Scene on Queen (May 2013)

Tags

community, conversation, culture, interaction, life, men, photography, psychology, Queen Street West, toronto

Scene on Queen is my monthly single-photo feature capturing the teeming life and oddities on Queen Street West in Toronto.

(Click on Scene on Queen under ‘Categories’ at the left to see archived posts)

I take the photos with my Nikon CoolPix point-and-shoot camera on my way home from work — all from the comfort of my MINI Cooper cabin.

Lightning quick and in-the-moment.

Street photography at its wildest and weirdest.

At Scene on Queen, typical photography ‘sins’ like blurriness and bad composition are forgiven in favor of the story behind the photo.

Twelve months.  Twelve photos.

It’s all subjective, but know that in the split second just before I press the shutter, something clicks inside me — moves me to record it.

A strange pattern or reflection; juxtaposition or gentrification.

When the street light turns green, the moment’s gone.

For the full modus operandi and other cool Toronto street pics,

click on the post that started it all: Gone Snap Happy!

Scene on Queen

 

A conversation on the corner of Queen and Lavish & Squalor.

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Scene on Queen April (2013)

Scene on Queen March (2013)

 

Fenestration (yes, it’s a word)

Tags

architecture, beauty, cities, flowers, life, Montreal, photography, Quebec City, windows

Fenestration comes from the Latin word fenestra, meaning ‘window.’

In medicine or biology, it refers to the surgical creation of an artificial opening in the bony part of the inner ear to improve or restore hearing. (who knew?)

In architecture, it refers to the design and placement of windows in a building.

For today’s post, we’ll be referring to the latter as I showcase a few of my favorites  captured in Old Montreal and Quebec City. Voila!

Old Montreal 2012

“An actor entering the door, you’ve got nothing. But if he enters through the window, you’ve got a situation.” — Billy Wilder

Old Montreal 2012

“Never trust a computer you can’t throw out the window.” — Steve Wazniak

(Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window. Again, who knew?)

Old Montreal 2012

“Love is a piano dropped from a fourth storey window and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” — Ami DiFranco

(oh, that we could all, just once in our lives, know the delicious upheaval that comes from being struck by love that drops on us out of the clear, blue sky)

Old Montreal 2012

“If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade.” — Tom Pekis

Quebec City 2010

“Habit is habit, not to be flung out the window, but coaxed downstairs, one step at a time.” — Mark Twain

Montreal 2007

“What no wife of a writer understands is that a writer is working when he’s staring out the window.”  – Burton Rascoe

A writer is also working when standing in line for take-out, staring into space at the corner of Bay and Temperance in Toronto, where the idea for this post was conceived.

Hope you enjoyed!

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Upcoming Post: Scene on Queen

Scene on Queen (April 2013)

Tags

community, culture, life, photography, Queen Street West, Scene on Queen, shopping, toronto, vintage

Scene on Queen is my monthly single-photo feature capturing the teeming life and oddities on Queen Street West in Toronto.

(Click on Scene on Queen under ‘Categories’ at the left to see archived posts)

I take the photos with my Nikon CoolPix point-and-shoot camera on my way home from work — all from the comfort of my MINI Cooper cabin.

Lightning quick and in-the-moment.

Street photography at its wildest and weirdest.

At Scene on Queen, typical photography ‘sins’ like blurriness and bad composition are forgiven in favor of the story behind the photo.

Twelve months.  Twelve photos.

It’s all subjective, but know that in the split second just before I press the shutter, something clicks inside me — moves me to record it.

A strange pattern or reflection; juxtaposition or gentrification.

When the street light turns green, the moment’s gone.

For the full modus operandi and other cool Toronto street pics,

click on Gone Snap Happy!

Scene on Queen

The Painted Table — Queen and Roncesvalles (is that a wedding dress in the window??)

“Buy, buy says the sign in the shop window; why, why says the junk in the yard.” — Paul McCartney

(click on photo to enlarge)

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February Scene on Queen

March Scene on Queen

Flirting with Valentino; Going Home with Versace

Tags

Berverly Hills, couture, Los Angeles, perfume, Rodeo Drive, Valentino, Versace

On vacation in Los Angeles last summer, Monsieur and I visited Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills one hot July day.

Little did I know things were about to get steamy.

Rodeo Drive is known as the epicentre of luxury fashion. Three city blocks contain more than 100 world-renowned boutiques and hotels. The wide sidewalks and grand storefronts ooze engineered elegance. Palm trees line the streets like perfectly-placed dominos.

My flirtation began innocently enough at Valentino. As soon as I walked in, I was fussed over by two sales associates who looked like they had stepped off the cover of a Harlequin romance novel — albeit fully clothed — in beautiful crisp, black suits.

