I wrote this last year, thinking I'd post it before the birth of my new baby in October. Well, that didn't happen. But since it's kind of an Easter-themed post, I thought I'd put it out there now....

Recently I was asked if I'd be part of a panel about "Women in Comics" for the Edmonton Comic & Entertainment Expo. That's just the kind of thing I'd usually love to be part of. But I had to say no, for the same reason I'm missing the whole Expo this year: I'm expecting a baby that's due in just a few more days. What a classic "Women in Comics" situation - or "Women in Anything," really! Babies show up when they want to, throw your career out of whack and teach you how to juggle work and life!

In anticipation of a bit of a hiatus from blogging (and everything else I usually do), there's one thing I've been wanting to write about. Well, actually two things. One is a new book called "Work/Life 3." And the other is an old book called "The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes."

Work/Life 3 is the third in a series of books created by local publishing house UPPERCASE Press. Here's what UPPERCASE has to say about the series:

"When the first edition of Work/Life was published back in 2008, UPPERCASE was a fledgling publishing house. In 2009, our eponymous quarterly magazine was born, growing into a celebrated publication with readers around the world. In 2011, the second edition of Work/Life was released and featured 100 international illustrators. It was met with much enthusiasm, not only from art and illustration buyers who appreciated the book's quality content and curated talent, but also from other illustrators and aspiring artists who were inspired by the stories shared within. [...] The Work/Life series has developed into something even greater than a promotional publication—these books are educational, inspirational and beautiful; books that have value beyond just a directory of talent."

This year I've been writing lots of comics and doing lots of graphic recording. I was intrigued by the opportunity to be part of an illustration directory, particularly one that was the product of a Calgary business. I also liked the theme of "Work/Life" - that's been my own theme song for a while now, even before I quit my day job a little under two years ago (best decision ever) to start taking this juggling act seriously!

So I headed down to Art Central to meet UPPERCASE publisher Janine Vangool and find out a bit more about this little local powerhouse of all of things print. (With the impending demise of Art Central, UPPERCASE has since moved to a new space in the Devenish Building.)

And a few months later, I received Work/Life 3 - a very cool compilation showcasing 100 illustrators from around the world: not just samples of their work, but stories and images from their lives. (Take a look!)

What a cliffhanger ending!! And all true! So much for my plans to launch my brilliant full-time freelance art career. It'll have to remain a juggling act for a while longer. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Which brings us to the Country Bunny!

But first: a note from April, 2014. (Remember, this whole post was written in Sept. 2013!) That last panel above was the first time new baby Henry made an "appearance" in a comic strip - but it won't be the last! I'll be at the 2014 Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo next week (April 24-27) with the latest in my "mom comics" series, "Alec's 5th Year Book." Henry steals the show!

But more on that later. For now, back to September 2013 and the aforementioned Country Bunny.

So you'd think that that would be the end of the story right there, wouldn't you? (I love the little wrinkle under her eye that just hints at the exhaustion of early parenthood.) When I rediscovered this book a year or two ago, I didn't have any clue about its context or history. All I knew was what it said in the book: published in 1939. Sounds like a time in which the career goals of a young lady rabbit would be forgotten with the arrival of one, much less twenty-one, children! And indeed, this resilient young mother puts aside her dreams and throws herself wholeheartedly into her new "career" - with great results:

OK, so if you happen to have a child (or a houseful of children), I know you're already fantasizing about the gloriously well-kept house of the Country Bunny and her brood. (And just where is Mr. Bunny, by the way? More on him later.)

Anyway, it turns out that auditions are being held for the post of Easter Bunny (one of five - apparently there are actually five of them, since it's a pretty big job), and Mrs. Bunny heads out with her children to watch the contest (again - where's Mr. Bunny?!). She ends up impressing the "old, kind, wise, Grandfather Bunny" who is doing the choosing. He wonders if she could possibly be swift enough for the job, but she proves herself by sending her children hopping off in all directions...

(Everyone knows that nothing moves faster than a parent chasing a child!)

