Toronto, Ontario; Waterloo, Ontario
Heliconian Hall: Quintet @Soren_Nissen @TorontoJazzFest performs music inspired by months living in India, composed after return to Toronto. Closing evening of the festival, some exterior signs have already been removed. (Heliconian Hall, Hazelton Avenue, Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario) 20180701 Willowdale: Browsing new family generations photo book, routed from Houston to Los Angeles to Toronto. Quiet summer day with Canada Day observance, since July 1 fell on a Sunday. (Willowdale, North York, Ontario) 20180702UWaterloo Env3: Two days @CANSEE Graduate Student Research Symposium, serving as discussant on early stage projects. Invited as a systems sciences lurker in the ecological economics community. (University of Waterloo, Environment 3, Waterloo, Ontario) 20180705 Vari Centre: Internet bots talk @gtalug by Don Tai at a leisurely pace. Venue moved to huge lecture theatre, audience actually sitting close to the front. Informed participants contributing comments interactively. (GTA Linux User Group, George Vari Engineering and Computer Centre, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario) 20180710 Balmoral Park: Leisurely dinner at home of friends since UToronto B.Comm. days. Agreed that we’ve lived through some good decades, as the world has gotten tougher for later generations. Options of 2000 Bordeaux and Iranian cuisine worth falling off strict diets as small indulgences. Early summer evening, with insects cooperating in the back yard. (Balmoral Park neighbourhood, North York, Ontario) 20180714 Hart House: Map Room is a shady lounge, a rest stop on the way back from bicycling across the city, on a hot summer Sunday. An convenient destination for an alumnus, I didn’t hang out here when I was a student, because I lived so close to campus. Teens playing sports on the fields outside. (Hart House, University of Toronto) 20180715Visual Analytics Lab: Synthesis maps @OCADU_SFI graduate students for Systems Thinking Ontario monthly meeting. Big screen of the Visual Analytics Lab a special affordance not usually available to us, with a long conference table instead of sitting in a circle. (OCADU, 205 Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180716 CSI Regent Park: Henna art @csiTO by Bibi Noor, during Party on the Patio, top floor of the Daniels Spectrum building. An opportunity to bridge the three buildings across the city, and meet members with their families in a relaxed time. (Centre for Social Innovation, Regent Park, Dundas Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20180719Woodbine Park: Cloudy @BeachesJazz @LailaBiali @Larnell_Lewis @RossMacIntyre William Sperandei show mixing jazz and reinterpreted pop music, with Canadian references. Break from morning rain left muddy field, sun is losing against grey. (Beaches Jazz Festival, Woodbine Park, Toronto, Ontario) 20180722 CSI 215: Playshop @csiTO @kcscooper @CycleToronto @anika__ Al Chick on #designthinking prototyping for youth and adults on cycling safety. Not related to, but coincident with City of Toronto deadline for #VisionZero applications, towards reducing collisions of pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and motorists. (Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20180726
Harbourfront: Glass studio @HarbourfrontTO quiet inside, new glass to melt at 2050°F or 1220°C. Contrast to the web side of the building, full of visitors and music playing on a summer Sunday. Quick tour of the galleries, I haven’t seen the exhibitions in a few months. (Harbourfront Centre, Queen Quay West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180729
Toronto, Ontario
Riverside district: Backyard visitors coming through garage for Betty’s Paper Arts Estate sale. For 2 weeks, DY has been sorting through contents originally packed away and stored after Betty’s basement flooding. Then Betty unexpectedly passed away from surgical complications. This Sunday, the scrapbooking community has come together to redistribute the supplies. (Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20180603Koffler Gallery: Show+tell @KofflerArts Kimberly Rose, Mona Filip, Sameer Farooq, Jared Stanley, Lisa Ellis on Objects of Affection panel. Response to Esther Shalev-Gerz (2016) The Gold Room exhibition, Mona brought an artifact for interpretation. Museum conservator Lisa spoke of metal composition, poet Jared admired curved edge, visual artist Sameer wondered about users sociopolitically, shaman Kimberly saw it as one in a set of 80-year old culinary utensils. It’s a sieve that Mona’s great-grandfather tinsmith made that now is a kitchen