Art

Fandom Rug Making

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Over the last couple of days I finished another two rugs. Spending about four hours on each rug seems to be average. These next two had more intricate designs in them. Both fandoms are near and dear to me, which is why I chose to make these.

Akira has been my favorite anime since I first saw it as a teenager in the late 80’s. Something a bout the style, music, and pace of the film just captivated me. I own every iteration of it on video, I owned a shirt for almost thirty years from it, and the soundtrack has been in my playlist for ages. It seemed natural to want to do something from this film as my own personal rug.

The Powerpuff Girls was something that my wife and I connected over when we first started dating. Ever since then we have been enjoying finding items, gifts, trinkets, etc from the series. (Read more about our love of PPG Here)

I was able to put both on one framing this time. The Akira one will be going on my side of the bedroom opposite the The first one I completed for my wife. The Powerpuff Girls logo is going to my wife as a soft support for her wrists while she uses her work computer.

Both turned out pretty awesome. I completed the final touches on my Akira rug, and my wife wants to do the last bit on the Powerpuff Girls one. Now that I have a better understanding of how to tuft, I am looking forward to making more challenging pieces for myself. Next week, I already have an idea of my next one to make.

Any suggestions on what I should attempt next? Keep in mind that the size is under 36” square, so no area rugs at this time. But I do love my fandoms and anime. I have a feeling those will be the majority of what I make. Once I get good enough- I may just start to sell them.

Day One of a New Hobby

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Today I finally saw some progress in My New Hobby- Tufting. After getting My Little Corner ready the other day, I have been frothing at the mouth to try making my first rug.

It started with a design. I wanted to try something elegant and easy. I chose “L“ for my wife. Besides it being the letter of her first name, it’s also from one of her favorite anime shows- “Death Note”. I took the image, reversed it, shone it from my projector onto the back of the fabric- where I traced it out with a sharpie.

Then came the fun part! Using the tufting gun. It was a neat process and once I got going, my confidence grew. I started with the outline of the letter, then filled it in.

It wasn’t necessary to keep the lines or yarn touching as it filled out pretty good. My wife gave a couple of tries as well. I think she may want to tuft in the future as it is a very satisfying sound and feeling.

The way the yarn comes out thick a full makes me happy. The rug is already feeling very soft and looking pretty. Obviously I hope to see some progress and get better at it.

After a couple of hours, I had made quite the mess and used two full things of yarn. I had to call it quits since it was getting late and I have work in the morning. There’s still a few more steps to go in the process before I can say I have made a rug. Like gluing the back to prevent the yarn from being pulled out. Or trimming the front so that everything is smooth and even looking. The final step is giving it to my wife to have.

Stay tuned for an update by the weekend on the final results.

THBBFT!

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Sometimes you just have to stand up, step aside and say THBBFT! to your problems.

Today was that day for me. I was hitting a few roadblocks in my attempt to start my new hobby. Everything was starting to turn around at one point, then BLAM-O. Nope. Turns out the tufting gun’s power source was fried. I couldn’t even start with my first yarn. So I ordered a new power source. Hopefully by next week I can try again.

Walking away a bit frustrated sucks. I thought things were starting to look up after a few hiccups in getting my images to show up on my projector. That was a lot of trial and error, then perfection! I was so pleased that I was going to be able to start tufting before the end of the year. No such luck.

But I have some time now to look up more images or watch videos on tips and tactics of how to tuft. Perhaps I will use that time to organize my work space and arrange the flow. Whatever I choose, it won’t be actual tufting quite yet.

Oh well. Such is life.

New Hobby- Tufting

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I love doing a variety of crafts and art. I enjoy sharing my art as well- not to make money or exposure, but because I am proud of what I make. I am often inspired by others and enjoy jumping in to try new stuff.

Newest obsession for art? Tufting! The art of rug making. Naturally I had to spend some money to buy things that are needed for this hobby. Here are some of the items I got.

This is a tufting gun. It is a cut pile style of gun. It will puncture through the fabric and cut the yarn as I go.

This is the razor I will use to clean up the strands of yarn on the visible side. I will also use it for some added texture to the rugs.

