MyLondon in Real Time – Day 5

Tags

architecture, fenestration, lifestyle, London, modern, Montreal, pub, stained glass, street photography, The Gerkin, traditional

I’ve landed in lovely London, staying seven days — mostly business. This time I chose to travel light. I still packed six pairs of shoes, but I left my beloved Nikon DSLR camera at home. On purpose.

With much debate, I decided to abandon my digital ‘dinosaur’ for a study in snapshots using my iPhone. It’s been done a million times all over the world, but it’s a first for me.

This is MyLondon in Real Time. The good, the bad and the mundane. Thanks for joining me!

Today’s post is all about London fenestration. If you love it too, check out my post on Montreal fenestration: Fenestration (Yes it’s a word)

If you missed Day 4, please click here: MyLondon in Real Time — Day 4 

The real thing — no faux finishes here. I love London fenestration. So beautiful!

The Blackfriar Pub

The Gerkin

Reflections — Traditional and modern.

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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

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