But no! She explains how she's trained her amazing children to take care of the house even better than she can do herself. And this was in the days in which you could actually just go out and deliver Easter eggs all night, leaving your youngsters at home, without even needing a babysitter, a baby monitor, or a cell phone (Or a husband, apparently, because he still hasn't made an appearance). So technically there is nothing to keep her away. And the old Grandfather Bunny says: "I see that you are wise also..."

I just loved the above picture (a double spread in the book) that shows all those eggs piled up in the cavernous halls of the palace.

I won't give away the adventures that befall our valiant Mrs. Bunny on Easter night. Suffice to say, her efforts win her the magical pair of golden shoes. And then she hops home...

As a child, I only loved the story, but re-reading this as an adult, I saw two other things: one, that I think I want twenty-one well-trained rabbit children to clean my house, and two, that there's more to this story than I'd realized. There's actually a pretty strong message of racial equality in the tale of the "little brown bunny" who rises to the coveted post of Easter Bunny, despite the put-downs of narrow-minded, wealthy, snooty white bunnies (whom I didn't show in this post). Indeed, I discovered that the story has been widely acclaimed for its place in the social justice movement. Years later, it was (almost!) made into a ballet - this would have been incredible - produced by Ismail Merchant of Merchant Ivory fame (take a look here to read an article about that astounding project, which seems to have been truncated upon Merchant's sudden death).

But what really struck me was that it was a story of female empowerment. At a time when many women weren't even allowed to work - at least not in the careers of their choice - the Country Bunny takes her twenty-one children to the job interview and gets the job, without apparently even consulting her spouse, much less receiving his permission!

Yes, the absence of Mr. Bunny really surprises me. Either he's working up in Fort Mac, or he's out of the picture completely. But whatever the case, the Country Bunny doesn't seem to be suffering from it. She's completely independent. And she's complex: realistic, but still harbouring dreams.

You'd think that the story of a lady who puts aside her childhood dreams while raising her family, and then goes on to have a brilliant career after the kids are old enough to look after themselves, sounds like a story that would resonate with readers today. It is amazing this feminist-friendly book was written in 1939, and not only that,  written by a man. DuBose Heyward (pictured here) was the startlingly ahead-of-his-time South Carolina writer who penned this little tale.

I'm tipping my Easter bonnet to the Country Bunny, that heroine of a bygone generation who apparently wrote the book on balancing work and life!

Would I have chosen to start a very fun and exciting new career in the same year I was having a baby, if I'd had a choice? No! But am I still loving every minute of this balancing act? Well, yes, although typing this with my left hand while nursing Henry at 1 AM is not exactly the ideal scenario for work or life. But since it is actually what I'm doing, I'm going to wrap this up and go off in hopes of getting some sleep. Happy Easter!

I live in Calgary. But when I was invited, a few months back, to contribute some graphic recording to a City of Edmonton initiative, I was really pleased to do so - and not only because it meant I'd be able to count on free babysitting from my in-laws. (That's my baby under the "welcome" sign!)

I was actually excited to learn about Evolving Infill, a City-led "collaborative project that is aiming to create an Infill Action Plan to shape the City’s plan to advance Infill." Infill housing is happening, whether people like it or not (and not just in Edmonton). The City of Edmonton is hosting a conversation between citizens from every different side of the story, gathering up as much information as possible from real people, in order to make the process better for everyone.

That's my short version of what the Evolving Infill team is doing - but you can find out much more about it on their website.

I happen to love this kind of project. I love civic engagement (one word: VoteKit!!!), and I love good urban design that makes for walkable and multi-generational neighbourhoods (if you actually make it through this whole post, you'll see a comic strip I wrote on this subject a while back - from which, a little snippet here). And, well, I love eavesdropping on interesting conversations.

And I have to say, speaking as a Calgarian who came to love Calgary by the long way around (here's a bit on that subject, in this post about Calgary books), I kind of love Edmonton, too.

I mean, it's cold, it's got a layout that's more messed-up than you'd think would be possible considering it's on a grid, it's full of all these passionate small-L (and big-L, I guess) liberal thinking artsy unpretentious educated culture-loving citizens, it's famous for its potholes, there's that insane bridge, and it's got the best Indian food outside of Bradford, UK (although its most beloved local dish is apparently the green onion cake). What's not to love?

