Arctic Exploration

Michael: "Hasn't everything already sorta been discovered though, by like, Magellan and Cortez?"
Buster: "Oh yeah, yeah... Those guys did a pretty good job. But there's still... you know."


I left the path here and walked off into the wilderness. I followed a small creek westward along a valley, hoping to find its source (somewhere just off 102 ave, I suspected). As I trudged through the snow, stumbling on hidden rocks and through half-frozen puddles, crawling under and over fallen trees, I began to worry. What if I wandered out of the valley on the wrong side of a fence, trapped and displayed like an animal in a zoo? Passersby would turn away in vicarious embarrassment and whisper to each other "Don't make eye contact with that homeless man." What if I was greeted by the fuzz, waiting to cheese me for trespassing on public land? Worry made the work of pushing through trees hurried and exhausting. It was too late to go all the way back now. The trees were denser now and the way less passable. Darkness was coming, and with it: bitter cold. In a panic I abandoned the trek and climbed the hill to the top of the valley, back to safety.

I re-entered civilization here.


There exists still undiscovered wilderness in the heart of Edmonton...


... Paths ne'er walk'd before.


On the southern tip of St George's Crescent.

I walked on the frozen river, imagining what it might be like to fall through the ice, to cling desperately to the edge, but to then be swept under by the currents.

Dramatic!

Homemade Toys

A few months ago, I decided to not just make home-made Christmas gifts for the grown-ups in my family, but also to make toys for my nieces and nephews. I set up a toy workshop (a table) in the basement, bought myself a jig-saw (after trying to use only a rotary tool), and started makin' like an elf.

Building Blocks
First I worked on a set of interlocking building blocks. This is an idea I've had for awhile. The building shown uses all of the blocks, before floor and roof pieces were built. The blocks were cut and then fine-tuned to fit using the jig-saw.


Train Set
I originally planned to make a few larger train sets. I drew curve pieces on poplar using a compass, and then cut them out with the jigsaw. After cutting a ton of pieces I settled on making 2 sets of a figure-8 layout.

I drew tracks on each curve piece using the compass, scored the lines with a utility knife, and then carved out and chiseled the track using a mini screwdriver. These are completely inadequate tools for the job! It took much longer than anticipated, and so did creating the connector pieces; they were shaped with a rotary tool out of wooden stir sticks. In the end, I only got around to finishing enough pieces for a single loop of track.

Teddy Bear
I found a pattern and instructions online, modified and traced the pieces off my laptop screen, then cut and sewed the material. When I had finished the first leg, I was surprised by how well it had started turning out.

Later that night I had all the main parts done.

The next day I sewed some ears, attached everything together, sewed on some eyes that I stole off a shirt of mine (it had extra buttons on it), and stitched on a nose.

All the parts are on crooked but it still looks cute!

Doll House
I sketched some plans for a house, and then cut the pieces (jig-saw again of course) so that they fit together for support. As I built it, hallways and windows had to be repositioned to work around design flaws so it wouldn't break. I built a few pieces of furniture: a bed, table, fridge, and stove. The staircase was a total cop-out due to lack of time, and looks more like a ladder!

My Other "Shop"
The basement got pretty cold, so I started doing a lot of the work in my living room. By the end, it was a disaster.


"Finished"
Here's a group photo taken on Christmas Eve after sanding all the wooden pieces to avoid slivers. The finished building blocks have roof and floor pieces, and the train set has a locomotive.

These projects took most of December to do. Due to poor planning and procrastination, most of the work was done in the last few days before Christmas! The next time I do something like this, I'll have back-up plans instead of committing to ideas that turn out to be foolish, and I'll start earlier. But I'll probably do it again because it was a lot of fun.