ornament. (Koffler Gallery, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto, Ontario) 20180603 Centre for Social Innovation: Tried “Innovator for a Day” at @csiTO 215 Spadina. Got building orientation by a Community Animator. Picked a good day to visit, with Salad Day community building, then Town Hall as the move to 192 Spadina in September advances. Lots of energy in the place. (Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20180605 Mattamy Centre: Official B.Comm. with distinction for @Ryan_Ing, in Business Technology Management co-op program at Ryerson University. Two older brothers and parents observing the proceedings, while the eldest brother is on a plane crossing the Pacific from China to California. This convocation was the first that Ryerson has held in the former Maple Leaf Gardens. (Mattamy Centre, Ryerson University, Carleton Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180612Airship 37: Patio beside The Silver Bus in summer late afternoon, relaxing is between afternoon sessions leaning towards managerial, and the evening sessions leaning towards technical. Hangar-like space has garage doors opening up with south exposure. Event venue just south of the Distillery District and north of Lake Shore Boulevard East will probably eventually be transformed, with rezoning applications for sliver towers with the City of Toronto, and Ontario Municipal Board. (Airship 37, 37 Parliament Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180614Fortune Seafood: Father’s Day early dinner, as bookings at Chinese restaurants are heavy. Double lobster, clams, pork chop, chicken, plus stir-fried mushrooms and a tofu casserole for me to maintain a plant-based diet. (Fortune Seafood Restaurant, Midland Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20180617 Systems Thinking Ontario: Demonstration Syntegration led by @allennaleonard with trigger question “”What will it take for us to trust our most personal information and important life decisions to artificial intelligence?”. Briefing then two short rounds at two tables in about 2 hours, in contrast with the real event that could take 3.5 days. Concluding review on process, comparing with other systems methods that are knowledge-creating and dialectic. (Systems Thinking Ontario, OCADU, 205 Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180620Korea House: Intercept @antlerboy@pnahar1970@redesign@allennaleonard SCiO UK meets Systems Thinking Ontario meets National Institute of Design India, post #systemschange Wasan Island meeting. Triangulating on experiences having individually met prominent figures in the systems thinking community, comparing observations to confirm findings. Server first said they don’t see tea in the summer, and then brought the Englishman his own pot. (Korea House, Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180621 Movenpick: New framework with NB and @oscillize, talking systems thinking approach in progress for upcoming workshops with social enterprise entrepreneurs. Unsure where our output artifacts might lead, a slower-pace longer translation towards understandability may work better. (Movenpick, Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180622The Rex: Duo @beccastevensbsb@boutwillismusic@rexhoteltoronto not with bass, drums, and extra keys playing in BC last night. Rush off airplane for show, sips of beer on stage for calories. On to New York tomorrow. So much music from two pairs of hands, two voices. (The Rex, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180624The Redeemer: Live @JosephShabason@TorontoJazzFest@TheRedeemerTO of ambient jazz mostly originally recorded in the studio. Playing with Nicole Rampersaud, Phil Melanson, Kieran Adams, Bram Gielen and Dafydd Hughes, a complex of samples, programming and loops recorded with pedals on the floor. Technology makes music together as a band harder, not easier. (Church of the Redeemer, Bloor Street West, Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario) 20180625 SystemsThinkingTO: Games night @DerailleurAgile#SystemsThinkingTO group learning with exercises from the Systems Thinking Playbook. I led a modified Group Juggle for experiential Bateson proto-learning, deutero-learning and trito-learning. Open space technology posted parallel groups who chose to huddle together around tables, rather than roaming. (SystemsThinkingTO, LoyaltyOne, King Street East, Toronto) 20180628The Redeemer: Solo @Giom_Perret@TorontoJazzFest first tour across Canada with digital effects pedals for loops. Saxophone and blowing mouthpiece into microphone is a big change from scoring music for other players as backing, this show is more immediate. He has found Canadians to be friendly, unlike his hometown Parisians. (Church of the Redeemer, Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180629