I wandered around, toyed with an animal print bag, and tried to glance nonchalantly at the $4000 price tag.  We chatted a little, but they could tell I was just there to play. Our exchange touched on the topic of fragrance and somehow I ended up with a wonderful elixir — a sample of the newly-launched Valentina Assoluto Eau de Parfum.

God is in the details….the bottle is exquisite, not one of those generic samples thrown in as an afterthought, but a tiny replica of the full size product — adorned with one large flower, the emblem of Valentino couture.

If that wasn’t enough, they packaged it with care in a shiny red Valentino bag and tied it “just so” with black satin ribbon.

Eau de Parfum – Valentina Assoluto.

Slipping me the sample was quite a seductive move on their part — catnip to me — given my weakness for perfume in general, and for a chypre accord, in particular.

The top notes tease with Italian bergamot, Smeggia peach from Sicily and white Alba truffle from Piedmont. The heart exudes intoxicating tuberose flowers from the Mediterranean; jasmine and soft vanilla from Madagascar. The base smoulders of silky cedar, oak moss and patchouli….

Language like that makes me melt. I was in Beverly Hills Heaven.

Sitll woozy from my encounter with Valentino, I cooled off by the fountain, my precious prize in hand.

(Taking a page from a fashion blogger, here’s who I’m wearing: Cami and jacket from White House Black Market in LaJolla, CA;  White denim jeans from Anthropologie in Toronto, ON; Nude patent leather slingbacks from Pretty-Small-Shoes, London, UK)

We stopped for lunch on the patio dotted with red umbrellas —  208 Rodeo Drive.

You know you’re in Beverly Hills when you drop $100 on lunch for a couple of drinks,  salad and two tiny sliders!!

To be fair, what happened next wasn’t entirely my fault.

Versace was partly to blame.  He was staring at me all through lunch. I swear.

His grand stature disarmed me, beckoned me with quiet confidence and relentless whispers to ‘just take a look.’

Versace, Beverly Hills

I succumbed to the call but resolved that nothing would happen between us.

I was mistaken.

It could only be described as love at first sight. I was totally smitten the instant I laid eyes on Versace couture!  Was it cornflower blue? Periwinkle perhaps?

The color and design details of this limited edition clutch made me swoon. Rich patent leather, precise, intricate stitching and — my favorite — a shoulder strap of gleaming chain intertwined with leather……oh, ti adoro!

Going home with Versace

I knew we belonged together and I dove in with all my heart.

Mio amore, Versace.

(I rationalized the purchase by dipping into a stash I reserve for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities)

Satisfied and unapologetic, I left Beverly Hills that afternoon with Monsieur on one arm  and Versace on the other.

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Upcoming Post:  Scene on Queen (April 2013)

Scene on Queen (March 2013)

Tags

art supplies, gentrification, graffiti, photography, Queen Street West, street, toronto, Woolfitt's

Welcome to Scene on Queen — a new monthly blog feature capturing the “teeming life and oddities” on Queen St. West in Toronto.

I take the photos with my Nikon CoolPix point-and-shoot camera on my way home from work — all from the comfort of my MINI Cooper cabin.

Lightning quick and in-the-moment.

Street photography at its wildest and weirdest.

At Scene on Queen, typical photography ‘sins’ like blurriness and bad composition are forgiven in favor of the story behind the photo.

Twelve months.  Twelve photos.

It’s all subjective, but know that in the split second just before I press the shutter, something clicks inside me — moves me to record it.

A strange pattern or reflection; juxtaposition or gentrification.

When the street light turns green, the moment’s gone.

For the full modus operandi and other cool Toronto street pics,

click on my July 2012 post called Gone Snap Happy!

Scene on Queen

Then….

June 2012 – Woolfitt’s — Funk-ified 

And now…..

January 2013 — Woolfitt’s — Gentrified

(Click on photos to enlarge)

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Previous Scene on Queen posts:

January 2013

February 2013

Upcoming Post:  Flirting with Valentino; Going Home with Versace

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Lost in the Details

Tags

Caribbean islands, DP Photo Challenge, ocean, sailing, The Grenadines, waves

An ocean swell taken at eye level through the port hole of the ship as she cuts through the waves in The Grenadine Islands.

This is my interpretation of Lost in the Details — the mighty ocean at eye level –captured from the port hole of the dining room on the 200-passenger 5-mast Royal Clipper.  The white, frothy waves dwarf the tip of the Caribbean island barely visible at the top left of the photo. Incredible experience.

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A Tale of Two Sunrises

Tags

Charles Dickens, Lake Ontario, nature, photography, polka dots, sky, snow, snowstorm, sun, Sunnyside Pavillion, sunrise, toronto, water's edge

It was the best of times………

A pinkish-blue haze — the early morning of December 30, 2012 — on the shore of Lake Ontario just west of Sunnyside Pavillion.

