Oakland, California; San Francisco, California; Toronto, Ontario
Gallery of California History: Spun the wheel to get Strike A Rick Vein, Retire to California!, on an exhibit on the Gold Rush Days. Meandering stroll through California history, since betore the acquisition of the territory from Mexico, through to modern-day Silicon Valley. Free admission on the first Sunday of the month an extra incentive for families to visit. (Gallery of California History, Oakland Museum of California, Oak Street, Oakland, California) 20220501Gallery of California Art: Revisiting patriotic stories from Chinese picture books #HangLiu (2012) Heroine of Gu Yanxiu has added plants and birds that didn’t appear in the 19th and 20th century originals. This image shows the heroine organizing women to plow the fields in revolutionary labour. The painter passed away in 2021, having previously been twice recognized by the National Endowmenf for the Arts. (Gallery of California Art, Oakland Museum of California, Oak Street, Oakland, California) 2022050SFO F gates: I wasn’t going to Hawaii, but one gate over were musicians, hula dancers and agents offering macadamia nuts. On the short flight SFO to LAX, the aircraft doesn’t even have entertainment screens in the seatbacks. First leg towards home, to meet my sister for a handoff of my father for the return to Toronto. (F gates, San Francisco International Airport, California) 20220502LAX Terminal 6:. Leisurely connection at LAX, as inbound flight was late. Excellent service on passenger assistance to get around the terminal. Automobile traffic outside was more stress. (Los Angeles International Airport, California) 20220502Arsenal Contemporary Art: Reflective fabric 40 metres long, stitched by @MataAhoCollective (2014) Kaokao #1, part of @TorontoBiennial. Pieced together by Maori artists, in a tukutuku chevron design used both as a military symbol and birthing maps. Size shown in relation to another visitor, innocently reading the description card for the work. (Arsenal Contempotary Gallery, Ernest Avenue, Junction Triangle, Toronto, Ontario) 20220507High Park: Cherry blossoms on a bright spring day attracts both parents with children, and social influencers looking for a selfie. Roads in the park closed to automobiles, traffic jams on the roads north of Bloor Street. Expedited the trip by taking the bike on the subway outbound, and riding on dedicated lanes all th eway home. (High Park, Bloor Street West, Swansea, Toronto, Ontario) 20220507OCADU Graduate Studies: In dimmed room, @mary_k_mcintyre 2022 Breathing Exercise #gradex107 @ocadugrad has partially gilded found cedar root lit from above, with cyanotype print behind. In shadow below is a charred pine branch. Work might have been better exhibited in a space with higher ceilings. Biography says metalsmith, maybe education is broadening the choice of materials. (OCADU Graduate Studies, Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20220512Centre for Social Innovation Spadina: Frdiay afternoon in-person social event for @climatecsi in the main lounge of @csiTO, bringing together enterpreneurs weary of years of Zoom calls. Easy to meet new people, as the cohorts have changed with years passing. Not a full representation, as the breadth of ventures has expanded nationally, so extra scheduling may be needed to catch individuals passing through town. (Centre for Social Innovation, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20220513St. Lawrence Market South: Volunteers @SLNASpeaks ReMarket sorting donations on the left, Free Market on the right open Wednesday to 7pm. Thursday Repair Cafe 11am-3pm. Waste reduction by keeping unwanted items out of the garbage. Long table has many clothes, I scored a Cuisinart food processor for one son, and a Tiger rice cooker for another, as they’re setting up households. (St. Lawrence Market South, The Esplanade, Old Toronto, Ontario) 20220518Villiers Street: Looking south, new eastern bank of future Villiers Island is dry, with the Commissioners Street Bridge in place for 2024. Had to stand on short concrete construction cylinders to see over the barb wired fence and blue curtain. When the Don River is redirected from the westbound Keating Channel, this roadway today will have been dug out and underwater. (Villiers Street, Port Lands, Toronto, Ontario) 20220519Pine Hills Cemetery: Celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Lowkong Society, the 吳 Ng Wu Ing Eng brotherhood in Canada. Ceremony explained that this monument is much newer, yet it’s a place that our sons have visited each year for decades. Cloudy day on Sunday was better than the tornadoes reported on Saturday. (Pine Hills Cemetery, Birchmount Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20220522Pine Hills Cemetery: Visited Mom’s final resting place on a cloudy tomb sweeping day. Planted some flowers, burned incense and hell money. Event was overdue, mobility has been discouraged in multiple years of pandemic. (Pine Hills Cemetery, Birchmount Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20220522Tov-Li South: Regaining lost time since university years and the wedding decades ago, had a casual dinner together to catch up on lives. Recapping the movements and careers of children who are