Throughout the four days I've spent so far with Edmonton's Infill Action Collaborative (of whom more below), I found myself wishing I knew more about the nuances of Edmonton's city scene. A lot of what I heard sounds like what's going on in Calgary, too (although, interestingly enough, there are some big differences - for example, in Calgary there's still this ongoing debate about legalizing secondary suites (here's a passionate contribution to the debate by blogger Mike Morrison), whereas in Edmonton, these are accepted fare).

Anyway - here's my fly-on-the-wall view of this very cool Edmonton project.

In "Step 1" of Evolving Infill (last year), project leaders gathered "infill stories" from citizens. Right now they're in the middle of "Step 2," and here's what their website says about that:

That's City Planner Jeff Chase up there, speaking to the Infill Action Collaborative at their first workshop. Next, everyone introduced themselves, and while they were at it, mentioned their favourite kitchen utensil. I managed to catch most of them!

Dave Robertson, by the way, who's the principal at Calgary's Mistri Consulting, is leading these workshops, and he is the person who invited me to collaborate with him in doing so. Thanks Dave!

By the end of our second workshop, the group had worked through a lot of information. Here's Dave (above) leading a discussion about all of the stuff on the posters you can see behind him! Group participants discussed various "infill stories" (some that they came up with themselves, and others that had been contributed by Edmontonians during "Step 1" of the project).

They talked about challenges and obstacles for the infill process - from many points of view (i.e. speaking as neighbours, developers, realtors, architects, planners, builders, you name it!)

Oh, and another point of view that was pretty important in these discussions was that of "Community League" members. I had no idea that these neighbourhood organizations, which in Calgary are known as "Community Associations," are called "Leagues" in Edmonton.

I couldn't stop thinking of "The Adventure of the Red-Headed (Community) League" - ha ha.

Anyway, the group worked through infill stories, challenges and obstacles to the current process, and also listed their hopes and aspirations for the infill system. Plus, they drafted eight statements that they felt summed up what was happening in Edmonton infill currently. And all of this went on to a poster - details below.

I really love sketchnotes. As a total aside, I recently took a look at some other great sketchnotes by Dave Wittekind from Chicago. And take a look at these truly amazing sketchnotes by Vancouver-based Brad Ovenell-Carter! If you can believe it, I'm actually supposed to do a graphic recording of a talk he'll be giving in Calgary in May (at the InnovateWest Conference). Um, just a little intimidating!!!

But now, back to Evolving Infill for a few pictures from our amazing venue: the former McKay Avenue School in downtown Edmonton, which now houses the Edmonton Public Schools Archives & Museum.

Notes about the photos below: The golden-doored elevator reminded me of the elevator in the Calgary Public Building (there's a photo of it in this post). The pink couch was in the "powder room!" And what's with the painting in the hinged frame? Is it just so you can slide the picture into the frame? Or is it so that you can hide some classified document in there? (Shades of "The Secret Adversary.")

On my way to one workshop I listened to some glorious organ music on the radio (thanks, CKUA) and was delighted to find an actual organ at the venue when I arrived. The placard says it was donated by the grandson of William F. Puffer, Member of the erstwhile Alberta Provincial Parliament. I looked him up just because I liked his name (I liked the organ, too) - sounds like he was quite a progressive fellow. Ah, so much Edmonton history, so little time!

At the third workshop, the Infill Action Collaborative spent a lot of time in breakout groups coming up with strategies for supporting the evolution of established neighbourhoods through infill development.

Here is something else I noticed while drawing all these folks: almost all the women were wearing scarves. It seemed as though every time I turned around to draw someone, I'd see another scarf! And this was the case, not only on the three different days I worked with this group, but with all the women at the Infill Action Review (coming up below). What's the deal, Edmonton women? I know it's cold in your city (and yes, it was kinda chilly in the McKay Avenue School, too), but what about cardigans, turtlenecks, shawls? I have been to other cold cities, but I didn't notice anything like this.