Sheep shears! Pretty industrial feeling. These will be used for more of the heavy labor of trimming the rugs.

Those are just the power tools I needed. The next thing I needed was a frame. So I went and bought some 2×3 boards and went to work building it earlier today.

This is what I want to call my “Starter Frame” It has a three foot square area to work inside of. I added adjustable legs depending if I am sitting or standing to do the work. I added carpet tacks along the frame so that the barlap style material used for rugs can be stretched out and held in place while I work.

My wife and I went to the store and bought a lot of yarn in many different colours. This is the foundation of the rugs. Each spool was around $3. I’m not sure how much gets used, but I will find out soon enough.

Tomorrow I will make my first rug. Sort of. I’m going to be more or less just be learning how the machines react and some basics. Stay tuned for my progress. I’m excited about this new hobby.

Twelve Days of Appreciation: Day 4-MUSIC

Posted on by Josef Havelka

It sure wouldn’t be Christmas without Christmas Music! This is an easy Appreciation post. As a child growing up in a Catholic School, I learned many Christian hymns and classic choir style songs. At home, my father would play the radio on Christmas Eve and we would listen for the Santa Tracker news reports until bedtime. Christmas music has always been a big part of the holidays.

I start to sneak in a little bit of Holiday cheer starting in October but playing the soundtrack to The Nightmare Before Christmas. That plays into November periodically. By November 25th, I start into more Christmas Classics.

Every year at the end of November and first week of December, I noticed there was a preview of Sirius XM. My car and my wife’s car are equipped to have Sirius XM, but after an initial introduction to it, we cancelled back in 2017. However, one of the most fun songs we ever heard at Christmas was Jing-a-Ling. Our two oldest had a blast bouncing along to it.

I put on the radio again on December 1st and was promptly out of our yearly game of Whamageddon. That hurt. But now I don’t have to be fearful waiting to find out if I’ll lose.

This year I have been enjoying some Jazz renditions of Christmas music on Spotify. They are nice background piano and horn pieces that can fill the room with an ambiance unlike any other.

Are you a fan of Christmas music? When do you start playing it? Let me know in the comments.

Twelve Days of Appreciation: Day 3-Lights

Posted on by Josef Havelka

It wouldn’t be the Christmas season without lights! I love Christmas lights and always have. When I was a child, the outside lights that hung from the roof strung right past my bedroom window. There was no specific sequence of colours- just glass bulbs. Some painted solid colours others were clear. My bed was under the window and I would fall asleep staring up at the lights. One would flash randomly off and on. It was magical to me as a child.

As I grew older, I began having Christmas lights and a small tree in my bedroom. I wanted the magic to be around for the whole winter and the lights stayed on over night; every night. Our next home also had the lights outside my window. Only this time there was a peak, so I got to enjoy twice the lights. My father had changed our lights to be two red and two green alternating now.

Last Year 2021
This Year 2022

Now that I have my own home and can decorate for our family, I have the Christmas lights up on the outside of our home and on by December 1st every year. This year we bought all new lights and everything is warm white. I love how we match more of the neighborhood and it really suits our home much better.

Of course the Christmas trees need lights as well. Over the years we have done multi-coloured, straight red, and now white. I like having matching lights inside and out. It adds a sense of elegance. Christmas lights just brighten my day and I love seeing them everywhere.

Even yesterday I added some lights to our palm tree in the backyard. This is not just to look festive, but also functions to keep it warm as the temperatures drop as we crest into winter.

Are Christmas lights a favorite of yours as well? Show me your lights in the comments or send me a link to Instagram! I’d love to see them!

Twelve Days of Appreciation: Day 2-Decorations

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I love decorating for Christmas. I am one of those people who start decorating on November 1st and finish around now. This has always been my favorite part of the transition from Halloween to Christmas. It’s a slow and gradual season change for our home.

I have always loved putting up decorations. As a child, I would put up handmade snowflakes in my room and I even made winter scenes for my toys on display. With the use of craft paper and white cotton batting- my toys enjoyed a winter wonderland. As I grew older, I continued to make my own decorations and put them out. Sometimes I even made decorations and gave them away to specific folks.