scattering around the continent. Took some scheduling and logistics to coordinate this event just three of us across this big city. (Tov-Li South, Bathurst Street, North York, Ontario) 20220524Zoomerplex: Welcome and question-answer by #MarilynLightstone for @Doors_OpenTO tour of main hall, before seeing radio booth and museum. Complimented on her voice, she related history as a graduate of the second cohort of the #NationalTheatreSchool in Montreal, many years ago. I’m old enough to appreciate the career of this actress, but no so old that I’m listening to radio targeted to listeners reliving the 1950s and 1960s. (Zoomerplex, Jefferson Street. Liberty Village, Toronto, Ontaro) 20220528The Ismaili Centre Toronto: Park northeast of building is open not only for @Doors_OpenTO, but also wedding parties with photographers. Had joined 20 minute tour inside, the glass column extending up to the roof would be behind a featured speaker in the circular prayer hall. Guides were concise on Muslim history and religious history, I need to do some more homework to catch up. (The Ismaili Centre Toronto, Wynford Drive, Don Mills, Ontario) 20220529
Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre: Sumi-e (black ink on paper painting) #HiroshiYamamoto (2022) encountered on @Doors_OpenTO site crawl, although the exhibition of The Way of the Brush regularly welcomes visitors. Work is one of 13 artists, students and teachers of the JCCC program running since 1964. Other activities in progress concurrently were a guided tour of immigration in the Moriyama Nikkei Heritage Centre, and kendo demonstrations in the studio. (Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Garamond Court, Don Mills, Ontario) 20220529
Still a free thrill to carefully descend and ascend the arc of the bridge, holding handrails to moderate speed. Posted sign says closure in the fall, maybe time for resurfacing that happens every 10 years. Valley for the Lynn Creek is separate from the larger Capilano River, where we visited the fish hatchery. (Lynn Canyon […]
Dyadic waterfalls may follow Shinto style of complementary Odaki (masculine) and Medaki (feminine) forces of the natural world. Original small memorial garden with kasuga style lantern honouring diplomat Nitobe Inazō builtin 1935 did not survive vandalization when Japanese Canadians were sent to internment camps in the 1940s. Norman Mackenzie, president of UBC (1944-1962) recognized Nitobe […]
Overhead sculpture, light projection onto floor, + audio recording Yuan Wen (2025) Play in the Field, part of Impos(s)able Impositions: UBC Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition. At end of hall, drawings on xuan rice paper. Noises were intruding from the installation just over the wall, with sounds set for the opening night reception two […]
Outstanding view of North Vancouver mountains, and West End city centre from second floor patio on south shore of English Bay. Club is private for sailors, but upstairs is open for public. Can't remember visiting this venue when I lived in Vancouver in the 1980s. (The Galley Patio and Grill, Jericho Sailing Centre, Discovery Street, […]
Hoist from 1930s industrial heritage was moved opposite Sea Village in 2022. Prior location was hidden by Emily Carr University site 1980-2017 at 1399 Johnston Street, a building still vacant. Tower has become a landmark near southeast end of street, visible from Public Market. (Historic Yellow Crane, Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250503
Leisurely Saturday morning breakfast with scrumpet (crumpet variant) and crepe. Observing not only are visitors smiling and unstressed, but also the worker teams seem happy. Purchases from Muffin Granny, a food stall original in the market since its 1979 opening. (Muffin Granny Crepe & Bakery Cafe, Granville Island Public Market, Johnston Street, Vancouver, British Columbia) […]
Malaysian cuisine may not be found in Seattle, so sampled roti canal, beef rendang, carmellized ginger fish, and Assam curry tofu at steadfast Vancouver restaurant. Last time together may have been 16 years ago in Toronto. Catching up on years that have passed. (Banana Leaf, Davie Street, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250502
SUCCESS Care Home: Entertaining mother with crafty folding of paper butterfly. Since last year's visit, we were advised against offering food and snacks. Pushed wheelchair around the circular hallway. (SUCCESS Care Home, Carrall Street, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250502
Touring halls during preparation for The Show at ECU, 5 days before official opening. Background right painting Jesse Ward (2025) Mundane Presence. Installation on the floor yet unlabelled. (Emily Carr University of Art + Design, East 1st Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250502
Mounted early for The Show, ECU graduate Katherine Langdon (2025) The Set-Up draws the eye upon entry into hall. Is the subject with the head in the closet avoiding the situation, or showing discretion. Curtains on the framing suggest a performance? (Emily Carr University, East 1st Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250502
