In 1968, Sedaris’s parents had just moved to Raleigh, N.C., and were eating at an oyster bar when the news came that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had been killed. Everyone in the restaurant — except the Sedarises — burst into applause. “Our family hadn’t been in the South very long, and that was a real eye-opener.”
A collection of twenty-one personal essays on approaching middle age by David Sedaris. It is engaging, cruel, humorous and witty. All at the same time.
I used to read close to a hundred books (not related to work) a year. I haven’t done that in a while. This year I have decided to remedy that by at least committing to reading one book a week (#1bookaweek). I promised myself to start in January, and look here, it is already March. So to read at least 52 books this year, I am going to need to pick up the pace. No worries, this girl likes a challenge. To make things more interesting, I am committing to also briefly reviewing every book I read. Perhaps not “reviewing” as much as writing a few scribbles to summarize my reading.
I am happy that the first book in my reading adventure is Insomniac City by Bill Hayes. A page turner that I finished reading at the cabin in a single sitting.
Insomniac City is:
A celebration of love, life and loss.
A love letter to New York City.
A love letter to Oliver Sacks.
After the death of his partner of sixteen years, Bill Hayes leaves San Francisco and moves to New York. Bill Hayes is a writer, photographer and insomniac. Seeking a fresh start in New York, he is rewarded by a city that never sleeps.
Hayes writes:
“If New York were a patient, it would be diagnosed with agrypnia excitata, a rare genetic condition characterized by insomnia, nervous energy, constant twitching, and dream enactment – an apt description of a city that never sleeps, a place where once comes to reinvent himself.
And reinvent himself, he did. He fell in love with New York City and then Oliver Sacks. Yes, the Dr. Oliver Sacks (I am a life long admirer!). Alongside the portrait of New York, Hayes paints a portrait of Oliver Sacks. We catch glimpses of his daily life: he writes with a fountain pen and has never used a mobile device. Has never emailed or texted (how is that possible!). He calls Hayes’ iPhone a “communicator”, he has no clue who Michael Jackson was and carries the periodic table in his wallet.
Told through notes and journal entries, Insomniac City is a book that you will devour in a single sitting. But perhaps you should press pause, and prolong your reading adventure.
Haywes writes:
I suppose it’s a cliché to say you’re glad to be alive, that life is short, but to say you’re glad to be not dead requires a specific intimacy with loss that comes only with age or deep experience. One has to know not simply what dying is like, but to know death itself, in all its absoluteness.After all, there are many ways to die — peacefully, violently, suddenly, slowly, happily, unhappily, too soon. But to be dead — one either is or isn’t.
The same cannot be said of aliveness, of which there are countless degrees. One can be alive but half-asleep or half-noticing as the years fly, no matter how fully oxygenated the blood and brain or how steadily the heart beats. Fortunately, this is a reversible condition. One can learn to be alert to the extraordinary and press pause — to memorize moments of the everyday.
Good bye Dr. Oliver Sacks, we miss you!
My friend Tom Hobson and his partner in crime Zoe Daniels are organizing a Toronto version of Comedy Hack Day and it is happening in November. November 14 to November 15, 2015 to be exact.
This is a weekend long hackathon where you get to build a funny app, website, SaaS solution, hardware project or anything that you would like to build, provided it is funny/comedy related. As a developer you will have an entire weekend to do that, and at the end of the weekend you will get to demo your creation at a public show on Sunday night. A comedy show to be enjoyed by everyone who cares to join us!
Interested? Well, go ahead and apply to participate. Now.
If you have any excuse that you would like to use to avoid joining us, let me tell you this: your excuses SUCK! So join us. You will have a blast. And you will meet some awesome new friends. You have questions? Well Zoe and Tom are a friendly bunch, so go ahead and ask them anything!
If you are curious about what happened at other Comedy Hack Days, well check out LA, NYC, SF and everything you need to know about Comedy Hack Day Toronto can be found here, and here is how it is shaping up:
Apply to participate in the hackathon.