Is the scarf a ubiquitous Edmonton winter fashion element I just didn't know about? A civic statement that says "Edmonton" just like the green onion cake? I'm kind of intrigued.

Anyway, here is the poster that came out of the group presentations about infill strategies.

By now, I was getting into the routine of these Evolving Infill workshops. My Edmonton day started with a drive downtown from my in-laws' home in the distant suburbs. These drives confirmed for me (yet again) an apparent fact about the Edmonton radio scene: namely, that CKUA is an oasis in a desert of heavy metal and dance mixes. Just sayin'.

The Infill Action Initiative organizers promised back at the beginning of the first workshop: "All of the work we're doing, we'll be sharing with the public!" And they have certainly kept their word. On March 22nd, they hosted a public event - the Infill Action Review - inviting Edmontonians to come in and see what they've been doing.

As before, the event was held at the wonderful McKay Avenue School building. I was too busy drawing during the event to take any pictures of the participants, or of the really great visuals the organizing team brought along to show what they've been up to.

Here's Kim of Dialogue Partners welcoming everyone to the event. (Notice: she too is wearing a scarf! See what I mean?!)

Participants sat around tables and talked about different aspects of the Edmonton infill situation. And I walked around with an easel listening in on their conversation. Here's what I came up with:

Now what? The Infill Action Collaborative is meeting again in April, and I'll be there to record what they come up with. After that, the project organizers will be working with all this material to (in their words) "develop an Infill Action Plan that identifies actions and priorities and serves as a road map for the City's work to support more new housing in established communities." That sounds great!

I'll put up pictures from the last workshop in April. For now, here's an insight that really resonated with me:

Here's to more workshops like this! Thanks for inviting me along for the ride, Evolving Infill team! (pictured above, with me: City of Edmonton Planners Jeff Chase, Lisa Larson and Yvonne Pronovost)

As it happens, I have some strong opinions about the importance of supporting community-friendly inner-city developments such as good infill housing. Here's a comic strip I wrote for my community newsletter last year on the subject. And if this piques your interest, here's a blog post I wrote that takes this subject a bit further (i.e. it's a rant). Ok - all for now!

As I write this, he's on his way back to his home in Toronto from a trip to California. So you can see he's still just as active as ever. And that's not all.

He's recently published a book, entitled "A Broader Vision." It's a memoir of his life growing up in Canada, raising a family, and working as a scientist and entrepreneur. (You can check out his book - and buy it online - here.)

The book is full of fascinating tales and anecdotes about his very eventful life (and it's also full of his wise and witty commentary on all those events. I always knew my grandfather was a successful businessman and scientist. But the more I read his books  - he's got another one, too, and it's called "Applying the Scientific Method to the Understanding of Existence" (!) - the more I'm impressed by his great writing, as well! For the 2013 Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo Artbook (which featured the theme "Weird Tales", I wrote a strip based on one of the anecdotes from "A Broader Vision." Here it is! Happy birthday!

The 2014 Calgary Comics Expo is fast approaching (it's at the end of April) - so I'll let you know if I'll have a page in the Artbook for this year, when I find out. Stay tuned!

Here's my comic strip for this month's Ramsay Community newsletter. You can see my comics from previous newsletters here. (But really, you should just read the newsletter because it is always fun - a great team of volunteers putting something together to reach out to a great community!)

I stared that woodpecker down and he didn't come back!

The Chic Geek - which just celebrated its first birthday - is already well-known in Calgary for its tech-themed events such as Ladies Learning Code. But last week they launched a new event for 2014: a speaker series called Speak Geek.

Last week's inaugural event was less about tech and more about women telling stories of "Challenging their Comfort Zones." We listened to Janie Fontaine of JanieJewels (and of Dragon's Den fame); Student Energy founder Kali Taylor; Social Venture Partners Executive Connector Karen Whiteman; and Calgary businesswoman and Startup Weekend superstar Anette Ceraficki. All of their stories were inspiring, thoughtful, and funny. But you can find a much better recap of the evening's highlights on the Chic Geek blog (which where I found the excellent photo that I've shamelessly included here).

