Oct 4 2021 - Deciding on your profile picture

 

We all have profile pictures now on social media, websites, and other places.  Particularly important is a profile picture on a dating site.  What got me considering this is that there are enough women who post a social media profile picture  and think that their kids, their dog, their husband and not themselves are ok content.  Men do similar things - typically pictures of celebrities or dogs. Quora has considered these sorts of approaches to women's profile pictures with many questions - these are all pointed at women.  There are none of these sex-oriented questions for men.   It is: How come guys don't put themselves as a profile picture? And the related questions are things like what is the psychology behind...Do you know why some people don't upload a picture...and so on.   But the questions about women are more compelling and reveal more about the person posing the question.  Here they are: -Is it right to assume that women who don't post pictures of themselves as their profile picture on social media platforms are not good-looking? I understand some women prefer a fabricated online social identity. But why the insecurity about looks? -What would you think of a girl who is considered hot but doesn't have pictures on Facebook or any other social media? -What do you think about girls who don't post selfies? -What does it mean when women constantly upload photos of themselves to social media? Is this a sign of insecurity? -Why do so many young girls post pictures of themselves on social media, with hopes that their pretty picture will somehow fix their lives? -What do you think about women who post a lot of selfies on Facebook? -What do guys think of a girl who has no Instagram? -What does it mean when an attractive girl doesn't have any social media? -For a girl that everyone tells her she's super beautiful and attractive, yet receives zero attention in social media, does that mean she's not attractive? Don't all beautiful girls get attention on social media no matter what? -Will you date a girl who doesn't have good pictures or isn't active on Instagram but looks good in person? -I am attractive but I don't like taking selfies. What is right with me? This last question illustrates last week's topic on the decline of spoken English.  It would be a great title for a posting on the lack of command of language to express oneself today. Here's the pretty gazebo at Charles Daley Park - this is a few years ago when the tree limbs were perfect at framing the gazebo.  I have made the leaves yellow as the wind comes whipping off the lake and the locust trees lose all their leaves in the wind as soon as they turn colour.   To make an attractive picture, one has to erase the parking lot in front of the gazebo. The end result is a perfect profile picture of Charles Daley Park's gazebo.

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Feb 18 2021 - About February

 

I've missed a lot of dates in February already.   We can catch up on all the monthly long "unique holidays".  What are they? American Heart Month An Affair to Remember Month Black History Month Canned Food Month Creative Romance Month Great American Pie Month National Bird Feeding Month National Cherry Month National Children’s Dental Health Month National Grapefruit Month National Weddings Month Spunky Old Broads Month Did you know that Valentine's Day and National Organ Donor Day are celebrated on the same day?  We haven't missed the next chocolate holiday after Valentine's Day - it is today National Chocolate Mint Day.  Is this a month we make fun of?  It seems to be that way. What month is the best month to tell a lie? …. Fib -ruary What is a ghost’s favorite month?… Feb – BOO – uary. What month is the Jake Paul’s favorite? …. Feb – BRO – ary! I can't wait for Tuesday, February 22, 2022 (2/22/22.  We can call it... 2's day Two images I worked on yesterday are from Charles Daley Park a few years ago - overlooking the lake, and looking into Charles Daley Park through rain on the windshield. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Nov 8 2020 - To Offer Congratulations

 

What happened last time when Trump became President?  Did everyone offer their congratulations?  Of course - it is a formalism.  My guess, though, is that they were not prepared for the onslaught of personal insults combined with the mess that he was about to unleash.  There is an entry in Wikipedia for his congratulations:  International reactions to the 2016 United States presidential election HERE.  What Trudeau offered in 2016, below, is very similar to what he offered Biden this weekend. "I congratulate President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory in the United States. Our shared values are strong. Our common purpose is to build countries where everyone has a fair chance to succeed, and where the government works first, foremost and always for the people it governs. The Canadian government will continue its hard work toward these ends, and we offer our hand in partnership with our neighbours as friends and allies as they move forward." This time he added: "We will further build on this foundation as we continue to keep our people safe and healthy from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and work to advance peace and inclusion, economic prosperity, and climate action around the world." Others showed relief: "Welcome back America !" tweeted Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris. A city official in Berlin said, "After the birth of my son, the election of Joe Biden is by far the best news of this year." I am sure there are some very funny comments and congratulations to come our way over this next week.  This will be part of the having fun again social movement. Our picture is yesterday's view of our beautiful weeping willow tree on the lagoon at Charles Daley Park.

