If you care about waffles and journalism – even a tiny bit – this thread will make your day. https://t.co/wOOPlK2s14
— andrea tomkins (@missfish) May 27, 2018
On the nightstand: The Marrow Thieves
30 May, 2018
By andrea tomkins in Ottawa
Last night I attended the media launch of the 2018 edition of Doors Open Ottawa. We’ve participated in Doors Open for a few years and I’m so pleased that this amazing event has gained more and more traction every year. As Mayor Jim Watson put it in his opening remarks, Doors Open represents a unique opportunity to see a side of Ottawa that we haven’t seen before. I totally agree! If you haven’t heard about it before, Doors Open can be summarized in this way: dozens of buildings, places and spaces, open their doors to the public for tours. And it’s free! Some of the places on the list are ones you can see anytime on your own, like Maplelawn in Westboro, and others are the kinds of places you’d probably NEVER get to see otherwise, such as the Canada Council Art Bank, where the media launch took place. I had heard about the art bank, but until now I never fully grasped what they do and never truly understood the important role they play in Canadian art and culture. (Sidebar: this is only the second year the Art Bank has been part of Doors Open. So if you love art and can only visit one place, GO HERE. Here’s a bit more information about what’s in store for visitors to the Art Bank during Doors Open.)
The Art Bank took my breath away. This is the largest collection of contemporary Canadian artwork in the world: 17,000 works by over 3,000 artists. The Art Bank buys artwork from emerging Canadian artists, which they then rent to various businesses and organizations. Money raised from that goes to buying more art, etc.
A group of us had a guided tour through a giant warehouse of art – all kinds of art. It was wild. Honestly, you have to see it to believe it. These photos do not do this place any justice whatsoever but will hopefully give you a tiny idea of what’s in store if you choose to visit.
Our guide was Claudio Marzano. He’s a curator of contemporary art and an art consultant at the Canada Council for the Arts / Art Bank and is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about art. He was the best guide, and I think he’s got the best job. Imagine being assigned to select some cool new art for the upcoming G7 summit? And being able to promote new/upcoming/diverse voices in the art world while you’re at it? #DREAMJOB
Anyone recognize those tall white sculptures at the back there?
It was an amazing visit and I hope a few of you Fishies go see the Art Bank this year. I feel very fortunate I had the opportunity to see it. Here are a few other Doors Open stops I’d like to check out this year:
Phew. That’s a bit of a list, eh? At the very least I think it gives you an idea of the kinds of places that are represented. It’s not just churches, embassies, and heritage buildings, although there are plenty of those.
These are some places we’ve been and enjoyed in the past, in case you’re new to Doors Open and are not sure where to begin:
Here’s the entire 2018 Building List and handy Doors Open Ottawa 2018 Interactive Map. You can also view or download the 2018 Building Guide as a PDF. (This one is a bit easier to read.)
Good things to know before you go:
As I wrote about previously, we’ve been busy planting/weeding/chopping stuff down in our backyard. Mark trimmed some trees and took out a whole bunch of branches recently, which is great until you have to clean up/bundle up the aforementioned branches. Sigh. In these cases, it’s helpful to have an end game in mind. Which is: (a) to get ahead of the overgrowth and (b) slowly improve our outdoor space. This has all been rather slow going, so slow, in fact, that it’s taken 20 years to get where we are today. I wish I was kidding.
I’ve been sitting here thinking about what I REALLY want for our backyard (other than a weed-free experience, of course). I would like our shed to be more organized, and maybe some better storage for our patio cushions, but that’s neither here nor there. As a good friend reminded me recently, it’s much healthier to focus on what we DO have instead of what we don’t have. She is right. For starters, we have a great back deck. We have a decent BBQ (natural gas, so no need for propane tanks!), a new/old plant stand, a modular couch (which we got in 2009), a table and four chairs, and a chaise lounge.
We have so much already but when I really drill down into my hopes and dreams I realize my backyard wish list consists of two things:
(1) A natural gas-powered fire pit embedded in our flagstone patio with some cozy seating around it.
(2) Lighting
Number two has just been stroked off my list, thanks entirely to this new purchase from Costco:
I have wanted these ever since I can remember. There is a soft spot in my heart for “Edison-style” bulbs, in other words, clear bulbs with “exposed” filament…
… but I was never able to find a string of outdoor “Edisons” that looked sturdy enough to withstand the shenanigans of those pesky Westboro squirrels AND were a good price. Also: I only ever saw incandescent bulbs. LED lights strings are almost always awful. And by awful, I mean cold and blue, the VERY OPPOSITE OF THE FEELING I WANTED TO CREATE. You these a lot at Christmas time. Unsuspecting shoppers buy them thinking they’re going to get something warm and twinkly that reminds them of their childhood but instead they end up with $150 bucks worth of icy glare that induces blindness.
Anyhoo. So, a purchase was made and we skipped to the cash registers with the bulbs and a 3lb bag of Chicago mix popcorn. (I’m sure the cashiers thought we were going to have SOME big party!)
The package states that these are “commercial grade” and they aren’t kidding. This is a heavy, heavy-duty, thick black cabled string of lights. The bulbs are plastic by the way, which was disappointing for about 1.5 seconds until I banged the whole string on the ground and then another dozen times while hanging them. Did I mention they are heavy?
Assembling the set wasn’t a big deal. I screwed in each of the bulbs, then Mark and I spent a sweaty half hour hoisting the heavy cable over tree branches; looping them hither and yon in a way that I think is Pinterest-approved. When we turned on the switch (er, plugged the extension cord into the outlet), this is what happened:
My name is Andrea and I live in Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Sunny who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. During the day I work as a freelance writer. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.
If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here.
I've deactivated the commenting function as well as my contact form so if you want to get in touch, please drop me a line at quietfish@gmail.com. Thank you!