Over the years, my wife and I have changed our styles of decorating. For a while it was whatever hand-me-downs and handmade decorations and ornaments we had. Now it’s still some of our own handmade decorations, yet the new ones have become more elegant and comforting.

Soon there will be a time when some of our decorations will be given to our kids. They have been given ornaments over the years that they will take as they start their own decorating and traditions. At that time, I wonder if our home and trees will feel emptier.

A favorite picture of me after decorating.

But for now, I love seeing our home decorated for the festive season. I also enjoy being inspired by others and how they decorate their homes. Christmas decorations bring me joy and really get me energized for Christmas.

Decorating The Tree 2022

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Last night we went to work decorating our main Christmas tree. In doing so, we kept our regular traditions alive of how we decorate.

First, we put on The Wiggles: Yule Be Wiggling. This video has been played every year for nearly two decades. It’s a favorite of our teenage kids and it wouldn’t be Christmas without singing along!

Second was having eggnog. My wife had a spiked FIRENOG this year. Which we have been making for years. One of the best combinations for a festive drink that i can imagine. So easy: Fireball and eggnog. Warm and tasty going down.

This year we finished decorating the tree in just under an hour. Later this week our oldest will be coming out to put up their sentimental and special ornaments. They were supposed to come over and join in the fun, but got taken down by Covid earlier this week and hadn’t quite gotten their energy back yet. Maybe we can show The Wiggles again while they decorate their portion!

About two weeks remaining until Christmas and I’d say that our home is festive and welcoming for Jolly Old St. Nicholas to swing by. As well as friends and family- we’d love to share our space with you.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Decorating The Tree 2022

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Last night we went to work decorating our main Christmas tree. In doing so, we kept our regular traditions alive of how we decorate.

First, we put on The Wiggles: Yule Be Wiggling. This video has been played every year for nearly two decades. It’s a favorite of our teenage kids and it wouldn’t be Christmas without singing along!

Second was having eggnog. My wife had a spiked FIRENOG this year. Which we have been making for years. One of the best combinations for a festive drink that i can imagine. So easy: Fireball and eggnog. Warm and tasty going down.

This year we finished decorating the tree in just under an hour. Later this week our oldest will be coming out to put up their sentimental and special ornaments. They were supposed to come over and join in the fun, but got taken down by Covid earlier this week and hadn’t quite gotten their energy back yet. Maybe we can show The Wiggles again while they decorate their portion!

About two weeks remaining until Christmas and I’d say that our home is festive and welcoming for Jolly Old St. Nicholas to swing by. As well as friends and family- we’d love to share our space with you.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

NBX Shrine

Posted on by Josef Havelka

We love NBX. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s the film “The Nightmare Before Christmas” by Tim Burton. I have loved that film since it originally came out in theaters back in 1993. I saw it back then when I was 17 and have loved it ever since. I own a VHS copy of the film as well as a couple versions on DVD. We watch it a couple of times each year in some fashion.

We own a lot of fan art of the film as well. Our oldest painted the swirl hilltop one, I 3d printed Jack’s head, but my favorite is the couple going to the park. I love how this film can bring out the artistic side of people.

As a family, we have enjoyed trips to Disneyland at Halloween. Meeting Jack and Sally, riding the Haunted Mansion ride when they changed it to NBX. Even dressing up as a family in costumes to be the characters at Halloween. Plus my wife’s favorite car decal ever- “My Family is a Nightmare” has adorned a couple of our cars now.

We bought some fancy statues by Jim Shore in Disneyland a few years ago. And again, our oldest made miniature paintings for each character. These stay on display all year round in our living room. Kind of like a small symbol of our family.

This Christmas, my wife has created a shrine to display more of our Nightmare Before Christmas stuff. It’s in her office on the fireplace mantle. A fun and friendly reminder of such a great film and all of the memories we have created as a family together from it.

So if you are ever in doubt of a gift idea for any of us- something from NBX aka The Nightmare Before Christmas would always be welcomed!

