I’m reminded of an episode of the Twilight Zone starring Burgess Meredith, in which he finds himself alone after a nuclear war, in the remains of the public library with all the time in the world to read, at last. The twist is he then accidentally drops and breaks his glasses. Despair! My visit to …
It was a pleasure to visit the special exhibition Emperors & Jewels: Treasures of the Indian Courts from The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait at The Aga Khan Museum. The stunning huqqa pipe water reservoir above comes with the following caption. My other favourite of the 90 objects included (jewellery, paintings, many swords and daggers, glassware, etc.) was this gorgeous …
I really love the Royal Ontario Museum. Today I thought I’d try to walk through every open gallery, to reacquaint myself with all the collections on display, and I did (though it took a while, as I kept stopping to look at things – as you’re meant to do!). As ever, I’m inspired. As a …
A current exhibit on at The Textile Museum of Canada is Beads, They’re Sewn So Tight, through May 26, 2019. I’m attracted to and fond of beadwork, having grown up in a household filled with Canadian and American Indigenous artwork, and having learned to bead on a loom as a youth. So I found this …
The Gibson House Museum in North York, now one of ten City of Toronto Museums, is one of the first museums to which I was exposed as a child, and still one of my favourites today. Having visited many times informally in recent years (as at Hogmanay in December 2017), I treated myself to a …
In the spirit of the New Year, I’m setting myself a challenge. I’m going to attempt to visit 100 museums in 2019. After each visit, I’ll post one photo (at least), referring to one object or experience from my visit, with (probably short) commentary. “Museum” will be very loosely defined, as a place (gallery, exhibit, …
For archivists, genealogists, etc., too. If you’ve ever cursed Thoughtless People Of The Past, you may enjoy this most perfect tweet I saw this morning. Couldn’t possibly express it better myself. Ok, so. On behalf of all historians, in all eras, I have three simple things to ask of you all: 1) keep diaries & …
Happy Birthday to sarahjmccabe.com! My very first personal website is one year old today. This project has been a terrific learning experience, both personally and professionally, that I’d recommend to anyone. What have I learned? Among other things: 1) Nothing truly bad happened (other than some spam). For a fairly private person, this website and …
My collection of Ontario historic plaques photos has reached 250! Yesterday, in fact, was an 11-plaque day, bringing the total to 262. Created last December 2017 as a test collection for an Omeka software demonstration website, my plaques project has turned into a fun and mildly obsessive little hobby. I began with about 60 photos, …
Where do you want to eat? My friend Giles Orr and I have made a Google Map showing all the restaurants, eateries, and bars on or near the north Yonge Street strip between Highway 401 and Finch Avenue in North York (Toronto). Why? It began as a practical project to explore what culinary treasures there …
