefully we can make this an annual thing.
rgsc.

The Paris

of the prairies

I can’t believe it has almost been two weeks since my last post. What can I say? It was been a busy two weeks. After a brief week back in nun-ville I was whisked off to Saskatoon for the Association of Canadian Archivists annual conference. It was an action packed, left me feeling like I had been hit by a train, super good time.

I left Kingston on Tuesday, flying in a rather small plane (over my old stomping ground - you can see my mom's house in the photo if you look close enough) to Toronto then onto The Wonder City. It didn't seem too wondrous as we landed as I left sunny Ontario (30 degrees and just plain gorgeous) to land in a rainy, Saskatchewan (a less than balmy 9 degrees). Nevertheless, I was quite happy to be there.

Airplane - view 3 Moms house

After checking in to my kick-ass room in the historic Bessborough (which was particularly astounding compared to my home of two weeks in Vermont, the Motel 6), which overlooked the Saskatoon River and the hotel's gardens, I went to register. At the desk I picked up my conference package I happened to met up with the ACA Board and they invited me out for dinner with them at the Conference Pub. We had wings and beer and it was all in all a pretty good start to things. Following that we went to the Vice Regal Suite, the president's digs, where I happily drank his beer, met up with friends and talked to a whole-lot of archivists.

The next day, was a pre-conference trip to Batoche. This was an extraordinary trip, regardless of the still rather miserable weather (at least it didn't rain, much) but I had a sweater and a coat so I was a lot better off than some. A history prof from University of Saskatoon (that's right, USask to those in the know - it is no UMan, but how many schools are?) gave a lecture on the background of the Metis struggle and the lead up to Batoche.

Batoche

When we arrived the story was picked up by a Parks Canada guide who showed us where the battle took place, including where the British army set up camp, through the house they occupied, then onto the cemetery where there was the graves of the Metis warriors who died and a monument to them. Then it was on to the church and rectory before going back to the interpretive centre for lunch (Bison soup) and a slightly kitschy but very interesting show on the battle complete with video re-enactments and animatronics (hurrah for edu-tainment!). Unfortunately there was a fair bit we didn't get to see - the site is huge - as some people needed to get back for a meeting, but it was a very worthwhile trip.

We got back in time for the official opening of the conference presided over by the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, the mayor of the city, and some archival types. The highlight, though, was the entertainment - the Wanuskewin International Dance Troupe consisting of three Native dancers with two drummers. Their performance was nothing less than spectacular. It was an early night as I wanted to look bright-eyed and bushy tailed for the next day.

The conference program, on the theme of "Theory and Practice" was quite good. I made some mistakes in picking the concurrent sessions I attended, wishing that I had went to other ones when I heard from other people how good they were, but it was all in all pretty free of stinkers. Three of the four plenary sessions were great - with Laura Millar (theorist, practitioner and educator extraordinaire) kicking things off, Brewster Kahle, creator of the Internet Archive and many other super-cool free-access-to-information things knocked my socks off (even if all of what he was doing wasn't strictly "archival" but, unlike some of the UBC grads I talked to I am not about to quibble about the value of what he is doing based on that), and our Dean of FIS, Brian Cantwell Smith, gave an entertaining, forward looking, energetic talk on where he thought the Information Profession (library, archives, museum, and computer stuff) should go. He rather aptly asked something along the lines of "what the hell is Information Studies anyway?" something I wonder about as I am supposed to be a Master of it, and he went from there. The paper I presented seemed to go over quite well. While I was a smidge nervous to begin it was fine by the time I hit the third page. Very positive response from many people afterwards, which is nice ‘cause you just never know if people are gonna think it sucked.