I Didn’t Do Much… But Christmas Is 35 Days Away

Posted on by Josef Havelka

This past week I was on Staycation. Honestly, I didn’t do much out of the ordinary. I enjoyed time with my family, had a lot of days of just Darwin and I. While my wife and youngest went out to Calgary, I watched his races on the live stream. Which were probably better than being in person as the cameras were ice side. Plus I wasn’t in a cold rink.

Normally if my wife leaves for a weekend, I get antsy and start some major project. Not this weekend. I did take some extra Christmas lights and put them around our gazebo. I mixed the red my wife wanted and the white that I wanted and am pretty happy with how it looks.

I had told my wife last week that I only wanted to put up two of our four artificial Christmas trees. Before they left, she asked that I don’t put up our living room tree until the start of December. I did put up one of the trees we have- I put it up in her office. She was happy went I sent the picture to her. It means we will be putting up a third tree in our basement now.

My wife doesn’t like the idea of downsizing our trees. So moving from four to three really isn’t so bad. We did three trees before. That generally works better for us. One is our elegant tree, one is the kids tree (all those handmade and silly ornaments collected over the years), and our third is usually just the ornaments we like, but they don’t quite go on either of the other two trees (yet we cannot get rid of the ornaments). A fourth tree is just too much. Mostly we just had lights and it would be outside

I enjoyed my time off. Now it’s back to the grind. At least until my next week of vacation at Christmas.

I Didn’t Do Much… But Christmas Is 35 Days Away

Posted on by Josef Havelka

This past week I was on Staycation. Honestly, I didn’t do much out of the ordinary. I enjoyed time with my family, had a lot of days of just Darwin and I. While my wife and youngest went out to Calgary, I watched his races on the live stream. Which were probably better than being in person as the cameras were ice side. Plus I wasn’t in a cold rink.

Normally if my wife leaves for a weekend, I get antsy and start some major project. Not this weekend. I did take some extra Christmas lights and put them around our gazebo. I mixed the red my wife wanted and the white that I wanted and am pretty happy with how it looks.

I had told my wife last week that I only wanted to put up two of our four artificial Christmas trees. Before they left, she asked that I don’t put up our living room tree until the start of December. I did put up one of the trees we have- I put it up in her office. She was happy went I sent the picture to her. It means we will be putting up a third tree in our basement now.

My wife doesn’t like the idea of downsizing our trees. So moving from four to three really isn’t so bad. We did three trees before. That generally works better for us. One is our elegant tree, one is the kids tree (all those handmade and silly ornaments collected over the years), and our third is usually just the ornaments we like, but they don’t quite go on either of the other two trees (yet we cannot get rid of the ornaments). A fourth tree is just too much. Mostly we just had lights and it would be outside

I enjoyed my time off. Now it’s back to the grind. At least until my next week of vacation at Christmas.

What’s A Unico?

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Hello Kitty

Our middle child has been a huge Hello Kitty fan ever since a pair of shoes was put on their feet at around age two. Darwin went to a Hello Kitty Super Cute Friendship Festival a few years back. We even went to a Hello Kitty Cafe in Tokyo in 2018. We still buy Hello Kitty gifts and that will probably never stop.

But even after sixteen years of enjoying everything Hello Kitty and Sanrio- Darwin discovered a character that they knew nothing about in the Sanrio universe. No, not Dar-Chanrio…

This evening I put on an anime film from 1981. I remember watching it with my little sister when I was a child. As the film credits began- the old Sanrio logo appeared. Darwin was shocked to have not know of this movie (or it’s sequel). Immediately an internet search was underway.

After a dive into the official Sanrio and Hello Kitty sites, no mention of Unico is made. But a search of Wikipedia and a Hello Kitty fan page showed this cute unicorn is indeed a piece of Sanrio’s past.

The discovery of this character was a bit mind blowing. It was almost turning into a “Mandela Effect” moment as there was no record of Unico on the official websites. In all honesty, the first film was nothing special. We will probably watch the second one in the future. I don’t think anything Unico will enter Darwin’s collection.

But I could be wrong.

Wreathing

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Over the years we have made numerous Christmas decorations and wreaths. The wreaths are probably my favorite. This year we added two new ones.