Purchase a ticket to see the comedy show and view everything that has been built during the hackathon.
And did I forget to mention the awesome judges? Check out this judges line up! See you in November!
The 4am Panic is achieved when the work I need to complete exceeds my mental capacity to consider it. Something annoyingly biologically chemical is triggered at 4am where apparently I must uselessly consider all of my current work on my plate for no productive reason at all. Just stare at the ceiling and fret until I fall back to sleep.
In my case I don’t actually fall back to sleep and simply head to the office at 5 am. Starring at the ceiling while watching my entire to do list scroll by is pretty maddening. I am an internal optimist who REALLY needs to learn to delegate.
This is where my read books, half read books, loved and unloved books end up @dovercourtlittlefreelibrary. Today’s delivery: David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell and an awesome travel guide to Madagascar. Enjoy !
On the 5 AM front: failure to report to duty at 5 AM. I have a good reason: too much wine and bourbon with friends. But yes, that’s just an excuse. Leila @ 5AM 1 / The world 1. We are even.
Leaving the home at 5 AM is my goal. Today I failed, but this gem on the way to work made me laugh out hard as I was beating myself!
I bet you didn’t know that I have been involved in helping bring the Maker Faire to Toronto. Our last year’s Mini Maker Faire was amazingly successful. For those of you not familiar with the Maker Faire, it is the greatest show and tell faire EVER, ok with perhaps The Great Exhibition as an exception! I have been attending the Maker Faire in California for years now and was thrilled when I started seeing Maker Faires popping up all over the world. Our 2013 Toronto Mini Maker Faire was amongst hundreds of faires held worldwide. And last weekend New York City’s Maker Faire was the 5th annual Maker Faire in New York City. It was also the 50th anniversary of the 1964 World’s Faire at the same site. The first Maker Faire was held in San Francisco in 2007. And this year we celebrated over 100 Maker Faires of which 65 were in North America!
For those of you not in the know (yes, the 3 of you) Maker Faires are award winning family friendly faires at the intersection of technology, education, science, arts, crafts, engineering, food, sustainability and more. Our Toronto Mini Maker Faire in 2013 was a geek celebration and it was amazing to see so many families, makers, engineers, children, artists, performers – all 4,000 of you! Thanks for joining us and making the Faire AWESOME. Our workshops were sold out, our makers incredibly busy demonstrating their creations, we ran out of space, it was crowded … it was insane… and electrical!
This year we are back at it and planning an even bigger faire. And we hope you will join us because it will be incredibly fun and you will be at the center of the third industrial revolution 🙂 The idea of making something ourselves is not new. We have been makers and creators for centuries. But making viewed through the lens of the Maker Faire is about bringing together a set of disciplines that at first look don’t relate to each other: arduinos and music, engineering and light, micro controllers and (robot) giraffes.
And honestly, where else would you see incredible projects, meet fantastic makers and find yourself amongst thousands of maker friends aged between 9 and 90!
So this year, don’t miss the Toronto Mini Maker Faire happening in November. It is free. And it will be awesome.
And just to get you dreaming, here are highlights of the New York Maker Faire 2014 which wrapped up last weekend. I had a blast and so will you in Toronto in just a few weeks!
Russell the electric giraffe is probably my most favourite Maker Faire project! I have been watching Russell grow since 2007! Here is an awesome trip down memory line with Russell.
“Digital Being” (in the above photograph) is a series of kinetic installations made of technological garbage. The installation at the New York Maker Faire was shaped like Manhattan. Taezoo Park who is a digital artist based in NYC creates these installations and asks what if an invisible and formless creature could be born from and within the circuits of electronic waste? If you saw the children interacting with it, you would have your answer! Below is an image from one his previous installations (not at the faire):
The InMoov is open source, 3D printed and lifesize! Photo by Becca Henry, reporting by David Beauchamp.