The social event planning was unparalleled. On the first day was the East-West ballgame. Thankfully the sun decided to show itself and the rest of the week (which other than the baseball I spent in the hotel) and I played, rather surprising myself that I didn't completely suck at baseball and hadn't completely forgotten how to throw a ball. The east was glorious in defeat (9-6 or something like that) but at least we managed not to get trounced as we have in past years. Next year we will be ready for them. Then it was on to the Great Western Beer Night to lick our wounds or boast about our victory, depending which side of the country you were from, drink some decent and more importantly free-flowing beer, and support a scholarship fund. Because that is what it is all about, right, the charity.

The following night it was off to the Literary/Music evening for a bit o'culture. There were four speakers, including Guy Vanderhaeghe, who read from their works, and the highlight was the Amati Quartet, who played a Haydn string arrangement on 17th instruments. They usually play to huge crowds (their last performance was to 11,000 people including the Queen on her visit to the prairies) so to see them up close, with about 20 people was pretty cool. Following that I rushed off to a dinner party at one of my predecessor’s places, for cake, wine, and some relaxed conversation.

The last night was probably the highlight of the conference - the banquet and dance. Early in my archival career I have come to a few conclusions about the profession, one of which is that Archivists Love to Dance. I think it is the only reason most of us go to these things. The dinner was good, but pretty much every damn thing had saskatoon berries in it, and this being the third day of it I was getting a bit tired of them. Maybe it is a Saskatchewan thing, but they named their damn town after the berry! It isn't even really that good! It is kinda like a blueberry but...not. I guess you have to grow up with them. Anyway, the meal was good, the dance was great. I was in my usual fine form and looked like I even had a little rhythm, at least in comparison to the few wooden-legged male archivists who got anywhere near the dance floor. Following the dance we made our way to the president's room where I drank his beer, listened to the Newfoundland contingent sing some ditties, tp-ed the pres' four-poster bed with the archivist from the AGO because it seemed like a good idea at the time, and had some fun talking with all the drunkity-drunk archivists.

TPatACA - Heh. Juvenile, yes. Funny, very yes (with thanks to Linda for the pics) .

We were kicked out sometime after the sun had risen and only then because the Board needed to get some rest before a 9 o'clock meeting. Sissies.


Bessborough 6 - view from my hotel room on the last day (Broadway Bridge river)

The following day was spent more or less wiped out. I packed, checked out, had breakfast with the Toronto contingent and spent well over an hour staring into nothingness in the park behind the hotel, being entertained by magpies and inchworms, and kinda feeling miserable all around. We left a once again rainy Saskatoon in the late afternoon, flying out in a whole crap-load of turbulence.

It was a fantastic conference. I have been pretty much destroyed all week and only now and feeling more or less human again. Totally worth it, though. I am looking forward to ACA in St. John's already.
rgsc

VT-NY

It was something of a fool-hardy plan: I would head out from Burlington Vermont at 7am, drive a rental car four or so hours to Beacon New York to visit Dia:Beacon, take a train to New York City to eat at Les Halles then go to the Met to see the Max Ernst retrospective, then back on the train to the car to get back to Burlington. Pretty much everyone I told my plan to thought it couldn’t be done, but I managed to do it all and do it right and make it back in one piece before dawn.

Mountains, Lakes, & Valleys

Vermont Country Side 

Crossing Into New York 

I got up at pretty much the crack of dawn to make it to the Burlington International Airport at 7 when the car rental place opened. I got into my trusty (and zippy) vehicle and hit the road. The drive was extraordinary. Through Vermont farmland with mountains in the distance, small-town America, following Lake Champlain, through the twists and turns of the Adirondacks, and into the Hudson Valley, the scenery was pretty spectacular. Following a quick bagel break on the road (and one stop on the Lake to check my map) I hit the I-87 and then the I-84 to Beacon.