Heliconian Hall: Calm Otterville project @TorontoJazzFest, led by Andrew Downing. Slow melodies evocative of a summer day in a quiet village in a Southwestern Ontario. Relaxed pace, drew more laughter as the band was to “slow things down” on the next tune. (Heliconian Hall, Hazelton Avenue, Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario) 20180630
Toronto, Ontario; San Francisco, California; San Jose, California; Sunnyvale, California; Mountain View, California; Berkeley, California
Cineplex Queensway: Tuesday Matinee viewing of Avengers Infinity War in UltraAVX non-3D is a lot to absorb, having to recall linkages over 10 years of movies. Between prior 16-day trip and upcoming 10-day trip, squeezing in regular life is a luxury. (Cineplex Cinema Queensway, Etobicoke, Ontario) 20180501 MarsDD: Connected data in graphs @fzakariya @neo4j briefing. Beyond relational databases on a LAMP stack, and document databases on the MEAN stack, now looking at GraphQL and Node.js tools. Continual learning on technologies that continue to evolve. (Mars Discovery District, College Street, Toronto, Ontario ) 20180503Pearson T1 aisle 11: Been 18 months since I last flew to USA on AC, despite have travelled to Asia, Europe and western Canada multiple times. I may be part of the statistic of fewer flyers under the current government adminstration. Pearson Terminal moved Air Canada U.S. check-ins to the far end aisles, from the middle. Agent said they did that about 18 months ago. (Pearson Terminal 1, Toronto, Ontario) 20180507SFO International Terminal: By door 06, Rufino Tamayo (1983) “Conquest of Space”, enamel paint on steel. Mexican painter with first sculpture permanently placed outside of Mexico at age 84. Waiting for pickup by AHI at departures level, wearing shorts and sandals. (San Francisco International Airport, International Terminal, California) 20180507San Jose Japantown: Driver attests to Ford Focus 5* safety rating. A sore wrist and three small pricks on the back of left hand are the only post collision symptoms. Neighbours say 4 way stop was installed only a month ago. Northbound sedan struck on driver’s side by Volvo SUV, forcing the car into the utility pole. Side and front air bags deployed. Vehicles taken to towing yard on flatbed trucks. (N.4th Street at E. Empire, Japantown, San Jose, California) 20180508
Toronto, Ontario; Agincourt, Ontario; Shanghai, PR China; Wuhan, PR China; Vancouver, BC.
Riverside neighbourhood: Urban foresters pruning our city-owned tree away from electrical power lines, viewed from our second-floor bedroom window. The cutter in the bucket and driver clearing falling debris were working their way down the street. Preventive maintenance of essential infrastructure shows good long-term planning in our municipality. (Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20180403 Buddhist Vegetarian Kitchen: Convened a family dinner, as travel schedules have members coming and going so much that most will miss the clan’s annual spring event. Venue selected as Chinese vegan cuisine, consistent with the eco-Atkins plant-based diet almost 4 weeks in progress. Ordered goose, beef, chicken, pork dishes, all mock meats, finishing with a side order of duck and then black sesame soup dessert. (Buddhist Vegetarian Kitchen, Midland Avenue, Agincourt, Ontario) 20180409 Zhangliang Tongji United Plaza: Picking own ingredients to put into soup broth is a fast way to ensure a vegan dinner. Requesting “bu la”, or not spicy, didn’t seem to reduce the heat of malatang. Runners in the store will pick orders for phone-in takeout orders. A quick meal before an earlier bedtime, with a 12-hour time zone jump on a 14-hour direct flight. (Zhangliang Malatang, Tongji United Plaza, Zhangwu Road, Yangpu district, Shanghai, PR China) 20180414Godly Nanjing Road: Intersecting @doug_schuler to discuss pattern language research trajectories. He is at end of visit from Seattle, we are at beginning from Toronto. After vegan duck, fish belly, beef and crab meat, walked through People’s Park marriage market umbrellas. (Godly Nanjing Road, Shanghai, PR China) 20180415 Bitter: Comparing @snousala@doug_schuler radical approaches to higher education that enable students to learn differently. Signals that China is changing pedagogical approaches for new young leaders, and investing heavily in academic research and advanced education in ways not apparent in the west. (Bitter, Wuyuan Lu, French Concession, Shanghai, PR China) Fushun