Thulani Ngazimbi from the Rad Black Kids makes custom longboards and guitars. The group also plants a tree for every product sold. Photo by Becca Henry, reporting by David Beauchamp.
Stephen Hawes shows off his wrist mounted flamethrower. It is controlled by an Arduino board and uses a modified taser circuit for ignition. Photo by Becca Henry, reporting by David Beauchamp.
One of my favourite maker at the New York Maker Faire was Justin Weiner from BWArchitects with his artistic light installation. I helped him set up on Saturday early morning. I don’t have a video of his faire installation in the evening but this Tribeca video will give you an idea of its awesomeness.
So mark your calendar for the Toronto Mini Maker Faire and join us to celebrate tinkerers, inventors, and the next generation of makers, believe me when I say it will restore your faith in humanity.
On Wednesday I attended Toronto’s first edition of Stone Soup organized by my good friends Stuart Candy and Ceda Verbakel. It was a combination dinner party and storytelling. When the invitation landed in my inbox mentioning sharing a story, food in the form of a potluck and the company of 15 hand picked friends and strangers I rsvped with a hell yes!
For those unfamiliar with the Stone Soup story, the story goes like this: a traveler arrives in a village with nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon her arrival, she asks for assistance from the villagers for dinner and shelter for the night. The villagers are unwilling to part with any food or provide assistance as times are hard. The traveler having a cooking pot goes to a stream and fills it with water and puts it above a fire. She then drops a large stone in the cooking pot. A first villager walks by and asks her what she is doing to which she responds “making stone soup” which tastes wonderful however it needs a bit of additional flavouring which she is missing. The villager does not mind parting with a few carrots to help out. So that gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot as well, and the traveler mentions that the stone soup in the making still needs more garnishes to reach its full potential. This villager hands her a bit of seasoning to add to the soup. And slowly as villagers walk by and inquire as to what’s cooking and each part with a little something that can be added to the soup, the village ends up with a stone soup that is delicious and feeds everyone.
The Stone Soup version I am familiar with is la soupe au caillou by Father Phillipe Barbe (1771). I always loved the original ending.
Growing up I was a big fan of fables. Bonjour Jean de La Fontaine! Anyone remember La cigale et la fourmi? The entire collection of Barbe contes et fables philosophiques is accessible online and it is a wonderful read (albeit you will need to speak French!).
I am sure there are many many variations of the Stone Soup story and a version to suit pretty much any country or culture. It is such an adaptable story with a beautiful ending.
Last night’s first edition of Stone Soup in Toronto was in theory a pretty simple event: get a few people together for dinner, ask everyone to bring a dish since dinner was potluck style and pick a theme for the evening. Yesterday’s theme was “first”.
The evening started in the garden with drinks and nibbles. It was a wonderful evening under the Toronto spring skies.
At some point in time, Stuart ask everyone to proceed to the living room, much to my dismay, I mean it is spring in Toronto, why would anyone spend time indoors when they can be outside? 🙂
The potluck spread was impressive! We started the dinner portion of the evening and by the time I sat down at the table you could hardly hear yourself think: everyone was engrossed in conversations – pretty much like any dinner party you would be invited to!
Stuart called everyone’s attention to the beginning of the story sharing part of the evening. Sharing a story required one to stand at the head of the table . Standing at the head of the table was a bit un-nerving for some participants but it was a good idea as it changed the dynamics of the room: suddenly you became the story teller and everyone around you the audience. It was interesting to hear the participants stories throughout the evening and see the room get transformed by the story teller one story at a time. The most amazing thing for me to watch and notice was how everyone paid attention to the story teller. The audience’s attention was focused on the storyteller and the story. Very similar to a stage performance – much more informal of course – with a dynamic of engagement with the audience: people nodding, approving, laughing but ultimately completely focused on the story teller.