Lake George: Quick map check 


A museum I wouldn’t kick out of bed for making crackers

Alright, the Nabisco factory in Beacon, New York, built in 1929, didn’t actually make crackers, but rather the boxes for those crackers. What this means though, that quality of light – skylights cover the roof – as well as space were essential design elements. When the Dia Art Foundation was looking for a space to house their unparalleled collection of contemporary art they couldn’t have asked for a more ideal location. Dia, renowned for their sponsorship of exceptionally large-scale, often site-specific, and almost always highly conceptual art, has filled the refurbished 240,000 square feet of gallery space with the art of 24 artists in their collection. You can do the math. That is a crazy amount of space for each artist (although it is not divided evenly, naturally). To say the art is difficult is more than a mild understatement, but the experience of the museum of the art in such a setting is something to behold, even if you aren’t a fan of contemporary art.

On a downtown train
The plan was that I would head down by train into Manhattan. Because the drive took longer than I anticipated I was pushing it to make the train I originally intended. However, it became a moot point as I mixed up the train schedule a bit and I missed the train I wanted anyway. This was a fortunate accident as I really rushed through a bunch of galleries at the end and I was able to spend the better part of another hour taking time with the art. I just made the train and was following the Hudson into the City.

Manhattan in 3.5hrs
My New York plan was simple – hit the #6 Lexington train, conveniently located at Grand Central Terminal to 28th Street, eat at Les Halles, get back on the 6 to 82nd where I would walk the three blocks to the Met, spend a little quality time with Max Ernst then back to Grand Central to get back to Beacon. A great way to spend a day…if you live in New York. For the commuting tourist it was going to be a bit of a marathon.

Eating in the Halls of Bourdain

LesHalles 

Ever since first seeing A Cook’s Tour I have been a fan of Anthony Bourdain. So a trip to New York would have been unthinkable for me without stopping in for some classic French Bistro cuisine at Les Halles. I was a bit worried that I didn’t have a reservation (I tried to make one online but never heard back from them – which was just as well as I would have missed it anyway), but there was plenty of room at 3:30 on Saturday. I had a seat looking out onto Park Avenue and wonderfully simple brunch starting with Gratinee des Halles (Onion Soup}, then the classic Steak, Frites, Salade with a glass of wine and a bodum filled with great coffee. Everything was excellent but next time I think I will go for something a little more daring. No time for dilly-dallying. I skipped dessert because while an hour and a half for lunch may be standard for the French, I had to get to the Met.

Lop-Lop, frottage, grattage and decolomania

Ernst – The Garden of France 

What can I saw about Ernst at the Met? Fan-freaking-tastic ought to about do it. Max Ernst is said to be the most influential artist of the 20th Century, perhaps aside from Picasso. The show followed Ernst’s development from the rare WWI era Chagall-esque dreamy paintings through his collages, automatic experiments with rubbing and scraping, and late works made in exile in the US. I was able to spend a good amount of time at the exhibit, but I didn’t have too much time to spare. I didn’t want to miss the 7 o’clock train to Beacon so I took a pass on the Diane Arbus exhibit and saw essentially nothing of the permanent collection (criminal, I know). It goes without saying that I wish I could have spent a lot more time at the Met but I have absolutely no regrets about making the trip for the one exhibit.

1000 miles and counting
I made the train with a few minutes to spare. Read the Village Voice. Reached Beacon at 8:18. I missed the exit I needed to head north leading me about 35 miles too far west. A friendly gas station attendant set me right and I was making my way back to Vermont. While I spent most of the rest of the drive thinking that I was lost I somehow managed to find my way exactly to where I needed to be. The drive was much slower and with many stops for caffeine and/or map-checks but I made it home in one piece.

Much to my surprise the plan worked, remarkably, without a hitch. I accomplished everything to set out to do. After one return train trip, two world-class art galleries, 19 hours and over 1000 miles in the car it was a pretty intense American roadtrip.
rgsc.