Road: Wicker chairs on cart pulled by worker on foot on the city street, in the old fashioned way. Had a morning walk around the neighbourhood south of Tongji U., active with early shoppers at markets. (Fushun Road, Siping district, Shanghai, PR China) 20180417 Anshan Road: Small world intercept with TL in stationery store, on random walk around the shopping streets near Tongji U. DY had expressed admiration of the variety of colours of the pen set in the office. Our chance encounter spoiled a surprise gift planned for an hour later. (Anshan Road, Siping district, Shanghai, PR China) 20170417 Hongqiao Railway Station: Long queue builds anxiety, as gates open just 20 minutes before train leaves, and platform is through the turnstiles and down stairs. Chinese crowds are pushy, in contrast to more orderly western groups. D-train Shanghai-Wuhan speed is up to 250km/h, as compared to G-train up to 300km/h. (Hongqiao Railway Station, Shanghai, PR China) 20180418 Wuhan U. of Technology: Man exercising with diabolo spinning with string between two batons, on the exercise field in the middle of campus on a warm spring morning. The short cut across the track has been closed off since our last visit, it’s a long walk from the east gate to the College of Art and Design. (Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, PR China) 20180419Donghu Lake: Docks on the west shore of East Lake, on the edge of the Wuhan University campus. Young people dangling legs over the edge, speedboats stopping to pick up passengers for a water crossing. Further south, we encountered couples posing for wedding photographs. (Donghu Lake, Wuhan, PR China) 20180420 Hongshan Pagoda: Tower built in 1280 AD, originally named Lingji Pagoda in memory of the Buddhist master, north side of Baotong Temple. We climbed the narrow steps of irregular heights to ascend to a majestic view of Wuhan. The descent was just as challenging, as stability called for me to sit at each steep step, to deliberately place my foot down. At the end, my clothes were covered with dust, and the tops of my thighs trembled from fatigue. (Hongshan Pagoda, Baotong Temple, Wuhan, PR China) 20180421 Baotong Temple Vegetarian: Our group shared the widest variety of Buddhist vegan cuisine that I have ever encountered. We were hosted by the restaurant manager, whose son had been guided to graduate studies abroad by SN. The luxury of a large, air-conditioned room on the second floor, meticulously prepared foods and attentive servers were a refreshing follow-on from climbing uphill through many temple halls, and navigating steep steps up the pagoda. (Baotong Temple Vegetarian, Wuhan, PR China) 20180421Jiulong Hongshan: Conference dinner with speakers and organizers for SCUD2018 on Smart Cities and Urban Design. Cajoled to consume my first alcohol of the year, thimble-sized goblets of rice wine permitted, to follow a Mongolian ritual toast for the heavens, the earth, and ancestors. (Jiulong Hotel, Hongshan district, Wuhan, PR China) 20180421 Smart Cities and Urban Design: Painting by Professor WU Xingkuan in honour of formal opening of SCUD International Smart Cities and Urban Design Conference. Our group had the first plenary session slot, and we learned more about each others’ research focus, because the prior meetings have been much more on process rather than content. We’ll refine our collective direction, with diverse perspectives and interests as our strength. (2018 International Conference on Smart Cities and Urban Design, Xiongchu International Hotel, Hongshan district, Wuhan, PR China) 20180422Tongji Huangpu School: Lecturing again to high school class, on systems thinking relevant to their current project to design a bridge. Eased into systems levels and pacing with a personal story about family and service systems at home. Whiteboard discussion on bridge led to a question: will animals be permitted to cross the bridge, or will they be prevented from following their nature? (Tongji Huangpu School, Middle Sichuan Road, Waitan, Shanghai, PR China) 20180423 Vanilla Rockbund: Colleague out of town presented an opportunity for more deeply acquainting with the spouse. Discussed life in Shanghai, the history and status of Finland over the past 25 years, and upcoming options for residencies elsewhere in the world. No alcohol consumed, it’s a school night! Venue was trendier than our usual style, the four millennial women at the next table were preoccupied with their mobile phones, and taking selfies. (Vanilla Rockbund, Beijing East Road, Shanghai, PR China) 20180423 Long Museum Pudong: Massive central hall leads to galleries on upper floors. “L’étranger