The one on the right I had made about four years ago- Wreath Making on the Cheap. The Jack Skellington one was in the process of being made for a couple of years. Both are now hanging up on the doors to my wife’s office. Inside her office is a shrine to The Nightmare Before Christmas. I’ll share that in a future blog.

The wreath on our front door was completed last week by yours truly. Since our home is going more “elegant” it required me to take the red and green off of it. This one has a bunch of “picks” that are gold, silver and white in colour. Honestly, these were small decorations that we had sitting in a box and saved for years. Now they have a purpose.

I’m a fan of making decorations and homemade ornaments and such. Last year two of my favorite pieces were made: Upcycles Boards.

Do you make your own Christmas Decorations? Let me see in the comments. I love being inspired by others.

Halloween Is Over

Posted on by Josef Havelka

It took less than 30 minutes for me to pack up the Halloween decorations and put them back into the attic. And of course, I decided to bring some Christmas decor down. Specifically the one that has brought the family the most joy.

Creepy Santa has Returned. He came out of the attic the day after Halloween- knowing that his time to emerge and terrify was upon us. He immediately disappeared into his first hiding location. Waiting to be discovered.

The only other decoration that makes an appearance so soon is Timmy- our tin soldier. All year-round he sits in the corner of our outside front entryway underneath our security camera. Once Halloween is over- he gets turned to guard our entrance. I was thinking that I may move him to the upper balcony instead, so he can watch over the neighborhood. He is the perfect pop of color needed for our house.

Because the weather was so nice today, a part of me was almost ready to put up the outdoor Christmas lights. But some of my plans were changed around and the idea fell towards the back burner only to be ignored completely by sundown. Maybe it’s too soon for Christmas decorations. Hahaha.

Have you begun slowly Christmas decorating as well? Or do you bring everything out at once?

Beetlejuice Carving 2022

Posted on by Josef Havelka

This year someone suggested I do a Beetlejuice theme on my pumpkin. Originally I was going to do him from the cartoon with Lydia and the title plate as well. In the end I opted to do the snake version from the original film.

After years of carving pumpkins, I have gotten faster at it. My first intricate pumpkin was a Jack Skellington one that took over 4 hours to complete. Every year I get faster. I am also able to visualize the finish product as I go.

My intensity in pumpkin carving has passed on to my two oldest children. They have also spent hours carving pumpkins. Our middle loves doing anime fandom style. They are busy working on theirs this afternoon as well.

Besides a picture- sometimes I wish there was another way to preserve these art pieces. But they are meant for one night and then they cut up and into breads, soups and pancakes. We don’t just toss them in the trash once Halloween is over.

Do you carve pumpkins? How much time do you invest in doing it? Show me some of your favorites please!

Beetlejuice.

Rolling Art

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I’m still a big fan of the art people put on the side of rail cars. Some days the art just speaks to me.

Seeing a comic dragon on the side of a grain car entertains me. It’s not scary, nor is it “fan art”. Yet somehow it seems familiar. It’s perfect for the Halloween vibe.

Then there is the poorly written grammatical phrases that show up. Not all of those are swears or derogatory words are great. Sometimes the Gruve is in the heart. The fact that our autumn has been exceptionally mild and warm is the appropriate sentiment.

Spreading these works of rolling art is something I enjoy doing. I hope you enjoy the artwork as much as I do. I wish I was as talented as these artists are.

October Movie Schlockfest

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Every day in October I am planning on watching a cheesy movie. Preferably sci-fi and/or horror- the more “cringy” the better. So far I have watched three films that really fit the bill.

First film I watched was “Invaders From Mars” made back in 1986. I remember this film coming out on cable tv in the 80’s and I was so excited to see it. It is not good. Lots of excess screaming and ridiculous looking aliens. None of which is scary by any means.

Last night I watched “Cube Zero” which I was honestly hoping would be as good as “Cube”. Alas, it fell short. In fact it almost ruins the idea of what the original film “Cube” was about. But cheesy acting and ridiculous practical effects helped to make it more campy than “mind fuck” like it’s original.

