A brief history of four days

October 5th, 2008 Posted in Day to Day

Just got home from a very long weekend.  Started with a wedding in Georgetown for a good friend’s younger sister.  I was the videographer and it was a beautiful wedding, and reception. It was also really great to catch up with some old friends I hadn’t seen in some time. There was also an open bar.

The following morning (after the open bar) I headed into Toronto for Wordcamp at Centennial College. Wordcamp was great.  This was the first developer-type conference that I’ve ever been to and I came away with enough new information to keep me busy for months… Too bad I have a full time job (jk). As I piece apart my notes I’ll be writing a few more posts, but until that happens check out the videos and slide shows/resources from each session.  You can also follow the twitter stream (#wcto08) to see what everyone was saying throughout the weekend.

I also met some great people in real life. Social media is fun like that. You meet people from all over the world online and after many conversations/discussions you randomly get to put a face to an online personality at a conference or social gathering. Next time I think I’ll wear my Blue Jays hat to make it a little easier though.

Saturday night, between Wordcamp’s information packed days I headed into the city to check out Nuit Blanche. It is in it’s third year and it was also the third year I attended, but the first year I didn’t work/volunteer. This year I tried a different tact. Rather than trying to see everything and becoming an incoherent zombie all day on Sunday, Some friends and I stuck to one zone. Because the couch I was occupying that night was in the Annex, zone A was the chosen one.

There were a few good things going on in this zone, but, as it was noted throughout the night, I am quite particular (for lack of a better word) about the art I enjoy. The highlights for me were the BGL exhibit in an alley behind Massey Hall called Domain de l’angle. They turned an outdoor urban alley into an office space. A beautiful commentary on institutional space.

I also enjoyed the Stereoscope piece by Project Blinkenlights at city hall. I should clarify though, it wasn’t the Stereoscope exhibit itself that I enjoyed so much as the patterns I saw in other buildings after watching the city hall play Pong for about 10 minutes. Every building became a beautiful pattern of waiting to be discovered.

My friend described the night best in six words: That’s kind of cool, let’s move on.

We also decided to start making art.

Oh, and check out this awesome pillow case I slept on and these mitts that my friend is knitting!