mélancolie” of post-1911 exchanges between China and the west, “90th Anniversary of Army Day”, and 1700s Qing Dynasty sceptre were interesting on technique, but the subjects weren’t of our usual contemporary interests. On a Tuesday morning, we two seemed to be the only visitors to this large art museum, a long taxi ride from our hotel in the Bund. (Long Museum Pudong, Luoshan Road, Shanghai, PR China) 20180425Long Museum West Bund: Long taxi ride back over Huangpu River to newly developing West Bund neighbourhood. Enjoyed “Asian Impression” of contemporary Chinese, Japanese and South Korean art. Downstairs gallery included Shi Yongjun (2012) “Daily Routine”; Li Jikai 2009 “On a Dumped Riprap”; Tu Hongtoa (2006) “Pure Landscape”; and Luo Quanmu (2007) “Lost Deer”. Also saw the movie set of Yong Fudong (2018) “Dawn Breaking” of 30-day filming, each day complemented by a video diary of crews at work. Venue is so far upstream on the river that familiar Bund sights aren’t visible from the banks. (Long Museum West Bund, Longteng Avenue, Xuhui District, Shanghai, PR China) 20180425 Brewery Creek Mount Pleasant: Flowering cherry trees in full blossoms along many streets, planted in Vancouver since the 1930s. Visiting town for a four days to visit DY’s family, routing PVG-YVR-YYZ at no extra charge. With 9-hour time zone change over the international date line, opted for a basement apartment in a residential house towards the east side. (Brewery Creek / Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, east 12th Street, Vancouver, BC) 20180425Gaoler’s Mews: Incongruity of having lunch at vegan MeeT at Gastown restaurant, beside L’Abbatoir named for the city’s former main butchery and meat packing distict. Opted for a Beyond Burger special not on the regular menu, that looked and had the sensation of a rare beef patty. While not terrible, I prefer the denseness of the veggie burgers that we’ve had for decades. Dining al fresco in warm spring weather. (MeeT at Gastown, Gaoler’s Mews, Water Street, Vancouver, BC) 20180426MeeT At Gastown: Managing to adhere to a vegan prescription with the pea-based Beyond Burger veggie patty, although the kaiser bun and french fries aren’t on the Portfolio Diet or Eco-Atkins Diet. Enjoying western style food in the clean BC air with greater spring weather, after 10 days in China. (MeeT at Gastown, Water Street, Vancouver, BC) 20180426 Tangent Cafe: Local jazz listings found @wmatsushita in Nicholas Bracewell The Collective with Chris Fraser, Daniel Howard. He was surprised to see us, since at home in Toronto is a more likely encounter. The variety of beers in this venue seems to attract customers more than the food, which was good. (Tangent Cafe, Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC) 20180426
Vancouver Harbour North Shore: View off back of the Seabus is better than that out the front, on both directions. Met with DY’s friend for lunch in Lonsdale Quay, had a view of workmen painting concrete barriers yellow. Snow on the mountaintops gradually receding in the warm spring sunshine. (Lonsdale Quay from Seabus, Vancouver Harbour, BC) 20180427
Toronto (out of an ankle cast, started physiotherapy)
Martin Centre: Doctor said ankle can come out of cast, although extra caution would prescribe 2 more weeks. Now in street shoes, no bouncing, physiotherapist is deferred for 2 weeks in case hard pressure is applied. DY and I stopped by Chinatown for shopping, with me on crutches, lower leg has turned numb. Wearing court shoes in the house instead of sandals, feeling my way after the injury 9 weeks ago. Not even a new ultrasound since Dec. 27. (Martin Family Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180301 UToronto Art Centre: Figures of Sleep exhibition @MueckRon (2002-2002) “Untitled (old woman in bed)” on loan from National Gallery of Canada. Hyperrealistic sculpture slightly smaller than real life, spotlit in a dark room. Show closes tomorrow. Standing on two legs after yesterday coming out of the two-month cast, both the injured and uninjured limbs are out of shape. (University of Toronto Art Centre, King’s College Circle, Toronto) 20180302 Toronto Light Fest: Illuminated long house may not be official art installation, but the shell of a patio on Gristmill Lane. Next to last night of Toronto Light Festival a destination for some walking exercise with crutches. Near-freezing temperatures, but no snow, lots of photographers out. (Gristmill Lane, Distillery District, Toronto, Ontario) 20180303 East York Town Centre: Mall walking on crutches, should soon graduate to cane. Enclosed shopping centre in Thorncliffe Park is central to Pakistani and