I also got to meet quite a few chic geeks who I'm pretty sure have inspiring stories of their own, including Chic Geek founder Kylie Toh and Speak Geek mastermind Fazilah Shariff. I think I want to find out more. And there's no question I could always use some "education, engagement and empowerment" when it comes to my own little business. Maybe I could be a chic geek too! You can see I've come a long way from my days (well, nights) as a solitary nocturnal artist!

Anyway, this is about the pictures, so here you go!

Close-up pictures of the four speakers' talks...

And some random close-up images from the poster.

And here are some drawings from four breakout groups holding Q & A's with the evening's four speakers, which took place after their talks.

I like bright colours!

(This sun is on the front of my house.)

A few weeks ago I had the chance to draw some pictures for Calgary Reads, a local early literacy initiative. (Here's the picture I drew!) A group that encourages reading – what’s not to love about that? But there was something else I really liked, too: the colours. Calgary Reads has used colour to make its work space fun, vibrant, and inviting. And in doing so, it’s branded itself as a fun and colourful organization.

It seems like a no-brainer: bright colours will make things more memorable, more accessible, and more welcoming! But it’s surprising how seldom folks are willing to take a chance and add colour to their scheme. I guess there’s always the danger that the colour you love might rub someone the wrong way. Taste in colour is pretty subjective. But I’d rather take the chance – especially in the space I’m going to inhabit (or work in) myself. Being surrounded by an inspiring space – which definitely includes colour – makes all the difference to my happiness and productivity. Well, and it helps if there’s also a coffee pot.

Calgary Reads front lobby welcomes you in with bright colours that tell you all about what you’ll find inside. Here is a bookshelf’s worth of sponsor names – a great way to recognize them in a permanent way that’ll never get boring.

I like how the objects on this wall seem to tell a story – starting small and getting bigger as your eye moves towards the right. You “read” the wall from left to right, just the same way you read the words on the page of a book!

I have the feeling Calgary Reads' Steacy Collyer, who was the driving force behind all these colours, would get along fine with the German artist Angela Holtermann-Stumpf. Here's a picture of her house in the city of Witten. I wish my house looked something like this, too!

When I bought my 1911 Ramsay house in 2004, every single surface in the house was painted white. I loved that – it was like a blank canvas just waiting for me to paint. And I didn’t stop until I had done just that.

I like painting skies and suns on the ceiling. (I’m really claustrophobic, so I think it’s really just about creating the illusion that there’s more space over my head.)


Here’s a sun I painted on the ceiling of an apartment I lived in about fifteen years ago (above). The room was already purple. I never would have chosen that colour, but it kind of grew on me. And here’s my own living room ceiling (below). This picture was taken by Rachel Psutka, a interactive reporter at the Regina Leader-Post, during her internship at the Calgary Herald a couple of years ago.

Here are some pictures of my house back when we renovated it (and I painted everything!). And down here is a little mural I painted on my son’s wall after he was born. Wasn’t I ambitious back then? We’ll be lucky if my second son even gets a mural at this rate!

I'm looking forward to catching up with the colourful Calgary Reads on March 6th, at their Reading Rally at Ramsay School! What is a Reading Rally? Here's what Calgary Reads' website has to say:

Doesn't that sound like fun? See you there!

As I've written elsewhere (here, for example), I used to get out a lot more. I used to go out at night, eat in restaurants, listen to live music, even leave town! Having children has changed a lot of that stuff quite a bit. I shouldn't sayI don't get around much anymore - it's just that I get around to a lot more playgrounds than night clubs. And I've loved the new places being a mostly-stay-at-home mom has taken me. I've seen a side of this city that I never saw before I was a parent.

One of the only things I miss is the chance to spend more time in Calgary's grown-up "playgrounds." So when theTEDxCalgary team invited me to come and draw some pictures at their event at theCalgary Zoo a couple of weeks ago, of course I jumped at the chance.

What is TED? I think the first time I heard about it was when I watched Naheed Nenshi's popular TEDxCalgary talk online in 2010 (back before he was Calgary's Mayor). TED describes itself on its website thus: "TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. ...TED conferences bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less)."

