With more time to read, I’ve recently finished Ross King’s Mad Enchantment. It’s the story of Claude Monet and the painting of his water lilies. Obviously I’m a fan of Ross King having read five of his other art history books. I quite liked the style of this one but I can’t quite say the same for Monet. A person can love his art yet think he was a big whining old fart. At least in the later stage of his life, Monet was a disagreeable codger who got a lot of favours done for him during World War I. Otherwise, it’s an interesting portrait of Georges Clemenceau, a figure I knew little of.
I’m nearly done Jack Weatherford’s Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, a really intriguing book. To say that Temujin had a hard life is a gigantic understatement. But to say that he was smart is too. The author is fairly heavily biased toward the great khan, but he backs it up with a lot of details about how he unified the Mongols. Unfortunately not all of his children and grandchildren were so intellectually inclined. I’m just at the part now where Kublai Khan takes over China. It’s quite a different story than what we read in the textbooks. Where the truth lies, I’m not sure. I’ll have to research that more. One thing that has struck me is the religious openness of the Mongols – aside from their own form of spiritualism, there were also Mongol Christians, Buddhists and Muslims. In this book the Mongols are painted as early globalizers. Fascinating and timely.
I’m well into The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. However, I can’t seem to keep with it. I absolutely love the writing and am enamoured of the main character, Aminata; it’s just too sad. It’s rare for me to read fiction so I’m kind of daring myself to finish it despite the horrible subject matter.
I had some friends over to the cottage for a bbq and forgot to serve the bean salad. It sat languishing in the fridge after I had worked to perfect the tarragon dressing using our own tarragon from the herb garden. And so, the bean salad deserves its due: a study in bean salad.
You’ll notice that I propped it up, de-propped it, moved locations, changed lighting conditions, and, finally, ate it.
Fabulous weather for a slow-moving parade. Happy Canada Day!
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The end of school has finally arrived, again. Here are a few pics. Thank you everyone!
CHY4U class
Last StuCo meeting (my literal last).
With Ryan and Andy and my giraffe-themed gift box:)
My amazing co-staff advisor, Ms. P., with Ryan and Andy.
Bonding.
My amazing guidance colleagues on the occasion of Ms. O’s retirement.
How could I have made it through the year without Karim? A million thanks.
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Cuts will hurt our students.
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Fletch – 19 years old. A very good boy. We had to say goodbye to him today.
Fletch should be remembered as the cat who cured himself of diabetes and lived through three near-death experiences at the emergency vet.
Fletch was my first cat. He’s the first cat I was allergic to.
He is lovingly remembered by Val, his best friend and loyal companion who brought him home from the Humane Society at age 1, his aunt Felicity, who cat-sat him often and just loved him to pieces!, and by me, his adopted dog person.
Fletch was pre-deceased by Bailey, step-dogs Hopi and Zuni, and survived by Shadow (his best cat friend) and Richard, his nemesis.
Fletch – good-natured, friendly, cuddly and sleepy!
Goodbye old man.
Love,
Risa and Val, Shadow and Richard
This person has one. I wish I could see like that.
Tapestry of Leaves by Susan Butler, York, England.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/apr/28/international-garden-photographer-of-the-year-black-white-photo-project
This is all I’ve got.
Olives at St. Lawrence Market, March 2019.
Withrow Park clubhouse, March 2019.
Queen’s Park protest, Apri, 2019.
… so Shadow would like to say “hi.”
That’s all. She’s very quiet.
Since 1909, International Women’s Day has been acknowledged and (sometimes) celebrated. Because its origins lie in various labour movements, it makes sense to look back at women at work. The links below show women at work in Toronto and Ontario.
Toronto women
Ontario women
Women’s rights in Toronto
We should not take anything for granted – we always have to work hard! Even in 2019 we don’t have full equality yet – there’s still work to do.
1975 Why Not? Campaign (CBC)
And now, for a comparison to today:
75 cents
The average amount earned by full-time working women in Canada for every dollar earned by men, according to Statistics Canada. The wage gap widens for women who are Indigenous, living with a disability, racialized or newcomers.
15.5 months vs. 12 months
On average, it takes women 15.5 months to earn what a man earns in 12, according to the Ontario Equal Pay Coalition.
$7,200 less
Women with the same experience, socio-economic and demographic background earn approximately $7,200 less than their male counterparts per year, according to an Ontario Government report.
Source: Canadian Women’s Foundation
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