Afghan community. Bulletin board in supermarket has homemakers offering special cooked breakfast on weekends, presumably too much work for fully employed weekday employees. (East York Town Centre, Overlea Boulevard, East York, Ontario) 20180305OCADU Grad Studies: Lecturing @OCADU_SFI with @redesign and Jeremy Bowes, on “Architecting for Wicked Messes” for “Understanding Systems and Systemic Design” class. Full-time cohort opted for a more loosely structured studio room, students spread out at tables and chairs. (OCADU Graduate Studies, 205 Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180307 St. Michael’s Hospital: Statue at the official address at the east entrance on Bond Street, the conventional entrance is at the south on Queen Street, or emergency off Victoria Street. Quiet halls with administrative offices lead to elevators to busy floors. (St. Michael’s Hospital, Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180308Onsite Gallery: Wool hand-tufted textile @ONSITEatOCADU@alexkeha (2015) “Stele” (which is defined as “the central core of the stem and root of a vascular plant”). Part of The Sunshine Eaters exhibition, artists and designers looking at land, plants, flowers and trees. (Onsite Gallery, OCAD University, Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180309 Sumac Creek Health Centre: Portrait in @BennyBing series @TheDanielsCorp Regent Park Rotating Gallery for March, on the walls by doctors’ offices and treatment rooms. In regular office hours, are only the sick, injured, and medical professionals privileged to view the collection? Appreciating art as therapy in addition to other healing services. (Sumac Creek Health Centre, Regent Park Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario) 20130312 Athlete’s Care, The Beach: First visit to physiotherapist for Achilles tendon recovery. Scheduled appointments twice per week for the month until we get on the plane for Shanghai. Flexibility of right ankle is at 25% of left ankle. Initial exercises assigned to stretch for mobility, strength will be the next priority. Went shopping, bought foam roller stick. (Athlete’s Care, The Beach, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20180313OCADU: 69th meeting of @StronglySustain with web conferencing, featuring update on Flourishing Enterprise Innovation Toollkit Project. Watched experience report video from a First Explorer. Participants included both some from the founding, through to some coming new to the work. Had post-meeting discussion on activities in parallel communities. (OCADU, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180313Yorkville: Looking southeast, Cumberland Terrace low plaza on Bay Street built in 1974 contrasts to the new One Bloor skyscraper at Yonge Street, the current tallest building in Toronto (since the CN Tower labelled a freestanding structure, not a building). The Manulife Centre on Bloor Street is also vintage 1974. We don’t visit this upscale neighbourhood often, yet it’s biking distance from home. Some personal business led us to check into some other shops. (Bay Street at Cumberland Street, Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario) 20180315Riverside district: Mastered homemade vegan black bean soup in Instant Pot. Day 3 on dietary portfolio prescribed by Dr. David Jenkins at UToronto and St. Michael’s Hospital, inventor of the glycemic index. Had negotiated with researchers for a menu without psyllium or plant sterol margarine, then spent 2 days reading journal articles to determine grams of viscous fibre, soy protein and pulses for consumption. Clinical trial published 2015 shows Portfolio Diet reduces LDL cholesterol, but adherence is only 48% compared to DASH diet with non-significant improvement but has 105% adherence. (Riverside District, Toronto, Ontario) 20180318 UToronto iSchool: Talk by @GeoffreyCBowker “How the West was Won by Data”. Full room for lecture by prominent academic, as part of a quick visit serving as external examiner in a Ph.D. defense, Long day for a professor coming from Pacific Time into Eastern Time. Digest at https://ingbrief.wordpress.com/2018/03/19/2018-03-19-1610-geoffrey-bowker-how-the-west-was-won-by-data-utoronto-ischool/ . (UToronto iSchool, Bissell Building, St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180319SystemsThinkingTO: Earlier selfie with @wjbellows reconnected @jp2connect to me, social tie through the Ackoff S3 program. Agenda for SystemsThinkingTO meeting was an open conversation with Bill Cooper to W. Edwards Deming, and the blend of ideas from multiple sources. (LoyaltyOne offices, King Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20170322Snow Lion Meditation Shop: Selected buckwheat hull pillow to replace one that predates my current spouse. This shop offers smaller ones to be used as meditation cushions, we chose the largest for our bed. We may continue to look for just hulls, 5 lbs. should fill the old pillowcase. (Snow Lion Mediation Shop, Pape Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20180328