Tonight I went back to the 80’s for an absolute disaster of a film. “Munchies” knew it was campy and ridiculous from the start with hints at “Gremlins” and numerous other movies prior to it. It is not a good film by any means. I lost interest in it by the end and was nodding off on the couch by 9pm.

The idea of watching cheesy and campy films came about on September 30th. That was the day my middle child and I decided to watch “Hocus Pocus 2”. Cheesy, corny, nostalgic and not very good. Perfect to get my tastebuds wet with the month of October.

Do you have any extra cheesy films for the spooky season that you would recommend? I have a few saved on our streaming device.

I Turn My Camera On

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Today would have marked my father’s 80th Birthday. One of the few things I have kept of my father’s is his camera. It’s nothing special to anyone but me. Valued at $40 used on eBay. The Praktica is nothing more than a 35mm chunky camera.

The reason it’s special to me is that my father realized that when I was born- he did not own a camera. He went out and bought it within a couple of days of my birth. Partly because there was some uncertainty in my living beyond a short while. I had respiratory issues from birth. But that’s another story. This camera was purchased in 1976- the original receipts and warranty card are still in the carrying case.

I ended up using this camera in high school back in the mid-nineties for my photojournalism class. I took numerous black and white photos with it as well as colour pictures. Some of those ended up in the year book. Including my favorite which was a collage overlay of four photos together making up the front of the school. Not too easy to do when there was no preview screen and had to wait to get the images developed.

Now as our son enters grade 11- he has taken up photography as his art major. With it came a curiosity of my father’s old camera. In the first week of photo classes, he went through four rolls of film just taking black and white photos with it. Soon he will develop the pictures and see what he has created.

The one picture that my son wants to take with the camera is one I am impressed he thought of. It’s nothing outrageous, but rather one that brings the camera’s journey full circle. He plans to take some photos of my father’s tombstone- using the same camera that my father had bought to take pictures of me at birth. It’s quite convenient that the graveyard is merely steps away from the school grounds.

I’m not going to lie, at first I had a tough time allowing my son to use the camera. But he has been respectful and understanding of the sentimentality to me. He keeps it in the case and is very careful when handling it. As I said, there’s no monetary value to this item. But it means a lot to me as I wish my father could have seen the lovely grandkids that were produced. I would hope he would’ve been proud of me. But I didn’t become a good father to impress him. I became a good father to spite him.

Happy 80th Grampa. You missed an entire world, yet somehow you are still a big part of mine.

Gonk

Posted on by Josef Havelka

So last week we returned from Disneyland and I was inspired by Galaxy’s Edge to finish a project I started last year. My own Gonk.

I had collected parts over the last year to create my little droid. Mostly greebles and a couple of tubs put together in a random fashion. I added hinges to the tubs so that I could use it for storage. I glued and screwed the parts together. I used some bondo on the sides to clean it up.

I put the little dude together and gave him a coat of grey primer spray paint. It already looked pretty good once it went grey. But I wanted to add some more detail in the painting.

I tested some coloring on the top and bottom in order to make it look like a rust bucket. I prefer the way the top half turned out. The bottom was a bit too much. So I’ll re-paint it eventually. But for now, my little Gonk is going to greet me in the garage whenever I return home. It just needs a name.

More ID4

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“Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. “Mankind.” That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!”

~President Whitmore

This has to be one of my favorite monologues from a movie in modern cinema. I have another favorite from the movie “Four Rooms” but that’s for another day. The quote from President Whitmore is from the film Independence Day.

ID-4 is one of my favorite films that I must watch EVERY SINGLE YEAR! I’m not American, but the cheesy and campiness of the film is fantastically put together with action and comedy throughout. We watch it as Our Canadian Tradion on July 4th. After I finish work tonight, we shall be engaged in the watching of said film once more. I can recite so many of the lines from the film that I could practically do it in my sleep. I’m pretty sure my kids can do the same.

Hopefully they will pass on the tradition of watching the film as the years go on.

Do you watch this film regularly like we do? Let me know your favorite scene in the comments!

Colour Contrasts

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I have been enjoying the vividness of the world lately. Specifically the colour contrasts that occur outside over head. I cannot stop enjoying the skyline.