Two years after submitting an academic manuscript and responding to double-blind reviews, “Rethinking work, with the pandemic disruption” has now been published in the International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior (IJOTB) as earlycite. The article has a DOI (Document Object Identifier), and should be streamed with an official volume and issue number soon. The […]
The 128th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario was convened in person. The classroom was filled with current students, alumni, our regular participants, and a few curious newcomers. Moderated by Zaid Khan, the conversation was sparked by Stephen Davies and myself (David Ing) on the evolving styles in learning systems thinking. Stephen has been leading SFIN-6011 […]
The “Understanding Systems” SFIN-6011 course is a requirement in the master’s program in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCADU. For winter 2025, the class is now led by Stephen Davies, breaking the incremental evolving of content since 2008. While still on faculty at OCADU, the original course designer Peter H. Jones is now a Distinguished […]
In the 1970s, five ways of knowing were established by C. West Churchman in The Design of Inquiring Systtems. In the 1990s, his student Ian Mitroff carried on the tradition and extended that work in The Unbounded Mind. Now in the 2020s, the technology of Generative AI opens up opportunties to query or request responses […]
For readers with an interest deeper than the 15-minute presentation given in August, the Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Socio-Technical Perspectives in Information Systems (STPIS 2024) have now been formally publishied. The invited paper on “Reifying Socio-Technical and Socio-Ecological Perspectives for Systems Changes: From rearranging objects to repacing rhythms” was reviewed by the […]
The 125th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario coincided with the closing day for the RSD13-RSDX online program. As a regular systems convening group, we’ve had monthly meetings since January 2013. Zaid Khan moderated a discussion including me (David Ing), Tim Lloyd, Allenna Leonard, and Kelly Okamura. We recollected starting as a spinoff from Design with […]
Rhythm and pitch are primordial to language. Susan Rogers, after a career becoming Prince's recording engineer, turned to complete a PhD in psychology focused on music cognition and psychoacoustics.Read more ›
David L. Hawk (American management theorist, architect, and systems scientist) has been hosting a weekly television show broadcast on Bold Brave Tv from the New York area on Wednesdays 6pm ET, remotely from his home in Iowa. Live, callers can join…Read more ›
Following the first day lecture on Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1 for the Global University for Sustainability, Keekok Lee continued on a second day on some topics: * Anatomy as structure; physiology as function (and process); * Process ontology, and thing ontology; * Qi ju as qi-in-concentrating mode, and qi san as qi-in-dissipsating mode; and […]
The philosophy of science underlying Classical Chinese Medicine, in this lecture by Keekok Lee, provides insights into ways in which systems change may be approached, in a process ontology in contrast to the thing ontology underlying Western BioMedicine. Read more ›
In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
Timothy F.H. Allen, president of International Society for the Systems Sciences 2008-2009, passed away peacefully in his home, surrounded by his family, on May 1, 2025. With his work on ecosystem ecology, I learned more about living systems than anyone else in the systems community. After his retirement, he was proud of putting together a […]
In 2024, WordPress Studio was released, making installation on a local computer simpler. The instructions were modified from MacOS to Ubuntu Linux, by Daniel Kossmann, “How to install WordPress Studio in Ubuntu Linux” | Jun 15, 2024 at https://www.danielkossmann.com/how-to-install-wordpress-studio-ubuntu-linux/ I already had NVM installed, but in Terminal, with the result “command not found”. In the […]
The appreciation of change is different in Western philosophy than in classical Chinese philosophy. JeeLoo Lin published a concise contrast on differences. Let me parse the Introduction to the journal article, that is so clearly written. The Chinese theory of time is built into a language that is tenseless. The Yijing (Book of Changes) there […]
In trying to place the World Hypotheses work of Stephen C. Pepper (with multiple root metaphors), Nicholas Rescher provides a helpful positioning. — begin paste — Philosophical perspectivism maintains that substantive philosophical positions can be maintained only from a “perspective” of some sort. But what sort? Clearly different sorts of perspectives can be conceived of, […]
Finding proper words to express system(s) change(s) can be a challenge. One alternative could be diachrony. The Oxford English dictionary provides two definitions for diachronic, the first one most generally related to time. (The second is linguistic method) diachronic ADJECTIVE Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “diachronic (adj.), sense 1,” July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3691792233. For completeness, prochronic relates “to […]