St. Michael’s Hospital: Signed up for MyChart personal record app at Patient Registration on Donnelly wing south, after seeing new brochure. Appointment with orthopedic surgeon about Achilles tendon confirmed healing, the additional mobility and strength is left to the physiotherapist. (St. Michael’s Hospital, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180329
Toronto, Ontario
Heartland: Annual Superbowl party hosts serve traditional BBQ burgers and frankfurters. This year was not as cold as some years. Some friendly faces from previous years, some new faces expanding the circle. (Heartland, Mississauga, Ontario) 20180204UToronto iSchool: Service Systems facilitation-presentation by UToronto iSchool graduate students. Getting closer to the current edge of research, so the variety of sources is lower. Citing people whom I know well. (UToronto iSchool, Bissell Building) 20170207UToronto iSchool: Generative pattern language presentation-facilitation by UToronto iSchool graduate students. Started with an example of context-problem-solution, and showed how Christopher Alexander evolved the definitions over time. Citing research up to the bleeding edge at recent conferences. (UToronto iSchool, Bissell Building) 20180207Glorious Chinese Cuisine: Family lunch order becomes complicated, as Special A BBQ Duck and Special C Tilipia comes with 6 + 5 dim sum items, but not choices are acceptable. Waitress came back multiple times, new on the job. Weekday event scheduled because weekends are so busy. (Glorious Chinese Cuisine, Denison Street, Markham, Ontario) 20170208St. Michael’s Family Practice: Medical checkup says no weight gain in the 45 days since cast for Achilles tendon injury was put on. Many years since my last full physical exam, high cholesterol runs in the family, blood pressure is up. Looking forward to behaviour change, made some appointments at clinics, could take 6 months before results. (St. Michael’s Hospital, Family Practice Unit, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20170209UToronto iSchool: After wrapping up my last lecture of the course, DY saw a poster for Valentine’s Day iTea for iSchool faculty, staff and students, and opted to hang out for 15 minutes in the classroom we just vacated. Picking out some candy into take out cartons, the scrum ran through supply quickly. We don’t usually celebrate February 14. (UToronto iSchool, Bissell Building) 20180214Martin Family Centre: Southern exposure into ambulatory care centre, Donnelly wing (renamed from Queen wing in 2013, dating back to 1928) to the west and south, and the Bond wing dating back to 1892 to the east. Construction in the heart of downtown Toronto has to deal with major legacy constraints. (St. Michale’s Hospital, Martin Family Centre for Outpatient Services, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario). 20180215Martin Family Centre: Right ankle to be in cast for 2 more weeks, says Dr. Khoshbin. Removed two wedges, foot will be level with ground. Good progress on Achilles tendon healing, but little response to squeezing lower calf leading to an autonomic reflex. Inside the house I should walk without crutches, outside the house, I should use crutches. After 6 weeks with foot pointed down, the cast should now support the foot pointing up into normal position. I will sleep with the cast on for a few more days, and then switch to wearing it for daytime only. Textbook recovery following Fowler Kennedy protocol from Western University. (St. Michael’s Hospital, Martin Family Centre for Outpatient Services, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20180215Regency Resto: Indian buffet to celebrate AKY’s offer of admission to UToronto Ph.D. program, not Chinese New Year dinner. Also on waitlist for another department, and waiting for responses from other universities, funding may be negotiable. (Regency Restaurant, Little India, Gerrard Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20180216Open Innovation Learning: Presentation is ready, and softcopy book arrived in time for official launch tomorrow night. The printed paper isn’t that expensive, but the ePub is the way to go. The physicality of 690 A4 pages may be easier on the eyes, but the volume is heavy to hold. http://openinnovationlearning.com . (Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20180220OCADU: Friendly audience for book launch of Open Innovation Learning @OCADU Auditorium, special session of Systems Thinking Ontario. Demystifies the breadth and depth of research written over 3 years of doctoral studies, stretching back from the 1886 Berne Convention on copyright, to IBM years 1993-2011. Publication is open access reference work, best medium is ePub http://openinnovationlearning.com . Photo courtesy of Chris R. Chapman, @DerailleurAgile (OCADU Auditorium, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20`180221OCADU: Sketchnoting @playthink of book launch for Open Innovation Learning at Systems Thinking Ontario. Key ideas captured in real time over a 55-minute lecture given for the first time. https://twitter.com/playthink/status/966521254642683904 Open access book at http://openinnovationlearning.com . (OCADU Auditorium, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180221OCADU: Systems Thinking Ontario panel with Tim Lloyd @perelgut following book launch presentation of Open Innovation Learning. Audience members extending the theory building to make sense in application area relevant to themselves. Open access book at http//openinnovationlearning.com . (Photo courtesy of Noah Ing). (OCADU Auditorium, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20170222OCADU: Signing postcard for @petri at book launch for Open Innovation Learning. Open access book is free at http://openinnovationlearning.com , so the traditional momento from an author book signing is modified for the 21st century. A physical book can be published on demand, but it’s better to save some trees! (OCADU Auditorium, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180222OCADU: Physical publication, cover by @celinalaurette “Escape from Plato’s Cave” a reality at book launch for Open Innovation Learning at Systems Thinking Ontario. She’s a graduate of the design program at OCADU, so reception was like a homecoming. More practical medium is the open access ePub at openinnovationlearning.com . (Photo courtesy of Noah Ing). (OCADU, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20180222SystemsThinkingTO: Dialogue mapping @DerailleurAgile exercise, Compendium software still works well. Reviewed the full meaning of wicked problems, and some of the history with Horst Rittel, West Churchman and Christopher Alexander. (SystemsThinkingTO, King Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20180222The Theatre Centre: Installation @TheatreCentre@gxcentrik Gabrielle Lasporte Modern Batik brightens up interior. Relaxed cafe/bar with theatre-goers awaiting entry, in the former 1908 Carnegie Library building. (The Theatre Centre, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180225The Theatre Centre: Conclusion of #NoForeigners Derek Chan @Aprillx@fuGENTheatre@HongKongExile closing performance. Inventive production with shadow puppets in front of five monitors voiced by live actors, last moments sees real humans in front of the big screen come out of the dark. Full house, with a bright winter Sunday outside. (The Theatre Centre, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20180225Sumac Creek Health Centre: Paul Shields (2017) “Comfort” and “Reason” paintings featured in quiet corner of a neighbourhood facility of St. Michael’s Hospital. Minor procedure with a way-overqualified surgeon as a followup to a family practice physical checkup a few weeks ago. In the Canadian medical system, an unexciting visit is welcomed. (Sumac Creek Medical Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, Regent Park Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario) 20180226
Cineplex Eglinton: Experimented with Black Panther in a 2D IMAX conventional room. Enjoyed the movie, but can’t say that the image quality was noticeably better than on a regular screen. Seat was about 1/3 from the front, dead center, so screen filled field of view. For a 4pm Tuesday movie, there were less than 20 customers, so viewers may have targeted the 7pm 3D version. (Cineplex Eglinton Town Centre, Lebovic Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20180227
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 ›
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 […]
The selection of readings in the “Introduction” to Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2, Penguin (1981), edited by Fred E. Emery, reflects a turn from 1969 when a general systems theory was more fully entertained, towards an urgency towards changes in the world that were present in 1981. Systems thinking was again emphasized in contrast […]