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June 29 2020 - Our Maple

The Canadian Flag has the Sugar Maple Leaf on it - it is our native species.  Not the Norway Maple - it is our invasive species.  They are differently shaped, as covered by the Globe and Mail on the weekend.  The Globe had pictures of the two configurations and showed who used which one. Air Canada uses the Norway Maple shape is represented.   I did a bit of searching - there are lots of maple leaves used on logos. There's a maple leaf on the Canadian Tire logo - it looks like a Sugar Maple.   There's a tiny Sugar Maple on the McDonald's Arches.  The Globe pointed out the continuing embarrassment - the 20 dollar bill, released in 2013 and immediately became the subject of criticism for being like a Norway Maple.  Here's the response: "The central bank said the image on the new bills was purposefully designed not to represent any specific species but rather to be a combination of various kinds. “It is not a Norway maple leaf. It is a stylized maple leaf and it is what it ought to be,” said Bank of Canada currency spokesman Julie Girard. Jan 18, 2013" Most entertaining for me is the Maple Leaf Hockey team maple leaf logo.  It has its own world altogether.  It was a 47-point Maple Leaf when it debuted in 1928.  The latest:  "The leaf, now with 31-points, is a nod to the opening of the Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931 (the old one had 35 points), while the 17 veins represent when the team was founded (the 13 veins at the top of the crest alone also signify the team’s Stanley Cup wins)."   So here's the Sugar Maple on the left and the Norway Maple on the right. You can see the difference.  There are lots of logos to look at to check which one they use.  One way to tell when you are next to each tree?  A Norway Maple has white sap and a Sugar Maple has clear sap.  Find out more differences HERE.     And our pictures today show the difference between Charles Daly Park this weekend vs a few years ago.  The lagoon isn't very separated from the lake.  All the trees were taken down.  A stone retaining wall was put in at the east end.  Last season the shoreline was flooded and closed.  The cost of remediation along Lake Ontario's Niagara shores was $1.6 million.  I looked at the narrow band of sand on Saturday and wonder how it will look in a few months.  There is such shifting sand in Lake Ontario - there may be a sandy shore returned or no walk way left at all.

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Is Fake News a Dumpster Fire?

How did 2017 end and how will 2018 start?  In word terms, I mean.  We can easily find out about 2017 - there's a word of the year.  Wikipedia defines the word of the year:  "The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY" (or "WotY"), refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere during a specific year." The official dictionary sites report on the most searched word of the year and seems to be based on quantity - statistics rather than quality - assessments. The English Oxford Living Dictionaries says that the word of the Year for 2017 is... youthquake, defined as ‘a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people’. Dictionary.com has this word: Complicit.   Merriam-Webster's 2017 Words of the Year is Feminism, followed by dotard, gaffe, syzygy, and others. The Collins Dictionary word of the year is... Fake News. Wikipedia looks to the American Dialect Society for the definitive word.  Members in the 129-year-old organization include linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, editors, students, and independent scholars, according to the ADS release. Their word of the year is "Fake News." The society chose the phrase on Jan. 5th. They defined it as “disinformation or falsehoods presented as real news” and “actual news that is claimed to be untrue.” It was selected for “best representing the public discourse and preoccupations of the past year.”  What did they have to say about it? “When President Trump latched on to fake news early in 2017, he often used it as a rhetorical bludgeon to disparage any news report that he happened to disagree with,” said Ben Zimmer, chair of the American Dialect Society’s New Words Committee. “That obscured the earlier use of fake news for misinformation or disinformation spread online, as was seen on social media during the 2016 presidential campaign.” Here is the ADS' full list of words over the years.  And how does fake news relate to dumpster fire?  ADS' word last year was dumpster fire - (US, slang) A chaotic,unpleasant, unmanageable thing, situation or person:  a disaster. To find out about the origins of this expression, look at the Huffington Post article.  In the personal realm, there is a movement that seeks out a word to define one's year ahead. This kind of choosing relates to New Year's Resolutions.  Take a look at connect.org for more on this. Here are two of my favourite locations - the underground walkway at rush hour in Toronto's Scotia Plaza and the Charles Daley Park willow tree.

The Twelve Days to Christmas

How many days before Christmas are there?  The twelve days of Christmas?  No, not at all.  The twelve days start on December 25th and complete on the feast of the Epiphany, on January 6th. The song that we all know so well is an English Christmas carol, published in 1780.  It has been with us for hundreds of years.  The version we have today comes from the English composer Frederic Austin, in 1909, when he introduced the prolongation of the verse "five gold rings". Go to the wikipedia entry and see the table that shows the differences, variations and developments  over time.  The columns have the source, then the giver, and then 1 to 12 for the 12 days of gifts.  There are many rows with all the changes over time.  For example, it wasn't until 1966 that "My true love sent to me"  became "My true love gave to me". The song is considered to originate from a children's memory and forfeit game.  Each person repeats the gifts and when he/she misses one, he pays a forfeit (a kiss or sweetmeat) for the mistake. Does this song have a secret religious meaning?  History Myths Debunked website says no, and a resounding no.   Are there some notable parodies?  Yes - a long list in the Wikipedia entry. Still featured on the radio today is Irish actor Frank Kelly's recording "Christmas Countdown" in 1982 in which a man named Gobnait O’Lunacy receives 12 different Christmas gifts from a lady named Nuala. As each gift is received, the man gets increasingly upset with the person who sent them.  And did you know this song gave rise to a Christmas Price Index?  It started in 1984.  There is a total of 364 items, assuming they are repeated in full in each round of the song.  The total cost for all goods and services for the 2015 Christmas Price Index is US$34,130.99 or $155,407.18 for all 364 items.  In 1984, the cost was $12,623.10. We see Charles Daley park yesterday - full of snow and tobogganing fun.

Sea of Blue vs Autumn Yellow

Grimsby gets windy in October and November.  The result is that the autumn colours are blown off the trees very quickly.  No lingering autumn here.  Charles Daley Park has a wonderful willow tree overlooking the lagoon.  The colours and reflections are excellent photo subjects.  The other day the yellowing leaves were blowing, making motion blur patterns that caught the change from green to yellow. Autumn colours are not on the minds of most Torontonians today. The colour that will prevail is a sea of blue, with the Blue Jays' Game 5 this afternoon.  20,000 signatures are on an online petition to open the dome for the game.

Autumn in the Rain

How better to stay warm and dry - these pictures are taken through the windshield at Charles Daley Park, St. Catharines Ontario.