That's right - Call me Master

At long last, as I am typing, I have finally been awarded my degree from FIS. You may now call me Master. In fact I insist on it. No longer do I feel like a big fraud by having the "MIst" after my name on my business cards (not that anyone knows that the hell that means anyway). Of course, I am not there to get it in person - I didn't think I would be loving the boring ceremony, sitting with people I don't know, and taking the day off work in the middle of the week for it - but I have it on good authority that I jumped through all the hoops in more or less the right order to have earned it. Life changing...no, not really. Glad the thing is done with...pretty much.
rgsc

Better than “Well, at least it didn’t suck”

or: How I stopped worrying and learned to love the Wookiee [now that would be some “strange love”]

Last night I saw Star Wars III after quite a bit of anticipation. Since hearing about the prequels ages ago, getting really excited and then experiencing the gut-wrenching horribleness (yes, apparently that is a word) of the first two piles of crap Lucas foisted on his adoring fans (Damn you Jar Jar!) I went in with more than a little loathing, some fear, and a big bushel of cynicism.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Other than the fact that Hayden Christensen couldn’t act his way out from under a soggy Kleenex (he wasn’t that bad as long as he didn’t have to deliver any of the choice lines dreamt up by George, still pretty bad, though) it addressed some of the criticisms I had of the earlier prequels (like, other than the fact that we now have CG to do the special effects, why is the technology of the spacecrafts etc. so much more sleeker and sophisticated in Episode I than in Episode IV – here, by the end, everything gets chunkier), Jar Jar had no lines and only made two or three brief appearances, there was an army of Wookiees, it was pretty damn dark (one of the things that made my like Empire Strikes Back so much), and it really tied into A New Hope well.

So all and all I was pleased. Mostly I had heard that it was alright, not as terrible as the first two, etc. but I think it deserves a little more credit than that. I went in ready to hate it and was duly impressed. Could it stand on its own? Not likely. Lucas should be well pleased that he got a chance to make Episode IV before I-III, ‘cause it isn’t that likely that he would have made it to the rest.

I do have my criticisms, though, and not just with the acting/script. My biggest thing is with continuity and logic – like the sleekspaceships to clunky spaceships mentioned above. Two shall suffice.
-Why is R2D2 much more gadget-y now then later? Those rocket boosters and oil spurts and multi-directional shock thingies sure could have come in handy in the later episodes.
-And, this drove me bonkers: Why the hell isn’t the droid army absolutely kicking the ass of the clone army, a la the Terminator series. If I were building a freaking droid army I am pretty sure I would programme it to be able to kick the ass of humans. Seriously. Think about it for a second (or perhaps I have thought enough about it for the both of us), I can understand that humans have the advantage of rational thought (although the Brave New World-like training of the clones maybe would put a damper on that), and that the Jedi’s abilities would give them the upper-hand, but come-on, if you can build something as intelligent as R2D2, can’t you build a battle droid that could hit something as big as a Wookiee? If it were my droid army it sure as hell would not lose a single freakin’ battle. Especially since the things were programmed to communicate in English and have mildly amusing things to squeal when they get crushed or something. Less time on vocabulary more time on aiming. That would be my motto.

I guess 4 out of 6 in a series isn’t too bad. I just wish Lucas hadn’t screwed up the first ones so bad. Here’s another motto for you Lucas – Less time on eye-popping graphics and more time on story. Or as Laura said last night, couldn’t he just have hired someone with talent to write the script?
___________________________
In other news, I am back in Kingston after two weeks in Vermont. Work was fine. The countryside was beautiful. Had a great trip to New York. I have a post already but I want to add some photos I took and I keep forgetting the camera at home. So hold onto your hats (‘cause I know all three of my loyal readers are forever coming back to see if I have updated) I should have it up before the end of the week.
rgsc

Someone stole Bert's eyebrows

 

And I know who it was.

Just a minute or two ago my boss popped her head into my office to get a document. Now, in the recent past my co-worker Rosa and I noted how my boss would pencil in her eyebrows in red on special occasions. Yesterday, I observed that they were darker than usual, but nothing too horrific. Today: all out Bert-ification going on up there. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing. I think I am going to have to turn off my office light and hide under my desk for the rest of the day to avoid any further confrontations. I don't think I can keep a straight face.
rgsc