Birds nestle at the water’s edge; an ice-blue tinge casting a quiet spell over the snow and sky.

The sun peeks over the horizon, bathing the lake in warm, liquid gold.  

Enough poetry. This peaceful scene belies the mayhem that rained down upon this exact spot just 24 hours earlier when….

 It was the worst of times….

Hurricane snow…. the early morning of December 29, 2012 — pitch dark on the shore of Lake Ontario just west of Sunnyside Pavillion. 

I trudge to the water’s edge; a black-and-white-and-sepia-tone tinge casting a surreal abstract over the snow and sky.

The snow falls furiously, bathing the lake in giant polka dots.  The End.

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(Note: Snowstorm photos were taken in near darkness with my 35 mm f/1.8 prime lens).

Upcoming Posts:  An Afternoon With Valentino & Versace in Beverly Hills

Scene on Queen: publishing mid-March

Scene on Queen (February 2013)

Tags

books, cats, life, photography, Queen Street West, storefront, toronto

 

Welcome to Scene on Queen — a new monthly blog feature capturing the “teeming life and oddities” on Queen St. West in Toronto.

I take the photos with my Nikon CoolPix point-and-shoot camera on my way home from work — all from the comfort of my MINI Cooper cabin.

Lightning quick and in-the-moment.

Street photography at its wildest and weirdest.

At Scene on Queen, typical photography ‘sins’ like blurriness and bad composition are forgiven in favor of the story behind the photo.

Twelve months.  Twelve photos.

It’s all subjective, but know that in the split second just before I press the shutter, something clicks inside me — moves me to record it.

A strange pattern or reflection; juxtaposition or gentrification.

When the street light turns green, the moment’s gone.

For the full modus operandi and other cool Toronto street pics,

Click on Gone Snap Happy!

Scene on Queen

The River Trading Company: Mainly Books (and sometimes cats)

(Click on the photo to enlarge).

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I love, therefore, I take photos. (Part II)

Tags

autumn, cats, Montreal, nature, painting, photography, san francisco, Sausalito

I absolutely LOVE...

….that a total stranger captured my bliss in this moment.

In September 2004, a year after moving into my own place post divorce, my newly-minted self was caught up in a serious love affair with the city of San Francisco.

Here on the ferry, with the wind whipping my hair and the fog dusting the Sausalito hills, I was euphoric. Every time I see this photo, I remember what pure happiness feels like. I was finally myself again — only better. LOVE it, always.

(Fashion update — fanny packs are out, but print pants are now trending!!!)

And, I absolutely LOVE...

….the earnest expression on his face as Simba, self-appointed Inspector Of All Things Not-His-Business, conducts an impromptu tour of the inside of the dishwasher.

My ‘hell-on-wheels” cat is the silliest feline I’ve ever known and makes me laugh every single day. How could I not love that?

I also LOVE….

…my own silliness in spying on the apartment across the street in Old Montreal using my telephoto lens…..nothing was happening for the longest time when all of a sudden a huge, furry French ‘chat’ with a scowling face stepped into view, and well, it was such a lovely shot, perfectly framed, that I couldn’t NOT take the picture….could I?

I don’t want to come across as peeping tom although I think that’s pretty much unavoidable under the circumstances.

And speaking of Old Montreal, I absolutely LOVE…

….Rue Jacques Cartier, windswept, on a fall afternoon…

…and an Old World blaze of fire.

And, finally, I absolutely LOVE the lush texture in….

…this oil painting. And the talent that makes it come alive. This is the work of Monsieur. He’s a Concept Illustrator by day; an Artist by night.

I can only doodle and draw stick figures. If I try real hard, I can manage a pencil sketch that resembles a tree.

I’ve dabbled in painting, seduced by the rich colors and buttery softness of Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White. The results were often filed under one of two categories: Barely Acceptable Abstract or Big Fat Mess.

So, the fact that Monsieur has the expertise, the imagination, creativity and knowledge to push paint around in such a way that a beautiful human face emerges beneath the brush….well, it fills me with absolute awe.

And I absolutely LOVE it!

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Upcoming Posts:

A Tale of Two Sunrises  

The Day I Met Valentino & Versace on Rodeo Drive

Weekly Photo Challenge: Love

Tags

kiss, photography, Pier 39, san francisco, sea lions, Weekly Photo Challenge: Love

Sealed with a kiss!!

The California sea lions have been cavorting at Pier 39′s West Marina in San Francisco for 20 years.  I caught them in a quick peck. Does that say love?

(FYI — Sea lions have external ear flaps — seals do not).

(Click on the photo for an enlarged view)

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