Seeing the event unfold reminded me that events that seem to flow really well, be unformal and facilitate an intimacy, honesty and generosity that you rarely see are really orchestrated events. The Stone Soup evening was informal but Stuart and Ceda provided an invisible structure that made for an evening that everyone loved. Each of the rituals of the evening helped shape the evening’s experience:
The evening’s storytellers came alive while telling their stories and the room shared their excitement. I am looking forward to the next installment as it was a bit of a magical evening where the currency exchanged was attention: undivided attention paid to the story teller. I think I have made new friends. Congrats Ceda and Stuart for bringing Stone Soup to Toronto.
A la prochaine.
I wrapped up 2013 with a robotics hackathon which was incredibly exciting and I am starting the year with an art hackathon, the Gen Art Hackathon! I am really excited to be helping organize and support this next hackathon which is the brain child of my friend Xavier Snelgrove.
What is the Gen Art Hack: for starters, Gen Art or Generative Art (thanks Wikipedia!) refers to art that in whole or in part has been created with the use of an autonomous system. In this case a computer. Instead of using brush strokes we will be using algorithms to create masterpieces to share with the world.
The hackathon will be bringing together programmers interested in visual design and arts to play with new dynamic web technologies to create art. It will be a fast-paced lively environment where everyone is encouraged to have fun, collaborate and create.
And this little hackathon is already sold out! We have a waiting list if you are interested in being added to the wait list.
Our plan is very simple: the hackathon is a single day hackathon but we will get together on Friday to meet each other, learn what we don’t know in a series of workshops and figure out what we will be building on Saturday.
The Plan
We’ll run workshops on Friday, introducing you to the APIs (Canvas, WebGL, etc.) if you haven’t used them yet. You will be expected to have at least some basic programming knowledge. The next morning, the hackathon starts: we provide food and drink, fueling you while you create.
When and Where
The Gen Art Hackathon is taking place in the TinEye HQ in Toronto. Friday February 15th and Saturday February 16th.
Workshops start at 7 PM on Friday, February 15th. These will be a great place to meet your fellow hackers and artists, and brush up on your coding skills. The next morning, Saturday, February 16th at 10 AM, the hackathon begins. We hack all day, have dinner, and then at 7 PM have a public art opening, and you can show off your works.
What you can do ahead of the hackathon?
Connect with other hackers, check out the hackathon resources and brush up on your skills, start thinking about what you may build. Visit Form Follows Function and play with some of the gen art examples:
Another great resource has been put together by Mikael Hvidtfeldt Christensen, a physicist with a passion for computational chemistry, generative art, and complex systems in general.
We can’t wait to see you on February 15th!
Love a hardware hackathon? I am sure you do! Haven’t you heard hardware is the next big thing? This internet of things is for realz! Have you ordered you new Raspberry Pi yet?
Hardware hackathons: it is about designing and building something. So if you are interested in learning about hardware, designing something of your own and building it in a weekend then the Get Your Bot on is your hackathon.
As most you know I am a big fan of hackathons, and this one is no different except it is all hardware.
Get Your Bot On will bring together software and hardware hackers, makers, designers, geeks, hardware and software partners, mentors, judges and DIY curious.
Get Your Bot On will be held in the Mozilla offices; we will take care of all your refueling needs and more during the weekend and of course will provide all the hardware you will need to build your robot.
Here is everything you need to know:
Details: Friday November 23 to Sunday November 25, 2012
How you can get involved:
– Register to attend. Registration is now open but space is limited, so don’t procrastinate if you want us to hold a spot for you.
– Know any sponsors? TinEye is proud to be a sponsor but the hackathon is looking for more sponsors to make this an awesome event. You can become a sponsor today, pick a sponsorship level you are comfortable with and help support this hackathon. If can’s sponsor but you know anyone who can help us offset the costs of the hackathon, please get in touch.
– Help us offset the cost of hardware by simply sponsoring some hardware. You can support our hardware acquisitions from as little as $1. Sponsor hardware now.
Come Get Your Bot On it is after all a hardware renaissance!
[Photograph (c) C.M. Keiner]