The sunsets have been spectacular over the past year. It was something I don’t remember-because for fifteen years, we were surrounded by trees. As I watch the sky change colour, I am awestruck on a regular basis that I was somehow missing out, yet no one else really talks about it. Just a regular part of everyone’s day that was taken for granted.

But seeing the sky change so dramatically had me thinking about the inverse colours of some of my regular items. I snapped a photo of my blue lava lamp and pink salt lamp just to see the difference. It’s as equally stunning in a psychedelic kind of way. I think that the next time I see a beautiful pink sunset, I will try to capture the inverse of it as well.

Are you enjoying the sky as much as I do? Perhaps you have taken numerous photos as well. Or maybe you have done more artsy images of inverse colours. I’d love to see them.

Darwin Did It!

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Last night’s Graduation Ceremony was five hours long. Because it was a Fine Arts Graduation- it was run a bit differently than most. First the students were broken up by majors and called alphabetically by these. Dance, Drama, Music, Photography, Visual Arts, and finally- Writing (Darwin’s major). Between each category, the Grade 11’s for each of the majors put on a short performance as a thank you.

Darwin was one of the last to be called up to receive their diploma. Once all the pomp and circumstance was over- the kids got to mingle with friends, family and teachers in the lobby. I was taken aback by the amount of congratulations that were offered up to the parents as well. But looking back over the years- it’s kind of understandable. Like many parents- we’ve been through a lot as well!

Even though the ceremony is behind us, there is still more to come over the next week. A Grad Dinner and Dance, an After-Grad party and the final day of school. Then a summer of freedom (sort of…) to enjoy the last bit of youthful follies.

Again, my wife and I are extremely proud of our Straight A student. As a middle child, we know that they put more pressure on themselves even when we told them to take it easy. But the results are something that Darwin is proud of! And we couldn’t be happier.

Finding Beauty At Work

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Sometimes work is not the place a person wants to be at. Especially on a sunny day or worse- when things don’t go right. It’s hard to find a slice of joy at work during the ups and downs.

I do my best to try and find the beauty all around me. Oftentimes my work just has it rolling right by me. Today I saw some artwork that caught my eye. Where the car sat- the backdrop was perfect. Naturally I had to get a picture.

I love the image someone vandalized on this grain hopper. It’s ironically of a grain silo on the side of a grain car. But it is so well done and detailed that you almost forget that it was created with spray paint and done illegally. Clearly the image of a silo in the prairies with northern lights emanating from the background is something of significance to the artist. I love how they were also able to make the lights look like they are actually glowing.

I am fully appreciative of the skills it takes to make art of this scale. The amount of time and effort to hone in on their talents astounds me. Over the years I have been able to track more of the art down on Instagram and I have even been in contact with some of the artists. My appreciation has been expressed to them for creating beautiful pieces in an otherwise monotonous and grey environment. Keep up the creativity and I’ll continue to share the art as it rolls from town to town.

Continuing Cosplay

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Years ago we introduced our children to the world of cosplay. They loved the idea of being able to be a character from a show or video game. My wife enjoyed making their costumes. I enjoyed acting out the characters with the family. We all really enjoyed showing off at Comic Cons.

Pokémon Trainers and a wild Pikachu!

For me, that felt like a lifetime ago. We haven’t dressed up for conventions in years. Halloween was a wash for me last year, as I didn’t dress up. I did my Obi-Wan for May 4th, so I was happy there. The love of dressing up in cosplay is still rampant with our 18 year old. That also makes me happy- even if I don’t know the characters they are doing.

Out of the blue, our middle went to our next door neighbor yesterday and asked if they would come over to help with some cosplay photos. After living in our home for almost one year, this was the first interaction the two of them had. It was a positive one. Our neighbor, who is 16, has been interested in doing cosplay but was unsure where to start.

Good thing we moved in next door! Now our middle will have someone to teach the joy of cosplay to. I am really happy that my wife and I encouraged this activity years prior. It has helped with our kids expressing themselves through fandoms. Now that expression is being shared from our teens to others.

That’s pretty cool.