So what is "TEDx"? The TEDx website says: "The TEDx program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis."

So there you have it. Check out the amazing independent planners and coordinators on the TEDxCalgary volunteer team. And now take a look at my notes about what they cooked up for a handful of lucky Calgarians in January 2014!

("A Hole is To Dig" was my contribution, by the way. As I've mentioned elsewhere (here, for example), I usually don't read grown-up books!)

Anyway, I went around and talked with people about how they'd finish those sentences, and here are some of the things they said:

I loved listening to Canadian legend Robert Bateman speak, not just about how he paints the wilderness, but about important it is to let children interact with the wild world out there, rather than bring them up surrounded by screens. On that note - a total aside, I confess - here's something with a screen that was recently voted the worst toy of the year. You tell 'em, Mr. Bateman!

Next, Barbara Coloroso's very affecting talk about how something as common as schoolyard bullying can set the stage for bigger problems. Ms. Coloroso spoke about her work at schools in Rwanda helping to nurture a new society in the wake of that country's1994 genocide. The "1, 2, 3" points that I recorded in the image below (if I remember correctly) are the conditions she listed as necessary for a society to get itself into something as terrible as genocide.

Somewhere in there we were also treated to a video put together by TEDx team member Chris Hsiung. Here it is: "Meet the Human Race." (I'm not sure why my screen shows an image that's a few minutes into the video, but if you click on "play," it should start at the beginning.) The images in this video were beautiful and powerful! But even better, I loved the music!

Here's an aside. TEDx curator Rahim Sajan impressed upon participants the idea that they weren't just there to soak up the information in the talks; rather, the TEDx material was meant to get participants interacting, asking questions, starting conversations, and coming away with some new opportunities for friendship, collaboration, and learning. I think Chris Hsiung's video was the "trailhead" that set me off into a particular wilderness adventure just now:

When I went to Chris's website to put up the link to his video, I took a look at a few of the other projects that his company, Hidden Story Productions, has worked on. One thing I noticed was that Chris put together the video for the song written and performed by Amy Thiessen during Mayor Nenshi's first campaign. That's a video many Calgarians (including myself) watched. Then I noticed that there was a project called "Soul of the City Neighbour Grant Proposal." (By the way, these grants are still available, and if your neighbourhood group would like to apply for one, you should - check out the information here!) Looks like Chris is proposing to document the stories of the grant recipients. (And, from what I can see, it looks like he'd do an awesome job!).

But what I also realized was that I'd met Chris before, one year ago, when I did some graphic recording for Calgary Economic Development's "Soul of the City" series. It was really early in the morning and I hadn't had any coffee - I think that must be why I didn't instantly recognize Chris at TEDx (that, and the fact that he was busy taking pictures and I was busy drawing and there wasn't really any time to talk). It turns out Chris is the person who made the sped-up video of me graphically recording the Soul of the City talks. I have pointed so many people to this video, and I never knew who made it! Hooray for TEDx solving this mystery for me. I will have to send Chris a note. But first I have to finish this blog!

Above: something I drew while listening to the TEDx talks. (Yes. I can listen and draw at the same time!)

Then it was time for lunch, and here are some of the pictures I drew while listening to folks around the table (click on them to enlarge).

I couldn't stay for the afternoon's talks, but before I left, I put all the pictures I drew up on a blackboard for everyone to see when they came out of the auditorium!

And now one more note. I really love drawing pictures amidst crowds of engaged, smart, motivated people - it's so inspiring. But sometimes when I come home to a house full of diapers and train tracks, it is a bit hard to switch gears (as depicted at the end of this post from last year's Mayor's Lunch for Arts Champions). In this case, though, my 5-yr-old son helped me through the transition by welcoming me home with this message:

2013 was a challenging year around here - to put it mildly. So I was really looking forward to closing the door on it, and enjoying a fresh new start in 2014. But what happened instead: on January 5th I was in the hospital being told that I needed to have my appendix removed! Well, that's another story (actually, I wrote a little blog about my surprisingly great experience at the Peter Lougheed Centre, but haven't had time to ink it yet - stay tuned). Anyway, I wasn't really out and about in the neighbourhood much, so here's my brother supplying the story for this month's Ramsay Newsletter comic strip. He just got back from doing a Master's in Conflict Resolution at the University of Bradford in Bradford, England. Wow!!! (And what is he going to do next???)

