Marilyn's PHotos - Sep 22 2026 - Autumn Late

 

This was a late astronomical start to Fall, and late in the day yesterday as well.  And all of a sudden here we are with temperatures that definitely say Autumn.  What do we expect in Autumn?  The word is "crisp" with mornings and evenings being and feeling colder.  With that, we end up in sweater weather. And we get some of the best foods in Autumn - not only delicious but fragrant - apple and pumpkin pies, roasting potatoes, squash and chicken or turkey.    These are great times.  But they are short, and definitely shorter than the best days of summer.  The Meteorologists say each season is getting shorter except summer.  Summer is 30 days longer compared to the 1960s.  That is six to eight days per decade change.  It starts earlier and ends later. That's the temperatures.  Add to that the placement of Victoria Day and Labour Day which expanded our "idea" of summer this year.  It is always educational to read the Weather Network - each province is given a "personality" and Ontario's Autumn this year is "unhurried" - the extended version of fall.  It also says to watch for a "fall fake-out"  - that an early season chill doesn't spell the beginning of winter.  That was accurate for today's morning temperature. Compare Ontario's personality with Quebec's - it says it will be "reluctant" - summer left early, but winter is in no hurry.  It is as if there are now meteorological poets out and about.  It is only September and this is still a flower season - lots of flowers blooming,  This is Sweet Autumn Clematis.   Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - Sep 22 2026 - Stuff vs Things

 

Isn't that so interesting!  Can you say one stuff, two stuff, three stuff more.  No.  But you can count "things" - one thing, two things, and so on.  So stuff is more general - uncountable and collective.  An undefined mass or mixture of objects, materials, or tasks. That's why there is an academic project to catalogue all the physical objects - it is called things-initiative.org and there's nothing for that mass and jumble of miscellaneous items. It makes me think thats why we often see what we own as being referred to as stuff.  A moving company would know how much "stuff" we have - between 1,500 and 3,000 individual items beyond clothes, books, and kitchen drawer stuff for two adults in an apartment.  That would translate into about 500 to 1,000 cubic feet of volume and fit in a standard 10 foot to 15 foot moving truck.   Make that a detached house and there is now 3,000 to 5,000 individual items. Your garage alone has between 100 to 300 items for lawn care, cleaning, and so on.  Now add two children and you have 10,000 to 15,000 individual items. There are 9.000 to 14,000 pounds of belongings.  There's a category named hidden storage - garage, basement, closets - which accounts for 30% of total volume. My guess is garages hold more than 300 items.  Equipment and gear sound like they have purpose.  But consider hobbies like collecting vinyl records, model cars, vintage items.  A collection of 13,201 frog-related items makes collecting stuff an activity that gets one fame in the Guinness Book of Records. That's a small collection compared to the Guinness Records for other things - 60,000 Star Wars Memorabilia collection.  Or video games - over 24,000.  Someone has more than 18,500 Barbie Dolls.  How do you store the largest fossilized poop collection?  There are 1,277 pieces.  And they have to be catalogued and photographed so become "things" being managed. The distinction of "stuff" is that it resists being counted, being discrete and individual.  "Things" are discrete and individual and possess an identify.   Here's the joke to sum up this topic: I went to a seminar on how to organize my things. Halfway through, I realized I didn't have organized things—I just had an overwhelming pile of stuff. George Carlin spoke wonderfully on the subject - the link is HERE.  And when I did a search for "stuff" in my picture database this image came up - file it under "funny stuff."   Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - Sep 21 2026 - What about my hair?

 

There's a headline in the New York Times this morning and it indicates that there was a shooting near Ontario, Canada.  I found this a humorous moment.  There's an awful lot of places near Ontario, Canada. Let's ask AI what's near Ontario, Canada.  It says Manitoba, Quebec, James Bay and Hudson Bay, and then Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Those are the land masses.  Then it goes on to include The Great Lakes - Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and then it identifies inland waters like the Ottawa River and Trent-Severn Waterway.   That last bit seems strange - why would it have inland waters like the Trent-Severn Waterway? It connects Lake Ontario to Lake Huron and is entirely inside Ontario.   It seems to me that we shouldn't count on AI to complete primary school homework. AI accuracy on factual questions is supposedly over 90%.  It seems a low number to me that after scouring all the dictionaries and encyclopedias, it remains at this level.  The Encyclopedia Britannica has an error rate of near 5%, so why not just get the answers from the Encyclopedia? The Canadian Encyclopedia got the answer of what's near Ontario correct, so why not just reference it?  I ask too many questions when I am looking for answers. So back to our memorable New York Times place reference.  The actual location of the synagogue attack was in Belleville.  I wonder what place the New York Times considers Belleville near to - it has to a place that Americans would relate to.  And the only place would be Toronto.  We were in Belleville last year - it is a very pretty town east of Toronto.  I visited a heritage home/museum.  I took this picture because it was so strange to me - it is made of human hair from members of a family and the hair is woven into pretty shapes such as flowers and butterflies - a common practice in Victorian times.  Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - Sep 20 2026 - Put Your Money Where...

 

Didn't Canada have a week awash with excitement!  We had the EU invitation to dance - some new sort of association with them. There was the Investor Summit with Mark Carney looking for a trillion dollars in investment from private capital sources, and promising tax breaks, and speedy response.  Airport privatization was on the agenda.  And our cold climate was a selling point - for AI data centres.   These were excellent distractions and responses to  the new US tariffs coming into effect on Tuesday. There's more to come. Next week it is the United Nations General Assembly where sovereignty and the economy will be every-present.  Add to that Parliament resumes with legislation ready for debate and discussion.  That will include Pierre Poilievre. He will be able to lead off the daily Question Period.   The alternatives in the headlines are far less appealing.  There's the loss of access to the White  House by key members of the press.  There's the fixation over the athlete who soiled herself during a race and wouldn't stop (soiling or competing).  That headline swirled everywhere and seemed hysterical.  There are numerous cases of marathon diarrhea.  It makes sense to me given how overwhelming the sport is on the human body.  I asked what percent might soil themselves, and studies indicate that between 30% to 90% experience cramping or diarrhea. A small fraction actually have leakage.  Maybe the headline last week was because the soiled athlete won her race.  And that it as an indoor event with messes everywhere.  So she went through all that for a win that she then forfeited.  Ouch.   That's why we're sticking with Mark Carney news this week.   Here's an innocent happy butterfly.  Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - Sep 19 2026 - Ladybug Dresses

 

Isn't that an Alice in Wonderland costume?  It is a runway dress this past week, by Thom Browne.  There was a butterfly dress as well.  I think there might have been more bug-themed outfits given the show's theme was based on "A Bug's Life". What an idea.  One's wardrobe with a ladybug theme.  Here's the Thom Browne outfit. Here's another idea - a black dress with bug feet sticking out the sides.   And there's a "Lady Mantis" sort of outfit. One can find ladybug blouses, pajamas, dresses, all kinds of outfits with a ladybug print or design.  I was especially fond of the ladybug print vintage bathing suit.   One can start very young wearing little love bug rompers for toddlers.  They move into ladybug costumes like little girls wear to fairy parties where they run around with their ladybug wings spread out.  If one goes to Pinterest and TikTok, one finds the make-believe world of "miraculous ladybug dresses" - these are beautiful fairytale evening gowns.  Are there still masquerade costume balls?  Yes there are - there's a Halloween Masquerade Ball in Niagara-on-the-Lake at Queen's Landing. This would be an excellent choice of costume. There are lots of Monarchs this year - all of theme heading south. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com