And by the way - 2014's already looking a bit rosier, after the rocky start.

You can read all my Ramsay comics here on my website!

Graphic recording can make even the dryest, dullest presentation fun and creative. (Not that I know this from personal experience... all my clients are fun!) So now imagine the energy in the room if you've got a graphic recorder working at what's possibly the most colourful, funky venue in town, with a roomful of passionate, motivated, creative thinkers. What you end up with is an exciting workshop, a lot of great ideas, and all sorts of inspiration for a brightly-hued visual record of the evening's discussion. Yes, I'm talking about my evening yesterday, when I had the chance to draw some pictures for Calgary Reads, a local early literacy initiative located in the Beltline.

Calgary Reads' staff and board members are spending this weekend dreaming up a plan to foster a reading movement in Calgary. At their workshop last night we listened to three inspiring speakers (Calgary Reads' own Duna Bayley; MRU's Roberta Lexier; and the ever-insightful Cesar Cala of the United Way). I'll be excited to see what they come up with this weekend and what they'll come up with next.

Watch this space for some more (close-up) pictures of the graphic recording I made for Calgary Reads last night. And I think I'll have to go back and take some pictures of their super-colourful office space, which features the bright and bold artwork of Calgary mural artist Dean Stanton. It deserves a post of its own!

I'd been thinking of making a Christmas card and posting it up here, but that didn't happen, as you can see. I didn't make any Christmas cards this year (although I've made quite a few in years gone by, and you can see some of them here). Christmas is already past, and the next four or five months of cold and snow are looming before us. So, instead, how about a few words on the subject of winter.

I recently read a blog post by Calgary man-about-town Richard White, on the subject of whether Calgarians embrace winter. I have to say I'm not a big fan of winter, but it's a fact of life in this part of the world. Hiding in your (hopefully well-insulated) home for a couple of months is one option (and I sometimes think contemporary suburban homes are being designed to accommodate exactly that - several months of isolating hibernation during which there's no need to actually leave your house! But I digress...). Go outside, everybody! If you're brave enough to venture out, there are a few nice things to be found.

For example. Only in Canada would it occur to anyone to put the patio chairs out next to a three-foot snowbank. Hooray for my neighbours at Caffe Rosso for showing great winter spirit and giving us a spot to sit in the sunshine in spite of the cold! Sure, we didn't last long, but we loved it for a few lovely vitamin-D-soaked minutes!

Now, if you're wondering whether Calgarians embrace winter, take a look at Chandelierville. It's the latest "pop-up" arts event dreamed up by the Vibrant Village Society of Inglewood & Ramsay, otherwise known as the "find it" team, and the folks who brought you the hugely popular Inglewood Night Markets this summer. I happen to be a member of this team, although this year I haven't been able to be as involved as I would have liked (I was too busy having a baby!).

Anyway, this year our team came up with the idea of inviting the residents of Inglewood and Ramsay to create do-it-yourself "chandeliers" with Christmas lights and hang them up outside their houses and/or places of work. We've had thirty entries and over fifty votes for our "OOH AAH People's Choice Award" for the top three chandeliers. (Voting ends at midnight on December 31st - don't wait! Vote now!)

But not only did we create a dazzling light display around our neighbourhoods, we created a dazzling display of community spirit, inspiring all sorts of folks to get creative and get together to brave the cold and tour "Chandelierville." Did I mention I don't like winter? But I strolled all around the hood with neighbours I'd never even met before, taking in the sights, and finished up with a hot chocolate at the amazing Ramsay rink!

Here are a few of the creations on display now in Ramsay and Inglewood! And take a look at the rest at www.finditcalgary.ca.

We can't make winter go away, but we can enjoy some temporary respite. And in Edmonton, respite is pretty important. Just looking at these snowbanks makes me chilly. Somebody pull down the shades!